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*Note: The 14 ITSM positions are included in the Internet and IT Job Description HandiGuide® and in the 210 individual job description word files.
Managing Productivity and Costs in a Turbulent Economy
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There have been unprecedented events in
the global markets that will have a profound impact on enterprises of all types.
Enterprises need to take proactive measures to mitigate the risk of coming under
severe financial pressure themselves. Metrics are the way we see
it. Metrics based solutions allow enterprises to improve their
understanding of the key drivers of profitability and enable them to develop a
cost redistribution program that will ensure long-term financial viability. It
is critical to identify the areas where cost can be eliminated or reduced
and to create and implement a formal cost review process. Enterprises of all types are feeling the pressure
as customers' disposable income decreases while trying to keep up with higher
costs of living. Over the last several years, cost management strategies have
become the focus of executive management due to global economic challenges.
These external drivers of cost management include:
ITSM Metrics
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IT Service Management Metrics are defined in the ITSM Template. IT Service Management is possible only with client
and IT agreement that service is being delivered. The ITSM SOA
Template is the perfect
solution.
Setting Priorities With Tight Budgets
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Meet with each user groups executives and ask them
if they could get only one project done, what it would be. The rule for the
discussion: They describe their projects in terms of business change, not in
terms of software requirements ("We need to improve productivity in the
warehouse by picking items more efficiently," not "We need an inventory picking
system enhancement.") This means that if a twice-a-day batch extract
into Excel file works, there is no need to create a real-time
SOA-driven interface. It means that a once-a-night dump-and-load into Excel
might be a better answer than enhancing the data warehouse and its business
intelligence interface. It might mean nothing more than teaching their
staff how to assign tasks to each other using plain-vanilla existing software,
instead of deploying a full-blown, enterprise-scale integrated project
management solution.
CIO Need to Hire and Develop IT Staff
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This
is not easy given the current economic situation. Developing an adequate in-house talent
pool demands more than a simple training program for employees' development.
Establishing a strong, predictable internal talent pipeline requires:
IT Metrics Key to Success in Troubled Times
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Many IT
organizations are under increasing pressure from the board of directors,
executive management, and business unit managers to demonstrate and improve the business value
of their IT investments. However, IT organizations still struggle to measure
business value. Many of the attempts to do so have been focused on ROI measures
at the front end as part of developing a business case for the IT portfolioÂ’s
proposed investments - but these are only estimates of expected business value.
Actual delivered business value can only be measured by taking a life-cycle
approach, working with the business to measure actual benefits after the project
is complete. Firms that
strive for best practice in IT portfolio management need to apply a credible
standard methodology across the enterprise to measure the business value of
investments, both when proposed and when delivered. The good news is that a
number of IT value methodologies have emerged that can be employed in the
portfolio management process. The key is to adopt one and begin using
it.
IT Strategy is Based on a Grounded Infrastructure
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If
companies are going to grow into entities that are truly greater than the sum of
their parts, they need to respond faster and smarter to market challenges with
better decision-making capabilities. One vital concern, which is often
overlooked in discussions of information visibility, is the need for stringent
alignment of departmental objectives with corporate strategy. Additional
business benefits include achieving a balance of cost and investment towards
organizational goals; a balance between internal limits and external growth;
enhanced collaboration for better decisions and departmental alignment; and a
360-degree view of customers for better customer experiences as well as
marketing and sales efforts. To ensure
alignment, management should focus on the development of a common set of metrics
within the organization, which naturally requires a common set of definitions.
Typically, different parts of the organization develop metrics specific to
themselves and their purposes - resulting in a lack of consistency in reporting
and an inability to aggregate information to senior management. According to a
2007 report 57 percent of companies do not have a common set of metrics to work
with. The
challenges become apparent when management tries to aggregate departmental
information to make enterprise decisions. A lack of consistent definitions and
metrics makes it particularly difficult for management to determine which way
alignment needs to tilt, if at all. One caveat: small and midsize companies must
strike a balance between letting groups identify and define the best metrics for
themselves versus defining metrics in the best interests of the organization as
a whole. The result
of strict alignment of activities with corporate strategy is that individual
departments are no longer paying lip service to the business plan; instead, it
serves as a coherent action plan, with all cogs working toward the same
objective instead of grinding the machine to a halt.
Secuitiy Audit Starting Points
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When
conducting a security audit there are some common areas that should be
reviewed. Included are:
Government Computers Hit by Virus Attack
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WASHINGTON (AP) - Law enforcement computers were
struck by a Mystery computer
virus, forcing the FBI and the U.S. Marshals to shut down part of their
networks as a precaution. The U.S. Marshals confirmed it disconnected from the Justice
Department's computers as a protective measure after being hit by the virus; an
FBI official said only that that agency was experiencing similar issues and was
working on the problem. "We too are evaluating a network issue on our
external, unclassified network that's affecting several government agencies,"
said FBI spokesman Mike Kortan. He did not elaborate or identify the other
agencies. Marshals spokeswoman Nikki Credic said the agency's
computer problem began Thursday morning. The FBI began experiencing similar
problems earlier. "At no time was data compromised," said Credic. The
type of virus and its origin were not determined. In addition to their external networks, most
federal law enforcement agencies have an internal-only network to prevent
cyber-snoopers from sensitive data. In this incident, the Marshals Service shut down
its Internet access and some e-mail while staff worked on the
problem.
Productivty Improvements Will Drive IT's Future Growth
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Microsoft
CEO Steve Ballmer told developers in India that growth
will come from higher productivity and innovation when the economy begins to
recover. It is not clear when that recovery will take place but he added that
the IT industry will have a starring role to play in that recovery as customers
focus on improving productivity and innovation. According
to Ballmer, the global economy is being "reset" in a "once in a lifetime" type
of economic change. IT accounts for 50% of capital expenditure in the
U.S.
CIOs Change Focus of Staffing Requirments
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With the recent changes in the economy, many CIO are
focusing staffing requirements on factors
like:
Rules of Engagement for Implementation of Social Networks
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Rules
of Engagement for Corporate Implementation of Social Networks This is like the
PC explosion of the 70s and 80s. If
the technology group does not set rules and standards, the user community will
take it upon themselves to integrate consumer apps into their work lives. You may find it useful to try
out social networking with a low-cost pilot. Many open source tools are widely available to experiment
with. Another option is hosted applications, which are easy to get up and run, and
usually offer a small number of corporate licenses at a very low
price.
Disaster Recovery / Business Continuity is Not the Place to Cut Costs
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In today's
business environment, many enterprises are looking for way to reduce their expenses by cutting
overhead. Often this takes the form of reducing headcount, particularly in areas
that are regarded as ancillary or non-core components of the
enterprise. Disaster Recovery and
Business Continuity often are placed in that category and, as a result, can
be an early casualty of many cost-cutting programs. Whether it is an internal Disaster Recovery and
Business Continuity team losing
staff members, or a part-time Disaster Recovery and
Business Continuity manager with less time to spare from the day job,
Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity programs can be neglected and will
quickly become out of date and ineffective, particularly in a rapidly changing
organization. As anyone who has ever had to manage a Disaster Recovery and
Business Continuity event knows, there are few things more useless than an out
of date Disaster
Recovery and Business Continuity plan. Of course,
it is hard to make a case for Disaster Recovery and
Business Continuity at a time when core functions are under pressure, but
maybe that is just when it should be on the radar even more than usual. With
share prices shaky and credit hard to find, the last thing any organization
needs right now is the damage to its reputation and credibility that could arise
from failing to effectively manage a high profile disruptive
incident. Arguably,
during a recession companies are at their most vulnerable, which makes it the
worst time to neglect anything, which contributes to resilience or reduces risk.
However, if an organization is under financial pressure, how can it square the
circle and achieve those reductions in overhead costs while still maintaining
the effectiveness of its Disaster Recovery and
Business Continuity program.
Controlling Costs Driven by IT Infrastructure
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There
have been significant improvements in the tools available to support IT systems
and improve the efficiency of IT
help desks. In the area of enterprise wide applications or datacenter
support services, vendors are increasingly looking to proactive and preventive
support tools and utilities to provide the high-value support services required
to avoid costly downtime situations. This technology, if deployed correctly, can
accelerate a shift away from reactive maintenance to proactive and preventive
support services, which can improve the efficiency of the current internal IT
support staff, thus reducing the amount of time and resources that need to be
dedicated to supporting the current environment.
Best Practices for Data Protection May Not be Enough
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A best practice solution for
data protection is to use encryption to prevent the unauthorized from having
access to information. However, encryption has a major weakness when it comes to
information protection. When information has only been encrypted, once it is
decrypted the authorized user
cannot be prevented from doing whatever they like with the information. In
fact, it is impossible for the sender of encrypted information to prevent its
misuse by the authorized recipient. Therefore, while encryption controls are
extremely valuable in some situations, they are not the answer to all the
questions. In
addition, CIOs use access controls to try to protect information for which
the IT group is the custodian. Access controls only really work inside the
enterprise. Once you get outside the enterprise's network, it is almost
impossible to maintain that control. Access controls were invented back in the
mainframe era, they are simple, all or nothing limitations - read, write,
append, delete, execute. They do not have the granularity control of a Digital
Right Management (DRM) system. If you have access, then it is total and
unmanaged.
Security policies for workstations become more complex
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Many IT security policies require
a multi-pronged approach to data security. For example, when setting up a new
computer for a user, the IT department will require a BIOS (Basic Input/Output
System) password for the system before the computer will start. BIOS password
security varies in functionality. Some are computer system specific, meaning
that the computer will not start without the proper password. Other BIOS
passwords are hard disk drive specific, meaning that the hard drive will not be
accessible without the proper password. Some computer BIOS employ one password
for access control to the system and the hard disk drive. To add a second level
of protection, new IT security policies require full hard disk drive encryption.
The most common of full hard disk encryption software operates as a memory
resident program. When the computer starts up, the encryption software is loaded
before the operating system starts and a pass-phrase or password prompt is
required. After a successful login from the user, the software decrypts the hard
disk drive sectors in memory, as they are needed. The process is reversed when
writing to the hard disk drive. This leaves the hard disk drive in a constant
state of encryption. The operating system and program applications function
normally, without having to be aware of any encryption
software.
Audit and security requirements of business partners
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Electronic data that is transferred
between an enterprise and its business partners are considered business
records and have specific audit and security requirement. Included are:
Security is Driven by Shifting Trends
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The Information Technology environment has changed
significantl, as several trends have dictated the need for a more robust
approach to corporate security
policies, including: These factors have made it necessary for network
administrators to design and implement comprehensive security policies to keep
pace with the changing IT landscape. Effective solutions for these multifaceted
problems require a layered approach comprised of products, policies and
procedures that can work in concert to provide organizations with the broadest security blanket
available. A missing computer can result in compliance and privacy
issues that can be very costly for organizations that store confidential data,
including enterprise, government, healthcare and educational institutions. There
is a relationship between computer theft, regulatory compliance and data
security. CIO and CSO must can combine policy, encryption,
IT asset management and remote data deletion capabilities.
CIOs Do More With Less
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Getting the
most out of overworked and understaffed IT departments is a challenge. Now that
we live in a period of economic turmoil, it is easily seen that most IT
departments have to rise to the challenges of IT management with the existing
number of people they have, or, more likely, even fewer. Many IT
organizations are caught up in a cycle of IT service and support that is
anything but efficient. In fact, an ad hoc approach to IT support that meets SOA
guidelines and ITSM requirements more often than not leads to a demoralized IT
staff that begins to resent having to repeatedly perform the same routing
tasks. With
everything that is happening today, it is clear that any help in the form of
additional IT personnel is not likely to come. That means that existing IT
personnel have to find a different approach to supporting the needs of the
business without compromising the quality of the services they
provide. With those
goals in mind, it is critical for IT organizations to plan their approach for
delivering IT services by utilizing tools that proactively solve problems and
resolve issues before they first generate a trouble ticket, and inhibit end-user
productivity.
Security Best Practices For Dealing with Terminated Employees
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States Implement Data Security Regulations
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The most stringent is Massachusetts was written to apply to
all organizations that handle the data of Massachusetts residents, whether the
businesses are based in the state or not. The Massachusetts Office of Consumer
Affairs and Business Regulation (OCABR) has specified a long list of steps for
protecting personal data and require companies to create wide-ranging internal
security programs and policies. In addition, the OCABR defines personal data: as
an individual's name along with his Social Security or driver's license number,
or with a financial account number. In Nevada, bank and credit card numbers must
also be accompanied by a PIN or password to meet the state's definition of
personal data. These regulations in these three states are expected to
spawn a host of me-too measures in other states.
How to outsource successfully
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Security Threats Addressed by Janco
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There are many
threats, which all network users are exposed. Many of these are masquerading as
valid application traffic and past traditional firewalls, which focus on network
layer access. Today attacks are
more dynamic, which necessitates deeper packet inspection and prevention
strategies across multiple network layers.
Combining expertise in security software, security appliances, and
multi-core processors is necessary to address these
issues.
1984 is just a few years too late
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Pro-active advertizing is an approach for large
screen billboards to be aligned with cameras that with face recognition software
adjust what they are advertizing. Many people will see pro-active advertizing and
Latitude as great solutions, but the reality is that companies have yet again
failed to deliver strong privacy and security. As it stands right now, Latitude
could be a gift to stalkers, prying employers, jealous partners and obsessive
friends. The dangers to a user's privacy and security are as limitless as the
imagination of those who would abuse these two
technologies.
Telecommunting Losses Some of its Luster
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Job Picture Not Good - How Long Will Recession Last?
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The
unemployment rate jumped to 7.2 percent in December, the highest in 16 years,
and will keep climbing as more corporations announce major job cuts. Company Job Cuts last week Microsoft 5,000 Intel 6,000 United Airlines 1,000 Caterpillar 5,000 Home Depot 7,000 Sprint Nextel 8,000
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Successful CIOs are utilizing
sophisticated, 
