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The News - February 8, 2009
"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@itpi.org.
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
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