cloud

The Stressed Admin

When you look at the average IT admin, you will spot certain physical characteristics – hair lost to some degree, pale skin and dark-colored garments are almost certain. But why is that? Why does IT world have some characteristics? It’s because IT support is different from many other career paths. It is rewarding, has a nice and friendly environment but it is also demanding, challenging and exhausting. You may think that this applies to all jobs. Let’s see what stresses out the IT admins (yes, I am a former IT admin)

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The Stressed Admin

cloud

Enterprise Apps Need Not To Be Ugly and Clunky

I read a couple of books about application user experiences and I am still amazed to see the user experience is still ignored today (if you did not read it yet, I strongly recommend the Alan Cooper’s classic The Inmates Are Running the Asylum: Why High Tech Products Drive Us Crazy and How to Restore the Sanity ). Ease of use and user experience is at the bottom of the list in development practices while deadline and feature list tops the list. This approach results in lengthy, fruitless, never-ending meetings to discuss why “the excellent app” is not gaining traction among the users. Let’s see how enterprise application developers overcome such a result easily. To begin with, the application has to fit in the current business environment, the business processes and has to be a solution to a certain business problem(s). .The application needs to have a focus, stick to it and improve upon it, rather than just being a technology showcase/programming wizardry. It also has to take the business into account, each business has its own way of doing things, own workflows and in some cases, their own equipment. The developers have to contact with the users from each department and have an overall understanding of the workflows, devices and the relevant applications

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Enterprise Apps Need Not To Be Ugly and Clunky

cloud

CIO Perspective: Make Sure Your Disaster Recovery Plans Are Complete

have talked extensively on disaster recovery (DR) plans and I was pretty sure that I have covered everything. From the concept of moving DR to the cloud , including the issues to consider , to CIO tips , from choosing the right DR software to the people perspective, I thought my words on the DR was complete. Wrong. Here is an overall check on your DR plans, right from the field, assuming that you already have your business impact analysis. Do you have a written plan? Is that obvious? Don’t be so sure. I have seen medium sized businesses who have “complete DR plans” in “somebody’s mind” that will be implemented when something goes wrong

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CIO Perspective: Make Sure Your Disaster Recovery Plans Are Complete

cloud

CIO Perspective: How To Keep Your Sanity In a Merger/Acquisition

During the past months, I was a consultant in two acquisition issues in one small and one medium sized company. Financial, accounting and inventory issues were draining the employees’ and consultants’ times. IT issues did not seem as complex as the others but once the management tipped their toe, they understood how out-of-world things tend to go. Here are my notes for the CIO to keep his/her sanity during a merger/acquisition, freshly from the field. Mergers and acquisitions are hard for the business side – financials, books, records, inventories, whatever you name them but they are harder for the employees. During these times, as an IT executive be as transparent as you can. Whatever staff decisions are ahead, let your departments know. If you have the chance, try to reach everyone, even with a small online meeting

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CIO Perspective: How To Keep Your Sanity In a Merger/Acquisition