A case for intelligent design

I am talking in the

context of enterprise IT systems.

My concept of systems design starts from my training as a

civil engineer. If I were to take the example of a building, it takes a team

with differing skills to give it shape and structure. We need structural

engineers and architects, environmental engineers and soil engineers and many

more specialties to do full justice to the design and construction of a large

building. Not only that, the building also needs to connect to public systems

like the electricity grid and sewerage systems, which needs other specialties to

chip in. While the basic qualification of all of these specialties starts off as

the same, there is indeed specialized knowledge that talks the same language,

for the building is to be successfully completed.

When designing most enterprise systems, we seem to give

this basic principle a quick burial and all of us become jacks-of-all-trades,

apparently capable of magic in everything that we do.

In most mid to large organizations, it is the same set of

people, often with the same skill set ,that designs and deploys all their It

systems. Worse still, many organisations accept systems specifications and

designs given by sales men from vendors, without even checking whether the

design is done by a qualified and experienced person. Given that the vendors

keep rotating their sales men, we have ERP experts overnight becoming expert

storage system designers and Server salesmen suddenly sizing design tools

requirements! Why is it that we treat IT design and deployment as free for all,

not requiring specific domain expertise? Why is it that we are content to get

our solutions designed mostly by sales men?

Is it because of a paucity of trained manpower?

For a country that offers IT consultancy to the rest of the

world, this can hardly be true. Historically, the Indian IT user has been

exposed more to salesmen our exposure to domain experts and consultants is much

lesser. Fact is that we have traditionally accepted the salesman as the general

physician and know all for all our IT woes and needs. There is also that little

matter of costs. Bringing in an expert is going to cost that much more in

developing the solution. And of course, we discount the savings in terms of

equipment, time and effort, that can accrue from having someone who is an expert

do the design and implementation. It is high time that we stopped using

rule-of-thumb designs and started using the appropriate skills in designing and

deploying our IT systems. And finally, what is it that converts a temporary iron

structure into the world famous Eiffel tower? What is it that transforms a

supposedly simple structure that was built to commemorate an exhibition, into a

landmark of enduring value? The difference is the vision of Gustave Eiffel, the

contractor whose name has been immortalized by the edifice he built to transcend

time and not to just stand guard at the exhibition.

So, my final question to you is what is the role you are

playing in designing your IT infrastructure? Is it a role you are delegating to

the L3 vendor or are you bringing in the vision that can make a convert a common

structure into one of lasting value?

Krishna Kumar, Editor