Technology Insights

The announcement a lot of us have been waiting for was released on February 7, 2012. Effective September 30, 2013, IBM will withdraw service for IBM I 5.4. This is potentially a big deal for a lot of IT organizations running this version of the IBM I operating system. While the withdrawal date may seem like a long time away, we all know time flies when faced with performing system upgrades. Continue reading →

First, a quick aside: I adore Podcasts. A few months ago, I started using my iPhone to queue and then play podcasts on my way to and from work. Many of my story ideas come from one of the IT industry podcasts I listen to in my drive time. Look for a post in the near future with some of my favorite podcasts. The following idea was generated from an interview with Frances Frei and Anne Moriss, on episode 286 of Harvard Business Review’s IdeaCast. They discuss their book: “How to Win by Putting Customers at the Core of Your Business.” Continue reading →

I have two kids. One turns 3 in a month, the other turns 1 in 3 days. Every night I get home from work and I play with them for as long as they will stay up and then I put them to bed. And that’s when the real “fun” starts. Every night I go through the exact same routine of cleaning up after them. One look at the carnage and destruction of littered toys, books, crayons, dolls, coloring books and every other toy known to mankind and I can’t help but think there has to be a better way. Continue reading →

A piece of news over the Holidays you may have missed: hackers compromised South Africa’s Postbank, and made off with just over $6 Million US. Interesting enough, a fully electronic attack yielding such profit from such a “protected” target–but peel back the layers, and you find a tale of two vulnerabilities. Continue reading →

What makes you cringe more? Reviewing your budget costs around recovery, or your team reminding you of a growing problem within backup/recovery? Continue reading →

In an effort to strengthen the ties of the Disaster Recovery and Information Availability community, I decided to start an Advice Column, not unlike Ann Landers or Dear Abby. In this day of social networking, sometimes it’s nice to have a little anonymity when it comes to asking questions. Keep reading to see some of the first questions I received! Continue reading →

As we draw near the end of the year, many of us will begin to think about our New Year’s Resolutions.  Typically we think of this as a personal event, but the truth of the matter is that anything you deem important, that has not been treated as such, should be considered when making your resolution(s). Continue reading →

Each year that I have been in this business, I hear those words or something similar from prospective clients.  While it might be easy to say I am surprised, the fact is I am not, because I understand the root causes. Continue reading →

It has been a very bumpy economic recovery in 2011. Lots of hiring but also lots of lay-offs, starts of new projects and cancellations of existing ones. I have never seen the technology grid in Atlanta move from extreme to extreme so fast. I have received frantic calls from development managers saying they need to hire 10 software developers immediately, only to have the project cancelled within weeks. I have taken calls regarding new data centers and cloud computing, only the have the projects stalled. However, I have also seen a good deal of companies soar to new heights this year. So what does all of this have to do with a horse? Continue reading →

What types of companies need disaster recovery? I feel as though most people initially think that disaster recovery plans are critical, but only for the large corporations — the organizations that have multiple locations and a diverse IT environment. While it may be obvious that the large company needs a formal DR solution, the truth is that small to mid size companies need it just as much as anybody else. The point of a DR solution is to protect your business and IT operations (and your revenues) from interruption and downtime. Continue reading →