1. 5th Annual Business Analyst
Masterclass
Top IT trends that
can impact your role

2. Session agenda
• Introduction
• How well do we predict trends?
• Background trends
• Critical thinking
• Consider the inputs and others’ predictions
• Key trends for a Business Analyst

3. Pete Clouston – Innovation Culture

4. Consultant, Bringing Clarity
web: www.bringingclarity.co.nz
email: pete@bringingclarity.co.nz
Founder / CEO, Innovation Culture
web: www.innovationculture.co.nz
email: pete@innovationculture.co.nz
Twitter: peteclouston

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It’s all about the end user (1)
• 2009

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It’s all about the end user (2)
• 1996

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Humans steal jobs from robots

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‘Humans steal jobs from robots’
• Kami-sama are making a comeback
• New skills
• Scalability, economies of scale ≠ nirvana (at least not any more)
Drivers?
• Recalls – revenue & reputational dents – but why?
Current state
• DoJ fine: $1.2B (March 2014)
• Stock price down 12% (calendar year)

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Google buys robotics company

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Google invests in robotics company
• Started last year
• Yet to reveal first product!

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So, are robots good or bad
for the bottom line?
Some are more equal than others

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How well do we predict key trends?
Half-century prediction from 1954

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Prediction for 2004
Easy to use “home computer”

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How well do we predict key trends?
Here’s what we got in 2004:

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Web presence in 2004: Microsoft
Pull [vs push]
security updates

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Web presence in 2004: Google

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Historic predictions: 2004
• Connected objects & places
• Processing & storage “in the cloud”
• Decision support / analytics / data mining
• Augmented reality
• Linux on desktop for mainstream business users

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Historic predictions: 2009
• Virtualisation
• Cloud computing
• Business Intelligence
• Unified communications
• Enterprise mashups

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Background tech trends?

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Background technology trends today
• Architecture: tightly > loosely coupled technology elements
• Computing: internet-enabled > internet centric
• Collaboration: internal dialogue > conversations with customers,
partners, public
• Implementation timescale: months & years > days, weeks, months
• Risk management: keep everything internal > react to breach of trust
• Manageability: integratable > interoperable
• Access: company only > global (public) audience

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What is a given for the cloud?
• Virtualisation adoption & spread: e.g. SDDC
• Cloud adoption – SaaS, Infrastructure
• Migration of on-premise computing + data to the cloud
• Performance transparency
• “pro-rata” charging – now by the minute, not per day/month

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But what about Big Data?
• What’s all the fuss
• Adopted with gusto by vendors – nebulous identity
• Makes sense of ‘disparate’ data
• Enabled by proliferation of APIs, connectors
• Aided by adoption of SOA
• Counters the lag behind data collection

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Anticipating IT Trends: what are the
inputs
• Moore’s Law
• History – technology / business / economics
• Existing technology adoption
• Geography
• Economics
• Business trends
• Vendors
• (Western) societal trends

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Critical thinking
• Appreciation of Asian-specific tendencies & influences
• Engage Critical Thinking!
• Think through the big players’ take
• NZ perspective
• Be smart in understanding vendor messages
• IT trends context – respected analyst groups offer a largely
North America / Western Europe perspective

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Gartner
• Mobile apps
• Mobile device diversity / management
• Applications
• Internet of Everything
• Cloud Service Brokerage
• Cloud / rich client architecture + personal cloud
• Software-defined network/storage/data center
• Web scale IT
• Smart machines – autonomous devices

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Forrester
• Digital convergence erodes boundaries
• Digital experience delivery is king
• APIs become digital glue
• The Business takes care of process and intelligence
• Shed yesterday’s data limitations
• Sensors and devices draw ecosystems together
• “Trust” & “Identity” get a re-think
• Infrastructure takes on engagement – e.g. SDDC
• IT becomes an agile service broker

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Common elements
• Internet of Everything, autonomy
• Service brokerage theme
• SDDC

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What about New Zealand?
• Trans-pacific communications cable
• Data sovereignty
• Unusually innovative, given population size

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High Level Themes
• Business agility
• Security
• Enterprise social collaboration

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Designing for business – what agility?
Agility type Entities / notions impacted
Market Products, services, customers & their culture
Sales Pricing, cross/up selling, sales channels
Collaboration Seamless partner interaction
Pricing Revenue maximisation
Innovation New products / services, entry to new markets
Enabling aspects:
• Requirements gathering
• Technology feasibility studies
• Process optimisation / re-engineering
• Cognisance of meta processes

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Designing for business agility
Opportunity to build upon the present technology wins:
• Complex event processing capabilities
• Recognition of “big data” opportunities - enabled by SOA &
APIs
• Niche information delivery channels
• Map out a picture of optimal business agility
• Assess the gap between here and there

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Security
• Heartbleed et al
• Zero day vulnerabilities
• Whose job to find, fix, patch?
• Huge scale
• Identity challenge continues
• Validate vendor claims
• Cyber attacks step up – more attacks, higher impact –
software and hardware-based

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Continued…

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Security – but:
• Cyber attacks step up – higher volume, higher impact – software
and hardware-based – and some we’d never be aware of
• Many on one: e.g. DDoS
• One on one: e.g. SQL injection
• Data blackmailing
• Enterprises remained tight lipped about compromises / $ costs
to fix
• Growth in international cyber attacks
• Attendant collateral enterprise damage

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Privacy
• Privacy used to be about preventing data collection – now
it’s about controlling its use, fair use
• Be mindful of legislative obligations to privacy – can be
refreshingly realistic…but check with lawyers!!

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Security: bigger picture
• Security in the corporate culture
• IT architectural principles
• Software & hardware artefacts / assets
• Risk analysis
• Out of the box thinking
• Commercial: warranties & liabilities
• Dependencies – technical & relationships
• Playing nicely together: departments, partners, customers

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Enterprise social collaboration
• Serves the whole organisation
• Breaks break down groups/silos
• Democratise ideas & conversations
• Accelerate the adoption of new ideas
• Option to invite other parties into specific conversations
• Caution: if unmanaged, it’s a time waster!

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Enterprise social collaboration
Implementing enterprise social collaboration:
• Investigate feasibility of capable, maturing, low cost offerings
• Leverage existing unified communications platform
• Consider the value of tools that already work
• Usability / training barrier – beware!
• Leverage existing CRM

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Public Sector Implications
NZ Government ICT Strategy 2013-2017 excerpt:
Recognition!

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Public Sector Implications – do what?
Pay close attention to ICT.govt.nz when considering new
technologies:
• Identity – RealMe
• Cloud Computing requirements
• Architectural principles
• Open data

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Beware – and be diplomatic!!
Think critically and afresh. An increased rate of change
means industry experience isn’t what it once was.

44. Key Messages
• As a Business Analyst, grow & extend your core skills
• Don’t settle for legacy systems
• Keep in touch with the strategists and architects
• Security – be mindful of the big picture when developing
requirements & design
• Help your organisation to talk – cross silo, to/from customers
• Keep learning: from perspective, history, what’s around you

45. What we have covered
• Historic predictions
• Background technology trends
• Anticipating trends: (a) critical thinking (b) inputs
• Key theme 1: Business agility
• Key theme 2: Security
• Key theme 3: Enterprise social collaboration
• Public Sector implications
• Key messages

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"Any sufficiently advanced
technology should be
indistinguishable from
magic."
Arthur C. Clarke, 1962

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Next 4 weeks
• Be a facilitator / leader to the conversation
• Do your homework – scope, rank, evaluate risk
• Advocate based on your homework
• Start a conversation with a strategist and/or architect
• Evangelise explicitly – and/or implicitly in your day to day
activities
• Extend (& maintain) your core Business Analyst skills
• Be a Leader and a Visionary!