Worker commits suicide over lost iPhone prototype

If you've read today's news headlines you likely have seen the article about the factory worker in China who committed suicide because he lost an iPhone prototype in his possession. He had sixteen 4th generation iPhone prototypes in his possession before he discovered one was missing. I thought this article illustrated the high level of pressure and competitiveness, and sensitivity of secrets as companies develop products to achieve or maintain a competitive advantage. As we discussed in the IT Doesn't Matter debate, Apple is a prime example of a company that has developed and used new technologies to gain a competitive advantage. In fact, the company has been, for the most part, immune from the current recession because they continue to develop and release new technology that consumers crave. Employees who work with Apple's new products are under great pressure to maintain a high level of secrecy, especially with the media and competitors constantly trying to gain information about the latest and greatest technology. Obviously IT does matter. Unfortunately, in this situation it mattered a little too much.

IBM Unveils Data-Masking Technology

IBM has released a "proof-of-concept" technology called Magen (Masking Gateway for Enterprises), designed to mask and protect sensitive data. It is useful in industries such as healthcare where files and sensitive data are stored electronically. When the files or records are requested in the system, the software treats the information as a picture and uses optical character recognition to identify information the administrator has identified as confidential. That information is then masked so it will not appear on the user's screen. Unlike earlier types of similar software, this software does not copy, change, or process the data in any way. It is designed to work with existing applications so clients do not have to make any changes to their current applications.

Earth-bound

"Take your eyes off of your Blackberry tonight and take a look at what's going on in outer-space right now." A fitting quote from a Fox News anchor speaking to a reporter as they discuss footage of the space shuttle Endeavor about to dock on the international space station. To elaborate her point, she went on to say how technology and social networking has made us "Earth-bound" in the context that we aren't taking time to appreciate the current space mission, the amazing maneuvers being performed in space right now and the high definition photos being transmitted back to Earth. She's right. As we have spoken about so many times in class and in these blogs, technology has changed our culture. We have the ability to be connected to the entire world 24/7, to the point it consumes many of us and we don't pay attention to other qualities and phenomena of life around us.

If you don't want to be Earth-bound, www.nasa.gov has a live broadcast of the current space mission. It may look rather dull at first glance but there is also a schedule of the mission posted on the website so you can see when to tune in for more interesting coverage.

Top 2 Current Issues in IT

The top two current issues in IT are SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and SPAM. SEO is the process of increasing the number of visitors to a site by ranking high in the list of search results when a keyword is typed into a search engine. SEO helps to ensure a site is accessible by a search engine by using keyword analysis, phrase analysis, web code, traffic analysis, product understanding, internet marketing, content development, and other human factors such as ad placement
The number two current issue, SPAM, includes ad-ware, junk mail, pop-up traffic, etc. Thirty percent of all internet traffic is said to be SPAM related. Although companies have used a variety of techniques to fight spam, there is little than can be done to prevent it because the internet is a public domain. Some online services have policies to prevent spammers from spamming their customers and this seems to be working.

Cerner Corporation Healthcare IT

I did some required research this evening on Cerner Corporation, a global leader in healthcare information technology, and thought I would share some of their “Solutions and Services” because it relates to our classroom topics.
Cerner provides a wide range of end-user computer solutions, from RFID to advanced authentication solutions. Their goal with their technology is to maximize their clients’ daily operational efficiencies through connectivity and tracking, mobility, PPID, data capture, and security. They stress the importance of a strong infrastructure within a healthcare environment and help their clients to achieve an effective balance between minimizing their IT investment and maximizing the usefulness of the required hardware.
They also specialize in Managed Services such as operations, applications, disaster recovery and remote hosting. This allows their clients to free up their own IT departments to concentrate on their core business.
Finally, they partner with leading technology suppliers to stay abreast of the latest technological developments and research their functionality to determine usability with their own applications.

TAG event #2

My second TAG event was a presentation by Marty Gupta, Managing Director of the CAP Consulting group. CAP stands for Critical Assumption Planning. The company's main mission is to help businesses achieve sustained growth through both good and bad economic times. One of the ways they do this is by teaching businesses to rethink their approach to their business strategy. Instead of the traditional Analyze, Plan, Execute approach, they teach businesses to Imagine, De-risk, and Adapt. Two examples Mr. Gupta used to illustrate the differences were GM and Apple. In 2004 and 2005, GM couldn't produce enough SUV's and most of their productivity was focused on their SUV lines. They were changing many of their assembly plants to accommodate SUV production. When Hurricane Katrina hit and oil prices skyrocketed, sales of SUVs took a nosedive and now GM is in bankruptcy. Apple, on the other hand, has continued to reinvent itself and continues to adapt and develop new products to sustain growth.
CAP is a five step process: Explore/Define the Concept, Identify Assumptions, Determine Critical Assumptions, Develop an Action Plan, and Review Results & Refine Opportunity. The process is designed to optimize the trade-off between risk and investment. It is also touted as being able to link different groups within an organization and take knowledge sharing to a new level.
More information on CAP can be found at the CAP Consulting website: http://www.capconsultants.com/

How Can Internal Controls Benefit Your IT Company

The first TAG event I attended was regarding internal controls in an IT company. As our guest speakers from PKM told us, SOX 404 requires public companies to implement a system of internal controls to help ensure financial statements are accurately and fairly presented. The first speaker at the event, from Accretive Solutions, spoke about internal controls as they relate to IT, SOX 404, and how to get the most out of your compliance investment.
The second speaker, from KPMG, spoke about a SOX survey they conducted on electronics and software companies. Some of their key findings were that the average number of controls needing to be tested has actually dropped in the past few years as a result of more efficient financial and IT processes. Over half of the companies surveyed had upgraded their ERP system in the past four years. In addition, there is a new ERP system out called GRC (Governance, Risk, Compliance), which is designed to integrate systems and compliance. This system can monitor processes to ensure controls are followed and compliance requirements are met, resulting in less required testing by auditors because it takes the human error and manual nature out of processes. There is no proven value yet with GRC because it is so new and expensive. In the current economic climate, companies aren't "pulling the trigger" just yet to implement this system.
Finally, a speaker from Lexis Nexis spoke about the benefits of controls and how they are not as much of a hindrance as perceived. Controls can make ERP systems much more effective by reducing duplication, eliminating manual processes, and defining, improving and standardizing processes.