Adrian Schofield, a manager at the JCSE

Once upon a time, there was a cloud. This particular cloud was a much later version than the one that inspired Wordsworth in 1804.

It appeared in the mid- to late-1970s as the X.25 network cloud and I can recall ten years later having IT managers explain the concept of the cloud network to me, where jagged lines connected computers in our branch offices to this big woolly mass in the middle of the flip chart…

One thing was obvious – the computing happened outside of the cloud. The cloud was Telkom (enough said?).

Move the clock forward by 25 years or so, and lo and behold – the computers have moved inside the cloud! And we now talk of servers and datacentres and software as a service. Is this all new thinking?

I wonder…

Philosophically, what is the difference between using Google Docs from my laptop in 2009 and accessing my company’s database in London from a terminal in Glasgow in 1968?

At least in 1968, I was not looking for data between adverts, nor was I diverted by the ability to download videos while I should be working!

What triggered this chain of thought was the news that Microsoft would allow free use of a light version of Office 2010 on the Web. Why the fact they will be giving something away for free would raise their share price by 3.8% puzzles me, but that’s another discussion. What I am trying to identify is where this cloud stuff will lead in the future.

In the same way as those who build networks must attract users to make them viable (and the more the merrier), it makes sense that those who need massive data storage and processing power should defray their costs by attracting more users (thin clients). In Google’s case, the additional traffic has to pass by their advertisements and that traffic generates revenue.

The synergistic use of central resources also offers the advantages of constant backup and lower in house costs. With Google and OpenOffice offering low cost use of basic tools, Microsoft’s response is interesting.

I guess that the “light” users will be encouraged to move to the real thing but, in the meantime, they are at least being held captive by the brand.

Do we need to differentiate between cloud computing and software as a service? Of course we do. Cloud computing is “everything as a service”, including the software, although it might be difficult to use the software without the rest!

The infrastructure, the platform and the hardware must exist within the cloud if the application software is to run.

Is all this an advance, or merely a return to the centralised computing of yore? Cloud computing makes the users dependent on the service level and quality of the provider, as with any other “utility”.

What will be the effect on your life of a breakdown in service? We need to have a trust relationship with the provider, to ensure that we are protected from intrusion, that our data remains private, that we can access it from anywhere at any time, that there is a foolproof disaster recovery process, that full audit requirements can be met and (lastly) that our data can be returned to us in a usable form at the end of the relationship.

Philosophically, we accept (to a greater or lesser degree) dependence on utility providers for water, electricity and communications – why not for computing? I, for one, would be very happy to have a cross between a netbook and a smart phone (with a 50-hour battery of course) that would link to any wireless network to connect me to the cloud.

But, just maybe, I would also be looking for the equivalent of the backyard generator and the borehole to give me a little independence!

Adrian Schofield, a manager at the JCSE

Following our successful first annual Skills Survey last year (in partnership with ITWeb), we are carrying out the second one in 2009.

The survey looks at the skills arena from the perspective of both the individual practitioner and the employer, to gauge the real skills gap and how each group addresses the best way in which to develop skills.

The 2009 Survey is conducted on line (http://www.itweb.co.za/surveys/Skills_survey/2009/) with the cut-off date for data collection set at 31 July 2009.

The results of the Survey will be presented at an Executive Seminar on 7 October 2009, at The Forum, in Bryanston.

Last year, the data was collected before the bottom fell out of the global economy, so we were predicting that there was a 25% shortfall in the number of skilled professionals available to meet the demand of the South African ICT market.

It will be fascinating to see what has changed…

Barry Dwolatzky, director of the JCSE

Many South African companies have lacked foresight in facing the risks and challenges posed by the global economic downturn.

Reducing costs is vital in this market and yet many companies are axing programmes which improve efficiency and therefore reduce costs as part of their attempts to cut costs.

Unfortunately, while the move does reduce companies’ expenditure on paper, it leaves their staff with the same skills that they had before the crunch, using the same processes that they used to deliver their products and services before the down turn.

Furthermore, the market is becoming more competitive and inefficiencies within a business pose increasing risks to client acquisition, client retention and the roll-out of the company’s products and services across its client base.

The reality in this market is that companies which minimise wastage, ensure that processes are streamlined and that have employees that are better equipped to do their jobs, overtake those less willing to invest in training.

The situation can then become cyclical for companies unwilling to skill up in tough times with the reduced turnover resulting in further budget cuts and a company even less likely to be competitive within the market.

Strengthening is key

While budget cuts in training may be a knee-jerk first response, the best thing organisations can do during the economic crunch is to put systems and processes in place that ultimately reduce costs, while improving efficiency within the business.

Granted companies can’t control the state of the local and international market, the exchange rate or the ability of customers to buy the companies products and services.

But companies can manage their own risk better by monitoring their processes and improving them to yield better results which ultimately result in cost reduction over time.  Companies can also ensure employees are fully equipped to do their work and working conditions are as optimal as is possible in the current business climate.

Many American multinationals have shown us how not to do it in recent months. South Africa has been identified as a growth market for many American multinationals because the country appears to have been less affected by the economic down turn.

There have therefore been a number of cases in South Africa of senior local executives being axed and replaced by international staff whose role is to push the local operations to meet targets set by head office.

One local Financial Director of a multinational was tasked with improving turnover by 20 percent. When he said this was not possible, he was given his marching orders. An American replacement was flown out who did not know the local market. The staff were called in and told the company needed to increase turnover. If they could not do it, the head office would find people who could.

This is not the approach to take – it’s short sighted and leads to unhappy staff, a likely high staff turn-over rate, decreased productivity and ultimately a company less likely to meet its targets.

Companies therefore need to come to the realisation that training is not a nice to have, to be undertaken under good economic conditions. Training is even more important when conditions are tough, and competitors are waiting in the wings to take over. Training and process improvement are basic necessities and need to be viewed us such.

CMMI is an option

Obviously there are many approaches companies can use to improve their processes. The Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) Framework is one of them.

Developed by the Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute, CMMI provides organisations with the building blocks they need to improve process across a project, division, or an entire organisation.

And the key element to process improvement is people improvement. This is particularly true in the ICT sector, where we have such a skills shortage and staff retention is a real problem.

One South African corporate has previously estimated that it costs a company approximately R500 000 when an employee of five years experience of local knowledge leaves and a further R500 000 to train another employee to replace them.

Companies therefore need to ensure that they have the right people; well- equipped to the tasks required of them, and that they were energised to do them. CMMI enables a company to introduce process improvement initiatives which can accomplish this.

To find out more about CMMI navigate to http://www.sei.cmu.edu/tools-methods/process.html and for more on CMMI training and consulting in South Africa contact Lance Stewart at the JCSE on cmmi@jcse.org.za.

Barry Dwolatzky, director of the JCSE

Welcome to The Software Engineer,  a blog for software engineers working in Southern Africa.

The Software Engineer aims to encourage discussion and debate on issues that affect  the software engineering  industry  in South Africa, Southern Africa and the rest of the African continent.

The blog also looks at how global trends in software engineering affect developments in the region and highlights best practice models from across the globe.

The Software Engineer is an initiative of the Joburg Centre for Software Engineering (JCSE).  The publication will be updated  weekly on Thursdays.