Skip to main content

Long time no chat!

Ash Wednesday
Today marks the beginning of the season of Lent for 2012 and, in the spirit of giving up something, I've decided to give up my apathy regarding this blog.  

What happened to bring that about in the first place?  To be honest, I set unsustainable expectations for myself with respect to what I wrote here.  My original intention was for this place to be a commentary on one's approach to their business and career; after I ran out of ideas for that I pivoted on the concept and instead reported on what I thought were relevant business topics; finally, the amount of effort required to dig up interesting subject matter on a regular publishing schedule became more than I was able to dedicate.  So I shut down the blog.

Why Now?
My intention this time is to not have a purpose necessarily.  Instead, I will write about topics that I find interesting and trust that you will find them similarly interesting.  If my trust is well placed then you will continue to feel that this is a blog worth reading, and you will return here regularly to be enlightened or entertained at the very least.

I will not attempt to stick to a strict publishing schedule as I once did.  That, I believe, added to the pressure that led to the discouragement that ultimately led to the previous death of this blog.  If I allow publication to occur when I instead have something interesting to say then that should also help ensure relevance to what you are experiencing in your professional life.

Future Topics
In the time that has elapsed since I was actively maintaining this blog, certain business topics have found their way onto my radar.  I will apologize now if some of these seem like advertisements for my employer, but I have never shied away from my belief that the portfolio of solutions offered by CA Technologies is one of the strongest available in several areas.  Fortunately, I am not alone in this thinking - Gartner has awarded CA Technologies as the leader in its magic quadrant in several areas including identity and access governance; user administration and provisioning; and content aware data loss prevention. 

The part about that last statement that scares me is that I have been told on more than one occasion by CxOs that they were unaware that CA had a security portfolio at all, much less one that had solutions that led in several areas of IT security.

Therefore, some of the topics will discuss particular IT initiatives and how gaps that typically exist can be addressed by specific solutions.  Other topics will discuss general trends in IT, e.g. cloud (the 800 pound gorilla in everyone's room), software development, the "new normal" (you'll have to wait to find out what my application of this cliché means), etc.  And, finally, some topics will be general commentary on observations I have made both at work and in the offices of the senior IT executives that I interact with on a regular basis.  

I hope that you'll continue to return and not only read these upcoming entries but also contribute via comments (to foster community discussion) or directly via email.

Until next time,
Larry

Popular posts from this blog

It's Easier to Fail at DevOps than it is to Succeed

Slippery when wet Since the term DevOps was coined in Belgium back in 2009, it is impossible to avoid the term whether in discussions with colleagues or in professional trade magazines.  And during the years while this movement has gained momentum, many things have been written to describe what elements of a DevOps strategy are required for it to be successful. Yet in spite of this, there is an interesting data point worth noting: not many organizations feel there is a need for DevOps.  In a Gartner report entitled DevOps Adoption Survey Results (published in September 2015),  40%  of respondents said they had no plans to implement DevOps and 31% of respondents said they hadn't implemented it but planned to start in the 12 months after the survey was conducted. That left only 29% who had implemented DevOps in a pilot project or in production systems, which isn't a lot. "Maybe it's because there truly isn't a need for DevOps," you say.  While t...
Read more

So What is this IPaaS Stuff, Anyway?

 In my last post , I discussed how no-code/low-code platforms fulfill rapid development of business applications - addressing the needs of the Citizen Developer (a Gartner term  first used around 2009).  I also commented on how this specific objective limits their ability to provide true integration capabilities, which require the flexibility to adapt to the myriad variations of infrastructure.  This is a concern because companies often have acquired legacy systems via M&A activity while simultaneously investing in new technology solutions, resulting in a mishmash of systems with multiple ways of accessing them. In this post, I'd like to examine how the needs of the latter group are met by describing some key capabilities that are "must-haves" for any company looking to execute on a digital transformation strategy.  In order to do this, let's define who the target user base is for such a technology platform. Disclaimer:   I work for MuleSoft (a division...
Read more

Application Development Done Right

In a previous article, entitled DevOps as the Ultimate Panacea? , I described how developing code without thinking about the current needs of the end user as well as the future needs once they've become accustomed to using your application ends up not only frustrating them but also can result in customer churn and ultimately lower revenues.  In this article, I'd like to describe something simple that I came across today that shows a definite degree of effort to do quite the opposite. Recently, we had a severe snowstorm, one with blizzard-like conditions, which is unheard of in central New Jersey.  Being responsible adults, my wife and I went to the grocery store to stock up on essentials (read:  chips, chocolate, etc.) in case we get stuck at home. As we were ringing up our order, the cashier mentioned to us that the store has a mobile application.  Since both of us are in technology oriented professions, we were skeptical about the need for a grocery store mob...
Read more