* Ceridian blurred the boundaries between its IT groups as it shifted to delivering applications over the Internet
In the last newsletter I wrote about how HR specialist Ceridian deployed WAN optimization gear from F5 Networks to streamline its transition from a packaged software maker to a hosted application provider. The corporate makeover posed challenges for the IT department, which was responsible for making sure the performance of applications delivered over the Internet was up to par for Ceridian’s enterprise customers.
At the beginning of the project, Rodney Bowers had responsibility for the network teams at Ceridian. As the makeover transpired, it became clear that individual IT groups needed to work more closely with one another, and Bowers assumed responsibility for the company’s storage and data center teams as well.
The application development team does not report to Bower, but it’s a group his team members work closely with. “We provide those guys with lots of data, and now they’re learning more about how to put their applications together for delivery to an external customer,” says Bowers, who is director of data center services at Ceridian.
Bowers worked closely with Ceridian’s director of infrastructure and data architecture, Craig Henne, to get the all the different groups talking regularly. “We would get people in the room and facilitate the discussions,” he says. “That was a key thing that we established early on — we need everybody’s help to make this better.”
In addition to resolving technical issues more quickly, planning inclusive meetings gives talented staff a chance to shine, Bowers says.
“My storage guys, for example, know about more than just storage. They’re sharp guys in a lot of other ways,” Bowers says. “So they get to use their talents for some other problem-solving mechanisms. They get to contribute to the overall goals, and they get to see the bigger picture. When you start to allow people to do that, you’d be amazed at how receptive they are to coming to meetings and talking about opportunities to improve.”
Cross-training also is a key to success, according to Bowers. “We’ve trained all of our primary WAN engineers on all aspects of F5. Day to day, some of them don’t even touch the boxes. But I want them to be aware of the functionality and capabilities of it,” he says.
Cross-training is important not only for tactical reasons, but also for strategic planning. “There’s the support component, but we also want them to be thinking outside the box when we present them with an architectural problem or an infrastructure problem,” Bowers says.
Has your company undertaken efforts to improve collaboration among IT disciplines? If so and you’d like to share your success story, please get in touch.
