Last weekend we traveled north to take a ride on the Sault Ste. Marie Snow Train. It was a wonderful 9 hour trip from the town to a site 114 miles north of the town. We passed through snow covered terrain with beautiful white lakes and mountains. We were so far from civilization that after mile 30 there was no cell phone service.
Crossing the border to Canada we were briefly stopped and asked a few casual questions. Going back into the U.S. we underwent a brief but much more comprehensive screening. I was pleased to see that the security procedure included the basic tenants of a good security plan including, people, process and technology.
This was indeed a week of security. I attended a presentation at the Grand Rapids AimWest technology organization given by the acting CIO of the State of Michigan, The speaker spoke about the impact of Integrity Theft. This was clearly an issue that affects anyone that uses a computer and as the speaker stated, may impact the work place more then Identify Theft.
The next security presentation on the agenda was back in one of my favorite areas the IBM mid range server community. At the West Michigan Systems User’s Group a presentation on securing the IBM i (aka. iSeries, AS400) was given. The speaker covered the basics of locking down the mid range server and basic forensics.
Information Security is not only an IT issue it is an issue that everyone must be cognizant of. All of the speakers had similar messages. Only a few years ago the hacker was someone who wanted to show their technical expertise. Today it is individuals that want to illegally profit off of others. We all must do our part to protect our data and the information of our organizations we work fo
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Thinking of enterprise security while it snows in Ada
Throughout most of the month of February there has been little snow; however, today that has changed. As I am writing this entry into the blog I am watching the snow cover the beautiful pond outside.
Yesterday I attended my first ISSA meeting in Grand Rapids. The guest speaker was discussing the security challenges that face us with in the virtual machine and network world. The greatest fear is from malicious attacks we may face from unknown threats. I was extremely impressed by the members attending the presentation. These are security experts but everyone seemed to be realistic in their approaches.
Each organization must decide for itself what threat avoidance and detection steps (such as software, appliances etc) they must take to reasonable defend their organizations. I believe that the major enterprises (both business and governmental) are taking reasonable steps. My concern is with the small to mid sized organization (under 500 employees). These organizations may need an independent evaluation by someone who has both the technical and managerial skills to make the right decisions.
Yesterday I attended my first ISSA meeting in Grand Rapids. The guest speaker was discussing the security challenges that face us with in the virtual machine and network world. The greatest fear is from malicious attacks we may face from unknown threats. I was extremely impressed by the members attending the presentation. These are security experts but everyone seemed to be realistic in their approaches.
Each organization must decide for itself what threat avoidance and detection steps (such as software, appliances etc) they must take to reasonable defend their organizations. I believe that the major enterprises (both business and governmental) are taking reasonable steps. My concern is with the small to mid sized organization (under 500 employees). These organizations may need an independent evaluation by someone who has both the technical and managerial skills to make the right decisions.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
An exciting week for Ada Business Technology
It has been an interesting week in West Michigan for me (and very little snow). I had the opportunity to attend two technology sessions and visit several great organizations in the Grand Rapids area.
One of the technical sessions was a discussion by CIO's of major enterprises discussing the future of IT at their organizations. These organizations continue to prosper during this challenging time and they believed that this was due, in part, the their respective organizations reliance on IT as a strategic asset. Additionally each CIO stated that they expect their teams to understand their businesses and use technology, not for technology's sake but as a tool to better their organizations. To me, this re-enforces the corporate theme of "Understanding the Business of Business" .
This week my article entitled Master of disaster: Basic primer offers step-by-step recovery planning for the SMB was published by Manufacturing Business Technology.
We are preparing a presentation for ARMA entitled “Geek Talk 101 – communicating RM concepts in an IT language” that will be given on February 5th at Farmer/Foremost in Caledonia.
One of the technical sessions was a discussion by CIO's of major enterprises discussing the future of IT at their organizations. These organizations continue to prosper during this challenging time and they believed that this was due, in part, the their respective organizations reliance on IT as a strategic asset. Additionally each CIO stated that they expect their teams to understand their businesses and use technology, not for technology's sake but as a tool to better their organizations. To me, this re-enforces the corporate theme of "Understanding the Business of Business" .
This week my article entitled Master of disaster: Basic primer offers step-by-step recovery planning for the SMB was published by Manufacturing Business Technology.
We are preparing a presentation for ARMA entitled “Geek Talk 101 – communicating RM concepts in an IT language” that will be given on February 5th at Farmer/Foremost in Caledonia.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Coming back from Long Island
Just returned from Long Island where it was snowing. Wow is it cold here. Our pipes in the laundry room froze, and this is a relatively new house. The plumber came with an old battery charger and heated the lines.
Working on several exciting items including a presentation entitled “Geek Talk 101 – Communicating RIM Concepts in an IT Language” that will be given on Feb 5th to ARMA.
Making a few changes to the web page and delving into Salesforce.com. Created VB application that interfaces via their API.
Will be attending the Aimwest and the Fourth Friday Technology meetings this week.
Working on several exciting items including a presentation entitled “Geek Talk 101 – Communicating RIM Concepts in an IT Language” that will be given on Feb 5th to ARMA.
Making a few changes to the web page and delving into Salesforce.com. Created VB application that interfaces via their API.
Will be attending the Aimwest and the Fourth Friday Technology meetings this week.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Ada Business Technology
Today is my first attempt at blogging. I am starting to build up business relationships with enterprises that I can help with my experience and expertese as well as enterprises that can assist Ada Business Technology.
I vew myself as an IT person who has a diverse background. I have spent the last 20 years of my career as an IT working executive. By that I mean I have been a project manager, architect, designer and developer. I have created strategic and tactical plans. I have placed significant roles in ISO 9001 and SOX certification.
Right now I trying to build business relationships in the West Michigan area.
For those not in West Michigan, it is snowing lightly here. Over the next few days they expect a total of 5 to 8 inches. In Long Island this would be a major snow event. Here it is just winter.
I vew myself as an IT person who has a diverse background. I have spent the last 20 years of my career as an IT working executive. By that I mean I have been a project manager, architect, designer and developer. I have created strategic and tactical plans. I have placed significant roles in ISO 9001 and SOX certification.
Right now I trying to build business relationships in the West Michigan area.
For those not in West Michigan, it is snowing lightly here. Over the next few days they expect a total of 5 to 8 inches. In Long Island this would be a major snow event. Here it is just winter.
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