Revealing networks

After a couple of years dealing with networks of mid-sized and large companies, I noticed that networks reveal many aspects of companies culture, organization and history. In the following, I will just give some seen examples from my own experience.

• Often when you find a network with isolated subnetworks, using for example multiple VRF mechanism in MPLS, it reveals a history of successive acquisitions of external companies, who managed to keep their IT independence. That can be also the case of a multinationals who's regional IT gained enough independence.
• Networks also give an idea about the kind of skills available in the IT department, and sometimes its size: Big IT departments with network gurus are more likely to prefer do-it-your-own solutions such IPSEC based networking with focus on non-standard technical needs. Smaller IT departments, or those who are more business aligned, go for managed services with focus on SLAs and end user features.
• Speaking of SLAs, I noticed that some IT buyers prefer to focus only on SLAs without taking into consideration the underlying technical design. That is typically the profile of buyers who is actually not looking for reducing the risk, but only to transfer it to the provider. It can reflect a culture of protectionism.
• More generally many cultural aspects are reflected by the network design. For example the design of external connections to the private network gives an idea of  how much a company trusts its employees, accepts new generations paradigms (BYOD, ATAWAD..), is obsessed with security... We can also know more about how much the IT decision makers are conservatives. That can be detected for example by how they embrace new technologies and solutions: cloud, hybrid networks... Finally, I noted some correlation between how much the company is politicized and what differentiated services are provided to VIPs by the IT department!

IT department organization

During a training, I recently had the chance to meet the CIOs of two big establishments, the first in the French health care industry (10 000 employees) and the second in the field of European air navigation (50 000 employees). They explained to us the governance and the challenges of their IT departments. What I liked the most is the common vision of this department as a dynamic "small company" inside the establishment. This vision is reflected by the organization of the department and the interactions with its environment:

 

The organization is shaped by the demand side, the final users of IT services. Through a team of account managers, the IT department not only understands IT needs of the different internal customers but develops them in order to drive innovation in the business. For example, an account manager will continuously accompany the business unit 1 in its development by providing required services through the service catalog, and by proposing new services (ERP, SAP, BI..) that help the business unit 1 to reach its strategic goals. Account managers play an important role in IT strategic alignment.

The service catalog is somehow the offer portfolio of this "small company".  Each service is subscribed by the internal customer according to a contract, in which service scope, features, SLAs and maybe internal price are agreed upon.

Each service is built with different components. For example, in order to deliver visio-conferencing, visio QoS must be enabled on WAN/LAN, reservation application should be implemented on a server, conferencing equipments must be hosted and help desk must be able to give support on this service. The service manager is responsible of the life cycle of the service, and he is helped by the project managers team in the build phase. He works closely with the account manager to design the required service and then delivers it.

Each component is provided and operated by a component factory. For example the WAN/LAN component is manged by networks team and specific internal software development is delivered by the competence center. A factory can produce the service internally or rely on an external provider. The trend is to rely more and more on external providers in order to focus more on core business and on strategic alignment. 

Finally, some transversal entities may be needed. When the IT department rely strongly on external providers, supplier management is critical to assure quality and minimize outsourcing risks. PMO office can be also interesting to improve project management practices.

In conclusion, IT governance must be well thought because it is a success key for business since business becomes intrinsically dependent on IT!