Topsy-turvy

To sum up the discussion about the new normal that I have covered in the preceding Industry Insights, it can be said there are two sides to the coin.

The first involves the needs, demands and expectations of the users, whether they are information workers within the business or consumers using the products and services of the business.

The second involves how new user needs are met with changes to the business network, the services that run on it and the internal processes that allow a business to meet its goals.

As mentioned previously, today's users are a new generation. They expect 24x7 connectivity, mobility and convenience. They are likely to access entertainment content and social media at the same time as work documents. This can happen at any time of day from any location.

While there might not be scientific studies of behaviour to “prove” this point, the surge in purchasing of tablet devices and smartphones is a convincing signpost of the way usage patterns are changing. These devices are not just bought as toys or accessories. They serve a purpose, becoming part of people's lives at work or at home.

Within the limitations of the available technology, people expect to connect continuously to services and content no matter where they are. This is a vast change from the “cubicle” lifestyle of previous decades, where a fixed-line telephone and a PC were the only connections to the outside world, and the Internet was little more than an online Yellow Pages.

The other major change that has happened incrementally is that content and services are no longer “pushed” to the end-user. The control has gradually passed to the user, and now the users choose what they will consume. In many areas, they even create and publish the content and services themselves. One could say the old top-down model has been replaced by a bottom-up version.

This leads to a challenge for CIOs and network administrators. They need to meet new user expectations for service management and content delivery. They need to manage and integrate cloud services, where previously, the only services were those within the network. Lastly, they have to take into account a slew of new devices, not all of which are inherently built to work seamlessly with a corporate network, no matter what platform it is based on.

This does not mean the demise of the mainframe.

Andrea Lodolo is chief technical officer of CA Southern Africa

Contrary to what some commentators have asserted, this does not mean the demise of the mainframe. Cloud services and the new normal are the next level of what was formerly called distributed computing, but there is still client/server architecture and the mainframe is still the core component.

It might seem counter-intuitive, but the mainframe is more important now than ever. The need to have effective, flexible and accessible mainframe management is a key part of building an agile network that can integrate with and adapt to any cloud services that are incorporated into the overall solution.

The problem is that mainframe skills are a scarce commodity. But new management software is alleviating this problem by creating common workspaces where IT staff with different skills and backgrounds can collaborate, to make sure the mainframe works transparently with other network assets and components.

Complete service management then remains a critical concern, but the focus has changed somewhat. Previously, the attention was on measuring risk against cost. That was all that was needed for an internal network solution.

Now, with the range of new services from both inside and outside the network, the focus is on measuring a combination of risk and cost against value.

Exactly how that value is measured is a first step before finalising a service management portfolio. Obviously, the values for the business and the values for the users (workers and customers) are closely related. Once there is a clear vision of what needs to be done for the business to achieve measurable value from its investment, the service management can be configured around those principles to get optimum results.

This is a daunting task, thanks to the vast number of services that might need to be included and managed. In principle, however, it is no different to the service management on an internal network. Success or failure depends on the planning and the abilities of the software deployed.

The final part of being ready for the new normal centres on the users themselves. This is literally new territory. With the explosion of Internet-enabled devices now available, and often, a lack of common standards between them, it is something that is only just beginning to be explored.

While the basic command structure is relatively easily achieved, because it uses standard protocols, delivery of content is another matter. It is reasonably easy to create a control interface for tablet and smartphone users. It's been done before with laptops and earlier mobile phones. But a common presentation layer that works well on all devices and their operating systems remains elusive. As with everything else about the new normal, this is a work in progress and subject to change.

One certainty is that there are going to be many innovations in this area as the technology is aligned with the expectations of a new generation.