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t's no secret that CIOs todav
are under IncredIble pressure
to cut costs. In the prevIous
economIc dovnturn, manv
CIOs turned to data center consolI-
datIon and technologIes lIke vIrtual-
IzatIon as theIr best and fastest vav
to trIm expenses. For manv compa-
nIes, thIs strategv has paId o, but
the pressure Is on to do more.
The major portIon of most IT
budgets Is dedIcated to keepIng
the lIghts on," or maIntaInIng legacv
svstems that oftentImes are onlv
used bv a small number of people.
Most CIOs knov that there can be
tremendous vasted cost and over-
lap In functIonalItv across theIr ap-
plIcatIon portfolIos. Yet In a good
economv, It's nearlv ImpossIble to
get the busIness to gIve up certaIn
applIcatIons: It's alvavs a battle vIth
those fev poverful busIness users.
As the economv takes another
dovnturn, CIOs are once agaIn
changIng theIr thInkIng. The luxurv
of maIntaInIng a large applIcatIon
portfolIo Is a thIng of the past. Bv
elImInatIng legacv svstems, IT lead-
ers can save mIllIons of dollars on
lIcensIng and Infrastructure costs.
The monev saved can be gIven back
to the busIness or reInvested In nev
revenue-generatIng or productIv-
Itv-enhancIng applIcatIons that are
dIrectlv alIgned vIth busIness goals.
But hov do vou get busIness users
to gIve up theIr svstems? Hov can
IT leaders get evervone on board
vIth a common vIsIon-and get
there quIcklv?
Dr. RIchard Frost, global dIrector
of InformatIon svstems and servIces
at General Motors, knev he had a
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cost-savIng opportunItv In front of
hIm. Bv consolIdatIng the companv's
22 countrv-specIfIc portals for deal-
ers around the vorld dovn to one
portal, he vould save monev, use
fever human and netvork resources,
and streamlIne busIness processes.
An earlIer attempt at thIs process
utIlIzed manual requIrements gather-
Ing, resultIng In a frustratIng desIgn
that forced the companv's netvork of
I4,000 dealers to revert to theIr IndI-
vIdual portals. Rather than rIskIng a
sImIlar outcome, the vIsIonarv Frost
turned to applIcatIon vIsualIzatIon
to ensure the success of the softvare
ratIonalIzatIon project.
WIth applIcatIon vIsualIzatIon,
companIes can quIcklv sImulate the
end-state of a proposed reference
applIcatIon earlv In the process, be-
fore anv codIng happens. BusIness
users from around the vorld can see
and Interact vIth the fullv functIonal
vIsualIzatIon and quIcklv get alIgned
behInd a common vIsIon. ThIs helps
companIes IntellIgentlv dovnsIze
theIr applIcatIon portfolIo faster and
produces better outcomes for the
busIness and customers
BeIng able to create a fullv Inter-
actIve, hIgh-defInItIon vIsualIzatIon
of the applIcatIon to solIcIt user
feedback before actual codIng and
deplovment prevents developer and
IT cost overruns. For Instance, the
more accuratelv a sImulatIon replI-
cates the functIonalItv of the fInal
desIgn, the better IT can predIct the
Infrastructure needed to support
the applIcatIon, the fever change
orders developers vIll have to en-
gage In, and the fever calls IT vIll
have to fIeld from frustrated users.
In fact, applIcatIon vIsualIzatIon has
proven to sIgnIfIcantlv boost user
adoptIon rates and decrease tIme to
market, both of vhIch have a dIrect
Impact on a companv's bottom lIne.
Most executIves and IT teams are
actIvelv lookIng for vavs to trIm theIr
IT budgets. Some have gotten dIrec-
tIves to cut a certaIn amount, others
are beIng proactIve. EIther vav, applI-
catIon vIsualIzatIon and ratIonalIza-
tIon Is a solId strategv to fInd those
savIngs," saId DennIs Gaughan, a vIce
presIdent at AMR Research.
Most organIzatIons have alreadv
consolIdated theIr hardvare Infra-
structure and are hopIng to do lIke-
vIse to theIr applIcatIons portfolIo
to capItalIze on advanced technolo-
gIes such as vIrtualIzatIon. But fIrst,
thev have to evaluate theIr applIca-
tIon Inventorv and see vhere there
are redundancIes, such as multIple
Instances of SAP and Oracle, or
hov applIcatIons vould react out-
sIde of theIr tvpIcal one-applIca-
tIon-to-a-server envIronment.
At GM, Frost and hIs team part-
nered vIth global IT consultancv
CapgemInI to vIsualIze a consolI-
dated portal that vould take Into
account the unIque sales, servIce
and parts applIcatIon requIrements
of dealers In each countrv. LsIng
softvare from IRIse, GM vas able to
IdentIfv In less than sIx months that
94% of dealer busIness processes
vere common across all the portals,
meanIng applIcatIon consolIdatIon
vould Indeed be the bIg vIn that
Frost and hIs team had antIcIpated.
TvpIcallv, thIs kInd of requIre-
ments gatherIng Is a laborIous task
necessItatIng veeks, If not months,
of back-and-forth among develop-
ers, busIness analvsts and users,
ultImatelv resultIng In thousands
of pages of ad hoc documentatIon.
In a tradItIonal development ap-
proach, vou have these volumInous
MS Word documents that evervone
hates to put together and verv fev
people read. Also, the translatIon
from vhat users sav thev need to
vhat Is put In the documentatIon
creates dIscontInuItIes In vhat Is
eventuallv developed. It's a process
that Is defInItelv fraught vIth perIl,"
Gaughan saId.
WIth applIcatIon vIsualIza-
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tIon, thIs process Is dramatIcallv
streamlIned and facIlItates a dIrect
pIpelIne betveen developers and
users, removIng the potentIal for
mIsInterpretatIon. For Instance,
usIng IRIse StudIo, developers can
translate InItIal requIrements Into
applIcatIon screens and flovs,
clearlv demonstratIng user Interac-
tIon vIth the data. Then busIness
analvsts can share that sImulatIon
vIth users InsIde the fIrevall usIng
IRIse Reader's lIve applIcatIon valk-
throughs and guIded revIevs.
You get to exchange the excrucI-
atInglv paInful process of IndIvIdu-
als dIgestIng thIck reports vIth a
collaboratIve sessIon that features
rIch vIsuals that are fullv functIon-
al," saId MItch BIshop, chIef market-
Ing omcer at IRIse. He added that
applIcatIon stakeholders can gather
In a room and In real tIme Iterate
the vIsualIzatIon untIl evervone Is
In agreement, dramatIcallv speed-
Ing the requIrements process.
Lsers outsIde the fIrevall can
also provIde Input vIa IRIse IDocs,
a proprIetarv fIle format sImIlar to
an Adobe PDF, vhIch allovs them
to Interact vIth and revIev sImula-
tIons omIne and map comments to
elements on the screen. The IRIse
DefInItIon Center Is a collaboratIon
server that collects and tracks all
feedback. ThIs streamlIned process
elImInates the normal confusIon In-
volved In applIcatIon development
and results In a more user-frIendlv
applIcatIon desIgn.
The sImulatIons allov the busI-
ness to vIsualIze theIr busIness pro-
cesses, clarIfv svstems behavIors,
and gaIn global consensus before
the start of development," GM's
Frost saId. Because the sImulatIon
so closelv approxImates the end-
state of the applIcatIon, companIes
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lIke GM are able to get a jump-start
on user traInIng, vhIch helps speed
deplovment and Improve adoptIon.
Norqor 5uccoss
ApplIcatIon vIsualIzatIon and ra-
tIonalIzatIon Is not just for use
on Internal programs. It can also
be Instrumental In ImprovIng the
deplovment of consolIdated cus-
tomer-facIng applIcatIons.
For Instance, vhen SunTrust
Bank acquIred NatIonal Commerce
FInancIal NCF) In 2004 to become
the seventh largest retaIl bank In the
LnIted States, executIves vorrIed
thev vould experIence a drop-o In
NCF's one mIllIon customers If thev
dIdn't release an onlIne bankIng ap-
plIcatIon that vas famIlIar to them.
The companv used IRIse to elIcIt
requIrements from NCF and Sun-
Trust customers and sImulate a
nev onlIne applIcatIon that vould
appeal to both groups. Thev InvIted
customers to test-drIve the applIca-
tIon and oer feedback before thev
started actual development. Thanks
to thIs hIghlv InteractIve process,
thev vere able to put a nev applI-
catIon Into productIon vIthIn fIve
months that requIred no revork.
ExecutIves reported that 95% of
NCF customers sIgned on vIth Sun-
Trust vIthIn the fIrst 30 davs.
The benefIts of compellIng
onlIne products and servIces are
ImpressIve In terms of Impact to the
bottom lIne, Increased lovaltv and
customer acquIsItIon. WIth IRIse
sImulatIons, ve are able to ensure
that ve are buIldIng the rIght applI-
catIons for our customers the fIrst
tIme," saId DavId NIx, vIce presI-
dent of onlIne bankIng at SunTrust.
For companIes to succeed In an
economIc dovnturn, thev have to
dIg deeper than mere Infrastructure
consolIdatIon to cut costs. Thev
need to turn theIr attentIon to ap-
plIcatIons that help retaIn custom-
ers, streamlIne busIness partner
operatIons, and Improve collabora-
tIon among emplovees. ApplIcatIon
vIsualIzatIon and ratIonalIzatIon
provIdes the tvpe of value proposI-
tIon that customers are lookIng for
In |a strugglIng| economIc clImate,"
saId Gaughan. !
SunJru Gittlcn is u Mussuclusctts-
buscJ tcclnclcgy writcr unJ fcrmcr
scnicr cJitcr ut Netvork World.
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t's a scenarIo that has become
all too famIlIar In manv compa-
nIes. After months or even vears
of vork, the IT shop proudlv
presents a nev applIcatIon that the
desIgners and archItects belIeve ex-
actlv meets the busIness requIrements
provIded them. Then end users tell
them, ThIs Isn't vhat ve asked for."
One of the most common causes
of such costlv quandarIes Is a dIscon-
nect In the requIrements process
vhen user needs are not accuratelv
relaved to the desIgners and devel-
opers. The quest to brIdge thIs gap
spavned an entIre Industrv of ven-
dors buIldIng tools that can better In-
terpret requIrements and ensure that
thev are Infused Into varIous cvcles
of the development process.
Some companIes are optIng for
another alternatIve. For example,
LnIted Parcel ServIce Inc. has over-
hauled Its process of desIgnIng
user Interfaces for all nev and up-
graded Web applIcatIons.
As part of the eort, LPS replaced
Its MIcrosoft VIsIo dIagrammIng tool
set vIth applIcatIon sImulatIon and
authorIng softvare from IRIse Inc.
about a vear ago and nov gets user
approval on nev user Interfaces verv
earlv In the requIrements-gatherIng
process. That, saId Guv Hamblen,
project manager In LPS's corporate
reposItorv and archItecture busIness
unIt, allovs the companv's 7,500-per-
son IT unIt to delIver better applIca-
tIons faster.
The IRIse StudIo defInItIon and
authorIng tool Is desIgned to create
fullv InteractIve replIcas of Web ap-
plIcatIon user Interfaces that support
user InteractIon and feedback before
development vork starts. Other
companIes, IncludIng CNA FInancIal
Corp. and WachovIa Corp., also use
IRIse technologv to sImulate user-In-
terface desIgns.
VIsIo, Hamblen noted, dId not
sImulate hov the user vould Interact
vIth an applIcatIon.
The bIggest challenge that an ap-
plIcatIon development team has Is
elIcItIng the correct requIrements
at the begInnIng of the development
eort," he saId. In the tradItIonal
softvare-development lIfe cvcle,
oftentImes the user doesn't see the
developed eort untIl the user ac-
ceptance test, |vhIch Is| late In the
development lIfe cvcle and onlv
months avav from deplovment.
If the user savs, 'That's not vhat I
vanted' at that late stage, vou lose a
sIgnIfIcant amount of tIme correct-
Ing the problem."
Bv modelIng the user Interface In
the requIrements phase, the desIgn
team can be sure that It knovs exact-
lv vhat the user vants because It has
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used a sImulated versIon, he noted.
The sImulatIon can then be an artI-
fact for the desIgners and developers.
That rIpples throughout the vhole
development lIfe cvcle," Hamblen
added. That alloved us to Improve
our tIme to market vIth applIca-
tIon-development releases. That Is
the fundamental busIness drIver that
IRIse enabled for us."
In addItIon, LPS uses the IRIse tool
to support Its oshore development
projects. It becomes a verv valuable
artIfact vhere communIcatIons barrIers
are broken dovn and an oshore devel-
opment team can see exactlv vhat It Is
thev need to delIver," Hamblen saId.
For LPS, successfullv rollIng out
the IRIse tool to I60 users In seven
busIness unIts vas dependent upon
the earlv senIor management sup-
port of the technologv, Hamblen
noted. The companv's CIO en-
dorsed the InItIatIve and held hIs
dIrect reports accountable for rapId
adoptIon of the tool.
In addItIon, LPS created a just-
In-tIme" traInIng program to pro-
vIde users vIth hands-on experI-
ence ImmedIatelv after classes so
the lessons vould be fresh vhen
thev tackled the technologv. LPS
also kept IRIse mentors on sIte
follovIng the traInIng program to
vork vIth the busIness analvsts
vho develop models, and It cre-
ated vebcasts to promote the use
of technologv. Nevlv formed user
groups assocIated vIth each busI-
ness unIt vere created to champIon
use of the IRIse tool and to ansver
anv questIons that popped up.
We set up a centralIzed deplov-
ment Infrastructure to track the
rapId deplovment of applIcatIons
and get ImmedIate feedback from
the user communItv as It vas occur-
rIng," Hamblen saId. That vhole
process enabled us to deplov the
applIcatIon development tool verv
rapIdlv Into busIness unIts."
Hamblen noted that It has been
dImcult to come up vIth hard met-
rIcs to measure the success of the
nev tool. In tradItIonal softvare
development, he saId, success Is
often noted In hov manv defects
vou have . and vhen vou fInd those
defects."
Bv beIng able to sImulate the LI,
ve've had manv Instances vhere
the user vould sav categorIcallv,
'That Is not vhat I envIsIoned vhen
I gave vou mv vrItten requIre-
ments,'" Hamblen saId.
An experIenced IRIse user can
make the changes on the flv and
demonstrate the nev behavIor to
the user durIng that stakeholder
meetIng, vhIch Is a sIgnIfIcant en-
hancement to a tradItIonal develop-
ment process," he saId. ObvIouslv,
In our old methodologv, the user
vould not have seen that ambIgu-
ous requIrement untIl the user ac-
ceptance test mavbe three or more
months later." !
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"
t a tIme vhen IT de-
partments have tIght
budgets and are pres-
sured to do more vIth
less, companIes can't aord to take
rIsks vhen It comes to consolIda-
tIon projects, especIallv vhen the
development vork Is outsourced.
As IT managers revamp theIr
strategIes to lover costs and develop
softvare more quIcklv, vIsualIzatIon
has proven to be a successful vav to
shov busIness stakeholders vhat the
end-state of a softvare project vIll
look lIke In advance. VIsualIzatIons
also allov users to test-drIve the
proposed applIcatIon before develop-
ment Is under vav, enablIng them to
verIfv that the rIght product Is beIng
buIlt the fIrst tIme.
ElImInatIng revork and change
orders not onlv enables a companv
to brIng a nev applIcatIon to mar-
ket more quIcklv, but It also saves
IT departments and busIness unIts
much needed tIme and monev that
could be spent on nev revenue-
generatIng projects.
The follovIng are just three ex-
amples of the hundreds of companIes
that have experIenced ongoIng success
bv IntegratIng IRIse vIsualIzatIons Into
theIr applIcatIon development process.
M`t 1tt| |tm |t(
|t1t| Mt!t||m
RespondIng to customer demands
emcIentlv and adaptIng to changIng
market condItIons are challengIng
for anv IT team, but such chal-
lenges are manageable at General
Motors, thanks to the IntroductIon
of softvare vIsual modelIng.
Knovn for vIsual modelIng for the
desIgn of vehIcles, GM partnered
vIth IRIse and CapgemInI to create
enterprIse-vIde vIsual modelIng
technologv that sImulates the user
experIence of softvare applIcatIons
before theIr actual use. GM has In-
corporated thIs technologv Into Its
global processes to produce sImula-
tIons that ultImatelv result In more
user-frIendlv IT svstems.
GM Is a pIoneer In vIsual model-
Ing and has led IT to a tIppIng poInt
vhere sImulatIon and user-centered
desIgn vIll become the standard
for applIcatIon development," saId
Corev GlIckman, global leader of
RapId DesIgn and VIsualIzatIon at
CapgemInI. ImplementIng svstem
vIsualIzatIon across the enterprIse
allovs GM to brIdge the gap be-
tveen IT, the busIness and the users
of each softvare applIcatIon."
Softvare vIsual modelIng Is nov
a standard development process at
GM, vhIch allovs GM to provIde
precIsIon IT"-a technologv plat-
form that brIngs together multIple
communItIes such as GM desIgners,
customer representatIves, dealers
and customers. ThIs helps GM boost
InnovatIon, cut costs, and speed up
delIverv tIme.
For a centurv, GM has success-
3&"-803-%
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5oo|nq |s bo||ov|nq. |sua||zat|on soItwaro savos
compan|os t|mo, monoy and a who|o |ot oI
unnocossary Ia|so starts.
U
fullv and consIstentlv buIlt hIgh-
qualItv cars and trucks bv fIrst creat-
Ing product sImulatIons or models,"
saId Fred KIlleen, chIef svstems and
technologv omcer at GM. ApplvIng
thIs expertIse to vIsual modelIng
of softvare enables GM to delIver
IncreasInglv collaboratIve, Innova-
tIve and user-centrIc products to our
emplovees and customers."
DeplovIng vIsualIzatIon soft-
vare from IRIse and usIng a rapId
prototvpIng process developed bv
CapgemInI, GM has alreadv Imple-
mented a number of busIness ap-
plIcatIons buIlt from thIs modelIng
process that have accelerated tIme-
to-market, cut project costs, and
Increased the adoptIon of applIca-
tIons. On average, vIsual modelIng
reduced project duratIon bv I0%,
and the projects receIved verv hIgh
customer satIsfactIon ratIngs.
Bv meetIng the specIfIc needs and
unIque desIres of IT product users
up front, vIsualIzatIon softvare can
transform the vav people, processes
and technologv vork at companIes
of all sIzes. CompanIes elImInate
mIscommunIcatIons among product
users, busIness managers and IT ar-
chItects, Improve applIcatIon devel-
opment delIverv tImes and, most of
all, cut project costs.
1mI(1t| |tttt!t
Jt||rt( |tmtt|t||tmt
At SunTrust Banks Inc., vIsualIza-
tIon not onlv helped ease the merg-
Ing of tvo banks, but also helped
speed up applIcatIon development
tIme vell bevond expectatIons.
In 2004, SunTrust acquIred Na-
tIonal Commerce FInancIal NCF)
to become the seventh largest retaIl
bank In the LnIted States. The busI-
ness ovners at SunTrust faced the
challenge of retaInIng more than one
mIllIon nev customers vhIle at the
same tIme raIsIng consumer avare-
ness of the bank as a technologv lead-
er. An entIrelv nev onlIne bankIng
applIcatIon had to be delIvered In less
than sIx months, vIth an aggressIve
benchmark of 92% onlIne customer
retentIon In 90 davs. It vas clear that
tradItIonal text-based specIfIcatIons
vere not goIng to get them there.
SunTrust used IRIse to quIcklv
create hIgh-defInItIon sImulatIons of
the proposed nev onlIne solutIon.
LsIng IRIse, SunTrust busIness ana-
lvsts vere able to quIcklv elIcIt re-
quIrements from project stakehold-
ers and then let evervone Involved
test-drIve the nev svstem before anv
development had taken place. In just
four veeks a fullv functIonal vIsual-
IzatIon of the proposed nev sIte vas
completed and the busIness ovners
had receIved the go-ahead from the
steerIng commIttee and marketIng
department to begIn development.
The benefIts of compellIng onlIne
products and servIces are ImpressIve
In terms of Impact to the bottom lIne,
Increased lovaltv and customer ac-
quIsItIon," saId DavId NIx, SunTrust's
vIce presIdent of onlIne bankIng. As
ve began the project to delIver an
enhanced onlIne experIence for our
customers, ve knev ve needed a
more eectIve vav to valIdate user
requIrements. WIth IRIse sImula-
tIons, ve are able to ensure that ve
are buIldIng the rIght applIcatIons for
our customers the fIrst tIme."
LsIng the IRIse sImulatIon as a vI-
sual blueprInt, the development team
delIvered the fInal applIcatIon Into
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IO
productIon In just fIve months vIth
lIterallv no revork-vell ahead of the
orIgInal II-month estImate gIven prIor
to the IntroductIon of IRIse Into the
process. The busIness ovners vere
ecstatIc to fInd that thev exceeded
theIr retentIon goals: 95% of NCF cus-
tomers sIgned up for the nev onlIne
bankIng portal In just 30 davs.
Mt(t I|mt |t(
|t||, |t||tm|t t|
M.J. lm!t(ttm
Mt!|tt| |tm|t(
At the LnIversItv of Texas M.D.
Anderson MedIcal Center, everv
mInute Is crucIal to fIndIng a cure
for cancer and treatIng patIents.
The cancer-onlv care hospItal helps
some 70,000 patIents each vear and
helps develop nev veapons agaInst
cancer vIth Its extensIve research
and teachIng facIlItIes.
TIme Is of the essence for medIcal
sta at thIs specIalIzed InstItutIon:
the more tIme thev can spend tend-
Ing to patIents and not on admInIs-
tratIve tasks leads to better care for
patIents. So vhen MDA's ElectronIc
MedIcal Records EMR) department
vas tasked vIth developIng an on-
lIne solutIon to automate Its patIent
needs assessment process, It vas
Important to come up vIth a svstem
that vouldn't consume the medIcal
sta In the development stage.
Because MDA Is a hIghlv specIal-
Ized InstItutIon, out-of-the-box EMR
solutIons do not meet Its needs. So
the IT team turned to IRIse sImula-
tIon tools, vhIch allov the EMR
department to defIne and develop Its
ovn custom-buIlt applIcatIons.
M.D. Anderson vorked vIth
IRIse to Implement the PatIent
Needs Assessment module for
documentIng patIent vItal sIgns
and allergIes. Project stakeholders
In these development projects are
clInIcal and research nurses vho
solIcIt and utIlIze needs assess-
ment data. It vas ImperatIve that
the EMR department reduce the
development cvcle to allov hos-
pItal sta to spend less tIme defIn-
Ing and revIevIng softvare and
more tIme tendIng to patIents.
PrIor thIs module, M.D. Anderson
Implemented a sImIlar module,
vhIch took I0 months for fInal
end-user approval.
IRIse sIgnIfIcantlv cuts dovn the
tIme needed to elIcIt requIrements
from hospItal sta and Iterate
vorkflov Improvements, allovIng
doctors and nurses more tIme to
spend vIth patIents," saId O'Dell
HutchIson, busIness svstems analvst
at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.
DurIng the defInItIon phase, busI-
ness analvsts IntervIeved more than
20 sta members for project requIre-
ments. In real tIme, busIness analvsts
plugged the requIrements dIrectlv
Into an IRIse sImulatIon. Stakehold-
ers ImmedIatelv sav the proposed
vorkflov and recognIzed areas for
Improvement thev could not vIsual-
Ize vhen draftIng requIrements.
Feedback solIcIted In these InItIal
meetIngs dramatIcallv reduced the
need for multIple follov-up revIev
sessIons. WIth the flov approved,
the EMR department enhanced the
vIsual fIdelItv of the sImulatIon to
look lIke a fInal applIcatIon. Dur-
Ing the requIrements gatherIng
cvcle, developers vere Included to
ensure that the hIgh-fIdelItv sImula-
tIon looked verv sImIlar to the fInal
product. ThIs enabled traIners to de-
velop educatIonal materIals dIrectlv
from the sImulatIon and accelerated
adoptIon as hospItal sta members
receIved a famIlIar applIcatIon.
As a result of sImulatIng the
needs assessment project In IRIse
prIor to codIng, the EMR depart-
ment cut the development cvcle In
half and delIvered the onlIne applI-
catIon In fIve months. The ultImate
benefIcIarv: patIents, vho nov
receIve the needed attentIon from
medIcal sta. !
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T executIves vho belIeve
thev've alreadv hIt the bottom
of the barrel vIth cost cuttIng
vIll be happv to knov there Is
stIll opportunItv for reducIng costs.
IRIse CEO and Co-Founder Emmet
B. Keee recentlv spoke vIth Tech-
nologv EdItor Sandra GIttlen about
hov IT and applIcatIon develop-
ment teams can uncover sIgnIfIcant
savIngs bv usIng applIcatIon vIsual-
IzatIon and ratIonalIzatIon.
: What |s tho curront stato oI I1 budqots?
: Whenever there's a recessIon
budgets are eIther flat or reduced bv
5% to I0%. Over the past fev vears,
companIes have handled reductIons
through hardvare consolIdatIon and
ratIonalIzatIon. Manv CIOs have
alreadv pulled that cost out of theIr
busIness. So thIs tIme around thev
are targetIng applIcatIon develop-
ment costs. Thev are lookIng at the
fact that thev probablv have mul-
tIple human resources, fInance, ERP
and other svstems and thev need to
ratIonalIze them. Also, thev are hop-
Ing to go forvard vIth nev revenue-
generatIng applIcatIon projects but
have to do so at the lovest possIble
development cost.
: how havo thoy trad|t|ona||y hand|od thoso
rat|ona||zat|on and dovo|opmont tasks?
: It's been challengIng because us-
ers are often on dIerent svstems
and are attached to those svstems. It
can be IncredIblv polItIcal. There are
also obstacles because the onlv ap-
proach thev've knovn for revampIng
legacv applIcatIons or deplovIng nev
ones Is lengthv and cumbersome.
Thev have to create use cases and
busIness-process-flov dIagrams and
other complex documentatIon bv
hand. A spec for a large strategIc svs-
tem could vInd up beIng thousands
of pages long. It's hard to sIft through
all that and knov vhether the pro-
posed svstem vIll ultImatelv meet
theIr needs, and It makes stakehold-
ers nervous about the outcome. In
the end, thev fInd thev'd rather stav
on multIple svstems.
: What ro|o doos q|oba| sourc|nq p|ay
|n a|| oI th|s?
: When It comes to strategIc develop-
ment, It can be dImcult to leverage
the benefIts of global sourcIng. It can
take davs or veeks for an oshore
outsourcer or even an In-house, o-
sIte developer to pore through the
pIles of user requIrements gathered
bv a busIness analvst. And oftentImes,
the prototvpe thev create mIsses the
mark because thev mIsInterpreted that
documentatIon. ThIs vInds up costIng
companIes In terms of delavs In applI-
catIon rollouts, lov user adoptIon be-
cause of frustratIng desIgn flavs, and
monev spent on revorkIng programs.
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: how do |h|so's app||cat|on v|sua||zat|on
and rat|ona||zat|on too|s so|vo thoso cr|t|-
ca| prob|oms?
: The Impact Is sImIlar to the eect
that computer-aIded desIgn had on the
auto manufacturIng Industrv. Rather
than havIng to buIld a prototvpe of the
car durIng the development process,
thev vere able to perfect the desIgn
usIng sImulatIon softvare. We've
made the same thIng avaIlable for IT
and developer teams. Instead of cod-
Ing the full applIcatIon up front, IT
and developers can create a sImulatIon
of the product to gather feedback from
users. ThIs saves at least 30% on over-
all development costs and Increases
user adoptIon because the fInal tool
Is more In lIne vIth user expecta-
tIons. Most Importantlv, applIcatIon
vIsualIzatIon and ratIonalIzatIon speed
tIme to market bv 30% to 50%, vhIch
results In a competItIve advantage and
ultImatelv more revenue. !
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Ovcr tlc lust I5 ycurs Emmct B. Kcchc III lus upplicJ lis plilcscply cf tlc nctwcrl is tlc busincss" tc bcccmc cnc cf tlc
mcst wcll-ccnncctcJ CEOs in tlc scftwurc inJustry. As CEO unJ cc-fcunJcr cf iPisc, Emmct lus lcvcrugcJ lis nctwcrl tc
clcsc cvcr $60 millicn in invcstmcnt funJing unJ Jrivcs lcuJcrslip cf sulcs, murlcting unJ busincss Jcvclcpmcnt. Pricr tc
cc-fcunJing iPisc, lis curccr incluJcJ sulcs pcsiticns ut NctDynumics, Auspcx Systcms, Diuscnics unJ Mincltu. Emmct is
ulsc u mcmbcr cf tlc Ycung PrcsiJcnts' Orgunizuticn (YPO) unJ u mcmbcr cf tlc BcurJ cf Trustccs ut Tlc Purtncrslip
Sclclurs, u fcunJuticn fccuscJ cn imprcving cJucuticn fcr JisuJvuntugcJ stuJcnts.
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5
he L.S. Government
has a sordId hIstorv
of IT project faIlures.
There's the FBI's vIrtual
case fIle svstem, vhIch the agencv
scrapped In 2005 after sInkIng
$I70 mIllIon Into It: the $8 bIllIon
svstems modernIzatIon the IRS
launched nearlv I0 vears ago: and
the L.S. CItIzenshIp and ImmIgra-
tIon ServIces' $I90 mIllIon auto-
matIon eort, to name just a fev
standouts.
Naturallv, the government's solu-
tIon to Its IT project management
problems has been legIslatIon. The
InformatIon Technologv Manage-
ment Reform Act of I996, also
knovn as the ClInger-Cohen Act, re-
quIres federal agencIes to hIre stra-
tegIc CIOs vho can Implement best
practIces for managIng IT from the
corporate vorld In the publIc sector.
Agencv heads are requIred under
SectIon II3I7 of TItle 40 of the L.S.
Code to IdentIfv In theIr IT manage-
ment plans anv major IT project
that has sIgnIfIcantlv devIated from
the cost, performance or schedule
goals establIshed" for that project.
Nov there's nev legIslatIon mak-
Ing Its vav through Congress aImed
at ImprovIng the success rates of
federal IT projects. If passed, the
InformatIon Technologv Invest-
ment OversIght Enhancement
and Waste PreventIon Act of 2008
vould provIde more accountabIl-
Itv for federal IT project faIlures.
In short, It vould requIre agencv
heads and theIr CIOs to report to
the approprIate congressIonal com-
mIttee and to the Government Ac-
countabIlItv Omce GAO) on theIr
agencv's most mIssIon-crItIcal IT
projects that don't meet orIgInal
performance requIrements or ex-
ceed orIgInal cost and schedule es-
tImates bv 20 percent or more.
In the event of a cost or schedule
overrun of 40 percent or more, the
InformatIon Technologv Invest-
ment OversIght Enhancement and
Waste PreventIon Act specIfIes
remedIal actIons agencIes need to
take to get projects back on track,
IncludIng IdentIfvIng three cost-
eectIve alternatIves to the aIlIng
project. The proposed bIll vould
also requIre the Omce of Manage-
ment and Budget's e-government
admInIstrator to put together a
specIal team of certIfIed project and
program managers from the publIc
and prIvate sectors to help agencIes
avoId cost and schedule overruns.
The questIon Is, vIll thIs legIsla-
tIon fInallv do the trIck, or Is It just
a vav for the IT Industrv to get
more of the government's busIness
In consultIng contracts and soft-
vare lIcenses?
CIO.com's MerIdIth LevInson
spoke to MItch BIshop, CMO of vI-
2"
#:.&3*%*5)-&7*/40/
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I4
sualIzatIon softvare provIder IRIse,
vhIch Is a proponent of the legIsla-
tIon, about the IT Waste PreventIon
Act and IRIse's Interest In It. BIshop
Isn't even convInced the bIll, vhIch
he savs Is lIkelv to be passed In
2009, vIll be sumcIent to prevent
federal IT projects from careenIng
out of control.
: o you roa||y th|nk th|s |oq|s|at|on,
|I passod, |s qo|nq to mako a d|IIoronco
|n tho succoss or Ia||uro oI Iodora|
I1 pro|octs?
: I don't knov If It's goIng to make
a dIerence or not, but vhat vIll be
dIerent Is that projects In dIstress
vIll be much more vIsIble. What's
dIerent here Is the level of trans-
parencv. We'll fInallv be able to
track root causes for these faIlures.
Our poInt of vIev Is that manv proj-
ects that are alreadv In dIstress-
much of that faIlure Is tIed to bad
requIrements.
: II Iodora| aqonc|os aro on|y roport-
|nq on pro|octs onco thoy'ro |n d|stross,
what qood doos that do? Isn't that too
||tt|o, too |ato?
: It remaIns to be seen vhether It
vIll Improve the success rate of the
project. It vIll certaInlv drav atten-
tIon to the projects that are success-
ful and the projects In dIstress that
are usIng publIc monev. Long term,
It vIll have a net posItIve eect In
preventIng faIlures because faIlures
vIll be more transparent and more
publIclv accessIble. There are al-
readv a lot of projects In dIstress,
but hov manv of them have ve
heard about?
: o you th|nk th|s |oq|s|at|on w||| roa||y
ho|p qot at root causos, or w||| |t |ust cro-
ato moro qovornmont buroaucracy?
: The reportIng mav be bureau-
cracv, but Norm Brovn |executIve
dIrector of the Center for Program
TransformatIon, vho testIfIed be-
fore a senate subcommIttee on the
dIsmal state of federal IT projects|
Is recommendIng that IT profes-
sIonals from the prIvate sector help
get these projects back on the raIls
and get a set of best practIces from
the commercIal vorld to become
standard for government IT.
: has |h|so had any hand |n craIt|nq th|s
|oq|s|at|on? What's |h|so's |ntorost |n tho
Wasto Frovont|on ct?
: IRIse has not had anv part In
craftIng thIs legIslatIon. It drev our
attentIon because the problems
thev're descrIbIng In thIs testImonv
are exactlv the problems ve help
solve. We have a federal sector
omce nov. We see the federal IT
busIness as an opportunItv for us,
not onlv to sell our product and get
vIsualIzatIon In use In the federal
government but also as a vav to
help Improve the emcIencv of
tax-paver dollars.
: y throw|nq moro tax-payor do||ars
|nto tho purchaso oI soItwaro?
: Our customers tell us that usIng
IRIse, thev're able to get theIr proj-
ects to market tvIce as fast vIth
about 30 percent less cost. We're
trvIng to applv best practIces from
the commercIal sIde Into the federal
IT space. If ve vere a startup vIth-
out much success, I could under-
stand It remaIns to be seen, but ve
have had real documented commer-
cIal success on the prIvate sIde that
ve thInk could be applIed here. !
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nterprIses that vant to
create applIcatIons for
Apple's IPhone vIll be
able to buIld and trv out
prototvpes usIng a specIal pro-
grammIng template unveIled on
Tuesdav.
It's the latest template from
IRIse, vhIch has been sellIng a pro-
totvpIng platform for other tvpes
of applIcatIons for sIx vears. The
El Segundo, CalIfornIa, companv
Introduced It at the Softvare 2008
trade shov, beIng held In conjunc-
tIon vIth Interop In Las Vegas.
The IPhone Is a coveted gadget,
sellIng I.7 mIllIon unIts In the vear's
fIrst quarter, vIth Apple forecastIng
I0 mIllIon IPhones In the market bv
the end of 2008. So far, applIcatIon
buIlders vho vant to reach IPhone
users have had to get theIr code to
run on the phone's SafarI brovser,
but Apple's recentlv released SDK
lets them vrIte applIcatIons to run
dIrectlv on the phone.
The IRIse softvare suIte Is used
to create prototvpes that look and
behave lIke an applIcatIon but don't
have the underlvIng code. ThIs lets
In-house or outsIde programmers,
and even nonprogrammers, desIgn
an applIcatIon quIcklv and easIlv
just for demonstratIon. Then decI-
sIon makers, such as busIness ex-
ecutIves, can see hov It vould vork
and sIgn o on the project, accord-
Ing to MItch BIshop, chIef market-
Ing omcer at IRIse. LsIng a mock-up
of the user Interface tells executIves
more than pages of descrIptIon, he
saId.
TheIr attItude Is, 'I'll knov It
vhen I see It,'" BIshop saId. Tra-
dItIonallv, the busIness sIde of an
enterprIse doesn't get to see a nev
applIcatIon In actIon untIl It's large-
lv complete. Bv then, It's reallv ex-
pensIve to make changes," he saId.
About I80 customers, mostlv
Fortune 500 companIes, alreadv use
IRIse for projects, IncludIng Web-
based applIcatIons, portals, and
SAP ImplementatIons, accordIng to
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BIshop. The companv alreadv has
a fev customers usIng the IPhone
template, he saId.
The promIse of the IPhone Is
that people see It as a vast leap
ahead In customer experIence, and
It's a consIstent platform," BIshop
saId. Bv contrast, most mobIle-soft-
vare platforms varv bv both carrIer
and devIce.
The template can sImulate all of
the IPhone's standard menu Icons
and user actIons, such as usIng
slIders and zoomIng In and out of
screens bv pInchIng" and unpInch-
Ing." ApplIcatIon desIgners can use It
to create custom buttons, manIpulate
the menu Icons and defIne the ef-
fects of actIons such as double-tap-
pIng a button, BIshop saId.
The IPhone sImulatIons vIll run
on a desktop rather than an actual
IPhone, vIth users InteractIng vIth
the vIrtual phone usIng a mouse.
There Is a dovnloadable tool for
usIng sImulatIons based on IRIse,
so companIes developIng IPhone
applIcatIons vIll be able to send
sImulatIons to average consumers
and get feedback.
OneSprIng, a busIness-analvsIs
and user-experIence desIgn compa-
nv In Atlanta, uses the IRIse IPhone
template In an applIcatIon sImu-
latIon toolkIt It calls the SImDK.
OneSprIng has helped enterprIses
defIne applIcatIons based on some
other mobIle platforms, saId Chuck
Konfrst, a senIor user experIence
archItect at OneSprIng.
Most applIcatIons, If vou de-
sIgn them for mobIle devIces, are
verv text-heavv," Konfrst saId. The
IPhone's dIsplav capabIlItIes gIve
desIgners more freedom and a vhole
nev set of choIces, he saId. One-
SprIng oers a vIdeo to demonstrate.
The IRIse template for the
IPhone Is free to users of IRIse,
vhIch costs about $5,000 per seat,
accordIng to BIshop. The One-
SprIng IPhone SImDK for IRIse vIll
be avaIlable from OneSprIng start-
Ing Mav I for $495. !
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