The Daily News is brought to you by George Spafford, Principal Consultant at Pepperweed Consulting, LLC.  Pepperweed is nationally recognized as a leader in IT Management and was recently recognized as one of the Inc. 500 fastest growing privately-held companies.  For more information, check out our website at www.pepperweed.com or call 888 229-0145. Please let us know if you see stories you think should be included in the next issue of the Daily News, and feel free to forward this email on to others.

 

Do you need a public speaker at your next IT-related event?  If so, please contact me at george.spafford@....  A number of programs are available including one hour presentations, keynotes, executive awareness sessions and so on all revolving around technology business, the management of IT, ITIL, and risk management.

 

"All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near. Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him.” – Sun Tzu

 

The Picks of the Day

Podcast:  ID Theft Laws: What You Need to Know

“Compliance with new ID theft laws could have dramatic effects on businesses and consumers. In this OnSecurity podcast, Lisa Vaas chats with Eric Greenberg, chief security portfolio engineer for Unisys, about what you need to know.”

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2162574,00.asp?kc=EWKNLHCR080107STR2

[Very well done.  A lot of info in a 16 minute podcast.]

 

Webcast:  Optimizing Change Management

Presented live on August 8, 2pm EDT, 11am PDT and available as an archive there after

Organizations have implemented change management to meet regulatory compliance requirements and to manage risk. At this stage, groups should go back and review the process for efficiency and effectiveness. Attend this webcast and learn what information Change Management needs, the benefits of multiple change models, information that Change Management should share with other areas and metrics for consideration.

Register today at http://cp.jupiterweb.com/index.php/3896_default/

 

IT Audit / Internal Audit

IT Audit Checklist: Change Management

“This checklist offers:

§         187 specific checklist items to help assess your internal audit readiness

§         Controls derived from prominent standards/frameworks including ITIL, CobiT, and NIST

§         Pointers on audit planning, preparation, testing, and reporting

§         Clarification on what auditors want (and don't want) to see”

http://www.itcinstitute.com/display.aspx?id=2499

[This is authored by Dan Swanson and George Spafford]

 

IT Process Improvement / Quality Management

Incident Decision Making and Cognitive Bias

“From an ITIL perspective, an Incident is a deviation from the normal operation of a system that impact, or may impact, the quality of a service. Rapid decision making around what has happened and how best to quickly restore service is critical as actions, or inactions, will affect customer satisfaction, costs, security and many other factors.”

http://www.itsmwatch.com/itil/article.php/3690326

 

Don’t Do It All At Once

“Some groups propose ‘big bang’ projects where they try to change the world in one fell swoop. It comes along like a siren song: "Do this and all will be fixed." Groups looking at the IT Infrastructure Library often here this song and dangerously steer towards hidden rocks. Rather than risk all, teams need to take a step back and consider a phased implementation that aligns with the needs of the business.”

http://www.projectmanagerplanet.com/leadership/article.php/3690846

 

Legal and Regulatory Compliance

Contracts can't be changed online without notice, court rules

“A federal appeals court has ruled that companies can't change their contracts and post those revisions online without notifying customers first.”

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9028240&source=rss_news10

[Thanks Paul]

 

Count 'Em: 63 CFOs Convicted in Past Five Years

“The Department of Justice, which has said that at least 53 finance chiefs have been convicted in the five-year life of the President's Corporate Fraud Task Force, has provided CFO.com with a list of 53 individuals who either pled guilty or were found guilty. After recalculating to include other cases, CFO.com has confirmed another 10, bringing the total to 63 ex-CFOs who either pled guilty or were convicted by juries since July 9, 2002.”

http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/9608130?f=alerts

 

Investors Say Sarbanes-Oxley Got It Right: Study

“As U.S. regulators and industry recognize Sarbanes-Oxley's fifth year this July 30, most investors (57 percent) in a new survey by Pepperdine University's Graziadio School of Business and Management believe the requirements imposed by the law, holding CEOs and senior management personally accountable for the accuracy of their companies' financial disclosures, are about right, while one-third (31 percent) say its restrictions did not go far enough. Only eight percent say the law went too far.”

http://compliancehome.com/news/SOX/11111.html

 

Security and Risk Management

First Armed Robots on Patrol in Iraq

“Robots have been roaming the streets of Iraq, since shortly after the war began.  Now, for the first time -- the first time in any warzone -- the machines are carrying guns.  “

http://blog.wired.com/defense/2007/08/httpwwwnational.html

 

Continuity of Operations Plan

“A Continuity of Operations Plan (or Continuity of Government Plan) has been a part of government operations since at least the Cold War, when President Dwight D. Eisenhower provided by executive order various measures which were supposed to ensure that the government of the United States would be able to continue in case of nuclear war.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuity_of_operations_plan

National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/05/print/20070509-12.html

FEMA COOP Programs  http://www.fema.gov/government/coop/index.shtm [This has a lot of downloadable templates]

 

On Demand Webcast:  Data Backup and Recovery- Your Future Depends on it!

“Organizations face an enormous challenge when it comes to managing vast amounts of data. Two of the most critical challenges are data protection and data recovery.”

http://www.itbriefingcenter.com/programs/gartner_ironmountain_backup.html

 

Healthcare / Bio-Informatics / Care Delivery Organizations (CDOs)

U.S. Health IT Lags

“Patients in the United States, where healthcare is fragmented and Census figures indicate that nearly 45 million residents lacked health insurance in 2005, already pay the price.  Many avoidable costs are the result of a lack of information, and run the gamut from bills for unnecessarily repeated tests to potentially life-threatening care delays and medical errors, according to reports from the likes of research company Rand Corp. as well as physicians and patients on the ground.”

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2163269,00.asp?kc=EWKNLHCR080107FEA1

[Thanks Kurt]

 

Ideas Sought for I.T. Advisory Body

“The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology is soliciting public comment on a successor for the American Health Information Community, an advisory body to the Department of Health and Human Services.”

http://www.healthdatamanagement.com/html/news/NewsStory.cfm?articleId=15550

 

Reports Assess RHIO Security

“The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has issued a set of reports that review and assess the variations in data privacy and security among 34 regional health information organizations.”

http://www.healthdatamanagement.com/html/news/NewsStory.cfm?articleId=15545

The report can be accessed at:  http://www.healthit.ahrq.gov/ [This also has a toolkit with templates for review.]

 

Human Error / Safety / Environment

Radioactive Debate

“Climate change hardly qualifies as good news for anyone. But for advocates of nuclear energy, these are practically glory days. As the urgency of combating global warming has risen, even environmentalists and politicians who may have once chained themselves to the reactor gates are taking another look at the industry that has languished in regulatory and PR hell since the partial meltdown at Three Mile Island in 1979.”

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20124497/site/newsweek/

 

Bird flu human cases stabilize, experts say

“The bird flu epidemic appears to have stabilized as far as humans go but several developing nations have not been able to stem its spread amongst poultry and domesticated birds, experts said Friday.”

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/world/view_article.php?article_id=80465

 

U.S. Orders More Glaxo Bird Flu Vaccine

“British drug maker GlaxoSmithKline said the Department of Health and Human Services placed another order to buy bulk avian flu vaccine to fill the national stockpile in the event of a pandemic.”
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/5025644.html

 

Lab leak fears over Britain's foot and mouth outbreak

“An urgent probe into Britain's foot and mouth outbreak homed in on an animal disease research laboratory Sunday amid fears of a virus leak, as other countries watched the potential crisis closely.”

http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=188308

http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/008200708051441.htm

 

Outsourcing / Globalization / International

China-bashing pointless

“Bills are moving in Congress aimed at forcing China to cheapen its currency quickly. They represent bad ideas that could hurt the U.S. economy.  It’s in China’s interest to make its currency more expensive, and it is slowly doing so. Any official U.S. action aimed at producing an acceleration is likely to put the backs of Chinese officials up and could provoke retaliation.”

http://news.bostonherald.com/editorial/view.bg?articleid=1015237&srvc=home

 

China's booming economy polluting sea

“China's booming economy is wreaking havoc on the nation's coastal waters, with sewers often spilling right into parts of the sea reserved for tourism or aqua-farming, state media said Saturday. “

http://dailynews.muzi.com/news/ll/english/10047455.shtml

http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=164991&version=1&template_id=45&parent_id=25

 

Economics / Business / Misc.

House slaps $16 billion in taxes on oil industry

“Declaring a new direction in energy policy, the House on Saturday approved $16 billion in taxes on oil companies, while providing billions of dollars in tax breaks and incentives for renewable energy and conservation efforts.”

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20124921/

 

Spinach — fuel of the future?

“One day the engine used by plants and photosynthetic bacteria to convert sunlight to chemical energy could power a cell phone or laptop, or help produce hydrogen fuel for cars and homes.”

http://license.icopyright.net/user/viewContent.act?clipid=20598759&mode=cnc&tag=3.5413%3Ficx_id%3D32901

 

Service Sector Grows, but at Slower Rate

“The U.S. service sector expanded in July though at a slower pace than the previous month, a trade group said Friday, suggesting that economic growth is moderating.”

http://license.icopyright.net/user/viewContent.act?clipid=20598758&mode=cnc&tag=3.5721%3Ficx_id%3DD8QPJRLG0

 

Spreadsheets Are Free

“The program, Calc, is a part of OpenOffice, the open-source business applications suite. The suite's available on several different operating systems, including Windows, Mac OS, and Linux. Like other OpenOffice applications, Calc is free of license fees. It can also be downloaded and installed on as many PCs as a user or enterprise requires.”

http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/9607908?f=alerts

 

End Notes

Titles and links to articles written by George Spafford are listed at:  http://spaffordconsulting.com/articles.html

 

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Pepperweed Consulting, LLC, was founded by IT professionals who recognized a need for quality IT Management tools and specialists peaked in their implementation and use. Today, Pepperweed is nationally recognized for its unique ability to provide optimal infrastructure and process designs and to deliver on the promise of those designs through hands-on implementation of selected technologies. Recently listed as one of the Inc. 500 fastest growing, privately held companies, Pepperweed is one of the largest IT Management practices in the U.S.

 

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_____________________________________________

George Spafford
Principal Consultant
ITIL Service Manager, IPRC, CISA

Pepperweed Consulting, LLC®
Office:  269-556-9597
Mobile:  269-208-1832

FAX:  208-978-6295
George.Spafford@...