Outsourcing
Computerworld, 1/26/04: Bank Group Offers Guidelines on Outsourcing Security Risks
Publishes 33-page spreadsheet to help gauge if vendors can protect IT systems
Story by Lucas Mearian
A consortium of the country's top financial services firms last week published a set of industry guidelines to use in evaluating the security risks of IT outsourcing deals.
The Banking Industry Technology Secretariat (BITS) in Washington released the security guidelines as an addendum to an existing framework for managing business relationships with IT services providers. The group's goal is to help financial services firms streamline the outsourcing evaluation process and better manage the risks of handing over control of key corporate systems to vendors.
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Infoworld, 1/26/04: India outsourcers nonplussed by U.S. Senate restrictions
Senate bill restricts government contractors from outsourcing work overseas
By John Ribeiro
The U.S. Senate passed an omnibus appropriations bill totaling $328 billion Thursday, containing provisions that restrict government contractors from outsourcing work overseas -- commonly know as offshoring.
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IT Management
Computerworld, 1/26/04: The Top Five Issues for CIOs
Opinion by Barbara Gomolski
Although many of us are looking forward to this new year with an eye toward the improving economy, it's shaping up to be a challenging one for IT managers. Here are the most important IT management issues that CIOs will confront in 2004:
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2. IT sourcing. How and where will you get your IT organization's work done? That's a question many IT leaders will grapple with in the coming year. Some IT managers will be wooed by the offshore outsourcing hype without fully understanding the risks. Others will fail to take advantage of alternative sourcing models in order to maintain the status quo. In some companies, the chief financial officer will drive the push to outsource IT, believing it to be the most cost-effective approach.
In 2004, many IT leaders will have to evaluate their current methods of staffing, as this issue is now visible at the highest levels of the organization. Therefore, it behooves IT managers to proactively consider their sourcing options, keeping in mind that those options will continue to evolve throughout the year.
A key part of this exercise is determining whether your current model allows the IT organization (and the company as a whole) to be competitive. Answering this question will prove difficult for the many CIOs who lack the internal statistics to determine the IT organization's core competencies. For many IT leaders, the best approach will be to step back and determine what the IT group is really good at, before diving into a new sourcing model.
Security
C|net, 1/26/04: The virus hunter
By Michael Kanellos
As you might guess, Vincent Gullotto, who runs Network Associates' McAfee Anti-Virus Emergency Response Team, gets a lot of early-morning emergencies.
The AVERT group is charged with examining and subsequently containing the vast amount of malicious code floating around the Net. Although some types of threats are fading, others, such as spoofs that can lead to credit card theft, are sharpening.
So which side has the upper hand? Gullotto spoke to CNET News.com about how Network Associates manages attacks and the changing nature of computer security vulnerabilities.
Q: Give a quick overview of your department.
A: AVERT is basically the antivirus research analysis and operating management group for Network Associates' McAfee security business units. On a daily basis, we look at viruses or follow up potential viruses, work out solutions for our customers and determine what steps they should take. We manage services where you can submit a sample of what you believe is a virus to our Web site that will scan it within 60 to 90 seconds and give a response to let you know.
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Optimism
The New York Times, 1/27/04: Cisco Chief Calls Productivity New Engine of Wealth
By MARK LANDLER
DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan. 25 - Four years ago, John T. Chambers seemed to sit atop the highest peak at this Alpine ski resort, where the World Economic Forum convenes its annual meeting of government officials and corporate chiefs. Then, with the bursting of the Internet bubble, he fell to the bottom.
The other day, as Mr. Chambers, the chief executive of Cisco Systems, surveyed the view from a hotel overlooking Davos, he appeared to be on top again.
While Cisco no longer grows 50 percent a year, as it did in the supercharged 1990's, Mr. Chambers is sure he has found a new elixir for growth.
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Otherwise
The BBC, 1/27/04: Rings dominates Oscar nominations
The Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson is up for best director
The final Lord of the Rings film is hot favourite to sweep this year's Oscars after being given 11 nominations.
The Return of the King is up for the prestigious best picture prize, best director and best adapted screenplay.
Naval adventure Master and Commander has 10 nominations while Civil War epic Cold Mountain and depression-era drama Seabiscuit have seven each.
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