Friday, December 31, 2010

My wish for the New Year is also my resolution.

You might not believe me, especially if you know me well or have been in touch with me recently, however:

In the New Year I do not wish you lots of success, neither health. I do not wish you happy moments or many of those. I do not wish you get more money than what you’ve received, neither good luck.

My wish is different this time.

I wish you share yourself; not with me only, but with everybody else: I’m sure if you are reading this message you already have and have had way more of any of those items listed in the last paragraph. So, please share. I’m not asking you to sell your car and donate the proceeds to a charitable organization, neither that you open your house to everybody in need of shelter or food.

My wish is that you lend a helping hand to those around you: a family member, a co-worker, a classmate, even a stranger. Not in the sense that you start sharing personal data or possessions with a complete unknown person, but rather that you help the old lady cross the busy street, or patiently wait for her to get to the curb. That you ask someone if everything is alright if their face shows a desire to share a situation or frustration. That you help carry the heavy bags a mother is struggling to get across the parking lot while also pushing a stroller. That you help your peer finish his or her job if you already did and have some spare time. That instead of plopping down on the couch at the end of your day you go ask your daughter/sister/son/brother if they needs help with the homework…

Simply put, that you lend a hand, a shoulder, a high-five, a nod, anything positive to those that could benefit from your sharing. All these actions should be accompanied by a smile, of course.

So, my wish for you this New Year is simply that: share yourself. I am making it my own wish, my hope, and my resolution.

My only second wish is that you are with me on this voyage.

Happy New Year!

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Facebook, text message, phone call, email, YouTube… what’s your pleasure?

A day after Christmas I met with some friends I hadn’t seen for years. After catching up on everything that has happened to us (and by us) in such a long time, one of them asked me what field of study I had chosen at university.

It has been a while since the last time I heard that question. The fields I work on now have apparently no connection to those origins, and the lateral and postgraduate studies seem to somehow leave those titles in the background.

Then it sparked again: the many years I and my fellow classmates, coworkers, competitors, etcetera have been producing the many ways we communicate nowadays.

See, putting aside the many courses on business, societal studies, personal growth and anything else nonrelated to technology; I am a telecommunications and an electronics engineer, have taken many courses on computing and similar technologies, and have worked for at least a quarter of a century on telecommunication and computer networks.
Throughout that time I’ve met so many technicians, programmers, consultants, designers, engineers, and so many other IT related people that listing their names would require a whole book. And that’s only me: I can’t imagine the millions of people around the world that have made and continue to make possible the most amazing type of technology ever created. It is a kind of magic.

From Edison, to Franklin to Marconi, through Berners-Lee to Gates to Jobs, through Brin and Page, Yang and Filo, and Zuckerberg… the list is long and keeps growing…

All these amazing new ways to communicate: book flights, close sales, win contracts, find information and friends, enjoy scenes of what’s going on a different part of the world, watch commercials from other countries, etcetera, and etcetera. None of it would be possible without the creativity, dedication, hard work, smarts and long hours put by the myriad of people around these “networks”.

Did you just receive a picture of your newborn granddaughter on EM? Called your family 8,000 Km away via Skype? Quickly finished your homework through research via Google and Wikipedia? Finally found and purchased that gadget on eBay or that rare book on Amazon? Recently found an old friend on FB?

All good, isn’t it?
It isn’t good. It is AMAZING!

So, the next time you see those telecommunications-company vans going on the highway, the pulling-cable technicians you dismiss as nonexistent, the nerdy looking programmers you think know nothing except computers, the engineers that have trouble explaining the IT terms in simple language, or the consultants that seem to charge more than what their advice is worth; please take a look at your laptop, Blackberry, iPad or any gadget you choose and use for communicating; and acknowledge each and every one of those wonderful people.

You don’t need to kneel and kiss their feet. A simple “hi” or “thank you” will do.

Engineering… what a ride. What a magic an amazing ride.

What!? Sucha long time? Really?

Well... I guess I am back to writing a little bit then.

Sorry for the long pause.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Data volume and variety

At a meeting with one of our main clients’ referral the topic of data security shifted to the amounts of data at their disposal, therefore being very agile when it comes to obtaining reports, statistics and such. One of the main decision makers was pointing to the fact that they had close to 100 GB of data “perfectly safe” thanks to the systems and technologies acquired as of recent.

At one point during the discussion I asked what tools they were using for validating the wholeness of such data, making sure there were no duplicates, which interfaces they used to match diverse types of data and their respective packages to talk to each other, how they obtained updated statistics from such data, and a few other questions.
I started projecting the following:

“What if your data were not as c mpl te as y u t ink it is?”
“How do you make sure some of it do you make sure some of it is not duplicates is not duplicates?”
And so on…

Turns out the diverse types of data they posses are not standardized and most programs used have no way to communicate to each other. So, some information stored in database A is duplicated in database B; while some of such data is duplicated inside the same database. There is no policy or tool that guarantees the data is retrievable from backup and even from its original repository. And there is not Business Intelligence package or procedure to gather information from all these places to have instant reports on the financial health of the business or any other operation or department.

In other words, this is another instance of what we refer to as data rich, insight poor.

It was obvious that the IRR on all these expenses (not investments in this case) was of a negative value, an infinite amount, but in terms of time.

The main issue?
Business-type decision makers pointing to the IT-type ones as “not getting it.”
IT-type decision makers pointing to the Business-type ones as “not learning it.”

What is the catalyst for Marrying IT with Biz?
Training.

The least we can do is sit down the biz people for a day listening to IT: not about the technology insights or anything in terms of Terabytes, Gigahertz or Operating Systems; but rather on the reasons why a particular technology is better than the “inexpensive” or “popular” or “affordable” ones; and how those integrate –or not- with the rest of the existing applications.

And then sit down the IT people for a day listening to Biz: not about the budget projections or anything in terms of Marketing, Cost Containment or JIT Inventory; but rather on the reasons why a particular process is better than the “easy” or “accepted” or “cool” ones; and how those incorporate –or not- with the rest of the existing departments.

Once IT gets it and Biz learns it, all that data in your possession will be better able to provide information; its sole reason to exist.

Ready for the meeting?

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Cloudy with a chance of more clouds

From magazines targeting technology channels such as Computer Dealer News and IT In Canada, to business related such as Fortune Magazine and Bloomberg Businessweek the term “Cloud Computing” is everywhere.

It has dominated the IT Professional areas and obviously the developers’ world for a few years. And now it is transitioning to the business and government spheres. Why?
You just need to go to main business sites such as http://www.businessweek.com/ or http://economist.com/ or http://money.cnn.com/ and search for Cloud Computing to receive a list of recent and ever more updated articles about what it was, what it means, what it will be, and how big corporations are trying to outdo their rivals in this area; the new business opportunities it brings, and even how governments are taking advantage of such technologies.

Some of us have been using cloud computing for many years even without noticing it. Do you have a HoTMaiL or Yahoo! email address? A Facebook account? All those messages and pictures live on-the-cloud. You use any computer or device to access, create, change and delete your information while consuming others’ and interacting with these.

The Cloud Computing concept is the same, just applied now to businesses: access, store, create, change, distribute, and collaborate on content on the Web, using any device that connects to it and utilizes a Web browser or similar technology.

Most of us start with the simplest of Cloud-Computing services, such as messaging and on-line Backup: something similar to putting your foot in the water to know how cold it is. Then we start getting it and move to Hosted Email; then once we know about it and are comfortable with it we go for documents’ sharing, then software as a service, and later even paying for servers and computers utilization that we don’t even know where their physical location is. The variety of services and the constant growth of such services and number of suppliers make it more affordable and easier now. It will be a matter of some years that entire organizations will be running everything on-the-cloud.
Hard to imagine? Walk into the server room of your headquarters today and you’ll see hundreds of blinking lights, UPSs, servers, switches, routers, cables everywhere, and such; along with the air-conditioning units required to keep such place cool. Picture now the same room with just one small UPS unit, a modem, and a wireless router. That’s it.
In a few more years not even those three elements will be necessary because the urban wireless networks will provide connectivity. Perhaps we won’t even need computers on our desks, and a tablet or slate device will be our main means of working then.
It’s difficult to let go and think that all of our files and data could reside on-the-cloud instead of our servers, computers, external storage devices and portable and mobile units; but it starts to make sense, doesn’t it?

Better get your umbrella now.

Monday, August 16, 2010

Train people only when needed

It went like this:
- Sorry, I’m late for the meeting. There were a lot of cars on the streets today.
- Wait, do you drive here?
- Yes, of course. It takes me only 45 minutes most of the times
- You don’t live in 1234 Grand Avenue anymore?
- I still live there. Why?
- Well, have you thought about taking public transportation instead? When I lived close to your home I preferred that, it was a consistent 20 minutes commute, and way cheaper than driving and parking
- I do not know the public transportation system, but do know that schedules change a couple of times a year, so I prefer to drive
- Well… you can learn it pretty quickly and save time and money
- Look, if my car breaks or there is a definitely good reason to study such mode of transportation I will learn it and use it
- Saving time and money is not a good reason?
- I’m comfortable driving my car, alright? If a new law or the company requests I use any other means of transportation then I’ll research it; that time has not come yet, right? By now I’m fine this way
- Well… let’s focus on business then…

And so it is with our computer systems. Some people have shortcuts on their Desktop to get to what they need to open to be able to work. If the shortcuts disappear for any reason they do not know how to get from point A to point B anymore. Some others have a step-by-step document they follow on those tasks that are not a daily routine and forget easily. So, a device, and address or a name changes and the instructions or shortcuts have to be recreated for those users.

Training anyone? When I touch on the subject to decision makers -incredibly- most of them speculate that those employees that get the training will go to the competition. Others do not see the business value of having more IT-literate staff because; well… they already count on those instructions and shortcuts on their Desktops.

I do not know how much productivity is lost by people doing things the way they are used to, instead of knowing and applying different methods to get to their destination. However, I’m sure businesses would save lots of money (and most importantly, time) if personnel simply knew other ways to do such tasks. No need most of the times to pursue certifications or diplomas or titles; a very basic and/or introductory course can take care of most company’s wants.

Any way I see it, I prefer the 20 Vs. 45 minutes ride.

We could argue that “…that time has not come yet…” or anything similar. I might be totally wrong under your company parameters, but independently of field and size, somehow I strongly believe that time is here now.


What's worse than training your workers and losing them? Not training them and keeping them.
-Zig Ziglar

Saturday, July 31, 2010

Nothing Personal

On reviewing a few reports on the state of Internet Security, lately I have observed a pattern nobody seems to want to talk about. Perhaps the overuses of such issue and the constant reminders about it have become common and invisible signs for our IT-avert and strained eyes.

Here we go again: most security breaches both at home and at the workplace happen due mainly to human error.

Although I am also tired of repeating the same long list of safe actions on visiting Websites, opening email attachments, replying to certain messages and all that jazz; this time I would like to focus on something that should concern you: your personal information. Even better, these are only a few tips to protect your financial information.

1. Financial institutions will never contact you via email asking for your personal information, they already have it when you signed up the contract. Do not provide anything personal to messages that look legitimate; but are not.

2. Whether you receive electronic or printed statements for your credit cards and banking accounts, peruse them carefully every month, and clarify charges you don’t identify as soon as you review your statement.

3. Change passwords every few months, at least make an effort to change them every six months or annually. Select easy to remember passwords for you, but that are complex and difficult to guess for everybody else; a longer than 7 characters combination of numbers, uppercase and lowercase letters is best. Dare I suggest you base them on your name, the institution, a date and even perhaps a sequential number in a way that only you know? For example, I would set something like this for Uberbanken Bank: user name “hector_curiel” password “HC1999UberBank01”.

4. The same way you shred confidential paper based documents and expired credit cards, make sure no personal information is being given away when you dispose of external Hard Drives, USB flash drives, and obviously computers. Make sure the contents of such devices are erased and if at all possible, destroy the Hard Drives.

5. When connecting wirelessly to the Internet, make sure the signal you are using is encrypted. If not possible, at least make an effort not to transmit any confidential information in the form of email –or similar- messages; also avoid on-line banking when this is the case.

As you can see, all it really requires is a little bit of common sense. If you start educating yourself on best practices at work, at home, and when using public facilities; the virtual world will become a safer place for us all.
A simple search on the internet for what you want to know, and depending on your Internet literacy and needs, will take you to places such as these:
http://corp.support.com/blogs/post/7-common-sense-ways-protect-your-online-bank-account
http://www.tdameritrade.com/security/onlineSafetyTips/onlineSafetyTips.html
http://www.commonsense.com/internet-safety-guide/
http://ask-leo.com/how_do_i_stay_safe_in_an_internet_cafe.html

Enjoy and use the Web appropriately and you’ll help us all, starting with yourself.
Nothing Personal.

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Extracts from Computer Crime and Security Survey

This week I received the 14th Annual Computer Security Institute’s Computer Crime and Security Survey, Executive Summary. It is a long document with plenty of tables and graphs; along with much IT and Information Security related jargon that in reality only IS Professionals fully understand.

However, a few figures catch my attention on the Types of Attacks Experienced by businesses: while some assaults that only technically-inclined individuals can perform vary year after year; some easier to understand for the average person are worth mentioning.
The Exploit of wireless networks reduced considerably to only 7.6%.
The three more prominent types of “attacks”:
3. Insider abuse of Net access or Email @ 29.7%, down from almost 60% in 2007
2. Laptop/mobile device theft @ 42.2%, down from 50.0% in 2007
and
1. Malware infection @ 64.3%. Up from 52% in 2007 and 50.0% in 2008

How are you protecting your data on these regards?
Are your personnel being trained on and constantly reminded of best navigation and Internet use practices?
Are your portable devices secured through strong authentication and encryption?
and
Most importantly, what type of malware protection does your business utilize?

Average losses due to these attacks, although lower than the US$345,000.00 in 2007; are still high at US$234,000.00

I’ve seen companies still using “free” products believing it is cheaper to have these packages instead of proper protection for their assets.
I’m sure yours is not one of them. Is it?

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Send you a what?

So, tomorrow noon (July 2nd @ 12:00) marks the exact middle of the entire year. In case you are unaware of, this is the first decade of the new millennium.
And yet, just a few minutes ago I received a telephonic request for me to send a “FAX” …
Gosh! Don’t they have an email system, or at least one free Y! or HoTMaiL address?

I replied indicating that the last time I had the need to use a FAX machine was May of 1999. I would have a very hard time finding such machine around here. And, obviously, I suggested I would scan whatever physical document they were requesting and would send it via email if they provided an address. After three silent seconds that sounded as if the person on the other side of the line had discovered Radium, she said in a loud and –I’m sure- smiley voice: “That’s an EXCELLENT idea. Yes, please!”

As I see it, the only companies that push and promote FAX lines -and machines- are the telephone suppliers’ corporations. Aside from those, I honestly believe we should declare FAX machines defunct. If possible, before the end of the year.

If, by any chance you still own one of those relics, please know that:
+ You are wasting not only space, but also electricity, ink and paper; and damaging the environment.
+ If you have a scanner (67% chance), and your recipient has an email address (90%+ chance), you can kiss your F@# machine goodbye.
+ If you count on a MFP printer (most big copiers are or can be), you can kiss your F@# machine goodbye.
+ Some of these MFPs come with software that allows you to see the documents before deleting, storing, or printing them. You can kiss your F@# machine goodbye.
+ If you have a server with a modem, the server can act as a FAX recipient and also send, and the electronic documents can be managed easily: delete SPAM, keep the good ones in organized folders, etc. In brief, you can kiss your F@# machine goodbye.
+ There are many Internet-based companies that provide a FAX-to-Email service (and vice versa, if definitely unavoidable). Some are very affordable for low volumes of such documents. There are many options and plans and you can pay on-demand or a subscription fee; such prices will save you money by substituting that aged machine and the power and telephone line associated to it. So, you can kiss your F@# machine goodbye.

Think about this the next time the word FAX appears in your horizon. It would be lovely to see the Wikipedia definition of FAX as “A fax (short for facsimile) was a document sent over a telephone line. Fax machines existed, in various forms, since the 19th century and until the end of 2010, though modern fax machines became feasible only in the mid-1970s as the sophistication increased and cost of the three underlying technologies dropped…”

Believe me, you can kiss your F@# machine goodbye.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

World Cup 2010

Taking a glance at the big screen watching the beautiful game. It immediately catches my attention the now great -in every sense- variety of teams from all parts of the world.

Not that they did not participate before, but certainly all countries have greatly improved their games and it is fascinating to watch the different styles against each other. The predominance of European and South-American teams of years gone, along with their results predictions, has been nicely replaced with wonder and amazement at what the newer emerging countries can do when providing and facing such a variety of styles.

The results are somehow unpredictable: control vs. speed vs. height vs. force vs. precision vs. time vs. effort vs. technique vs. individualism vs. rehearsal …

I've been fortunate enough to have worked in companies that allow diversity, and most of those even encourage it. While it is difficult to manage such a variety of ideas, work styles, business background culture and so on; the truth is that the results are way better than if the teams were composed of similarly minded individuals.

In fact, the best products of collective minds: be it cars, NGOs, computers, movies, policies, et cetera; are those crafted by a team: the more diversified, the better the results.

Diversity at play. It is, in fact, a beautiful game.

Monday, June 7, 2010

Easy days, busy days

All is well, work flows nicely, another day of accomplishments, successes, deadlines met, budgets not exceeded, evenings with loved ones... life's good.

And then, Bam! Something goes wrong: which means long work hours, weekends become nonexistent, mind is busy all the time, lack of proper sleep contributes to the frustration, stress and extra pressure to solve the issues.

I love it. Really.
Another lesson learned, the day to day tasks will become easier after this experience; and all in all, it is just part of the roller-coaster ride, if there were no ups, there would not be any downs. No rush, no calm; no heat, no cold; ...wavelengthed life...

So, no time for much reading or editing. Gotta get back to whatever it was I was doing before this 10 minutes respite.
See you later when the storm disappears and clear skies help the recently watered flowers bloom.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Computer efficiency and lifespan

Turns out the best way to make cars more efficient has nothing to do with fuel burning effectiveness or engine power: rather, eliminating all the extra weight components such as bumpers, air bags, reinforced frame, belts, power brakes, etc. would make it better if we could simply find the way to prevent cars from crashing.

In a similar fashion, computers carry a lot of extra “weight” we shouldn’t need in the first place: antivirus, firewalls, backup software, USB, VGA, Ethernet ports; anti-theft slots and frames, fans, etcetera.
For some of those physical components, there are chips, services and/or programs that need to work every time to make such mechanisms work.
The extra services, programs and packages that run all the time in order to “secure” our systems make them work harder, and therefore take up valuable resources that would make our tasks simpler, and computers work faster and last longer were they not so hugely utilized.

Although we are moving towards more efficient processors, more secure Operating Systems and applications, and better detection and prevention from malign physical threats and those from the Web, there is still a long way to go on these regards.

Then, what can we do then to make our systems last longer while making them perform better?
+ Acquire computers with the latest electronics technologies. Saving a couple hundred up front buying a discounted older or less capable system will only cause more expenditure through time (let alone the headaches).
+ The latest OSs are way more efficient than their older siblings, and newer packages are not only ‘faster’ but also better designed and protected against data loss and malware. Acquire/upgrade as soon as your budget allows.
+ Lightweight Internet Security Suites, online backup packages, hosted email and similar services make a huge difference in resources utilization. Choose the ones that perform better without over-bloating your systems.
+ Avoid installing programs that do nothing for you, whether they are “free” or paid for, if there is no real need to have them, do not even download them.

Basically, think about what you carry in your car on a daily basis. It is only the essentials for your day to day chores, right?
If what you really need is a van or a truck, then the same analogy applies to computers.

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Fortune 500 and Symantec

On May 3, 2010 Fortune Magazine released the Fortune 500 list. The volume (161, Number 6) is a heavy one; weighting more than any other magazine published this month, and more than any regular night time fiction novel.

On page 15, opposite to the “Welcome to the 2010 Fortune 500” Letter from the Publisher, the full page ad reads:
Are you prepared to face today’s biggest IT risks?
- Confidence in a connected world (S) Symantec.

Then from pages 211 to 237 (or F-1 to F-26) each footer ad is a Symantec one. Some of the main messages from those mini-ads alternate the following two sentences; along with brief paragraphs that contain and highlight these points:

PUT SECURITY FIRST –data loss prevention –encryption –Web security –endpoint protection –virtualization management

CONTROL YOUR DATA –archiving –deduplication –disaster recovery –green IT –storage software –Symantec Hosted Services

It is obvious that Symantec sponsored the list. For those of us not around technology names or new to the IT world; know that Symantec is the company that bought/merged with smaller and diversified ones that produced and sold products such as Norton Antivirus, System Works, WinFAX, Veritas Backup, pcAnywhere, and many others.

The Symantec Corporation now focuses exclusively on services, software and devices that have only one purpose: secure data (PUT SECURITY FIRST and CONTROL YOUR DATA).
The company is ranked 353 in the Fortune 500, and number 3 as a software company after Microsoft (36) and Oracle (105). Its 2009 revenues were US$6,150,000.00.

If a company of these qualifications is trying to -finally- convey the signature on each of those ads: Confidence in a connected world message to readers of such publication; what should we take from it?

The Confidence in a connected world translation is simple: Self- Assurance in an Internet based environment.
Or, using trendy words: Security (your data) in a Cloud-Computing environment.

Is it just coincidental that Computotal CSI has been focusing on Total Data Security for the past 15+ years?

Proud to be part of such a futuristic enterprise.

Monday, May 24, 2010

Secure your Data

Where does your data reside? Do you carry it with you? How? Is it instead somewhere in what some people call “servers”? A combination of these?

Is your data important? Could you survive without it?


Wouldn’t it be nice not to carry your data around on laptops or storage units, and instead know exactly where it is and be able to access it at anytime from anywhere?

We’ll get there soon. Actually, some companies are already there: from documents to full databases to email and more, there are a lot of providers that already offer all kind of services for us to have all of our data –and processes- living “on-the-cloud”. This is, Cloud-Computing or SaaS: Software as a Service.
Some of us are still reluctant to do this, or we are worried about the fact that we could lose control over our data not knowing exactly where it is. Or rather, we are so used to “feeling” our data in our hands that the simple thought of not having it with us is like not having it at all.

So, in this “felt” scenario we are also used to backing our data up to even more physical devices so that we sleep well knowing our data is safe.
Until the day comes when we make the mental switch and convince ourselves that the cloud is more secure than our portable devices, we will continue to have the need to back it up, either to more devices (or to the cloud!)


In brief, until all our data resides on the cloud, it is necessary to save it and keep it secured.

There will also come a time when it will be cheaper to replace than to fix laptops, whether those are Windows based, Macs, Linux based, iPads or Blackberries. It will be as common as replacing cellphones was by the end of last century.

Some of us already interchangeably use a smartphone, a laptop or any computer’s Web browsers to access our email. As simple as it is now to do this, it will also be to access the rest of our data: whether it is proposals, spreadsheets, diagrams, movies or books. calendars, to-do lists and contacts too. All we need is a device that connects to the Web and presto! We are productive. No need to carry data, no need for briefcases, no need to be in the same cubicle every day.


So, before we make the full move to a Cloud-based business, we still have to protect our data. How?

Here is a very basic summary of the most important data protectors in your office:

1. UPS. But not the delivery company. UPS stands for “Uninterruptible Power Supply”.
If you have servers, you certainly have UPSs around. What these units do is protect equipment from electricity spikes, low and high voltage changes and even outages.

2. Computer storage redundancy/resiliency. Most common in desktops, workstations and (mandatory in) servers than in regular laptops, hard drives and storage units are mirrored so that if one of them is damaged, the other makes the whole system operate normally; the idea is to replace the damaged unit as soon as possible so that redundancy is attained again.

3. Operating System: MS Windows, Mac OS X, Ubuntu Linux, Google Chrome OS… whichever makes your computer/device be able to run software such as calendars, email programs or Web browsers is an OS. The newer it is and the more bits it operates on the better. For example, Windows 7 (version is 6.1! -not 7.0-) is better than Windows Vista (version 6.0) and even more than Windows XP (version is 5.1). And Windows 7 64-bit is better than Windows 7 32-bit.

4. Encryption. Barely used for its many “complications”. We only tend to encrypt very specific and important files and/or email messages. It is getting easier to implement and use, and nowadays we can encrypt not only individual files, but also entire folders; and even external memory units and hard drives, both internal and external.

5. Internet Security Suite. Of paramount importance: what most of us still refer to as “anti-virus” is most of the times a combination of anti-virus, anti-spam, anti-spyware… in brief: anti-malware.
Most suites also offer depending on vendor and package acquired a firewall, some kind of identity protection, browsing advisor features, et cetera.

6. VPN. Or similar technologies. So that whoever connects remotely to your network does so in a secure way. VPN stands for Virtual Private Network: there are no direct lines connecting offices or individual computers, rather the Internet is the conduit: by compressing and encrypting the information traveling so that prying eyes can’t do much to interpret what is being sent over “open wires”.

7. Email access. Local vs. Web based… this is getting complicated now: it is very likely that your company email is not in your physical servers. It might be, but it’s becoming easier, cheaper, faster and more ubiquitous to simply connect to the email servers on the cloud than having resources put in place to manage company’s email. Anyway, the more on-the-cloud email services you have, the better.

Are we there yet?

8. Data Backup (its main purpose: data recovery). Fortunately for all of us, on-line data backup is mature enough so that there are many options nowadays, and so are the different levels of services attached to those. From pricing to likes to features. There was a time long ago when we used to back up our data with no encryption and awkward compression using external devices such as Hard Drives, Disks, and –believe it or not- tape cassettes!


Go over the list again. Please bear in mind this is in reality an oversimplification of the terms and technologies around each of the points listed. However, if any of these is missing in your environment, better to start asking your IT department questions.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

UPS

But not the delivery company. UPS stands for ‘Uninterruptible Power Supply’.

If you have servers, you certainly have UPSs around. What these units do is protect equipment from electricity spikes, low and high voltage changes and even outages. They contain a battery that helps equipment continue to operate when there is no electricity power on the grid, communication between the UPS and the server/computer allows to shutdown properly when a certain minimal battery threshold is reached, so that damage is minimized.

Do invest money when selecting a UPS for your main equipment; a couple hundred extra might make the difference between business continuity and business closed.

Because your main equipment is the original repository of data, it is of paramount importance to protect it.

Computer storage redundancy/resiliency

Most common in desktops, workstations and (mandatory in) servers than in regular laptops, hard drives and storage units are mirrored -or in a similar arrangement- so that if one of them is damaged, the other(s) make(s) the whole system operate normally; the idea is to replace the broken unit as soon as possible so that redundancy is attained again.

There are many ways to achieve redundancy in the internal storage units on servers and networked storage devices. The main point here is to make sure that hardware does not become an issue for keeping our data safe. Power outages and current spikes, heat, regular wear and such could cause such damage.

Obviously, the better the storage units’ quality, number of them, and array type will secure data better.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Operating Systems

Microsoft Windows, Palm-OS, Mac OS X, Ubuntu Linux, Google Chrome OS… whichever makes your computer/device/smartphone be able to run software such as calendars, email programs, telephone, contacts lists or Web browsers is an OS.

The newer it is and the more bits it operates on, the better. For example, Windows 7 (version is 6.1, not 7.0!) is better than Windows Vista (6.0) and even more than Windows XP (5.1 or 5.2).

And Windows 7 64-bit is -obviously- better than Windows 7 32-bit.

An OS is in reality a program. One that functions as a container of smaller ones, a huge package that allows other programs to be installed and work on top of it.
For example, Notepad is a program embedded in Windows, while Adobe’s Acrobat Reader can be installed and used on it.

Easy! Isn’t it?

Data Encryption

Barely used for its many “complications”. We only tend to encrypt very specific and important files and/or email messages. Have you ever done it?

However, encryption is getting easier to implement and use, nowadays we can encrypt not only individual files, but also entire folders; and even external memory units (USB Flash Drives) and Hard Drives, both internal and external.

In fact, we do not need to acquire third party products for encrypting anymore; business editions of Windows 7 and the latest OSs and email programs offer it “out of the box”.

Some technologies implicitly offer encryption: wireless routers, VPN systems, email servers, and some more.

Encryption offers a very high level of security for data protection, the only caveat would be that we lose the key: then we are in deep trouble. However, the scale will always tip to the positive and many advantages of encrypting and therefore securing our data.

Friday, May 21, 2010

Internet Security Suite

Of paramount importance: what most of us still refer to as “anti-virus” is most of the times a combination of anti-virus, anti-spam, anti-spyware… in brief: anti-malware.

Most suites also offer -depending on vendor and package acquired- a firewall, some kind of identity protection, browsing advisor features, data backup and recovery, parental controls, et cetera.

While some products are better in one or more categories, others are in different areas. However, depending on real needs and type of organization, there are many studies, reviews and comparisons between the many different products, versions, and variants.

Also important is the fact that we need to be cognizant that what worked a few years ago, might not do it as well anymore. The threat landscape changes with the ways and at the pace technology does. Your chosen product could have been top-performer half a decade or just a couple of years ago; better to check its effectiveness today.

A good way to know where our selected suite stands is to check often independent third party organizations that test and qualify these products. For instance, for SOHO and consumer-based products visit http://anti-virus-software-review.toptenreviews.com/small-business-antivirus/ and read articles such as http://techtalk.pcpitstop.com/2010/05/13/the-state-of-pc-security/

For business applications, these two sites offer the best testing and reviews:
Virus Bulletin: http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/rap-index.xml

AV Comparatives: http://www.av-comparatives.org/images/stories/test/ondret/avc_report24.pdf and
http://www.av-comparatives.org/images/stories/test/ondret/avc_report25.pdf

Virtual Private Network

There are many articles, Blogs and books related to VPNs: from the very technical and complicated ones, to blank and purely theorizing, to businesses oriented.

VPNs or similar technologies allow whoever has proper credentials to connect remotely to your network in a secure way. This obviously allows remote users to access information and utilize programs without the need to be physically present in your premises. There are no direct copper or fibre optics cables interconnecting offices or individual computers, rather the Internet is the conduit: by compressing and encrypting the information traveling from the office to the remote worker, so that prying eyes can’t do much to steal and much less interpret what is being sent over “open wires”.

There are also new technologies taking place (MS’s Direct Access) that will replace the need to install more devices to our wiring closets or packages on our over-loaded servers. These are already being implemented today, and will surely make everybody’s life easier.

A complete and very good –although technical- explanation of VPNs can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VPN

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Email Access

Exchange, Gmail, Web-based, Outlook, Thunderbird, POP, Evolution, Domino, IMAP, Lotus Notes, Blackberry, Windows Live Mail… confused? Me too.

It would require many pages or perhaps an entire volume to list products and differentiate the many and every time more techniques required for making email work. What is definitely true is that the local vs. Web based email system implementation battle has been won by the latter.

By local I mean having a dedicated server or computer run the main email program inside our offices, so that we can quickly and easily access email. It is also more expensive to do this, so if by any chance your company holds an Exchange, Domino or similar product; tell them to evolve. The financial department will thank your input.

It’s easier, cheaper, faster and more ubiquitous to simply connect to the email servers on the cloud than having resources put in place to manage company’s email. Basically, the more on-the-cloud email services you have, the easier and better it is.

You for sure know that Google offers Gmail along with some other Cloud-based products, but it is not the only company doing so. Big Blue has started already, there are plenty of dedicated ISPs and MSPs already on-the-cloud, and even Microsoft is “All-in” now; offering partial integration with existing products, and definitely fully integrating with the new generations: Office 2010, for instance.


By the way: what you receive aside from knowledge when you attend school or take a course is a diploma or certificate. You do not acquire “education”. Education is a concept the same way Email is. So, what you receive and send by using email is messages. You do not receive “an email”, you receive “a message”.
If you still tell your acquaintances “I will send you an email” you are lying. Nobody has ever been nor will ever be able to send email.

Data Backup

The main purpose of the existence of data backup is data recovery. Fortunately for all of us, on-line data backup is mature enough to the point that there are many options nowadays. There are also many different levels of services attached to those: from pricing, to likes to features.

There was a time long ago when we used to back up our data with no encryption, awkward compression and very complicated interfaces using external devices such as Hard Drives, magnetic media cartridges, CD/DVD Disks, and –believe it or not- tape cassettes!

Real data backup compresses the data and encrypts it so that nobody but the owners of such data can access it. Copying data is not really a backup, rather a simple copy.

Big organizations replicate their data between cities and in doing so have an easy and fast way to recover in case of disaster, using a variety of methods and devices to accomplish this. For the rest of us, from big vendors such as Dell to small dedicated companies such as Mozy and Carbonite, they all offer a huge variety of on-line DBU products.

We of course would recommend ecBackup and SOS Backup. You are probably already using one of these.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Of higher wages and similar evils

Overhearing a conversation about someone that has “so many” responsibilities now. He was not complaining about the higher pay he's getting simply because his role now is higher than before. But incredibly quick to condemn the new tasks “imposed” on him.

Shouldn't that be that way? Accountability and performance matched to pay and position. Simple.

I could rant on and on with plenty of examples and explanations. Today I will say just this: man, if you don't like your new title, or were happier with the previous job description, get back to it and leave this one for somebody who will feel alright with that new role and pay.

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Dream Team

One of my teammates was bitterly complaining that sometimes he felt the entire team, or most of it, needed to be replaced. He is very competitive and sometimes leaves his own tasks and duties to help others, so that they achieve deadlines and quotas. However, it does not always happen so.

We see this scenario even in “professional” sports: two or three stars meet most of the qualities required for the team to be close to perfect. However, when the rest of them are not as good, or simply make mistakes, or do not execute according to plans; it is very likely that such team will lose the game.

In business is quite the same: we would love some times to have a Dream Team in our department or the whole company, but being realistic that would be close to impossible to achieve. The same market demands would prevent it from ever happening.

So, what do we do? As I explained to Theo, all we can do is give our best every time. Whatever we can achieve individually and as a team, should carry implicitly our 100% best effort. The market will notice, eventually. The best part is, as individuals, we will always be able to sleep well knowing we are doing the best we can. We cannot demand nor accept less from ourselves.


Are you the star in your team?

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Of importance

Having some time to plan for the future: I mean, I’m trying to focus on those tasks the experts say are important for the continuity of the business. All I’m saying is today’s chores are mainly aimed at the long-term plans inherently of any enterprise, venture, partnership, or organization.

In other words, I’m not doing anything crisis-solving like activities right now. No learning, no replying to “urgent” messages, not even planning tomorrow’s day, and such. Simply thinking and deciding on the next moves based on past performance.

So, working on a ‘nice’ quadrant. Feels like there won’t be much money to be made this week, but today's labour will be similar to that of a hardworking farmer.

I’ve read that’s important. I guess it’s important. I wish it’s important and I hope it’s important.

Hope the macroeconomic world agrees with this, governments don’t disrupt policies and no drastic natural events alter, once again, all those future plans we’ve seen destroyed recently.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Finding Qualified Personnel

I’ve heard it countless times: people at the top of the decision making process, in HR and even on intermediate management positions. It is SO difficult to find qualified staff.

Whether the position to be filled is an entry-level or a top-notch, the woes about lack of knowledge, experience and most importantly; attitude is ever present in most organization. It does not matter what the hiring process is; there will always be loopholes in the system, and exaggeration from people to fill vacant places in order to get a ‘job’.

Which begs the question: how are you perceived from your supervisors, clients, stockholders, colleagues and people at different levels?
Are you capable, valuable, competent and have the attitude? In just one word, are you employable?

How did you manage to get to the place you are at right now? How long do you think you can be there, based on the answers to the previous questions?

Be of value: show your worth, and peace of mind will always be by your side.

Monday, April 26, 2010

The forgotten best Operating System from Microsoft

Well, Windows 7 is here to stay. Really useful, more intuitive, not as nice looking yet as OS X, neither as sleek as Ubuntu, but overall a very good Operating System (OS) indeed.
The best of course is that it is a true 64 bit OS, which makes it faster and more secure than its previous siblings.

However, despite Windows XP being the most popular OS ever, there was once (and still is in operation, on high-end workstations) the best OS MS ever released; it is still a mystery why MS stopped bettering it and opposed to continuing to push adoption and third party development for this particular OS. I'm referring to Windows XP 64 bit (wrongly labeled sometimes as x64).

It is flawless. It was the fastest OS there was when it was released, save for a few Linux distros that truth be told did not have a very good network support. On AutoCAD and similar packages you could really appreciate the advantages of XP 64 vs, 32 bit. In fact, not only architects and designers benefited from it, some of the animated movie pictures released a few years ago were crafted on machines based on this.

Too bad MS decided to stop releasing even Service Packs for it. It will retire support soon too; so those of us that have a computer running it, are a little bit sad yet grateful for the eXPerience. Windows XP 64 bit has been the absolute best OS released ever by MS before Windows 7 64 bit.

Time to upgrade it to Windows 7 now.

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Off-track Sales Presentations

A month ago, a client of ours was bitterly telling me about a sale they lost due to lack of preparation and due diligence. Technology -or lack of proper use- apparently played a huge role on the mishap. I wanted to tell her how to avoid such heartbreaking scenarios, but I was there basically as a crying shoulder and did not dare to break her woes.

Last week, I heard of another similar embarrassing moment in a presentation. Although apparently the show went on with good dribbling from the presenter, the fact of the matter is that there could have been many ways of preventing such mishaps with a little bit of planning.

In July 2009 I delivered a Business Sales Tips related presentation and one of the main topics was, precisely, how to formulate, test and apply backup and contingency plans when technology fails us. I also explained and showed with a few examples how to prepare, test and apply techniques to avoid such happenings.

The slides of the presentation can be found here, however I think one has to be a member of such group to be able to see them. ...and they really mean not much without the accompanying talk and show.

I wish these salespersons and presenters could have attended then; it would have help shown a more positive outcome than whichever potential clients and attendees perceived from such derailed sessions.

In brief, the secret to be ready for a flawless delivery is:
• Practice, practice, practice
• Have the same material you are presenting in at least 2 different media types (i.e. Presentation slides file in your computer, in an external storage device, and printouts)
• If there are charts of diagrams that will be crafted while explaining, have them also pre-printed in poster form, or at least printouts for all attendees
• Did I mention practice?
• A brief introductory message and delivery of material before the talk will always help, acknowledge your audience has received it
• Imagine you are presenting in two totally different places: one counts on all gadgets needed such as projectors, flip-charts, white-boards, good lighting, and etcetera. The other has none of these. Simply prepare all needed for both scenarios
• Deliver at least the slides after the presentation is over, if you did not provide any information beforehand
• Finally, practice

So, there you have it. Again, this summary might not make much sense without a proper... er, presentation; but these might be building blocks for future events.

Friday, April 23, 2010

Finally adopted Outlook

It is good to have some kind of relationship with the big manufacturers, in this case Microsoft. I tested the beta release of Office 2010 for a few months. It has -obviously- many improvements over the previous versions and I just knew I would upgrade as soon as I could.

Well, I downloaded the latest version (2010) within minutes of it being posted on the Web. I immediately started using Word, Excel and PowerPoint to continue to appreciate the many new features and nicer interface views and more intuitive menus and icons.

The MS-Office department has always been the best at designing, releasing and maintaining their products. It might have something to do with the fact that Office was not designed by MS from the ground up: most of the products were acquired from different companies and integrated in a suite. It might also have to do with the fact the latest versions of Office were architected by Ray Ozzie… independently of the reason, the Office dept. at Microsoft, simply, rocks.

However, I’ve been somehow skeptical regarding Outlook. All the problems of the past related to corrupted files, limitations on the size of data files; sluggishness and duplication of messages… et cetera, et cetera have somehow frightened me away from it.

So, I’ve used for a long time a combination of Eudora (15 years), Lotus Notes (11), Thunderbird (3) and Evolution (2); mainly and interchangeably depending on location, machine being used and intention.
However, Eudora was killed by Qualcomm 4 years ago, and although some enthusiasts decided to take over the task of creating a Thunderbird-based next version (8), it has been a long time waiting for the final release to substitute my old good Eudora v7.1.

Lotus Notes has been my preferred Calendaring, To-do, Tasks and Contacts manager. The email portion of it has left me wishing for a good release soon, to no avail. The interface takes ages to be changed to something more eye-candy-like, and although the functionality of the program is incredibly good, Lotus Notes is still targeting the corporations only. (I won’t mention Domino: a decade ago most of us IT pros knew what it was, now on hearing the word we all think of the game, or relate it to a pizza chain.)

Evolution and Thunderbird are both very good, but only as POP and IMAP based email programs.

All of these are still 32-bit based applications.

So, I took the plunge: decided to simply start using Outlook and that was it. Well… I obviously have been using it from time to time, mainly to help people that use the program on a daily basis. So I knew and know its intricacies and all; just that after the 2007 release I was sure the next version would simply be very good.

So, there you have it: I’ve said it. I’ve done it. It’s official. I adopted Microsoft’s Outlook 2010 64-bit version as of yesterday: April 22nd, 2010.

Next time you receive an email message from me you can check –if not from my Blackberry- it was crafted using Outlook.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Communicating our ideas independently of and despite the language

So, with so many devices and Web based technologies we start getting used to lots of ways of communicating, it is becoming more and more complex to convey ideas nowadays. From the clear and precise books and magazines’ authors and other existing text formats, to the unconventional and rushed, sometimes –most times- grammatically and orthographic incorrect email, chat and TXT messages; it is becoming not only somehow quick and efficient, but also frustrating and worse –in those regards- every time.

It comes to my mind for instance; one specific person whose use of chat features left so much to wish for, from horrific grammar and the simple lack of proper punctuation to the constant hitting of “next line” before finishing a sentence. Sometimes I thought they were assertive on their findings, affirmations and declarations, only to find out after some frustrated minutes that what they were doing was asking questions.

However, with some effort on our part we can be sure the message happens to be transmitted right most of the times, in fact way more than not. Therefore it has to be a positive outcome, and although the messages can vary in format, the soul of such are received.

However, w/some effort on our part we can B sure da mssg happens 2B transmitted right most of da x, in fact way > not. .: it has 2B a +++ outcome n although da mssgs can vary in format, da soul of such R got.

And… we are reading this in just one language! It becomes VERY interesting and lots of fun when two transceptors understand more than one tongue. You surely have had such experience already.

Purists will complain and criticize such use –deliberate or not- by so many “illiterate” folks.
Me? I have no problem with that when it comes to quick chats and such. However, books, articles and even Blogs deserve quality; not only in the content, but also in the way they are delivered.

X-I-10! Isn’t it? B2W now. C U L8R

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Useful waste of resources

As an IT professional, consultant and business partner, it still amazes me to find people reluctant to acquire the latest software technologies, and dump old applications that do not do anything but hold the brakes of their own organizations.

Chances are you are reading this on a hand-held device; if not, then there’s a 95% chances you are using a Windows based PC. Is it Windows 7? (Today is Tuesday, April 20, 2010)

Well… Windows XP, its predecessor, is already almost a decade old. Are you holding on the upgrade because at least one of your applications “does not run on anything other than XP”? Did not we all know about the impending upgrade coming? So, what are your software suppliers doing?
Have you tried replacing that old package with something new that will make your time better used?

I have faced people asking me what the best path would be to degrade Windows 7 to XP; o that they continue to use everything the way they are used to.

Just think about the enormous amount of resources you put in place to accomplish this, and then, once again in a short period of time put some more resources to get the system back to the future. It is just a waste of time, effort and human capital.

Why not invest all those resources in acquiring newer packages? Believe me, they will make everything easier, and you will be more productive in no time.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Investments vs. expenses

Last week a member of my club and I were discussing the advantages of newest TV/Monitor technologies and the many differences between brand names and mainly display capabilities between LCD, Plasma and LED developments. All in all a very healthy and enlightening discussion; you can nowadays go to any big chain store and find the three type of technologies side by side, compare them and come up with the best value (i.e. price/features), personal likes, and business fits.

At one point during the chat, she said something like “we just invested in a nice 50 inch plasma ...”. I did not pay much attention to the sentence. However, later that day I kept thinking about the 'invested' word used in such a conversation. It was somehow awkward to hear it, perhaps because she changed the word from bought to invested in at the last second; and mostly because such scenario was not in any way, er… truth.

So, how do we differentiate between expenses and investments? I've read countless books and articles and still am confused about what really represents and investment and what is simply money that needs to be spent in order to continue our business/life. I would say everything we put resources in so that we will complete a package or product to be delivered to another entity is in fact an investment. However, cars? Computers? TVs? Yes, we need them to do our work, some more than the others, but all of those items only depreciate through time; there is no way for me to say “I invested in this car…” because it will NEVER appreciate. It will never return more money than I paid for it. It becomes in fact, a tool, an asset, an active.

So, where do we draw the line? Very gray area indeed. However, what I’m doing now before spending any money –or time- on anything is think about whether such item is an expense or an investment.

Back to watching my expensive TV now.

Friday, April 16, 2010

Data, data everywhere…

…but, where’s the information?

As IT suppliers, partners, consultants, professionals and such, we are always focused on providing services that in reality have just one goal: to protect your data.

Come to think about it: setting up UPSs to protect the servers and containers of files, installing Internet Security Suites so that those accessing such data are able to do it without having to worry it could become corrupted (or disappear). Configuring VPNs so that no prying eyes can look at your files, setting up data backup strategies and solutions so that disaster recovery procedures are in place; encrypting wireless signals, avoiding Spam and similar maladies that would alter said data, finding the best on-site and cloud-based solutions so that everything can be ported to the Web -and available to authorized staff only- planning and implementing CRM strategies in a similar fashion… the list goes on.

Certainly, we also set up new computers and fix servers, systems and networks when they are broken; we have to. However, absolutely everything we do gravitates around one single entity, the most precious asset there is in your electronic digital systems: data.

Without that data, you cannot obtain information. Independently of source, quantity and quality of such data; you need to dig in it to do your business and make the best decisions possible for the challenges of today and to plan for the future.

With the current data deluge we all experience, it is of paramount importance to be able to differentiate between information and data; and then know which data is in reality important to us and which is not.

Your business is distinctive and therefore some information will always emerge uniquely too; the data sources might be diverse and heterogeneous, some easy to understand or carry with us, some not.

Global data is growing at exponential proportions and so is yours. The following article might shed some light with regards to trends and the type of challenges we as IT and business professionals face, and it also highlights the need for business decision makers to be cognizant of this trend; so that we all can meet those challenges as a team.

Hope you enjoy the read; at least take a look at the figures and graphs. That will help us all get better at extracting information and then making better decisions.
http://www.economist.com/specialreports/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15557443

Friday, April 2, 2010

The Daffodil Principle

~Anonymous Author~

Several times my daughter had telephoned to say, "Mother, you must come to see the daffodils before they are over." I wanted to go, but it was a two-hour drive from Laguna to Lake Arrowhead "I will come next Tuesday", I promised a little reluctantly on her third call.

Next Tuesday dawned cold and rainy. Still, I had promised, and reluctantly I drove there. When I finally walked into Carolyn's house I was welcomed by the joyful sounds of happy children. I delightedly hugged and greeted my grandchildren.

"Forget the daffodils, Carolyn! The road is invisible in these clouds and fog, and there is nothing in the world except you and these children that I want to see badly enough to drive another inch!"

My daughter smiled calmly and said, "We drive in this all the time, Mother." "Well, you won't get me back on the road until it clears, and then I'm heading for home!" I assured her.

"But first we're going to see the daffodils. It's just a few blocks," Carolyn said. "I'll drive. I'm used to this."

"Carolyn," I said sternly, "please turn around." "It's all right, Mother, I promise. You will never forgive yourself if you miss this experience."

After about twenty minutes, we turned onto a small gravel road and I saw a small church. On the far side of the church, I saw a hand lettered sign with an arrow that read, "Daffodil Garden." We got out of the car, each took a child's hand, and I followed Carolyn down the path. Then, as we turned a corner, I looked up and gasped. Before me lay the most glorious sight.

It looked as though someone had taken a great vat of gold and poured it over the mountain peak and its surrounding slopes. The flowers were planted in majestic, swirling patterns, great ribbons and swaths of deep orange, creamy white, lemon yellow, salmon pink, and saffron and butter yellow. Each different-colored variety was planted in large groups so that it swirled and flowed like its own river with its own unique hue. There were five acres of flowers.

"Who did this?" I asked Carolyn. "Just one woman," Carolyn answered. "She lives on the property. That's her home." Carolyn pointed to a well-kept A-frame house, small and modestly sitting in the midst of all that glory. We walked up to the house.

On the patio, we saw a poster. "Answers to the Questions I Know You Are Asking", was the headline. The first answer was a simple one. "50,000 bulbs," it read. The second answer was, "One at a time, by one woman. Two hands, two feet, and one brain." The third answer was, "Began in 1958."

For me, that moment was a life-changing experience. I thought of this woman whom I had never met, who, more than forty years before, had begun, one bulb at a time, to bring her vision of beauty and joy to an obscure mountaintop. Planting one bulb at a time, year after year, this unknown woman had forever changed the world in which she lived. One day at a time, she had created something of extraordinary magnificence, beauty, and inspiration. The principle her daffodil garden taught is one of the greatest principles of celebration.

That is, learning to move toward our goals and desires one step at a time--often just one baby-step at time--and learning to love the doing, learning to use the accumulation of time. When we multiply tiny pieces of time with small increments of daily effort, we too will find we can accomplish magnificent things. We can change the world ...

"It makes me sad in a way," I admitted to Carolyn. "What might I have accomplished if I had thought of a wonderful goal thirty-five or forty years ago and had worked away at it 'one bulb at a time' through all those years? Just think what I might have been able to achieve!"

My daughter summed up the message of the day in her usual direct way. "Start tomorrow," she said.

She was right. It's so pointless to think of the lost hours of yesterdays. The way to make learning a lesson of celebration instead of a cause for regret is to only ask, "How can I put this to use today?"

Use the Daffodil Principle. Stop waiting.....

Until your car or home is paid off
Until you get a new car or home
Until your kids leave the house
Until you go back to school
Until you finish school
Until you clean the house
Until you organize the garage
Until you clean off your desk
Until you lose 10 lbs.
Until you gain 10 lbs.
Until you get married
Until you get a divorce
Until you have kids
Until the kids go to school
Until you retire
Until summer
Until spring
Until winter
Until fall
Until you die...

There is no better time than right now to be happy.
Happiness is a journey, not a destination.
So work like you don't need money.
Love like you've never been hurt, and, Dance like no one's watching.

If you want to brighten someone's day, pass this on to someone special.

I just did!

Wishing you a beautiful, daffodil day!

Don't be afraid that your life will end, be afraid that it will never begin.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Time and space

Without being philosophical, time and space should always be included in our equations. Mainly when we are trying to achieve success.

Success: nice word.
What does it mean?

We all kind of know the concept, but it is an individual feat. Do not try to achieve anybody else's success, that does not belong to you.

We are all unique, and we've been in different places at different times, so we need to be cognizant of that fact at all times.

Therefore, we need to mark our own finish lines ourselves; that will make us successful -or not-
Needless to say, we must set deadlines for such finish lines to be crossed. That will definitely be our personal and undeniable mark: so, applying both time and space to our personal equation, will make us acquire a particular speed that'll allow us to achieve, well, success.

Then, that speed will be comfortable enough for the next races.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Hungry for devices

The best advice for grocery shopping I've ever read is: “go when you are not hungry”.

The same way you should check the fridge and pantry to know what you have, what you want, and what you need for the most basic of necessities applies to technology, and I'm pretty sure every other type of business related purchases. Whether you are looking for a new laptop or printer, note what you already have in premises to make sure you are not going on a frenzy spending spree: even if it is only taking a peek on-line. Even if we do not have an updated inventory, noticing and noting will make us realize that most of the times what we really need is already on our place. A little bit of organization and/or rotation of elements can do the trick.

And, if in fact we need to acquire more, take your time buying; not being “hungry” will allow us to make better decision on our purchases; whether it is a device, a service, software, advice... Whatever it is, go with a full belly.

In this case, being full will translate into being smart. Saving money and investing time; what a dish!

Munch, munch, repeat. Munch, munch, repeat.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Non payable and non recoverable payments

Here’s the scenario: the accounts receivable department finds out a delinquent amount of money from a client of yours. Such customer has been a client for years, and consistently and promptly pays around $200.0 each month for services provided.

The accounts indicate that such charges derive from a difficult to track type of service, and there are notes related to your staff contacting the client about this a year ago. It is not clear what the outcome is in such notes; but the fact in your books and systems is that there is around $50.00 in arrears.
Q1. Do you send such claim to a collections agency? (Chances of recovering 50% such amount)
Q2. Do you contact the client and ask for payment? (Chances of recovering 25% such amount)
Q3. Do you simply cancel the amount as unrecoverable and move on? (Chances of recovering 0)

What to do?
Please stop reading for a minute and think hard about this picture.



Well…
Facts show that the client is consistently paying other services; so it is very likely that we made a mistake. Even if we did not err, and in fact the client did not pay; it is very likely that there is a good reason for that.

A3. Send a letter to your client along the lines of: “…we recently found out a pending payment amount of $50.00; however, we believe this has somehow been a glitch in our invoicing processes and therefore we have decided you owe us nothing. Concretely, we’d like to thank you for your loyalty during the past X years and hope we can offer you more and better services. Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions you might have…”

A2. Same as A3.

A1. Same as A2.

Why? Well, we do not have all the facts, or have the wrong or incomplete ones. Transferring it to collections will simply upset the client; who independently of being at fault or not and whether they pay or not; most likely will go elsewhere for the services we’ve been providing. We will lose a client, a recurring $200.00 per month; and most probably will lose some -and will never make other- clients that are acquaintances of this one.

Monday, March 22, 2010

Say "Yes" only when you are sure.

It is 1,000 times better to say “No”, than to say “Yes” and never deliver.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Clear directions and examples

Time and again we face the challenges of appropriately directing clients to our doors, whether virtual or not. They barely ever make it there and those that do, sometimes don't dare entering or calling. The culprit? Ourselves of course.
We also wonder why, after a huge investment in resources to create literature and advertising (virtual or not) for our business, do not get the expected results… same factors.

I've experienced and seen people get to places they thought were the appropriate ones, only to start asking questions; confused and delayed on their plans, simply because the directions and/or instructions are not clear enough.
I've also experienced and seen people that loses interest in a particular article, pamphlet, post, advertisement or similar. Again, lack of proper thinking and planning on our part makes it difficult for the recipient to get the message we've invested so much in trying to convey.

3b) Take a look at these 3 comparison examples:

Address at the end of advertisement
1a) Please visit us at:
ABC Center, Inc.
1234 Main Ave
San Jose, CA, 98765
1-800-888-ABCC

1b) Please visit us at:
ABC Center, Inc.
1234 Main Ave.
San Jose, California, U.S.
Zip Code 98765
Toll free: 1-800-888-ABCC (1111)
To get there: take highway # 5 towards San Jose. Take exit # 67-B, which goes west. Drive for three blocks then turn left at Sun Ave. You'll see our logo and name right in front of you. Parking is free on your right.
For map click here


Magazine article
2a) ...so, in case the temperature has risen above 90 degrees, consider shortening your distance by 2 miles, or reduce your pace to 9'/mi for the second half of this exercise...

2b) ...so, in case the temperature has risen above 90 degrees (32 C), consider shortening your distance by 2 miles (3.2 Km), or reduce your pace to 10'/mi (5’ 40”/Km) for the second half of this exercise...


Solution
3a) It is always more difficult to try to explain something without examples. Incorporating more and better pieces of data in our communication will always provide better results. Try doing these simple changes and all efforts will be compensated and targets met.

3b) Take a look at these 3 examples (implicit here)


The messenger spends only a minute in creating a detailed set of instructions, and even if it takes more time, the messenger/recipient (m/r) time ratio becomes zero as more people gravitate to our doors.
Take the second example for instance: if such magazine has a circulation of 100,000 and 1 out of 3 readers does not understand the English system; without including the metric measurement units in the article leaves 33,333 readers manually or mentally calculating degrees, distances, and speeds. Suppose it takes an average of 60 seconds to convert the three units, that alone makes more than 555 hours of effective wasted time.
When the messenger includes such data, the m/r ratio here becomes 0.00003. As the magazine keeps readers happy and therefore attracts more, such ratio keeps decreasing.

With today’s technologies it is very easy to include not just extra text or a link to a map and such. Image, sound and video clips can be included in our communication to make it even better. Think about all the possibilities.


So, invest that extra time to communicate clearly, and your recipients will become captive clients for life.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

What do you want to do?

Remember when you were a kid and watched the Olympics, or the moon landing, or the firefighters putting out a fire or saving somebody from a building engulfed in flames?

How about those paintings once you enjoyed so much at an art gallery or a museum? Perhaps pictured in a book?
And books, of course! How many times after reading one you could not put down but until finishing it you thought to yourself: “I’d like to write something like this”.

What did you want to do?

Are all those famous singer or actress’ dreams extinguished? Are you waiting until you retire to retake drawing and painting lessons? Record your album? Travel the world around?

It’s a little bit late now, isn’t it?
It’s not.

What you wanted to do when you were a kid is STILL what YOU WANT to do NOW.
Be a little bit selfish and explain all those that depend on you that you will start chasing your dreams. Do not hesitate. Do it NOW. Please! Do not die with and unfinished to-do list.
Start (or restart) today.

First four steps: see yourself in the mirror, take a deep breath, look deep into your eyes, and tell yourself out loud: “I’m starting today”.
That’s it.

What are you doing? GREAT! :)

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Great idea!

As it happens, I was incredibly busy last week on very long days, and far away from home and my usual surroundings. Despite the fact that we have so many ways now to be productive using all kind of tools, along with cheaper rates for long-distance calls and all; it is still difficult to work when one's not in the customary places. Add a few hours in a different time zone and it becomes even harder. In brief, you end up working more than usually.

On one of those nights and despite being incredibly tired, a very good idea came to mind. It was so good that there was no need to even plan or rethink it. A Eureka moment close enough to those of Franklin, Da Vinci or Einstein.

Well, it's been a few days now and it is time to implement such wonderful idea. The only problem is ...I forgot what it was.

Another old-age victim.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Where are all the trainers?

In our ever-busy IT field, we can barely keep up with demand for maintenance, new projects, new systems and all. We have been getting comfortable lately with very basically implementing whatever it is we need to do in order to continue with the next set of tasks.

We leave the users and/or clients feeling that they have a new shining car, and although the doors are open, they do not know where the keys are.

Where are all the trainers? There must be an incredible amount of demand for so many and varied new packages and ways of utilizing new technologies. Yet we keep being asked again and again about things we thought users would know or find out pretty easily.
I'm also sure we IT departments or consultants could set training sessions for such topics, however there must be people better prepared for such tasks.

And yet, some of my colleagues keep complaining about the lack of work. There is no such thing; there are still so many holes to be filled: training is just one example of myriad areas that still need to be covered.

I'm also sure this does not apply exclusively to the IT field.

So, are you looking for work? Time to start working then.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Nice talking 2 U

This is cool: at the end of the day, once everything`s been leveraged, the bottom line is that every short conversation has become a cliche.

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Competitors without medals

Just finished watching the closing ceremony of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. Having a few hours to kill at the airport I am still and constantly thinking about the past two weeks at work and mainly focusing on the one coming, can’t help but remember similar days in the past.

I keep wondering about all kind of teammates, past and present, which I have known have been in comparable situations not just once or twice. All of them coming through and fulfilling all expectations and even exceeding those sometimes.

What else can we do? Athletes prepare for many hours every week in pursue of a triumph, a record, a medal, the exhilaration, excitement, fame perhaps, and even a secured future for them and their families. The rest of us have to work; some of us went through sports competitions when younger, but either we were not cut for the chosen sports or we made a bad selection, or there was simply no infrastructure in place to support our dreams.

Now we face the daily competitions in the business world. Who gets the medals here?

Some people have no idea what kind of preparation one has to go through to deliver the results bosses, other departments, or clients are expecting. Sometimes such efforts, long hours, past memory recalling, quick thinking, resourcefulness and willingness are just taken for granted.

For athletes that fail to make it to the podium, they simply don’t get a medal but are in no way punished in any way: life goes on as usual. However if we fail we put our job on the line or lose the client; with a very slim chance of gaining it back. Ever.

I respect every profession, and know that there are some specific ones in which a mistake can result in injury and fatality, a recession, or worse.
Yet I have to focus on the IT field, one of the most fascinating yet frustrating of all; I salute all of you administrators, programmers, technicians, engineers and consultants whose performance is deserving of at least a moment at the podium.

You are really the unsung heroes of many enterprises.

“Me sirve tu batalla, sin medalla.” (I used your battle without a medal) –Mario Benedetti

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Tic tac tic tac...

What do you do when you are sleep deprived?

Is it a self-inflicted over-caffeinated reason? Too many worries? Lots of work and plenty of tasks still pending? Issues at home? Most of the above?

It's one of those nights when your body is exhausted yet your mind's still busy trying to figure out where to start the next day. Most of the solutions have been already figured out but you don't dare to get off the bed and write them down, and/or you are so tired (physically) that you prefer to try to remember everything the next day.

The thing is, if you think you are young enough to recall everything the next day, great! If not, then what? You know you will forget something. Worse, the very item you forget most of the times is the entire solution's touching stone.

You can only compare your dilemma with that of a comatose patient that hears and sees everything around her but is unable to respond to anything.


Hope you can remember e-ve-ry-thing then; in the meantime, try to get some sleep. There is always more coffee the next day. Tic tac tic tac tic tac … ...

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Waves

Working overtime now with barely a minute to concentrate on other stuff. Culprits are clients that all of a sudden decide on new implementation with only 2 week warning. Love it.

So, not complaining, rather reporting my lapses of absence from the cloud lately.

All these ups and downs in rapid succession remind me of the fair. When I was part of staff all seemed to be like a merry-go-round: up and down and up and down and then the full cycle would repeat in similar ways. The horse was different but the tasks were the same, to the point of infinite boredom.

However as of late, everything seems to resemble the roller-coaster. I must confess I still cringe at the feeling of going down, turning quickly to the right or left or upwards is fine with me; it’s just the vertigo that I still can't control.
Obviously I understand going down means I will go up eventually. The only difference between the fast moves on a real roller-coaster and my current situation is that the mental exhaustion will get off-limits if the ride doesn't end soon.

Again, not complaining, but simply reporting.

I hope you are enjoying your ride too, independently of the apparatus you're riding.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Letting IT linger

On Monday, at kid’s soccer practice I found a program for volleyball drop-in. It made me remember how well I used to play and how much fun it was on my teenage years, as well as how much I enjoyed watching the international tournaments. The strategy, the athleticism, the pressure, everything around volleyball attracted me to be there that night.

However, the simple thought that it had been at least a couple of decades since the last time I faced a team of six on the other side of a net on a real court made me dread such initiative. I walked away for a 10 or 15 minutes lapse while recalling so many good times long gone.

Then I returned to see the page: it was clear: “Volleyball drop-in, $2.00 2 hours 8:30pm – 10:30pm, maximum 40 people”.

So, it would be three courts. I then remembered seeing some people getting to the gym some nights; all dressed and ready for the volleyball sessions. I felt compelled to join again. Yet, the thought that I would be the oldest person in the court, and perhaps the slowest, heaviest and most ignorant of the rules made me refrain again.
Then I found myself coming back to re-read such invitation for the third time! It was decided: I went home, looked for short pants, tennis shoes, a comfortable t-shirt and a bottle of water.

Turns out I had a great time! :D All my fears dissipated once there: it took me a few minutes to get acquainted with the ball feeling and weight, its bouncing and all. I wasn’t the oldest, or slowest… it did not matter. I took a beating and was on the floor a few times, some muscles I forgot existed hurt that night and the following days, but it was just great.

In business, and mainly on those IT related, we do the same. Don’t we? We let those specific projects or tasks linger sometimes more than necessary. Postpone them. Procrastinate. All the time!

We dread all the inconveniences of the pressure, the hindsight, the fact that we don’t know or remember everything there is to apply to the task, et cetera.
Surely we will finish exhausted and take a beating too. But I’m pretty sure the rewards will far outweigh the hassles.

Go play that game!

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Criticizing and complimenting

Strange how most of the times is so easy to find fault, to vent out, to finger point, to even offend those that -intentionally or not- happen to create an unhappy event or situation for us.
We are so used (dare I say thanks to the media?) to prefer the negative news, the condemning and the complaining, rather than focusing on good news.

Seems to me like we are forgetting to apologize, to ask for forgiveness, to even say a word of appreciation to those that do things properly; worst, we don’t even offer the slightest form of recognition to the ones that go beyond the call of duty to help us.

If everybody is like me to a certain degree, I've found out that some of the best advice I’ve ever received has come from the most unexpected places and people. It has taken some time for those tips to become a push; partly because when the words are uttered we are in hearing mode but not in listening mode. It only happens that after maturing some ideas and then remembering such words we take action; with very positive results most of the times. And at such times, we then forgot who the tipster was.

Sometimes I’m in awe when I discover that those words have created something so positive. Better yet, people at times do some things for you and you only realize the effect of such actions later. And then again we can't remember who did what for us.

Thank you. :)

It might have been just a few words or a small gesture you did for me. So, I thank you while my smile shows my gratitude.

Note to self: please do the same for everybody else. Saying thank you requires less than a second. A smile is easier than any other use of our facial muscles.

Saturday, February 6, 2010

INSTALLING LOVE -Author Unknown

Tech Support: Yes ... how can I help you?

Customer: Well, after much consideration, I've decided to install Love. Can you guide me though the process?

Tech Support: Yes. I can help you. Are you ready to proceed?

Customer: Well, I'm not very technical, but I think I'm ready. What do I do first?

Tech Support: The first step is to open your Heart. Have you located your Heart?

Customer: Yes, but there are several other programs running now. Is it okay to install Love while they are running?

Tech Support: What programs are running?
Customer: Let's see, I have Past Hurt, Low Self-Esteem, Grudge, and Resentment running right now.

Tech Support: No problem, Love will gradually erase Past Hurt from your current operating system. It may remain in your permanent memory but it will no longer disrupt other programs. Love will eventually override Low Self-Esteem with a module of its own called High Self-Esteem. However, you have to completely turn off Grudge and Resentment. Those programs prevent Love from being properly installed. Can you turn those off?
Customer: I don't know how to turn them off. Can you tell me how?

Tech Support: With pleasure. Go to your start menu and invoke Forgiveness. Do this as many times as necessary until Grudge and Resentment have been completely erased.
Customer: Okay, done! Love has started installing itself. Is that normal?

Tech Support: Yes, but remember that you have only the base program. You need to begin connecting to other Hearts in order to get the upgrades.

Customer: Oops! I have an error message already. It says, "Error - Program not run on external components." What should I do?
Tech Support: Don't worry. It means that the Love program is set up to run on Internal Hearts, but has not yet been run on your Heart. In non-technical terms, it simply means you have to Love yourself before you can Love others.

Customer: So, what should I do?
Tech Support: Pull down Self-Acceptance; then click on the following files: Forgive-Self; Realize Your Worth; and Acknowledge your Limitations.

Customer: Okay, done.
Tech Support: Now, copy them to the "My Heart" directory. The system will overwrite any conflicting files and begin patching faulty programming. Also, you need to delete Verbose Self-Criticism from all directories and empty your Recycle Bin to make sure it is completely gone and never comes back.
Customer: Got it. Hey! My heart is filling up with new files. Smile is playing on my monitor and Peace and Contentment are copying themselves all over My Heart. Is this normal?

Tech Support: Sometimes. For others it takes awhile, but eventually everything gets it at the proper time. So Love is installed and running. One more thing before we hang up. Love is Freeware. Be sure to give it and its various modules to everyone you meet. They will in turn share it with others and return some cool modules back to you.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

My Netbook is 90 years old

…or so it seems.

Just a few weeks ago I was shouting to the world the great and many advantages of such little pieces of leading edge technology. I was about to post something related to the Amazon’s Kindle and Sony’s Reader for more on magazines and newspaper ideas… and then Jobs announces the iPad.

My Netbook is in agony… my mind is suddenly empty… and my IT world seems to be nicer every time.

Now, if we could link somehow the iPad to solving the warming issue…

Monday, February 1, 2010

Silence is good for business

More than a year ago I was at a friends’ house enjoying a small party. They were leaving the city back to their country of origin. Most of the guests were from a different country too, so we felt the communion and understood to a very good degree the feelings of our hosts.

At some point during the conversation I noticed that most of my input was practically non-existent. Nobody would respond to my questions and/or they continued talking to each other with a different topic as if my words were some kind of momentary noise. I felt embarrassed and obviously started to try to remember anything that might have offended anybody. I recalled nothing.

Last weekend, at a friend’s birthday party the conversation centered on newborns and mainly the pains of going through a difficult labour. This time quite the same happened, after I opened my mouth and said something that hugely overrode and diminished whatever any of the present women went through in there, in terms of time length and pains of such an event.

Then it struck me: that other time I explained that by sheer coincidence I went to 3 famous restaurants in 3 different cities within a week. It was just incredible that somebody brought up the names and places and I had just recently visited the 3 disparate places and ate in such restaurants within a 7 day trip.

This time, what I said was also kind of incredible. Nobody in that other occasion believed me, and neither did anybody now. Despite the fact that everything I said was true and I can prove it with my expense report, credit card statements and hospital records; it is in fact quite incredible, especially for people that do not live a similar lifestyle or have been anything close to what was described at the hospital.

My lesson?
DO NOT open your mouth that quickly. I remember most of my best financial, business and professional successes have happened after a long silence on my part. Strange: sometimes because I am trying to find the right words, sometimes because I do not know the answer and most of the times because my mind is blank but trying to articulate a sentence. It just worked to my advantage.

Sometimes the truth hurts or makes you look like an idiot. That truth is being tried to be conveyed with your own words! Do NOT do it. Keep silent when what you will say is very distant from the center and normality of what everybody is focusing on. Better to prepare with facts and figures and present them, instead of simply open your big mouth, no matter how small it is.


Enjoy the silence.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Getting easier every time, thanks to IT

As Internet connectivity becomes faster, new technologies are better and more integrated than before, social networking is becoming commonplace, both on the Web and inside the buildings; we can do so many things remotely now that we simply could not just some years ago.

Nowadays we can connect to the office seeing on our screen exactly and almost 100% with the same clarity everything we have on our computer. It is becoming simpler to connect, faster to work on, and cheaper to implement.

I remember some years ago the fuzz and all the outrage from some of us regarding the “IT does not matter” article. Most of us did not understand the paradox implicit in such document.
What company, big or small could ever survive without IT today?
What would you be doing instead of reading these lines on your screen?

Exactly.

Now please forward as appropriate, use as many methods as you can: post, tweet, blog, email, txt message, facebook, your choice -or all of them-.

See? There are so many now! And all are cheap, fast and easy. :)

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Kids’ play

Watching kids at soccer practice, I just realize how sometimes we adults do not understand the rules of the game and therefore perform a very poor role in the organization. On top of that, those of us that do understand the rules sometimes lack the ability or intelligence (or both) to play better than we in reality could.

I'm not trying to convey the message that we all should be experts on technology or a specific device or tool, or business processes, but trying to make an analogy so that I remind myself we can always improve via training, practice and paying attention.

The game the kids are playing and specifically the exercise the coaches implemented for them to learn has not real implications for those that are here just to have fun. For the ones that will become soccer players, at least on a semi-professional level, this day will be somehow ingrained in their memory for life.

In a business environment, there is implications, complications and grave consequences when those rules are not known, followed, or implemented at least to minimum requirements.

Are your teammates playing by the rules and to the best of their abilities?

Then you should win 3 – 0.

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL!!!