On Transparency

FAQ #1: What is “Security Inheritance” in Visual KPI?

We are keeping things random here on the Blog (by design) but we knew at some point this would become a great place to answer some oft-asked questions from our users and even people seeing Visual KPI for the first time. 

Today we’ll start off with an easy one: “What do we mean when we mention the Security Inheritance Model?”

In simple terms, it means that Visual KPI conforms to our customers security model and/or requirement without any work on their (or our) part.  It just “inherits” the requirements from the host environment at the customer site. 

Simple, right?  Yes, but we know you want details.

The design team at Transpara make all kinds of design choices when building and updating the product.  Some are feature-oriented, some are focused on usability, and some are there specifically to make the lives of your IT staff easier!  OK, in the interest of full disclosure everything we do to make things easier also makes things easier on us (easier to deploy, easier to maintain and support, etc.).  Add this all up and you will see why security inheritance benefits everyone involved.

Here are some basic facts about almost every customer environment:

• They each have their own security requirements
• None of them look the same, and some of them are incredibly sophisticated (even crazy at times)
• They, and only they, really understand who should have access to what applications or data
• This information is usually kept in a directory and most often it is Active Directory

Here’s your worst case scenario: Often, enterprise-class software applications require you to create and maintain a dedicated “user database” of the people who will have access to the software and which features they are allowed to use. Let’s say you have a CRM system from Vendor A. It needs a list of users and their access rights so the CRM system knows which users can access which pages and functions in the system. Next, you buy an HR system from Vendor B and again you have to create and manage the list of users and their associated permissions for the HR system. This pattern gets old and fails to scale very quickly.

Now that we know the facts along with what we don’t want to do, Security Inheritance becomes a system that is quite easy to describe.

1. Visual KPI is an enterprise-class software application and of course needs to know who in your organization is allowed to create, modify, delete and view the various KPIs, scorecards and trends (among other things).  This is critical, because so is the data we deliver.
2. By designing Visual KPI as a web server-based application, and specifically using Internet Information Server (IIS) as the platform, we get to leverage the existing authentication and rights-assignment subsystem within the platform, including the directory and all related security policies. 
3. Want the tech-heavy version of #2, here you go (consider yourself warned): Visual KPI is an in-memory IIS application whose component parts all run as part of a virtual directory structure in IIS. One of the many benefits of IIS is that each virtual directory has a set of “permissions” which govern who which users may see or execute functions contained and managed by the virtual directory. Since each of our feature sets (website, Excel Editor, interfaces) have unique virtual directories we have complete flexibility and access to the power of Active Directory as our NATIVE user authentication and rights assignment engine!

Summary: No one gets access to our system until the customer’s existing environment says its ok. 

Only then do we allow editing and delivering of KPIs, trends, scorecards, etc to mobile devices, laptops and desktops. 

Because of this design, Visual KPI requires NO additional user database and NO additional rights assignment functionality beyond that which is built in to the Windows Server operating system.  Our users already have a well-defined collection of Active Directory Users & Groups, and we simply “assign” one or more of each to the virtual directories which govern each of our components. It is an elegant and IT-friendly way to leverage all the work a company has put in to defining their AD Forest, and reduces the added complexity of locking down visibility and editing to near zero.

We are extremely proud of this architecture and our users have benefitted from it since the day Visual KPI 1.0 shipped in 2006.  If you want to speak to one of them, just let us know.

Comments?  Questions?  Please enter them below or contact us directly.

Michael Saucier

 

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Killer App for Mobile: Context

Michael Gartenberg was right!  Context is almost ALL that matters, since data without context is irrelevant noise.

Imagine a person running down the street screaming “8! 8! 8!” without the context of “number of Olympic Gold Medals.”  We probably could not understand the significance of this outburst and that it relates to Michael Phelp’s accomplishment from the 2008 games. It could just as easily refer to someone’s winning lotto number or Chinese good luck.  Context is what adds dimension and meaning to raw data. In software, usability and adoption rate of new features is largely governed by the quality of the context given to users—see graphic (courtesy of Kathy Sierra). 

Let’s take decision-support software as an illustrative example. There are two users of this software—the person configuring the dashboards and metrics (the ADMIN) and the person using these dashboards to make operating decisions about the equipment or plant (the CONSUMER).

The time between newbie and expert at software configuration for the ADMIN is determined by the continuity of context.  Leading a person from “clueless” to “competent” to “wizard” is always about exposing and teaching incremental features and capabilities without increasing the user’s frustration level every step along the way.  People’s passion for new capabilities is inversely proportional to how pissed off they are with the implementation details.

Similarly, the CONSUMER of the software is driven by a similar curve.  If the ADMIN configuring the software has done a good job, then the CONSUMER of this software will be incrementally exposed to layers of nuance in the data, which helps him or her make decisions faster and with more confidence.  Boyd’s OODA loops are the way in which all decision-support software should be judged. The users “Observes the data, Orient themselves with context, Decide what to do, and then Act to bring about the necessary change to the environment.

Until the advent of smart phones with broadband internet access, it was absurd to think of OODA loops and context delivery for anyone but desktop software consumers.  Windows Mobile, the iPhone, Google’s Android and Palm’s new Pre all make it possible to create a desktop-like decision-making environment on a mobile device.  A decision-makers location has been rendered irrelevant, as the complete context for any decision is now available wherever they are, making today’s agile workforce capable of market and demand-driven responses only available in the dreams of our forefathers.

Delivering the contextual information users need, when they need it, is what's critical -- not any particular application or service.

Context contradicts conventional wisdom.  For one thing, feeds and speeds are no longer the defining metrics for value.  The fastest and most powerful laptop won't do much for a user on the road if it weighs 10 pounds and gets barely an hour of battery life -- or can't open in a coach seat on a plane.  By contrast, the ability to check email, browse the web or listen to music doesn't matter if your phone won't make a call when you need it to.  Smart vendors will learn technology applied to context for users is what matters -- especially since I think there's an upper limit on the number of devices most people will carry with them at any given time.  As I've said in the past, for most of us that's two, with a maximum of three.  The jury is out on whether the iPad could change that.

It's time to be liberated and connected.  The dream is real -- now it's time to see more devices execute and deliver the vision.  Onward and upward (in context, of course)!

Michael Saucier

Edward Tufte draws Bigger Crowd than Sarah Palin

He has been called the “Leonardo da Vinci of data” by the New York Times.  This was evident at the San Francisco Westin in mid-December as close to 1500 devoted followers paid almost 400 bucks each to hear Edward Tufte talk about visualizing complex data.  Given what we do at Transpara, there was no way we would miss it.

Tufte’s thesis is “do whatever it takes to explain something.”  By this he means use a diversity of display methods, a diversity of data, remove “chart junk” and replace it with evidence.  Key themes:

• De-emphasize (or better yet, eliminate) the process of looking at data
• Allow the viewer to see as much as possible all at once 
• Don’t adorn the data, let the data speak for itself  (see example below of US cancer patterns)

All three of these may sound contrary to your average PowerPoint skills curriculum, but there is a reason Tufte has this following. 

Mr. Tufte thinks there is no relationship between the amount of detail and the ease of understanding.  The optic nerve processes the equivalent of 20 megapixels per second, so there is no doubt our physiology supports high-bandwidth displays.  “Information Overload” is always bad design, not too much data.   Tufte shared a good design for showing 400,000 pieces of data on a single 11x17 piece of paper without being overwhelming and still allowing for immediate grasp of meaning (hint: he used “sparklines” to condense the space required to show huge data sets, just like we do in Visual KPI).

Tufte goes on to use the Sports Page in a newspaper as a great example of data density and information layout and compares this to PowerPoint charts and graphs.  There are an average of only 12 data elements in a typical PowerPoint table, but an average of 150-200 data elements in a sports score table.  “Did we suddenly get stupid just because we arrived at work?”  has asked us.  He suggested that we relegate PowerPoint to being the “operating system for the overhead projector.”

Information wants to be free of the shackles of over-designed user interfaces, 3-D charts, perspective views, all of this “non-data” simply gets in the way of communication for the purpose of understanding.  Data should always be arranged to support reasoning about the information.

The Dangers of Glitziness and Other Visualization Faux Pas

My personal highlight was his page-by-page review of our mobile scorecard application.  While much of Visual KPI is already organized in the spirit of Tufte, his personal review and critique of the Visual KPI design has meaningful implications for us going forward.  I won’t share the details here, but expect a few incremental improvements to further embrace the parsimony and simplicity of Edward Tufte.  But I digress…

For us, or anyone who cares about visualizing data, scorecards, KPIs, dashboards, or just good design, the lesson is that you must understand the differences between Tufte’s view of data and the sometimes overly popularized view of simplicity for simplicity’s sake or you are missing more than half of the story (and Tufte would also disapprove of doing that). 

His books are amazing (and beautiful, right down to his choice of paper) and there is much to learn about him on the interwebs.  In fact some people take some pretty good notes when they attend these things: http://terriemiller.com/notes/presenting-data-and-information-class-notes/

Enjoy and feel free to comment as always!

Michael Saucier

Breaking News: Michael Saucier Caught in Tiger Woods Scandal!

At a routine analyst briefing last week, Transpara CEO Michael Saucier was ambushed by TMZ.com and questioned about his alleged long-running affair with Elin Woods, wife of professional golfer Tiger Woods.   Tara Dugan, head of Transpara Corporate Communications, stepped in and stopped the surly reporter, who was waving around a picture taken at a recent charity ball, where Michael escorted Mrs. Woods at Tiger’s request.  Mr. Saucier explained that Tiger had asked for a favor so that he might check on some of his other properties in New York, Australia, and Dubai.   TMZ then presented dozens of other photos showing Mr. Saucier and Mrs. Woods together, at various locations including St. Bart’s, Paris, Kabul and Moscow.  At this point, Transpara General Counsel Gloria Allred put a halt to the proceedings and ushered Mr. Saucier to a waiting limo.  Since this hasty exit, nothing has been heard from the Saucier camp, fueling speculation that a multi-million dollar “hush money” deal might be in the works.  

Can it possibly be?  Actually, while stranger things have happened, this wasn’t one of them.

As Tiger’s situation mushroomed over the last several days, it illustrated what can happen when facts are concealed and people are forced to “interpolate” and even “invent” data to fill in the missing gaps.  This lesson applies equally well to business, where people are expected to work in unison as a team.  Without shared access to timely, consistent, and contextual operating data, people can never truly work as a team.  They end up making assumptions and using old “rules of thumb” to overcome the lack of real performance metrics.  They end up with “dueling spreadsheets” at morning meetings – each side claiming that their spreadsheet is the true measure.  Sometimes decisions are made based on politics or gut feel instead of rational measurements.  All of this can be solved by creating a culture of transparency, where everyone has up-to-the-minute data on their most important metrics.  It is easy to keep to the intended course when you have ready access to cold, hard facts. 

Might some of the 10,500 internet stories about Tiger Woods have been avoided if the facts were readily available in a timely manner?  The press might not concur, but I’m sure Accenture, Nike and a few other folks might.

Why I became an engineer – part I. I remember the exact day.

I had just  returned from giving a speech to high school students at the Discover Engineering Weekend at UCSB and without much thought I inserted “why I became an engineer” as the theme which incidentally went over quite well.  That night I told a good friend of mine about it and he convinced me to blog the story. 

So, here is the first of several huge events that led me down this path.

I was always the “fat kid” and the one picked last for any sport.  Odie Hallowell was a guy that lived across the street from me and he was ALWAYS the team captain for ANY sport or team game we played as kids.  He used to say “if I have to take Saucier, then I get an extra guy.”  Over a bunch of years, that kind of thing did weird things to me and steered me away from situations where I might be embarrassed by my complete lack of physical coordination.  I never really had any plans about what I was going to be.  I never wanted to be an astronaut or a fireman or a doctor.  I was pretty sure that I would be “picked last” for those as well.  I just stopped thinking about the future. 

That all  changed when I took Mrs. White’s Chemistry class at Dos Pueblos High School.  Because of my late birthday, I was always the youngest kid in my classes, sometimes by a whole year, so on top of being a pudgy klutz, I also missed out on a lot of the banter, inside jokes and inappropriate humor that comes with being a year older.  So it was a pretty ironic that my lab partner turned out to be Pam Wilkins – the absolutely hottest girl  in school.  I am not sure what she thought, but I was in heaven.

One day early in the year, we had some trivial experiment involving mixing some liquids and seeing a color change (yes, it pre-dates the manufacturing intelligence work we do now by just a bit).  No one was getting the results in our book and people were getting riled up.  Each group was just dumping the materials together and then getting a sludgy material instead of a well-mixed material.  I saw the problem – the mixing was supposed to take place slowly vs. all at once.  It turned out that the process of mixing the materials just as important as what you were mixing!  After this revelation, Pam the hottie and I had no trouble getting the correct results and she named me “Professor Sauce” on the spot.  Her status as class supermodel (and a SENIOR no less!) rubbed off on me instantly, and the rest of the Chemistry class started calling me Professor Sauce as well.  Before I knew it the immature, pudgy klutz had become popular for something—something I was actually GOOD at.   I knew on that exact day that I wanted to figure out how to make stuff, solve chemical problems, and to do it right.  I only later found out it was called Chemical Engineering.

This was only the first of several key moments that would lead me to a great education, creating software companies, and much, much more. 

Oh, and the same friend I referred to at the beginning is trying to talk me into adding the other key events as a short series and I promised him I would try.  Wish me luck and please add a comment if you like what you read (or if you don’t).

Michael

Obama Should Read (or re-read) Atlas Shrugged

I find myself constantly stupefied by the news on TV or in the newspapers that our government sees fit to dole out more subsidies for companies that are "too big to fail" or institutions that "form the American backbone."  This economic lunacy makes it seem like "Hope" is the entire text for Obama's strategy to dig out of this mess.  I keep thinking of our President as the "next generation" compared to me, but since his birthday is less than a year earlier than mine, Obama does not have the excuse that he has "heard of--but not read--Atlas Shrugged."

Back to the Future

Has this generation failed to grasp even the simplest lesson from Ayn Rand?  Is it possible that this administration sees Atlas Shrugged as simple fiction, and not the harbinger of doom that we all thought could never happen in a society like ours?  Why does 2009 seem so much like 1957?

Writing in the Wall Street Journal recently, Stephen Moore observed that "The current economic strategy is right out of "Atlas Shrugged": The more incompetent you are in business, the more handouts the politicians will bestow on you. That's the justification for the $2 trillion of subsidies doled out already to keep afloat distressed insurance companies, banks, Wall Street investment houses, and auto companies -- while standing next in line for their share of the booty are real-estate developers, the steel industry, chemical companies, airlines, ethanol producers, construction firms and even catfish farmers. With each successive bailout to "calm the markets," another trillion of national wealth is subsequently lost. Yet, as "Atlas" grimly foretold, we now treat the incompetent who wreck their companies as victims, while those resourceful business owners who manage to make a profit are portrayed as recipients of illegitimate "windfalls."

A Way Forward

People are good and want to do the right thing.  Let's find a way to tell our government that enough is enough.  To stop mortgaging our future and let us craft a workable recovery to our government-inflicted wounds.  To let entrepreneurship and hard work once again form the true backbone of the American people.  It might be time to listen to the words of Rand's hero John Galt, and take the words as seriously as she meant them:  “The world will change when you are ready to pronounce this oath: I swear by my life and my love of it that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for the sake of mine.”  Redistribution and the disdain for wealth created by hard work will bring this country down faster than any terrorist act.

Golf Equals Tiger and Phil. Period.

Last week, I flew in my dad to stay with me for a few days so we could watch the Master's Tournament together.  I had it all planned out:  TiVo set to ESPN HD for the 4 televised rounds, PC all set to watch pre-show streaming footage at Amen Corner, iPhone loaded with the Master's Scoreboard App and a note pinned to the door:  "If you are not Ed McMahon, then please go away."

As the days unfolded, neither of my guys were even close to leading--much less dominating--the field on Thursday, Friday, or (gasp!) Saturday.  I was starting to feel like I had just paid 13 bucks to see another crappy Keanu Reeves movie and by the time Sunday morning finally rolled around I was bored.

That is, until I found out that Tiger and Phil were paired for the final round.  I didn't even care that neither of them could win the tournament, thefun of watching them battle each other would make up for everything else.  As we watched Phil tie the Augusta course record of 30 on the front nine, and watched Tiger grind out what seemed like a comeback, we both realized that THIS was the Master's for us, not the other 75 guys slugging it out for the Green Jacket.  

So for  us, the Master's started on Sunday morning at 10:35AM when the dynamic duo teed off and ended when Phil plopped his 9 iron in Rae's creek on 12, effectively squashing his momentum and what looked to be a come-from-behind win. More drama unfolded, and a winner was eventually crowned, but the 3 hours of Tiger and Phil on Sunday is something my dad and I will talk about forever.

SmartGrid City Affects Homeowners, Utilities & The Environment!

I spent part of this week in Denver at the Xcel Energy-sponsored SmartGrid City Roadshow with Transpara partner OSIsoft.   Utilities are tackling a massive upgrade effort over the next decade aimed at meeting the rising electrical demands while reducing emissions, increasing efficiency of the grid and allowing for something called "distributed generation" where any company or individual can supply electricity back to the grid in order to help level supply and demand.  

How Does Electricity Get to Me?

The supply of electricity to your home is composed of three main parts: Generation, Transmission and Distribution as shown in the diagram.  Xcel's SmartGrid City effort is aimed at the "last mile" of Distribution, with a goal of making electricity usage transparent to (and manageable by) the homeowner. 

Where is SmartGrid City?

Boulder, CO is the site of this 50,000 home experiment, with residents getting the latest computer and electricity management technology installed courtesy of Xcel and its consortium partners.  How many times have you looked at your electric bill and wondered "why is my bill so high?"  Boulder residents can now manage their electrical usage and monitor the results in real-time, changing their habits and usage patterns in order to save money. 

Why is Xcel sponsoring SmartGrid City?

Why would Xcel want to reduce demand for its product?  Because the current electric grid is built for the "peak load" and thus over-engineered for normal daily use.  Helping homeowners reduce consumption helps avoid building new Power Generating plants, which in turn means less pollution and lower energy costs.  If this works, utilities can actually free up "virtual plants" of generating capacity instead of building new ones.  Good for the environment, consumer and the utility all at once. 

Check out the mainstream TV coverage of the Smart Grid in action

Blackberries & Smartphones are no longer status symbols

It wasn't that long ago that people referred to Blackberry-toting executives at their company with a wise-crack.  That was until folks realized that the ready availability of business data--not just e-mail--would change the way they work.

A recent InformationWeek Analytics survey of 412 business technology pros found that most companies no longer question whether to give at least some employees access to their jobs via smartphones and other handheld devices. In fact, two-thirds of companies are deploying or planning to deploy mobile apps. The questions they face are what to provide access to, how to do it, who should get access, and from which types of devices.