"There’s only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that’s your own self.” – Aldous Huxley

 

Top Picks

Hysteria over swine flu is the real danger, some say
“’We have people without symptoms going into the emergency rooms asking to be screened for swine flu at the expense of people with real illness,’ said Cathy Gichema, a nurse in Pikesville, Maryland.”
http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/05/03/swine.flu.react/index.html

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/05/02/worried.well.hospitals/index.html

 

IT Process Improvement / Quality Management

 

I’m researching some issues on governance and audit right now.  The following are some interesting resources I turned up:

·         Deloitte’s “The Risk Intelligent Chief Audit Executive”
http://www.deloitte.com/dtt/cda/doc/content/dtt_ERS_CAE031907.pdf

·         “Risk Management and the Board of Directors” Legal Report posted at Harvard.edu
http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/corpgov/files/2008/11/risk-management-and-the-board-of-directors.pdf

·         “Questions Directors Should be Asking About Risk management”
http://www.boardoptions.com/riskmanagement.htm

·         “Corporate Directors May Not Be Providing Sufficiently Robust Enterprise Risk Oversight”
http://www.conference-board.org/utilities/pressDetail.cfm?press_ID=2893

 

Kurt’s Corner

News and views from Kurt Milne, the managing director of the ITPI.  He can be reached at: kurt.milne@....

 

Microsoft server application virtualization – sneak peek
Per Microsoft - the goal is to get to the point where separation between the operating system, the middleware and the applications means that the only traditional installation IT will have to do is laying down a hypervisor on physical server hardware.
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2009/042909-microsoft-server-app-virtualization.html?netht=ts_043009&nladname=043009dailynewsamal

 

Legal perspective on cloud security – do you know where your data is?
Tanya Forsheit’s net net - there just isn't yet a practical solution for protecting data in the cloud to meet current laws.  The law as we know it does not really sufficiently contemplate the world as it exists -- that data is already in the cloud.
http://www.itbusinessedge.com/cm/community/features/interviews/blog/theres-more-than-one-way-to-tackle-privacy-in-the-cloud/?cs=31854&utm_source=itbe&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=MCS&nr=MCS

 

Do current health care IT cuts jeopardize Electronic Health Record vision?
President Obama's plan to extend healthcare coverage faces a significant test on the IT front. Healthcare IT News reports that a new American Hospital Association survey indicates that more than half of American hospitals are responding to recent economic pressure by either scaling back IT projects or tabling them altogether.
http://blogs.cioinsight.com/knowitall/content001/infrastructure/healthcare_it_hit_in_recession.html?kc=CIOMINUTE05012009CIO1

 

Data Centers / Cloud Computing / Green IT

Why virtualization is shaking up IT data centers
“Simply having a uniform (or near-uniform) software layer between the physical infrastructure and your compute workloads means you can begin to assemble a homogeneous physical infrastructure to support a heterogeneous abstract IT environment.”
http://news.cnet.com/8301-19413_3-10168613-240.html

[I don’t recall seeing this article when it came out and the message is a good one – reduction in variation is beneficial.]

 

Security and Risk Management

USPS Probes Security Breach
“CBS News has learned of another data breach potentially compromising the personal information of thousands of people. Companies Lexis Nexis and Investigative Professionals have notified up to 40,000 people whose ‘sensitive and personally identifiable’ information may have been viewed by individuals who should not have had access.”
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/05/01/cbsnews_investigates/main4982989.shtml

 

Human Error / Safety / Environment

Dangerous climate change may be just 50 years away, study warns
“If you haven’t done much lately to reduce your carbon footprint, a new analysis in the journal Nature may motivate you to start living a more eco-friendly life. When human injection of carbon released into the atmosphere gets up to one trillion tons, the result will be a dangerous climate change, says a paper in the journal.
 http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/2009/05/01/2009-05-01_dangerous_climate_change_may_be_just_50_years_away_study_warns.html

 

US News / Business / Economics

Chrysler shutdown pushes suppliers closer to edge
“With all 30 of Chrysler's plants idled through the automaker's bankruptcy process, its cash-strapped parts suppliers will have no new revenue for the next 60 days -- or indefinitely.”
http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSTRE5405SM20090501

 

Global companies fear Obama's new tax proposals
“Multinational companies on Monday said President Barack Obama's proposals to rein in corporate loopholes will make them less competitive, while consumer advocates said the changes are long overdue fixes for abuse.”
http://www.reuters.com/article/economicNews/idUSN0440647120090504

 

Technology & Science

Looking for a Wi-Fi hot spot? Try 10,000 feet up
“A number of domestic airlines have recently begun offering Wi-Fi Internet access aboard planes, and other airlines say they are working toward making it happen.”
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TRAVEL/business.travel/05/04/airplane.wifi/index.html

 

Exploding star is oldest object seen in universe
“The object, known as GRB 090423, is about 200 million years older than the previous record-holder for oldest object ever seen.  Berger isn't just interested in the record books, though -- the gamma ray burst extended the frontiers of human knowledge about the history of the universe.”
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/04/29/gamma.ray.burst.space/index.html

 

End Notes

The News is brought to you by George Spafford, Principal Consultant at Pepperweed Consulting, LLC.  Pepperweed is nationally recognized as a leader in IT Management Consulting.  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 News, and feel free to forward this email on to others.

Titles and links to articles written by me are listed at:  http://spaffordconsulting.com/articles.html and if you have news or feedback you’d like to share, please send an email to george.spafford@....

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_____________________________________________

George Spafford
Principal Consultant
ITIL Service Manager, TOCICO Jonah, IPRC, CISA
Pepperweed Consulting, LLC®
Office:  269-556-9597
Mobile:  269-208-1832
FAX:  208-978-6295
George.Spafford@...

 

 

 

 

 

"’Strategy’ (from the Greek strategos, meaning generalship) is a set of actions toward a specific goal. The concept of strategy has developed in the laboratory of war. One of the most popular "strategy" books ever written (and still read today after 2,400 years) is Sun Tzu’s manual, The Art of War.” – National Association of Corporate Directors FAQ in Corporate Governance

 

Top Picks

81 dead in Mexico as flu emergency goes global
“By Sunday, 81 deaths had been deemed ‘likely linked’ to a deadly new strain of the virus by health authorities in Mexico. Viral testing has confirmed 20 cases, said Dr. Jose A. Cordova Villalobos, Mexico's health secretary. In the United States, the number of confirmed swine flu cases stood at 11.  In New Zealand, officials said 22 students and three teachers, who returned from a three-week-long language trip to Mexico, may have been infected with the virus.”
http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/04/26/swine.flu/index.html
Facts about swine flu:  http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/04/25/swine.flu/index.html#cnnSTCOther1
BBC Coverage:  http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8019100.stm

 

Debunking Data Centers
“Clean white server rooms, security cameras, biometric scanners, enormous cooling units, uninterruptible power supplies and massive generators make professional data centers look more impressive than your server room, but are they?”
http://datacenterjournal.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2739

[I really like this article.  The author stresses the need for reliability and makes a very important point – question your assumptions.  Just because the datacenter looks great doesn’t mean that it is reliable.]

 

Geithner: Economic slide eases, no recovery yet
“U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Friday that signs of an easing in the pace of deterioration in the global economy should not be confused with the start of recovery.”
http://uk.reuters.com/article/americasRegulatoryNes/idUKN2445032520090424

 

IT Audit / Internal Audit / Compliance / Ethics

Deloitte’s “Board Governance”
This section of the Deloitte website is a treasure trove of Board-level governance documents.  Very interesting.
https://www.corpgov.deloitte.com/site/us/menuitem.88e49625b72277a98f220ce36cdf8a0c/

 

National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) – Frequently Asked Questions in Corporate Governance
Another great resource.
https://secure.nacdonline.org/Source/Meetings/faq-details.cfm?faq=6#102

 

IT Process Improvement / Quality Management

Doing More with Less:  IT Framework Integration
“With the economic downturn organizations are pushing to drive down costs while improving quality. To shorten the learning curve and improve the likelihood of success, proven business and IT frameworks relating to quality and other disciplines are being reviewed for insights on how to improve effectiveness and efficiency. IT groups not familiar with the various frameworks and how they may integrate are apt to make wrong decisions or allow business management to make wrong decisions.  Given the plethora of frameworks that IT may be involved with, it only makes sense to review some of the most common ones at a very high-level and then discuss how they can work together. The following are common frameworks that IT may well encounter.”
http://www.itsmwatch.com/itil/article.php/3816046

 

Study: Not replacing laptops can prove very costly
“Companies looking to cope with declining IT budgets by postponing the purchase of new laptop computers are likely making a mistake, according to a new report released by technology consulting firm J.Gold Associates LLC.”
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9132096&source=rss_null14
[This parallels personal observations regarding the need for a three year rotation on laptops/notebooks.]

 

Kurt’s Corner

News and views from Kurt Milne, the managing director of the ITPI.  He can be reached at: kurt.milne@....

 

Are you ready for virtual desktop and desktop applications?
Those IT shops that need tight control over desktop environments should consider these emerging technologies.  This article highlights a couple of common objections – cost and user experience.  But recent demos I’ve seen from vendors such as InstallFree – seem to have enterprise class “bells and whistles” that address concerns about working offline and meeting compliance and control objectives.
http://www.itbusinessedge.com/cm/community/features/articles/blog/whats-holding-back-virtual-desktop-infrastructure/?cs=31689&utm_source=itbe&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=OIN&nr=OIN

 

Who’s who in cloud computing
Here is an introductory summary of cloud market segments and leaders – by Carl Brooks at SearchServerVirtualization.com.
http://searchservervirtualization.techtarget.com/news/article/0,289142,sid94_gci1351649,00.html?track=NL-651&ad=698295&asrc=EM_NLN_6507223&uid=4561296#

 

Thinking more about risk
There has been some serious soul searching going on in the corporate governance space about modeling and managing risk as part of overall governance.   This article lays out the problem pretty well, but I’m not sure it gets the solution quite right. I think more people need to be trained on basic risk-based thinking.  Simple questions such as  “what could go wrong with this project/product/timeline? What are we going to do to keep it from happening?  What is the response if it does happen?” need to be asked and risks managed.
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=2205

 

Data Centers / Cloud Computing / Green IT

Details of Data Center Metrics from Environmental Protection Agency
“The metric which has been put forth by EPA is the energy star rating of data centers which will be on a scale ranging from 1 to 100. The rating would help data centers to know where they stand compared to their peers as far as efficient energy utilization is concerned.”
http://datacenterjournal.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2738

 

DCiE de facto energy efficiency benchmark for DOE
“The recent announcement by the U.S. Department of Energy Industrial Technologies Program (ITP) on funding research that seeks to increase the energy efficiency of server-based telecommunications and data center facilities has a very interesting measurement mentioned within it. DCIE or Data Center Infrastructure Efficiency was developed by the Green Grid as a benchmark for energy efficiency in the data center. DCiE’s reciprocal is PUE which stands for Power Usage Effectiveness.”
http://datacenterjournal.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2578

 

IBM plans cloud computing services for 2009
“IBM plans to launch several cloud computing services this year, taking on companies such as Amazon.com Inc, Google Inc, Microsoft Corp and Salesforce.com Inc. International Business Machines Corp spokeswoman Kelly Sims said on Thursday the first of these new services will enable developers to write software that works with the emerging, Web-based technology. Cloud computing systems run software and store information in remote, large-scale data centers that users and programmers access over the Internet.”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/feedarticle/8470558

 

Amazon.com Eyes CIOs With Its AWS Cloud IT Services
“Although skeptics raised eyebrows over Amazon.com's decision to provide hosted IT infrastructure services, the e-commerce giant remains firmly committed to this business, as it increasingly courts CIOs and IT managers.  Amazon.com officially entered this market in March 2006 when it launched its Simple Storage Service (S3) and the Amazon Web Services (AWS) subsidiary, which today provides a suite of Internet-based IT infrastructure services.”
http://www.pcworld.com/article/163825/amazoncom_eyes_cios_with_its_aws_cloud_it_services.html

 

Security and Risk Management

RSA 2009: A yawner at best
“In my humble opinion, the RSA 2009 security conference, held this week in San Francisco, was extremely flat compared with past years. Yes, the economy had a lot to do with it. I believe last year's attendance was around 17,000 people, and I've heard that this year was off about 12 percent to 13 percent. Personally, I can't believe there were more than 10,000 folks there.”
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10226997-83.html

 

Is IT ready for a pandemic after mergers, layoffs?
Basically the author is questioning IT’s ability to cope with a pandemic given the layoffs due to the economy.
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9132111&source=rss_null14

 

Top five cloud computing security issues
“In the last few years, cloud computing has grown from being a promising business concept to one of the fastest growing segments of the IT industry. Now, recession-hit companies are increasingly realising that simply by tapping into the cloud they can gain fast access to best-of-breed business applications or drastically boost their infrastructure resources, all at negligible cost.  But as more and more information on individuals and companies is placed in the cloud, concerns are beginning to grow about just how safe an environment it is.”
http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2009/04/24/235782/top-five-cloud-computing-security-issues.htm

 

Health and Healthcare

Patients Irate With Insurers' 'Fail First' Policy
“The basic idea behind step therapy is to start with the most cost-effective and safest treatment, progressing to more costly or risky therapy only if the current treatment is not effective. In theory, proponents say, the strategy both minimizes risks to the patient and keeps overall costs under control.”
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/PainManagement/story?id=7395636&page=1

 

The Dubious Promise of Digital Medicine
“Neal Patterson likens the current scramble in health information technology to the 19th century land rush that opened his native Oklahoma to homesteaders. Cerner (CERN), the large medical vendor Patterson heads, is jockeying for new business spurred by a $19.6 billion federal initiative to computerize a health system buried in paper. ‘It's a beautiful opportunity for us,’ the CEO says.
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_18/b4129030606214.htm?campaign_id=rss_null

 

Human Error / Safety / Environment

FAA: bird strikes more than double at big airports
“Airplane collisions with birds have more than doubled at 13 major U.S. airports since 2000, and New York's Kennedy airport and Sacramento International report the most incidents with serious damage, according to Federal Aviation Administration data released for the first time Friday.”
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5itzk6YVnBDZLTUTd5d_R_ct_LOLAD97OV4VO0
http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/story?id=7419909&page=1

 

'Climate change' forces Eskimos to abandon village
“The indigenous people of Alaska have stood firm against some of the most extreme weather conditions on Earth for thousands of years. But now, flooding blamed on climate change is forcing at least one Eskimo village to move to safer ground.”
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/science/04/24/climate.change.eskimos/index.html

 

How swine flu spreads in humans
“A new strain of influenza is infecting people in Mexico and the United States and may have killed up to 60 people in Mexico, global health officials said today.  The CDC has analyzed samples of the H1N1 virus from some of the U.S. patients, all of whom have recovered, and said it is a never-before-seen mixture of viruses from swine, birds and humans.”
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-mexico-flu-box25-2009apr25,0,5114253.story

 

Mexico City on alert over swine flu outbreak
“Mexican officials closed all schools Friday in the capital city in an effort to combat the swine flu virus that has killed dozens in Mexico and infected eight people in the United States.”
http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/04/25/swine.flu/index.html

 

Global News / Business / Economics

G7 sees signs of stabilization; vows cooperation
“Finance chiefs from the G7 powers said the downturn in their economies was easing and they pledged to ensure big financial firms are sound, according to a draft statement obtained by Reuters on Friday.”
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE53M52K20090424

 

Why Iran Is Hungry for Business with the U.S.
“Americans and other Western companies might benefit, too. Iran, after all, has 66 million people, good schools, and a diversified industrial base—with a pent-up appetite for computers, planes, aircraft parts, and knowhow for the crucial oil and gas industry. And many Iranians like the prospect of working with U.S. companies rather than the Europeans that have been the only game in recent years.”
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_18/b4129020609532.htm?campaign_id=rss_null

 

US News / Business / Economics

Why is Wall Street ignoring Detroit?
“Part of this is because the auto sector's problems are taking a back seat (pardon the pun) to the state of the nation's banks and insurance companies. And, for now at least, investors are feeling a little better about the financial sector.  There is also a sense that an automaker bankruptcy may already be priced into the market.”
http://money.cnn.com/2009/04/24/markets/thebuzz/?postversion=2009042412

 

Is the stress test stressful enough?
“Guidelines revealed Friday renew questions about whether the government's stress tests are stressful enough to account for the losses that might hit banks in a deepening downturn.”
http://money.cnn.com/2009/04/24/news/stress.testing.fortune/?postversion=2009042417

 

Federal officials privately issue banks' 'stress tests' results
“The results will not be made public until May 4, and banks are not allowed to reveal them. But the Federal Reserve, which is overseeing the process, today released details of the data and assumptions used to conduct the tests. The 21-page white paper was issued ahead of the actual results to give the public time to understand the process and data, according to a senior Fed official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the process is ongoing.”
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-stresstests25-2009apr25,0,5490195.story

 

The nagging euphoria over Ford
“Ford Motor Co.'s firm refusal to take government bailout money has made it the toast of Detroit. Despite ongoing losses, its go-it-alone attitude has won the admiration of countless Americans.”
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/nagging-euphoria-over-ford/story.aspx?guid={23DD9B92-5E3E-4619-958F-39D27764FB06}&dist=msr_9

 

Ford posts big loss, shows improvement in cash outflow
“Ford Motor Co. shares rallied as much as 21% on Friday after the No. 2 U.S. automaker reported improved cash flow and a quarterly loss that wasn't nearly as bad as Wall Street had expected.”
http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/ford-shares-rally-improvement-cash/story.aspx?guid={9D38EE2E-766C-4C81-BD66-AB3D107AB560}

 

Pontiac: R.I.P.
“General Motors is expected to announce Monday that it plans to kill its Pontiac brand, rather than maintain it as a niche brand with one or two models into the future as had been previously announced by company officials.”
http://www.businessweek.com/autos/autobeat/archives/2009/04/pontiac_rip.html

 

Technology & Science

Scientists complete genome sequence of cows
“Scientists have finished the genome sequence of cows, which could contribute to better disease resistance and higher quality meat for consumers, according to reports to be published Friday in journal Science.”
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-04/24/content_11249258.htm

 

China prepares for market launch of robots attending lone elderly
“A 1.6-meter tall robot with twinkling eyes may soon become the best friend for lone elderly people, as Chinese scientists make the final sprint toward its market launch, said a senior researcher on the robot project here on Saturday.”
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-04/25/content_11254566.htm

 

End Notes

The News is brought to you by George Spafford, Principal Consultant at Pepperweed Consulting, LLC.  Pepperweed is nationally recognized as a leader in IT Management Consulting.  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 News, and feel free to forward this email on to others.

Titles and links to articles written by me are listed at:  http://spaffordconsulting.com/articles.html and if you have news or feedback you’d like to share, please send an email to george.spafford@....

To subscribe, please send an email to:  SGC_Daily_News-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To unsubscribe, please send an email to:   SGC_Daily_News-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
The RSS feed is at:  http://rss.groups.yahoo.com/group/SGC_Daily_News/rss

Archives of The News newsletter are available at http://www.spaffordconsulting.com/dailynews.html .

 

_____________________________________________

George Spafford
Principal Consultant
ITIL Service Manager, TOCICO Jonah, IPRC, CISA
Pepperweed Consulting, LLC®
Office:  269-556-9597
Mobile:  269-208-1832
FAX:  208-978-6295
George.Spafford@...

 

 

 

 

 

"If you want to build a ship, don't herd people together to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea” – Antoine de Saint-Exupery

"Once you choose hope, anything's possible.” – Christopher Reeve

 

Top Picks

Cyberspies penetrate electrical grid: report
“Cyberspies have penetrated the U.S. electrical grid and left behind software programs that could be used to disrupt the system, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.”
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE53729120090408

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gniLM6lFJe1fkwWluc_qrG2kJdow

 

HIMSS09: Greenspan's thoughts on economy and health care IT generate a buzz
“Alan Greenspan, former Chairman of the Federal Reserve, kicked off the final day of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) conference in Chicago, IL. He focused on why the economy is in the state it is in and highlighted some of the telltale signs that we may be heading out of it; for instance, the dramatic decline in inventories has begun to slow. But I felt his remarks lead to more questions than answers; the questions raised focused more on how the economy will impact health care.”
http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/cio-for-hire/?p=239

 

IT Audit / Internal Audit / Compliance / Ethics

Less Than Half of Self-insured Organizations Addressing HIPAA
“Most self-insured U.S. companies are in danger of failing to meet the HIPAA security requirements, and for many, the problem is that they think it applies only to insurance companies and health care providers. In fact, any organization that handles any individually identifiable health information for insurance purposes for 50 or more individuals is responsible for meeting the HIPAA requirements, including the security rule. There are substantial penalties each time an organization fails to meet the 18 standards and 36 implementation specifications, META Group reported.”
http://health-information.advanceweb.com/editorial/content/editorial.aspx?CC=35763

 

IT Process Improvement / Quality Management

Understanding the Cloud/Ops Disconnect
“Since ITIL is the lingua franca – the accepted common language – for IT operations right now, let us use the ITIL framework to consider operational inter-operability between the Cloud service provider and the customer.”
http://www.itsmwatch.com/itil/article.php/3814356

 

Why U.S. Navy is Standardizing IT Strategy Around ITIL
“In 2006, EDS had a problem. A big problem. The company was facing rampant and voluble dissatisfaction of its $9.9 billion contract to manage the Navy and Marine Corps’s land-side IT infrastructure, better known as NMCI for Navy/Marine Corp. Intranet. The solve this migraine of a headache, EDS, now a division of HP, turned to ITIL. “
http://www.itsmwatch.com/itil/article.php/3813651

 

New ITIL Adoption Slowing
“Large IT organizations are continuing to expand ITIL initiatives at a healthy pace, but new adoption may be slowing. The obstacles to adoption are real, and benefits are sometimes difficult to quantify. Furthermore, the current economic crisis is not favorable to investment in long-term improvement programs such as ITIL. On the other hand, a downturn in business volume may be the best time to make changes to IT processes and services, as personnel may have more time for such initiatives.”
http://www.itsmwatch.com/news/article.php/3811856

 

Note:  The Australian IT Service Management & Help Desk Summit is April 28^th and 29^th at Luna Park in Sydney
“The Australian IT Service Management & Help Desk Summit is where the Help Desk industry thought leaders meet, key issues are discussed, partnerships are formed and business is done. The focus of this event is People, Process and Technology. The summit will showcase best and innovative practices in the help desk industry including techniques to make you helpdesk into and resourceful, motivated and integrated business who deliver on service excellence.

Join your help desk industry peers and thought leaders at The Australian IT Service Management & Help Desk Summit.”

http://www.acevents.com.au/contact2009/index_itsmhd.html

 

Data Centers / Cloud Computing / Green IT

Microsoft's Data Center Chief to Leave Company
“Manos will be senior vice president of technical services at Digital Realty, which designs and manages data centers for third parties. He will oversee the design and construction of Digital Realty's data centers worldwide, and lead a new professional services offering that the company plans to unveil shortly, it said in a statement Wednesday.”
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/162841/microsofts_data_center_chief_to_leave_company.html

 

Digital Realty Trust Adopts Green Standards
“Wholesale data center provider Digital Realty Trust (www.digitalrealtytrust.com) is adopting the newly announced Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method Bespoke (www.breeam.org) data center standards for all future construction of its data centers, ensuring environmental sustainability, reduced running costs and increased long term building value, according to the company's Tuesday announcement.”
http://www.thewhir.com/web-hosting-news/033109_Digital_Realty_Trust_Adopts_Green_Standards

 

Free-Cooling Estimated Savings
The Green Grid launched a free calculator for data centers that want to estimate the savings that the use of an economizer could bring.
http://cooling.thegreengrid.org/calc_index.html

 

Security and Risk Management

Microsoft warns of dangerous rise in scareware
“The threat of rogue security software, or 'scareware', has risen dramatically over the past year or so, according to a new report from Microsoft, but there was good news for the industry after a fall in the number of vulnerability disclosures.  Scareware is used by criminals to extort money from vulnerable users by persuading them that their PC is at risk or infected, and urging them to buy bogus security software.”
http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2240101/microsoft-warns-rise-scareware

 

Updated Conficker Ropes Victims into Rogue Anti-virus Scam
“An updated version of the Conficker worm is installing malware that attempts to lure people into buying rogue anti-virus software. Security researchers also say the worm is downloading malware tied to the notorious Waledac botnet.”
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/Updated-Conficker-Ropes-Victims-into-Rogue-Antivirus-Scam-376657/
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10217386-83.html

 

Cyber spying a threat, and everyone is in on it
“Nowadays, a hacker with a high-speed Internet connection, knowledge of computer security and some luck can pilfer information thought to be safely ensconced in a digital locker. And the threat is growing, with countries — including the U.S. — pointing fingers at each other even as they ramp up their own cyber espionage.”
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g9Qba11VwXiwuvQ129By-RandlvAD97F54H00

 

Giving Government Power To Unplug The Internet
“As the U.S. government considers significant changes to federal cybersecurity regulations, one line item in proposed Senate legislation shows why companies and citizens should pay attention.  The bill would give the president explicit power to turn off computer networks in the interest of national security.”
http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/government/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=216500090&subSection=Vulnerabilities+and+threats

 

Rid your computer of the Conficker virus
“Let's assume you're on the receiving end of the worst April Fool's Day joke of 2009: your computer's been infected with the Conficker virus. It's a frustrating but not insurmountable problem. This guide will walk you through how to cleanse your computer and inoculate against other Conficker variants.”
http://download.cnet.com/8301-2007_4-10208734-12.html

 

Health and Healthcare

HIMSS: Dell, Perot Systems Unleash Health Care IT Salvo
“Dell (NSDQ:Dell) and solution provider Perot Systems (NYSE:PER ) (2008 VARBusiness 500 No. 35) announced a partnership Monday to provide products and services to the health-care IT industry, including virtualized desktops, servers, storage and electronic medical records (EMR) either on-premise, hosted off-site or in secure private clouds.”
http://www.crn.com/healthcare/216403066

 

HIMSS: Moving From Stimulus Hope To Real Health-Care IT Projects
“If there was a dominant theme at this year's Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) conference in Chicago, it was undoubtedly the federal stimulus--what the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act means for those with a health-care IT stake, and what they can do to capitalize on the opportunities it presents.”
http://www.crn.com/healthcare/216500291

 

Human Error / Safety / Environment

Obama, Who Vowed Rapid Action on Climate Change, Turns More Cautious
“President Obama came to office promising swift and comprehensive action to combat global climate change, and the topic remains a surefire applause line in his speeches here and abroad.  The latest on President Obama, the new administration and other news from Washington and around the nation. Yet the administration has taken a cautious and rather passive role on the issue, proclaiming broad goals while remaining aloof from details of climate legislation now in Congress.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/11/us/politics/11climate.html

 

Chu wants labs to work on energy, climate change
“In a speech today at Sandia National Laboratories, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu compared unchecked global warming to riding on the Titanic.  ‘Lots of people see there’s an iceberg ahead, but it takes a long time to turn the boat around,’ Chu said. ‘If we turn it now, we can mitigate the blow.’”
http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerque/stories/2009/04/06/daily51.html

 

Climate change hits Australia first, and hard
“A Southern Hemisphere continent that was already a land of climate extremes has become more so in recent years. Even as the tropical north is deluged by flooding and warmer ocean currents are spawning more powerful cyclones, the parched south and interior have turned into baking dead zones. The results: vast brush fires, killer heat waves, increased tropical diseases, ruined crops, loss of livestock, severe water shortages and quickening species extinction.”
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-australia11-2009apr11,0,5613275.story
The earlier article by Julie Cart they mention is at:  http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-climate-change-australia9-2009apr09%2C0%2C65585.story

 

Global News / Business / Economics

The Outlook For China's Economy
“Even once the U.S. economy recovers, it will rely less on consumption and imports and more on an improvement in net exports. The world where the U.S. was the consumer of first and last resort--spending more than its income and running an ever larger current account deficit--and where China was the producer of first and last resort, spending less than its income and running ever larger current account surpluses, is changing.”
http://www.forbes.com/2009/04/08/china-economy-yuan-exports-opinions-columnists-nouriel-roubini.html

 

Asia key to restoring world growth-World Bank chief
“Asia is key to restoring global growth and an East Asia Summit in Thailand next week is a good opportunity to discuss economic issues confronting the region, World Bank President Robert Zoellick said on Thursday.”
http://in.reuters.com/article/specialEvents4/idINN0917011320090409

 

US News / Business / Economics

Google addresses newspaper woes
“The majority of newspapers should be online, says Google boss Eric Schmidt, amid criticism it should share some of the millions it makes from newslinks.”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7988561.stm

 

The Most Innovative Companies
A Business Week Special Report.
http://www.businessweek.com//magazine/toc/09_16/B4127innovative_companies.htm?campaign_id=rss_null

 

Betting On Technology
“Depression-era history hints that big technology firms might do best in a long economic downturn.”
http://www.forbes.com/2009/04/08/success-during-downturn-technology-global-09-success.html?feed=rss_news

 

The Smart-Grid Dilemma
“What do utilities make money on? Energy consumption. So, what incentive do they have to install smart meters in your house and make this a transparent process with variable pricing if that means it would eventually reduce your energy bill, hence their revenue?”
http://www.forbes.com/2009/03/26/smart-grid-utilities-technology-enterprise-tech-smart-grid.html?feed=rss_technology_enterprisetech

 

Technology & Science

General Motors, Segway unveil electric two-wheeled, two-seat vehicle
“ Struggling General Motors Corp. is hoping that one answer to people's green transportation needs lies in a two-wheeled, two-seat electric vehicle it jointly developed with Segway Inc.”
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9131240&intsrc=news_ts_head

 

Are Patent Problems Stifling U.S. Innovation?
“The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office is drowning in applications while its budget shrinks. Stanford Law professor Mark Lemley suggests some fixes”
http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/apr2009/id2009048_138177.htm?campaign_id=rss_tech

 

End Notes

The News is brought to you by George Spafford, Principal Consultant at Pepperweed Consulting, LLC.  Pepperweed is nationally recognized as a leader in IT Management Consulting.  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 News, and feel free to forward this email on to others.

Titles and links to articles written by me are listed at:  http://spaffordconsulting.com/articles.html and if you have news or feedback you’d like to share, please send an email to george.spafford@....

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Archives of The News newsletter are available at http://www.spaffordconsulting.com/dailynews.html .

 

_____________________________________________

George Spafford
Principal Consultant
ITIL Service Manager, TOCICO Jonah, IPRC, CISA
Pepperweed Consulting, LLC®
Office:  269-556-9597
Mobile:  269-208-1832
FAX:  208-978-6295
George.Spafford@...

 

 

 

 

 

"Leaders are made, they are not born. They are made by hard effort, which is the price which all of us must pay to achieve any goal that is worthwhile. ” – Vince Lombardi

 

Top Picks

Google's Data Center secrets revealed!
“After years of secrecy (maybe because they thought no one was interested), Google held its ‘Data Center Efficiency Summit’ yesterday [April 1^st], where the company showed off one of its DCs and custom web servers -- all in a bid to evangelize for energy efficiency.”
Video:  http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/02/googles-data-center-secrets-revealed/
[Thank you Christian!]
Great Article:  http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-10209580-92.html
http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/ariel-schwartz/sustainability/google-reveals-data-center-manhattan-project
http://www.thewhir.com/web-hosting-news/040209_Google_Details_Data_Center_Container

 

Book and Product Recommendations

Optimize the Cooling in Your Existing Data Center A Free eBook by:  George Spafford The number of servers is causing power and cooling demands to rise in most data centers. This increasing need for cooling is not only negatively impacting operating expenses but also constraining growth because additional cooling needs can't be met with the existing infrastructure and requires either substantial capital investment in the existing facility or investment in a new data center. What some data centers may be overlooking are optimization methods that can increase the available cooling capacity substantially while also reducing costs.   This eBook will provide an overview of: ·         The current pressures facing data centers related to power and cooling ·         The need to baseline current cooling utilization and costs ·         Common improvement opportunities including both process and technical considerations Download your free copy at: http://www.devx.com/ebook/Article/41240

 

The Governance of Green IT
This book covers process issues that must be considered to implement and maintain a green power posture in data centers.

-          The Green IT process and its sub-processes of:

o    Green IT Policy Management

o    Green architecture and standards management

o    IT functional area objective management

-          Green IT process assessments

-          Integration of Green IT with the ITIL Service Strategy, Design, Transition and Operation Processes”

-          Green IT Metrics

-          Green IT Improvement Opportunities

http://www.itgovernance.co.uk/products/2106

 

Greening the Data Center
“IT organizations are under intense pressure to manage the power consumed by data centers and the resulting cooling demands.  To address these needs, IT needs to properly blend people, process and technology to create solutions.  This book will provide an overview of processes for planning but will mainly focus on technical improvement opportunities at a high-level.  The chapters are intended to give management data center power consumption areas to investigate.  Rather than a linear cookbook approach, the chapters are organized in such a manner that the reader can skip to the topic of interest.”
http://www.itgovernance.co.uk/products/2326

 

WebMedia’s eBook Library
They have many eBooks on topics of interest to IT professionals including project management, careers, ITIL, information security and more.  It’s hard to beat a free resource such as this.
http://www.devx.com/ebook

 

IT Audit / Internal Audit / Compliance / Ethics

Markets Like Auditor Rule, But Some Less Sanguine
“Owen Fitzpatrick, the head of U.S. equities at Germany's Deutsche Bank, also questioned the wisdom, and efficacy, of the plan. He argued that changing rules doesn't change reality and that the market won't likely long accept that these assets really are worth what value the banks are going to assign to them, and therefore uncertainty over them will remain.”
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20090402-716860.html

 

Ask Dr. Visible Ops: How Should I Engage Internal Audit In The Change Management Process?
Gene Kim and Hal Pomeranz did a webinar.  Gene is blogging responses to some of the questions.
http://www.tripwire.com/blog/?p=292

 

HIPAA enforcement getting stronger
“The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was enacted to create standards for the security and privacy of individual medical data. Actual compliance with HIPAA regulations by the health care industry and HIPAA enforcement by government agencies has been a different story.”
http://searchcompliance.techtarget.com/tip/0,289483,sid195_gci1351601,00.html?track=NL-1168&ad=698061&Offer=sCOunsc040209h&asrc=EM_USC_6494267&uid=4561296
[Thanks Kurt!]

 

IT Process Improvement / Quality Management

You Don’t Hate Change Management (You Hate Bad Change Management)
This is a great, as usual, post by Hal Pomeranz about characteristics of both bad and good Change Management programs.  His premise is simple – many people have experienced poorly implemented Change Management processes so any attempt at Change Management generates resistance.
http://righteousit.wordpress.com/

 

Kurt’s Corner

News and views from Kurt Milne, the managing director of the ITPI.  He can be reached at: kurt.milne@....

 

The other Microsoft powered cloud solution - for internal clouds
Last week Microsoft announced that Azure platform will be focused on plugging into the Microsoft hosted cloud.  However, they are also offering a solution for companies that want to build an internal cloud, adding Azure features to Windows Server 2008 and offering a cloud version of System Center.
http://www.informationweek.com/news/hardware/data_centers/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=216402332&cid=nl_IWK_daily_H

 

Private Clouds take shape
IT departments have long sought utility-like IT environments where computing resources and applications can be provisioned with greater efficiency. They're using systems management software, cluster and grid technology, load balancing, and virtualization to do it today. Internal cloud technology is the obvious next step. Private clouds are driven by CIO concerns about public cloud service providers – namely around data security, corporate governance, and reliability. The main drawbacks of private clouds are that IT departments still have to buy, build, and manage them and those needs diminish the original promise of cloud computing that included lower up-front capital costs and less hands-on management by IT staffers.
http://www.informationweek.com/news/services/business/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=209904474&cid=nl_IWK_daily_H

 

Open Cloud Manifesto – avoiding lock in
A group of organizations developed a set of guiding principles to help drive the cloud computing evolution.  I’m sure there are many interesting backstories behind this effort.
FAQ - http://www.opencloudmanifesto.org/faqs.htm
Principles –  http://www.opencloudmanifesto.org/opencloudmanifesto1.htm

 

Data Centers / Cloud Computing / Green IT

Security concerns for cloud computing
“The trouble with the term cloud computing is that it encompasses such a huge range of technology offerings: software-as-a-service (SaaS), storage on-demand, remote server capacity, to name a few. One thing all cloud services have in common, however, is the way in which they deploy or relocate potentially sensitive corporate data beyond the firewall and that causes a serious consternation to information security professionals.”
http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2009/03/27/235439/security-concerns-for-cloud-computing.htm

 

Lean and Green
“Even in a down economy -- perhaps especially in a down economy -- the green-technology movement offers plenty of opportunities for Microsoft and its partners.”
http://rcpmag.com/features/article.aspx?editorialsid=2651

 

Painting The Data Center Green
“Driven by runaway operating costs, pressure to become more environmentally friendly (and energy efficient) and the realities of multicore processors, virtualization solutions are being pitched by every major hardware vendor in the information technology world. Forbes caught up with Stephen Herrod, chief technology officer at VMware, to discuss the changes.
http://www.forbes.com/2009/03/27/virtualization-chips-energy-technology-cio-network-virtualization.html

 

Tape’s Role in the Green Data Center
“The veteran technology is inaccurately identified as ‘yesterday’s technology,’ but tape technology is experiencing a Renaissance; a rebirth based on the growing recognition that tape technology is responding regularly and reliably to today’s vital business requirements.”
http://esj.com/articles/2009/03/31/tape-green-role.aspx

 

Financial Data Centers Concerned Over Power: Study
“With financial market firms investing an average of $1.8 billion annually on data centers including space, power and cooling, these companies have major concerns over location, connectivity, flexibility and security when selecting financial data centers, however, power remains their overriding concern.”
http://www.thewhir.com/web-hosting-news/040209_Financial_Data_Centers_Concerned_Over_Power

 

Security and Risk Management

Conficker.C appears on schedule, but only as a whisper
“It's April 1—do you know where Conficker is? The worm's reactivation date has passed relatively quietly, but security researchers warn that the worst could still be coming. Keep your scanners updated, and watch your network traffic.”
http://arstechnica.com/security/news/2009/04/confickerc-appears-on-schedule-but-only-as-a-whisper.ars

 

Major Cybersecurity Bill Introduced In Senate
“Two senators on Wednesday introduced sweeping cybersecurity legislation that would significantly overhaul the nation's information security efforts, including the creation of a national cybersecurity adviser who would report directly to the president.”
http://www.informationweek.com/news/government/technology/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=216402498

 

Locking up the cloud
“A Cloud Security Alliance has popped up and will show itself at an RSA security conference on April 21.  The non-profit CSA says it's formed itself to ‘promote the use of best practices for providing security assurance within Cloud Computing’, and to show users how to use cloud computing ‘to help secure all other forms of computing.’”
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/04/03/cloud_security_alliance/

 

Conficker Working Group – Infection Distribution Maps
Interesting.
http://www.confickerworkinggroup.org/wiki/pmwiki.php/ANY/InfectionDistribution

 

Health and Healthcare

Exams of Injured Workers Fuel Mutual Mistrust
“Independent medical exams are among the most disputed components of New York’s troubled workers’ compensation system. Under that system, workers with bona fide injuries are entitled to medical care and replacement wages, usually paid for by their employer’s insurer. … a New York Times review of case files and medical records and interviews with participants indicate that the exam reports are routinely tilted to benefit insurers by minimizing or dismissing injuries.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/01/nyregion/01comp.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss

 

Process Improvement: Tools and Methodologies for the 21st Century
“It's unlike the process improvement emphasis previously experienced in health care. There have been methodologies introduced over the past decade such as Six Sigma, Balanced Scorecard and Rapid Redesign, but older methodologies such as Workout Sessions, Plan Do Check Act (PDCA) Methodology and Total Quality Improvement (TQM) still have an important role in the process improvement tool kit. The methodology that most health care organizations are adopting is Six Sigma. This methodology was first invented by Motorola to correct poor manufacturing quality and later adopted by General Electric among other corporations.”
http://health-information.advanceweb.com/editorial/content/editorial.aspx?CC=60881

 

Walgreen offers some unemployed free clinic trips
“The offer, which comes more than a year into the recession, only applies to adults who lose their jobs on or after March 31. Spouses, domestic partners and children also qualify if they do not have their own health insurance.”
http://uk.reuters.com/article/healthNewsMolt/idUKTRE52U6KY20090331

 

Insurance Aid for the Newly Unemployed
“The federal government will pay 65% of Cobra continuation coverage premiums as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which was signed into law on Feb. 17. The coverage will apply to individuals who lost or lose their jobs between Sept. 1, 2008 and Dec. 31, 2009 and are eligible for continuing coverage under Cobra, a federal law called the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act.”
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123889075782289985.html?mod=article-outset-box

 

Human Error / Safety / Environment

FlightsFromHell.com
This is a pretty funny site.  For those of us who travel all the time some of these stories will bring back memories J  Why in this section of the newsletter?  I don’t really have a good answer … safety maybe!

http://www.flightsfromhell.com/

 

Lessons of the Civil War: Human error and hubris can kill
“We were in Fredericksburg, VA, on a weeklong trip, researching and shooting for a GPP Timeline Guide book on the Battle of Fredericksburg, and I had just begun to grasp why this battle has not risen to the top of the list of most revered and talked-about confrontations in the Civil War.”
http://www.examiner.com/x-682-National-Parks-Examiner~y2009m3d31-Lessons-of-the-Civil-War-Human-error-and-hubris-can-kill

 

China Finds More Than 200 Deadly Tuberculosis Cases
“China’s health ministry found more than 200 cases of extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis, a form of the lung disease that is fatal to half of patients.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=aDiaTh4hhhpU&refer=asia

 

Ice bridge ruptures in Antarctic
“Scientists say the collapse could mean the Wilkins Ice Shelf is on the brink of breaking away, and provides further evidence or rapid change in the region.”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7984054.stm

 

Study: Cool Spells Normal in Warming World
“A valuable short paper that has been accepted for publication in Geophysical Research Letters (subscription required) makes a strong case against presenting any argument about human-driven global warming that’s based on short-term trends (a decade or so). I’ve noted here before that climate campaigners who seek to use real-time events to engage the public can only retain credibility if they account for natural variability in framing their case and explain that the odds of such events are shifting.”
http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/03/cool-spells-in-a-warming-world/?ref=science

 

Global News / Business / Economics

G20: Stop taking the China Kool-Aid
“We should all stop drinking the Kool-Aid on China, and that includes China itself. China's arrival at the top table of nations is overdue, and its relationship with the United States crucial, but there is as yet no evidence that China has some magic bullet whose firing will rectify either the international economy or - as some are beginning to say - the way that our increasingly complex world is run.”
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/richard_spencer/blog/2009/04/02/g20_stop_taking_the_china_koolaid

 

Chinese Economy Sends Mixed Signals
“Those waiting for a definitive sign that a ‘bottoming out’ of the Chinese economy is at hand will have to wait a while longer, because recent economic data out of China continues to send conflicting signals. The exports slump has deepened much more than expected. Fixed asset investment growth was stronger than anticipated.”
http://www.forbes.com/2009/04/01/china-manufacturing-growth-markets-economy-stimulus.html

 

Asian Data Shows Severity of Slump
“As world leaders assembled in London for the Group of 20 summit meeting this week, the latest evidence of the severity of the economic crisis emerged Wednesday from Asia, with business confidence in Japan plummeting to a record low, South Korean exports falling for a fifth consecutive month and a manufacturing index deteriorating in China.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/01/business/global/01iht-asiaecon.html?hpw

 

Who will lead the world economy out of recession?
“The United States and China hold the best hope for leading a global economic recovery, yet they may lack sufficient strength to firmly pull the world out of recession.”
http://uk.reuters.com/article/economyNews/idUKTRE5315GO20090402

 

Buy China: It's Actually Benefiting from Global Recessions
“Now, all the major economic forces — America, Japan, and Europe — are suffering recessions. Only China is the last remaining safe haven. This article will analyze Chinese economy and how it is benefiting from global recessions.”
http://seekingalpha.com/article/129049-buy-china-it-s-actually-benefiting-from-global-recessions

 

China to contribute to global economic recovery
“Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) have issued their annual reports for 2008 recently. The economy in the Asia-Pacific region is generally better than in any other region on earth in spite of challenges it now faces, and China is sure to contribute positively to global economic growth.”
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90780/91344/6628656.html

 

US News / Business / Economics

Google close to buying Twitter?
“Citing two separate sources, TechCrunch said that the asking price is more than the $250m (£170m) valuation that Twitter's recent round of funding would suggest.”
http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2239787/google-close-buying-twitter

 

The 100 Most Trustworthy Companies
“An annual survey identifies the 100 businesses on American exchanges with the most transparent and conservative accounting practices and most prudent management.”
http://www.forbes.com/2009/04/02/trustworthy-companies-accounting-leadership-governance-integrity_land.html?feed=rss_news

 

Technology & Science

Robots act as scientists without assistants
“Two teams of human scientists Thursday unveiled their work with robots that not only perform experiments, but also come up with new ones. The prototypes tackled physics and biology problems that require simple, repetitive experiments, proceeding by trial and error to uncover knowledge, according to studies published in the journal Science.”
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/robotics/2009-04-02-Robots_N.htm

 

Top 10 technology skills
“Foote says what's unique about this downturn is that IT departments are hiring talent in certain areas – such as business process modeling and project management – while laying off in others connected to weak product lines.”
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2009/040609-10-tech-skills.html?netht=rn_033009&nladname=033009dailynewspmal
[Thanks Kurt!]

 

End Notes

The News is brought to you by George Spafford, Principal Consultant at Pepperweed Consulting, LLC.  Pepperweed is nationally recognized as a leader in IT Management Consulting.  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 News, and feel free to forward this email on to others.

Titles and links to articles written by me are listed at:  http://spaffordconsulting.com/articles.html and if you have news or feedback you’d like to share, please send an email to george.spafford@....

To subscribe, please send an email to:  SGC_Daily_News-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
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Archives of The News newsletter are available at http://www.spaffordconsulting.com/dailynews.html

 

_____________________________________________

George Spafford
Principal Consultant
ITIL Service Manager, TOCICO Jonah, IPRC, CISA
Pepperweed Consulting, LLC®
Office:  269-556-9597
Mobile:  269-208-1832
FAX:  208-978-6295
George.Spafford@...

 

 

 

 

 

"It is easier to do a job right than to explain why you didn't.” – Martin Van Buren

 

Top Picks

ITIL Certified Products are Not a Magic Bullet–More Likely They are Just a Bullet
Michael Lohr of Tripwire has some great perspectives to share on the lack of value around the recent announcement that there would be ITIL certified tools.  The tools haven’t caused 99% of the train wreck ITIL projects I have seen.

http://www.tripwire.com/blog/?p=281

 

Leaders stress need for G20 unity
“Key politicians from around the world have underlined the need for unity in addressing the world economic crisis when leaders meet at the G20 summit.”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7970660.stm

 

IT Audit / Internal Audit / Compliance / Ethics

Trying to Limit Disclosure on Explosion
Bayer is trying to limit discussion of an explosion and threats by invoking a maritime safety law since they have a dock on a canal.  The invocation of the law to avoid public discussion around a sensitive, if not deadly, issue doesn’t seem right.  Take a moment and read the article.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/29/us/29chemical.html?ref=earth

 

Geithner: The Regulatory War Ahead
“The Treasury Secretary promised specifics in coming weeks, including separate proposals addressing consumer protection, gaps in U.S. regulation, and ways to coordinate regulatory reform with other countries.”
http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/mar2009/db20090326_230079.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index+-+temp_policy+%2Bamp%3B+government

 

IT Process Improvement / Quality Management

Defending ITIL’s Value

“We should be able to read about all sorts of success stories with metrics yet most articles are about promise, theory, and application. Why is this? Why aren’t there more reports of success and why are both IT and business leaders starting to become jaded when it comes to the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL)? Part of the problem is in how ITIL is viewed and how it is implemented.  ITIL isn’t simply about a collection of processes listed in books. It’s about IT service management (ITSM) and the belief that IT must deliver services to the business that meet requirements. In a sense, IT is playing catch-up with manufacturing. Following WWII, the Japanese were quick to embrace quality management led by the likes of Deming and Ishikawa. In the 1980s, U.S. manufacturing realized they needed to fundamentally change how they conducted business in order to compete with the Japanese. Now, it is IT's turn. This means that not only IT but the business also must change how IT is wielded in order to successfully enable IT’s mission of value creation and protection.”
http://www.itsmwatch.com/itil/article.php/3811476

 

With economy in crisis, IBM SOA strategist Carter sees business processes under scrutiny
“Business processes in organization are under new scrutiny in the midst of the ongoing world economic recession, IBM's Sandy Carter, VP for SOA and WebSphere Strategy, this week told an audience at a meeting of the SOA Consortium in Washington, D.C. Some of that process scrutiny could lead to greater energy savings in IT and other parts of companies, she suggested.  Companies are beginning to look more closely at what they define as 'cost,' Carter indicated.”
http://searchsoa.techtarget.com/news/article/0,289142,sid26_gci1351951,00.html

 

Kurt’s Corner

News and views from Kurt Milne, the managing director of the ITPI.  He can be reached at: kurt.milne@....

 

Clouds SLAs – dialing in SLAs
One of the potential inhibitors of cloud computing is dialing in appropriate Service Level Agreements with vendors.  Here are some interesting “digging” around outage SLAs at three current vendors.
http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/cloud-computing/?asrc=TAB_searchServerVirtualization

 

Microsoft weighs in on internal vs. external cloud debate
If you are gazing at the sky watching the cloud change shape – there is now a good chance that the cloud will be shaped like an “M”.   Microsoft suggests their Azure platform will only be used to plug into Microsoft hosted computing resources.
http://www.informationweek.com/news/windows/operatingsystems/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=216300168&cid=nl_IWK_daily_H

 

Ready, Fire, Aim – sometimes you have to circle back to get ITSM right
I can’t vouch for the author’s credibility (just kidding George!) – but this article about re-energizing a stuck ITMS project is worth a read.  Soft issues related to ITSM projects are worth keeping in mind if you want to achieve goals.
http://searchdatacenter.techtarget.com/tip/0,289483,sid80_gci1351147_mem1,00.html?ShortReg=1&mboxConv=searchDataCenter_RegActivate_Submit&
[Thanks Kurt … I think J]

 

Data Centers / Cloud Computing / Green IT

Iowa governor trolling for Microsoft facility
“Iowa Gov. Chet Culver will travel to Redmond, Wash., next week to try to shake loose money for a Microsoft data center planned near Iowa's capital city.  Microsoft announced in August that the $500 million data center was to be built in West Des Moines, Iowa. But a significant economic downturn followed, and in January, Microsoft cut 5,000 jobs and postponed the project.”
http://www.seattlepi.com/business/404392_msft28.html

 

How Google Routes Around Outages
“Google doesn’t discuss operations of specific data centers. But Holzle, the company’s Senior Vice President of Operations and a Google Fellow, provided an overview of how Google has engineered its system to manage hardware failures and software bugs. Here’s our Q-and-A.”
http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2009/03/25/how-google-routes-around-outages/

 

Security and Risk Management

FBI: Hackers Extorted Money From Hundreds Of Teens
“Two of these hackers have been arrested for spying on children between the ages of 14 and 17 using the child's personal Web cam”
http://www.cfnews13.com/News/Local/2009/3/27/fbi_hackers_used_stolen_images_to_extort_money_from_teens.html?refresh=1

 

Expert cites "major problem" with security policy compliance
“The independent security consultant said too many organizations have security policies on paper only and don't really have the systems in place to ensure compliance. He reached back to the demise of Arthur Andersen and financial troubles at Cooper Tire as being caused in large part to problematic data destruction policies.”
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2009/032509-secureworld-security-policy-problem.html

 

Preventing or Dealing with Conficker

Visit this MS page:  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/962007

 

Experts: 'Smart-grid' system vulnerable to hackers
“Determined hackers with as little as $500 worth of equipment and some computer know-how could cripple the smart-grid technology being piloted in Boulder and rolled out nationwide, security experts say.”
http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2009/mar/29/experts-smart-grid-system-vulnerable-to-hackers/

 

Health and Healthcare

APIC Supports Coalition to Improve Healthcare Quality
“The Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) announces its support of the Stand for Quality, a diverse coalition of more than 165 healthcare organizations who recently announced a plan to improve the quality and affordability of healthcare for all patients through a public-private partnership.”
http://www.infectioncontroltoday.com/hotnews/healthcare-quality-coalition.html
The Stand for Quality site is:  http://www.standforquality.org/

 

Hospitals begin to embrace quality improvement methods
“Hospitals across the country are just starting to see the benefits of lean and Six Sigma quality improvement methods, according to a new study released by the American Society for Quality of Milwaukee.  Hospitals are beginning to embrace lean and Six Sigma business management strategies to reduced costs and improve productivity, according to The ASQ Hospital Study, which looked at implementation of lean and Six Sigma at 77 hospitals.”
http://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/stories/2009/03/23/daily13.html

 

Healthcare reform czar has insider's view of the industry
“DeParle's business experience, coupled with her management of government medical programs, gives her an insider's perspective on the machinery of healthcare delivery.  But it also raises questions about Washington's revolving door between government and industry: Can DeParle avoid conflicts of interest, given the size and market share of some of the firms she has worked for?”
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-na-deparle29-2009mar29,0,6508858.story

 

Human Error / Safety / Environment

Among Climate Scientists, a Dispute Over ‘Tipping Points’
“Environmentalists and some climate experts are increasingly warning of impending tipping points in their efforts to stir public concern. The term confers a sense of immediacy and menace to potential threats from a warming climate — dangers that otherwise might seem too distant for people to worry about.  But other scientists say there is little hard evidence to back up specific predictions of catastrophe.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/29/weekinreview/29revkin.html

 

Global News / Business / Economics

Does the buck stop with the US dollar?
“Proposals for a new world currency (or currencies) order to succeed the hegemony of the US dollar are not new. But current concerns over the stability of the global financial situation have reignited such calls with new urgency.  Last week a United Nations Commission on International Financial Reform recommended to the UN that the world ditch the dollar as its reserve currency in favour of a shared basket of currencies.”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/2299542/Does-the-buck-stop-with-the-US-dollar
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/25/AR2009032503476.html
http://www.globalcrisisnews.com/general/china-and-russia-call-for-new-currency-us-rejects/id=691/
http://business.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090325.wibcurrency25/BNStory/Business/home
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/opinon/2009/03/137_42153.html

 

Is China the New America?
“Today, there are increasing demands that China contribute more to internationally coordinated rescue packages through a reformed International Monetary Fund (IMF). China is also one of the few economies still growing in 2009, though most economists have reduced their estimates of growth rates. Finally, China and the United States are the only countries that are large enough, and have sufficiently well-ordered government finances, to launch major efforts at fiscal stimulation.”
http://www.midasletter.com/news/09032701_Is-china-the-new-america.php
[Great article.  It is a reprint from Foreign Policy magazine.  Definitely read it.]

 

US News / Business / Economics

U.S. Economy: Spending Growth Slowed in February
“American consumers’ spending slowed in February and their confidence remained near a three-decade low this month, reflecting the toll of a deteriorating job market.  Purchases advanced 0.2 percent after climbing 1 percent in January, the Commerce Department said today in Washington. The Reuters/University of Michigan final index of consumer sentiment was 57.3 in March after 56.3 in February.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601068&sid=awlvE9_aHA6g&refer=home

 

Nuclear-Power Industry Enjoys Revival 30 Years After Accident
“The U.S. has 104 reactors from the earlier wave of construction, which generate about 20% of the nation's electricity. Utilities have applied to build 26 new reactors, often at or adjacent to existing plants, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which has to approve the plans, says the first approvals could come by 2011. Given how long it takes to build a plant, the first wouldn't come on line until later in the decade.”
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123820275563962721.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

 

Airline Lobby Impatient With Delays on New Traffic Control System
“The United CEO said air travel delays cost U.S. businesses, passengers and shippers $40 billion a year. The current system, which can barely cope with the level of air traffic in the skies today, costs United alone $600 million a year, the company estimates. With a new ATC system, safety would be improved, airlines would become more punctual, burn less fuel and reduce carbon emissions, Mr. Tilton said.”
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123818857733360521.html#mod=loomia?loomia_si=t0:a16:g2:r5:c0.052417:b23414074

 

Technology & Science

Tesla Motors Model S Backed by Google Founders Brin, Page
“Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin are two of the investors pumping money into Tesla Motors, which has revealed the prototype for its all-electric, zero-emission sedan, the Model S. Drivers will theoretically be able to monitor the car’s electric charge via an iPhone or laptop. Tesla represents an attempt by Silicon Valley to build a car company, and will rely on government money to put the Model S into production.”
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Green-IT/Tesla-Motors-Model-S-Backed-By-Google-Founders-Brin-Page-336717/

 

Discovery Makes Safe Return
“The space shuttle Discovery and its crew of seven returned to Earth on Saturday, successfully wrapping up a construction mission at the international space station.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/28/AR2009032801752.html?hpid=sec-nation

 

End Notes

The News is brought to you by George Spafford, Principal Consultant at Pepperweed Consulting, LLC.  Pepperweed is nationally recognized as a leader in IT Management Consulting.  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 News, and feel free to forward this email on to others.

Titles and links to articles written by me are listed at:  http://spaffordconsulting.com/articles.html and if you have news or feedback you’d like to share, please send an email to george.spafford@....

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Archives of The News newsletter are available at http://www.spaffordconsulting.com/dailynews.html .

 

_____________________________________________

George Spafford
Principal Consultant
ITIL Service Manager, TOCICO Jonah, IPRC, CISA
Pepperweed Consulting, LLC®
Office:  269-556-9597
Mobile:  269-208-1832
FAX:  208-978-6295
George.Spafford@...

 

 

 

 

 

"Boys, there ain't no free lunches in this country. And don't go spending your whole life commiserating that you got the raw deals. You've got to say, I think that if I keep working at this and want it bad enough I can have it. It's called perseverance.” – Lee Iaccoca

 

"Defeat never comes to any man until he admits it.” – Josephus Daniels

 

Top Picks

Information Security Governance and Boards of Directors:  Are They Compatible?  By Endre Bihari
“This paper presents a critique of emergent views on the roles of the boards of directors in relation to information security. The analysis highlights several concerns about the separation and validation of proper theory and business assertions of information security at board level. New requirements articulated by industry bodies – represented by a selected group of experts and evident in literature – are compared to the underlying theory of corporate governance to identify possible discrepancies.”
http://scissec.scis.ecu.edu.au/conferences2008/proceedings/2008/aism/Bihari%20Information%20Security%20Governance.pdf
I really enjoyed this paper that Endre wrote.  Be sure to check it out.]

 

Resurrecting a failed ITSM implementation
“Organizations are eager to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of IT services. The IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) has much to offer with its IT Service Management (ITSM) philosophy and reference processes. The challenge that groups face when implementing ITIL is that the process must be tailored to the needs of each organization, and it is critical that it's done correctly. As a result, many ITIL projects either stall or outright fail. Herein lies a challenge: How can these projects recover?”
http://searchdatacenter.techtarget.com/tip/0,289483,sid80_gci1351147_mem1,00.html

[If you have any thoughts on the article/topic, please drop me a note.]

 

IBM, Sun talks seen continuing to next week-sources
“IBM (IBM.N) is still in talks to buy Sun Microsystems Inc (JAVA.O) and discussions could take several more days as IBM studies various parts of Sun's computer server and software businesses, according to people with knowledge of the matter.”
http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSN2051831420090320

 

IT Audit / Internal Audit / Compliance / Ethics

Peanut case reveals inspector-company ties
“As federal legislators prepared to revamp the nation’s food-safety system, they examined the cozy relationship between food inspectors and the companies they inspect —- exemplified by the company linked to the salmonella outbreak —- at a congressional hearing Thursday.”
http://www.ajc.com/services/content/printedition/2009/03/20/peanut0320.html

 

FTC Asked to Investigate Google's Privacy Breaches
“The recent privacy glitch with Google Docs is just the latest example of security concerns with Google's cloud computing services, and the Federal Trade Commission should take note, according to a filing from the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC).”
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2343346,00.asp

 

IT Process Improvement / Quality Management

ITIL tools standard, endorsed by ITIL creator, seeks to aid buyers
“For the first time since creating the Information Technology Infrastructure Library more than 20 years ago, the U.K.'s Office of Government Commerce (OGC) has officially endorsed a compliance framework to audit vendor products, documentation and processes against the published best practices of ITIL (versions 2 and 3). The compliance scheme will be managed by the OGC's official accreditor, APM Group Ltd. The move seeks to create a formal, recognized ITIL tools standard to make technology investments easier, though other organizations already offer similar services.”
http://searchcio-midmarket.techtarget.com/news/article/0,289142,sid183_gci1349709,00.html?track=NL-1014&ad=691872&asrc=EM_USC_6060583&uid=4561296

[Thank you for sending this in Michael!  I wonder if organizations will fall for this and think it will guarantee success.  The fact is that ITIL promises much *BUT* if it is not implemented correctly (meaning if the processes are not designed and implemented correctly with the goals of the organization in mind and then the tools supporting the needs of the processes, the compliance of a tool doesn’t really matter.]

 

Kurt’s Corner

News and views from Kurt Milne, the managing director of the ITPI.  He can be reached at: kurt.milne@....

 

eWEEK Labs sees a cloud-y future for databases
Nice high level overview of cloud storage.  It doesn’t get into the pesky details of security and compliance, however.  I agree with their conclusion that new services are required to manage cloud-based services.
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Database/I-Have-Seen-the-Future-of-Database-and-It-Is-705402/?kc=EWKNLEDP03162009A

 

The Next Great War for the Data Center
Get ready for the convergence of servers, storage and networking in the data center.   Does it make more sense to buy servers from your network vendor?  Or, buy network tools from you server vendor?
http://blogs.eweek.com/masked_intentions/content/infrastructure/the_next_great_war_for_the_data_center.html?kc=EWWHNEMNL03192009STR1

 

BMC steps up as part of Cisco Strategy
BMC's technology will be critical to the success of Cisco's unified offering. Without management and automation at the foundation, the environment would be too complex for administrators to control.
http://www.networkworld.com/newsletters/nsm/2009/031609nsm1.html?Inform=nl&nlhtspec=rn_031609&nladname=031609specialnl

 

Data Centers / Cloud Computing / Green IT

Economic Blues Could Slow Data Center Construction
Basically the article reviews the capital investment required and that on-going data center construction is likely to continue but new construction may be put on hold while organizations monitor economic conditions.
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2009/032009-economic-blues-could-slow-data.html

 

Federal policies could make or break cloud computing, experts say
“The United States could secure economic and technological dominance in the burgeoning realm of cloud computing, or it could fall behind the rest of the world, depending on how Congress may choose to regulate industry, experts said Friday.  Meanwhile, as cloud computing becomes more commonplace in the lives of everyday consumers, the new federal chief information officer, Vivek Kundra, said Friday he is reviewing what policies are necessary to ensure the federal government does not fall behind.”
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10201461-38.html

 

Security and Risk Management

Computer Experts Unite to Hunt Worm
Interesting report on concerns over what will happen on April 1^st in regards to the Conficker series of worms.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/19/technology/19worm.html?ref=us
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/19/the-conficker-worm-april-fools-joke-or-unthinkable-disaster/?ref=technology

 

Due Diligence on IT Security
“Organizations must deal with corporate governance, information security and privacy, and identity theft—along with an ever-growing number of laws and regulations.”
http://www.baselinemag.com/c/a/Security/Due-Diligence-on-IT-Security/

 

What Customer Data Should You Keep--And Toss?
“Heartland Payment Systems, a credit card processor, may have had up to 100 million records exposed to malicious hackers. Payment processors CheckFree and RBS Worldpay, and employment site Monster.com, have all reported data breaches in recent months, as have universities and government agencies. Experts at Wharton say that personal data is increasingly a liability for companies and suggest that part of the solution may be minimizing the customer information these companies keep.”
http://www.forbes.com/2009/03/19/heartland-payment-security-entrepreneurs-sales-marketing-security.html

 

VA's security lessons learned
“The theft in 2006 of an employee laptop that contained personal information on millions of veterans taught the Veterans Affairs Department some hard lessons. VA became ‘the poster child of data breaches,’ said Kathryn Maginnis, the department's associate deputy assistant secretary for risk management and incident response.  As a result of that incident and several breaches that followed, the department developed a comprehensive incident response program and incident resolution team that evaluates all serious exposures of sensitive data.”
http://gcn.com/articles/2009/03/23/update1-va-incident-response.aspx

 

'Smart Grid' may be vulnerable to hackers
“Is it really so smart to forge ahead with the high technology, digitally based electricity distribution and transmission system known as the "Smart Grid"? Tests have shown that a hacker can break into the system, and cybersecurity experts said a massive blackout could result.  Until the United States eliminates the Smart Grid's vulnerabilities, some experts said, deployment should proceed slowly.”
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/03/20/smartgrid.vulnerability/index.html

 

Health and Healthcare

Obama names doctor to clear health-care paper swamp
“Dr. David Blumenthal will become the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, charged with implementing health information technology provisions of Obama's recently passed economic stimulus package.”
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE52J4L820090320
http://www.ihealthbeat.org/Articles/2009/3/20/Blumenthal-Tapped-as-National-Coordinator-for-Health-IT.aspx

 

Social Security goes live with first federal e-health information exchange
“The Social Security Administration (SSA) today said it has gone live with a disability claims processing system that was designed to reduce the time millions of Americans spend each year waiting for benefits to be approved — and that could mark the start of the rollout of national health information network.”
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9130144

 

Human Error / Safety / Environment

Navy to begin collision investigation
“Fifteen sailors aboard the nuclear attack submarine Hartford suffered minor injuries when it collided with the New Orleans, an amphibious transport dock from San Diego that was on its maiden deployment, said Cmdr. Jane Campbell, a spokeswoman for the Navy's 5th Fleet in Bahrain.”
http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/mar/21/1n21sub235921-navy-begin-collision-investigation/

 

Climate Change Myths and Facts
“A recent controversy over claims about climate science by Post op-ed columnist George F. Will raises a critical question: Can we ever know, on any contentious or politicized topic, how to recognize the real conclusions of science and how to distinguish them from scientific-sounding spin or misinformation?”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/20/AR2009032002660.html

 

Global News / Business / Economics

World Bank Outlook Further Dims China's Sun
“The World Bank cut its forecast for China’s gross domestic product growth the second time in four months, predicting that the economy would expand by only 6.5% in 2009, its weakest performance since 1990.”
http://www.forbes.com/2009/03/18/world-bank-china-markets-economy-growth.html

 

China's U.S. Debt Quandary
“U.S. investors may have cheered the Federal Reserve's decision this week to pump more than 1 trillion new dollars into the economy, but at least one faction in China was on the verge of tears.”
http://www.forbes.com/2009/03/19/china-debt-fed-business-beijing-dispatch.html

 

IMF: Global economy to shrink for first time in 60 years
“The total of goods and services produced around the world is projected to slump by 1 percent in 2009, compared with a 3.2 percent growth rate the year before.  Leading the slump will be the world's most developed economies, including the United States, Europe and Japan.”
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/BUSINESS/03/20/imf.global.economy/?iref=hpmostpop

 

US News / Business / Economics

Fed steps up, buys Treasuries in support of US economy
“The Federal Reserve stepped up to support the US economy, buying $300 billion in Treasuries.  The bold move signaled the Fed's belief that the recession would end which in turn pushed the dollar down 1.6 cents, making commodities a cheap bet against inflation.”
http://www.axcessnews.com/index.php/articles/show/id/17691

 

U.S. Economy Has A Long Road To Recovery
“Rose-colored glasses would offer little improvement for Thursday's U.S. labor and manufacturing data. Though the numbers came in better than expected, there are still scant signs of an economic recovery.”
http://www.forbes.com/2009/03/19/jobless-employment-labor-markets-economy-recession-manufacturing.html

 

Technology & Science

Google kicks Amazon in the Kindle
“Escalating the ebook wars, Google has backed Sony's Reader Digital Book with more than half a million public-domain titles coded in the open ePub format.  The move, announced today, gives Sony's eBook store more than 600,000 titles in total, dwarfing the roughly 245,000 closed-format titles currently available for the much-hyped Amazon Kindle.”
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/03/19/google_and_sony_ebooks/
[Interesting.  Note, you can email PDF files to a Kindle.  Simple text PDFs convert fairly well actually.]
http://www.crn.com/retail/215901113
I like the following Business week article’s take on it:  “For starters, the Amazon approach may appeal to people who are interested in newer, more expensive books, such as New York Times bestsellers, Baker says. At $10 bucks a pop through Amazon, books add up. Sure, Sony lures e-reader buyers with free books, but at some stage, sales of digital books will outweigh the revenue generated through the sale of a machine.”

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/mar2009/tc20090319_435494.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index+-+temp_technology

 

NASA: Space station work 81% complete as solar arrays unfurled
“The solar arrays are designed to gather energy through 32,800 solar cells and then transfer that power through the truss to the space station's batteries. Unfurled and with data and power cables attached and tested, the arrays are expected to begin delivering energy to the space station sometime today, according to Debbie Nguyen, a spokeswoman for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration”
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9130138&intsrc=news_ts_head

 

End Notes

The News is brought to you by George Spafford, Principal Consultant at Pepperweed Consulting, LLC.  Pepperweed is nationally recognized as a leader in IT Management Consulting.  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 News, and feel free to forward this email on to others.

Titles and links to articles written by me are listed at:  http://spaffordconsulting.com/articles.html and if you have news or feedback you’d like to share, please send an email to george.spafford@....

To subscribe, please send an email to:  SGC_Daily_News-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
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The RSS feed is at:  http://rss.groups.yahoo.com/group/SGC_Daily_News/rss

Archives of The News newsletter are available at http://www.spaffordconsulting.com/dailynews.html .

 

_____________________________________________

George Spafford
Principal Consultant
ITIL Service Manager, TOCICO Jonah, IPRC, CISA
Pepperweed Consulting, LLC®
Office:  269-556-9597
Mobile:  269-208-1832
FAX:  208-978-6295
George.Spafford@...

 

 

 

 

 

"Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidise it”” – Ronald Reagan

 

“Ask five economists and you'll get five different answers (six if one went to Harvard)” – Edgar Fiedler

 

Top Picks

AFCOM's Five Predictions for Data Centers Bode Well for Green
“What that means is that the c-suite is finally realizing that although the data center is critical to operations, it is also a major element of costs and greenhouse gas emissions. All of which points toward more efficient and greener data center technologies, notably virtualization and cloud computing.”
http://greenercomputing.com/news/2009/03/11/afcoms-five-predictions-data-centers-bode-well-green

[The article lists the five predictions too, so be sure to take a look.]

 

China worried about U.S. debt investments
“The Chinese leader is worried about the $1 trillion his country holds in U.S. treasury bonds. Those bonds finance U.S. debt, including the massive stimulus program just getting started.”
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/business&id=6709138

[If other countries, notably China, stop buying US debt, then there will be huge problems globally.]

 

New Approaches to Greening the Data Centre
“The truth is that IT is an easy target. When corporate executives, concerned with rising electricity costs, and keen to support Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives ask ‘where do we use lots of electricity and produce lots of CO2 emissions?’ the first answer they are likely to receive is ‘the data centres’.”
http://www.it-director.com/business/content.php?cid=11127

[Certainly this awareness is being fueled by all the stories in the media about “green IT” and data center power consumption.]

 

IBM dives into water tech
“IBM on Friday disclosed the elements of an initiative to sell technology and services to better manage fresh water, often referred to as the ‘oil of the 21st century.’”
http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-10194866-54.html

[Remember when the guy gave the recommendation of “plastics” in The Graduate?  The word I would utter to a new grad might very well be “water” for a myriad number of reasons.  I am very intrigued, to say the least, by IBM’s move into this market.]

 

Book and Product Recommendations

How Doctors Think by Jerome Groopman, MD
This is one of my favorite books.  Dr. Groopman does a great job discussing cognitive biases and their impacts on how doctors diagnose patients.  Because IT spends quite a bit of time diagnosing incidents and problems there are many parallels to be considered.  At the same time, it also provides many issues that we, as individuals, should consider when visiting a physician or seeking healthcare.
Order a printed copy now at Amazon at:  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0547053649?ie=UTF8&tag=georgespaffor-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0547053649
Order a Kindle copy now at Amazon at:  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001VNBB0I?ie=UTF8&tag=georgespaffor-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B001VNBB0I
NY Times Review:  http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/01/books/review/Crichton.t.html
International Herald Tribune Review:  http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/03/27/arts/bookwed.php

 

Kindle 2 – Still Impressed
As previously reported, I still am enjoying my Amazon Kindle book reader.  If you’re interested, order one today from Amazon and get the leather cover too.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FI73MA?ie=UTF8&tag=georgespaffor-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000FI73MA

 

Looking for Books on Governance, ITIL, Green IT, and so on???
Be sure to visit the IT Governance UK now.  They have both of my Green IT books published and ready for ordering plus books on many other topics available in hardcopy and downloadable formats.
http://www.itgovernance.co.uk/MicroSite/?site=158

 

Kurt’s Corner

News and views from Kurt Milne, the managing director of the ITPI.  He can be reached at: kurt.milne@....

 

Official OCG accreditation of ITIL tools
I think this story jumped the gun a bit.  I heard that the parties involved are still crossing Ts and dotting Is with OCG.  That said – this type of official compliance scheme will award the use of the ITIL trademark to compliant vendor products. 
http://searchcio-midmarket.techtarget.com/news/article/0,289142,sid183_gci1349709,00.html?track=NL-1014&ad=691872&asrc=EM_USC_6060583&uid=4561296#

 

Cost-Cutting Goals Expand—But Don’t Take Over
Nice breakdown of IT executive priorities from CIO Insight.  However, when I read the results of this and other surveys – I always want the data segmented by IT Value Archetype instead of by company size.  IT is not generic. IT priorities are different at different companies – because regardless of size, what the business needs/expects from IT is different at different companies.
http://internet.ziffdavisenterprise.com/CIOI_Downloads/CIOI_0812_Rsch.pdf

 

IT Value archetype benchmark – what type is your IT shop?
ITPI offers a free IT Value archetype benchmark.   Answer 9 questions about how IT drives business value and prioritizes basic resource decisions. Get a 2 page summary assessment of your organization’s IT Value Archetype as compared to 269 other firms.  The benchmark, based on findings of the IT Strategic Alignment Study, offers a summary of key challenges and suggestions for improving strategic fit with the business.  The recommendations are based on analysis of practices that top levels of performance at other IT organizations of your type.
http://www.itpi.org/itarchetype.php

 

Data Centers / Cloud Computing / Green IT

Cloud forms slowly over data center
“A survey of some of the 4,300 members of AFCOM – an association of data center managers that sponsors Data Center World – found that budget cuts and virtualization are big issues for 2009, but cloud computing isn’t yet”
http://searchstorage.techtarget.com/news/article/0,289142,sid5_gci1350242,00.html

 

The Dirt on E-Waste
“Nobody knows precisely how much e-waste is generated by schools nationwide. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, Americans on the whole throw out about 130,000 computers a day. That tallies up to 47.5 million a year. And the numbers can only grow.”
http://www.thejournal.com/articles/24101

 

Five Energy Trends Driving Your Data Center
“With high oil prices still fresh in recent memory, companies have focused on driving data center costs down through greater efficiencies. The starting point for the discussion is always reducing the energy requirements, but the need to save energy forces companies to change how they handle their data requirements, says Rich Lechner, VP of energy and the environment for IBM.”
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2009/031009-five-energy-trends-driving-your.html

 

US Data Center Spending To Increase in 2009: Study
“According to the study released Thursday, 84 percent of surveyed companies are planning data center expansions in the next 12-24 months. Of those, 64 percent plan to expand in two or more locations. On average, data centers account for an average of 35 percent of overall IT budgets. The study polled 300 senior decision makers at North American companies with annual revenues of at least one billion or at least 5,000 employees.”
http://www.thewhir.com/web-hosting-news/031209_US_Data_Center_Spending_To_Increase_in_2009
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2009/031309-data-center-budgets-rising.html

 

Security and Risk Management

Lack of End User Training is a Large and Growing Threat to IT Security, CompTIA Study Finds
“According to CompTIA’s 7th Annual Trends in Information Security survey, human error is the primary cause of the most severe security breaches, yet significantly fewer organizations (45%) provided security training for their non-IT staff in 2008 compared to 53% in 2007. The results of study will be released and presented at the FOSE tradeshow in Washington D.C.”
http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20090310005840&newsLang=en

 

The battle over cybersecurity
A brief commentary on the wrestling between DHS and NSA to control national cybersecurity.
http://scitech.blogs.cnn.com/2009/03/11/the-battle-over-cybersecurity/

2845 ways to spin the Risk
“In the animation below we show how risks can be ‘spun’ to look bigger or smaller, how medical treatments can be made to seem useless or to be wonder cures, and how lifestyle changes might look worthwhile or not worth bothering with. All by changing the words used, the way the numbers are expressed, and the particular graphics chosen.”
http://understandinguncertainty.org/node/233

 

5 Steps to Communicate Security's Value to Non-security People
“In belt-tightening times, making the case for security investment is more difficult than ever. Security Catalyst founder Michael Santarcangelo details five steps risk professionals can use to communicate value effectively”
http://www.csoonline.com/article/483513/_Steps_to_Communicate_Security_s_Value_to_Non_security_People

 

Bribery case creates possible IT security nightmare in D.C.
“After being arrested on bribery charges yesterday, the District of Columbia's top information security official is being held without bail, partly because of uncertainty about whether he still has the ability to access the district's IT systems.”
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyName=outsourcing&articleId=9129663&taxonomyId=60&intsrc=kc_top

 

Health and Healthcare

Time to Tear Up Your IT Strategy
“The EHR incentives in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) will cause nearly every healthcare organization to tear up their IT strategy and plans.  The incentives are significant and the time lines are incredibly aggressive for most organizations.  We cannot simply overlay the new work on top of the existing plans.”
http://candidcio.com/2009/03/08/time-to-tear-up-your-it-strategy/

 

Insurers' commitment to healthcare reform is only skin-deep
“Briefly, the industry wants the government to assume the cost of treating the sickest, and therefore most expensive, Americans. It wants the government to clamp down hard on doctors' and hospitals' fees. And it wants permission to offer stripped-down, low-benefit policies freed from pesky state regulations limiting their premiums.”
http://www.latimes.com/news/columnists/la-fi-hiltzik9-2009mar09,0,3441386.column

 

US business leaders say hobbled by healthcare costs
“U.S. business leaders urged lawmakers on Thursday to act quickly on healthcare reform, saying American companies were losing out to other countries with cheaper healthcare and healthier workers.”
http://www.reuters.com/article/governmentFilingsNews/idUSN1436311320090315

 

Human Error / Safety / Environment

World faces 'irreversible' climate change, researchers warn
“The findings came at the end of a three-day conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, where nearly 2,000 researchers gathered to discuss climate change.  The group called on policy-makers to use all tools available to reduce dangerous emissions of greenhouse gases.”
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/03/12/irreversible.climate/index.html

Climate change accelerates water hunt in U.S. West
“Global warming pushes extremes. It prolongs drought while sometimes bringing deluges the parched earth cannot absorb. California Department of Water Resources Director Lester Snow says two things keep him up at night: drought and flood.”
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE52900820090310?sp=true

 

'Urgent' repair recommended for some Boeing 777 engines
“Federal transportation safety officials Wednesday issued an ‘urgent’ recommendation calling for a redesign of a component on some Boeing 777 aircraft engines -- a component blamed for two major mishaps in the past year.”
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/03/11/boeing.redesign/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

 

Information technology holds promise for advancing healthcare
“Obama's administration is putting $19 billion toward electronic health record systems to improve treatment and lower costs. There's still no consensus on standards or who should control the systems.”
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/washingtondc/la-na-health-it15-2009mar15,0,2646798.story

 

Global News / Business / Economics

China adds deflation threat to economic woes
“China's consumer prices fell in February, adding the threat of deflation to the nation's economic woes, and officials warned the next few months look grim as the global downturn worsens.”
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j1FZRNA_nf7XY7YePH-Od-tdunFAD96R5C480

 

Int'l press focus on China's foreign policy amid global economic crisis
“China's diplomacy serves economy and the upcoming financial summit in London will be a success, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi on Saturday told a press conference on the sidelines of the Second Session of the 11th National People's Congress (NPC).      The NPC session, together with the Second Session of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), has aroused the attention of overseas media that are keeping a close watch at the two ongoing political events held annually.”
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-03/08/content_10971941.htm

 

Japanese media laud China's drive for 8% economic growth
“Major Japanese media have given extensive coverage to Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's government work report at the Second Session of the 11th National People's Congress (NPC) and applauded China's drive for 8 percent annual economic growth amid the ongoing world financial crisis.”
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-03/06/content_10958218.htm

 

US News / Business / Economics

Layoffs, Lowering Energy Consumption Help IT Brave Tough Budgets
“So many unknowns heading into 2009 wreaked havoc on the budgeting process for IT departments. Do I cut this initiative, lay off this person, or maintain the current server space even though I would like to expand? These were the questions that many executives had to ask themselves.”
http://www.itbusinessedge.com/cm/community/kn/blog/layoffs-lowering-energy-consumption-help-it-brave-tough-budgets/?cs=30976

 

Rise in foreclosures 'a shock'
“The number of foreclosure filings rose 6% during the month after falling 10% in January. Worse, filings leaped nearly 30% compared with February 2008. And the results confounded expectations: A downtrend had been expected due to the numerous foreclosure moratoriums in effect during the month.”
http://money.cnn.com/2009/03/12/real_estate/new_foreclosure_jump/index.htm?postversion=2009031204

 

Never Argue With Your Boss
Hal reflects on advice from Bill Howell – never argue with your boss.
http://righteousit.wordpress.com/2009/03/12/never-argue-with-your-boss/

 

As travel declines, aircraft 'boneyard' in Victorville fills up
“Air carriers are grounding planes at a rate not seen since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and industry experts say this year is likely to set a record for planes sitting on the ground.”
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-fi-boneyard15-2009mar15,0,4626780.story
[I’ve always found pictures of the aircraft boneyards interesting so this article caught my eye.  Here are some sites with more pictures and information:]

The Davis-Monthan Air Force Base boneyard:  http://www.dm.af.mil/units/amarc.asp
Great photos:  http://www.lostamerica.com/aircraft.html
A Field Guide to Aircraft Boneyards:  http://www.johnweeks.com/boneyard/

Obama's Poll Numbers Are Falling to Earth
“The American people are coming to express increasingly significant doubts about his initiatives, and most likely support a different agenda and different policies from those that the Obama administration has advanced.”
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123690358175013837.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
[Ah yes … reality hits.]

 

Technology & Science

HashTags on Twitter
Want to learn more about the #hashtags on Twitter and how they can be used to find related topics?  Check out:
http://wthashtag.com/wiki/Main_Page
http://thebounder.co.uk/tagref/

The Top Five Space Illusions
Interesting quick read about interpretations from pictures/telescopes that people thought were indicating something extraordinary.
http://www.popsci.com/military-aviation-amp-space/article/2009-03/top-five-space-illusions

 

End Notes

The News is brought to you by George Spafford, Principal Consultant at Pepperweed Consulting, LLC.  Pepperweed is nationally recognized as a leader in IT Management Consulting.  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 News, and feel free to forward this email on to others.

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ITIL Service Manager, TOCICO Jonah, IPRC, CISA
Pepperweed Consulting, LLC®
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"It is not hard to learn more.  What is hard is to unlearn when you discover yourself wrong.” – Martin Fischer

 

Top Picks

New Green IT Book:  Greening the Data Center: A Pocket Guide

This is a new pocket guide I wrote that is intended to give managers an overview of technical areas to look at to reduce power consumption in a data center.  The expected publish date is April 2, 2009 and there are pages for pre-purchasing:
Soft cover edition:  http://www.itgovernanceusa.com/product/1907.aspx
Download edition:  http://www.itgovernanceusa.com/product/1908.aspx

 

Warming might be on hold, study finds
“The discrepancy gets to the heart of one of the toughest problems in climate science — identifying the difference between natural variability (like the occasional March snow storm) from human-induced change.”
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29469287/

 

China calls for closer US ties in economic crisis
“China is looking to next month's meeting of world leaders in London to boost confidence and global coordination in dealing with the world financial crisis, its foreign minister said Saturday.  The G-20 meeting, scheduled for April 2, will bring together Chinese President Hu Jintao and leaders of the world's major economies in a quest for ways to stabilize financial markets, lessen fears of a lengthy recession, and begin overhauling the global financial system.”
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hSCTc_ieqd4NCB2RsUHOjEQjRnRQD96P15LO0

 

Baxter admits contaminated seasonal flu product contained live bird flu virus
“While H5N1 doesn't easily infect people, H3N2 viruses do. If someone exposed to a mixture of the two had been simultaneously infected with both strains, he or she could have served as an incubator for a hybrid virus able to transmit easily to and among people.  That mixing process, called reassortment, is one of two ways pandemic viruses are created.”
http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5iV_RT6oBK3tOhtsWf5pnu5OIby9w

[I don’t mean this as an irrational FUD piece, but it does highlight how human error can be very dangerous in the biosciences.  To this day, I am very fearful of the home researchers doing their work without proper safety protocols.]
http://www.lifegen.de/newsip/shownews.php4?getnews=2009-02-25-5123&pc=s02
http://www.ceskenoviny.cz/news/zpravy/no-one-infected-with-bird-flu-virus-in-vaccine-tested-in-czechrep/360948

Book and Product Recommendations

The Financial Times Newspaper – Kindle Edition
I have always enjoyed the Financial Times and prefer it over the Wall Street Journal.  I recently subscribed to it on my Kindle and it is great getting the new current edition every day regardless of where I am.  This is one Kindle resource I strongly recommend.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001BAJA9K?ie=UTF8&tag=georgespaffor-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B001BAJA9K

 

IT Audit / Internal Audit / Compliance/Ethics

Food Problems Elude Private Inspectors
“When food industry giants like Kellogg want to ensure that American consumers are being protected from contaminated products, they rely on private inspectors like Eugene A. Hatfield. So last spring Mr. Hatfield headed to the Peanut Corporation of America plant in southwest Georgia to make sure its chopped nuts, paste and peanut butter were safe to use in things as diverse as granola bars and ice cream.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/06/business/06food.html?ref=business

[Dan Swanson ran this interesting story in his newsletter.  I thought you might find it thought provoking as well.]

 

Where the truth is: Logs and breach-disclosure laws
“I have always championed log data as one of the cornerstones of IT security and one of the best ways to detect unusual activity as well as audit normal user and system activities. Log data is also useful for mitigating the fallout from security breaches since it reveals who accessed confidential customer data, when access occurred and by what methods.”
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyName=standards_and_legal_issues&articleId=9104578&taxonomyId=146&intsrc=kc_feat

 

IT Process Improvement / Quality Management

Lowering Incident Management Costs
“In today’s economy, IT is under pressure to reduce costs and "do more with less". As a result, IT managers are looking for ways to cut expenses wherever possible. Incidents and reactive work are being scrutinized for opportunities to cut costs and therein lies both challenges and opportunities for the groups that understand the type of costing benefit their work may bring.”
http://www.itsmwatch.com/itil/article.php/3807721

 

Quality Improvement in Healthcare: The Six Ps of Root-Cause Analysis
“This model is an adaptation of the approach to root-cause analysis described in the widely used London Protocol for the investigation and analysis of clinical incidents (2). The six Ps represent the six perspectives needed to answer the question, ‘Why did this event happen?’”
http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/166/3/372

[The Six Ps are:  Patient, Personnel, Policies, Procedures, Place and Politics.  There are many aspects that IT should consider in any industry.]

 

Kevin Behr’s Blog
If you haven’t checked this out, you have to.  Kevin is a friend of mine and a card carrying genius.  His ongoing blog story about “The Adventure of Phil Chairs, Interim CIO” is now into its fourth installment.  I read these and can’t figure out whether to laugh or cry.
http://blog.kevinbehr.com/?p=153

SaaS project costs in detail: The payoff isn't always in cash
“Three SaaS users have slightly different stories to tell regarding whether SaaS saves them cash or, while costing more, enables efficiencies and expansion that pay off elsewhere for the business.”
http://searchcio-midmarket.techtarget.com/tip/0,289483,sid183_gci1350034_mem1,00.html?track=NL-974&ad=691867&asrc=EM_NLT_6038207

[Thank you for sending this one in Kurt!]

 

CMMI for Services is Now Available - Julia Allen Provides a Brief Overview
In lean economic times, service organizations, which make up 80% of the world economy, can benefit by using process improvement to make the most of their resources to achieve desired business results. CMMI for Services (CMMI-SVC) is a guide to help service provider organizations reduce costs, improve quality, and improve the predictability of schedules.

Customers are requesting that their service providers demonstrate a CMMI rating or capability profile, but attempts to use CMMI-DEV in a service setting can distort the integrity of appraisal results. Service providers deserve the same opportunity that the development community has enjoyed for years. They deserve the opportunity to improve their processes based on community models of practice that specifically address the interests and concerns of service providers. CMMI-SVC is the model of practice that service organizations have been waiting for.

CMMI-SVC provides best practices that service providers can use when they

·         Decide what services they should be providing, define standard services, and let people know about them

·         Make sure they have everything they need to deliver a service, including people, processes, consumables, and equipment

·         Get new systems in place, change existing systems, retire obsolete systems, all while making sure nothing goes terribly wrong with the service

·         Set up agreements, take care of service requests, and operate service systems

·         Make sure they have the resources needed to deliver services and that services are available when needed—at an appropriate cost

·         Handle what goes wrong—and prevent it from going wrong in the first place if possible

·         Ensure they are ready to recover from potential disasters and get back to delivering services if the disaster occurs

Access more information on CMMI-Services at:

http://www.sei.cmu.edu/publications/documents/09.reports/09tr001.html

 

Kurt’s Corner

News and views from Kurt Milne, the managing director of the ITPI.  He can be reached at: kurt.milne@....

 

Application and desktop virtualization need effective controls

If you are considering application or desktop virtualization technologies, they need all the bells and whistles for managing security, control and compliance risks in an enterprise environment.   THAT SAID – with effective user and configuration controls, application and desktop virtualization technologies promise to solve some major desktop compliance and control issues – as well as reduce hardware, power, and support costs. – Read here about the Top ten removable media security incidents. Humans are still a major if not the major part of the security equation. My favorite - #5 USB candy drop…

http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/38917?netht=rn_022509&nladname=022509dailynewspmal

 

Evolving Cloud Definitions – storage space example

The definition of cloud computing so far has been the most cloud-like – changing shape as it blows across the technology hype cycle.  But, two elements appear to be common to many different uses of the term.  1)  less hard resource investment up front, and 2) pay-as-you-go pricing model. In other words – solutions that turn fixed costs into variable costs, and reduce in-house admin and support costs.  My sense is that there are new additional service management and monitoring costs, however.

http://searchcio.techtarget.com/news/article/0,289142,sid182_gci1349688,00.html?track=NL-964&ad=691223&asrc=EM_NLN_6004953&uid=4561296#

 

Data Centers / Cloud Computing / Green IT

Power struggle: What role should IT play in reining in energy costs?
“As energy costs seesaw wildly and public concern over the environment grows, data centers are landing in the corporate cross hairs. And IT managers may find themselves on the hot seat, asked to account for the energy costs their systems incur. Some forward-thinking companies are even beginning to wonder if it isn't time for their IT and facilities departments to merge.”
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=333818

 

The Case for Data Center Services Is Strong in a Weak Economy
“It’s almost always a good ideas to outsource one’s data center needs in order to take advantage of the economies of scale a hosting provider offers, to save money on and comply with the environmental requirements power and allow yourself to focus on your core competencies. But in a credit-starved economy, Peccoralo said, the lack of available financing ‘puts the kibosh on any capital-intensive construction projects” for those thinking of building their own data center.’”
http://www.phoneplusmag.com/hotnews/cp-vegas09/the-case-for-data-center-services-is-strong.html

 

Using chargeback to reduce data center power consumption: Five steps
“The key objective is to include power as an IT service delivery cost component paid by the business user. This is challenging in and of itself when most organizations are struggling just to get hardware costs allocated. Part of the challenge is the limited breadth of most chargeback tools and the lack of reporting of actual power consumption.”
http://searchdatacenter.techtarget.com/tip/0,289483,sid80_gci1349650,00.html

 

The 5 Blind Spots of Data Center Infrastructure Management
This is a press release, from Egenera but I like their comments regarding five assumptions about virtualization that management teams make that do not necessarily prove out.  It’s worth a quick read.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29480165/

 

The Problem of Power Consumption in Servers
“Individual servers are consuming increasing amounts of electricity over time. Before the year 2000, servers on average drew about 50 watts of electricity. By 2008, they were averaging up to 250 watts. As more data centers switch to higher density server form factors, the power consumption will increase at a faster rate. Analysts have forecasted that if the current trend is not abated, then the power to run servers will be equal to or greater than the server cost, as Figure 1 shows.”
http://www.ddj.com/215800830

 

How to Optimize the Energy Efficiency of Your Server
“Energy efficiency in the data center is the hot topic of the day. We all want the fastest, most powerful servers for our data center. We want to optimize, virtualize and consolidate in the name of making our data centers more efficient and green. Here, Knowledge Center contributor Julius Neudorfer examines several key components that impact the total energy a typical server utilizes, as well as what it really costs to operate a server and how to optimize the energy efficiency of your server.”
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/IT-Infrastructure/How-to-Optimize-the-Energy-Efficiency-of-Your-Server/

 

Security and Risk Management

Opinion: Battling information-security Stockholm syndrome
“Corporate American has been battered by ineffective information security for a long time, with untold billions of dollars in collective losses through the years. Sites that tracked defaced Web pages stopped listing them when they become too numerous to enumerate. Similarly, data breaches are now so common that even large breaches barely make the news.”
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyName=standards_and_legal_issues&articleId=9084987&taxonomyId=146&intsrc=kc_feat

 

Hacker's hobby 'war-dialing' making a small comeback
“Penetration expert HD Moore has made a new war-dialer for 2009. It is free, and uses VOIP services to place up to 10,000 calls in an 8 hour period. The program is called WarVOX, and, like any self-respecting network security tool, it only runs in Linux.  Moore made the tool, he says, to assist network security auditors find holes in companies' phone systems.”
http://www.neoseeker.com/news/10064-hackers-hobby-war-dialing-making-a-small-comeback/

 

Stopping airport computer hackers
“Airtight Networks, a wireless security firm, recently dispatched so-called white hat hackers to 20 U.S. airports. The mission: test the security of Wi-Fi system and the people who use them. The results: 97 percent of airport Wi-Fi users were vulnerable!”
http://www.wptv.com/news/local/story/Stopping-airport-computer-hackers/XGDzUQc99E6xwk_MXrm3Yw.cspx

 

The Building Security In Maturity Model
“The Building Security In Maturity Model (BSIMM) is designed to help you understand and plan a software security initiative. BSIMM was created through a process of understanding and analyzing real-world data from nine leading software security initiatives. Though particular methodologies differ (think OWASP CLASP, Microsoft SDL, or the Cigital Touchpoints), many initiatives share common ground. This common ground is captured and described in BSIMM. As an organizing feature, we introduce and use a Software Security Framework (SSF), which provides a conceptual scaffolding for BSIMM. Properly used, BSIMM can help you determine where your organization stands with respect to real-world software security initiatives and what steps can be taken to make your approach more effective.”
http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2009/03/04/new-effort-hopes-to-improve-software-security/
http://bsi-mm.com
[Thank you Julia!]

 

Smith: Winning the hidden war
“Because secure networking is imperative to our economic safety and national security, the federal government has an obvious responsibility to provide comprehensive leadership in preventing these types of attacks.  Until recently, however, our cyber-defense efforts were largely an uncoordinated hodgepodge of various programs and policies.”
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/08/winning-the-hidden-war/

 

Health and Healthcare

Health Care Reforms Needed
“Efforts to reduce the incentives that health providers have to undertake unnecessary procedures are essential if Obama's reform ambitions are to succeed. However, such reforms are likely to be fiercely resisted by some doctors, who are highly remunerated for performing certain procedures--which may explain why the president has kept his plans deliberately vague.”
http://www.forbes.com/2009/03/02/healthcare-obama-us-business_oxford.html

 

Doc-Patient Relationship May Be Key to Quality
“different doctors. But the researchers found that people who have a strong relationship with a specific doctor are more likely to receive care that's consistent with recommended guidelines than are those who are connected to a medical practice but not to a particular physician.”
http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/healthday/2009/03/04/doc-patient-relationship-may-be-key-to-quality.html

 

With the Economy Down, Sleeplessness Is Up
“Almost a third of all Americans are tossing and turning, unable to get a good night's sleep because they're worrying about the economy, their jobs or their money, a new poll finds”
http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/healthday/624576.html?chan=top+news_top+news+index+-+temp_lifestyle

 

Build Security into Every Product, Coders Advised
“A panel of security experts agreed that security needs to thought of a lot earlier in the software development lifecycle, and that the IT industry needs to start shipping ‘hardened’ products, especially with the advent of the cloud and visualisation making the location of sensitive data even more difficult to locate.”
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/160877/build_security_into_every_product_coders_advised.html

 

Human Error / Safety / Environment

HIV numbers 'surprisingly high'
“The rate of HIV infection is 'surprisingly high' among people aged over 50 years, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday, warning that cases among older people may be growing worldwide.”
http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/World/Story/STIStory_345433.html

 

Common flu strain resists popular drug Tamiflu
“More than 98 percent of one of the influenza A viruses circulating this winter is now resistant to the antiviral drug Tamiflu, up from less than 1 percent just two years ago, according to a study in TheJournal of the American Medical Association.”
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/health/bal-md.tamiflu03mar03,0,5436145.story

 

Poor maintenance, critical errors caused jet crash, report says
“The F/A-18 crash that killed four family members in a San Diego neighborhood on Dec. 8 was caused by poor maintenance on the plane and a series of critical errors by the pilot and officers trying to guide him to an emergency landing, a Marine investigation report released Tuesday concluded.”
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-miramar-jet-crash4-2009mar04,0,1947853.story

 

Global News / Business / Economics

Euro set to fall further on EU split over eastern Europe bail-out
“The euro dropped 0.5pc to $1.2604 (88.7p) against the dollar on Monday morning. European leaders have rejected a proposal by Hungary that a £169bn rescue fund be set up to help poorer eastern European nations through the economic downturn.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/recession/4926704/Euro-set-to-fall-further-on-EU-split-over-eastern-Europe-bail-out.html

 

Chinese Regime Spending Spree—Strength or Weakness?
“While the regime does indeed look strong from afar, get closer in and the picture looks very different. As Zhongnanhai prepares to gobble up chunks of the global economy, the regime’s national pension fund posted its first ever loss.”
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/12966/

 

Chinese leaders confront economic crisis
“This year, the number one issue will be how to survive the global economic crisis and keep China's economy growing. As the global economic crisis cascades into China, Communist Party leaders fear a spike in unemployment could trigger social unrest and snowball into a political crisis.”
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/03/03/china.meeting.economy/

 

IMF Sees ‘Serious’ Risk of Global Economy Contracting
“The International Monetary Fund sees a ‘serious risk’ of a contraction in the global economy this year and will probably cut its 0.5 percent growth estimate in April, Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601116&sid=anGwS5UVc4qw&refer=africa

 

A sign of hope for China's economy
“A closely watched index of manufacturing activity in China edged up in February, an early sign that the economy may have seen the worst of the downturn.  The official purchasing managers' index released by the Chinese authorities Wednesday rose to 49 in February, from 45.3 the previous month and continuing its improvement from a low of 38.8 in November.”
http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/03/04/business/04chinastat.php

 

US News / Business / Economics

Wars, Endless Wars
“The United States is on its knees economically. As President Obama fights for his myriad domestic programs and his dream of an economic recovery, he might benefit from a look over his shoulder at the link between Vietnam and the still-smoldering ruins of Johnson’s presidency.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/03/opinion/03herbert.html?ref=opinion

 

Growing excitement, expectations for green jobs corps
“Government support has rallied excitement for the prospect of a green jobs corps, as President Obama's stimulus package puts about $20 billion into greening the economy, according to the White House.Video”
http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/03/02/green.jobs.training/index.html

 

CNN Website Special:  Where the Jobs Are
CNN has a website that links to stories about jobs.  For example, on article is entitled “Experts:  Ignore bad news to find a job”.  Drop by and use the page to browse a number of their stories.
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2009/news/where.the.jobs.are/

 

Bernanke: Fed will use all tools at its disposal
“Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Saturday the U.S. central bank would use all of its tools to stabilize financial markets and pull the economy out of recession.”
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE52627J20090307

 

Technology & Science

Phew! Asteroid's passing was a cosmic near-miss
“An asteroid about the size of one that blasted Siberia a century ago just buzzed the Earth.  The asteroid named 2009 DD45 was about 48,800 miles from Earth when it zipped past early Monday, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory reported.”
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iMRlXoAOKgOWrgy2Iux54E-dmD8QD96NDH0G0

 

Are We Alone in This Universe?
“NASA is getting ready to launch the Kepler telescope on an ambitious, first-of-its-kind mission: to search for Earth-size planets in our galaxy, orbiting stars at the right distances to have water on their surface.”
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/Space/story?id=7010234&page=1
[The Kepler project is very cool on the Spafford Cool Space Technology scale.  Kepler launched as planned on Friday and now is beginning its mission with engineers beginning the commissioning process.]
http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-10191272-76.html
http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1650645/after_launch_kepler_prepares_to_carry_out_its_mission/
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/space/03/06/nasa.kepler.launch.planets/index.html
The actual NASA mission page is at:  http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/kepler/main/index.html

 

End Notes

The News is brought to you by George Spafford, Principal Consultant at Pepperweed Consulting, LLC.  Pepperweed is nationally recognized as a leader in IT Management Consulting.  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 News, and feel free to forward this email on to others.

Titles and links to articles written by me are listed at:  http://spaffordconsulting.com/articles.html and if you have news or feedback you’d like to share, please send an email to george.spafford@....

To subscribe, please send an email to:  SGC_Daily_News-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
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The RSS feed is at:  http://rss.groups.yahoo.com/group/SGC_Daily_News/rss

Archives of The News newsletter are available at http://www.spaffordconsulting.com/dailynews.html .

 

_____________________________________________

George Spafford
Principal Consultant
ITIL Service Manager, TOCICO Jonah, IPRC, CISA
Pepperweed Consulting, LLC®
Office:  269-556-9597
Mobile:  269-208-1832
FAX:  208-978-6295
George.Spafford@...

 

 

 

 

 

"I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think ” – Socartes

 

Top Picks

Calabrese’s Razor
Hal Pomeranz, of Deer Run Associates, has a very thought provoking write-up on a thought process he terms “Calabrese’s Razor” that can be used to determine what information security controls are significant.  This is a must read.
http://righteousit.wordpress.com/2009/02/26/calabreses-razor/

 

Five Leadership Lessons From Obama's First Month
“We can take a page from Obama's playbook and his Feb. 24 speech to Congress for tips on what to do and what not to do. His first month has been marked by some great foresight and a few misguided moves. Here are five key lessons from his first weeks in office.”
http://www.forbes.com/2009/02/25/obama-lessons-president-leadership-managing_ceo.html

 

Twin Crises Feed the Spiral
“U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke held out hope for an economic recovery by 2010 -- even as new signs emerged that the recession and financial crisis are feeding on each other in ways that worsen both.”
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123552193921864791.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

 

New ITPI Study - IT Governance Maturity Model
“Linking business value to projects and services is a foundational governance practice revealed in our latest study.  We tested the impact of 66 governance practices on 389 IT organizations in the US, UK, and Australia.  We stacked the high-impact practices in a three-tiered maturity model to help IT executives map out increasing levels of governance maturity.  Use the model to identify areas for improving the impact of governance efforts.  Key findings of the study include:

·         High maturity organizations focus governance efforts on agility and customer facing business initiatives more than lower maturity peers who focus more on cost and risk reduction.

·         High maturity organizations also score higher on measures that gauge business value-add in the areas of improved information management, business process efficiency, customers retention, and product enablement

·         40 of 66 practices test impact performance at a statistically significant level.

·         Just 9 of the governance practices studied predict more than 25% of the variation in performance.

Thanks to the sponsorship of Computer Associates, the report can be accessed at:  http://www.itpi.org/files/ITPI_IT_Governance_Model_Feb09.pdf
A summary of the study, along with other white papers, is at:  http://www.itpi.org/home/white_papers.php

 

Book and Product Recommendations

Amazon’s Kindle 2.0
I received my Kindle on February 26^th.  It’s sleek, easy to use and thinner than the business books I usually have crammed in my carry on bag and can charge from my notebook’s USB port.  Furthermore, the screen’s clarity and contrast is truly remarkable.  For me, the issue isn’t about cost savings – it’s about convenient access to new magazines and books in a very small form factor.  So my recommendation is especially aimed at travelers who want access to a library without carrying all the books.  I bought the two year warranty and leather case.  I can’t speak to the warranty but the case definitely will help protect the Kindle when it is in my computer bag.  I’ll post recommendations to books and such as I read them.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00154JDAI?ie=UTF8&tag=georgespaffor-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00154JDAI

 

IT Audit / Internal Audit / Compliance/Ethics

PCAOB Audit Chief Thomas Ray Steps Down
“Thomas Ray, chief auditor and professional-standards director of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, will step down March 6 to return to the private sector, according to the PCAOB.”
http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/13209813?f=alerts

 

IT Governance Institute Offers Guidance for Companies Adopting the ISO IT Governance Standard
“The recent IT governance standard released by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) marks the global recognition of the importance of IT governance, and is applicable to enterprises of all types and sizes.  To help organizations adopt ISO/IEC 38500: 2008—Corporate governance of information technology, the nonprofit, independent IT Governance Institute (ITGI) has released a free white paper, available at www.itgi.org. Titled ITGI Enables ISO/IEC 38500:2008 Adoption, the paper explains how ITGI frameworks and research provide implementation support that organizations can tailor to their specific needs.”
http://www.itgi.org/Template_ITGI.cfm?Section=Recent_Publications&Template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=47866

 

ITGI Global Survey—An Executive View of IT Governance
“ITGI recently surveyed more than 250 non-IT executives regarding IT’s contribution to their enterprises and how they govern IT. The full results are available in this free report.”
http://www.itgi.org/Template_ITGI.cfm?Section=ITGI&CONTENTID=47306&TEMPLATE=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm

 

IT Process Improvement / Quality Management

ITIL certification builds IT workers’ skills in economic downturn
“The news is full of failing companies and lost jobs, and the IT job market has not been spared the current economic recession. It is a worrisome time for everyone. We can view the recession's effects on the IT economy from two different perspectives: (1) that of employees, who fear losing jobs and worry about having the right skills, and (2) that of employers, which need to improve operating effectiveness and efficiency. While separate, these views are not mutually exclusive. Continuing education and the pursuit of IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) certifications can benefit both groups in terms of building IT skills and improving IT operational efficiency.”
http://searchdatacenter.techtarget.com/tip/0,289483,sid80_gci1347732,00.html#

 

ITSM Academy Blogs
The instructors at ITSM Academy are blogging about a number of topics around ITSM.  One blog is called the ITSM Professor and the other is Jayne Explains, where Jayne Groll gets a chance to air her views.
http://www.itsmacademy.com/Page.bok?file=blogs.html

 

Kurt’s Corner

News and views from Kurt Milne, the managing director of the ITPI.  He can be reached at: kurt.milne@....

 

I think I have “Cloudigo” – a serious but not life threatening condition similar to vertigo, that is caused by reading too many definitive statements about cloud computing.  I think it started when I heard Nicholas Carr present his new book at a conference this week.  Seems like everyone is talking about the cloud.  I’m not sure they are saying anything, however.  It’s time for a release of the cloud edition of buzz-word bingo! It’s especially confusing when things we have known and used for years, like yahoo mail or gmail – are now part of “the cloud”.

Seeing through the cloud with Howard Ruben
Ideas on his developing theory on applying the concept of the commons—a piece of land for which certain rights, like grazing, are granted to people other than the owner—to solve some of today’s computing challenges.
http://www.cioinsight.com/c/a/Foreward/Seeing-Through-the-Cloud/?kc=CIOQUICKNL02242009FEA1

 

Taking steps to clarify cloud governance
Cloud computing begets good IT governance; a focus on IT governance leads you to the cloud. OK.
http://www.sdtimes.com/link/33287

 

Latest from VMWare on cloud offering
VMwarereleased key pieces of an ambitious new product that's designed to help companies more efficiently juggle complex computing tasks. Dubbed the Virtual Data Center Operating System (VDC-OS), the software creates a bank of computers, storage devices, and networking equipment that a company can tap at will, as computing needs arise—say, during a December spike in Web traffic for an online retailer.
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/feb2009/tc20090224_743328.htm

 

Off topic – Benchmarking
A nice summary on how benchmarking fits into continuous process improvement
http://finance.isixsigma.com/library/content/c060208a.asp

 

Data Centers / Cloud Computing / Green IT

Green Issues No Longer Dominate as Data Centers Need to Reduce Costs
“A survey of registered attendees at this year’s Data Centre World in the United Kingdom suggested only one in eight data center managers cited green issues as their primary reason for establishing energy saving strategies. The previous year one in three attendees suggested green issues were fueling there energy efficiency drives.”
http://hostsearch.com/news/data_centre_world_news_8340.asp

 

Effort to Establish Open, Green Standard for Universal Power Gains Momentum
“A San Ramon, California-based group that aims to spread more efficient power-charging systems announced this month that industry momentum is building for an open, green standard for universal power.  Officials at Green Plug, a private organization, say companies such as Ricoh, SimpleTech, Pacific Gas & Electric and the Natural Resources Defense Council are among those joining their ranks – and that they’ve built a Web tool to capture words of support.”
http://asterisk.tmcnet.com/topics/open-source/articles/51323-effort-establish-open-green-standard-universal-power-gains.htm

 

Security and Risk Management

Obama budget eyes boost to cybersecurity funds
“The budget proposed by President Barack Obama includes substantial funding aimed at improving the security of U.S. private and public computer networks, fueling a growing market for U.S. defense and information technology contractors”
http://uk.reuters.com/article/americasIpoNews/idUKN2625557720090226

 

Banks, Credit Card Firms Wait For The Other Shoe To Drop Amid Reports Of Another Payment Processor Breach
“As of this posting, the victim firm's identity had not been revealed. According to several credit unions, Visa recently alerted them that another payment processor had discovered a data breach. Among the credit unions issuing alerts about the breach on their Websites are The Tuscaloosa VA Federal Credit Union and the Pennsylvania Credit Union Association. The Open Security Foundation has a notice posted on its DataLossDB site.”
http://www.darkreading.com/security/attacks/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=214502489&cid=nl_DR_DAILY_T

[Thank you for sending this in Kurt!]

 

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

Americans welcome healthcare reform
“Americans greeted President Barack Obama's pledge to reform healthcare with enthusiasm tinged by scepticism on Wednesday, saying changes in the country's expensive and often inaccessible health system are overdue -- but hard to achieve.”
http://uk.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUKTRE51O5CQ20090225

 

No time to waste on COBRA subsidy
“Not surprisingly, questions remain -- and will continue -- on the decision to subsidize COBRA health insurance benefits for some people who recently lost their jobs, and with it, their health coverage. This element of the recently enacted stimulus bill offers eligible individuals a 65% reduction in their premiums for up to nine months.”
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-yourmoney2-2009mar02,0,882065.story

 

A national healthcare reform primer
“On Thursday, Obama's push to expand healthcare coverage began in earnest, with the announcement of his plan to create a $634-billion fund to do just that. The amount was described as a down payment over 10 years; the final price tag would be even larger, perhaps $2 trillion or more.”
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-healthreform2-2009mar02,0,1696038.story

 

Human Error / Safety / Environment

NASA Investigates Failed Global Warming Sat Launch
“Engineers believe the housing on the $280 million dollar global warming satellite failed to break-away during launch. The clam-like covering is designed to protect the equipment from atmospheric drag until the booster reaches space.”
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29386882/

 

Turkish airline accused over plane repairs
“Turkish Airlines was accused a week before one of its aircraft was involved in a deadly crash near Amsterdam of ‘inviting disaster’ by ignoring aircraft maintenance, it emerged Thursday.”
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/02/26/turkish.airline.crash/index.html

 

Jet had repairs days before crash
“The Turkish Airlines plane which crashed into a field near Amsterdam's Schiphol airport had had repairs for a system malfunction two days earlier.”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7914471.stm

 

Scientist: Global Warming Evidence, Claims Exaggerated
“Claims about the allegedly dire effects of global warming may be exaggerated, Patrick Michaels, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, said during a Thursday lecture at the Rockefeller Center at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H.”
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,500327,00.html

 

Risks of Global Warming Rising: Is It Too Late to Reverse Course?
“The risk of catastrophic climate change is getting worse, according to a new study from scientists involved with the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Threats—ranging from the destruction of coral reefs to more extreme weather events like hurricanes, droughts and floods—are becoming more likely at the temperature change already underway: as little as 1.8 degree Fahrenheit (1 degree Celsius) of warming in global average temperatures.”
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=risks-of-global-warming-rising

 

Global News / Business / Economics

Outlook on China: peaceful partner or warmonger?
“Given the severity of the financial crisis, China will be entering a stressful and possibly turbulent period. America must be careful not to adopt policies that risk making the history of great power conflict come to fruition.  One fear is that as China's military strength grows, Beijing may pursue more aggressive geopolitical strategies in the South China Sea, one of the largest and most heavily trafficked shipping routes in the world.”
http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0226/p09s01-coop.html

 

Hey Washington - it's a global crisis
“Listening to United States President Barack Obama's speech to the joint Houses of Congress this week, I kept asking myself what happened to the global  economy   What happened to the globalization that has been such an important part of our economic growth in the past 20 years? What happened to American leadership? The president was inwardly focused at a time when that orientation most likely will not solve our economic problems.”
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/KB27Dj02.html

 

As Japan's exports cave, eyes turn to China
“Asia's economic downturn has reached new depths, with a collapse in Japanese exports casting fresh doubt on China's ability to stave off recession.  Japan, the world's second-largest economy after the United States, was already in full-blown recession before its January exports tumbled 45.7 per cent from the same month last year, according to figures released earlier this week by Japan's Ministry of Finance.”
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20090226.IBTRADE26/TPStory/Business

 

China's banking system stable amid global crisis: regulator
“The global economic crisis has had little impact on China's banking system, which remains sound and stable, the nation's banking regulator said Thursday.  ‘The financial crisis has had a limited impact on the Chinese banking system and the risks are under control,’ China Banking Regulatory Commission chairman Liu Mingkang told a briefing in Beijing.”
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gOFOPwn6HKslGZHCo1zR2f2xt4Tw

 

US News / Business / Economics

General Motors posts $9.6 billion quarterly loss
“General Motors Corp. posted a $9.6 billion fourth-quarter loss and said it burned through $6.2 billion of cash in the last three months of 2008 as it fought the worst U.S. auto sales climate since 1982 and sought government loans to keep the century-old company running.”
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29405227/

 

Obama begins getting daily CIA report on economic crisis
“President Obama and senior administration officials have begun receiving a daily CIA report on the global economic crisis in addition to briefings on terrorist threats and other national security issues, CIA Director Leon E. Panetta said Wednesday.”
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-cia26-2009feb26,0,6012124.story

 

Ford reaches deal with UAW on retiree healthcare
“In a deal that could set the pace for the entire auto industry, Ford Motor Co. and the United Auto Workers union came to terms over reducing billions of dollars in payments due a trust for retiree healthcare coverage.  In related news, financier Steven Rattner will become an advisor to the Treasury Department and join the Obama administration's panel overseeing the auto bailout.”
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-fi-uaw-ford24-2009feb24,0,3529818.story

 

Bernanke's monetary policy testimony to U.S. Senate
“The following is the full text of U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's monetary policy testimony delivered in Washington Tuesday before the Senate Banking Commerce:”
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE51N3L320090224

 

Jobless claims spike to 26-year high
“The number of Americans filing initial claims for unemployment insurance spiked, and those living on unemployment benefits hit a record high, according to a government report released Thursday.  For the week ended Feb. 21, 667,000 Americans filed initial jobless claims, up 36,000 from a revised 631,000 the previous week. That's the highest figure since October 1982.”
http://money.cnn.com/2009/02/26/news/economy/jobless_claims/index.htm?postversion=2009022608

 

U.S. economy shrank at faster rate in fourth quarter
“The U.S. economy contracted at its sharpest rate since early 1982 in the fourth quarter, revised data showed on Friday, as exports plunged and consumers cut spending by the most in more than 28 years.”
http://uk.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idUKTRE51Q2XK20090227

 

How Much Green Does The Stimulus Act Have For Computing?
Kevin Frguson reviews the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to determine what funding may exist for computing initiatives.
http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2009/02/how_much_green.html

The Act itself can be accessed at:  http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:h1enr.pdf 

 

Technology & Science

Cost-Justifying the Kindle 2
“This got me thinking: What exactly would be the likely return on investment for a Kindle 2? I did the math to find out.”
http://www.pcworld.com/article/159926/costjustifying_the_kindle_2.html

[I just received my Kindle 2 on Wednesday (2/25) and am tinkering with it.  My first thought is that I will spend far more than I will save.  I’m essentially paying for the convenience of instant gratification.]

 

Galaxy may be full of 'Earths,' alien life
“There may be 100 billion Earth-like planets in the Milky Way, or one for every sun-type star in the galaxy, said Alan Boss, an astronomer with the Carnegie Institution and author of the new book ‘The Crowded Universe: The Search for Living Planets.’”
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/space/02/25/galaxy.planets.kepler/index.html

 

VMware Adds To Data Center Operating System
“VMware Tuesday unleashed new virtualization products before the 4,400 attendees of its user group meeting in Europe. Products such as vCenter Server Heartbeat and vShield bring it closer to supplying the data center operating system via its virtual machine management capabilities.”
http://www.informationweek.com/news/storage/virtualization/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=214502822&subSection=News

 

Windows 7 Gets Pre-Release Makeover
“Included in the changes, which number three dozen, is a new keyboard shortcut that allows the user to launch an application simply by pressing the Windows logo key in combination with a number that corresponds to the apps' order in the Quick Launch menu. For example, if an application is listed fourth in Quick Launch, it could be opened by pressing the Windows key in convert with the number 4 key”
http://www.informationweek.com/news/windows/operatingsystems/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=215400011&subSection=News

 

Wind power helps ski resort during recession
“In fall 2007, the $4 million project was complete. The turbine is nicknamed Zephyr, after the Greek god of the west wind. And Zephyr isn't afraid to make its presence known.  The tower is more than 250 feet tall. The hub adds 10 feet, and the blades extend an additional 123 feet, creating a 386-foot green machine.”
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/02/27/ski.wind.turbine/index.html

 

End Notes

The News is brought to you by George Spafford, Principal Consultant at Pepperweed Consulting, LLC.  Pepperweed is nationally recognized as a leader in IT Management Consulting.  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 News, and feel free to forward this email on to others.

Titles and links to articles written by me are listed at:  http://spaffordconsulting.com/articles.html and if you have news or feedback you’d like to share, please send an email to george.spafford@....

To subscribe, please send an email to:  SGC_Daily_News-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To unsubscribe, please send an email to:   SGC_Daily_News-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
The RSS feed is at:  http://rss.groups.yahoo.com/group/SGC_Daily_News/rss

Archives of The News newsletter are available at http://www.spaffordconsulting.com/dailynews.html .

 

_____________________________________________

George Spafford
Principal Consultant
ITIL Service Manager, TOCICO Jonah, IPRC, CISA
Pepperweed Consulting, LLC®
Office:  269-556-9597
Mobile:  269-208-1832
FAX:  208-978-6295
George.Spafford@...

 

 

 

 

 

"We learn more by looking for the answer to a question and not finding it than we do from learning the answer itself. ” – Lloyd Alexander

 

Top Picks

Kevin Behr’s Blog
Kevin co-authored Visible Ops with Gene Kim and myself.  He’s started a blog to reflect his keen observations on the state of IT today.  The three of us are working on a new book that will help shed light on the strategic use of IT by coupling concepts from Visible Ops, the Theory of Constraints and years of frustration.  Kevin is remarkably brilliant and you need to visit his blog for a dose of humor, creative genius and keen insights.
http://www.kevinbehr.com/blog/
RSS:  http://feeds2.feedburner.com/kevinbehr

[By the way, subscribe or live with eternal regret J]

 

The Rise of the Mega-Data Center
“Behind popular Web services such as Facebook, Google (GOOG), and Amazon's (AMZN) AWS are racks and racks of computers serving up millions of pages or providing raw computing power. The use of thousands of servers to deliver one application or act as a pool of computing resources has changed the way that chipmakers and computer vendors are building their products. It has also led to the rise of the mega-data center.”

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/feb2009/tc20090219_049561.htm?chan=technology_technology+index+page_top+stories

 

Enabling a Green and Virtual Data Center
“To say that ‘green’ is a popular topic is an understatement. Green messaging in general and in the information technology (IT) industry in particular tends to center around carbon footprint and emissions reduction or cost savings. But no matter how much companies talk about incorporating green IT plans, there remains a significant gap between those words and actions put in place.”
http://greenercomputing.com/feature/2009/02/18/enabling-green-virtual-data-center

 

Book and Product Recommendations

Visible Ops Introduction at Computerworld:
http://www.computerworld.com/managementtopics/management/story/0,10801,95618,00.html

 

Review of Visible Ops Security by Dr. Mich Kabay
Introducing Visble Ops Security:  http://www.networkworld.com/newsletters/sec/2008/111708sec1.html
Phase One:  http://www.networkworld.com/newsletters/sec/2008/111708sec2.html
Phase Two:  http://www.networkworld.com/newsletters/sec/2008/112408sec1.html
Phase Three:  http://www.networkworld.com/newsletters/sec/2008/120108sec1.html
Phase Four:  http://www.networkworld.com/newsletters/sec/2008/120108sec2.html

 

Review of the Visible Ops Handbook by Dr. Mich Kabay
http://www.networkworld.com/newsletters/sec/2008/111008sec2.html

 

IT Audit / Internal Audit / Compliance/Ethics

Controversial data-security rules slow to take hold in Massachusetts
“Massachusetts officials this month gave companies a second reprieve on complying with new regulations aimed at any entity that stores the personal data of state residents. They also softened a particularly contentious provision requiring businesses to ensure that third parties handling such data are in compliance with the rules.  But the state left intact other parts of the regulations that have sparked criticism from the business community both inside and outside of Massachusetts.”
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyId=17&articleId=334342&intsrc=hm_topic

 

IT Process Improvement / Quality Management

Lean, Six Sigma and Lean Six Sigma (LSS)
At a recent speaking event, I was asked to provide more information on LSS.  Here are some current resources for more information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_sigma
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lean_manufacturing
http://www.dau.mil/educdept/mm_dept_resources/navbar/lean/
Great LSS infor at the Deputy Under Secretary of the Army Knowledge Center:  http://www.army.mil/ArmyBTKC/focus/cpi/tools3.htm
US Navy LSS Site:  http://www.navyenterprise.navy.mil/knowledge/tools/sixsigma.aspx

Kurt’s Corner

News and views from Kurt Milne, the managing director of the ITPI.  He can be reached at: kurt.milne@....

Desktop and Application virtualization considerations
Server virtualization has hit its stride in companies large and small. Desktop and application virtualization, on the other hand, are coming on strong as important tools for improving IT efficiency and user experience. Some considerations for evaluating new capabilities.
http://searchcio-midmarket.techtarget.com/tip/0,289483,sid183_gci1346985,00.html

 

Enterprise IT budgets getting hit
In large enterprises (companies with more than 1,000 employees), 42% of respondents are reducing IT budgets from 2008.  Read on for more subtle details of what budet areas are growing and shrinking.
http://searchcio.techtarget.com/news/article/0,289142,sid182_gci1347179,00.html?track=NL-964&ad=687836&asrc=EM_NLN_5809934

 

An interesting list of IT functions
Many organizations divide IT into application development and infrastructure groups.  Viewing IT more as a business unit offers an alternative demand and supply chain focused view.
http://www.itsmwatch.com/itil/article.php/11700_3802916_2

 

Data Centers / Cloud Computing / Green IT

What’s the Upside to a Downturn? Recessions Heighten Focus on Efficiency!
“What’s the upside to a downturn? As the economy shrinks and budget and program cutting expands throughout our industry, how can data center facility and IT infrastructure teams identify opportunities that create value for their companies?  In other words, how do we emerge stronger from a recession?”
http://blogs.technet.com/msdatacenters/archive/2009/02/04/what-s-the-upside-to-a-downturn-recessions-heighten-focus-on-efficiency.aspx

 

News flash - the Cloud is probably better than your data center
“It might depend on what dimension you're talking about, but in at least some dimensions, I'm confident the capabilities of many cloud providers far outpace our everyday data center capabilities.  The industry continues to buzz about a seemingly endless bucket of security concerns in the cloud, but 9 times out of 10 seems to miss the most obvious conclusion.  A real security assessment would likely turn up evidence that the cloud is a good bit more secure than your data center.”
http://blogs.computerworld.com/news_flash_the_cloud_is_probably_better_than_your_data_center

 

Suddenly, infrastructure is cool again
“While many executives responsible for their companies' IT operations grok the vision, they still refuse to make the switch. More than 60 percent of the companies surveyed recently by Kelton Research reported they did not use cloud-computing technologies, and most of them have no plans to use them anytime soon.”
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10787_3-10169023-60.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

 

Security and Risk Management

How to Improve Virtualization Security
“In the rush to implement virtualization technologies, organizations are re-creating the same security mistakes that were made in physical environments over the past two decades. This is happening largely because they have failed to recognize that new technologies create the same risks, albeit from a different perspective. Knowledge Center contributor Richard Rees explains the five steps you need to take to improve virtualization security in your data center.”
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Virtualization/How-to-Improve-Virtualization-Security/

 

Companies Still Need Boost on Data Center Energy Efficiency: Survey
“Energy efficiency is increasingly a top-of-mind concern for executives and data center managers, not just as a way to trim spiraling electric bills and address carbon footprints, but also because electricity availability is becoming a critical concern.  But although the vast majority of executives are aware of the need to maximize energy efficiency, significant obstacles are preventing them from putting plans in place, according to a new survey from Siemens.”
http://greenercomputing.com/news/2009/02/20/companies-need-boost-efficiency

 

Researchers Hack Faces In Biometric Facial Authentication Systems
“The researchers cracked the biometric authentication embedded in Lenovo, Asus, and Toshiba laptops by spoofing the biometric systems with everything from a photo of the authorized user to brute-force hacking using fake facial images. They successfully bypassed Lenovo's Veriface III, Asus' SmartLogon V1.0.0005, and Toshiba's Face Recognition 2.0.2.32 -- each set to its highest security level -- demonstrating vulnerabilities in the systems that let an attacker cheat them with phony photos of the legitimate user and gain access to the laptops.”
http://www.darkreading.com/security/vulnerabilities/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=213901113&cid=RSSfeed

 

Driving Fast and Forward: Managing Information Security for Strategic Advantage in a Tough Economy
The third report at the RSA Innovation and Security Site is now available (along with the other reports) at:
https://www.rsa.com/node.aspx?id=3001

[Thank you for sending this in Julia!]

 

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

Report: 4 million Americans lost health insurance since recession began
“An estimated 4 million Americans have lost their health insurance since the recession began, and as many as 14,000 people could be losing their health coverage every day, according to a report by liberal think tank Center for American Progress' Action Fund.  The report also claims at least half of the 4 million who lost their insurance coverage still are uninsured. Before the recession started there were an estimated 46 million Americans without health insurance.”
http://www.bizjournals.com/albany/stories/2009/02/16/daily58.html

 

Human Error / Safety / Environment

Peanut Corp. tells all customers to stop distribution
“The peanut processor at the center of the ongoing salmonella outbreak has instructed all its customers to stop any distribution of any of its product in a yet further expansion of one of the nation's biggest food recalls.”
http://www.newsday.com/services/newspaper/printedition/sunday/health/ny-hssalm226045012feb22,0,4587293.story
[Interesting that this didn’t happen until February 20^th.]

 

Color Coded: Hospitals Standardize to Minimize Human Error
“Hospitals in Oregon and Washington are standardizing overhead calls and color codes to reduce the risk of confusion or human error. The move follows a survey that found wide variation in the emergency codes among the region's hospitals. This matters because many doctors and nurses now work at more than one place.”
http://kuow.org/program.php?id=16942

 

Russia: global warming to cause droughts, floods
“Russia will likely see more forest fires, droughts and floods in the coming century due to global warming, and policy makers need to prepare for large-scale change, scientists warned in a report released Wednesday.  It also said Russia, famous for its brutal winters, will benefit from climate change in some ways, with warmer temperatures and less snow and ice.”
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jwNjrvbYFMSgjSDpLXnbiVTw_h5gD96E2BM00

 

Global News / Business / Economics

Swiss to avoid Senate hearing on tax havens
“The Swiss government said Sunday it will not attend a U.S. Senate hearing on tax havens — an apparent protest against a U.S. lawsuit aimed at forcing banking giant UBS AG to hand over data on tens of thousands of American customers.”
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/banking/2009-02-22-swiss-senate-hearing_N.htm

 

Clinton urges China's continued investment in US
“U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is urging China to continue investing in United States Treasury bonds and said Sunday that country's continued investment in the U.S. is a recognition that the two countries depend on each other.”
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gUop4tPRyc6GuqJXiHqVNdXuwPgQD96GENH01

[Imagine the power of the biggest borrower on the biggest lender and vice versa.]

 

Crisis brings threat of crime wave to China
“The concern that the migrant workers will now turn to crime is felt all over China, but nowhere perhaps as keenly as in Shenzhen, part of Guangdong province, the nation's main industrial hub and labour magnet.”
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iB6ItKi3H7Lwxlf7-1mOL-53A96g

 

US News / Business / Economics

Volcker Says U.S. Economy May Suffer for ‘Long Time’
“The U.S. economy will suffer from the effects of the global financial crisis for ‘a long time’ as a slowdown in demand spreads to other countries, former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker said.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aEPhoxeCfsvs&refer=home

 

So, just how bad is the economy?
“James Kolari, an economist at Texas A&M University, says the nation experienced two ‘rough’ recessions in the mid-1970s and the early 1980s. A recession is generally defined as a decline in the Gross Domestic Product for two or more consecutive quarters.  He says it's not fair to compare the current economic crisis to the Great Depression, because the federal government was far more passive in the 1920s.”
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/02/20/economy.history/index.html

 

Following the money: stimulus spending plan, by sector
This is an interactive chart that CNN has developed to show spending per sector.  For example, federal & state governments - $45.4472 billion.  You can click on the sector and then drill down several levels for additional details.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/18/stimulus.spending.chart/index.html

 

Customer Service in a Shrinking Economy
“Across the business world, managers are trying to pull off the same perilous high-wire act. Just as companies are dealing with plummeting sales and sinking employee morale, skittish customers want more attention, better quality, and greater value for their money. Those same customers are also acutely aware that their patronage is of growing importance to companies as others decrease their spending.”
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_09/b4121026559235.htm?campaign_id=rss_daily

 

Technology & Science

OMG! Did Google Earth find Atlantis?
“Google is officially denying widespread Internet rumors that its Google Earth software located the mythical sunken city of Atlantis off the coast of Africa. Either that, or Google is totally trying to hide something. Since I always appreciate a nice juicy conspiracy theory, I'm going to go with the latter.”
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-10168269-36.html

 

End Notes

The News is brought to you by George Spafford, Principal Consultant at Pepperweed Consulting, LLC.  Pepperweed is nationally recognized as a leader in IT Management Consulting.  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 News, and feel free to forward this email on to others.

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"Quality is everyone's responsibility. ” – W. Edwards Deming

"It is not enough to do your best; you must know what to do, and then do your best.” – W. Edwards Deming

Top Picks

Deloitte’s 6^Th Annual Global Security Survey
“As in previous surveys, respondents recognize that people are both an organization’s greatest asset as well as its weakest link. But security vigilance is even more important in hard economic times, when the increased stress levels can lead people to behave in atypical ways.”
http://www.deloitte.com/dtt/article/0,1002,cid%253D243032,00.html
[People and Human error are at the top again.]
http://www.dailytech.com/New+Study+Reveals+Human+Error+is+Greatest+Security+Flaw/article14169.htm
http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/client/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=213002007&subSection=News

China stocks jump 4 pct on economy hopes
“China's stock market jumped 3.97 percent in heavy trade on Friday, posting a weekly gain of 9.57 percent, on the back of hopes for an early recovery of the Chinese economy.”
http://in.reuters.com/article/asiaCompanyAndMarkets/idINSHA10535320090206
[If China can stay up, at least someone can buy US debt.]

 

Leak: Amazon Kindle 2 Pictures and Pricing
“Official-looking pictures and pricing of Amazon's Kindle 2 e-book reader have been leaked on the Internet. The information surfaced on a forum late last night and reveals a thinner Kindle but without the speculated price increase. Amazon is expected to officially announce the Kindle 2 during a press conference on Monday.”
http://www.pcworld.com/article/159154/leak_amazon_kindle_2_pictures_and_pricing.html
The site with the pictures is at:  http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=38108

 

IT Audit / Internal Audit / Compliance/Ethics

Hard times shine spotlight on lack of business ethics
“Most major companies have an ethics officer, but as investors survey the wreckage of a deepening financial crisis that has exposed behaviour ranging from risky to downright illegal, one might ask ‘What were they doing?’”
http://www2.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/calgarybusiness/story.html?id=1cc6b2dc-2ecd-49f7-8c72-be33a9bf01b3

 

GAO updates manual for information system audits
“The Government Accountability Office today said it has significantly revised its manual for guiding agencies how to perform information system control audits to reflect the use of modern technology, more technical criteria and changes in government auditing standards.  The Federal Information System Controls Audit Manual focuses on evaluating the effectiveness of general and application controls that include system, business process and data management system controls, GAO said in a report.”
http://fcw.com/articles/2009/02/02/gao-manual-update.aspx
This February 2009 release of the FISCAM is available at:  http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d09232g.pdf

 

Audit: CBP weak on IT security
“Information technology security remains a significant deficiency at U.S. Customs and Border Protection but is no longer a material weakness, according to an independent audit released today by Homeland Security Department Inspector General Richard Skinner.  In a previous review in September 2007, audit firm KPMG noted a material weakness in entitywide security of CBP computer systems, including problems with system access controls, service continuity and software change management.”
http://fcw.com/articles/2009/02/02/cbp-weak-it.aspx

 

Business Schools: A Failing Grade on Ethics
“The time for teaching analysis of ethical problems is over. Students must be given the tools to act decisively when it's easier to run with the crowd.”
http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/feb2009/bs2009025_129477.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index+-+temp_business+schools

 

IT Process Improvement / Quality Management

The Evolution of Incident Management
“For years, real-world ITSM practitioners knew there were challenges with how Incident Management attempted to incorporate service requests and alerts from monitoring tools. As a result, they developed their own practices. Now, with ITIL v3, the Incident, Service Request and Event Management processes are independent and that is a great thing.”
http://www.itsmwatch.com/itil/article.php/3801266

 

Kurt’s Corner

News and views from Kurt Milne, the managing director of the ITPI.  He can be reached at: kurt.milne@....

 

Five Companies shaping cloud computing
Traditional view – cloud computing has to either save a lot of money, or allow the business to do things they couldn’t do before.  From article - “Two key factors might prompt businesses to trend away from on-premise IT, he says. “One is if they can save an enormous amount of money – not ten percent, but an enormous amount. Or, if they can do things they couldn’t do otherwise. And to some extent that’s not really giving it up, but using it for new things.”
http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/features/article.php/3798591/Five-Companies-Shaping-Cloud-Computing-Who-Wins.htm

 

Value chain thinking applied to Could Computing - Complexity budget
Alternate view – mash up of  Porter’s Value Chain model, with Goldrart’s Theory of Constraints applied to IT complexity. From blog “complexity has a cost, like any other resource, and we can't expect an infinite budget.  ask yourself whether buying, racking, and operating your own servers, storage, and network, that is, building your own infrastructure, gives you significant, quantifiable advantage in your space. if it doesn't, the complexity budget associated with that work can now be applied to your applications. it has moved up the stack. the money and people you would've put towards infrastructure are now available for creating more code, supporting more customers, closing more deals.
http://blog.layer8.net/ (caution – some office unfriendly words used)

 

2008 interview with Jeff Bezos – why they got into cloud business
“we had enough complexity within Amazon, we found were spending too much time on fine grained interaction between our network engineering groups, and application engineering groups.  We developed a hardened interface so we could focus more on course grained interface.”  Money question – ‘does is surprise you that a book retailer came up with this innovation…?’  Watch for answer."
http://blog.layer8.net/2009/01/i-was-trying-to-avoid-this.html

 

Data Centers / Cloud Computing / Green IT

GE Hawking Green Data Center Gear, Too
“GE is continuing that energy push in 2009 with a major smart meter marketing campaign (Super Bowl!), and on Monday touting a more unusual area: energy-efficient data center products. GE says it has made one of its own data centers more energy efficient using about 30 GE products, and — surprise, surprise — the conglomerate says those services and products are for sale for data center developers.”
http://earth2tech.com/2009/02/01/ge-hawking-green-data-center-gear-too/

 

Green IT: Beyond the hype
“Although heavy-handed messaging has led to a great deal of scepticism in the market, there’s no doubting that environmental concerns are creating serious market opportunities. ARN recently brought together a group of IT industry thought-leaders to talk about myths and margins.”
http://www.arnnet.com.au/article/262612/green_it_beyond_hype

 

Green Grid trails new datacentre guide
“Datacenter 2.0, a ‘top-to-bottom’ guide to designing power-efficient datacentres, will be published early next year. The result of a multi-year research effort, it is designed to create a broad overview of how to enhance energy efficiency within the datacentre, providing clear practical guidelines on different approaches for both new build sites and retrofit projects.”
http://www.vnunet.com/business-green/news/2235818/green-grid-plans-centre-guide

 

Finding Green Grid White Papers

Note:  Many Green Grid documents are now limited to members only. If there is a Green Grid white paper that you are looking for, then use Google to search on the document title. They have recently changed their website over to member-only content but many documents can be found hosted at other sites/addresses.
http://www.thegreengrid.org

A green IT checklist: From first steps to stretch goals
“Leading businesses are looking for ways to get green. Some are motivated by concern for the planet; others by the cost savings or the marketing advantages that can come from more environmentally friendly policies. Often, they're driven by a combination of factors. In any event, IT has a key role to play.”
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyId=12&articleId=324764&intsrc=hm_topic
[I think I missed this when it came out in September.]
ComputerWorld’s related Top 12 Green IT Users list is at:  http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=310494

 

Security and Risk Management

Data breach costs, customer churn up a bit; Repeat offenders abound
“The cost of a data breach runs companies $202 per compromised record, up 2.5 percent from $197 per record in 2007 and up 11 percent from 2006, according to research from Ponemon Institute.  In its fourth annual study on data breaches, the Ponemon Institute, a security research firm, examined the costs of 43 companies that had been hit by a data breach.”
http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=12015

 

FAQ: How To Password Protect Your BlackBerry
“I am paranoid about security so I found this Knowledgebase article by RIM very useful. In this article RIM describes the exact steps you need to take to put your BlackBerry device in lockdown. It does not include instructions on how to encrypt the memory card and device memory but that is a straight forward menu option. If you are interested just leave a comment.”
http://www.berryreview.com/2007/12/26/faq-how-to-password-protect-your-blackberry/
The RIM knowledgebase article is at:  http://www.blackberry.com/btsc/dynamickc.do?externalId=KB00588&sliceId=SAL_Public&command=show&forward=nonthreadedKC&kcId=KB00588
[Given what all gets stored in a smartphone these days, password protection, timed locking and encryption of the content are prudent measures.]

 

Security needs a governing body
“Many of the information assurance organizations and certification bodies, such as ISACA, (ISC)2, ISSA and SANS, require adherence to a code of conduct for membership. Several of those same organizations have described a common body of knowledge.  The one characteristic lacking in those definitions of the information security professional and the field itself, is the existence of a governing body and force of law.”
http://www.scmagazineus.com/Security-needs-a-governing-body/article/126918/

 

Security capital: Funding & Innovation
“Ask 15 experts about where funding for innovation is headed and you'll get as many different answers.  The direst prediction is that we're headed for a perfect storm:  An outbreak in digital crimes due to the economic recession, with no means to fund innovation required to advance protections.”
http://www.scmagazineus.com/Security-capital-Funding-Innovation/article/126931/

 

NIST updates recommendations for IT security controls
“The National Institute of Standards and Technology has released an initial draft for public comment of a revised version of its Recommended Security Controls for Federal Information Systems and Organizations.  Although this is Revision 3 of Special Publication (SP) 800-53, NIST calls it the first major update of the guidelines since its initial publication in December 2005.”
http://gcn.com/articles/2009/02/06/nist-updates-sp-800-53.aspx
The Draft is at:  http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/drafts/800-53/800-53-rev3-IPD.pdf

 

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

Senators affirm healthcare goals
“Senators Edward M. Kennedy and Max Baucus, in a public letter yesterday to President Obama, affirmed their commitment to passing a major healthcare bill this year and urged the new president to move with dispatch to find a replacement for Tom Daschle, who would have been the White House's point person on the issue.”
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2009/02/06/senators_affirm_healthcare_goals/

 

Healthcare Industry Is Pillar of Strength in Otherwise Weak Economy: American HealthCare Capital, a HealthCare Mergers & Acquisitions Advisory Firm, Releases First Quarter (2009) HealthCare Industry Outlook
“Although the Federal Bailout has done nothing to alleviate the nationwide credit crisis, the healthcare services mergers and acquisitions marketplace continues to be robust. On January 10, 2009, the Wall Street Journal reported that, although the economy lost 2.5 million jobs in 2008, the healthcare services industry is the rare exception where jobs are still being created. The healthcare services industry remains one of the brightest spots in an otherwise gloomy economy.”
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29011748/
[This will not remain the case. Wait until insurance benefits begin to run out and indigent care then begins to increase.  This will begin in the rise in uninsured patients should begin within a year of the first round of layoffs so that would be in the late summer or early fall.]

 

Human Error / Safety / Environment

Google glitch puts surfers in a quandary
“Google afterwards admitted that the mistake was down to an error by its own staff. An employee in charge of compiling the search engine's list of dangerous sites mistakenly entered a forward slash (/) character as a value to the file, extending Google's blacklist to every single site on the internet.”
http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2235522/google-glitch-puts-surfers

 

Examining Human Error in Wrongful Convictions
“A new examination of wrongful convictions in New York City and around the state found that a number of them stemmed not from DNA evidence being used to prove someone’s innocence, but from a far older phenomenon: human error.  The report, released on Friday by the New York State Bar Association, studied the cases of 53 men and women whose convictions were overturned, often after spending years, sometimes decades, in prison for murders, rapes and other crimes they did not commit.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/01/nyregion/01wrongful.html?ref=nyregion

 

Global News / Business / Economics

Security Bank: Quenching the thirst of stakeholders for information
“Preparing an annual report, which reflects a company’s financial position and future direction, amid a deepening global financial crisis is no easy task especially for banks fighting off prevailing investor pessimism.”
http://www.bworldonline.com/BW020309/content.php?id=047
[Security Bank is in the Philippines and the article is interesting as the approach they followed to calm investors makes a lot of sense.]

 

We must pull together to save the world, says Chinese Premier
“Mr Wen was speaking at the end of a European tour, his first in five years, aimed at strengthening ties with other countries. He wants to reach out to international allies during the downturn.”
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/economics/article5640732.ece

 

Small Mexican towns hurt as global economy goes south
“The impact has been largely positive, villagers say. But now amid the worldwide economic slump, many in Los Rodriguez and communities like it across Mexico that have heavily invested in trade with the United States are starting to feel — and fear — globalization’s sting.”
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/world/6240694.html

 

Asia stocks up amid optimism about Chinese economy
“Most Asian stock markets rose Thursday, with Hong Kong's index up almost 3 percent, amid growing optimism China's government measures will help its economy weather the global slowdown.”
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h3kgMAkbLwyfxBdjzw8Pc4KZ7DhQD9657DP00

 

US News / Business / Economics

Obama's expensive leap of faith
“When President Obama sits down today at his Oval Office Resolute desk (Queen Victoria's gift named for a British frigate), he will have on hand $350 billion in just-pledged rescue money for the nation's financial system - and the very likely prospect of a $825 billion-plus ‘economic recovery’ package landing on his desk for signature within a month.”
http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/20/news/economy/obama_inauguration.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2009012012

 

How to manage your business in a recession
“Managing in any recession is difficult; managing through this one is especially hard because it's different from previous ones in multiple ways. Most immediately significant, employment is plunging more steeply than in a long time - by more than two million jobs last year, more than during the previous two recessions, and this one is far from over.”
http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/07/magazines/fortune/colvin_managing.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2009010817

 

US economy sheds 598,000 jobs
“The US economy lost more than half a million jobs in January for the third month running, figures showed on Friday, marking the deepest cut in 34 years.”
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/34d6448a-f44d-11dd-8e76-0000779fd2ac.html
http://www.forbes.com/2009/02/08/nonfarm-payrolls-january-markets-econ-0206_unemployment_stimulus_36.html

 

Technology & Science

Legendary British warship 'found'
Odyssey Marine Exploration announced it had found the HMS Victory, the predecessor of Admiral Nelson's flagship of the same name.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7863840.stm
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/02/02/sunk.ship/index.html

 

Singularity U.: No Frats, Just Breakthroughs
“In June, Singularity University is scheduled to open with a faculty replete with scientific celebrities, and an initial class of 30 students at NASA's Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley. The subjects taught over a nine-week period are a menu of the disciplines whose exponential advancement Kurzweil suggests will overturn the world as we know it—nanotechnology, robotics, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, energy, and more”
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/feb2009/tc2009022_531934.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index+-+temp_technology

 

Google Earth's latest realm is under the sea
“The enhanced Google Earth, available for download at earth.google.com, offers everything from photographs and videos of sea life to models of shipwrecks to water temperature data collected from buoys. Dozens of partners - including the National Geographic Society, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration and the Scripps Oceanographic Institution - contributed information to the project, which is aimed at fostering learning, promoting conservation and, no doubt, increasing Google's popularity.”
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/02/03/MNCV15LO88.DTL

 

Kindle sparks excitement for e-books
“After years of trying to convince readers to ditch their hardcovers and paperbacks in favor of digital readers, electronic-book manufacturers are having their moment in the sun. Hot on the heels of the success of its Kindle e-reader, online bookseller Amazon is widely expected to unveil a new version of the device next week.”
http://money.cnn.com/2009/02/06/technology/ebooks.fortune/?postversion=2009020612

 

FAQ: How Google Latitude locates you
“Google is using technology that's similar to that of Skyhook Wireless in its Latitude service. Like Skyhook, it is a software-only location solution that allows any mobile device with Wi-Fi, GPS or a cellular radio to determine its position with an accuracy of 10 to 20 meters.”
http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9127462

 

Are We Bringing Our Germs to Mars?
“Even though Phoenix was assembled in a special clean room to minimize bacterial contamination — and the lander's arm, which would have direct contact with Martian ice, was heat-sterilized before launch — it's likely that dozens or more species of microbes hitched a ride on Phoenix's 10-month trip to Mars.”
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1877434,00.html

 

End Notes

The News is brought to you by George Spafford, Principal Consultant at Pepperweed Consulting, LLC.  Pepperweed is nationally recognized as a leader in IT Management Consulting.  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 News, and feel free to forward this email on to others.

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“Permanence, perseverance and persistence in spite of all obstacles, discouragement, and impossibilities: It is this, that in all things distinguishes the strong soul from the weak.” – Thomas Carlyle

 

"Be careful what you want, you may get it” – Unknown

 

Top Picks

The Year of the Ox will bring little prosperity for the Chinese
“Even before the global financial crisis, those in absolute poverty (earning less than US$1 a day) doubled in China over the past decade. More than 400 million had seen their net incomes decline over the same period despite record GDP growth. It is no wonder that domestic consumption growth has been slow and will not be able to take up the slack as the export sector suffers. Instead China must rely on state-led fixed investment to keep growth at 8 per cent, despite acknowledging that this strategy is becoming more inefficient and wasteful, and therefore increasingly unsustainable.”
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article5586587.ece
[A very well thought out and written, not to mention troubling, article.]

 

Heartland Payment Systems: Breach Bad As Tylenol Poisonings?
“The data loss debacle at Heartland highlights the fact that information security will be the next major shareholder derivative and D&O liability issue, regulatory, consumer, and national security threat, and class-action litigation subject to impact our ailing economy.”
http://seekingalpha.com/article/116415-heartland-payment-systems-breach-bad-as-tylenol-poisonings

[The author eviscerates the response of Heartland executives to their data loss incident.]

 

Chinese state media goes global
“Even as the People's Liberation Army (PLA) is projecting hard power across the four corners of the earth, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is mapping out a multi-pronged strategy to publicize globally the apparent viability of the ‘China

Model’.”
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/KA30Ad01.html
[They are going for hearts and minds.]

 

Swinging the Axe
This is a good article talking about some of the decisions that are going on relative to cutting staff.
http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/13046704/2/c_2984789?f=alerts

 

Book and Product Recommendations

The Billion Dollar Solution:  Secrets of Prochain Project Management by Robert C. Newbold

Mr. Newbold covers the use of critical chain management in the Prochain project management approach.  The book has been lauded by a number of experts including Dr. Holt at Washington State.  The book is very easy to read and offers up some great examples.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1934979058?ie=UTF8&tag=georgespaffor-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1934979058
Read an interview of him at TOC Thinkers:  http://www.tocthinkers.com/rob-newbold/

The website for the book with reviewer comments is at:  http://billiondollarsolution.com/

 

IT Audit / Internal Audit / Compliance / Ethics

Qualys Has Free eBook for Download:  PCI Compliance for Dummies
“Complying with the PCI Data Security Standard may seem like a daunting task for merchants. This book is a quick guide to understanding how to protect cardholder data and comply with the requirements of PCI - from surveying the standard's requirements to detailing steps for verifying compliance.  PCI Compliance for Dummies arms you with the facts, in plain English, and shows you how to achieve PCI Compliance.”
http://www.qualys.com/forms/ebook/pcifordummies/

 

Cloud computing and compliance: Be careful up there
“Using the cloud for data processing and storage may have its advantages in terms of simplicity and cost, but ensuring regulatory compliance will not be nearly so simple.  What it all comes down to, ultimately, is that the user organization is responsible for figuring out who is doing what to its data and requiring assurances about the data staying in compliance.”
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9126934&source=rss_news

 

Business ethics takes on greater import amid increasing scams
“Whatever happened to the golden rule of ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you’? In the fast-paced, technology-driven, global world we live in, ethics in business has become a serious concern, reduced to ‘who do you trust?’”
http://www.centredaily.com/bussiness_local/story/1092863.html

 

IT Process Improvement / Quality Management

Gutting Costs Guts Viability
“When we are looking at organizations, we can classify their approaches as focusing on a spectrum of independent and/or dependent variables. The news reflects a current overemphasis on dependent variables. Yet, cost cutting is not a long term strategy. It is, at best, is a short term tactic. In observing behavior and outcomes we can class cost cutting as a dependent variable because there are limits to how much cost can be removed from a system and still be viable.”
http://www.cioupdate.com/features/article.php/3797311/Gutting-Costs-Guts-Viability.htm

 

Companies fail to go green on procurement
“Only three percent of UK organisations have a fully automated procurement process even though it would save money and offer a greener alternative to paper-based procurement.  A survey by the National Computing Centre, in association with COA Software, also found that 69 percent of companies thought that moving to e-procurement would be more in line with their organisation's environmental policies, although only 25 percent had such a green procurement policy in place.”
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2009/012309-companies-fail-to-go-green.html?hpg1=bn

 

Measuring Data Center Energy Flow
“Power utilization effectiveness (PUE) can be a useful metric for determining the overall performance of a data center's electrical and mechanical systems--but the results also can be misconstrued.”
http://www.forbes.com/2009/01/27/data-center-energy-technology-cio-network_0128_energy.html

 

Kurt’s Corner

News and views from Kurt Milne, the managing director of the ITPI.  He can be reached at: kurt.milne@....

 

Vision - Companies will be able to build scalable apps that are self-provisioning.

Sun cloud CTO Lew Tucker, explains that the 'the data center is the computer.' We see a future where there are a bunch of clouds, both public and private clouds, and companies will be able to build scalable apps that are self-provisioning. These apps will be able to scale up automatically where requesting resources will be done in a self-service fashion."

http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2009/01/sun_cloud_cto_y.html

 

Practice - With some initiative mixed with proverbial duct tape and bailing wire, Amazon cloud tapped to pdf 11 million articles in 24 hours

Derek Gottfrid at NYTimes needed to pdf 11 million articles.  His basic idea was to  upload 4TB of source data into Amazon S3, write some code that would run on numerous Amazon EC2 instances to read the source data, create PDFs, and store the results back into S3.  Read about how 100 E2C instances churned through all 11 million articles in just under 24 hours. 

http://open.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/11/01/self-service-prorated-super-computing-fun/

 

Vision and Practice - Good enough for the DoD

US Defense Department’s John Garing met Microsoft Corp. and Amazon.com Inc. to learn about cloud computing, he liked what he saw. Enough to send him back to Washington ready to change how government technology works. “People make buying decisions on data processing and don’t want to build stuff they don’t have to build anymore,” he said. “You start adding all this together, do the calculus and soon it says, ‘Hello! Why aren’t we doing this?’” The government spent about $68.1 billion in the last fiscal year on technology, with almost a third devoted to infrastructure, according to White House estimates.

http://businessmirror.com.ph/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5158:us-defense-dept-mimics-google-microsoft-in-cloud-computing&catid=52:technology

 

Security and Risk Management

That's a Monster of a data breach
Monster.com gets hacked with data loss for the second time in 18 months.  The author has snippets of numerous opinions about the breach.
http://blogs.computerworld.com/thats_a_monster_of_a_data_breach

 

Virus strikes 15 million PCs
“A virulent computer virus has infected more than 15 million computers around the world so far, British experts say.  The Independent on Sunday reported that the worm -- known as Downadup, Conficker or Kido -- had contaminated 6 million PCs in the past three days alone.”
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/01/25/Virus_strikes_15_million_PCs/UPI-19421232924206/

 

Defense cybersecurity budget request likely a third more than reported
“A government research company estimates that about a third of the Defense Department's $4 billion request for spending on IT security is included in general spending on various departmental programs and not coded specifically as spent on information systems security, making it difficult to track the Pentagon's total cybersecurity spending, according to a report released on Monday.”
http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20090126_2865.php

 

Security Control Threats in Tight IT Budgets
“For all the improvements companies have made to their IT security and control systems in the last five years, one menace still looms large these days: that layoffs will wreck the compliance system you’ve carefully crafted.”
http://www.complianceweek.com/article/5239/security-control-threats-in-tight-it-budgets

 

US officials investigate MP3 security blunder
“A New Zealand man who discovered US military files on an MP3 player has been visited by US officials about the matter.”
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/01/28/2476801.htm?section=world

 

New guide launched for security managers
“IT certifications organisation the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA) today launched a guide designed to provide IT security chiefs with an independent framework to help manage their information security more effectively.  An Introduction to the Business Model for Information Security explains the new business model, which is independent of any particular technology.”
http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2235244/guide-launched-security
http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2009/01/28/234471/firms-offered-free-enterprise-security-model.htm
The ISACA security page is at:  http://www.isaca.org/Template.cfm?Section=Security&Template=/TaggedPage/TaggedPageDisplay.cfm&TPLID=19&ContentID=29031

 

With Economic Slump, Concerns Rise Over Data Theft
“Is the worsening economic situation going to turn some employees into data thieves?  That's a top concern amongst IT decision makers, many of whom say that laid-off employees are the biggest security threat created by the economic downturn. In a McAfee-sponsored worldwide survey (registration required) of 1,000 IT decision makers, the company found that 42 percent of respondents felt that the laid-off employees represented the biggest IT security threat caused by the recession.”
http://www.csoonline.com/article/478333/With_Economic_Slump_Concerns_Rise_Over_Data_Theft

 

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

Some fear window is narrow for healthcare overhaul
“Mindful of how delays sapped the political will to overhaul healthcare during the Clinton administration, health advocates hoped to get a major bill during the new administration's first 100 days. Now, it looks like it will take longer, and some observers fear that a historic opportunity could be missed.”
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2009/01/28/some_fear_window_is_narrow_for_healthcare_overhaul/

 

Web site offering health care data
“Health care consumers can shop around for routine medical procedures at hospitals and outpatient facilities using a new online tool launched by the state [Massachusetts] yesterday.  The new Web site, billed as a consumer-friendly way of accessing cost and quality information about the state’s medical facilities, was designed to promote transparency in the health care industry, state health officials said.

http://www.telegram.com/article/20090131/NEWS/901310330/1002/BUSINESS

 

Disruptive Innovation, Applied to Health Care
“As the Obama administration tries to diagnose and treat what ails the system, however, reformers shouldn’t be worried only about how to pay for it.  Instead, the country needs to innovate its way toward a new health care business model — one that reduces costs yet improves both quality and accessibility.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/01/business/01unbox.html?_r=1

 

Human Error / Safety / Environment

Chasing a fossil-fuel 'fugitive' to aid climate change fight
“Natural gas is often hailed as the clean fossil fuel because burning it produces about half the carbon dioxide as burning coal. That may be true, but factor in fugitive emissions and the emissions gap between the two begins to close.  According to Environment Canada's national greenhouse-gas inventory report, fugitive emissions from the oil and natural gas sectors in 2006 amounted to the equivalent of about 60 megatonnes of carbon dioxide, up 65 per cent compared with 1990 levels.”
http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/577109

 

Researcher turns up heat on global warming skeptics
“Doran's survey of nearly 3,200 such scientists around the world is the most comprehensive one ever completed.  The only apparent doubters? Petroleum geologists: Just 47 percent of them agreed people have caused global warming.”
http://www.suntimes.com/lifestyles/1397168,CST-NWS-warm26.article

 

Global warming could unleash ocean 'dead zones': study
“Under the worst scenario, warmer seas and a slowdown of ocean circulation would lower marine oxygen levels, creating ‘dead zones’ that could not support fish, shellfish and other higher forms of marine life -- and may not revive for 1,500 to 2,000 years.”
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hfAnfUGdNC8zDmDQuHpJJYZ95FyA

Global Warming Can Be Contained for $263 Billion, McKinsey Says
“The investment is needed to ensure that global temperatures don’t rise by more than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) since industrialization, McKinsey said today in ‘Pathways to a Low-Carbon Economy.’ Beyond that threshold, nations including European Union members say global warming will become dangerous.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601081&sid=aCfqwivcuA3Y&refer=australia
http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2008/s2476663.htm

 

Geo-engineering 'useful' against climate change: study
“Massive, futuristic schemes to spur land and sea into sucking up greenhouse gases may help the fight against global warming but are no substitute for reducing the pollution itself, scientists said Wednesday.”
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5itCVurEC5IieqRzD3ccoqlsn9Gpw

 

[Australia] Seventy patients exposed to radiation overdose
“COFFS Coast cancer patients have been overdosing on radiation for more than a year, after a radiotherapy machine at Coffs Harbour Hospital was found to be calibrated incorrectly. … Human error has been identified as the cause of the incorrect calibration.”
http://www.coffscoastadvocate.com.au/story/2009/01/31/70-patients-exposed-to-radiation-overdose/

 

Global News / Business / Economics

Global economy hit by massive wave of job cuts
“The world economy was hit by a massive wave of job cuts on Monday with companies announcing plans to lay off tens of thousands of workers as US President Barack Obama warned of a crisis that could become ‘dramatically worse.’  Dutch banking and insurance group ING announced 7,000 job cuts and a deal for the Dutch state to assume 80 percent of the risk on a 27.7-billion euro portfolio of troubled assets.  But shares in British bank Barclays shot up by 75 percent on unexpectedly strong profit expectations.”
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gmRU92Pu4jSJ-zNhpA3MZXzOk8RQ

 

In Hong Kong and Japan, Grim Economic Expectations
“London-based accounting firm Grant Thornton International in January released the results of a survey of more than 7,200 corporate executives in 36 countries worldwide, asking them about their expectations for 2009 both in terms of the overall economy and their companies. When it comes to pessimism about the economy in the Year of the Ox, Hong Kong was No. 9, gloomier than the U.S. and Britain and only a bit better than Japan, the least upbeat of all.”
http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/jan2009/gb20090126_557599.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index+-+temp_global+business

 

Indian economy to decelerate, but no need to press panic button
“This is still a significant deceleration but not a scary scenario. And things can only brighten if moderation in inflation and lower interest rate lead to a less than expected deceleration in private consumption. In that case we are looking at 7% plus growth rate in the next financial year.”
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Features/Investors_Guide/Indian_economy_to_decelerate_but_no_need_to_press_panic_button/articleshow/4031771.cms

 

China's clout grows as U.S. economy weakens
“When Chinese leaders talk about cashing in its almost one-half trillion in Treasury Bills, as they sometimes do, the financial markets in the U.S. shudder. Now China could stoke the U.S. recession, though it certainly does not want to do that. A more salient reality is that the U.S. needs more money, and China, which is sitting on nearly $2 trillion in foreign reserves, may be the only place to get it.”
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/eo20090128a2.html

 

Russia, China Slam U.S. Economic System, Blame Capitalism
“Speaking on the opening day of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, they both urged more international cooperation to escape the downturn. They also talked up the abilities of their own economies to ride out the recession. Wen said he was 'confident' China would hit its 8 percent growth target for this year even though that was 'a tall order.'”
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,484935,00.html

 

Chinese moves to influence investment decisions
“Asian equity fund managers favour Chinese infrastructure as the best investment of 2009, research from Standard & Poor's revealed.”
http://ftadviser.com/FinancialAdviser/Investments/Region/BRIC/China/News/article/20090129/70e80344-e7d4-11dd-bc23-00144f2af8e8/Chinese-moves-to-influence-investment-decisions.jsp?position=Other&otherText=consultant&x=18&y=11

 

How to Heal the Global Economy

“In a packed room for what has become an opening-day tradition, everybody agreed with Morgan Stanley Asia chairman Stephen Roach's grim assessment that ‘this will most likely be the first year since the end of World War II when world GDP actually contracts.’”
http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1873191_1873190_1874753,00.html

 

Honda Swerves Into A Deep Ditch
“Honda Motor's quarterly results Friday signal that the automaker is set to suffer an operating loss of at least $3.7 billion from January to March. Vastly softer demand from the West, as well as a slowdown in Asia and Brazil and the yen's devastating surge, are threatening to drag Honda deep into the red.”
http://www.forbes.com/2009/01/30/honda-loss-guidance-markets-equity-0130_markets03.html

 

US News / Business / Economics

Microsoft Postpones Iowa Data Center
“Microsoft will continue construction of its new data centers in Chicago and Dublin and open them based on the level of demand for its online services. The company will revisit its data center plans quarterly, wrote Arne Josefsberg, general manager of infrastructure services, and Michael Manos, general manager of data centers, in a Microsoft blog about its data center efforts.”
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/158265/microsoft_postpones_iowa_data_center.html

 

Slump Probably Deepened as Credit Froze: U.S. Economy Preview
“The worst credit crisis since the Great Depression sent the U.S. economy into a tailspin at the end of 2008 as consumers and businesses retrenched, reports this week may show.  Gross domestic product contracted at a 5.5 percent annual rate from October through December, the biggest drop since 1982, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey ahead of Commerce Department figures due Jan. 30.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601068&sid=ayFlXO6K.CSM&refer=home

 

Fed Keeps Rate Near Zero, Is Ready to Buy Treasuries
“The Federal Reserve left the benchmark interest rate as low as zero, said it’s prepared to purchase Treasury securities to resuscitate lending and warned inflation may recede too quickly.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aek1s.x4XxLs&refer=home

 

USPS may cut day of mail delivery
“The U.S. Postal Service may be forced to eliminate a day of mail service because the economic downturn has led to plummeting volume and revenue, the postmaster general said in Senate testimony Wednesday.  Postmaster General John E. Potter told a U.S. Senate subcommittee he wanted to eliminate the requirement to deliver mail six days a week to every address in America.”
http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/28/news/economy/postal_service/

 

Poor infrastructure fails America, civil engineers report
“America's civil engineers think the nation's aging and rusty infrastructure is just not making the grade.  The American Society of Civil Engineers issued an infrastructure report card Wednesday giving a bleak cumulative ranking of D.”
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/01/28/infrastructure.report.card/index.html

 

Exxon Mobil posts record $45.2 billion profit
“Exxon Mobil Corp. on Friday reported a profit of $45.2 billion for 2008, breaking its own record for a U.S. company, even as its fourth-quarter earnings fell 33 percent from a year ago.  The previous record for annual profit was $40.6 billion, which the world's largest publicly traded oil company set in 2007.”
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28931011/

 

Stimulus bills have big bucks for ‘green’ IT programs
“Among the programs in the House bill, the Energy Department would be able to spend $2 billion for research and development, demonstration projects and deployment. A House report on the bill said these projects would cover biomass, geothermal and solar energy. The funds would also go toward accelerating research and development for advanced batteries necessary for conversion to electric vehicles and energy storage to increase the effectiveness of renewable energy projects, the report said.”
http://fcw.com/articles/2009/01/30/stimulus-bill.aspx

 

Technology & Science

Efficient architectures move sources closer to loads
“At the heart of the [data center power] problem is inefficient power delivery, specifically power conversion, memory leakage, cooling and distribution losses. In recognition of this, the world's top engineers have scrutinized everything from power distribution to server and point-of-load power supplies to minimize power waste. Their work has led to architectural breakthroughs that look to fundamentally change the face of power delivery for decades to come.”
http://www.eetimes.com/news/design/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=212901943

 

Sun Focusing on Energy-Efficient Data Centers for Cuts In Cost, Carbon
“Remember the data center construction boom of the dotcom bubble? Well, the opposite trend — data center consolidation –  is starting to take effect now that energy efficiency is becoming increasingly popular and the economy has hit the skids. Sun is announcing Monday that it has finished “the largest data center consolidation project undertaken in the company’s history,” with a new energy-efficient data center in Broomfield, Colo.”
http://earth2tech.com/2009/01/25/sun-focusing-on-energy-efficient-data-centers-for-cuts-in-cost-carbon/

 

Data centers transforming slowly
“Enterprises are more likely to invest in improving various aspects of their data centers but only a minority will contemplate going further, Hewlett Packard has found after contracting a third party firm to conduct an online survey of technology decision makers in 600 organizations in the U.S., U.K., Germany, Brazil, Japan and India.”
http://www.echannelline.com/usa/story.cfm?item=24150
[The consolidation numbers for HP are interesting.  They have gone from 85 data centers to six and from 5,000 applications to roughly 1,500.]

 

Amazon's E-Book Reader About to Get Rekindled
“Amazon will host a media event in the Morgan Library & Museum in New York City on Feb. 9. The timing and the venue strongly suggest that Amazon will use the event to announce Kindle 2.0, which industry watchers say will likely be a slimmer and better designed device, aimed at spurring adoption by more mainstream users.”
http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2009/01/kindle-2-likely.html
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/books/2009-01-27-amazon-second-generation-kindle_N.htm
http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/kit-eaton/technomix/why-kindle-2-e-reader-rumors-make-sense
[I held off buying the first generation but definitely plan on buying a v2 a month or so after they come out.  I figure they have improved the design and a short delay will give an opportunity to find out if there are problems with the new design.]

 

Sun Unveils Green Data Center
“Sun Microsystems says its just-opened Broomfield, Colo., data center saves a million kilowatt hours per month -- enough to power 1,000 Colorado homes -- and $1 million in energy bills per year without sacrificing performance. In fact, the Santa Clara, Calif.-based technology company says, the new green data center actually provides additional computing resources.”
http://www.wallstreetandtech.com/data-management/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=212902971
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/01/27/sun_broomfield_datacenter/

 

Google unveils tools that can show if your ISP is giving you what you paid for
“Want to know if you're actually getting what you're paying your Internet service provider for?  If you are, join the club. The problem is that it it has been far from easy to get a handle on how your service provider deals with various kinds of traffic. That may become an easier job now that Google Inc. is launching what it calls Measurement Lab (M-Lab), an open system that researchers and consumers can use to access its new Internet performance measurement tools.”
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9126997&intsrc=hm_list

 

Mars rover may be feeling its age – finally
“Spirit, the aged and somewhat creaky Mars rover, is stalled on the Red Planet with a touch of bewilderment, but earthbound engineers are confident they'll get the mobile explorer up and running smoothly soon.”
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/01/29/MNN915JL6B.DTL

 

The Case Against Cloud Computing
“The five key impediments are: Current enterprise apps can't be migrated conveniently; Risk: Legal, regulatory, and business; Difficulty of managing cloud applications; Lack of SLA; Lack of cost advantage for cloud computing”
Part one:  Current Enterprise apps can’t be migrated: http://www.cio.com/article/477473/The_Case_Against_Cloud_Computing_Part_One

Part two:  Cloud Computing Imposes Legal, Regulatory, and Business Risk:  http://www.cio.com/article/478419/The_Case_Against_Cloud_Computing_Part_Two

 

End Notes

The News is brought to you by George Spafford, Principal Consultant at Pepperweed Consulting, LLC.  Pepperweed is nationally recognized as a leader in IT Management Consulting.  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 News, and feel free to forward this email on to others.

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_____________________________________________

George Spafford
Principal Consultant
ITIL Service Manager, TOCICO Jonah, IPRC, CISA
Pepperweed Consulting, LLC®
Office:  269-556-9597
Mobile:  269-208-1832
FAX:  208-978-6295
George.Spafford@...

 

 

 

 

 

"Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after the other” – Walter Elliot

 

"Stay the course, light a star,

Change the world where’er you are” – Richard Le Gallienne

 

Top Picks

The New Accountability in Governance
“Roiling markets, diminished returns, foreclosed neighborhoods, TARP bailouts, greedy grafters, careers lost, and leaders tottering in the dangerous dance of debts, defaults, and delistings, have all put Wall Street and Main Street on edge. Tone-deaf CEOs flew their private jets to plead for bailouts while millions of retirement savings died, along with fabled firms, after Sept. 15.  Greed has taken trust hostage. Shareholders and consumers have lost money and a legacy of believing their leaders protected them. Or cared at all.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/roger-fransecky/the-new-accountability-in_b_160416.html

[Very interesting about the loss of trust in executive management and the need to restore/recover trust.  Here’s another quote:  “This will demand tough, grown-up work, for boards will have to act with courage and clarity to reform old practices and toss out some cherished beliefs. For example, among the board members we spoke to, CEO evaluation existed in name only.”  Definitely a good article to read this week and one I am purposefully putting as #1 in the newsletter.]

 

White House Offers New Details on Recovery Plan
“The report released Saturday by the White House on the $825 billion economic recovery proposal offered more detail about how Mr. Obama intends the money to be spent in several key areas and was meant to ‘put meat on the bones,’ as one White House National Economic Council official put it.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/25/us/politics/25report.html

 

What it might take for the US to remain No. 1

“After the dust settles on the deepest economic slump since the Great Depression of the 1930s, will the United States retain its status as the No. 1 economic power in the world?  If you listen to economists, the answer is very much in doubt.”
http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0122/p25s09-wmgn.html

 

Expect the World Economy to Suffer Through 2009
“We enter the new year grappling with the most serious global economic and financial crisis since the Great Depression. The U.S. economy is, at best, halfway through a recession that began in December 2007 and will prove the longest and most severe of the postwar period. Credit losses of close to $3 trillion are leaving the U.S. banking and financial system insolvent.”
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123267029592108287.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

[Definitely a must-read.]

 

Book and Product Recommendations

Book:  “Architecting ITIL” by Randy Steinberg
Randy's new book covers architectures involving: service management, functions, data, organization, process, and service. He then discusses assessing and governing the architecture. His style is very straight forward and offers many different points in each area for the reader to consider. Someone looking for issues to consider in the various areas are presented with bulleted lists to review and pragmatically leverage. For people involved with the design of configuration management databases (CMDBs) or configuration management systems (CMSes) this book will be very valuable. If you haven't checked it out yet and are involved with ITSM architecture, then you really should.
Order it on Amazon at:  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1425180345?ie=UTF8&tag=georgespaffor-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1425180345

 

IT Audit / Internal Audit / Compliance

DHS ranks high on GAO's high-risk list
“The Homeland Security Department is tied for second among federal departments for having the most high-risk management challenges on the Government Accountability Office’s biennial high-risk list released Jan. 22.”
http://fcw.com/articles/2009/01/23/dhs-high-on-gao-list.aspx

 

Big trend: Offshoring audit work
“Here's another unintended consequence of Sarbanes-Oxley: Top audit firms are increasingly outsourcing core audit functions to their overseas affiliates. The logic goes like this: Sarbanes-Oxley has resulted in ‘fee fatigue’ for a lot of clients. To give them a break, more auditors are lowering costs via their overseas affiliates. This logic is hardly rock solid.”
http://www.fiercesarbox.com/story/big-trend-offshoring-audit-work/2009-01-23

 

The Satyam mess and Sarbanes-Oxley
“First, we should note that Satyam's ADR traded on the Nasdaq. As such, the big Indian outsourced service provider was required to comply with Sarbox. Which didn't prevent the fraud. In fact, it has has thrust PricewaterhouseCoopers onto the hot seat. How could it have signed off on the audit?”
http://www.fiercesarbox.com/story/satyam-mess-and-sarbanes-oxley/2009-01-16

 

Operational controls to combat a down economy
“Challenging economic times call for bold actions and creative approaches to stay ahead of the competition, or perhaps even afloat. Profitability, strategy, revenue growth, client satisfaction, cash flows, and other operational objectives are often magnified by boards, creditors, and the investing community during economic downturns.”
http://wistechnology.com/articles/5409/

 

PCAOB to Auditors: Focus on the CFO
“A sharp and experienced CFO with broad knowledge of a small company's operation can make for a much easier and cheaper audit of the company's internal controls over financial reporting. An unruly finance chief, however, can wreak havoc on the controls of a tiny firm.  Through pithy scenarios, a Public Company Accounting Oversight Board staff guidance issued today reveals such down-home wisdom about the crucial role of the CFO in the audit process.”
http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/13005719/c_13003803?f=home_todayinfinance

 

IT Process Improvement / Quality Management

Gutting Costs Guts Viability
“When we are looking at organizations, we can classify their approaches as focusing on a spectrum of independent and/or dependent variables. The news reflects a current overemphasis on dependent variables. Yet, cost cutting is not a long term strategy. It is, at best, is a short term tactic.”
http://www.cioupdate.com/features/article.php/3797311/Gutting-Costs-Guts-Viability.htm

 

The Biggest Mistakes in Managing Change
“From working with executives and managers, I’ve seen how management of change impacts a work force.  Here are the biggest mistakes in managing change -- and the lessons learned.”
http://www.winstonbrill.com/bril001/html/article_index/articles/501-550/article506_body.html

 

Organizational Change and Development
This is a great resource for OC/OD info.
http://www.managementhelp.org/org_chng/org_chng.htm

 

Resource: Microsoft digs into green computing
“In an effort to provide datacenter architects with some guidance in making their datacenters greener, the latest edition of Microsoft's freely downloadable Architecture Journal focuses entirely on green computing.”
http://weblog.infoworld.com/sustainableit/archives/2008/12/microsoft_green_1.html
The Microsoft Architecture Journal is at: http://www.msarchitecturejournal.com/pdf/Journal18.pdf

 

Turning Up the Heat to Save Energy
“The temperature's rising in online brokerage Scottrade Inc.'s data center -- and that's a good thing. The move has allowed the St. Louis-based company to reap enormous energy savings while increasing reliability.  Six months ago, CIO Ian Patterson hired the engineering firm Glumac to construct a computational fluid dymanics (CFD) model of Scottrade's data center. The model provided a complete picture of thermal airflows.”
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=331546

 

Bosses Demand More With Less In Data Centers
“A survey suggests IT executives may not have their finger on the pulse of their data-center staffs during this downturn -- but everyone’s on board with the need for efficiency and tech-driven business growth.”
http://www.baselinemag.com/c/a/Infrastructure/Bosses-Demand-More-With-Less-In-Data-Centers/

 

Green your data center
“There are many ways to green your data center, but we will go over only a few of the easiest and most obvious ways to cut costs.”
http://www.emqus.com/index.php?/emq/article/green_your_data_center_447

 

Kurt’s Corner

News and views from Kurt Milne, the managing director of the ITPI.  He can be reached at: kurt.milne@....

 

There is an open thread on Google groups cloud computing discussion board – about the “killer app” for cloud computing.  It includes some powerful thinking about enabling technology and the appropriate business model for cloud vendors.  One train of thought suggests that the cloud is going to be driven by economies of scale and cost reduction. However, my sense is that it is not about infrastructure efficiencies. The real demand driver will be enabling business innovation and speed.

Use cloud computing to drive IT innovation
The author of this article launched a small database marketing pilot. Rather than absorb this project into existing data center infrastructure, they are going to use the full set of services (applications, application servers, Web servers, database, database servers, etc.) that already exist "in the cloud".
http://searchcio-midmarket.techtarget.com/tip/0,289483,sid183_gci1343492,00.html?track=NL-974&ad=684609&asrc=EM_NLT_5613439&uid=4561296#

So – what exactly is cloud computing?

The cement isn’t dry yet.  The answer depends on your perspective. Some analysts and vendors define cloud computing narrowly as an updated version of utility computing: basically virtual servers available over the Internet. Others go very broad, arguing anything you consume outside the firewall is "in the cloud," including conventional outsourcing.
http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/04/07/15FE-cloud-computing-reality_1.html

 

Forrester to CFOs:  Embrace cloud computing to cut costs.
However, first two reasons listed in this article are 1) speed – customers don't build; they subscribe and receive services. 2) skills - ship IT tasks to cloud computing specialists, who "worry about the nuts and bolts so that you don’t have to." And then 3) by-the-drink payment plans keep cash in the bank longer. I think #2 is most important.  IT staff can focus on more important business processes.
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Enterprise-Applications/Forresters-Advice-to-CFOs-Embrace-Cloud-Computing-to-Cut-Costs/

 

Security and Risk Management

If you outsource your virtualisation, thoroughly check your provider’s security
“Bringing these together in the cloud is, from a security perspective, still an immature area of development. But this will need to be embraced to meet business demands and environmental restrictions, as long as traditional controls are still built in and enforced in virtualised environments.”
http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2009/01/20/234315/if-you-outsource-your-virtualisation-thoroughly-check-your-providers.htm

 

Heartland data breach could be bigger than TJX's
“A data breach disclosed today by Heartland Payment Systems Inc. may well displace TJX Companies Inc.'s January 2007 breach in the record books as the largest ever involving payment data with potentially over 100 million cards being compromised.”
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9126379&intsrc=news_ts_head

 

Security demands land on desk of new President
“In an open letter to the new President, BigFix CTO Amrit Williams claimed that it was ‘imperative that we take this opportunity to implement a vision for how the United States and the world will securely and efficiently maximise the value of technology for the betterment of all’.”
http://www.scmagazineuk.com/Security-demands-land-on-desk-of-new-President/article/126100/

 

Obama 'to get spy-proof smartphone'
“Writing on his blog for the Atlantic magazine, Marc Ambinder reports that the National Security Agency has approved a $3,350 smartphone -- inevitably dubbed the ‘BarackBerry’ -- for Obama's use.”
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/22/obama.blackberry/index.html

 

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

The Greatest Healthcare IT Generation
“In Washington, Healthcare Information Technology policy planning is accelerating at a pace that is faster than at any time in history (at least my 30 years in healthcare IT).  Over the past few days, the House Ways and Means Committee completed the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH), as part of the American Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Plan.”
http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/guest/22513/
Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH):  http://waysandmeans.house.gov/media/pdf/110/hit2.pdf
American Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Plan:  http://waysandmeans.house.gov/media/pdf/110/sbill.pdf

 

Legislators want more physician payment disclosure
“A new federal bill requiring more extensive disclosure of payments to physicians by pharmas and medical device companies is now circulating on Capitol Hill. The bill, a new version of the Physician Payments Sunshine Act, would require not only that such companies make annual online disclosures of how much money or other considerations were provided to doctors, but it would also demand that they explain the types of services for which doctors were paid.”
http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/story/legislators-want-more-physician-payment-disclosure/2009-01-23?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal&cmp-id=EMC-NL-FH&dest=FH

 

COBRA out of reach for many, study finds
“Only 9% of eligible unemployed workers took up coverage under COBRA in 2006. Financial assistance of 75% to 85% of premiums could help far more laid-off workers—about two-thirds—maintain their health insurance through COBRA, according to the report. Average annual premiums for individuals under COBRA in 2008 were $4,704, while families paid $12,680 on average, a price tag out of reach for most unemployed Americans, the New York-based foundation said in the report.”
http://www.modernhealthcare.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090123/REG/301239963&nocache=1&nocache=1

The Commonwealth Fund’s findings are at:  http://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/publications_show.htm?doc_id=784702

 

Human Error / Safety / Environment

China warns of bird flu risk over Lunar New Year
“China has warned of the risk of further human cases of bird flu in the run-up to the Lunar New Year holiday after reporting two new cases over the weekend.  Until this month China had not seen a single human infection in almost a year, but it has now confirmed three cases of the H5N1 virus in less than two weeks.”
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE50I1R020090119

 

European viral epidemic linked to global warming
“A n epidemic of the viral disease nephropathia epidemica (NE) has been linked to increases in the vole population caused by hotter summers, milder winters and increased seedcrop production by broadleaf trees.”
http://www.news-medical.net/?id=45057

 

Study: Antarctica joins rest of globe in warming
“Antarctica, the only place that had oddly seemed immune from climate change, is warming after all, according to a new study. For years, Antarctica was an enigma to scientists who track the effects of global warming. Temperatures on much of the continent at the bottom of the world were staying the same or slightly cooling, previous research indicated.”
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hFV9GIGdjTz4U0s0KVEPreiOUm6gD95ROFV81

 

NRC: Human error a factor in power and cooling interruption at Oconee Nuclear
“NRC and Duke officials met Thursday at the NRC’s Atlanta office to discuss a brief interruption of power and cooling at Oconee’s Unit 1 reactor during a scheduled refueling and maintenance outage last April 15.”
http://www.greenvilleonline.com/article/20090122/NEWS01/90122021/1004/NEWS01

 

Out on a Limb: Global Warming May Be Killing Old-Growth Forests
“The majestic old-growth forests of western North America, greening patches of the landscape from Arizona to British Columbia, may be far more vulnerable to subtle climate change than scientists previously believed. A study published today in the journal Science reveals that these western forests are dying at faster rates as regional average temperatures climb more rapidly than the global average.”
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=out-on-a-limb-global-warm

 

Global News / Business / Economics

Chinese economy likely grew nine percent in 2008: analysts

“The Chinese economy likely grew by about nine percent in 2008, the lowest rate in at least six years, as global financial woes wreaked havoc on its trade-dependent economy, analysts said.  The government is expected this week to release key official economic data for last year, and observers believe they will show how the state uses its own spending to pick up the slack from slowing exports.”
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j624C0soYT98YUHA_Iu8GQpeqHNA

 

Chinese slowdown to cost Australia billions: PM
“China, Canberra's largest trading partner, buys about 25 billion dollars in exports annually, including commodities such as coal and iron ore. It provided the motor for Australia's stellar economic growth for nearly a decade.”
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iNQWrzM4h7tYYvcKe7lFfp_WPH-g

 

Trichet-Global economy to start rebounding in 2010
“The global economy is in a substantial slowdown but should start recovering in 2010, European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said on Thursday.”
http://uk.reuters.com/article/marketsNewsUS/idUKLM7578220090122

 

Expect loonie to fly low as U.S. goes slow
“Credit is not flowing for Canada's biggest trading partner, the United States. The U.S. Federal Reserve is pushing money out to all corners of the economy because banks are not. The problem is acute and widespread and not easily fixed. Until that happens, the U.S. economy will remain weak and trade growth will remain anemic.”
http://www.calgaryherald.com/business/Expect+loonie+goes+slow/1200503/story.html

 

Iceland business minister resigns
“Iceland's Minister of Business Affairs Bjorgvin Sigurdsson resigned Sunday, three months after the collapse of several of the country's leading banks and its stock market.  He said the government had failed to restore confidence following the crisis.”
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/01/25/iceland.resignation/index.html

 

US News / Business / Economics

U.S. economy may sputter for years
“The sleek racing machine that was the U.S. economy is unlikely to return any time soon despite the huge repair efforts now underway. Instead, it probably will continue to sputter and threaten to stall for years to come.  The prospects are so gloomy, according to a recent study, that unemployment may be slightly higher by the time President-elect Barack Obama's first term ends.”
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-econ19-2009jan19,0,1021931.story

 

U.S. has itself to blame for financial meltdown
The Chinese author is with the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.  He/she presents a chronology of the problems that have led up to the current US problems.  It’s always interesting to get an external opinion to problems, so this article is worth reading due to the perspective from China.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-01/20/content_10688827.htm

 

Spy chief to Obama: Let DARPA fix economy
“The recommendations come from Pedro L Rustan, a senior figure in the US National Reconnaissance Office, the secretive agency which handles American spy satellites. Rustan delivered his exhortations to Mr Obama in the form of an open letter to the aerospace mag Aviation Week, titled Refocus DARPA Beyond Defense.”
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/01/21/darpa_economy_fix_plan/
The actual letter is at:  http://aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_channel.jsp?channel=busav&id=news/P6Rustan.xml

 

Contrite US Treasury pick vows to move fast on economy
“Incoming Treasury secretary Timothy Geithner apologized Wednesday over past tax transgressions while vowing to act with "strength, speed and care" to revive the stricken US economy.  At a confirmation hearing before the Senate finance committee, Geithner said President Barack Obama's new administration was forging a ‘comprehensive plan’ to address the nation's economic crisis, starting with the housing market.”

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hEm4AbjX-0MKdxugLWxzebRl3f3A

 

Prescription for the battered U.S. economy
“Although the United States is aware of its illness, it has trouble facing it. If an urgent and concerted effort is not made to address it, the future is insecure given its US$12 trillion government debt and several more trillion dollars in state, personal and business debt. And if the United States falters, the rest of the world will follow suit.”
http://www.upiasia.com/Economics/2009/01/20/prescription_for_the_battered_us_economy/4727/

 

Obama faces pressure for faster action
“The rapidly unraveling U.S. economy is piling pressure on President Barack Obama to try bolder recession-fighting tactics even before all his economic advisers have found their desks.  The headlines in the first 72 hours of Obama's term included up to 5,000 job cuts at Microsoft, a gloomy economic outlook from General Electric and the steepest Inauguration Day stock market drop on record.”
http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/01/25/business/econ26.1-414920.php

 

Technology & Science

New data center boasts green, super efficiency
“San Francisco-based Advanced Data Centers (ADC) says its facility under construction in Sacramento, California, might be the greenest data center yet.  The McClellan Park data center, being built at the former McClellan US Air Force base, has already been pre-certified LEED Platinum by the US Green Building Council — a first in the data center industry, according to ADC.”
http://www.greenbang.com/7149/new-data-center-boasts-green-super-efficiency/

 

Data Center Colocation Crisis: Act Now or Pay Later
“Across the pond in New England, I've seen monthly lease prices for colocation data center space increase 675 percent over the last five years. The same provider that offered Tier 3-type space for $4 a square foot back then is now charging about $30. In the metro New York market, don't be surprised to see prices in the $45 to $50 range.”
http://advice.cio.com/michael_bullock/data_center_colocation_crisis_act_now_or_pay_later

 

How to Leverage Data Deduplication to Green Your Data Center
“Data deduplication goes a long way toward reducing data storage costs by making storage much more efficient, which in turn can reduce the overall footprint inside the data center. Knowledge Center contributor Chris Poelker explains data deduplication's benefits, including how leveraging data deduplication can help green your data center.”
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Data-Storage/How-to-Leverage-Data-Deduplication-to-Green-Your-Data-Center/

 

Five ways to greener storage
“Only a small number of businesses in Asia have defined green storage strategies, but there is impetus for more to follow suit, say industry observers.”
http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/hardware/0,39042972,62050249,00.htm

 

Hate Vista? You May Like the Fix
“One thing’s for sure: it won’t take Microsoft five years to produce the next Windows. The company wants to put Vista behind it as soon as possible. In fact, the next version of Windows is almost here already.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/22/technology/personaltech/22pogue.html?em

 

Sun Cloud CTO: 'Your Data Center Is Your Computer'
“’’In cloud computing, 'the data center is the computer.' We see a future where there are a bunch of clouds, both public and private clouds, and companies will be able to build scalable apps that are self-provisioning. These apps will be able to scale up automatically where requesting resources will be done in a self-service fashion.’”
http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2009/01/sun_cloud_cto_y.html

 

World's smallest working fuel cell developed
“A researcher at the University of Illinois, where the 3 x 3 x 1mm hydrogen-fuelled ‘micro fuel cell’ was developed, said it’s able to generate power without consuming any itself, according to a New Scientist report.”
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2009/01/23/worlds_smallest_fuel_cell/

 

End Notes

The News is brought to you by George Spafford, Principal Consultant at Pepperweed Consulting, LLC.  Pepperweed is nationally recognized as a leader in IT Management Consulting.  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 News, and feel free to forward this email on to others.

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