The major IT initiatives of today – data center consolidation, cloud computing, unified communications, virtualization, and disaster recovery – share a common theme: they all presume a well performing Wide Area Network (WAN). The reality though is that most WANs are unable to compensate for the increased packet loss, latency, and bandwidth problems endemic to publicly shared infrastr…
IT organizations are under increasing pressure to meet the business goals of their companies. This challenge can be particularly daunting because it involves complying with regulations, such as the Sarbanes- Oxley Act (Sarbox) and Basel II. Compliance requires strong corporate governance capabilities that are demonstrable to outside auditors. Because IT plays such a major role in business proce…
The continuing evolution of malware threats combined with the demand for increasingly flexible working practices is a significant challenge to IT departments seeking to reduce help desk support and get better value for money from their investment in security. This paper looks at how organizations can benefit from a more integrated, policy-driven approach to protecting the network at all leve…
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (“SOX”) puts a new emphasis on timeliness and transparency in financial reporting, and the importance of internal controls in managing a public company. As of November 2004, SOX became a requirement for larger companies traded on a U.S. stock exchange; smaller public companies have until July 2007 to comply. This whitepaper provides an overview of, and s…
Over the years a variety of file transfer tools and techniques have been utilized to support the file transfer needs of internal systems as well as file transfers with external partners. The file transfer process has become complex, involving differing platforms, technologies, processing methods and support. Each process has been developed separately to meet differing requirements resulting in …
Over the last few years, corporations have been under incre- ased pressure to optimize resource utilization while at the same time adapting more quickly to changes required by the business. This pressure has direct impact on IT organizati- ons faced with more complex installations that need to be implemented, enhanced and managed with fewer allocated resources. Most organizations have invested…
IT budgets are shrinking even as the reliance on data availability grows. Now more than ever, IT managers must spend carefully to keep from negatively impacting the bottom line. One area where IT departments can realize significant savings is in storage. This document provides a simple breakdown of the actual costs paid for storage when real-world utilization and performance numbers, in additi…
Few would argue over the crucial role of IT in today’s economy. In our lifetime, we have witnessed IT evolve from a limited service function into a critical core competency of modern organizations. Stepping out of the shadows and into the limelight has created new challenges for IT, however. Expectations have risen dramatically throughout all levels of the organization and its ecosystem of…
Remote support technology is one of the most popular service and support automation tools for high-tech companies, with a well understood and easily documented return on investment story. Though basic remote control is available from many sources, including some freeware and shareware options, companies interested in improving both the economics of support and the customer experience should und…
When today's businesses run 24/7 on fewer IT-dollars, the relentless job of supporting employees, suppliers, business partner, and customers is an organizational necessity and one of the biggest challenges facing support organizations.
Are you expanding your reach into international markets without knowing how you will provide cost-effective, quality support? If you are, you’re not alone. According to the Small Business Administration, the number of American businesses sending their goods and services overseas has tripled since 1990. About two-thirds of that boom comes from companies with fewer than 20 employees. No longe…
According to Gartner Dataquest* IT Operations Management software consumed $12.9 billion in spending in 2007. Of this, $4.3 billion, or 33%, was spent on availability, performance, and network management, representing the largest portion of IT Operations Management software spending. Just over $3 billion of this, or 70%, was spent amongst only four vendors: BMC, CA, HP, and IBM, also known as …
Management 101 tells us that success in business starts with setting goals and measuring progress toward them. Service and support leaders are metrics masters: from electronic status boards to thick monthly reports, filled with charts and tables, leaders manage by the numbers. Traditionally, measuring support operations has been straightforward. Shorter hold times are better; higher abandonmen…
I nterference is a fact of life in the unlicensed bands used by wireless LANs (WLANs), and is an increasing challenge in all WLAN environments – the enterprise, outdoors (including metro-scale Wi-Fi meshes), and in the residence. As the number of unli- censed devices grows and as ever more mission-critical applications are deployed on WLANs, interference represents a challenge that must be ad…
Companies have devoted significant time and resources to achieve compliance with many pieces of legislation, such as HIPAA, Sarbanes-Oxley, and Gramm-Leach-Bliley. An important element of compliance with specific regulations is achieving a compliance framework internally. Compliance with external mandates can be more easily met by first ensuring that the network is compliant with the internal s…
The first part of this book introduces the Office object models and the Office primary interop assemblies (PIAs). You also learn how to use Visual Studio to build automation executables, add-ins, and code behind the document by using features of Visual Studio 2008 Tools for Office 2007 (VSTO 3.0). • Chapter 1, “An Introduction to Office Programming,” introduces the Office object models a…
Ibegan working on the first edition of this book in the year 2000.As a former developer and current IT business analyst,I could see an approaching technological wave affecting my colleagues. Thanks in large part to client-server applications and the Internet, object-oriented (OO) languages like C++ and Java were taking over the development world. This had already changed the way the technical m…
System developers have used modeling languages for decades to specify, visualize, construct, and document systems. The Unified Modeling Language (UML) is one of those languages. UML makes it possible for team members to collaborate by providing a common language that applies to a multitude of different systems. Essentially, it enables you to communicate solutions in a consistent, tool-supported…
There is growing international interest in the use of assistive and ambient technology to support people with a range of impairments, whether developmental, acquired or age- related, in being able to function independently in the modern world. A particular focus has been on the potential for mobile technology to act as a technical adjunct to compensate for a range of cognitive limitations. Sinc…
THE CHAPTERS IN this collection, written in honour of David Vaver by friends, colleagues and former students, all relate to intel- lectual property and the common law. The idea of the ‘common law’ is understood primarily to refer to the family of legal systems of the so-called ‘common law countries’—including, Australia, Hong Kong, India, the Republic of Ireland, Israel, Malaysia, New…
This book is to help developers with every aspect of the App Store. Oftentimes, we see amazing apps go unnoticed. There are many factors that can cause this, but often it is because we developers have trouble thinking with a business mindset. David and I wrote this book to provide you with every single thing you will need to make your apps succeed in the every crowded app marketplace. You will …
“When deploying and administering large infrastructures, it is still common to think in terms of individual machines rather than view an entire infrastructure as a combined whole. This standard practice creates many problems, including labor-intensive admin- istration, high cost of ownership, and limited generally available knowledge or code usa- ble for administering large infrastructures.…
This book will examine the importance of Human Computer Interaction, Usability, and Sustainability, including sustainable design, in the Information Communication and Technology sector (ICT). ICT usage by businesses and individuals has become a significant instrument for searching, conducting research, communication, entertainment, commerce and information. The recycling of ICT usage is becomin…
Poorly performing enterprise applications are the weakest links in a corporation ’ s management chains, causing delays and disruptions of critical business functions. In trying to strengthen the links, companies spend dearly on applications tuning and sizing; unfortunately, the only deliverables of many of such ventures are lost investment as well as the ruined credibility of computer profess…
This chapter describes Silverlight/WPF concepts needed for creating animations, namely dependency and attached properties, bindings, transforms, and storyboards. We assume that the reader is already familiar with most of the concepts within this section and uses it simply as a refresher, as well as a way to jump-start the samples for the rest of the application. In this chapter we will look at:…
The 2008 Manual of Regulations for Non-Bank Financial Institutions (MORNBFI) is an updated compilation of regulations and policies issued by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) for financial institutions under its supervision. Available in hard and soft copies, it is a convenient reference and guide for said financial institutions in the conduct of their operations. The updated MORNBFI incorp…