Atos Origin uses the latest technology for Virtualization

This video was originally posted from Novell in November. It is a case study showing how Platespin helped Atos Origin Netherlands migrate servers to a new data center with minimal downtime.

Using technology like this will help to launch our newest cloud services. The official branded services will be launched in Q1-2010 around the globe. While Atos Origin has a lot of experience with Cloud Services, we're not known in the market as a Cloud Services provider. So, the services aren't new to us, but seeing them may be new to you (the customer).

Hans ten Berge posted a wrote this blog entry this summer: Cloud Computing Undressed. It's in Dutch, so I've got a crude translation here:

Clouds where we really talking about. Cloud Services, SAAS, PAAS IAAS what is the link. In this blog I try to give the essence. Gutted antics, undressed.

Cloud computing is really of no more than:

• A model where services are offered via the Internet which use paid
• It is a scalable model that computing power, power and data storage has
• It is based on Utility Based Computing as long-established
• SAAS Combined with services offered as SAAS

   
It is actually an "online through the Internet data center flexibility, CPU, storage and flow. The latter is not unimportant because it is the largest expense of the whole.


 On top services can be offered. Depending on the type of service that lets you create three formats: IAAS PAAS SAAS. Download PDF Factsheet here.

• Infrastructure as a Service or IAAS
• Software as a Service or SAAS
• Platform as a Service or EASTER

There are other variations or refinements to invent as DAAS (Database as a service) but I was not specific enough to serve as typing. There is also a dependency you cannot and does not have EASTER without IAAS IAAS without SAAS. So both have a relationship with the platform. Software as a Service is a program running on a IAAS also be developed on an EASTER. SAAS and PAAS cannot exist without IAAS.
   
Infrastructure as a Service

The foundation and the basis of the services is in IAAS. This is a Utility-Based Infrastructure. A flexible and scalable virtualized datacenter (or several) that are dependent on demand and load can behave differently. This has everything to do with virtualization course. What does the data center depends on the virtual bodies. The services are provided by the user via a web portal created, used and removed. This form of self (provisioining) is an important prerequisite. Condition is also a huge high availability system. Although a condition can also go wrong. An interesting website is http://wiki.cloudcommunity.org/wiki/CloudComputing:Incidents_Database . Here are all the calamities in IAAS kept. IAAS is the basis on which piggyback SAAS and PAAS. The advantages and disadvantages of this infrastructure are immediately visible in the parent departments.

Platform as a Service Platform as a Service

 Platform as a Service is really half finished product on top of the cloud. It is offered as a service but you can still nothing. It is more a programming platform. The most common forms are the Google Apps and Microsoft Azure (which recently made known the prices see blog updates on Azure), and of course Amazon EC2 (Elastic Cloud Computing). Each of these platforms deliver the future of our countryside and computer use.

Software as a Service Software as a Service

 Software as a Service is an application for consumer or end-users on top of the PAAS built. You use the service and paid per unit of time. But do not the program locally on your machine. All you need is there for a browser. Good examples of existing SaaS solutions are natural Salesforce.com. A brilliant first application for sales people. It has all previous Siebel and put aside. And you see that success is determined by the concept. Everywhere you application / functionality.  But more and more companies are taking recourse to the field of SAAS. Everyone already uses a fact GMAIL.
   
Gartner Hype Cycle voor Cloud Computing 

According to Gartner standing Cloud computing is in the Technology Trigger phase. This means that excessive attention to but it really does not know what it will mean. Everyone talks about it but what are we talking about? In this blog I try to undress the cloud again to what it is.
 
Gartner Hype Cycle on Cloud computing
Is it what it is or nothing?

Then we go in terms of the predictions and opinions go. My personal opinion is that Cloud Computing the entire computer use and computer experience will change completely. The absence of your application offers so many benefits locally. No installation, no problems with updates or viruses that nestle in your application. The everywhere have the functionality independent of your device. Take GMAIL, 8 years back there was nobody to think that your mail "online" was accessible.. Now you do not imagine that your mail is locally on your PC. Then you put your mail again. Not to mention no longer be available from your PC by another virus that came along again. No, I think we will soon see many devices only provide a display and link but the real work exists and is used in the cloud.

Kindle Reader

If we look at devices that are ideal for such applications come to you soon PlayStation Portable Reader de "online readers" the Amazon Kindle, but also the PlayStation Portable or DS will be a much bigger role and the "real PC" a lot smaller. Natural features should be added, but thinking in this direction.


In the example of GMAIL and all variants that are created as GGoogle Apps, Google Maps, Microsoft Sky Drive, Flickr. Flickr for your photos you see that the adoption of software as a service has been in our way of life has come. You can not talk about whether this works because we are already in the middle. Within two years now and create more and more Public and Private Clouds. The examples that I mention above are all Public Clouds. Private Clouds are minor variations within a company or group companies all the benefits of a Public Cloud in it but have additional benefits. Traceability of data and use, access from the cloud to BackOffice systems, integration with existing architectures.
   
Word Wake

"A PC on every desk" was once a "ridiculous" vision of Microsoft in 1975, watching this trend, I think the vision can be adjusted. By the time this vision was filed was a ridiculous, but soon became quite normal . Cloud computing is as big as that. Online services go in the future a large part of the computing part. It's easier, cheaper and more flexible. If you are a business are not working with this trend you started a large backlog. The challenge lies in organizing the service, who is the owner, risk management and the use and usability, not technology.


Hans ten Berge Hans Berge at
Principal Consultant Principal Consultant
Atos Origin Atos Origin

IT industry can enable substantial energy savings

Today, our global website posted a news release regarding the mounting pressure on companies to reduce their carbon footprint. Atos Origin believes the IT industry can enable substantial energy savings across just about any industry sector. 


Atos Origin has taken this opportunity to develop a whitepaper that argues the IT industry must begin planning a strategy to tackle sustainability now and developing the necessary services and solutions to transform how businesses, value chains, networks and society as a whole operate.

The pressure on companies to reduce carbon emissions will undoubtedly increase...in response so will Atos Origin solutions to reduce the carbon emissions of industrialized nations and limit greenhouse gases of developing nations.

Standardize wherever you can, Differentiate wherever you must

Andy Kopp, writes about Business Process Lifecycle Management and how it is the perfect underlying solution when your company is approaching Merger or Acquisition.

Andy is the North American Director of Atos Origin’s “Process Lifecycle Consulting” practice and is an expert in enabling business process normalization through the application of Atos’ proven Business Process Lifecycle Management (BPLM) methodology.

"This approach when coupled with the right BPM tools, not only delivers on the immediate need to realize the promise of your M&A business case,"says Andy. "It also delivers a business asset which can be leveraged for managing change and continuous improvement. Leave the MS PowerPoint and Visio behind in the three-ring binder landfill and treat your organization’s processes for what they are – your business."

Read Andy's entire Point of View Here

Download the printable PDF Here

You can also view a video where MediaStorm has interviewed Andy about BPLM

Risk Assessment

Contributed by Monica Janak, Organizational Change Management Consultant at Atos Origin


Congratulations to Ian Gladdon for his recent appointment to Director Quality Assurance and Risk Management C&SI North America! Ian has become a common face throughout our projects, speaking with team members and clients about our project methodology—what’s working well and what is not. This role is a great fit for Ian and for Atos Origin.

Recently, an article on Risk Assessments was published by McKinsey Quarterly (“Risk: Seeing around the corners”, October 2009.) The focus of this article is about using Risk Cascades to assess your company’s value chain—factoring customers, competitors, distributions channels and more.  This is important because many companies have risk management processes for identifying and ranking risks.

While there are no easy formulas, leaders that focus on direct and indirect risk have had more success in mitigating and preparing for risk effects.  Did you know that the Organizational Change Management & Professionals Services department in North America has a standard requirement with our clients to conduct a minimum of four risk assessments? Our team focuses on identifying both the direct and indirect risks that can affect employees who are changing how they do their jobs. 

When I hear “Risk Assessment” used in the office, I hear different meanings. 

For Sales & Marketing, the Risk Assessment seems to refer to evaluating the benefits and costs for a potential client to implement a system and/or do business with Atos Origin.

From a Project Management perspective, I see the Risk Assessment being used to track program progress, factoring for risk types such as scope, budget, schedule, resources, quality and methodology, to name a few.  What stands out consistently is that everyone wants to ensure that there are no hidden roadblocks that can become issues and hinder our progress. 

For OCM, the Risk Assessment is used to open dialogue with our clients, opening the door to develop customer-centric change readiness strategies. We ask the same questions as others with the intent of identifying any roadblocks to success. What we really want to know is, “Will employees be able to execute the steps and activities necessary to support the new system and processes? Will these people be able to manage through the change and not only return to normal performance levels, but even surpass them?”

After all, a system is only as good as the people who use it.  When the OCM team applies a risk assessment on a project, we are assessing alignment between the Leadership objectives, the Organizations objectives, the Project Team objectives, and the expectations of the end user community.

I have found the best approach to be through direct dialogue. However, where there are many people or people are widely dispersed, feedback through surveys is preferable. The results provide you with a view of where there is alignment and where expectations are not being met.  Our customer is not only the client Leadership team, but our Atos Origin team, as well. With the results of the OCM Risk Assessment, we can work closely with our client leadership team to develop a change readiness approach custom to that company’s culture, size, and previous history with change. We also work with Project Management to ensure that the project team is growing together, with shared expectations and clear understanding of roles and responsibilities.

When developing any change management plans or strategies, it’s important that the client commits to the approach with the intention of providing the necessary support. Since the Atos Origin OCM team adheres to Prosci’s Best Practices in Change Management, we agree that the five critical success factors for managing change well include:    

1. Active Sponsorship    
2. Frequent and Open Communications on the Need for Change    
3. A Structured Organizational Change Management Plan    
4. Dedicated Resources and Budget    
5. Employee Engagement  Everyone on our team has experiences where risks or issues related to any of these factors resulted in downstream effects.  

I remember my first OCM assignment where I developed my first project Communications Plan and Executive Sponsorship Strategy. When I reviewed the plan with the Program Director and Project Manager they immediately responded with “we do not need to do this—everyone knows what’s going on” and “we are a small company; we do not really need to status people on the project or present information because people talk and no one has asked us questions.” 

The OCM team set out to conduct a Risk Assessment through leadership interviews and an employee survey. Our report showed that the managers and supervisors directly engaged on the project had different expectations on the final outcomes. The employee responses demonstrated strong agreement to receive information directly from executives and senior managers. The employees also identified presentations and weekly meetings as the preferred methods of communication.  The results were presented back to the leadership team who immediately expanded the communications and sponsorship plans. They “got on the road” with the intent to close any gaps in expectations and ensure that users understood how their jobs were changing as a result of the program.

A weekly lunch-n-learn program was established, a monthly “meet the executive over lunch” event was scheduled, and well known employees were identified to participate in project liaison program.  It was an exciting breakthrough for me as an OCM practitioner, and the experience opened my eyes.

I learned that it is not my job to have all the answers—but it is my job to provide information and facilitate dialogue with my customers so that they can make informed decisions, have ownership in their change management approach, and drive the leadership actions necessary to support project success and employee transition.  Twelve years later, I am working with clients who say “we’re a small company, we know what our people are thinking” and “everyone will consistently respond the same way.”

Strong leaders today do have a good understanding of their culture and how their people respond to situations. These same leaders recognize the importance of feedback and utilize the OCM Risk Assessment approach as a checks-and-balances tool—to ensure that the readiness approach is working well, that we are achieving our milestones, and that people are receptive to the need for change. The dialogue and decisions that result from reviewing risk assessments are what drive our next steps; our approach on how and what we communicate, how we educate and train employees, and even how we structure end user support in production.  At Atos Origin, our OCM methodology focuses on enabling two-way communications and stakeholder engagement. We provide the tools and guidance for communications, education, training, and end user support strategies; but it is our clients who drive and implement those plans. By assessing organizational risk factors and issues, we assist our clients in defining actions that enable success. 

So, in the spirit of “Blogging”, what does the Risk Assessment mean to you? How do you view use of the risk assessment?

A Whitepaper on Creating an Adaptive Workplace

Today, workplace needs and expectations are significantly different when compared to just a few years ago. Recent advances in technology, innovation and working practices, mean that the relationship between functionality, device and location no longer has to be fixed. These changes have had a considerable impact on the shape and overall complexity of the workplace. This also impacts on how a modern workplace infrastructure needs to be managed within an enterprise.

Atos Origin has kept a close eye on its strategy and the chosen architecture required to meet our clients current and future needs.

The Adaptive Workplace approach is outlined in a recently release whitepaper. It shows the rationale and architecture behind the solution and how enterprises that adopt the Adaptive Workplace can benefit from:

• A solid and flexible architecture
• Workplace management supporting business goals
• Combined expertise of market leaders
• Customizable workplaces that meet end-user needs
• The ability to do more with less

In fact, a new vision for workplace management that delivers continuous improvements in end-user productivity and satisfaction! Download the whitepaper here

How we’re continuing to hire successfully in the face of more tightly managed recruiting budgets

About a week ago I had the pleasure of presenting some data to our internal HR team on how our recruiting organization, working with marketing, is leveraging social media to help us hire, more quickly, in a more engaging way, with better results, on a tighter budget. I got to thinking how the long term effect of tightening our belts will most likely lead to greater success in our efforts to attract the best talent in the market in the future, not just today through the development of wider, more engaged and manageable networks.

Coming in to 2009, we were quite conscious that budgets would be tighter, but potential hiring needs would be as strong as the years before. The question was how were we going to do more with less? Continuing to use traditional and niche job boards for job postings to drive candidates to our own careers site, it was evident that our small recruiting team only had a certain number of hours in the day, so enabling our reach to grow with less money to do so was the challenge.

Widening our reach to create a larger, more interactive network within our target employee base became the objective. We offer a great career opportunity for people, how do we get that message more widely known?

Working with marketing and our current employees to identify where they were was the first step; Facebook, Twitter and Blogs (both as content creators and digesters) all featured highly after LinkedIn so these appeared the logical routes to take.

We were already using LinkedIn as a recruiting tool with great success, as they add new functionality to their corporate solutions and produce a very robust platform for interaction through groups, Q&A, company pages and new applications such as the SAP Community Network app which allows people to tie their SCN and LinkedIn profiles together. Having just passed 50 million users, LinkedIn continues to grow and will no doubt remain a critical part of our recruiting toolset moving forward.

With how the economy has moved this year and the number of celebrity users it has attracted, Twitter has received a great deal of press coverage, it is still growing exponentially and more than anything can provide a fantastic learning environment and an opportunity to become part of or create a community. Initially we made the mistake of entering onto Twitter purely with the aim of posting jobs, but it became rapidly apparent that as a tool, it’s significantly more interactive and the value isn’t in pushing jobs, but is in creating added value for people with pertinent information. All too often do you still see get rich quick schemes and companies purely pushing press releases or marketing material through Twitter but offering no engagement beyond that. When the COO of the SAP Community Network begins to ReTweet you, it’s a nod that you’re going in the right direction and adding value for example.

Our Facebook page has started to build some momentum behind it with content not just from marketing but across the business, it’s not just as an informational point for those outside the company, but also a great spot for our current employees to find out more about what is going on outside their business unit or project and share it with their friends, old co-workers and acquaintances. It was great to see pictures of the Discovery Channel filming at our site in Vancouver as they prepare for the Winter Olympics next year.

From a current job seeker’s standpoint and that of a currently happily and fully employed person, social media provides for a forum where you can grow your reputation and your network before you need it, be found and engage the right people. It won’t be too long before referral programs start seeing candidates referred purely from social media based relationships, and not just old work colleagues or friends. It is not uncommon to hear from people they are being asked about what industry blogs they read, or whether they write a blog when they’re being interviewed these days and if you’re not taking the time to engage in social media you are potentially hampering opportunity in the future.

While our day to day work remains as busy as always, we’re more than happy to be engaged by anyone who may be interested in a career with ourselves or wants our input or simply to connect, feel free to follow us on Twitter, become a fan of our page on Facebook or invite us to connect on LinkedIn.

http://twitter.com/ronashford

http://twitter.com/aona_recruiting

http://facebook.com/atosoriginnorthamerica

http://www.linkedin.com/companies/atos-origin

http://atosoriginblog.blogspot.com/

http://www.atosorigin.com/en-us/Careers/

Atos Origin Worldwide IT Provider for the Olympic Games. So what?

I've known Atos Origin was the Worldwide IT Provider for the Olympic Games, and as been since they acquired SchlumbergerSema in 2003. What I didn't know, is exactly what that meant. I toured the TOC (Technology Operations Center) in Vancouver, BC last week. This centralized technology command center (much like the NASA Mission Control) is located next to the VANOC building, centralized between several contest venues.

When I walked in the building, the Atos Origin logo was proudly displayed in the lobby against some of the worlds most famous brands: Coca-Cola, McDonalds, Visa, and GE. That is sure to be impressive to anyone who wasn't familiar with our company. Then, you walk through a maze of cubicles to get to the glass enclosed TOC at the rear of the building. The maze, I learn, has been re-arranged several times to accommodate several of the technology partners. It will continue to be arranged up to games time. There are constantly new groups being formed, new tests being ran, and new criteria needed of this secure area. Just-in-time for the games a viewing area will be created for VIP clients. They will get to watch this "IT" in action.

But to someone (like me) who didn't really know what IT in action looked like... I expected a bunch of computer monitors pointed at a bunch of guys that looked like Nick Burns. Magnus Alvarsson, Chief Integrator for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games toured our small group around the TOC, the people alone are pretty impressive. There are over 30 nationalities on this project. Everyone has flagged their country of origin and flags are strewn across the hallways to represent the diversity.

The first test lab was constructed in July of 2006. That gives a full three years of testing before the opening ceremonies. There will be over 70 systems that are sending and receiving information to and from the TOC at any time. This demands that information is received less time than "a blink of an eye" after any competition. (literally! a blink of an eye is .5 seconds. Atos Origin has your Olympic Game information transmitted within .3 seconds!)

Some key dates for testing are coming up soon for the TOC. The testing, Magnus says, throws curve balls at the "team" rather than the "technology". This readies them for possible situations during games time. To me, this is hugely impressive. Can you imagine someone from our TOC managing your data? Nothing would phase this team! There are several instances where Magnus refers how our knowledge database from the Olympic Games relates to every day business.

But don't take my word for it! Check the www.atosorigin.com website for more information on our games systems, or you are a VIP and want your own look at the TOC in action... contact someone at Atos Origin. Maybe you'll be one of the few selected to attend the Vancouver Gamestime Tour.

Click Here for Virtual TOC Tour
Click Here for the TOC Tour Photos on Facebook