SGI'S FORMER CIO MIKE GRAVES
DISCUSSES STRATEGIES FOR NEW INFO ENABLEMENT
by Alan Beck, editor in chief
HPCwire: What is SGI's strategy for successfully evolving in the information age?
GRAVES: There has recently been much discussion over questions of: "What is an information-age company?" and "How can firms move away from the paradigm they've followed for the last 200 years?" From my perspective, the difference is that we now empowering a group of people who, through information, are enabling a transformation from data through information to knowledge. On that spectrum there exists a group of knowledge-workers who are contributing at a much greater level to the corporations they are part of. At the most sophisticated end of this spectrum there is a type of individual we call the knowledge athlete.
Collectively, it is the knowledge athletes who are making the critical difference to corporations now. They are able to efficiently utilize corporate information, turning it into knowledge. As a result, they are the ones primarily responsible for generating the big ideas that are making a difference not only in the computer industry but for industry in general. These knowledge athletes typically use available information in new and more sophisticated ways.
HPCwire: How can CIOs better identify and employ such talent?
GRAVES: Such individuals are not simply marked by greater mental capability: they always appear more "plugged in" to their organizational contexts, often in a new way. They are able to pull information together in such a way that insight results.
At SGI, our whole purpose as a company is to unleash the power of human creativity. The knowledge athletes here seem to understand more about what is happening in the corporation; when new challenges occur, they are the ones who come forward with ingenious yet workable solutions. Their responsiveness gives the company a competitive advantage in the marketplace.
HPCwire: But haven't there always been individuals who provide their business with such an edge?
GRAVES: Although there have indeed always been people like this, it is the information-age companies which facilitate them in greater numbers. And in particular, companies adopting the (World Wide) Web are empowering knowledge athletes at an ever-increasing pace. The whole notion of data mining is one -- and only one -- of the venues of accumulating knowledge.
SGI has a concept called "One Space for Knowledge". That space is within our intranet, although it also extends to extranet activities. The intranet provides access not only to our body of knowledge -- that is, business processes and procedures -- but also to an increasing number of business applications as well as interactive communications via voice mail, email, teleconferencing, multicasting, etc. The aggregation of these sources of information allows knowledge athletes to proliferate and enables them to increase their understanding of the corporation and speed their time to insight.
HPCwire: How can organizations that are not as highly capitalized and informationally sophisticated effect the same end?
GRAVES: When you talk about the Internet, extranet and intranet as a collective, the body of knowledge that is available -- independent of capitalization -- resides principally in the Internet. Growth of information on the Internet has been phenomenal; I personally utilize it as my primary source of information. Capitalization is not really the enabling factor here: rather it is millions of people who offer all sorts of information, from simple sales pitches to advanced scientific research.
So the information content of the Internet is an incredible resource, independent of a firm's capitalization. That information is freely available to anyone who takes the time to seek it.
In addition, if you construct your company's intranet to seamlessly interface with the Internet, you can then have the best of both worlds. It's the company transparently integrating with the Internet that is enormously powerful.
Visualization is another vital key. I recently attended a conference where the topic of visualization was being addressed by Bill Gates: it's a direction Microsoft is moving toward along with Intel. There is now recognition that most of the work currently conducted in business is leftbrain activity. Visualization will prove crucial to engaging the creative right-brain and providing a more extensive field of action for the knowledge worker and athlete to flourish. In effect, if we can take advantage of the right brain, we've at least doubled our capabilities. And this enhancement is becoming increasingly available as visualization becomes a bigger part of computational platforms.
HPCwire: Athletes must train to meet challenges. How should the knowledge athlete train?
GRAVES: Barriers to understanding can be very high. The knowledge athlete must be willing and able to learn the many different "looks and feels" of various applications that are required to reach information that is already there. The concept of One Space for Knowledge attempts to create a common delivery platform for not only business applications but also all interactive communications and business processes. In that space, if you choose a Web delivery capability, you will lower the barriers to entry. As those barriers come down, knowledge athletes -- and in fact all knowledge workers -- are progressively enabled.
What allows knowledge athletes to excel is dropping such barriers and allowing them to solve problems as a common course of action as opposed to an exception. This will make them stronger and stronger on a daily basis, exactly as you find with conventional athletes.
HPCwire: Do you have any concluding words of advice?
GRAVES: Things are moving to the Web. The degree to which you, as a CIO, move into this space and take advantage of this opportunity will determine your success and the success of your corporation.
For more information, see http://www.sgi.com
Alan Beck is editor in chief of D S * and vice president of publications for Tabor Griffin Communications. Comments are always welcome and should be emailed to: alan@tgc.com