IT Management
AMR Research, 1/13/04: If IT Is the Fabric of Business, IT Governance Is the Stitching
Dennis Gaughan
Even before they devise Information Technology (IT) Governance strategies, companies often struggle to define the term. Our discussions with numerous IT organizations make one fact clear: IT Governance means widely different things to different people.
AMR Research has developed a two-part Webster-like definition that has been well received:
-- IT Governance is a process for managing and controlling the use of technology to create value for the organization.
-- Effective IT Governance improves IT quality, which affects every business process in the organization.
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Wireless
Computerworld, 1/13/04: Wireless LAN security worries on horizon
Vendors are struggling to explain strategies for moving to the more secure 802.11i standard
Story by Ellen Messmer
This is supposed to be the year that the wireless industry addresses serious security shortcomings that are holding back enterprise wireless LAN rollouts. But looming implementation issues and vendor disagreement are raising questions about how soon the security dilemma will be resolved.
The 802.11i protocol for wireless encryption is on track to become an IEEE standard by June, but it looks like existing WLAN customers seeking to adopt it will need to swap out hardware instead of just upgrading software. In addition, Cisco Systems Inc. and Microsoft Corp. have gone their separate ways on a WLAN authentication technology called Protected Extensible Authentication Protocol (PEAP), creating a schism that could result in interoperability issues.
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Microsoft
ZDNet, 1/13/04: Microsoft warns of three flaws
By Robert Lemos
Microsoft released patches on Tuesday for three flaws, the most serious of which could give attackers a back door into the company's security server product.
The most major flaw affects Microsoft's Internet Security and Acceleration Server 2000, which is included with Small Business Server 2000 and 2003 editions. The flaw lies in the way a filter in the server product's firewall processes data formatted in the real-time multimedia communications standard, known as International Telecommunications Union (ITU) H.323.
Internet Security and Acceleration Server is designed to help protect companies' networks from online attacks.
"It is kind of the same situation that we have seen--a certain level of human error is going to be present, and that is true even for security software," said Stephen Toulouse, security program manager at Microsoft.
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Microsoft’s Official World View, 1/13/04: Connecting In The Digital World
Computers should be liberating, not frustrating
Information technology has come a long way in the past two decades, and the next 10 years will bring even more impressive advances. Many of them will free you to focus less on technology and more on what it helps you accomplish.
Hundreds of millions of people are now using computers for communication, increased productivity, learning and entertainment. The benefits are enormous, yet sometimes technology is frustrating. Computing devices do not always work well with each other. Software can be difficult to configure and use. Information is hard to find when scattered among many machines.
Technology should never get in your way. Large companies have staff to keep their computers working well together, but families should not need to hire a "chief information officer" for their homes.
Editorial Comment: On the one hand, it’s cheering that Microsoft has finally reached the conclusion, some twenty years into the personal computer business, that computers ought to be simple to use. Even more reason to be delighted comes when they write that they will collaborate with other industry leaders to create open standards. On the other hand, perhaps we shouldn’t feel too elated. As someone dear to me once said, Even a stopped clock tells the right time twice a day. And just remember, ease of use is just behind security on Microsoft’s corporate agenda.
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Microsoft’s Official World View, 1/13/04: Microsoft's Top 10 New Year's Resolutions for IT Organizations
Deploy new technology options for holding virtual meetings to cut your company's travel expenses.
REDMOND, Wash., Jan. 13, 2004 -- By this time each January, some people have already strayed from too-ambitious New Year's resolutions, and perhaps even moved personal goals like daily gym workouts to the "maybe next year" category. On the business side, however, there's still plenty of opportunity to turn good intentions into effective action.
In keeping with its scharter to share best practices with customers, the internal IT organization that in essence "runs" Microsoft has drawn up a Top 10 list of New Year's resolutions aimed at helping businesses ensure IT success in 2004 (see list at right). To learn more about these guidelines and the reasoning behind them, PressPass sought out Ron Markezich, general manager of Global Technology Services for Microsoft IT, and Pete Boden, the group's director of information security.
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