IT Complexity in the
Era of Cloud and Big
Data: Survey Results
CONTENTS
Executive Summary..................................................................02
Introduction ..............................................................................03
The IT Complexity Assessment................................................04
Simplicity Scorecard .................................................................06
Findings and the Path Forward.................................................09
Conclusion ................................................................................15
Appendix and Methodology .....................................................16
2
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In January and February 2014, Oracle invited 544 IT executives to complete the IT Complexity
Assessment Survey. This online survey posed 18 questions designed to uncover the level of
IT complexity within each organization. Responses were anonymously aggregated and analyzed.
Key findings from the survey:
• Few IT organizations report high levels of IT simplicity.
Our survey asked respondents to rate themselves across six distinct areas of information
technology. Between 15 and 35 percent of organizations gave themselves high marks
in simplicity, depending on the IT area being examined. On average, only 19 percent
of organizations rated their IT environments as “highly simplified.”
• Less than one-quarter of organizations are ready for big data.
The areas that enable big data analysis showed some of the highest levels of complexity.
This is to be expected, given that big data is a relatively recent trend that many organizations
are still struggling to get their arms around. Simplifying information management proved to be
among the most critical priorities for IT organizations in our survey.
• Integration remains a challenge.
As more organizations migrate toward cloud applications, they face an array of integration
requirements from multiple vendors. More than two-thirds of respondents cited high levels
of complexity in the area of application integration. Additionally, few respondents are able
to identify integration requirements during the early phase of a project, which can often
lead to time and cost overruns.
3
INTRODUCTION
Research has shown that IT complexity can impede investment in new capabilities.
The Corporate Executive Board (CEB) has found that 2014 spending on new, “grow the business”
capabilities will account for only one-third of IT project budgets. The remaining two-thirds will go towards process automation and shoring up foundational infrastructure. Simplifying the IT environment can help shift some of this spending away from maintenance
projects in favor of new innovations. Past approaches to reducing IT complexity have included
retirement of legacy systems, virtualization, and reduction in the number of custom-built
applications. However, in an era of big data and cloud systems, additional approaches
are needed to simplify the IT environment and reduce complexity.
4
CEB estimates that
in 2014, spending on
new, “grow the
business” capabilities
will account for only
33% of IT project
budgets, with the
remainder spent on
process automation
and shoring up
foundational
infrastructure.
IT COMPLEXITY: NEW APPROACHES ARE NEEDED
Business operations are frequently tied to complex IT systems that have become increasingly
difficult and costly to manage, and which can’t adequately support new ideas and changing
business models.
In response, IT organizations have employed many mechanisms to simplify the IT
environment, such as:
1.
•
Technology portfolio rationalization
•
Centralization
•
Consolidation
•
Standards setting
Breakdown of 2014 IT Budget
Breakdown of 2014 IT Budgets
New Capabilities,
33%
Process Automation
and Core Inforstructor,
67%
“2013–2014 IT Budget Benchmark,” CEB, October 2013.
5.
Organizations Reporting Strong Maturity
5
THE IT COMPLEXITY ASSESSMENT
Oracle’s IT Complexity Assessment Survey polled 554 IT executives globally
in an effort to uncover their organizations’ level of complexity across six
areas of IT:
Applications Portfolio - Complexity related to legacy technologies, custom applications
and size of the applications portfolio.
Integration - Complexity related to how integration is conducted, including use of SaaS,
the point at which integration requirements are identified, and preferred methods for
applications integration.
Technology Portfolio - Complexity related to technology portfolio, volume of technology
versions, and degree of technology standardization.
Application Hosting - Complexity related to the application hosting environment (i.e. servers)
including use of server virtualization and multi-tenancy.
Information Management - Complexity related to information management practices, including
existence of policies for data governance, master data management, metadata management
and data transformation.
IT Governance - Complexity related to IT governance practices, including timing of architecture
guidance, the architecture review process and the technology rationalization process.
lities,
6
Overall,
Overall,
only 19%
only
of
19%
organizations
of organizations
ranked
ranked
themselves
themselves
as having
as having
highly
highly
simplified
simplified
IT
IT
environments.
environments.
IT SIMPLICITY SCORECARD
2.
In their efforts to simplify the IT environment, organizations have made the most
progress in areas related to application hosting. They have made fairly significant strides
in streamlining the server environment through virtualization and server multi-tenancy.
Organizations Reporting
High
IT Simplicity
The lowest marks for IT simplicity
areLevels
related of
to the
technology portfolio, encompassing such
factors as the volume of technology versions and the degree of technology standardization.
Organizations Reporting High Levels of IT Simplicity
40%
35%
30%
Overall, only 19%
of organizations
have simplified
IT environments.
25%
20%
15%
19%
22%
15%
35%
23%
22%
Applications
Portfolio
Intergration
Technology
Portfolio
Application
Hosting
Information
Management
IT
Governance
10%
5%
0%
6.
100%
80%
Organizations Reporting Strong Maturity
7
3.
23%
Top Simplifications Priorities
The Complexity Gap
is the average
difference in score
between those
organizations with
simplified IT
environments
and those with
highly complex IT.
TOP SIMPLIFICATION PRIORITIES
3.0
Application Portfolio
Low Priority
Medium Priority
Critical Priority
HW/SW Adherence
to Standards
2.5
Complexity Gap
g
city
2.0
Intergration
Requirements
Timing
Degree of
Multi-tenancy
22%
Application Hosting
Data Transformation
Policy
Metadata
Management Policy
MDM Policy
Architecture
Review Process
Volume of Mission
Critical Application
Number of HW/SW
Versions vs Target
Architecture
and Design
Guidance
Volume of Custom
Applications
1.0
Intergration Complexity
IT Govenance
Utilzation of Saas
Techology
Portfolio
Tracking
1.5
Information Management
Method of Application
Intergration
Degree of Server
Virtualization
Removal of Legacy
Technologies
Technology Portfolio
Rationalization
Process
Data
Govenance
Policy
IT
Governance
Information
Management
0.5
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
Percentage of Respondents with High IT Complexity
The above chart shows that IT complexity is particularly high among a cluster of areas related
to information management—namely, data transformation, master data management,
metadata, and data governance. More than 70 percent of respondents to our survey
Maturity
7.
indicated that they experienced high levels of complexity in each of these four areas.
Organizations
Reporting
Strong
Maturity
This is to be expected
of areas that
are closely
connected
to big data, a relatively recent
trend that many organizations are still struggling to get their arms around.
In addition, application integration is an area where there is significant opportunity to
simplify. As more organizations migrate toward cloud applications, they face an array of
100%
requirements and APIs from multiple vendors, leading to integration challenges with their
on-premise and/or mission-critical systems.
80%
60%
40%
20%
28%
31%
40%
0%
Architecture
Review Process
Architecture and
Design Guidance
Rationalization
Process
8
DE-CLUTTERING HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE
Organizations have made strides in simplifying the software environment by:
• Reducing reliance on legacy technologies (i.e. older technologies that are no longer part
of the standard environment but are maintained due to existing applications that only
run on that platform).
• Reducing the overall volume of large-scale, mission-critical applications.
In parallel, organizations have reduced the likelihood of future hardware proliferation by:
• Increasing use of server virtualization.
• Increasing utilization of multi-tenancy.
4.
However, organizations still face significant challenges when it comes to managing the number
Organizations Reporting Strong Maturity
of hardware and software versions in their IT environments. Only 21 percent of respondents
gave themselves a rating of “strong maturity” in this area.
Organizations Reporting Strong Maturity
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
21%
51%
Degree of Server
Visualisation
72%
Number HW/SW
Versions vs Target
48%
45%
0%
8.
Degree of
Multitenancy
Volume of Mission
Critical Apps
Removal of Legacy
Technologies
Simplify Existing Complexity
Invest in Future
Complexity Reduction
Organizations Reporting Strong Maturity
9
THE PATH FORWARD: RECOMMENDATIONS TO SIMPLIFY
HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE ENVIRONMENTS
SIMPLIFY EXISTING COMPLEXITY
Build new applications for easy retirement. During the requirements gathering phase, identify features and specifications
that will make it easier to upgrade or replace applications as business needs evolve. Key elements include alerts and monitoring
capabilities that signal low utilization and the ability to set application expiration dates.
Fast-track retirement for technologies similar to recent retirees. Once there is a clear view on what makes for a good
retirement candidate, create two tracks for retirement. The first track is for technologies that do not adhere to the “ideal”
criteria, in which case a full review may be necessary. For technologies that fit the retirement profile, create a more
lightweight review process to accelerate removal and minimize bureaucracy without absorbing too much risk.
INVEST IN FUTURE COMPLEXITY REDUCTION
Understand organizational tolerance for server multi-tenancy. Business partners are often wary of multi-tenancy, fearing that
outages in one application can have broader impact. Assess where there is acceptable risk for multi-tenancy (e.g. non-mission
critical applications) for targeted utilization of the private cloud.
Enable dynamic management of workloads. Establish controls to automatically turn off unused capacity to ensure maximum
resource efficiency.
Provide visibility into metered usage. A key component of cloud computing is providing transparency into resource usage.
Establish “showbacks” to provide visibility into the relationship between consumption and costs.
10
New Capabilities,
33%
Process Automation
BIG DATA
andREADINESS
Core Inforstructor,
67%
In an era of analytics, poorly managed information can undermine organizations’ ability to draw
intelligence from big data. Less than one-quarter of IT executives say that their information
management policies are mature (i.e. formal, standardized, and adhered to) across four key policy areas:
•
Data governance
•
Master data management (MDM)
•
Metadata management
•
Data transformation
Organizations
5.
Reporting Strong Maturity
This is an urgent challenge for today’s data-driven organizations, where lines of business are
increasingly demanding faster, easier access to analytics.
Organizations Reporting Strong Maturity
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
27%
24%
24%
21%
Data Governance
Policy
MDM Policy
Metadata
Management Policy
Data
Transformation
Policy
0%
11
THE PATH FORWARD: RECOMMENDATIONS
TO SIMPLIFY INFORMATION MANAGEMENT
Integrate line-of-business partners into policy creation. Standards can’t be imposed
on the business by IT. Bring line-of-business partners into standards decisions and discussions
to ensure that policies are relevant. Business partners are more likely to adhere to standards
if they play a role in determining when data standards make sense and where flexibility
is paramount.
Leverage heavy data users to drive consensus on common enterprise data definitions.
Knowledge workers are the heaviest users of enterprise data. Look to them for guidance
to ensure definitions are clear and consistent. To establish data standards create cohorts
of knowledge workers that share similar data needs and manage similar processes.
Establish accountability for data. Data is a critical business asset and needs to be managed
as such. To establish clear accountability for data stewardship, define dedicated roles and
responsibilities for monitoring quality and driving adherence to standards. Ensure business
partner representation on stewardship boards and roles to ensure that standards and policies
evolve with business conditions and priorities.
Pragmatically approach Master Data Management. MDM initiatives often fail due to the
vast scope of the effort. Instead of pursuing MDM comprehensively, prioritize the most critical
master data domains based on their importance to financial performance and staff productivity,
and the number of systems the data touches.
Federate your metadata model. Create a federated metadata model to maintain consistency
of core, enterprise metadata, while letting lines of business customize extended metadata
for asset types that are used mainly (or only) by their LOB.
10%
19%
15%
22%
35%
23%
22%
12
5%
0%
IT
Governance
Information
Management
Application
Hosting
Technology
Portfolio
Intergration
Applications
Portfolio
IT GOVERNANCE HAS ROOM TO IMPROVE
6.
Whereas de-cluttering the hardware
and software
environmentStrong
helps rationalize
the existing
Organizations
Reporting
Maturity
environment, IT governance can be used to minimize future complexity. IT must improve its
ability to establish formal, long-term retirement strategies and technology lifecycle roadmaps.
Organizations Reporting Strong Maturity
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
19%
35%
33%
Rationalization
Process
Architecture and
Design Guidance
Architecture
Review Process
0%
Simplify Existing
Complexity
Invest in Future
Complexity Reduction
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
Applications Portfolio
Integration
13
THE PATH FORWARD: RECOMMENDATIONS
TO SIMPLIFY IT GOVERNANCE
Improve roadmapping quality and usability. Measure and monitor the two dimensions of
roadmaps that have most impact on business executives: completeness and graphics quality.
Establish minimum readability thresholds that all roadmaps must meet. Develop a simple checklist
against which roadmaps can be objectively scored. Make sure roadmaps that don’t meet the
threshold receive clear guidance.
Design a standards framework that is relevant to the business. Create a standardized
taxonomy that will allow for more or less flexibility depending on the need for agility in the related
business process.
Communicate criteria for standards application and exceptions. Many project teams lack an
understanding of how to apply standards to different project circumstances. Create a framework
that communicates how standards should be applied and where exceptions can be allowed.
Synchronize roadmapping with strategic and annual planning processes. Disjointed
enterprise, business unit, and IT planning processes can destroy the clarity of IT investment
benefits and timelines. Understand precisely where roadmaps have a role to play in strategic and
annual planning, and ensure that roadmaps are kept up-to-date and available to key stakeholders.
Develop an architecture review board, but keep it focused. Many architecture review boards
attempt to review too many projects and thus end up failing to provide any tangible value.
Establish an upfront questionnaire to determine the optimal role of the board for any given project.
Complexity Gap
Intergration
Requirements
Timing
Technologies
2.0
Degree of
Multi-tenancy
Techology
Portfolio
Tracking
1.5
IT Govenance
14
Utilzation of Saas
Data Transformation
Policy
MDM Policy
Architecture
Review Process
Volume of Mission
Critical Application
Number of HW/SW
Versions vs Target
Architecture
and Design
Guidance
Volume of Custom
Applications
1.0
Metadata
Management Policy
Rationalization
Process
Data
Govenance
Policy
0.5
10%
20%
30%CLOUD
40% ERA
50%
INTEGRATION 0%
COMPLEXITY
IN THE
60%
70%
80%
90%
Percentage of Respondents with High IT Complexity
Only one-third of respondents indicated they can accurately identify integration requirements during
the early phases of a new project. This lack of early insight can often lead to a project taking longer,
and costing more, than originally anticipated.
As adoption of Software as a Service (SaaS) grows, the need to identify these requirements
7.
early on becomes even more acute—particularly since vendor pricing typically does not include
money spent on integration efforts.
Organizations Reporting Strong Maturity
When deciding whether to implement SaaS, organizations must identify integration
requirements early in the process, in order to estimate the true, total cost of ownership.
Organizations Reporting Strong Maturity
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
28%
31%
40%
0%
Architecture
Review Process
Technology Portfolio
Architecture and
Design Guidance
Rationalization
Process
Integration
Application Hosting
Information Management
IT Governance
15
THE PATH FORWARD: RECOMMENDATIONS
TO SIMPLIFY INTEGRATION
Begin inventory of common integration needs.
Organize and publicize your integration services library.
Critical to reducing integration time is having a library of services.
A library of integration services is only valuable if it’s widely
Identify the most common services and establish standards for
used. Publicize the volume of reuse and document the amount
reuse. Start with identifying where there has been the highest
of time saved in order to create incentives for adoption.
volume of point-to-point integration, as this signals the greatest
opportunity to remove complexity.
Consolidate similar integration services to improve
reusability and ROI. Once a library of services has been created,
Define criteria for integration service creation. Ensuring reuse
look for similar services. Consolidate similar services based on
of integration services can significantly reduce duplicated efforts.
volume of usage, possibly pulling the most valuable component
However, clarity into which services have the greatest potential
parts of each service to build a more refined option.
for reuse can be low. To identify the best candidates, look for
integration services that map to foundational functions within the
enterprise—such as finance—since they are likely targets
for integration.
CONCLUSION
In the era of big data and cloud services, new approaches are needed to simplify the IT environment and reduce complexity.
Integrated cloud offerings that include software, platform and infrastructure as a service are one approach to reducing complexity,
as well as improving ease-of-use and deployment. A complete big data architecture to manage both structured and unstructured
data can help companies reduce the high levels of complexity related to information management. Finally, an IT stack designed
and built to work together offers a way to reduce the time spent on routine maintenance, integration and testing. Simplifying the IT
environment can help organizations shift time, money and resources away from “keeping the lights on” and towards more strategic,
growth-oriented projects.
To rate your own level of IT complexity, take the survey:
oracle.com/goto/rate-my-IT-complexity
Rationalization
Rationalization
Process
Process
Architecture and
Design Guidance
Architecture
Review
Process
Architecture and
Design Guidance
Data
Transformation
Policy
Metadata
Management
Policy
MDM Policy
Data Governance
Policy
Degree of
Multi-tenancy
HOW COMPLEXITY VARIES ACROSS INDUSTRIES
Organizations Reporting High Levels of IT Simplicity, by Industry
18%
16%
14%
12%
10%
8%
6%
4%
Intergration
Applications
Portfolio
Architecture
Review Process
Degree of Server
Virtualization
HW/SW Adherence
to Standards
Healthcare,
Pharmaceutical and
Life Sciences
Government and Other
Public Sectors
Education and
Research
Media and
Entertainment
Energy and Utilities
Banking, Financial and
Insurance Services
Manufacturing and
Consumer Products
Proffesional
Services
Retail and
Wholesale
High
Technology
Engineering and
Construction
Travel, Hospitality,
and Transportation
Transport and Logistics
Automotive
Aerospace
and Defense
Telecommunications
Business and
Technology Services
0%
8%
Number of HW/SW
Versions vs Target
0%
10%
Technology Portfolio
Tracking
0%
11%
16
20%
In
Com
Simplify Existing
Complexity
Data
Transformation
Method of Application
Policy
Integration
Integration
Requirements
Timing
Metadata
Management Policy
Utiilization of Saas
Volume of Mission
MDM Applications
Policy
Critical
Volume of Custom
Applications
2%
13%
Architecture and
Design Guidance
Rationalization
Process
20%
20%
20%
35%
Data Governance
Policy
Removal of Legacy
Technologies
4%
4%
4%
5%
5%
5%
6%
16%
6%
17%
2%
0%
0%
0%
40%
40%
40%
19%
19%
24
27
10%
60%
60%
60%
33%
35%
21%
22%
24%
27%
45%
51%
39%
21%
20%
40% %
21
31%
%
28%
72%%
24
35%
%
48%
IT Governance
Information Management
Application Hosting
Technology Portfolio
Integration
Applications Portfolio
80%
80%
80%
70%
100%
Percentage of Organizations Reporting Strong Maturity
100%
40%
31%
28%
Organizations Rep
6.
Organizations Reporting Strong Maturity
5.
0%
40%
0%
APPENDIX
50%
30%
17
METHODOLOGY
Oracle conducted an online survey with 544 IT executives in January and February of 2014.
Sample Demographics:
Location:
Function/Title:
North America, 40%
CIO/CTO/IT Manager, 32%
EMEA, 34%
Infrastructure, 19%
APAC, 18%
Enterprise Architecture, 13%
Latin America, 8%
Applications, 7%
Other, 29%
Industries Surveyed:
Business and Technology Services
Automotive
Banking, Financial and Insurance Services
Transport and Logistics
Healthcare, Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences
Manufacturing and Consumer Products
High Technology
Retail and Wholesale
ISV (Independent Software Vendor)
Industrial Manufacturing
Telecommunications
Media and Entertainment
IT Hardware Vendor
Travel, Hospitality and Transportation
Aerospace and Defense
Government and Other Public Sectors
VAR / System Integrator
Education and Research
Energy and Utilities
Professional Services
Engineering and Construction
Accelerate and Complete Your
HR Transformation
March 2012
Author: Oracle Marketing
Oracle Corporation
World Headquarters
500 Oracle Parkway
Redwood Shores, CA 94065
U.S.A.
Find your local Oracle contact number
here:
http://www.oracle.com/us/corporate/
contact/global-070511.html
Oracle.com
Copyright © 2012, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. This document is provided for information purposes only
Copyright © 2014, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. This document
Oracle
and the Corporation
contents hereof are subject to change without notice. This document is not warranted to be error-free, nor subject to
is provided for information purposes only and the contents hereof are subject to change
World
Headquarters
any other
warranties or conditions, whether expressed orally or implied in law, including implied warranties and conditions
500 Oracle Parkway
without notice. This document is not warranted to be error-free, nor subject to any
of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. We specifically disclaim any liability with respect to this document and
Redwood Shores, CA 94065
other warranties or conditions, whether expressed orally or implied in law, including
no contractual obligations are formed either directly or indirectly by this document. This document may not be reproduced or
U.S.A.
implied warranties and conditions of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, for any purpose, without our prior written permission.
We specifically disclaim any liability with respect to this document and no contractual
Find your local Oracle contact
obligations are formed either directly or indirectly by this document. This document
Oracle and
Java are registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective
number
here:
may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or
http://www.oracle.com/us/corporate/
owners.
mechanical, for any purpose, without our prior written permission.
contact/global-070511.html
AMD, Opteron, the AMD logo, and the AMD Opteron
logo
areJava
trademarks
or registered
trademarks
of Advanced
Micro Devices.
Oracle
and
are registered
trademarks
of Oracle
and/or its affiliates.
Intel and Intel Xeon are trademarks or registered Other
trademarks
Intelbe
Corporation.
trademarks
are used under license
namesofmay
trademarksAll
of SPARC
their respective
owners.
and are trademarks or registered trademarks of SPARC International, Inc. UNIX is a registered trademark licensed through X/Open
Company, Ltd.
Oracle.com