Daily News Archive

Please note that The Daily News is publishing (hopefully) twice a week for the foreseeable future due to time constraints.

Tuesday, May 2nd

"Famous sayings and truths about measurements:

‘If you don’t measure it, you can’t manage it’

‘If you don’t measure it, you can’t improve it’

‘If you don’t measure it, you probably don’t care’

‘If you can’t influence it, then don’t measure it’”

-- ITIL Service Delivery, Availability Management

 

The Picks of the Day

Law is working, despite the grumbling

“I'm delighted to report that some companies have been able to improve their operations thanks to the act. The fact is, if you have better financial controls you can do a better job of controlling your business”

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0604290294apr30,1,587219.story?coll=chi-business-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true

 

Second Annual IntegrIT 2006 in Melbourne on July 17^th-18^th, 2006

Marcus Evans is holding their second IntegrIT conference.  The theme is “Ensuring the compliance and good governance of IT systems for enterprise-wide benefit and competitive advantage”.  Endre Bihari will be chairing the conference.

http://www.marcusevanscom.au/pdf/451.pdf

 

IT Process Improvement

Plugging into the Nerve Center of ITSM

“The CMDB is a relational database that serves as the nerve center of IT service management. While the word 'configuration' makes people think it is tracking build information, it is far greater than that. The CMDB represents a logical model of IT. As such, it is tasked with tracking configuration items (CI), attributes (metadata) about each and, very importantly, their relationships to one another.”

http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/columns/article.php/3602121

 

The OGC’s ITIL Glossary

This PDF file contains a glossary of ITIL terms.

http://www.ogc.gov.uk/embedded_object.asp?docid=1000379

[Thank you for sharing it Grant!]

 

If you have any process improvement resources that you’d like to share, please send them to me.

 

Legal and Regulatory Compliance

Hyperion Nabs UpStream for BPM and Compliance

“Hyperion bets that UpStream’s technology will give it a competitive edge in the still-gestating BPM marketplace”

http://www.esj.com/business_intelligence/article.aspx?EditorialsID=7928

 

Sarbanes-Oxley fight intensifies

“A constitutional challenge by conservatives to the law that reshaped corporate governance after a wave of business scandals likely will end up before the Supreme Court, attorney Kenneth Starr says.”

http://www.philly.com/mld/twincities/business/14456424.htm?source=rss&channel=twincities_business

http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2006/04/starr-leads-conservative.php

 

Security and Risk Management

Hackers steal data from Tricare computers

“Computer hackers obtained Social Security numbers, credit card information and other personal data for thousands of active and retired service members after hacking into the Defense Department’s Tricare Management Activity system in early April, Pentagon officials said Friday.”

http://www.armytimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-1739803.php

 

Big holes in net's heart revealed

“Simple attacks could let malicious hackers take over more than one-third of the net's sites, reveals research.  The finding was uncovered by researchers who analysed how the net's addressing system works.”

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4954208.stm

 

Human Error / Safety

Insurers Retreat From Coasts

“The development is yet another legacy of Hurricane Katrina, whose mounting toll of destruction along the Gulf Coast has crystallized a growing industry debate about the combined effect of climate trends and population growth in coastal areas. Some believe the two are creating a risk of losses so large that insurers could be pushed to the breaking point, leaving the government and taxpayers holding the tab for the next disaster.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/29/AR2006042901364.html?referrer=email

 

Expurgated catastrophe communication

“Moral regime change cannot be completed until all the Chernobil files have been released. Unfortunately, many of the people referred to in them are still with us. The files should be opened up: Hungarians have the right to know who was responsible for the way in which the world's worst ever nuclear catastrophe was dealt with here in Hungary.”

http://hvg.hu/english/20060428chernobyl.aspx

 

Glance at Disaster Response Failures

“Highlights of the White House and congressional investigations of disaster planning and response failures exposed by Hurricane Katrina:”

http://www.forbes.com/home/feeds/ap/2006/04/29/ap2708383.html

 

Repeat After Me: Simple Change Cuts Medical Errors

“A simple change in the way doctors' verbal medical orders are entered into a computerized physician order-entry system reduced errors to zero, a new study found.”

http://www.forbes.com/forbeslife/health/feeds/hscout/2006/05/01/hscout532389.html

 

Outsourcing / Globalization

Wipro Top Indian Outsourcing Firm: IAOP

“Wipro Technologies has topped the list of Indian outsourcing firms in the Global Outsourcing 100 rankings conducted by The International Association of Outsourcing Professionals (IAOP).”

http://www.efytimes.com/fullnews.asp?edid=11562&magid=11

http://www.newkerala.com/news2.php?action=fullnews&id=50401

 

Wipro in Race for American Express IT Outsourcing Deal

“Wipro is aggressively bidding for the American Express IT outsourcing deal which is expected to be upwards of a billion dollars. No official confirmation was forthcoming from Wipro. In addition to Amex, it is learnt Wipro is also bidding for the Bank of America contract which is also in the USD 1 billion league.”

http://www.sda-india.com/sda/news/psecom,id,8506,nodeid,4,_language,India.html

[Wipro will continue to increase their capabilities and bid directly huge contracts such as these.  Moreover, we will see them increasingly begin to win them away from the traditional players of EDS, IBM Global Services, etc. not just on the basis of cost but also on the basis of knowledge.]

 

Small tech cos think big

“Firms such as Symphony, Aztec, Persistent, Aspire and Impetus claim to be members of a new tribe called outsourced product development (OPD) providers.  Billings rates here are 20-25% higher and the growth potential double that of plain-vanilla IT services outsourcing.”

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1510993.cms

 

Economics / Business / Misc.

Energy chief: High gas prices could last 3 years

“Acknowledging the energy situation is a ‘crisis,’ U.S. Energy Secretary Sam Bodman said Sunday it could take three years before drivers get relief from high gas prices.”

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/04/30/bodman.gasprices/index.html

 

GM halves CEO Wagoner's pay

“General Motors Corp.'s chief executive saw his 2005 compensation almost halved from a year earlier, the company disclosed Friday, on the same day he promised shareholders to turn around GM's North American operations and apologized for accounting errors.”

http://money.cnn.com/2006/04/28/news/companies/gm.reut/index.htm

 

Thursday, May 4th

."Every failure is a ‘moment of truth’ – every failure is an opportunity to make or break your reputation with the business.” – ITIL Service Delivery Volume, Availability Management

 

ITIL Training

SGC now offers ITIL Executive Briefings to generate awareness as well as ITIL Foundation Training.  Additionally, we offer customized training on topics such as audit, regulatory compliance, process improvement, risk management, and security.  Please contact me to discuss how we can work together to address your organization’s training requirements.  george@spaffordconsulting.com

 

The Picks of the Day

Exposure Comments Requested for New Publication—IT Control Objectives for Sarbanes-Oxley, 2nd Edition—From Nonprofit IT Governance Institute

“IT Control Objectives for Sarbanes-Oxley, 2nd Edition, provides guidance on controls for executive managers, IT managers, and IT control and assurance professionals. It offers an enhanced focus on scoping and risk assessment and further improves upon the extremely popular edition published in 2004. As with the first edition, this updated publication will be available free as a download from the IT Governance Institute web site and at a small charge for the print version. Many organizations, including the top 10 accounting and professional firms, provided input and direction for the publication.”

http://www.itgi.org/Template_ITGI.cfm?Section=ITGI&CONTENTID=24989&TEMPLATE=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm

 

Feds' Watch List Eats Its Own

“What do you say about an airline screening system that tends to mistake government employees and U.S. servicemen for foreign terrorists?  Newly released government documents show that even having a high-level security clearance won't keep you off the Transportation Security Administration's Kafkaesque terrorist watch list, where you'll suffer missed flights and bureaucratic nightmares.”

http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,70783-0.html?tw=rss.technology

 

PCAOB: Auditor Judgment Under Scrutiny

“Responding to corporate complaints, the PCAOB says inspections of audit firms this year will examine whether audits were cost-effective and properly focused on controls that posed the greatest risks.”

http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/6878293/c_6880635?f=alerts

 

IT Process Improvement

FFIEC Business Continuity Planning Handbook

http://www.occ.treas.gov/efiles/disk2/booklets/bcp/bus_continuity_plan.pdf

 

Business Continuity Planning at Wikipedia

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

 

Team-Building and Teamwork

“Team-building is rarely the answer to problems with teamwork.”

http://www.cio.com/leadership/buzz/column.html?ID=20783

 

Legal and Regulatory Compliance

SOX should be adapted for smaller cos-SEC accountant

“Investors are seeing real benefits from the implementation of Sarbanes-Oxley corporate reforms, and small companies should not necessarily be exempted from the rules, the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission's top accountant said on Thursday.”

http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=fundsNews2&storyID=2006-05-04T150237Z_01_N04374406_RTRIDST_0_ACCOUNTING-FINANCE-SARBANESOXLEY.XML

http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/6899520?f=alerts

 

The Second Time Around

“Reported declines in compliance costs are likely to temper conflicts between companies and their auditors at this year's roundtable on Sarbox 404.”

http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/6880691?f=alerts

 

Compliance grows up - Prevention and strategy taking over from box ticking says recruiter

“The compliance function within financial services is now seen as a strategic necessity rather than merely a box ticking exercise. According to Clare Capon of recruiter GRS Risk, Heads of Compliance are now appearing on boards of directors and the function is becoming increasingly strategic: ‘More and more I think we will see the lines between the compliance and risk functions becoming less clear as financial institutions take a risk based approach to monitoring and control.’”

http://www.onrec.com/content2/news.asp?ID=11563

 

Security and Risk Management

How to protect your company against cybercrime

“Organized cybercrime is alive and well. Criminals are invading cyberspace, utilizing its anonymity, widespread reach and disjointed law enforcement status to further their illicit moneymaking schemes. Security practitioners need to be aware of this activity and understand what they need to defend against.”

http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/tip/1,289483,sid14_gci1186283,00.html?track=NL-427&ad=551626USCA

 

Best privacy practices for RFID

“A working group of corporate giants including Microsoft, IBM, Proctor & Gamble, as well as consumer bodies, have agreed and published a set of best practices designed to promote respect for consumer privacy in the growing use of RFID technology.”

http://www.out-law.com/page-6896

 

Human Error / Safety

Toxic warnings for nano industry

“Industry should disclose how it tests products containing nanoparticles, the Royal Society of the UK has said.  Public information is needed because of uncertainties over the safety of some products that contain particles engineered at small scales, it added.”

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4968346.stm

 

Outsourcing / Globalization

Philippines touts need to 'go South'

“Some of the Philippines' IC design and engineering services pioneers are enticing Taiwan's leading semiconductor players to ‘go south’ for their outsourcing activities.”

http://www.etaiwannews.com/showPage.php?setupFile=showcontent.xml&menu_item_id=MI-1123667272&did=d_1146709736_5538_BE429DAB6217C26342480E254E766FC58FDCCFC7_1&area=taiwan&area_code=00000

 

U.S. warships ply waters, China on horizon - Part 1

“Some experts believe that while the Soviet Union was primarily a military rival and Japan an economic one, China could emerge as the first country with the potential to challenge the United States on both fronts.”

http://www.chinapost.com.tw/editorial/detail.asp?ID=81641&GRP=i

 

Gaining footing in China

“Justine Ji, 32, traveled from China to be an intern at Phoenix-based Avnet because her uncle once helped the technology company establish an e-commerce Web site for Chinese electrical engineers.  That is the kind of connection that NPR's Marketplace host Kai Ryssdal says will be imperative for executives who want to do business in the rapidly changing country.”

http://www.azcentral.com/abgnews/articles/0504abg-china0504.html

[This is an interesting article.]

 

Economics / Business / Misc.

IT: – Still the Black Hole of the Balance Sheet?

“’IT: – Still the Black Hole of the Balance Sheet?’ was the title of an interesting media roundtable organised by Managed Objects.  It discussed measuring the cost/benefit of IT in the business, although a research survey (of almost 300 IT and business managers) commissioned by Managed Objects as a basis for the discussion, appeared to concentrate mostly on the cost side of the equation and the granularity with which costs could be measured.”

http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2006/05/03/it_black_hole_balancesheet/

 

Buggy spreadsheets: Russian roulette for the corporation

“Panko has collected the best available evidence for spreadsheet error rates, based on field audits by organisations such as Coopers and Lybrand, KPMG, and HMCE (the UK's Customs and Excise department). Of 54 spreadsheets audited between 1997 and 2000, no fewer than 49 were found to contain significant errors - a defect rate of 91 per cent. In a more recent exercise, every single one of 30 project financing spreadsheets scrutinised had at least one mistake.”

http://www.regdeveloper.co.uk/2006/05/03/buggy_spreadsheet/