Organizational mission sets all calendars

Business side of your organization sets the calendars of all others. This can happen directly or indirectly, but all functional areas need to be aware of the core mission of their business and act in support of it. In my particular case, in higher education, academic calendar sets our IT calendar and has a significant impact as to how and …

The power of internet

Recently we have witnessed an amazing turn of events for a man who was homeless and now has a job and a house all thanks to his amazing voice, good people and the power of internet. While this is the latest example which left a powerful impression on me, it is not the only one where technology (alongside good people) …

Business & technology are partners, not competitors

Finding that perfect balance between business and technology can be a challenging process. Aligning them together where they are useful to one another, productive and most of all on the same page has proven to be the key to success for many organizations. It’s simple, in order to maximize return on technology investments, organizations must align IT decisions with strategic …

Know what your project needs

Recently I came across several project proposals where I was asked to evaluate technical components (hardware, software and staffing needs) and found a few items worth sharing. Several items in these proposals weren’t adequately priced (difference from list and actual price on select items was as high as 60%). Furthermore, some hardware models have been discontinued years ago. While certain …

Anti-Virus software

In today’s world where network and system security is of great importance and we live and operate behind firewalls, VPNs, SSH, encryption, anti-virus software and many other tools that help make us more secure, it is often difficult figuring out that winning combo to stay safe online and protect your personal information. One component that in a sense started it …

Selecting the most valuable conference to attend

It’s been a while since I went to a real professional conference (been to a number of one day seminars, presentations and demos), but not a real targeted conference. I think it’s time to change this and become more involved in the technology world outside my immediate area. Also, considering that I’m planning to introduce additional improvements within our team …