You know I got a great email the other day from someone following this blog, and it really has been on my mind since reading. The email is around company(s) who are no longer paying employee expenses like that of Internet connectivity, cell phones, long distance and the list goes on. Does this really amount to a reduction in salary? The employee out of pocket expenses to have the job has really increased.
This individual is really struggling with paying these expenses, ISP, cell, Long Distance and so forth. The company says it is a privilege of flexible work options, and they are just doing what other companies are doing. Does this individual cut these services to keep the family a float, and if so, what impact might it have on their employment status. Does this put the employee at a disadvantage? What are my thoughts on this.
Have been thinking for several days on this, as it is a complicated situation. With permission, I wanted to add this to the blog as others are facing this same situation. It is important to understand that your primary obligation is to your family. You are working to provide for your family, not the company. If the company will no longer reimburse the employee for Internet connectivity, cell phone and other expenses, then the employee has to bring those expenses into check. Cell phone is not a necessity, and can go away at anytime. If it is essential for the company to reach you anytime, anywhere, they would provide the phone. Kill the cell and let your supervisor know - in writing. I would also evaluate the Internet connection and shop for the best deal, and bandwidth you can afford.
Yes, it is true that companies are taking advantage of the economic climate and are placing undo burden on the backs of the employees. In addition, it is hurting morale, and employee partnership. It is a shame this course of action has taken place over a few dollars per employee per month. But it is what it is, and the employee has to protect their interests and family well being.
I recommend all communication of change be in writing with the supervisor and/or human resources. I would also encourage the employee always keep their options open and in today's climate be looking at their 3 - 5 year goals and direction.
About Me
- Scott Arnett
- Scott Arnett is an Information Technology & Security Professional Executive with over 30 years experience in IT. Scott has worked in various industries such as health care, insurance, manufacturing, broadcast, printing, and consulting and in enterprises ranging in size from $50M to $20B in revenue. Scott’s experience encompasses the following areas of specialization: Leadership, Strategy, Architecture, Business Partnership & Acumen, Process Management, Infrastructure and Security. With his broad understanding of technology and his ability to communicate successfully with both Executives and Technical Specialists, Scott has been consistently recognized as someone who not only can "Connect the Dots", but who can also create a workable solution. Scott is equally comfortable playing technical, project management/leadership and organizational leadership roles through experience gained throughout his career. Scott has previously acted in the role of CIO, CTO, and VP of IT, successfully built 9 data centers across the country, and is expert in understanding ITIL, PCI Compliance, SOX, HIPAA, FERPA, FRCP and COBIT.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Friday, September 17, 2010
A unified SAN-LAN Management tool make sense?
Brocade launched a unified resource management application for storage and Ethernet networking devices, and pledged to upgrade its entire SAN platform to 16 Gbps Fibre Channel by the middle of next year.
Brocade Network Advisor combines Brocade's Data Center Fabric Manager for Fibre Channel SANs and the IronView Network Manager for managing the Ethernet networking platform that Brocade acquired when it bought Foundry Networks. The new application will let customers manage devices for SANs and LANs as well as wireless and Multiprotocol Label Switching networks from one interface. Sounds like a good tool.
Many ask if Fibre Channel over Ethernet is really the way to go. I have read the articles and opinions of others that they should remain seperate. Does it make sense to maintain all these individual networks, or is enterprise network with segmentation a good plan? To many eggs in one basket? If you have a core switch go down, is the business impact to significant?
Goes back to your network design doesn't it? Building redundancy, self healing, multi route and proper failover is key now isn't it? Can't take short cuts on the network anymore can you? It is essential now with so much riding on the network that the investment, the design, and the support is there. Now, put unified communications, video, presence and numerous applications on that network - you have a great deal of risk to the business.
If the network is now very vital to the business, why is it that we are not putting the hardware, bandwidth, security and proper staff into the network? The financial impact to have an adequate network is substantial, the financial impact to have a failed network is substantial. I propose to you that as IT Leaders, we need to do a better job helping the business understand that the network is the life line of the business.
A unified SAN-LAN Management tool makes sense to me. If you can have a tool to see across the enterprise and bring efficiency to your support team, it always makes sense. The tool looks to be a great resource, has some great flow, and benefits. I was impressed with the tool, and see it bring value to your network team.
Keep positive!
Scott Arnett
Monday, September 13, 2010
Mailbag
Hello everyone, hard to believe we are in September already, 2010 has gone by fast. What an interesting year.
I have gotten a great deal of mail this month, so let's get started in answering some questions.
Q. Windows 7 really better than Windows XP or Vista?
A. I can tell you from my experience, I have been very pleased with Windows 7. It is newer technology than that of Windows XP so not a fair compare, and it appears more stable and better performance than that of Vista. I would recommend an upgrade and move to Windows 7. The downside is the hard drive wipe and rebuild to get to it. Make sure you have solid backups and tested backups!
Q. What is your opinion on Dell - still a good buy?
A. I have been a Dell customer for many years, but the products have changed as much as the company. I have concerns over product reliability, technology and customer service. In addition, I don't have the sense the company has a leading drive anymore, they are distracted with many internal challenges and reorganizations. I have to say I have quickly become a HP customer, both desktop and server. I am impressed with the new desktop lineups, and server technology. HP is truly a leader right now.
Q. If you are asked to outsource part of your IT Group, what areas would you focus on?
A. This is a tough question, without all the background details. I not a front runner on outsource IT options, though it can make sense in some cases. You have to look at the drivers to this initiative, strictly a cost reduction, cost avoidance, or a performance issue. That will help you determine some course of action.
I would take a good look at your day to day operations and see if you can gain anything in this space, and maintain your engineering, architecture, and application specialists. But if you are looking to fill a gap, and don't have existing resources in that space, perhaps that is an option. Be very careful looking to outsource as a cost saver, I have yet to find a successful case. Most organizations go back to in house staff after a trial period for many reasons, but wasted a great deal of money.
Q. Why can't I get my management team to take backups and recovery serious? It is always cut from the budget, I never get funding for it, and I know as soon as something goes wrong, they will blame me. Do you have any suggestions?
A. You are not alone, there are many organizations running on borrowed time when it comes to data protection - that is what we are really talking about. If the management team does not take data protection serious, this should be an audit finding. Data protection - backups, security, leakage and so on, is the responsibility of the senior management team. You document the fact you put this in the budget every year, and you document the fact it is cut, then I would do one last effort and put together a memo to the team on the issue. Clearly state the current state of affairs, the risk of what is in place today, the risk of not doing anything about it, and provide a couple solutions to the problem. After you have done all of this, and they still do nothing, it is out of your hands. When disaster strikes, and the data is gone, and the company is out of business, you have all the documentation you need to protect yourself. I would recommend you also discuss recovery - how will you effectively recover from a disaster or hardware failure. Important to backup all your data, important to be able to recover.
Q. What do you recommend for a new incident management toolset? Should we consider a Software-as-a-Service solution? Should IT keep their own tools and application in house?
A. There are some good tools out there for incident management, some with a great price tag, and many features. You need to find something that will foster ITIL methodology, you also need to be able to grow with it. There is nothing wrong with saying we will look at a SaaS tool, that is not a poor reflection on the IT shop. Do you want to spend your staff resources and cycles on supporting your own tools? I think you have better things to work on - right? You asked for a recommendation, which is hard to do not knowing all your environment, challenges and objectives. I personally like the Service Now SaaS solution myself. I think they offer a great product, it aligns with ITIL and seems to have some great features. Check them out, you will be pleased.
That is all the time I have today. Keep the emails and questions coming in, has been a few busy weeks, so I apologize for the lack of daily entries.
Scott Arnett
scott.arnett@charter.net
I have gotten a great deal of mail this month, so let's get started in answering some questions.
Q. Windows 7 really better than Windows XP or Vista?
A. I can tell you from my experience, I have been very pleased with Windows 7. It is newer technology than that of Windows XP so not a fair compare, and it appears more stable and better performance than that of Vista. I would recommend an upgrade and move to Windows 7. The downside is the hard drive wipe and rebuild to get to it. Make sure you have solid backups and tested backups!
Q. What is your opinion on Dell - still a good buy?
A. I have been a Dell customer for many years, but the products have changed as much as the company. I have concerns over product reliability, technology and customer service. In addition, I don't have the sense the company has a leading drive anymore, they are distracted with many internal challenges and reorganizations. I have to say I have quickly become a HP customer, both desktop and server. I am impressed with the new desktop lineups, and server technology. HP is truly a leader right now.
Q. If you are asked to outsource part of your IT Group, what areas would you focus on?
A. This is a tough question, without all the background details. I not a front runner on outsource IT options, though it can make sense in some cases. You have to look at the drivers to this initiative, strictly a cost reduction, cost avoidance, or a performance issue. That will help you determine some course of action.
I would take a good look at your day to day operations and see if you can gain anything in this space, and maintain your engineering, architecture, and application specialists. But if you are looking to fill a gap, and don't have existing resources in that space, perhaps that is an option. Be very careful looking to outsource as a cost saver, I have yet to find a successful case. Most organizations go back to in house staff after a trial period for many reasons, but wasted a great deal of money.
Q. Why can't I get my management team to take backups and recovery serious? It is always cut from the budget, I never get funding for it, and I know as soon as something goes wrong, they will blame me. Do you have any suggestions?
A. You are not alone, there are many organizations running on borrowed time when it comes to data protection - that is what we are really talking about. If the management team does not take data protection serious, this should be an audit finding. Data protection - backups, security, leakage and so on, is the responsibility of the senior management team. You document the fact you put this in the budget every year, and you document the fact it is cut, then I would do one last effort and put together a memo to the team on the issue. Clearly state the current state of affairs, the risk of what is in place today, the risk of not doing anything about it, and provide a couple solutions to the problem. After you have done all of this, and they still do nothing, it is out of your hands. When disaster strikes, and the data is gone, and the company is out of business, you have all the documentation you need to protect yourself. I would recommend you also discuss recovery - how will you effectively recover from a disaster or hardware failure. Important to backup all your data, important to be able to recover.
Q. What do you recommend for a new incident management toolset? Should we consider a Software-as-a-Service solution? Should IT keep their own tools and application in house?
A. There are some good tools out there for incident management, some with a great price tag, and many features. You need to find something that will foster ITIL methodology, you also need to be able to grow with it. There is nothing wrong with saying we will look at a SaaS tool, that is not a poor reflection on the IT shop. Do you want to spend your staff resources and cycles on supporting your own tools? I think you have better things to work on - right? You asked for a recommendation, which is hard to do not knowing all your environment, challenges and objectives. I personally like the Service Now SaaS solution myself. I think they offer a great product, it aligns with ITIL and seems to have some great features. Check them out, you will be pleased.
That is all the time I have today. Keep the emails and questions coming in, has been a few busy weeks, so I apologize for the lack of daily entries.
Scott Arnett
scott.arnett@charter.net
Sunday, September 12, 2010
9th Anniversary of 9/11
As a family yesterday, we took time to put out our American flag and offer a prayer to the families, victims and citizens impacted by this terrible event. I remember where I was 9 years ago when this all started to unfold, and looking back is still brings mixed emotions.
There are many in the news, on blogs, and other sources of media discussing the response of our country to this event, the wars, the anti-muslim events, and the list goes on. This was an act of war on our country. Many citizens lost their lives, both on the planes and on the ground. This was conducted by terrible individuals that took innocent lives in the name of their god or religious views - was it not. We see all the hate in these foreign countries towards America, towards us as citizens. They burn flags, bibles, and the list goes on, yet we turn the other cheek.
America changed on 9/11, time we all face that. We can't go back, we can't undo that change. Our lives changed, our families changed, and now we go forward in a new order. Security, border control, and yes - a view of who is sitting next to us, and who may or may not be hiding intentions to hurt us. America doesn't have open arms anymore, others hurt those arms. America doesn't have patience left anymore, other took advantage of that, America is low on Tolerance, others stole that.
As we reflected on what happend that September day, we also reflected on how things have changed in the last 9 years, and where we are heading. Interesting times.
Scott Arnett
scott.arnett@charter.net
There are many in the news, on blogs, and other sources of media discussing the response of our country to this event, the wars, the anti-muslim events, and the list goes on. This was an act of war on our country. Many citizens lost their lives, both on the planes and on the ground. This was conducted by terrible individuals that took innocent lives in the name of their god or religious views - was it not. We see all the hate in these foreign countries towards America, towards us as citizens. They burn flags, bibles, and the list goes on, yet we turn the other cheek.
America changed on 9/11, time we all face that. We can't go back, we can't undo that change. Our lives changed, our families changed, and now we go forward in a new order. Security, border control, and yes - a view of who is sitting next to us, and who may or may not be hiding intentions to hurt us. America doesn't have open arms anymore, others hurt those arms. America doesn't have patience left anymore, other took advantage of that, America is low on Tolerance, others stole that.
As we reflected on what happend that September day, we also reflected on how things have changed in the last 9 years, and where we are heading. Interesting times.
Scott Arnett
scott.arnett@charter.net
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Virtual workers - does it work?
Virtual desktops, virtual servers, virtual networks, now virtual workers? We really in a virtual world? Hello - is that really you?
One of the big benefits of having a virtual worker in a virtual office - you get more done! Plus you maximize your time, no water cooler time wasting, no wasted time in traffic, finding a place to park, etc.
To attract today's top talent, "Allowing telecommuting" is second only to "offering higher compensation than competitors" as the best way to attract talent. More than ever before, organizations are looking to expand the ability for their employees to work anytime and from anywhere.
The benefits to allowing teleworking, or the Virtual Office, are tremendous to all parties. The employee saves, on average, $4,000-$7,000 per year, and 350 hours per year. Savings come from reduced auto and business-related expenses.
The employer saves between $5,000 and $10,000 per year from many sources: reduced office space requirements, lowered utilities, lowered employee turnover, increased productivity, and lowered sick time and other unscheduled absences. In addition, the employer is free to expand the hiring pooloutside of typical geographical constraints.
Finally, the environment wins as well. Each car taken off the road is equivalent to the CO2 reduction of 3/4 acre of trees. Move 1,000 employees to a Virtual Office solution is the carbon equivalent to planting 750 acres of trees. That is significant - isn't it?
The Virtual Office is reliant on a few technologies (VPN, IP telephony, and Zero-Touch provisioning)that have entered mainstream adoption and make it very straightforward for an IT department to roll out a Virtual Office solution that is easy to deploy and easy to manage. Typically, the Virtual Office employee is sent a router and an IP phone along with a simple one page instructional sheet. The employee plugs in the equipment, logs on to the network, and the equipment is securely provisioned with a customized configuration within 10 minutes. All home-office equipment can be managed and updated from a central location.
I have seen many companies migrate to a Virtual Office solution for a portion of their workforce, such as a call center, with spectacular results: improved employee morale, increased productivity, and lowered office-related costs.
I propose to you, that we will continue to see an increase in the Virtual Worker in a Virtual Office. It is a win win for the employee, the company and the environment. There is also some challenges with this from a technology stand point, and a business continuity plan. Worth the challenges though, and can strengthen the company long term.
Now, if we can come up with virtual work for the virtual worker - what a deal!
Stay positive!
Scott Arnett
scott.arnett@charter.net
One of the big benefits of having a virtual worker in a virtual office - you get more done! Plus you maximize your time, no water cooler time wasting, no wasted time in traffic, finding a place to park, etc.
To attract today's top talent, "Allowing telecommuting" is second only to "offering higher compensation than competitors" as the best way to attract talent. More than ever before, organizations are looking to expand the ability for their employees to work anytime and from anywhere.
The benefits to allowing teleworking, or the Virtual Office, are tremendous to all parties. The employee saves, on average, $4,000-$7,000 per year, and 350 hours per year. Savings come from reduced auto and business-related expenses.
The employer saves between $5,000 and $10,000 per year from many sources: reduced office space requirements, lowered utilities, lowered employee turnover, increased productivity, and lowered sick time and other unscheduled absences. In addition, the employer is free to expand the hiring pooloutside of typical geographical constraints.
Finally, the environment wins as well. Each car taken off the road is equivalent to the CO2 reduction of 3/4 acre of trees. Move 1,000 employees to a Virtual Office solution is the carbon equivalent to planting 750 acres of trees. That is significant - isn't it?
The Virtual Office is reliant on a few technologies (VPN, IP telephony, and Zero-Touch provisioning)that have entered mainstream adoption and make it very straightforward for an IT department to roll out a Virtual Office solution that is easy to deploy and easy to manage. Typically, the Virtual Office employee is sent a router and an IP phone along with a simple one page instructional sheet. The employee plugs in the equipment, logs on to the network, and the equipment is securely provisioned with a customized configuration within 10 minutes. All home-office equipment can be managed and updated from a central location.
I have seen many companies migrate to a Virtual Office solution for a portion of their workforce, such as a call center, with spectacular results: improved employee morale, increased productivity, and lowered office-related costs.
I propose to you, that we will continue to see an increase in the Virtual Worker in a Virtual Office. It is a win win for the employee, the company and the environment. There is also some challenges with this from a technology stand point, and a business continuity plan. Worth the challenges though, and can strengthen the company long term.
Now, if we can come up with virtual work for the virtual worker - what a deal!
Stay positive!
Scott Arnett
scott.arnett@charter.net
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