Digital 'Avatars' May Stand in for You in Virtual Workplace
Inside Bay Area (CA) (10/15/07) ; Boslet, Mark

Cisco Systems, IBM, and Sun Microsystems are among the businesses developing virtual workplaces to boost productivity and enhance collaboration among employees in different offices. Experimental software from Second Life and others allows companies to create virtual workrooms for meetings, training sessions, product demonstrations, and document collaboration. However, the concept has yet to generate much attention, as companies would have to increase security to verify employees' identities and use encryption to safeguard communications. Interoperability also is important, as it would allow workers to use the same log-in and avatar to go from one virtual room to another. Moreover, 3-D environments require sophisticated equipment, with computer chips and servers needing three times and 100 times, respectively, more computational power, according to Intel senior fellow Justin Rattner.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_7182651?source=rss

Prevent Your Network From Becoming an IT Bottleneck
Processor (10/12/07) Vol. 29 , No. 41 , P. 1 ; Marko, Kurt

Name resolution with DNS, IP addressing via DHCP, and user authentication from RADIUS are three core network services that networking specialists insist are critical for running devices on an IP network. However, experts note that few IT and network managers pay sufficient attention to the underlying infrastructure of IP networks. Given that networks increasingly are handling applications integrated with video, voice, and data services, rather than being used solely for transport, Forrester Research's Robert Whiteley says it is important for small businesses to consider foundational network services. To move to a new IP services architecture, Whiteley says companies must first replace "aging freeware and end-of-life software that run your IP fabric" with dedicated appliances, then scale the network via appliance distribution. IP address management (IPAM) software--which features task-specific software, an integrated database, built-in high-availability failover, and a Web-based management console--also should be integrated into routine network management processes. Infoblox, BT INS, BlueCat, and Secure64 are among the vendors offering IPAM appliances.
http://www.processor.com/editorial/article.asp?article=articles%2
Fp2941%2F30p41%2F30p41.asp&guid=&searchtype=&WordList=&bJumpTo=Tr
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Five Tips for National Cyber Security Month
Small Business Computing (10/11/07) ; Simonds, Lauren

For National Cyber Security Month, currently underway, the nonprofit National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) and Capital One Small Business have teamed up to produce guidelines to help small businesses avoid security breaches. A recent survey by Javelin Research underscores the importance of cyber security in small businesses, as 20 percent of consumers said data breaches would prevent them from dealing with Web-based businesses; 85 percent said they would do business with Web sites praised for strong security practices. According to NCSA and Capital One Small Business, firms should perform risk assessments of their online and operating systems to ensure that sensitive information is not accessible on the Web; lock up servers; and install antivirus and antispyware software and firewalls. Workers should be kept abreast of new security threats and be required to sign a security agreement stating that they will follow the company's security policies and report suspicious activity to managers, who are required to inform local law enforcement, the FBI, the Secret Service, and customers, depending on the situation. Finally, companies should back up data no less than once a week, encrypt sensitive data, store data in an off-site location, and develop contingency plans so that they can stay in business--moving to a different location if necessary--following a cyber-security attack.
http://www.smallbusinesscomputing.com/biztools/article.php/370467
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Virtual Worlds Catching on in Workplace
San Jose Mercury News (CA) (10/10/07) ; Boslet, Mark

Cisco Systems is just one firm engaged in the virtual world Second Life, but many firms use the virtual world to provide partners and service providers with remote access to product exhibits and other services. Cisco, and potentially other firms, expect Second Life to improve workplace collaboration and productivity. Cisco created workrooms for its engineers and other workers to communicate more readily and collaborate on a variety of projects despite their geographic distance from one another. Advocates of the virtual world say, "Companies can save on travel time and cut down on greenhouse gases fueling global warming." Critics are concerned about the security risks these virtual worlds pose, and are concerned about the additional technology investments necessary to administer these 3-D workspaces and virtual conference rooms. However, IBM and Sun Microsystems claim the virtual worlds also foster greater interaction among workers, with pre-meeting mingling. Companies allowing workers to work from outside the office find the virtual worlds help employees feed their need for social interaction, helping them connect with far-flung co-workers and increase collaboration. However, security and interoperability of these virtual worlds needs improvement, according to experts.
http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_7134583

How Disaster-Tolerant Is Your Company?
NewsFactor Network (10/09/07) ; Laliberte, Bob

In the field of business continuity (BC) and disaster recovery (DR), a new term recently emerged: disaster tolerance. Today, companies want to guarantee continuous operations no matter what happens because they are unable to afford downtime, as downtime results in lost revenue, productivity, opportunities, customers, and brand damage. Fifteen years ago, most companies simply made a nightly back-up tape that was sent to an off-site vault, a model that would not stand up to a wide-scale disaster. Today, companies that previously possessed only one data center now possess two data centers, and those centers are substantially further apart. Data center technologies also have progressed to facilitate failover of applications and servers as well as stored data. Other technologies include data and application mirroring, redundant communication links to a duplicate workspace, and remotely clustering servers. Indeed, "disaster tolerant" environments can recover all key applications, regain all data, and provide end users with access to everything they need. Though developing a disaster tolerant infrastructure can be expensive and complicated, technology has progressed to the point where costs are coming down. Still, protection levels tend to vary based on the company's industry and size. Experts say conducting a precise business impact analysis is the best method for balancing a disaster tolerant environment with a desire to control costs. Companies also must be vigilant about reviewing and updating their plans to take future threats into account and should stay abreast of technological advances, such as the virtualization services.
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=02100000P5CL

CPA Goes CSI
Hartford Courant (CT) (10/07/07) ; Posada, Janice

In the past several years, the number of fraud and embezzlement cases have been on the rise. Every year, U.S. organizations lose approximately 5 percent of their revenue to these types of crimes. In 2006, these losses added up to about $650 billion. It is this rising trend that has many businesses turning to forensic accountants. Firms that provide these services allow companies to discreetly track down employee fraud. This is an important service, since many organizations are wary of involving the police because they do not want the media coverage that comes with prosecution. In addition, if the fraudster is in jail, there's no way they can pay back the money they owe. Forensic accounting services often include business valuations, reconstructing lost records, and cooperating with police to convict fraud suspects. Most often, forensic accountants say the schemes they encounter are those that have been around for years, skimming off the cash drawer, writing company checks to themselves, and billing their employers with counterfeit invoices. Still, in some ways technology has made cooking the books an easier task. Some accounting programs allow amounts to be easily altered at any time, a much more difficult task when dealing with hard copies.
http://www.courant.com/business/hc-forensic1007.artoct07,0,3708083.story

DR Planning Begins With Commitment
SearchSMB.com (10/09/07) ; Connolly, James M.

All small and midsize firms should have disaster recovery (DR) and business continuity plans in place, as the chances of going out of business top 60 percent once a company has been offline following a disaster for 10 days or more, says Enterprise Management Associates senior analyst Mike Karp. If companies are unable to resume business in a timely manner, Karp says customers and employees will move on. When formulating a DR plan, it is important that upper management be in favor of the plan and that everyone involved makes a commitment to the ongoing process. Experts underscore the importance of making a list of what equipment and applications are in use, which services need to be restored right away, what equipment is needed to resume operations off-site, and which employees need to take part in recovery efforts. Additionally, firms should back up all data--including base images of every server--using two types of media and two off-site storage locations. Companies also should locate office space accessible in an emergency and prepare employees for the possibility of working from home. Finally, they should go online to view DR plans posted by organizations and universities as models and frequently test all aspects of the plan, from phone notifications to data restoration.
http://searchsmb.techtarget.com/tip/0,289483,sid44_gci1276028,00.
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In-House Internet Aims to Recapture Staff Attention
Financial Times (10/01/07) ; Rigby, Rhymer

A number of businesses are taking steps to make the company intranet more interesting and usable. For example, American Energy's intranet now offers employees an eBay-style marketplace, corporate e-greetings, anniversaries, and Web page hosting. Other companies also offer video and photos of company events, employee blogs, and message boards. Some employers are even considering hosting dating services. Intranets are an important tool for keeping employees connected and fostering teamwork. These myriad functions ensure businesses get their money's worth from an intranet page because it encourages employees to use it on a much more regular basis.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f86fe3b0-7032-11dc-a6d1-0000779fd2ac.ht
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Software as a Serpent
CFO (09/07) Vol. 23 , No. 9 , P. 31 ; Edwards, John

More companies are turning to SaaS (Software-as-a-Service), and Gartner analyst Robert Desisto expects 25 percent of new business software will be rented by 2011. The percentage is notable considering the current generation of on-demand software has only been available for about the past four to five years. While subscription-based software continues to catch on, many business managers prefer to purchase software and run it on in-house servers. Under its previous CEO and CFO, Covalent Technologies tried a hosted CRM application, but the move was a failure for the open-source software developer. "There was a lot of expense and cost, and some painful learning curves," says Ryan Lindsay, Covalent's COO. SaaS is touted for lowering upfront capital costs, streamlining maintenance, and easy scalability, but companies could have major problems getting their current applications to share data with an outsourced program, as was the case with Covalent. Many companies have a culture of managing things internally and want to control key applications, and ownership gives them something to show for their investment for many years.
http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/9678354