Monthly Archives: October 2012

2013 Predictions

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The sky’s are getting greyer and the nights drawing in, the year starts to draw to a close and its time again to stick my neck out and put some technology predictions together for 2013.

So I’m firing these out with no particular research other than gut feel and what I’m seeing in our sector.  Here goes…

Mobile will continue (again) to play part of 2013

In the UK and much of the developed world, 4G will be upon us this year.  This means quicker speeds and more capability from our smart phones.  Mobile browsing will be come even more of a requirement for most of the websites out there.  However mobile apps need to be thought through before investing.  We are getting to the tipping point in the app stores now where your apps simply won’t get found.  Brochureware apps are no longer novelty, so we really need to think about real application and utility. Saying all this if you get the utility right or the entertainment factor right then consumers will make the download.  When setting out on your app journey in 2013 think about two things.  How close are you to your customers and would they value a utility or an entertaining app from you on their precious phone real estate? If you get this wrong then you are going to be throwing the investment away.

On the other hand mobile web and mobile web browsing will be major.  If your websites not mobiled up for smart phones then you are going to be singled out and branded slow to adopt.  We know most smartphones can zoom browse and therefore full screen browsing works, however consumers are expecting a fat finger touch experience as the first point of entry, they will switch to your classic site after that.

Also for 2013, here in London, the tube is starting to get wifi-ed up, again increased connectivity such as wifi on planes, the underground and trains will create a pull for mobile users to consume content and that content will often be video. From a developers perspective we need to keep embracing HTML5 and progressive enhancement.  The industry will need to keep pushing the boundaries,  2012 has seen the launch of more html5 compliant websites with richer assets all of which are putting pressure on current website performance however we need to persevere because bandwidth will keep up.  It won’t be quite like moores law but it will improve, so keep innovating.

Tablet Revolution will continue

This is such an obvious one but will continue into 2013. I will explain later how Windows 8 will help buoy this.  Apple launched iPad mini yesterday, Amazon will follow with the fire and I’m left explaining to my colleagues why its all a good idea.  Surely two different sizes of tablet, how can than be a benefit, how will they sell, surely they are cannibalising their other markets in the case of Apple? The answer is handbags, all different sizes but they are all needed and we(well not me) will have more than one. I think Apple have got it right and I’m determined to have all three sizes.

“Connected Big Data”

I’m going to claim this term first before the rest of the tech world gets it.  We have seen big data growing in significance, like cloud computing in 2011, its a buzz word that means something to tech consultancy firms, but what does it really mean to our customers.  My view on this, is we are really starting to see the emergence of connected big data.  i.e. a lots of our customers are starting to join the dots between silos of data and systems with a single purpose to unify around their customer or consumer at the web layer.  The silos of data may be getting joined up globally or just with the sole purpose of providing unified information. We are seeing unification of product data, consumer data, crm data, analytical data and general content all of which require connected specialist with the ability to consult across all levels within an organisation. We typically see four core  data hubs occurring within most global companies;-

1) Product data and enriched product data

Here we are seeing platforms like SAP or Oracle working in collaboration with enrichment tools such as digital asset management platforms and content management platforms.

2) Customer and CRM data

Here we a seeing a unified customer view where we are connecting the customer with common data sources and we are joining the dots between data silos.  Starting with a single identity for a customer.  i.e. how do we create a identity passport and then map the users CRM footprint to that passport as they interact with your brand either via your website or on in the social and mobile worlds.

3) Transaction Data and Analytics

We are seeing even more sophisticated data mining techniques with business intelligence technology fed back to the web layer to optimise user experience and customer engagement.

4) Centralised and localised content

Traditionally the home of the enterprise content management platforms.  However we are seeing architecture and approaches challenging the dominance of these platforms.

So connected big data compared with just big data, sees the joining of dots at a global level between systems with big data silos such as SAP to surface that data to the web layer and allow web layer users to contribute and participate in that data as opposed to just surfacing that data for analytical purposes.

Social

Will the growth in social continue?

Yes most definitely but are we seeing increased demand to play in this area?  I believe we are seeing a plateaux in innovation, which is starting to slow down social network innovation, this means there is less opportunity for growth.  I think it will be still a major part of any digital agency’s portfolio but I think there is a level of maturity beginning to emerge.  Saying this I think we are ahead of the curve and there is still significant motion in this sector with lots of organisation now getting it and starting to put money into social for customer engagement, marketing and application.  So it will still be a big part of 2013 and certainly a time for agency’s to capitalise on the hype.  However innovation is required to lead the pack.  Facebook will continue to grow, but more slowly.  Verticalised social networks like pinterest will also see growth however there will be common sharing standards and approaches starting to emerge such a sign-on protocols like facebook connect.

The biggest advance in innovation will be context sensitive social.  It will be used to drive likes, connect friends and customise information.  Organisation that develop good delivery platforms for this from both a technology and campaign perspective will be able to take most advantage of this market as it starts to mature. Finally watch out for revenue drive innovation from the both Twitter and Facebook they have to do something in 2013.

Will Windows 8 make an impact?

Is Microsoft really on the decline, is Apple’s position now dominant for the next 10 years? As we eagerly await the launch of windows 8, are we really expecting a fundamental relaunch of good old microsoft?  Well Microsoft are expecting to spend big to push this one out.  I think it will start to make an impact on businesses with I.T. departments still hanging onto a level of control and still trying to hold off the day when they can no longer resist their staff enjoying a dose of Apple. However it certainly won’t be a revolution as we saw in 95. We will see interest regenerated by some new sexy devices, even some nicely designed tablet hybrids that will catch on.  But don’t expect too much.

What it will do is start to standardise the tablet and touch.  I know Apple, Samsung and practically every other vendor supports gesture and touch capability and have been doing it for some time. But with Microsoft coming online will mean we will start to see the standard fully adopted. Navigation of apps and web browsing will need to ensure touch is at the core of their design from now on. This will mean innovation in design, html5 and our favourite, Javascript.

Open Source at the Server

Open source is continuing grow and its now proving itself with organisations and in big projects.  One winner in this is Drupal which is rapidly becoming enterprise capable.  This will continue and Drupal could start to rival some big content management vendors. Watch this one closely for developments. We certainly are.

Content Management Platforms

This leads me on to platforms and CMS platforms in particular.  Our favourite has been Tridion for many years.  We feel it will be a push for Tridion to be knocked from its well earned enterprise content management leader. However the ones to watch and not ignore in 2013 are;-

  • Sitecore
  • Drupal
  • Adobe CQ
  • EpiServer

Amaze are developing strategies and approaches to ensure our customer can pick wisely.

E-Commerce Platforms

E-commerce continues to grow and grow.  Choice of platform remains critical and its becoming an increasing requirement as businesses start to look at second generation commerce capability.  Obviously depending on your size will depend on your choice of platform.  But if you are in the enterprise bracket i.e. you are operating a global platform or have substantial business being run through e-commerce then we still would recommend Hybris as number one.  Why? Because it is more complete than any of the other big vendors. i.e. you get more to start with; for example product information platform, e-commerce accelerators, customer support, content management and mobile.  This therefore leads to less complex software integration programmes and less risk.  It also means you can get to market quicker. We feel its still number one and one to embrace in 2013.

Content Delivery Networks

Is a big theme for infrastructure going into 2013.  There are still a lot of companies that have not even looked into this let alone deployed CDN.  With content increasing and globalisation becoming an ever increasing factor content delivery networks are becoming a necessity.  There are only a few key players that do this well;-

  • Akamai
  • MaxCDN
  • Edgecast
  • Amazon
  • Rackspace

So happened to?

Finally I just wanted to wrap up by revisiting last years buzz word and trends that I have not mentioned here.

HTML5 – adoption continues.  Yet still not a ratified standard but the industry is ploughing ahead. It must continue to be embraced.

Cloud – interest and adoption growing more slowly than the hype, however its here to stay and will continue to be a big factor in any big infrastructure project.  Microsoft Axure has been slowest to succeed whilst Amazon is trail blazing.  What we are seeing is growth in vendors starting to provide onDemand services to their traditional software license models.  This is good news for the industry.

Making our developments more efficient

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We’ve been developing software and web solutions now since 96. Our development processes have changed throughout the last decade, however our fundamental development approach has always been waterfall and the tools and techniques we’ve been using have been driven by traditional software and project management methodologies.

In the last five years Agile has been a big catalyst for change in our industry. It promised speed, agility and flexibility and above it may hold the golden ticket to increase productivity. However the struggle still remains that Agile only works efficiently if your customer trusts you implicitly and is bought into the concept of time and materials. This always remains a challenge as project budgets remain finite and it will continue to remain a leap of faith for any customer buying a web solution or software. But we persist, we love agile and we believe it can give us the necessary productivity and efficiency gains. We just need to wrap it within a traditional fixed price process.

So this is what we are doing

All our development still remains waterfall. i.e. you have a start, you have fixed phases and then you have a delivery. Equally you have capped and managed budgets and delivery dates. Our customers know what they getting and when they are getting it. However when we dig deeper into the phases we use a mixture of true agile for development and a colloaboration driven approach to get the project into development. I’ll start with the latter to explain how we begin the journey;-

Starting the project is key and starting any project well sets the foundations for its success or not. There are a number of things that we must get right here…

1) Project control and governance

The plan and budget are the key fundamental controls in any project. The hardest thing to do is set out a framework plan for the project when you haven’t begun your requirements capture or discovery. However this is what we do first. Immediately as we begin discussions with our customer we use our project planning process to itemise the solution. What we mean by this, is that we use our plan to capture all the discussions we need to have about how the solution evolves, we capture what needs to be discussed, designed and who needs to participate. We then set targets by when these tasks need to be completed, not how long they will take. We set a target based on experience and then we go for it. This forms the basis of our design phase. There are technical design(TDs) activities or create/ux (UXs) design activities. We then document and run workshops and design sessions to hit the targets we set. The plan then goes on to form the governance of the project to ensure we don’t loose anything and we have the appropriate targets and budget controls. As we continue our design and specification process we then are able to evolve our build estimates, team size and run order. Governance goes on to cover more aspects of the project which I will discuss later but starting it right is our biggest governance step.

2) What are we delivering, what is our specification?

As I discussed above we use the plan to itemise the project. Its worth discussing itemising a project and what we actually mean. Itemisation means all the discussions about bits of the system, design, questions and answers that need to be dealt with to start to specify the solution. By itemising the project what we are doing is starting to create a framework for our requirements to come together. Each discussion can be grouped into functional and non functional requirements under our TDs or UXs items. We then start to structure our specification but this is where things have changed more recently. Our specification is a collaborative knowledge base that our partners, customers and suppliers can all jointly work on to design and specify the itemised elements of the solution. The knowledge base we use for all our projects is Atlaissions Confluence it gives us the necessary collaboration capability to build requirements, document them and database them. At the end of the phase we still sign off before we begin build. But the result is a collaborative knowledge base that supports the project and gives the customer and the team a clear view of what we are building.

Next up is the build

This is where we embrace agile. We know what we are building and we know how long we have. So we are able to define how many sprint windows we have. The first thing to set is your sprint window time. We recommend two week sprint windows, this gives ample time for the dev team to deliver something, but not too much time that we can’t monitor progress against objectives.

Once the sprint cycle length is defined we can then start to do our planning. To do this we revert to our specification(knowledge base) and look to break the user stories out. The team then plans around the user stories. This is a team approach using the agile methodology. But essentially all the team are doing is loading a hopper of work for each sprint cycle to then execute, based on skill, performance and ability. Again we turn to Atlaissions Greenhopper product to plan the sprints, load the hoppers and monitor performance against those hoppers. Greenhopper gives us the necessary repository of historical performance, burn down tools and planning boards to do this collectively and efficiently within the team. Here the Kanban approach provides the necessary collective organisation of the team and their status reporting against task.

So during the sprint cycles we can back off the plan a little and just report progress against sprint. We don’t need to worry about too much detail in your project plan, just key milestones and the sprint cycles and performance against those sprint cycles, the software does the rest.

During the project we use continues integration on our builds so we manage the build of the software and source control. We are also starting to look at automated functional testing. Here we are looking at platforms such as Teamcity and Selenium testing. We need to do more work to standardise our approach across all our technologies, however automation is key to improve quality and keep the code base together.

Another area we are also addressing is the concept of review boards for peer reviewing of checked in code on projects. This sounds bureaucratic, however it is essential to sanity check code but also to provide knowledge sharing across the whole solution. We haven’t quite got a full solution rolled out but its something we are definitely looking to apply to our next round of projects.

Testing

Often over looked and left to the last minute to plan for.  Amaze’s approach is to wrap testing into all phases of the project.  The test plan starts up at the specification phase of the project.  We focus on acceptance criteria and unit testing with the final wave of alpha and beta testing being performed by independent teams either within Amaze or externally via our partners. Again we turn to Atlaisson and the Jira platform to manage issues as they are raised and to ensure the correct fix, deploy and re test cycle is provided.  It is also key that all our projects are fully tested independently for security, cross platform/ device, performance and load testing and any compliance requirements such as QCI.

Project Governance

Finally we turn back to overall project governance and programme management again.  We mentioned it at the beginning of this article however it is the most critical function of any project. Failure to build the right set of principles into the project governance leads to projects loosing control and often overrunning.  So these are our principles..

1) The team own the solution and the project not the project manager.  The project manager must ensure joint and joined up ownership is maintained throughout on the project.

2) Start each week as if its the last.  Keep the pace up on the project and ensure we are delivering every step of the way.  There’s not time for last minute saloon on any project this is not University.

3) Budgets and hours burn are key.  Make sure we are not wasting time and we look at productivity throughout.  This includes quick decision making, collective ownership, delegation. Don’t be afraid to off load heads from your project if they are slowing down decision making or complicating things. Smaller teams can deliver much quicker.

4) The plan must be target driven not reflective.  We need to drive ownership and weekly deliverables using the plan.

5) Use the tools to report status, removing the need for reports and spreadsheets that are often not read.

6) Ensure smooth an open communication across the whole team and your customer.  There should never be surprises.

7) Deal with problems never put you head in the sand.  If somethings difficult it is most likely a problem that is not going to go away the quicker its dealt with the lesser the impact.

8) See the big picture.  Its not next weeks onsite discovery you need to just worry about, its the end game, the live project.  Don’t loose sight of what we are here to do.

So to conclude

Agile is not everything and will not fix the majority of projects out there, particularly the fixed price ones.  Its not a magic wand, however it has brought about some good tools and collaborative approaches that encourage good shared ownership in the project deliverables.  Each project should be looked at from a ownership perspective, we should look a production values and how we streamline delivery using efficient approaches to both share information and to manage how we assign tasks to the development team.  The teams themselves need to exposed to this thinking and able to contribute in the direction of the project.  Above all we need to stay results driven, very efficient and share ownership in the end game.

A Sad Goodbye

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I just wanted to say good bye to my friends at UniServity.  I joined you all in late 2009 with the mandate to lead the company on a short two and a half year strategy.  The mission was to build a new product and create a solid and profitable platform for the company to move forward.

Whilst the journey has been hard, particularly given the cuts in the education sector and lack of clear direction from central government on where I.T. and technology should sit within education.  We have managed to successfully build a next generation learning platform using the very latest technologies and tools in this new cloud based, socially connected and mobile world.  “Life” is the result of this thinking and the credit for this solely goes to the people at UniServity.  The team are unique, professional, they have  commitment, but above all, they care what happens in today’s schools and they see how technology can play a part in every child’s future.  The people at UniServity get communities and they get how connecting these communities of learners on a global scale can enhance today’s classroom.  They also get and understand how technology can engage, stimulate and broaden peoples horizons.

Back in 2010 when we were formulating a vision for “Life” we needed to give it a code name.  We wanted something that would spark ideas, fuse thinking and pop into existence with a life of its own.  We had a primeval soup of ingredients, thinking, technology and vision and we needed that spark to bring it all together.  We needed to breath “Life” into our new product and hence the name stuck.

Good luck UniServity. Stick to what you believe in. You have a new product, you have the first installations under your belt, you have your first user community developing.  Go forward and innovate.

Matt Clarke

Cloud Computing

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Cloud computing has certainly gained momentum over the last 12 months.  It has no doubt struck accord with cash strapped businesses.  But our view is cloud computing is too low down the software stack and is predominantly concerned with vitualising platforms.  As more and more businesses compete in this space we see the value of cloud computing moving up the stack and unleashing its service orientated flexibility on the domain of traditional software as a service vendors.  Confusing?  They both operate in the cloud but for pure software as a service vendors to add even more benefits to business they need to reach into organisations.  Clouds will grow tentacles into businesses as the membrane between the traditional I.T. systems and the cloud gets thinner.  What does this mean in real terms?

Data will become the platform but it will extend with its applications into the cloud.  As with the web the data will reside in the cloud along with an app store approach to enterprise applications.  Internal private clouds and infrastructure will become agents to the cloud.  The cloud concept will increase up the value chain where cost savings are only half the reason why people will make the move.