Jewish World Review July 27, 2007 / 12 Menachem-Av, 5767

CA's Top Techie Offers Insights, Solutions

By Mark Kellner

http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Just about every one of us who uses a computer is interconnected. In a large business enterprise, in government, in schools and colleges, we're all dependent upon networked systems, and those systems are growing, says Alan F. Nugent, the chief technical officer, or CTO, of CA, Inc., the Islandia, New York-based multibillion-dollar software firm once known as Computer Associates. CA's goal, these days, is to let companies run their information technology, or IT departments, "like a business."

That sounds easy, of course, but there are many speed bumps. IT is often largely concerned with fixing problems: systems break down, or they are placed in high-demand situations. Consider, for example, Victoria's Secret: somehow, Web traffic seems to spike heavily after certain TV commercials are broadcast. If there isn't enough capacity and flexibility built into their computer operations, customers hoping to visit the firm's Web site are disappointed. And, as is taught in Marketing 101, disappointed customers don't usually buy a lot.

The problem is, Mr. Nugent pointed out in an interview last week, it's not just computers that are tapping into the Internet. It's your cell phone, Xbox 360, BlackBerry, Apple IPhone, and your computer that are all online. And while computer-to-Internet connections remain at a relatively flat level, he said, the number of other devices trying to phone home is "growing exponentially," making for a complex landscape to manage.

"Complexity is, in many respects, the enemy," Mr. Nuget said. This growing complexity, he adds, means the "network has become the single driving factor for the complexity challenges that all technologies face."

That complexity comes from the little "pings," or "incidents," that connected devices send across the network to the systems to which they're linked. Some of those incidents merely tell the host system, "Hey, I'm here." Others are commands or requests. All mean more traffic and more messages to be sorted out. Think of it as being behind the gift wrap desk on the afternoon of Dec. 24.

As a result, Mr. Nugent noted, the "increase in information that needs to be captured goes up by two orders of magnitude. It's getting to point where you have to handle billions of incidents per second. And a new approach has to be developed."

According to Mr. Nugent, it's "silly to think that one could create that single system in the sky that knows how to manage all of this stuff." Instead, he says, "you need to create an architecture that is as diffuse as the customer's technology, and place the little chunks of technology, software, out close to the things which have to be managed."

Creating IT management architectures is the kind of thing CA has been doing for a while with its "Command Center" software concept, which creates a "portal," or screen display, containing the various tools needed to manage the tasks at hand. Result: fewer bodies needed to manage IT emergencies. "Roughly 80 cents of every dollar of IT budget spent on technology is spent treading water, keeping the lights on," Mr. Nugent added.

What to do with those less-occupied IT fixers? Put them on projects that grow a business — or an agency's — value to its customers, Mr. Nugent suggests.

"The yin and the yang of this, is 20 percent [of IT spending] is spent on strategic initiatives," he said. "If we could free up half of the people involved in that [maintenance-spending] 80 percent, they can work on things which are strategic to the business. Why not have those technology resources to be available to pursue things more important to the business than, 'Is that server running'?"

CA's approach, called "Intelligent Automation," is discussed in various places on the www.ca.com Web site. I have the sense we'll hear more about it in the months to come, as Al Nugent evangelizes this view within the industry at home and globally.