Welcome to the Heart of Europe

We may like it or not: The "virtual reality", Peter Cornelius had (unknowingly) described as early as 1973, has become a reality by now: "I am living in a cloud, that is my own world. I have an hour glass without sand and wealth without any gold." What is behind the trend of outsourcing IT responsibility "into the cloud", what virtualization techniques are most common and why do they come in handy?


Marking the Bench - Setting the Bar

Trust is good, control is better. Controlling fulfills an information function, a planning and coordination function, and a controlling and steering function. IT Controlling plans and monitors projects and products of the information and communication technology, as part of user-oriented direction and appropriate charging. Coming from an originally negative approach to just focus on IT related costs, it nowadays illustrates achievements, value add and benefit of the IT. Formal goals of IT Controlling are efficiency and effectiveness, factual goals include quality, functionality and the meeting of deadlines. The objectives of Strategic IT-Controlling include strategy development, architecture planning and the prioritization of intended projects. Operative IT-Controlling focuses on portfolio-controlling of projects, products and infrastructure.

Carpenters Best Practice. The term benchmarking, widely used for comparison among industries, originates from the practice among carpenters to mark certain distances on the workbench to ensure the same cut length of wooden pieces e.g., the legs of a chair. IT Benchmarking compares the performance of IT service providers in order to identify improvement potential by identifying target values for cost, quality, time and customer satisfaction. A benchmarking process typically starts with data collection, as a basis for the identification of a performance gap, a following feasibility assessment results in a report to motivate the change for the better.

Business Process Modeling abstracts business processes for graphic display. Process maps document who does what in which order:

• Visualization of a sequence of activities in event driven process chains and
• Attributes, which provide a textual description of the process steps.

Benefits of model-based process execution include

• Visualization and better understanding of processes through compact and consistent illustration of control flows in model form.
• Starting point for process improvement and standardization through review, analysis and Business Process Reengineering.
• Help ensure that operational processes support the enterprise strategy and create value to the organization.
• Improved communication of the processes to different groups in the company - after familiarization with the used connotation.
• Instrument for functional requirement analysis in software development and ERP implementation.

The ARIS house offers a process design method that considers a holistic view of an enterprise. It covers the following perspectives:

• Organizational view: Positions, locations, organization chart.
• Data view: Entity relationship model, including all relevant information objects, their attributes and relationships.
• Control view: Event Process Chain, integrating the other views in a flowchart.
• Function view: Function tree, listing transactions that transform performances.
• Product Service view: Product diagram with all material or non-material that is brought into or performed by the business process.

Process design may start with a holistic view of the house from roof (Organization view) to basement (Product / Service view), with its pillars (Data and Function views), all integrated by a central Business Process Model (Control view).

Information Systems connect people, task and technology. Application systems represent the automated part of an information system.

• They help realize the existing procedures and goals by supporting fundamental decisions (Administration and Disposition Systems).
• Aggregate and concentrate data for strategic top management decisions (Executive Information Systems).
• Or offer basic system support for all areas, e.g. office software (Cross-Functional Systems).

There are three categories of application systems, in reference to the organizational pyramid:
Strategic Level (top management):

• Executive Support Systems, including Executive Information Systems and Planning Systems.

Tactical Level (management):

• Management Information Systems, which report on transactional data including performance analysis in connection with sales, accounting, etc.
• Decision Support Systems, which serve management with a level of analysis to make decisions for day-to-day business

Operational Level (staff):

• Transaction Processing Systems, including all operative systems, where system failure brings down central business activities.

Application system architecture differentiates monolithic systems (e.g. mainframes) from distributed client/server applications and web-client/server with browser-based access. Distributed application systems usually face challenges with interfaces for integration of applications that have grown in a company over time.

System Integration always goes back to the connection between people, task (resp. process) and technology. Goals of integration include:

• Reduction of manual interfaces, avoiding of entry errors
• Reduction of data redundancy and resulting issues with consistency of information
• Achieve global validity of data and a single source of truth
• Automate and integrate whole event-driven process chains
• Link business processes of organizational units and identify potential to combine and merge activities

System integration is defined by its integration direction (horizontal or vertical), integration range (department, company-wide, intercompany), integration object (data, functions, process, method, program) and the automation level (partial or full automation).

Data Warehouse is a data repository, which structure enables flexible and fast report and analysis. Its database combines data from different sources in uniform format, which improves the comfort with accessing this data. From data sources an ETL-process extracts, transforms and loads data into the warehouse-database. Access through analysis and presentation layers allows for submitting predefined reports as well as ad-hoc reports. Benefits of a DW include:

• Concentration of information from different databases for the purpose of aggregating and condensing data.
• Outsourcing into a separate database, where the execution of reports has no performance impact on the production system.
• Data analysis through OLAP (Online Analytical Processing) supports business decisions. Data mining extracts valuable information from large data sets ("data mountain") by discovering connections, recognizing patterns and facilitating segmentation.

Daily Duties. A typical IT department has got operative (day-to-day), tactical (mid-term) and strategic (long-term) duties. Principal characteristics of IT architecture combine infrastructure, management and interfaces to the business. Infrastructure consists of hardware (switches, router, cabling, server, etc), software and offered services, such as consulting, outsourcing or a hybrid model. Development follows the steps of conception, realization and introduction (installation, launch). It includes business process modeling, design, requirement engineering, change management, build and test.

Clever Buying. Strategic acquisition of hardware considers asset depreciation range, consistency (beneficial for imaging, repair) and branded names (synonymous for available drivers, operating systems, certifications, onsite warranty, long-term available product cycles). Acquisition usually goes through local resellers and IT distributors, which obtain PC equipment from manufacturers, such as HP, Dell, Acer, Lenovo (former IBM Thinkpad license) and Toshiba. Invitations to bid should define specifications, price-performance ratio and support models.

Exact Evaluation. Software acquisition consists of requirement analysis, evaluation period, contract negotiation and implementation. Software components include industry solution components (Accounting system, Personnel system), Application components (Office word processor and spreadsheet calculation), Development components (SW-Development environment, compiler, interpreter) and Infrastructure components (mail, web, file, database server, client and server operating systems).

We collect as much data that it could fill a whole warehouse. Nowadays, we architect a data warehouse to concentrate, analyze and identify information in the data jungle.

Intellectual Property. Proprietary software is any licensed software. Typical examples include the Windows family of operating systems as opposed to the open source Linux-world with its varying distributions that can be used free of charge. According to copyleft requirements (which are meant to use the copyright law in opposite direction), source code of developments under the GNU General Public License has to be made publicly available. BSD represents another permissive free software license model for Open Source Software. Proprietary licensing models include single-user licenses (including Fully Packaged Product and preinstalled OEM-licenses), volume licenses (e.g. MS Select), and open volume licenses (e.g. Enterprise Agreements). Enterprise Subscription Agreements are based on CALs by user, i.e. Client Access Licenses that permit client computers to connect to Microsoft server software. Product activation requires MAK-Keys (Multiple Activation Keys) or report centrally to a Key Management Server (KMS). Alternatively, one may decide to enter "the cloud" with Office 365 or other comparable outsourcing offers.

Virtual Worlds. Virtual Machine software (e.g. VMware) allows for virtualization of multiple guest operating systems on a single physical PC. It enables software developers and administrators to test new applications, service packs, and entire desktop and server configurations in virtual machines before deploying into production. It speeds up time-consuming software installations on different PCs by providing snapshots and clones of a virtual baseline configuration.

• Server Virtualization uses a software application (e.g. Hyper-V) to divide one physical server into multiple isolated virtual environments or virtual machines in order to make more efficient use of server resources, to allow for short-term availability of new server environments and to centralize server administration. Downsides of virtualization can include complexity of implementation, lower performance than native systems / higher latency (data packages take longer), single point of failure (1 hardware, x virtual servers) and acquisition costs.
• Storage Virtualization is commonly used in a storage area network (SAN). They make high-speed block level data storage available to servers by making them appear like locally attached devices. Different to that, Network-attached storage (NAS) uses file based protocols for requesting abstract files rather than disk blocks. The centralization of SAN storage in data centers supports more efficient disaster recovery in exceptional situations by leveraging both RAID-mirroring technology to replicate data over multiple drives and SAN extension over long-distance via Fibre Channel over IP and iSCSI protocols.
• Desktop Virtualization separates the PC client desktop from a physical machine by keeping all programs, applications, processes, and data centrally, e.g. "in the cloud". It enables users to run applications remotely from a minimal operating system on thin clients and Smartphones, which send keyboard and mouse commands to a central server, which in exchange returns the video display output. Precondition is a high-availability network for down-streaming of data with sufficient bandwidth to ensure application performance to the virtual desktops.

In the Cloud. Outsourcing of IT equipment that had been formerly operated on premises into "the cloud" comes with many advantages. Internet-based web services revive the old idea of data centers. Webmail could be regarded as the first cloud solution. Specific knowledge to operate server and network infrastructure, such as SAN-Storage systems, MS Exchange Server and Active Directory Domains, is no more required in house. Responsibility for capacity planning, installation and maintenance, including patching, backup, security and disaster recovery measures, now reside with a specialized third party. Trust is the main precondition for moving business data outside. Dependency to the previously chosen hosting partner in connection with price increases stands against migration effort that comes with later provider changes.

"Moore's Law" (not to be confused with Murphy's Law) says that the number of transistors on a microchip would double every year. Although it was later revised to doubling of processing power just every other year, it demonstrates the enormous amount of technological development, new hardware and software trends. A new generation of mobile devices takes advantage of the achievements in micro technology (iPhone, Android), at the same time incremental growth of server farms and data storage systems (SAN) go hand in hand with Cloud Computing and remote Software as a Service (SaaS) that is enabled by never dreamed of telecommunication speed at very reasonable cost and reduced reservations about outsourcing. Additional factors include the increasing trend to hardware-independent virtual environments (VMware), remote deployment of software (SCCM), service oriented architecture for web-based integration (SOA), Customer Relationship Management (SIEBEL) and open-source software (LINUX).

Centralized Deployment. Software distribution in large companies with remote locations is enabled by tools that support remote deployment of operating system and/or applications. Windows Automated Installation Toolkit (WAIK) allows for unattended setup. System Center Configuration Server(SCCM) manages large groups of Windows-clients and remote support of users. Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) covers the fully automated roll-out of software images from the network, containing both OS and applications. Group rights control user access in connection with image roll-out. License activation models support remote software distribution and unattended setup. Internet based license activation on an individual basis is replaced by Multiple Activation Keys (MAK) and a centralized Key Management Server (KMS), which allows for time limitation of 180 days with client activation.

Another collection of (un)related expert quotes and soundbites to end with (English Translation)

Dangers...
Keyword inventory valuation: If you are add from the top and take out from below, it is FIFO - First-in, first-out. When you fill up a pit, it is LIFO - Last-in, first-out. You know the principle in the refrigerator: Fish - First in, still here. Then it already sticks to the back.

Calculating the hourly rate for a production machine, the overhead costs of the machine can include employment salary. Question: "The employee must operate the machine. Does he fall into the machine?" Answer: "I hope not!"

With printer margins I can imagine that some controllers begin to cry. With toners however, they have the same wet eyes, but for a different reason!

Solution Approaches...
We have been told for the last 20 years that greed is good. And now this falls back on us as wages fall. If I buy strawberries in January, from Paraguay, I do not need five but only two fingers to know that nothing arrives. The Economic solution is that in this part of the world we move in fields, where it comes to knowledge, know-how, creativity, innovation and things like that.

In a shortage situation one must consider the maximum contribution margin. Taking on all new assignments, one would have to work 28 hours a day. In the end, you cannot sleep that efficiently!

A way out to realize a project is the reduction of its scope to a "microscope" . In case of tight budget, one can adjust the magic triangle of quality, time and cost. It represents a compromise, which we use in real life every day. Rather than saying, "We won't do it!", we propose: "We will do it this way! Instead of purple, we 'll make it light pink colour..."

Perfect Examples...
Modern project management has its roots in the military environment. The first project documentation originates from building the nuclear bomb in the so-called "Manhattan Project". On the other hand, the Chernobyl accident happened during a disaster recovery test.

Budget cuts follow the waste burning plant-syndrome: Is welcome, always with someone else... There are running meters of literature about this topic alone. It is: Three authors, four opinions.

The control of economic efficiency raises the question of comparability. Take only the department of surgery in two state hospitals. At first glance, one may think: Surgery, same business, meat processing industry. If one takes a closer look, however, one notices that the building structure is completely different and the number of primary physicians varies by department.

Golden Rules...
As my former boss used to put it: "Rather approximately right than precisely wrong!" Decision support from cost accounting uses average rates and therefore can respond faster more to short notice requests.

Numbers must be presented in easily understandable format: KLB-Approved, i.e. children, laymen and board members can follow.

A disadvantage of using standard software is: I need to come into the world head-first.

Open Secrets...
"Impulse buying section" at checkout aisles, make up to 50 percent of candy sales volume. (While customers are whining, because they have to wait, they tend to give in to tempting impulse purchases in an irrational moment of self gratification.) According to customer flow analysis, an impulse buyer takes on average 20 seconds for the decision and 2 minutes for the consumption.

One of the most closely guarded secrets is: What is the logic behind cost allocation calculation in an organization? In general, there is no one to blame for the allocation key. A department head usually explains: "My area is generally positive, but then come the charges..." You know the game? With billing rates, it's like a ham sandwich, which a company receives for payment. The company keeps the ham, which represents the overhead costs. The employee gets the dry bread, which are the direct costs. And tax eats up the pickle.

The spoiling pyramid indicates that 10% of the population owns 90% of the capital. Those on top usually are in the government and in major corporations and decide that they do not give up anything. But the money must come from somewhere. But down there, there is no dough - stupid situation! At the end there is nothing left to squeeze out. As they say: Reaching into the pocket of a naked man...

Cluelessness...
A successful company needs to track several targets simultaneously and in particular consider potential for success, profit or loss as well as liquidity. One can also lose weight by not drinking any more. The question is just how long the whole thing can last.

You can extrapolate everything. The question is, whether anybody buys it.

Question: "What topic do you select for writing your thesis? What career plans do you have and can you bring in?" - Reply: "None." - Second attempt: "Is there any passion?" - Reply: "Yes, but that has nothing to do with the training course."

Abschließend wieder (sehr) weiterführende Fachzitate und Aussprüche (Original Quotes)

Gefahren...
Stichwort Lagerbewertung: Wenn man oben dazuleert und unten entnimmt, gilt FIFO - First-in, first-out. Wenn man in eine Grube hineinschüttet, gilt LIFO - Last-in, first-out. Sie kennen das Prinzip im Kühlschrank: Fisch - First in, still here. Der klebt sich dann schon an der Wand hinten an.

Bei der Berechnung des Stundensatzes für eine Fertigungsmaschine können die Mitarbeiterkosten zu den Gemeinkosten der Maschine hinzuzählen. Frage: "Der Mitarbeiter muss die Maschine bedienen. Fällt der mit hinein in die Maschine?" Antwort: "Hoffentlich nicht!"

Bei Druckermargen kann ich mir vorstellen, dass Controller zu weinen anfangen. Bei Toner haben sie gleichfeuchte Augen, aber aus einem anderen Grund!

Lösungsansätze...
Uns ist halt schon vor 20 Jahren eingetrichtert worden: Geiz ist geil. Und das fällt uns jetzt langsam auf den Kopf und das Lohnniveau sinkt. Wenn ich im Jänner Erdbeeren aus Paraguay kaufe, brauche ich nicht fünf sondern nur zwei Finger, um zu wissen, dass auf der anderen Seite nichts ankommt. Die Volkswirtschaftliche Lösung ist, dass wir uns hierzulande in Bereichen bewegen, wo es um Wissen, Know How, Kreativität, Innovation und solche Dinge geht.

In einer Engpasssituation muss man sich den maximalen Deckungsbeitrag überlegen. Wenn man alle Aufträge annimmt, müsste man 28 Stunden am Tag arbeiten. So effizient schlafen kann man gar nicht, dass sich das ausgeht.

Ein Ausweg zur Realisierung eines Projektes ist die Reduktion des Inhalts und Umfangs, auf Neudeutsch "Scope", in einen "kleinen Inhalt", eben einen "Mikroskop". Bei Budgetknappheit gibt es das magische Dreieck, an dem man drehen kann: Qualität, Zeit, Kosten. Es ist ein Mittelweg, den wir im realen Leben täglich gehen. Wir sagen nicht, "Wir machen es nicht! " sondern: "Wir machen das so! Wir machen es lila und nicht hellrosa..."

Musterbeispiele...
Modernes Projektmanagement hat seine Ursprünge im militärischen Bereich. Die erste Projektdokumentation stammt vom Bau der Atombombe, dem "Manhattan-Projekt". Das Reaktorunglück von Tschernobyl passierte bei einem Wiederherstellungstest.

Budgetkürzungen folgen dem Müllverbrennungsanlagen-Syndrom: Ist gut, aber immer beim anderen... Alleine darüber gibt es Laufmeter Literatur. Es gilt: Drei Autoren, vier Meinungen.

Bei der Kontrolle der Wirtschaftlichkeit stellt sich die Frage der Vergleichbarkeit. Man nehme nur die der Chirurgie-Abteilung in zwei Landeskrankenhäusern. Auf den ersten Blick gilt: Chirurgie, gleiches Business, fleischverarbeitendes Gewerbe. Bei genauerem Hinsehen stellt man fest, dass die Baustruktur komplett verschieden ist und eine unterschiedliche Anzahl von Primarärzten pro Abteilung vorherrscht.

Goldene Regeln...
Mein ehemaliger Chef hat immer gesagt: "Lieber ungefähr richtig als genau falsch!" Die Entscheidungsunterstützung aus der Kostenrechnung arbeitet mit Durchschnittssätzen und kann dafür schneller auf kurzfristige Anfragen reagieren.

Zahlen müssen einfach verständlich aufbereitet werden: KLV-Approved, d.h. Kinder, Laien und Vorstände müssen es verstehen.

Ein Nachteil beim Einsatz von Standardsoftware ist: Ich muss mit dem Kopf auf die Welt kommen.

Offene Geheimnisse...
In der "Quengelzone" bei der Kassa wird an die 50 Prozent des Umsatzes von Süßwarenherstellern gemacht. (Während Kunden quengeln und raunzen, weil sie warten müssen, neigen sie zu irrationalen, spontanen Kaufentscheidungen, um sich selbst zu belohnen.) Laut Kundenstromanalyse benötigt ein Impulskäufer im Schnitt 20 Sekunden für die Entscheidung und 2 Minuten zum Verzehr.

Eines der strengst gehüteten Geheimnisse ist: Wie berechnen sich Umlagen in einem Betrieb? Es ist grundsätzlich niemand Schuld an dem Verteilungsschlüssel. Dann kommen die Unterbereichsleiter und sagen: "Mein Bereich ist grundsätzlich positiv, aber dann kommen die Umlagen..." Kennt's das Spiel? Mit Verrechnungssätzen ist es so wie mit einem Wurstbrot. Das bekommt die Firma. Die Wurst sind die Gemeinkosten. Der Mitarbeiter bekommt das ledige Brot, das sind die Einzelkosten. Und das Gurkerl frisst die Steuer.

Die Verwöhnungspyramide sagt aus, dass 10% der Bevölkerung 90% des Kapitals besitzt. Die Oberen sitzen meist in der Regierung und in den großen Konzernen und entscheiden, dass sie nichts hergeben. Irgendwo muss aber das Geld herkommen. Da unten ist aber keine Kohle - blöde G'schicht! Am Ende ist nichts mehr da, um jemanden zu schröpfen. Wie sagt man: Einem Nackerten in den Sack greifen...

Ratlosigkeit...
Ein erfolgreiches Unternehmen muss mehrere Ziele zugleich verfolgen und vor allem Erfolgspotentiale, Erfolg und Liquidität beachten. Ihr könnt auch dadurch abnehmen, dass Ihr nichts mehr trinkt. Die Frage ist nur, wie langfristig das Ganze ist.

Sie können alles hochrechnen. Die Frage ist, ob es ihnen jemand abkauft.

Frage: "Über welches Thema wollen Sie Ihre These schreiben? Welche beruflichen Pläne haben Sie, die Sie einbringen können?" - Antwort: "Keine." - Zweiter Versuch: "Gibt es eine Leidenschaft?" - Antwort: "Ja, aber das hat nicht mit dem Kurs zu tun."

Go to the next pages to learn of more interesting content.