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| Volume 7, Issue 8 |
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In This Issue:
 The 5 users you meet in hell (and one you'll find in heaven)
How to keep anxious IT workers in the fold
The 2007 security hall of shame
Cool stuff: Your 2007 holiday gift guide
The big chill: Ch-ch-chatting with the IT manager at the South Pole
 How to use enterprise blogs to streamline project management
What if Yoda ran IBM?
Ten technology letdowns of 2007
10 virtualization vendors to watch in 2008
The hottest jobs in information technology
 When you shop for storage hardware, bring a lawyer
Top 10 predictions for 2008
Morgan Stanley's stocking full of tech trends
Data flows faster downhill
 What IT Managers want for the holidays
Google considers expanding online storage
10 office holiday party landmines to avoid
 Step one to finding your dream job
Microsoft sales are up, and Gates is off
Fastest-Growing tech companies of 2007
Taming the world wide web
 Security policy? What security policy say IT pros
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The 5 users you meet in hell (and one you'll find in heaven)
Recognize any of these people -- the Know-It-All? The Finger-Pointer? The Whiz Kid? We thought so ...
Ah, end users. We sure do love them. Why, most of us wouldn't have jobs without them. But that doesn't mean users don't drive IT crazy sometimes, or maybe most of the time. Just as a zookeeper cares for his monkeys one way and his rhinos another
(we kid -- sort of), so too should IT tailor its responses to fit the individual styles of its end users, support managers say. One thing's for certain: Cordial or otherwise, interaction between support staff and end users is only expected to rise.
Demand for IT support services continues to increase as new systems and applications are implemented, according to a 2006 survey Supportindustry.com, which provides research
and trend data to the customer support and help desk industries. At the same time, some 43% of survey respondents said their budgets were either being cut or staying put -- meaning it's a fair assumption that IT help desks are stretched pretty thin
these days. And that pressure only adds to an already demanding, difficult and sometimes thankless job. It's a job where customer service and people skills are just as important as technical know-how. After all, your customers -- everyone from
an administrative assistant to the CEO -- represent a broad spectrum of personalities. Dealing with these personalities can be...
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How to keep anxious IT workers in the fold
After years of layoffs and outsourcing, reassurance is key, says Judith M. Bardwick.
Over the past decade, thousands of IT professionals lost their jobs to layoffs and outsourcing, so it's little wonder that many of those who chose to remain in the IT field have grown distrustful of their current employers. But for IT managers, there
are steps they can take to build trusting relationships with workers who may be eyeing the door -- and other opportunities, according to Judith M. Bardwick, a management consultant in La Jolla, Calif. Bardwick, the author of One Foot Out the
Door: How to Combat the Psychological Recession That's Alienating Employees and Hurting American Business, talked with Computerworld about how to reassure nervous
workers. Excerpts from that interview follow...
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The 2007 security hall of shame
Bad breaches, ghastly gaffes and five people we'd like to forget.
How bad was 2007 for breaches, vulnerabilities and similar mayhem? On the bright side, it was better than 2008 is forecast to be. With more of every sort of meltdown predicted -- more criminalization of the hacker community, more
Web-application attacks, more phishing, more spamming, more zero-day attacks and more virtualization-related threats -- we're happy to tell you that you are likely to look back on 2007 as the peaceful old days. What, that doesn't cheer you up?
Hmm. All right, then -- wallow in previous misery with a quick look back at some of the notable security events of 2007. Just remember: It's all in the past now ... it's all in the past now ...
A brace of breaches: 2007's five worst
In a league of its own: The TJX Companies Inc. The 2006 data breach news landscape was dominated by the compromise at the Department of Veterans Affairs, but this year commercial interests took the (booby) prize -- in particular, Framingham,
Mass.-based retailer TJX. The breach it disclosed in January (several months after the fact) was the biggest ever involving payment card data. TJX itself claimed that over 45.6 million cards belonging to customers were
compromised in an intrusion that went undetected for over 18 months; however, several banks suing the company claim...
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Cool stuff: Your 2007 holiday gift guide
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More than 50 amazing gifts for the technology lovers in your life.
The Cool Stuff Holiday Gift Guide is back, with tips for the very best gifts to buy for the tech lovers in your life. This year, be the one whose gifts are the biggest hits. Our guide features the coolest choices in media players, flat-panel HDTVs,
digital cameras, cell phones and much more, selected by the staff of Computerworld. There are also fun gadgets for the home office or your office cubicle, devices to keep you connected around the house, and electronic games for the whole family.
We've also included energy-saving devices for the green-computing enthusiast on your list, as well as "ultimate gifts" for true practitioners of conspicuous consumption -- and those of us who simply like to think big. We've included links to Web sites
where you can find more information about each of the products, as well as estimates of how much you can expect to pay for each product online. Please keep in mind that prices do fluctuate, especially during the holiday season. We hope this guide makes
your shopping easier this holiday season. Find something to please even the early adopters on your list, or pass on a hint for something you'd like for yourself. Happy clicking!...
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The big chill: Ch-Ch-Chatting with the IT manager at the South Pole
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Is there a difference between -60 and -100? Absolutely!
From the start, Henry Malmgren was determined to get to the South Pole. After graduating from Texas Tech University in 1998 with a degree in MIS he applied for a job in the Antarctic every year before NSF contractor Raytheon finally hired him as
a network engineer in 2001. Since then he has alternated between the Denver headquarters and the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, spending two summers and two winters there before finally working his way up to IT manager. Staying over is a
commitment: Once the winter starts, there's no way to get in and out of the base until summer begins eight to nine months later. "I thought I would just do this for
a single season, but somehow it always seemed too easy to keep coming back," he says.
Ok, I have to ask: How's the weather down there?
Right now it's pretty nice. We're at nice -64 degrees Fahrenheit with only about a 6.3 knot wind so it's what we would consider a really good day.
Whatever possessed you to work in Antarctica?
I had never traveled out of the U.S. at all until after I'd graduated from college. I had dated a girl who was an exchange student to Europe, and after hearing all of
her stories, I knew I wanted to get a job out of the U.S. Somehow, the Antarctic job popped up on a job search, and I latched onto it as the perfect ticket to be able to travel for a while.
Is there really an official South Pole?
Absolutely. It looks like...
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How to use enterprise blogs to streamline project management
Too many enterprise users get lost in storms of reply-all e-mails while trying to manage projects or collaborate. Blogs make a better answer.
Eugene Roman, group president of systems and technology at Bell Canada, knows how to play a blog. An enterprise blog, that is. And he has taught his employees to play a blog so well that they often have "jam" sessions—an internal blog forum where groups
of employees discuss new products and work to streamline efficiencies at the $18 billion telecom. "It's like grabbing some instruments and going into a garage," Roman says. Except, Bell Canada's garage is virtual and lives on the corporate
intranet. The primary instrument, a lightweight enterprise blogging tool, lets coworkers blog about topics from figuring out ways to cut energy costs to conceiving new products for Bell Canada, whose distributed workforce stretches from the
Atlantic to the Pacific. (Roman chose Telligent's Community Server 2.0 and did some in-house development for the blog effort.) Roman's embrace of blogs shows that he understands an ugly secret that IT departments all over North America don't want to
admit...
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What if Yoda ran IBM?
The big vendors beat down the doors of large companies to get business, but a small-company CIO gets the brush-off. He wonders how to harness the powers of the Force, and get some big-company expertise to help the little guy.
In the movie The Empire Strikes Back, you may remember, the great sage, Yoda, tells Luke Skywalker, "Size matters not." But according to a group of IT leaders who met recently for the CIO 08: The Year Ahead conference (run by CIO.com's publisher),
size certainly matters when we attempt to engage large information technology consultancy firms. These vendors don't seem to want to do business with small to midsize organizations, even though we have money to spend. One IT leader who came
from a large shop before landing in his current role said it was difficult to get phone calls returned from the once "cozy" vendor—whose sales reps were eager to talk to him when he commanded a larger budget. Another observed that the talent his
vendor provided was "green." Finally, a few expressed disbelief at vendors' pricing; it appeared these vendors were geared only for large organizations with large IT budgets.
Vendor Help Wanted
I have experienced some of the same frustrations. For two years I have been employed as the director of information services at the nonprofit Sequoia Community Health Centers in Fresno. Sequoia's primary purpose is to provide outpatient care to the
most disadvantaged citizens in the Fresno area. In 2006 alone, Sequoia healthcare professionals saw more than 37,000 patients. Because we rely on grants and government funding, it's more difficult for us to fund strategic IT projects than it
is for for-profit organizations; however, that does not mean IT gets a pass on providing outstanding technology to our colleagues...
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Ten technology letdowns of 2007
We had much to hail this year, including rising IT salaries and better virtualization tools, but we also sighed over IT products and ideas that fell short.
H-1B visa reform? Not likely. "Spam king" arrested? Yeah, that was a big help. We can't wait to buy a Palm Foleo! (Um, never mind.) Has your business deployed Microsoft Vista? And while environmentalists cheer Al Gore's Nobel, the green IT
movement looks like a crawl. Read on about what's got us feeling cheated this year. And since misery loves company, please add your own bubble bursts. Click here to add your own...
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10 virtualization vendors to watch in 2008
Virtualization could hardly be hotter as a trend, yet virtualization management and security tools are still in their infancy. At first, it defies logic.
But CIOs on the front lines of virtualization efforts know the reality of the problem: VMs can be deployed in minutes, which is a big advantage on the tactical side—and a big worry on the management side. After initial virtualization
deployments wowed business people with their ability to save money and speed up processes like IT provisioning, the number of VMs quickly escalated in enterprises. Issues like balancing workloads on virtualized servers and tracking all those VMs
became much more important. The big vendors in the space, VMware and Xen (now owned by Citrix), were, to some extent, learning along with the customers about the everyday management headaches and concerns. Only as more of those worries arose did
rival companies come knocking on CIOs' doors with products designed to provide a comprehensive look at the virtualized data center, manage it and protect it. Sure,
VMware and Citrix/Xen have their own management tools. But who are the other key companies innovating in this area?...
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The hottest jobs in information technology
What jobs should you focus on filling in 2008? Our Hot Jobs spec sheets describe the IT roles that are most in demand, explain why they're so critical and offer suggestions on how to hire for them.
RFID Systems Engineer
An RFID (radio frequency identification) engineer handles developing and implementing a company's system to track goods and information via wireless chips...
Read more >>
Head of IT HR
A traditional HR person may not recognize that a job candidate's experience with a technology doesn't translate well to their own organization. That's why you need...
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When you shop for storage hardware, bring a lawyer
Thanks to such regulations as the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, choosing your storage hardware may have legal implications.
Is there a worse time to start thinking of what to put in next year’s storage budget than just before the holidays? Probably not < grin >, but setting aside the nuts and bolts of storage now so that you can focus on the legal implications of next year’s
purchases will be the best present you can give yourself before the new year. Shopping for storage, as many of you know, is among the more challenging purchasing endeavors you must face in IT -- mainly because your extensive variety of
requirements is surpassed only by the extensive variety of solutions competing to fulfill your needs. [Last year’s amendments to the FRCP, which took effect Dec. 1, 2006, give judges greater authority in forcing companies to produce e-mails,
electronic documents, and even IMs during litigation. Are judges putting that authority to good use? You can bet your last e-mail message they are. As Ephraim Schwartz discusses in a recent Reality Check blog post, even information stored in
memory for a short time can be the target of a subpoena.] The latter, in my view, is a direct consequence of the former: Storage demands are so varied -- even among companies similar in trade and structure -- that vendors can do little but offer as
diverse an array of solutions possible. As a consequence, the storage industry is riddled with crannies...
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Top 10 predictions for 2008
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2008 IT forecasts: XP lives and the greening of tech. A look into the crystal ball for 2008 shows green IT, an extension for Windows XP, greater Linux adoption, and more open mobile networks, among other visions.
The predictable flood of 2008 IT prognostications has rolled in over the past few weeks, and we have listened to analysts, vendors, consultants, and our geek friends, accepting some forecasts and rejecting others. Turns out we did pretty well culling
the wheat from the chaff last year and gazing ahead, though maybe we weren't bold enough in our declarations. So this year, we'll stretch a little and predict:
XP's reprieve
Microsoft will announce an extension until the end of 2008 for Windows XP availability instead of cutting it off on June 30. In September '07, the company pushed the extension from the end of January until June after corporate users
complained, not to mention that many companies had decided to put off moving to Vista. The migration will continue to be slow for at least the first half of 2008.
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Morgan Stanley's stocking full of tech trends
Based on big growth in consumer and enterprise tech this year, Morgan Stanley predicts a very happy 2008.
With 2008 almost here, it's a good time to stop and think about the really big picture for next year. What matters most in tech? What are the megatrends that might affect your job or career? What cool toys will you get for Christmas? Well, maybe
not that last one. But let's tackle the other two, with some help from a new Morgan Stanley report based on the firm's recent Internet and Technology conferences. Actually, this is something they do every year -- a mega, 50-page tome summarizing
all the trends they can think of, chock-full of miscellaneous fascinating statistics, albeit often provided by vendors (such as Cisco). The caveat here is that Morgan Stanley has always been among the most rah-rah investment banks when it
comes to Internet technology, and this same high-profile report was the one they used to fan the flames of the first Internet bubble. So it's provocative, but we'll take it with a grain of salt. The headline here is about...
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Data flows faster downhill
It was the peak of the dotcom boom and I worked for a travel agency that was buying out Mom-and-Pop travel shops from Seattle to Miami -- mid-1999, if I remember correctly. I was part of the traveling network team that was responsible for acquisition network and server reviews and employee evaluations of said acquisitions.
I was sent off to our recently acquired sister site in Seattle, a mega travel company that had about 10 smaller sites and a supposedly superior sys admin -- or so I was informed. Eric was the only IT guy for this company, and he had just gotten
his CCNA AND MCSE. It was my job to review Eric and the site to determine whether he should stay or go and what other changes might be necessary... I called my boss and team lead for a conference call. I started out happily, telling them about the
server room and its layout, seamless design, and work of art, blah blah. I watched as Cathy, Eric's manager, smiled that I-told-you-off-and-you-had-to-listen smile. Then I hit on the Windows 95A servers and location of said servers with data-flow
technical details. There was silence on the line. My boss was furious that I'd bothered him with such idiocy, and nobody seemed to think it was funny...
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Slide show: What IT Managers Want for the Holidays
If there really are 12 days for receiving gifts, then this is what IT managers want this year
...
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Google considers expanding online storage
Google reportedly is considering an online storage service for users' personal files. Rumors of a virtual hard drive from Google may not have been exaggerated after all.
In an effort to move more user data into the Internet "cloud," Google is close to releasing a storage service that would let users move their digital data onto Google's servers, according to an article in the Wall Street Journal Nov. 27. The
Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, claims Google is finishing up a service that would let users store word-processing documents, digital music, video
clips and photos on the Mountain View, Calif., company's servers. With this cloud approach, users could...
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10 office holiday party landmines to avoid
There's a reason a lot of workers dread holiday parties and it's because "fun" and "making sure you can continue to pay your bills" rarely mix in a copasetic manner.
Can you drink? Must you wear a tie? What if you say the wrong thing? What if your manager says you should loosen up but doesn't really mean it? What if you make a bad joke? Do you have to be nice to the vice president that always calls you "Bob" when
your name is "Brian"? To some, it feels like walking a tightrope and its reason enough to just want to stay home. But you can't. Or it is at least considered ill-advised by HR professionals and those people who hired you and are footing the
bill for the party. You're going to have to show up, and you'll have to clean up your mess if you blow it. But eWEEK strives to make this a lot less daunting with by leading you through a guided tour of the things you should not do...
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Step one to finding your dream job
There's no formula that works for everyone, so be as specific as you can when figuring out what the job you've always fantasized about really is.
We know it's possible, even if we haven't read The Four-Hour Work Week yet. We know people in our neighborhoods or we've seen people on TV who have dream jobs, so we know they exist. It's the post-millennium workplace fantasy: To do work we love and
are passionate about, be paid well for doing it, and to work among smart and supportive team members under the leadership of a wise and ethical chief executive officer. Sounds reasonable on paper. Why is it so hard, in real life, to get all the
dream job ducks to line up in a row? For starters, it's helpful to remember that our dream-job requirements often...
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Microsoft sales are up, and Gates is off
There was little sentimentality at the co-founder's last meeting as full-time chairman, but plenty of bullishness from Ballmer.
In his last shareholder meeting as a full-time employee, Microsoft (MSFT) Chairman William Gates spent little time dwelling on the significance of the moment. It's been more than a year since Gates said he'd step down from his role at Microsoft
to focus on philanthropy (BusinessWeek.com, 6/16/06) beginning July 1, 2008. But it was only toward the end of presentation at the company's annual meeting on Nov.
13 that Gates briefly reflected. "This is the dream we started Microsoft 30 years ago to pursue," Gates said of the long-term bets being placed by Microsoft researchers. Next year, he noted, he'd be at the meeting as a "part-time chairman."
As the company heads into the final year of Gates' tenure...
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Fastest-Growing tech companies of 2007
Google, AT&T, and Apple lead the pack when it comes to generating the most profits for shareholders.
Three of last year's fastest-growing tech companies are back at the top in 2007. Google (GOOG), AT&T (T), and Apple (AAPL) took the highest spots in a list that ranks companies by a combination of share performance, sales and profit growth, and
return on equity, a measure of the company's ability to generate profit on behalf of its shareholders. Performance is measured in the 12 months through Nov. 15, 2007.
Google does a better job than rivals such as Yahoo (YHOO) in wringing profits from...
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Taming the world wide web
A rising tide of companies are tapping Semantic Web technologies to unearth hard-to-find connections between disparate pieces of online data.
When Eli Lilly scientists try to develop a new drug, they face a Herculean task. They must sift through vast quantities of information such as data from lab experiments, results from past clinical trials, and gene research, much of it stored
in disparate, unconnected databases and software programs. Then they've got to find relationships among those pieces of data. The enormity of the challenge helps explain why it takes an average of 15 years and $1.2 billion to get a new drug to
market. Eli Lilly (LLY) has vowed to bring down those costs. "We have set the goal of reducing our average cost of R&D per new drug by fully one-third, about $400 million, over the next five years," Lilly Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Sidney Taurel told the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan last August. As part of its cost-cutting campaign, the drugmaker is experimenting with new technologies designed to make it easier for scientists to unearth and correlate scattered,
unrelated morsels of online data...
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Security policy? What security policy say IT pros
Most technology professionals often knowingly ignore security policies according to a survey of more than 890 IT professionals by the Ponemon Institute. Many are even unaware of any such policies.
"The key takeaway is that information security policies are not being read, or - if they are being read -- are not being understood, or if understood, people may not be following it," said Larry Ponemon, chairman of the privacy think tank. More than
half of the respondents in the Ponemon survey released this week said they had personally copied confidential company information into USB memory sticks, even though more than 87 percent admitted that company policy forbade them from doing so.
In addition, 57 pecent believed...
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