If we apply maturity modelling to the IT Support function, we are able to produce an effective mapping that overlays the five levels of a traditional maturity model with five different service levels of support.
Throwing off conventional thinking to re-imagine the IT manager role
In conventional patterns of thinking about jobs within businesses of 10 - 100 people, the role of IT manager is seen as the go-to person for anything related to technology.
Across an infrastructure demanding provision of business technology tools to a workforce of varying degrees of technological competence, this might include anything from a broken mouse to troubleshooting software server problems.
Shadow IT: Questionable practice in a business context
The vast majority of computer users routinely use cloud services of some description. Whether it’s a Gmail account or a file transfer service, almost all of us use free cloud-based tools. This might be OK for personal use, however, in a business context, such an approach is highly questionable. Why?
Insider threats: An unsavoury but unavoidable truth
When it comes to productivity and information security, insider threats are perhaps some of the most unsavoury considerations for a firm. Any business owner or senior executive would prefer to think they can implicitly trust the people that they pay but, unfortunately, it simply isn’t possible to ignore the risk of employee misbehaviour.
User Activity Monitoring (UAM) is a process that is enabled by productivity monitoring software, PMS. These applications are designed to track and record every action performed by a user. The software outputs a log file in plain English (rather than technobabble) and a video file that enables the firm to view each user’s onscreen actions.
Whatever the core business activity of a firm, fast growth is a nice problem to have. Although the doomsayers warn of the problems of rapid uncontrolled growth, such as resourcing gaps and overstretching with too many commitments, these are challenges that should be well within the capability of a company governed with good management practice.
The issue of passwords is something of an evergreen problem for technology users. People often choose obvious, simple passwords that are easy to remember. Research has shown that a group of 10,000 words are used by 98.8% of people as passwords. This means that a hacker with software written for the purpose could automate the process of trying every one of these, something known as a ‘brute force’ attack, and would be certain of being able to hack into almost 99 out of every 100 accounts.
If the writing isn’t quite on the wall the signs may well be there!
In many firms, IT is a tricky area. It’s complex, costly and impossible to ignore. It needs continual vigilance and good oversight to make sure it functions well. One of the biggest headaches is support.
A lot has been said and written about cloud computing. Some is true, and some is not. Here we help to provide clarity about the subject by dispelling 5 myths about the cloud.
Myth 1: The cloud is insecure
The myth persists that the cloud is somehow insecure. In fact, the cloud is more secure because security measures in place at properly secured cloud data centres exceed those found in the vast majority of ordinary business premises.
We’ve all been there, particularly when dealing with personal consumer affairs. We are unhappy with the service we receive from a great big company that we deal with, like a telecoms provider, an energy supplier or an e-commerce giant. We try to get the company to rectify the situation, we may often find that we are still not satisfied that the outcome is fair.
The world is full of meanings, some explicit and some more subtle. In the language of business, there is a need to project a sense of credibility and trustworthiness. Just like qualifications and certifications are important in establishing the credentials of individuals, organisational accreditation is essential for determining the bona fides of a technology services provider.