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• Oracle Linux Partner Pavilion Spotlight

  - by Ted Davis

  With the first day of Oracle OpenWorld starting in less than a week, we wanted to showcase some of our premier partners exhibiting in the Oracle Linux Partner Pavilion ( Booth #1033) this year. We have Independent Hardware Vendors, Independent Software Vendors and Systems Integrators that show the breadth of support in the Oracle Linux and Oracle VM ecosystem. We'll be highlighting partners all week so feel free to come back check us out. Centrify delivers integrated software and cloud-based solutions that centrally control, secure and audit access to cross-platform systems, mobile devices and applications by leveraging the infrastructure organizations already own. From the data center and into the cloud, more than 4,500 organizations, including 40 percent of the Fortune 50 and more than 60 Federal agencies, rely on Centrify's identity consolidation and privilege management solutions to reduce IT expenses, strengthen security and meet compliance requirements. Visit Centrify at Oracle OpenWorld 2102 for a look at Centrify Suite and see how you can streamline security management on Oracle Linux.  Unify identities across the enterprise and remove the pain and security issues associated with managing local user accounts by leveraging Active Directory Implement a least-privilege security model with flexible, role-based controls that protect privileged operations while still granting users the privileges they need to perform their job Get a central, global view of audited user sessions across your Oracle Linux environment  "Data Intensity's cloud infrastructure leverages Oracle VM and Oracle Linux to provide highly available enterprise application management solutions.  Engineers will be available to answer questions about and demonstrate the technology, including management tools, configuration do's and don'ts, high availability, live migration, integrating the technology with Oracle software, and how the integrated support process works."    Mellanox’s end-to-end InfiniBand and Ethernet server and storage interconnect solutions deliver the highest performance, efficiency and scalability for enterprise, high-performance cloud and web 2.0 applications. Mellanox’s interconnect solutions accelerate Oracle RAC query throughput performance to reach 50Gb/s compared to TCP/IP based competing solutions that cap off at less than 12Gb/s. Mellanox solutions help Oracle’s Exadata to deliver 10X performance boost at 50% Hardware cost making it the world’s leading database appliance. Thanks for reviewing today's Partner spotlight. We will highlight new partners each day this week leading up to Oracle OpenWorld.

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• Oracle Linux / Symantec Partnership

  - by Ted Davis

  Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers sang the now famous lyrics:  “You like to-may-toes and I like to-mah-toes”. In the tech world, is it Semantic or is it Symantec? Ah, well, we know it’s the latter. Actually, who doesn’t know or hasn’t heard of Symantec in the tech world? Symantec is thoroughly engrained in Enterprise customer infrastructure from their Storage Foundation Suite to their Anti-Virus products. It would be hard to find anyone who doesn’t use their software. Likewise, Oracle Linux is thoroughly engrained in Enterprise infrastructure – so our paths cross quite a bit. This is why the Oracle Linux  engineering team works with Symantec to make sure their applications and agents are supported on Oracle Linux. We also want to make sure the Oracle Linux / Symantec customer experience is trouble free so customer work continues at the same blistering pace. Here are a few Symantec applications that are supported on Oracle Linux: Storage Foundation Netbackup Enterprise Server Symantec Antivirus For Linux Veritas Cluster Server Backup Exec Agent for Linux So, while Fred and Ginger may disagree on how to spell tomato, for our software customers, the Oracle / Symantec partnership works together so our joint customers experience and hear the sweet song of success.

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• mysql service do not launch

  - by ted

  Sorry for my English; I was trying to create db with rake in RoR application that has been configured for MySQL(gem installed, settings changed). After that attempt mysql-server broke: d@calister:~$ mysql ERROR 2002 (HY000): Can't connect to local MySQL server through socket '/var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock' (2) mysqld is not running at all: d@calister:~$ ps aux | grep mysql d 3769 0.0 0.0 4368 832 pts/0 S+ 18:03 0:00 grep --color=auto mysql And also it doesn't seem it would like to run: d@calister:~$ sudo service mysql start start: Job failed to start Any suggestions? Thanks EDIT: d@calister:~$ sudo -u mysql mysqld 120520 18:45:11 [Note] Plugin 'FEDERATED' is disabled. mysqld: Table 'mysql.plugin' doesn't exist 120520 18:45:11 [ERROR] Can't open the mysql.plugin table. Please run mysql_upgrade to create it. 120520 18:45:11 InnoDB: The InnoDB memory heap is disabled 120520 18:45:11 InnoDB: Mutexes and rw_locks use GCC atomic builtins 120520 18:45:11 InnoDB: Compressed tables use zlib 1.2.3.4 120520 18:45:11 InnoDB: Initializing buffer pool, size = 128.0M 120520 18:45:11 InnoDB: Completed initialization of buffer pool 120520 18:45:11 InnoDB: highest supported file format is Barracuda. 120520 18:45:12 InnoDB: Waiting for the background threads to start 120520 18:45:13 InnoDB: 1.1.8 started; log sequence number 1589459 120520 18:45:13 [ERROR] Fatal error: Can't open and lock privilege tables: Table 'mysql.host' doesn't exist

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• Using Google Analytics tracking URLs in Facebook ads

  - by Ted

  I generated the following Google Analytics tracking URL to use in a Facebook ad: https://www.somewebsite.org/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=schools&utm_content=newsfeed&utm_campaign=facebookad3 I know the ad is being clicked (Facebook ad manager data) but the referred traffic is not appearing in my site's Google Analytics data. I think it's because Facebook is doing some weird redirect URL modifying. Any ideas?

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• How to install postgresql-8.4?

  - by ted

  sudo add-apt-repository ppa:pitti/postgresql # ... OK sudo apt-get install postgresql-8.4 Reading package lists... Done Building dependency tree Reading state information... Done Package postgresql-8.4 is not available, but is referred to by another package. This may mean that the package is missing, has been obsoleted, or is only available from another source E: Package 'postgresql-8.4' has no installation candidate Should I download it from http://packages.debian.org/squeeze/postgresql-8.4 and manually install all the dependencies?

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• Use the latest technology or use a mature technology as a developer?

  - by Ted Wong

  I would like to develop an application for a group of people to use. I have decided to develop using python, but I am thinking of using python 2.X or python 3.X. If I use python 2.X, I need to upgrade it for the future... But it is more mature, and has many tools and libraries. If I develop using 3.X, I don't need to think of future integration, but currenttly it doesn't have many libraries, even a python to executable is not ready for all platforms. Also, one of the considerations is that it is a brand new application, so I don't have the history burden to maintain the old libraries. Any recommendation on this dilemma? More information about this application: Native application Time for maintenance: 5 years+ Library/Tools must need: don't have idea, yet. Must need feature that in 2.X: Convert to an executable for both Windows and Mac OS X

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• Permanent redirect domain to www subdomain without web.config

  - by Lord Simpson

  I've just set up a site via 1and1 and have run into an issue, I want to accomplish the simple task of redirecting the root domain to the www sub domain however due to complications I cant seam to find a way to get it to work. I'm on a Microsoft (asp.net) package so can't use .htaccess, also the IIS server they have doesn't have the URL redirect module installed (so can't use <rewrite> in web.config). They have built in HTTP forwarding options however if I set the root domain to redirect to the www sub domain it just infinitely redirects. Hopefully there is some obvious option/method I've missed during the past two days of searching!

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• How can I cap cloud-costs?

  - by Joe Simpson

  I am looking into launching a cloud-based product for consumers where with a prepaid account they can start a server with a simple click and load up the software and access it remotely. The technical side of that I can manage, but I am worried about the costs escalating ridiculously high for both me and my customers Is there a way I can Limit how much each server can cost me before it will be deactivated See how much a server is currently costing me (so I can deduct it from their account) with it being extremely reliable as I don't want to have to have a giant bill in any possibility.

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• Is this possible to re-duplicate the hardware signal on Linux?

  - by Ted Wong

  Since that every things is a file on the UNIX system. If I have a hardware, for example, a mouse, move from left corner to right corner, it should produce some kinds of file to communicate with the system. So, if my assumption is correct, is this possible to do following things: Capture the raw data, which is about moving mouse cursor from left corner to right corner? Reduplicate the raw data, using a program, same producing speed, and data, in order to "redo" moving mouse cursor from left corner to right corner

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• Why is iOS "jailbreaking" CPU specific? [closed]

  - by Ted Wong

  Recently, iOS 6 was "jailbroken" but only on the Apple A4 CPU. Why is the "jailbreaking" process specific to a CPU? From Wikipedia: ... "iOS jailbreaking is the process of removing the limitations imposed by Apple on devices running the iOS operating system through the use of hardware/software exploits – such devices include the iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, and second generation Apple TV. Jailbreaking allows iOS users to gain root access to the operating system""" ...

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• Oracle Keeps Growing Partner Certifications with Addition of McAfee

  - by Ted Davis

  Viruses stink. Whether it’s the common cold virus, Goatpox virus – yes it exists -- or a computer virus, you name it, viruses stink. When it comes to our computer server infrastructure we all want to make sure our servers are secure from any malware out there. Additionally, installation of anti-virus software is a requirement by many governments and for many enterprises both large and small. Because of the growth of Oracle Linux in their customer base, McAfee recently certified their “McAfee VirusScan Enterprise for Linux” on Oracle Linux.  It delivers always-on, real-time anti-virus protection for Linux environments. Its unique, Linux-based on-access scanner constantly monitors the system for potential attacks. While there have been few viruses found on Linux, you can now feel secure running Oracle Linux in your infrastructure with McAfee on top. We are happy to introduce McAfee into the Oracle Linux family of certified applications. 

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• Are there any downsides of 2 developers getting married ?

  - by simpson

  I remember that in my first year at college, the professor told us that his wife is also a software developer, and a few decades ago when there has been a tough period of 2-3 years in the software field they both had been unemployed and had experienced some hard times. Of course I am not asking about this economic downside, as it is a general conclusion for a family working in the same field, and is not related specifically to programming. I am asking about any other possible downsides of a family where both people are programmers. To all developers married to developers - I am not asking if it is "horrible" or something like that, of course it's not, just if there are any specific issues (all kinds of relationships has some specific issues, and at the same time are immune to others). And yes, I am asking about a male developer married to a female developer, I am clarifying to avoid jokes like "I believe that 2 developers can get married in some states" and so on :)

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• Multi option step-by-step walkthrough? [closed]

  - by James Simpson

  I'm looking for a service ideally (but script maybe) that would allow me to create a step-by-step walkthrough, customised by options users choose in earlier steps. It is difficult to describe and if there is a better description I could Google for, please let me know! Basically, I want to start with a few options for a user to click on and then change what comes next based on that click and be able to do this through a whole walk through (explaining how to set a service up). As mentioned earlier, if it was a SAAS I could use (in the vein of desk.com) that would be perfect. Thank you and please ask questions if I've described it poorly!

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• An alternative to a video codec for storing motion changes [on hold]

  - by Andrew Simpson

  I have a 3 dimensional byte array. The 3-d array represents a jpeg image. Each channel/array represents part of the RGB spectrum. I am not interested in retaining black pixels. A black pixel is represented by this atypical arrangement: myarray[0,0,0] =0; myarray[0,0,1] =0; myarray[0,0,2] =0; So, I have flattened this 3d array out to a 1d array by doing this byte[] AFlatArray = new byte[width x height x 3] and then assigning values respective to the coordinate. But like I said I do not want black pixels. So this array has to only contain color pixels with the x,y coordinate. The result I want is to re-represent the image from the i dimension byte array that only contains non-black pixels. How do I do that? It looks like I have to store black pixels as well because of the xy coordinate system. I have tried writing to a binary file but the size of that file is greater than the jpeg file as the jpeg file is compressed. I am using c#.

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• How to monitor outgoing server activity to detect malware?

  - by ted.strauss

  I have a website that has previously been victim of malware. I restored the site from an old backup and have made every effort to lock down the server. I have no way to be absolutely certain that the backup I used is clean, and I'm worried that this malware may re-appear. I would like to use a tool to monitor outgoing port activity to detect signs of malware activity. Unfortunately I'm using a server host that does not give me shell access, so I need to use a tool that can be installed via FTP and used via the browser. My site is Joomla :( so a Joomla extension with this capability would work, but I haven't found that yet. Any suggestions. Many thanks

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• How to get MAC address from c# [migrated]

  - by Andrew Simpson

  I have a C# application. In a routine I have code to get the MAC address from using SendARP. It works on Windows 7 but does not work on Windows XP. I just get a null string returned. This is my code. Thanks... System.Runtime.InteropServices.DllImport("iphlpapi.dll", ExactSpelling = true)] static extern int SendARP(int DestIP, int SrcIP, byte[] pMacAddr, ref int PhyAddrLen); public static PhysicalAddress GetMacAddress(IPAddress ipAddress) { const int MacAddressLength = 6; //i know it is has a length of 6 int length = MacAddressLength; var macBytes = new byte[MacAddressLength]; SendARP(BitConverter.ToInt32(ipAddress.GetAddressBytes(), 0), 0, macBytes, ref length); return new PhysicalAddress(macBytes); }

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• Virtual Economy Setup - Virtual currencies advice

  - by Sarah Simpson

  I'm trying to figure out how to build my virtual economy. It seems like some games have one currency and some of them have up to 3 and 4 different ones. The game is an action game which is currently single player but I'm planning on adding a tournament mode that allows users to compete against each other. The virtual goods that a user would be able to purchase would be either customization to the character or powerups and utilities that give the character more abilities in the game. The character is able to gain coins during game play. The advice I'm trying to get is whether or not it makes sense to set up more than one currency and more than two currencies? What are the pros and cons? Reference to some resources that indicate research would be great.

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• Best way to store motion changes to reduce memory

  - by Andrew Simpson

  I am comparing jpeg to jpeg in a constant 'video-stream'. i am using EMGU/OpenCV to compare each pixels at the byte level. There are 3 channels to each image (RGB). I had heard that it is common practice to store only the pixels that have changed between frames as a way of conserving memory space. But, if for instance/example I say EVERY pixel has changed (pls note i am using an exaggerated example to make my point and i would normally discard such large changes) then the resultant bytes saved is 3 times larger than the original jpeg. How can I store such motion changes efficiently? thanks

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• Tackling thin content on an images gallery

  - by Ted Wilmont

  We run an images gallery as part of our site, however we have over 8,000 images and every image has a separate HTML page of its own to display the image caption, related image and comments from users of the site. This seems to be a problem especially with the Google Panda update because these pages are technically "thin content". What would be the best way to tackle this? We'd love some feedback and advice regarding this scenario. We have a few options we thought of already but can't decide: We could noindex the separate image pages and loose any image search listings we have for the image in favour of removing these thin pages from the index. We could 301 all of the individual image pages back to the image category listing and anchor each image (e.g. #img2122) and include all of the comments and description on the category listing page itself. If we was to simply list all of the images and content on the category pages themself; what's the best method? We could add all of the content in the anchor tags and use jQuery to display them in a box when a user clicks on the image or we could use Ajax to retrieve the information. However, what's the best Ajax method for SEO? Any ideas, suggestions, tips or advice is greatly appreciated and thank you in advance for any given.

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• Converting 3 dimension byte array to a single byte array [on hold]

  - by Andrew Simpson

  I have a 3 dimensional byte array. The 3-d array represents a jpeg image. Each channel/array represents part of the RGB spectrum. I am not interested in retaining black pixels. A black pixel is represented by this atypical arrangement: myarray[0,0,0] =0; myarray[0,0,1] =0; myarray[0,0,2] =0; So, I have flattened this 3d array out to a 1d array by doing this byte[] AFlatArray = new byte[width x height x 3] and then assigning values respective to the coordinate. But like I said I do not want black pixels. So this array has to only contain color pixels with the x,y coordinate. The result I want is to re-represent the image from the i dimension byte array that only contains non-black pixels. How do I do that? It looks like I have to store black pixels as well because of the xy coordinate system. I have tried writing to a binary file but the size of that file is greater than the jpeg file as the jpeg file is compressed. I am using c#.

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• What to expect when creating a style guide?

  - by ted.strauss

  My organization would like to create a full fledged style guide that will be applicable to internal & external web sites, print advertising, trade show design, and overall branding. This article lays out the scope we're aiming for, and has links to many great examples style guide PDFs. The goal is to create a style guide comparable to one of these. I'd like to set realistic expectations within my organization for creating this document. So I have a few of questions pertaining to this: We don't have design staff. Should we be looking for a design firm or freelancer to come in for a 2-6 month contract, or do we need a longer commitment? If we do go with a firm or freelancer, would the pay-scale be comparable to typical design work, or is a style guide a higher order of work? How long should it take a pro to create a style guide? To make estimates more concrete, let's say web only, including all custom graphics. Any red flags to watch out for? (Compare: a new coder who fails to use css properly would be a red flag.)

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• Cron job running successfully suddenly reports script is not found

  - by Ted B

  What might cause cron to suddenly report a file it is supposed to run is "not found," when the file hasn't been touched, and in fact, the entire system hasn't been touched since it last ran successfully? I have a cronjob schedule I define by doing sudo crontab -e In it, I have dozens of cron jobs that run successfully.. I do not have a PATH specified, and I use absolute paths to call all my scheduled scripts, setting the PATH in them as needed. I do not specify a SHELL in the crontab. All scripts identify the shell as their first line. Without me touching the system, a particular job defined in the middle of other jobs will suddenly stop running. To debug this, I added an output redirection to a log file. In that, the output clearly shows the output of the script successfully running time after time for weeks, and then suddenly the following appears: /bin/sh: /home/iupress/bin/sync-email_images: not found /bin/sh: /home/iupress/bin/sync-email_images: not found /bin/sh: /home/iupress/bin/sync-email_images: not found /bin/sh: /home/iupress/bin/sync-email_images: not found /bin/sh: /home/iupress/bin/sync-email_images: not found /bin/sh: /home/iupress/bin/sync-email_images: not found /bin/sh: /home/iupress/bin/sync-email_images: not found /bin/sh: /home/iupress/bin/sync-email_images: not found /bin/sh: /home/iupress/bin/sync-email_images: not found If I do the ls command, copying and pasting that exact path from the error message, it clearly reports the file is still there (no surprise). Yet the log continues to report that file is "not found" until I take action. I can run the script manually and it runs just fine. If I do sudo crontab -e and save the file, the job runs on the next scheduled time, putting its output in the log, no longer reporting the script is "not found". It seems to me the contents of the script trying to be run are irrelevant since cron doesn't even process the file because it is "not found". I have a job scheduled below the one that is encountering this problem that I know is continuing to run, because I have its output mailed to me. So I know cron is running and continues to run at least one other job, even after it suddenly reports this job's script is "not found". All my lines end with a newline. I had no periods in the crontab until I added the redirection to a log file. I have now added a PATH specification, but left the absolute paths in the jobs. Unfortunately, I have no idea if and when this problem will occur. It will likely be weeks from now. By the way, I am running a script to syncronize the clock, and I see the time is exactly what it should be.

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• Oracle Linux Partner Pavilion Spotlight - Part IV

  - by Ted Davis

  Welcome to the final Oracle Linux Partner Pavilion Spotlight Part IV.  Two days left till the Big Show. You are gearing up. We are gearing up. You can feel the excitement.  We can feel the excitement. This. Will. Be. The. Best. Show. EVER. See you at the Partner Pavilion (Moscone south # 1033) at Oracle OpenWorld. - Oracle Linux / Oracle VM Team HP and Oracle are pleased to announce another Oracle Validated Configuration based on the ProLiant DL980 server. Many choose to deploy Oracle workloads on the ProLiant DL980 based on the cost/performance ratio they achieve running Oracle Linux Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel. You can be confident that Oracle Validated Configurations based on ProLiant servers will help you achieve your most demanding performance goals. QLogic The QLogic-Oracle partnership spans over 20 years resulting in the most comprehensive line of Oracle Linux I/O adapter technology. Interface options include Ethernet, Fibre-Channel, and FCoE. Host side connectivity is offered in both low profile PCIe and Express Module PCIe form factors. QLogic software drives are jointly qualified and “in-box” with Oracle Linux 5.x, 6,x and Oracle VM enabling simplified installation and management while simultaneously taking risk out of the solution. Bringing innovations such as NPIV, T10-PI, and intelligent caching adapter technology to the Oracle Linux environment further strengthens the QLogic advantage. A big thank you to all of our Oracle Linux Partner Pavilion participants. We - they- look forward to meeting you next week at Oracle OpenWorld. If you've missed our three previous Partner Spotlight's - here are the links: Part I, Part II, Part III. 

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• Proving What You are Worth

  - by Ted Henson

  Here is a challenge for everyone. Just about everyone has been asked to provide or calculate the Return on Investment (ROI), so I will assume everyone has a method they use. The problem with stopping once you have an ROI is that those in the C-Suite probably do not care about the ROI as much as Return on Equity (ROE). Shareholders are mostly concerned with their return on the money the invested. Warren Buffett looks at ROE when deciding whether to make a deal or not. This article will outline how you can add more meaning to your ROI and show how you can potentially enhance the ROE of the company.   First I want to start with a base definition I am using for ROI and ROE. Return on investment (ROI) and return on equity (ROE) are ways to measure management effectiveness, parts of a system of measures that also includes profit margins for profitability, price-to-earnings ratio for valuation, and various debt-to-equity ratios for financial strength. Without a set of evaluation metrics, a company's financial performance cannot be fully examined by investors. ROI and ROE calculate the rate of return on a specific investment and the equity capital respectively, assessing how efficient financial resources have been used. Typically, the best way to improve financial efficiency is to reduce production cost, so that will be the focus. Now that the challenge has been made and items have been defined, let’s go deeper. Most research about implementation stops short at system start-up and seldom addresses post-implementation issues. However, we know implementation is a continuous improvement effort, and continued efforts after system start-up will influence the ultimate success of a system.   Most UPK ROI’s I have seen only include the cost savings in developing the training material. Some will also include savings based on reduced Help Desk calls. Using just those values you get a good ROI. To get an ROE you need to go a little deeper. Typically, the best way to improve financial efficiency is to reduce production cost, which is the purpose of implementing/upgrading an enterprise application. Let’s assume the new system is up and running and all users have been properly trained and are comfortable using the system. You provide senior management with your ROI that justifies the original cost. What you want to do now is develop a good base value to a measure the current efficiency. Using usage tracking you can look for various patterns. For example, you may find that users that are accessing UPK assistance are processing a procedure, such as entering an order, 5 minutes faster than those that don’t.  You do some research and discover each minute saved in processing a claim saves the company one dollar. That translates to the company saving five dollars on every transaction. Assuming 100,000 transactions are performed a year, and all users improve their performance, the company will be saving $500,000 a year. That $500,000 can be re-invested, used to reduce debt or paid to the shareholders.   With continued refinement during the life cycle, you should be able to find ways to reduce cost. These are the type of numbers and productivity gains that senior management and shareholders want to see. Being able to quantify savings and increase productivity may also help when seeking a raise or promotion.

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• Hybrid IT or Cloud Initiative – a Perfect Enterprise Architecture Maturation Opportunity

  - by Ted McLaughlan

  Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} All too often in the growth and maturation of Enterprise Architecture initiatives, the effort stalls or is delayed due to lack of “applied traction”. By this, I mean the EA activities - whether targeted towards compliance, risk mitigation or value opportunity propositions – may not be attached to measurable, active, visible projects that could advance and prove the value of EA. EA doesn’t work by itself, in a vacuum, without collaborative engagement and a means of proving usefulness. A critical vehicle to this proof is successful orchestration and use of assets and investment resources to meet a high-profile business objective – i.e. a successful project. More and more organizations are now exploring and considering some degree of IT outsourcing, buying and using external services and solutions to deliver their IT and business requirements – vs. building and operating in-house, in their own data centers. The rapid growth and success of “Cloud” services makes some decisions easier and some IT projects more successful, while dramatically lowering IT risks and enabling rapid growth. This is particularly true for “Software as a Service” (SaaS) applications, which essentially are complete web applications hosted and delivered over the Internet. Whether SaaS solutions – or any kind of cloud solution - are actually, ultimately the most cost-effective approach truly depends on the organization’s business and IT investment strategy. This leads us to Enterprise Architecture, the connectivity between business strategy and investment objectives, and the capabilities purchased or created to meet them. If an EA framework already exists, the approach to selecting a cloud-based solution and integrating it with internal IT systems (i.e. a “Hybrid IT” solution) is well-served by leveraging EA methods. If an EA framework doesn’t exist, or is simply not mature enough to address complex, integrated IT objectives – a hybrid IT/cloud initiative is the perfect project to advance and prove the value of EA. Why is this? For starters, the success of any complex IT integration project - spanning multiple systems, contracts and organizations, public and private – depends on active collaboration and coordination among the project stakeholders. For a hybrid IT initiative, inclusive of one or more cloud services providers, the IT services, business workflow and data governance challenges alone can be extremely complex, requiring many diverse layers of organizational expertise and authority. Establishing subject matter expertise, authorities and strategic guidance across all the disciplines involved in a hybrid-IT or hybrid-cloud system requires top-level, comprehensive experience and collaborative leadership. Tools and practices reflecting industry expertise and EA alignment can also be very helpful – such as Oracle’s “Cloud Candidate Selection Tool”. Using tools like this, and facilitating this critical collaboration by leading, organizing and coordinating the input and expertise into a shared, referenceable, reusable set of authority models and practices – this is where EA shines, and where Enterprise Architects can be most valuable. The “enterprise”, in this case, becomes something greater than the core organization – it includes internal systems, public cloud services, 3rd-party IT platforms and datacenters, distributed users and devices; a whole greater than the sum of its parts. Through facilitated project collaboration, leading to identification or creation of solid governance models and processes, a durable and useful Enterprise Architecture framework will usually emerge by itself, if not actually identified and managed as such. The transition from planning collaboration to actual coordination, where the program plan, schedule and resources become synchronized and aligned to other investments in the organization portfolio, is where EA methods and artifacts appear and become most useful. The actual scope and use of these artifacts, in the context of this project, can then set the stage for the most desirable, helpful and pragmatic form of the now-maturing EA framework and community of practice. Considering or starting a hybrid-IT or hybrid-cloud initiative? Running into some complex relationship challenges? This is the perfect time to take advantage of your new, growing or possibly latent Enterprise Architecture practice.

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