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Bala Iyer

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Clouds, platforms and networks: the new disruptors

Posted by Bala Iyer on Sun, Feb 22, 2009 @ 07:00 PM

This summer I will be teaching a new class that is a follow-on to the introductory information systems class. Here is the description --

The first generation of Internet applications were focused on creating new business models and applications for reaching customers. These applications and models have evolved into the next generation that is making it easier for enterprises, especially small and medium sized, to compete by building applications on top of the existing infrastructure and applications (Facebook, Google, Amazon, Salesforce.com, etc) that are now available to them for reuse. In order for managers to design their enterprises for competitive advantage, they need to understand and leverage the new infrastructure. Managers need to understand concepts like architecture, shared services, global work, opensource development, business platforms, network effects and services to create even more powerful business models. As a result of applying these concepts, managers can bring to market new products and services at a faster pace.

The core concepts and technologies discussed in this class are important to both consumers and providers of services. We will examine business designs by discussing the underlying technology and how it helps shape strategy using case studies, conceptual papers and interactions with industry experts. In addition, this course highlights the emerging role of a business architect who is responsible for key decisions that positions the firm to compete in network-based businesses.



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Is broadband the solution?

Posted by Bala Iyer on Tue, Feb 10, 2009 @ 10:21 AM

CISCO's John Chambers is on a mission. He penned an op-ed piece in San Jose Mercury news calling for more spending on broadband and another one in the WSJ calling for re-wiring of work. An earlier piece in Fast Company describes how the company has become more collaborative than a command and control enterprise and how better deicions are getting made faster. While all this seems like a ploy to sell more CISCI stuff :-), he may have a point here. The current crisis calls for organizations to be more innovative in finding revenue sources and growth opportunities. How can we create organizations that can source talent globally and serve global markets? The old model was to find a solution for our market and then take that solution global. This doesn't work anymore as consumers are demanding customized solutions that cater to their context. In addition, expertise is globally distributed and we have to tune our infrastructure to connect and exploit that.

Broadband is necessary for the new reality but not sufficient. How do we adjust our processes and workflows to do global work? John Chambers mentions TelePresence (a CISCO product) as an example of how a product can help with this transformation. While this product is a cool innovation, what we need to hear more about are case studies of how it has been used. For example, how did CISCO move from a command and control based organization to a boards and councils type of arrangement? Would this work for small enterprises? Careful study and analysis of collaborative enterprises would go a long way in inventing the future that John Chambers is talking about.



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Do you have a plan B for search?

Posted by Bala Iyer on Tue, Feb 03, 2009 @ 07:48 AM

For a few hours last weekend, users looking for information using Google got the error message "This site may harm your computer." This was a result of a human error on Google’s part that resulted in every website being classified as potentially malicious. As expected, Google reacted quickly and fixed the problem. Although, I wasn’t up bright and early on Saturday to encounter this problem, I was wondering what I would do if Google’s search engine was unavailable for a protracted amount of time. It has been quite awhile since I have used any other search engine. My browser defaults to Google’s home page, I am very familiar with the look and feel of their search results and I have even customized some of my search results. I depend on Google solely and totally for my search experience.

The same dependency exists for companies and software/operating systems. With the arrival of cloud computing, this dependency will only deepen. It is time to start thinking seriously about interoperability and portability across clouds. This way, if one of the clouds were to fail, customers can switch seamlessly across clouds. At the least, companies should be making small investments in clouds other than the one they depend on for most of their services.

Now back to my search dependency problem. Where do I find the Yahoo! or Microsoft search engine? :-)



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