Video on the Development of Flexible Information Systems

Here's a pretty good video on where IT could be going in the future. I'm not sure about the Taxi company analogy or the IBM quote, but I think there's a good thought behind this video. And it's actually quite nicely done.

Benefits and developments of SOA

I just read a good blogpost about what SOA, Cloud and WOA will actually mean for businesses in the future: Zdnet, Ten HBIs on SOA-cloud convergence.

Even though we could probably argue about the roles and definitions of SOA, WOA and the cloud for a long time, the fact remains that flexibility such as WOA provides will drive the value of IT for businesses. I wrote a short comment on that article on ZDNet.

Enterprise apps like Consumer apps

I just read Phil Wainewrights blogpost on "Using Paas for Rapid Enterprise App Development" on The Connected web on ebizq

One of the points made in the text is that enterprise app development can be more like design, taking into account the user at every step of the process. This is a very important development and I'm a firm believer in that our Enterprise apps will more and more feel like Consumer apps. Gaming and new Social Media will be the models for future enterprise applications.

The biggest obstacles for the adoption and creation of more Consumer-like apps in the Enterprise today are

1. The huge investments that have already been made. If your running SAP R3 for example you're unlikely to change that very fast
2. Vendors, making a lot of money on their products
3. Consultants / integrators making a lot of money on the integration job.
4. Conservative views on what Enterprise apps should be and how they should be developed (to serve the company, not the employees)

On the last point, I think companies will have to start realizing on their claims that "Employees are their most valuable resource". Employees really are their most valuable resource. Enterprise Apps have been created with a process in mind, but it's the employees job that Apps should serve, and now Enterprise Apps will have to be created in that way.

Why would I still want to concentrate on Business Driven IT?

I'm a bit frustrated with the view of IT systems in companies today. Not only are policies usually impeding the development of anything that would increase productivity, but the motivations for developing IT aren't usually really business-driven. In my opinion, IT is a tool that increases productivity and creates new opportunities. I want IT investments to be based on sound business sense. I feel that too often IT is a hole into which directors feel they have to pour money into to stay competitive, without real needs and benefits driving the decisions.

I'm a strong proponent of Web Oriented Architectures (WOA). By embracing WOA and opening up some processes of the company, I think that companies can be a lot more flexible and productive than today. It has been too long that we have been held prisoners by illusionary IT policies and technology praising IT that doesn't serve its users. I think the best accounts of WOA are written by Dion Hinchcliffe at hinchcliffe.org


A lot of research has been done on the value of IT. However, I feel that most research is too academic in the sense that it doesn't really give you any tools if you really need IT. And you do. Research is often done on how IT investments influence profitability, productivity or another dependent variable. The research I have read has pointed to that the amount of investment doesn't correlate with the value of IT. According to the research, IT usage and how it is implemented is what actually determines the value of IT systems.

What I'm doing is taking a step back. I want to implement only the parts of an IT system that I know will influence the bottom line. I'm creating a process for how to create really business driven IT systems.