This blog is too diverse. So I'm splitting it out. New categories will be:
http://ikhthus.timtroyer.com/ - Religion and Spirituality
http://fitness.timtroyer.com - Health and Fitness
http://tech.timtroyer.com - Science and Technology
http://brew.herfivores.com - Home Brewing
Monday, November 29, 2010
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
The idea - work in progress
Tech's guide to communicating with your CEO/CFO
1. Learn their terminology
How annoying is it when your CFO doesn't understand the basic technology that runs your company? How can they unstand the need for new networking equipment when they can't tell the difference between Gigabits and Gigabytes? Take a few minutes to scour wikipedia or pickup a subscripttion to CFO and CEO magazine.
2. Learn their language
Executives thrive on positive statements of inclusion. Tech, on the other hand, tend to be more practically minded and even think of situations in the worst case scenario mindset. So use conjunctions like "and" instead of "or". Don't tell outright lies, but don't spend undue time laying out all the potential pitfalls of each situation unless specifically asked.
3. Learn their timeline
1. Learn their terminology
How annoying is it when your CFO doesn't understand the basic technology that runs your company? How can they unstand the need for new networking equipment when they can't tell the difference between Gigabits and Gigabytes? Take a few minutes to scour wikipedia or pickup a subscripttion to CFO and CEO magazine.
2. Learn their language
Executives thrive on positive statements of inclusion. Tech, on the other hand, tend to be more practically minded and even think of situations in the worst case scenario mindset. So use conjunctions like "and" instead of "or". Don't tell outright lies, but don't spend undue time laying out all the potential pitfalls of each situation unless specifically asked.
3. Learn their timeline
An industry anew
Onto the buzz words!!
This is mostly digested from the Virtual Infrastructure Yields Real TCO and ROI Advantages paper from the SAPinsder (link at the bottom).
SAP - Systems, applications, and products. Originally developed by 5 IBM employees in 1972, the idea was to provide multiple enterprise applications with a common database structure. SAP's latest software is called R/3, but has since been adapted by a host of other companies (Microsoft for instance). Now it provides the standard for Customer Relations Management (CRM) and Supply Chain Management (SCM).
Why is this good for CFOs?
1. You can do more with less.
SAP typically involves LOTS of server hardware to be depreciated (more on that later), LOTS of server operating systems. This means physical space, power, cooling, IT staff to support it all. It also means new and expensive server hardware to meet the software requirements.
VMware allows you to consolidate those diverse system into an efficient, compact system. Our own experience has shown around 5 to 1, or even higher physical to virtual server consolidation. That means:
a. Less physical space
b. Less power consumption
c. Avoids the new to purchase as much new equipment
Problems
ROI and TCO are notoriously difficult to quantify, particularly when it comes to technology infrastructure. With so many intangibles, indirect costs, and "soft-dollar" considerations (SHUDDER!!! BUZZ WORD - means your company pays fees to a brokerage, which pays hard dollars for the computer equipment you're going to use. See link 2).
We need a detailed and objective approach to ROI and TCO that can be applied by companies of all types and sizes, in any industry sector, for any number of concurrent connections. This is detailed in the white paper "TCO and ROI Analysis of SAP Landscapes Using VMware Technology".
No two companies are alike in the size, scope, and objectives of their technology infrastructure. This diversity means that opportunities for cutting costs and improving productivity through VMware vSphere are likewise diverse. It also means that calculating TCO and ROI requires consideration of a range of variables, such as business risk and high availability.
The above white paper takes a look at four major categories and assesses their contribution to ROI and TCO.
10% Administration (asset management, firmware upgrades, and training)
20% Hardware and Software
30% Downtime (planned or unplanned that affects users)
40% Operation (support, energy costs, scheduled downtime, process and planning)
These are further broken down into direct (budgeted) costs (capital, fees, and labor costs), and indirect (unbudgeted) costs. This measures IT's efficiency at delivering expected services to end users.
The three diverse companies of 400, 200, and 100 users, featured in the white paper, cut their IT infrastructure's TCO by a range of 49% to 83% over 3 years.
1. http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CBMQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.vmware.com%2Ffiles%2Fpdf%2Fpartners%2Fsap%2Fvmware-sap-virtualization-tco-roi-article-en.pdf&rct=j&q=vmware%20roi%20for%20the%20cfo&ei=Jf3ZTPCeEqbfnQf2-8ycCg&usg=AFQjCNF5H4-kmOe2_KsIYogsAFYBBD16jQ&cad=rja
2. http://www.hewittinvest.com/pdf/SpotlightOn_Jul04.pdf
3. VMware's TCO and ROI calculator. A truely best case scenario.
http://roitco.vmware.com/vmw/ServerVirtualization/Index
4, Vmware's Cost per Application calculator
http://www.vmware.com/technology/whyvmware/calculator/index.php
This is mostly digested from the Virtual Infrastructure Yields Real TCO and ROI Advantages paper from the SAPinsder (link at the bottom).
SAP - Systems, applications, and products. Originally developed by 5 IBM employees in 1972, the idea was to provide multiple enterprise applications with a common database structure. SAP's latest software is called R/3, but has since been adapted by a host of other companies (Microsoft for instance). Now it provides the standard for Customer Relations Management (CRM) and Supply Chain Management (SCM).
Why is this good for CFOs?
1. You can do more with less.
SAP typically involves LOTS of server hardware to be depreciated (more on that later), LOTS of server operating systems. This means physical space, power, cooling, IT staff to support it all. It also means new and expensive server hardware to meet the software requirements.
VMware allows you to consolidate those diverse system into an efficient, compact system. Our own experience has shown around 5 to 1, or even higher physical to virtual server consolidation. That means:
a. Less physical space
b. Less power consumption
c. Avoids the new to purchase as much new equipment
Problems
ROI and TCO are notoriously difficult to quantify, particularly when it comes to technology infrastructure. With so many intangibles, indirect costs, and "soft-dollar" considerations (SHUDDER!!! BUZZ WORD - means your company pays fees to a brokerage, which pays hard dollars for the computer equipment you're going to use. See link 2).
We need a detailed and objective approach to ROI and TCO that can be applied by companies of all types and sizes, in any industry sector, for any number of concurrent connections. This is detailed in the white paper "TCO and ROI Analysis of SAP Landscapes Using VMware Technology".
No two companies are alike in the size, scope, and objectives of their technology infrastructure. This diversity means that opportunities for cutting costs and improving productivity through VMware vSphere are likewise diverse. It also means that calculating TCO and ROI requires consideration of a range of variables, such as business risk and high availability.
The above white paper takes a look at four major categories and assesses their contribution to ROI and TCO.
10% Administration (asset management, firmware upgrades, and training)
20% Hardware and Software
30% Downtime (planned or unplanned that affects users)
40% Operation (support, energy costs, scheduled downtime, process and planning)
These are further broken down into direct (budgeted) costs (capital, fees, and labor costs), and indirect (unbudgeted) costs. This measures IT's efficiency at delivering expected services to end users.
The three diverse companies of 400, 200, and 100 users, featured in the white paper, cut their IT infrastructure's TCO by a range of 49% to 83% over 3 years.
1. http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CBMQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.vmware.com%2Ffiles%2Fpdf%2Fpartners%2Fsap%2Fvmware-sap-virtualization-tco-roi-article-en.pdf&rct=j&q=vmware%20roi%20for%20the%20cfo&ei=Jf3ZTPCeEqbfnQf2-8ycCg&usg=AFQjCNF5H4-kmOe2_KsIYogsAFYBBD16jQ&cad=rja
2. http://www.hewittinvest.com/pdf/SpotlightOn_Jul04.pdf
3. VMware's TCO and ROI calculator. A truely best case scenario.
http://roitco.vmware.com/vmw/ServerVirtualization/Index
4, Vmware's Cost per Application calculator
http://www.vmware.com/technology/whyvmware/calculator/index.php
Prepping for my CFO/CEO VMware event
So I'm prepping for this VMware event I'm presenting in December. I'm pretty stoked about it, but a bit nervous at the same time. Give me a room full of engineers and I'll wax techy for hours without a nervous sweat or stutter. Now, place me in a room full of executives, which I've fostered emotions for in a special "place" in my heart, and I'm out of my comfort zone. To make matters even more foreign, I'll be replacing my comfortable khakis and polo for my suit and tie... ick. But I'm exciting about the opportunity to branch out my skills. I used to be a pretty good orator... 4th in state for speech and debate and all that.
SO, for the next few blogs you're going to be treated to a host of FUN topics like Return on Investment, Total Cost of Ownership, and other insanely cliche topics. Just so you know, I'll be cringing just as much as you at the industry buzz words... but I suppose most of you wouldn't be thrilled about how VMware optimizes page files in the memory, or how you can integrate multiple wireless access points with WDS and RADIUS. To each their own then.
SO, for the next few blogs you're going to be treated to a host of FUN topics like Return on Investment, Total Cost of Ownership, and other insanely cliche topics. Just so you know, I'll be cringing just as much as you at the industry buzz words... but I suppose most of you wouldn't be thrilled about how VMware optimizes page files in the memory, or how you can integrate multiple wireless access points with WDS and RADIUS. To each their own then.
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