A very basic but essential rule of management breaks down as so: Allies are assets. Adversaries are liabilities. That said, ensuring you have the former and not the latter is easier said than done. Yes, you need to demonstrate a great degree of technical knowledge and overall professional capabilities. But there are also a number of “soft skills” that can turn the tide in your favor too. The recent book, Adversaries into Allies: Win People Over Without Manipulation or Coercion (Portfolio), demonstrates how to pursue this while falling short of, say, physical threats or blackmail. (Such techniques never work in the movies, anyway …) Author Bob Burg takes a far higher-minded approach, one that will pay longer-lasting dividends. Through the following best practices, CIOs can establish advocates who should remain loyal to their vision indefinitely, establishing mutually beneficial partnerships which can extend throughout an entire career. – See more at: http://www.cioinsight.com/it-management/leadership/slideshows/10-ways-to-build-allies-not-adversaries.html/#sthash.HxQ5Ok6E.dpuf.
12
Nov 13
CIO.com: Software-Defined Data Centers Aren’t Enough, Says Forrester
Techworld – Enterprises should aim to create “business-defined data centers”, according to IT analyst house Forrester Research.
In recent years, there has been a big push towards software-defined data centres, which aim to improve overall data centre performance by optimising the application layer and the hypervisor layer.
However, Forrester argues that the business-defined data centre cares about real services as opposed to less important applications.
Speaking at the annual Fujitsu Forum event in Munich today, Rachel Dines, senior analyst at Forrester, said: “Software-defined was a good step but it doesn’t go far enough. We want to think about order to cash, payroll, supply chain management. Actual business processes instead of [applications like] ERP and CRM and HCM and a million other acronyms.”
Dines said this business-defined data centre can be delivered by deploying infrastructure that can serve a wide range of business applications as opposed to deploying specialised infrastructure for niche applications. “When I think about infrastructure and I see organisations getting into these heavy silos of infrastructure that is just one application, that makes me nervous,” she said, adding that businesses should look to deploy 80 percent generic infrastructure and 20 percent specialised.
11
Nov 13
CIOInsight – Outsourced Clouds Gaining Momentum
In its fifth survey on outsourcing trends, Savvis, a CenturyLink company in the cloud infrastructure and hosted IT solutions space, projects a reversal in IT infrastructure. Today, 65 percent of IT infrastructure resides in in-house environments, but 70 percent of organizations will outsource their infrastructure by 2018. (“Infrastructure” refers to co-location, managed hosting, outsourced cloud, or a hybrid combination of these.) “The next five years will bring a dramatic shift in the way organizations approach IT,” says Savvis President Jeff Von Deylen. – See more at: http://www.cioinsight.com/it-strategy/infrastructure/slideshows/outsourced-clouds-gaining-momentum.
11
Nov 13
Theis Joins Innovative Integration
From the Inside Indiana Business article this morning:
Doug Theis has joined Innovative Integration, Inc. as a Senior Account Executive. Innovative Integration, Inc. is a nationally-recognized IT services firm that helps clients with the challenges of IT complexity, risk reduction, disaster recovery and security.
Doug’s previous position was Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Lifeline Data Centers. Doug helped Lifeline grow revenues over 600% in the seven years he spent as a contracted Vice President of Sales. Doug’s monthly newsletter, the Data Center News Digest, has over 3500 subscribers and is one of the oldest technology industry newsletters in Indiana.
“I’m excited about joining the team at Innovative. With one of the strongest Engineering teams in the Midwest, we will continue help our clients navigate the changing landscape of technology and to achieve their business goals.”
Doug is the founder and former Chair of the Techmakers technology networking group, a monthly networking and personal improvement group that meets in Indianapolis. Doug’s large network of connections in the technology and business development fields has enabled him to develop long-term business relationships with some of the best technology minds in the region. Doug also speaks publicly on IT strategy, data center strategies and disaster recovery.
Doug’s passion is about getting better, about leaving his comfort zone. For 14 years, Doug has led Team Ragged Glory, an Indy-based adventure racing team that competes in team endurance events that include paddling, running, mountain biking, ropes and navigation.
Source: Innovative Integration Inc.
08
Nov 13
Management consoles: how deep can you see in to your IT environment?
IT Administrators, I have a few questions for you.
How deep can you see into your IT environment?
Are you able to monitor your servers, network device, appliances, workstations, operating systems and hypervisors?
Are you able to see whether a backup finished properly?
How do you hear about problems in your IT environment?
How many screens do you have to view in order to get a complete picture of your network health?
Given unlimited resources, what would you change about your command and control system?
06
Nov 13
Continuity Central: Are enterprises losing the cyber-war?
Bit9 has published the results of its third-annual Server Security Survey of nearly 800 IT and security professionals worldwide.
Server security remains one of the most critical aspects of any company’s security posture. Servers are where the majority of customer data, intellectual property and user credentials are stored, which is why they are the target of most advanced threats. Failure to protect servers from advanced threats can lead to significant data loss, brand damage, large financial penalties, and diminished customer confidence.
Key survey findings included:
55 percent of security professionals were concerned about targeted attacks and data breaches on servers in 2013 – up 3 percent from 2012, and up 18 percent from 2011.
Only 13 percent of respondents are ‘very confident’ in their ability to stop advanced threats targeting servers.
04
Nov 13
Innovative Integration is my new home!
I’m excited to announce that I’ve joined the team at Innovative Integration!
Innovative Integration, Inc.
Located in Indianapolis and South Bend, Innovative is an information technology integrator. We help companies develop and follow technology strategy to reduce risk and get the most out of every IT dollar spent. We help large IT staffs with challenges like high availability, application delivery, enterprise mobility, bring your own device, data protection and disaster recovery. We help smaller IT staffs solve IT problems including technology selection, installs and upgrades, security, data protection and day-to-day maintenance.
Innovative is known for high-end Engineers and for the diligent pursuit of quality IT solutions for our clients. Innovative’s client list reads like a Who’s Who of successful Indiana companies and organizations.
Innovative is full of talent and full of old friends; many of the Engineering staff are people that I used to work with in the Lantech days.
Proud to be part of one of the best IT strategy and project delivery talent pools in the Midwest!
31
Oct 13
Continuity Central: Business attitudes to disaster recovery
Quorum has released results from its first disaster recovery survey. The survey, which comprised questions posted to Survey Monkey and SpiceWorks, polled 169 IT professionals from small, mid-sized and large businesses in various vertical markets.
Key findings from the survey included:
Almost 50 percent of respondents indicated their companies have a hardware-based data backup system in place; 40.9 percent have a hardware-based recovery system in place.
A natural disaster is considered the primary cause of system downtime, according to 33.8 percent (the majority) of respondents.
More than 67 percent claimed they would feel comfortable erasing their company’s critical data and restoring it from a backup.
The majority of respondents (42.9 percent) say they test their system’s functionality and capabilities once a quarter; 21.4 percent never test their system.
Forty-five percent believe their company would lose anywhere between $1,000 and $5,000 in one hour of downtime (during peak activity).
If IT spend is any indication, disaster recovery is still a focus for businesses. Almost 50 percent of respondents indicated 11 percent to 25 percent of their companies’ IT budget is allocated to disaster recovery this year. No doubt, stories of system downtime caused by hurricanes and tornadoes have driven this at least in part. And, in fact, the majority of respondents (33.8 percent) indicated that they believe natural disasters are the most common cause of IT downtime (followed by human error at 24.8 percent, software error or maintenance at 21.7 percent, and hardware failure at 19.7 percent). However, a recent study showed that human error and changes in hardware, software or systems are more likely to cause system downtime than any hurricane or tornado.
28
Oct 13
40-30-30 still holds true
Here’s a repost of an article from Robert Nagle, one of the Fathers of adventure racing. It addresses the balance required for success in adventure racing. I’ve quoted this article to many of my friends because I believe now more than ever that it applies to business and to life as well.
40-30-30: A Ratio For Racing Success
By Robert Nagle, 2002 Team Captain Eco Internet/GoLite
No, this is not yet another thesis on how to eat during an adventure race. Nor is it a discussion on the best diet for athletic training. Instead, it is a discussion of a different kind – what goes into making a successful adventure racing experience.
How you define success is, of course, up to you. Success may mean completing the course. Or, at the other extreme, it may mean a podium finish. Regardless, there are three key elements that will determine whether or not you meet your goals.
Most people fixate on the physical challenge when they first encounter adventure racing (be it on a television show, a gripping magazine article or even just one graphic image). The immediate assumption is that adventure racing is a grueling physical test. Of course, much of the media (and some race promoters) play it this way. Is adventure racing the toughest sport of all? Is this the toughest adventure race ever staged? How can these crazies race so hard for so long on such little sustenance in such a hostile environment?
21
Oct 13
Is too much IT is ruining your business?
Is too much information technology ruining your business?
Many would agree that IT is more complex today than it ever has been. And your business is probably more dependent on IT than it was just a few years ago.
Most companies “bet their business” on their IT systems. Consequently, the impact of an IT outage is worse than it used to be.
Virtualization and other technologies promise easier maintenance and quicker recovery, but often these technologies require more IT expertise and more dollars every budget cycle.
What can you do TODAY to reduce this complexity?
One of the best things you can do is to reduce the number of computer applications your company is using. Application proliferation happens incrementally, so it’s not always easy to see. Even small businesses find themselves using dozens of applications. More applications mean more technical support issues and more difficult recovery in the event of an outage. And each application is likely increasing your need for computer hardware, software, Internet connection size and the need for IT skills and services to maintain them.
What’s the first step to reducing the number of applications your company is using?
Create an inventory list of all the applications on all the computers in your company.
Then, tor each application, ask your staff this simple question:
Is this application helping me get generate revenue, deliver my products/services, or collect money?
If the answer is no, get rid of it.
Yes, there will be some pain and suffering. And eliminating applications can be a long process. But focusing on your application portfolio is one of the best ways to align information technology with the business goals. And minimizing applications reduces wasted cash, and wasted productivity, and wasted worry.
