Were you aware that last Thursday, January 28, was “Data Privacy Day”? Did you have an office party or special celebration to commemorate this internationally recognized day? If you were like most of us, you had no idea that there was even such a day.
Data Privacy Day is a celebration of the dignity of the individual expressed through personal information, as described The Privacy Projects, an organization focused on protecting personally-identifiable information for businesses, individuals, government agencies, non-profit groups, academics, teachers and students.
Corporations such as Intel, Google, Microsoft, LexisNexis, AT&T, Intuit and Oracle are all involved. Check it out and see how you can get involved in protecting the privacy of your data, your company’s data and/or your customers’ data.
And, don’t forget, February 8 is “Clean Out Your Computer Day”. To see a complete list of holidays and special days, check out About.com.
There is a lot of buzz at this time of year about what technologies will be “hot” for the new year. In a conversation I recently had with Peter Briggs, president of SafeData, he talked about the growing popularity of fully managed high availability services.
“SafeData has continued to see steady growth in the adoption of its fully managed high availability service for the IBM “power” systems,” explained Briggs. “We are able to deliver a stable and tested solution for high availability and data recovery for less than what it would cost an organization to build and manage its own solution internally.”
Briggs further explained how SafeData’s managed HA service works. “We have a team of high availability experts that maintain stability and functionality of our clients’ replicated systems utilizing HA software solutions from Visions Solutions Inc. SafeData takes full responsibility for the replication, which is monitored and maintained 24/7 x 365. Our certified staff will correct errors, run audits, perform role swaps and provide detailed reporting all under a subscription basis. Almost all of our HA clients have moved to the fully managed service and rely on us for the availability of their data.”
For more information on managed HA services for IBM iSeries, download this free white paper “High Confidence in IBM iSeries High Availability: Six Ways Businesses Can Win Big with High Availability Managed Services”. Feel free to post your questions or comments below.
After a year like 2009, there is quite a bit of discussion around how 2010 will be. Will the economic climate improve? Will certain industries be better positioned for success in the coming year? We came across two studies that indicate that 2010 might be status quo for the IT industry.
Gartner is predicting that “IT budgets will essentially be flat in 2010, increasing by a weighted global average of 1.3 percent in nominal terms, compared with 2009 levels where IT budgets declined 8.1 percent, according to results from the 2010 CIO survey by Gartner Executive Programs (EXP).” In the January 19, 2010 press release announcing this survey, there are lists of the top 10 business and technology priorities for 2010. Virtualization is ranked as the top technology priority as CIOs are looking for technologies that can be implemented quickly and carry a low capital investment.
Just as IT budgets are expected to stay flat, Janco Associates, Inc. conducted a 2010 IT Salary Survey and found that “many companies have instituted hiring and spending freezes in addition to laying-off of staff. This has been augmented by extensive outsourcing, bonus reductions, and elimination of IT contractors.” Many middle managers have already been eliminated and in 2010 there is expected to be more layoffs, as well as a continuing reduction in benefits for IT professionals.
Would you agree with these predictions or is your organization expecting a more positive recovery for 2010? At SafeData, we continue to see a tremendous interest from IT executives in our high availability and data recovery solutions as they are helping companies meet their financial constraints and need to protect their information assets. It would be nice to hear some more encouraging predictions for the coming year. Feel free to post comments below about what you’re predicting for your organization in 2010.
When we think about companies that need to protect their data, we often think of financial institutions, schools, government agencies and others that retain top-secret or personally identifiable information (PII). Trucking companies are not top of mind; however, in an article in Heavy Duty Trucking magazine on January 7 titled “Under Lock and Key: Protecting Your Data”, you will see that data protection is a challenge facing all types of organizations in every industry.
Information technology has become essential for businesses to automate their processes and become more efficient. It is no different in the trucking industry. Data has become a critical asset for managing fleets and enabling customers to know the status of their deliveries.
The Heavy Duty Trucking article uses Celadon Trucking Services, a SafeData customer, as an example. Celadon chose SafeData/HA to ensure the availability of its data and to reduce the cost of handling this important function in-house. You don’t have to be in the transportation industry to relate to this article, so check it out.
First things first – Happy New Year to all! For many, it feels good to put 2009 behind us. The SafeData team wishes all of our blog readers best wishes for happy, healthy, safe and prosperous 2010. That goes for your data too. Please make sure you take the necessary steps to make sure your organization’s data is properly backed up in 2010 and keep it safe, so it can help you be more prosperous!
It is hard to believe it has been a decade since the Y2K hoopla. It is also hard to believe that this week marks the one-year anniversary of this blog. It is amazing how time flies. As I prepared to write this blog, I took some time to look back at the blogs posted by myself and my other SafeData colleagues during this past year. I was amazed at how much ground was covered. We discussed issues ranging from the stimulus package, the Swine Flu and the job market for the IT professionals to the environmental benefits of virtualization, iSeries rapid recovery and the IBM i Manifest. We also shared articles from other industry experts to provide helpful tips and advice for technology professionals.
Now, with a year behind us, we would like to find out what you would like us to cover more in 2010. Are there topics (i.e. high availability, data recovery, telecom recovery) you would like us to discuss or are you interested in more tech tips or industry news? Please comment below and let us know what you would like to learn or discuss in the coming year.
The team at SafeData would like to take this opportunity to wish all of you and your families a happy, healthy and safe holiday season.
We look forward to continuing this blog in 2010 and discussing the new trends and technologies to come. Best wishes for a prosperous 2010!
This week, SafeData announced the move of its data center to Boston, which leads me to a discussion about data centers and the key components that every data center needs to offer.
Wikipedia defines a data center as:
“A data center or datacenter (or datacentre), also called a server farm, is a facility used to house computer systems and associated components, such as telecommunications and storage systems.”
With your organization’s data, applications and systems hosted at one of these facilities, it is critical that the center offers all the necessary features to protect your valuable assets, such as:
- Power Management – It needs to offer 100% redundancy and a backup fuel supply to ensure 100% availability in the event of a power failure.
- Environmental Controls – The center must have a heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system that guarantees the proper temperatures and controls ventilation and humidity levels.
- Fire Detection and Suppression – With the significant amount of electronics in a data center, fire is always a potential hazard. Making certain a sophisticated fire detection and sprinkler system is in place is critical.
- Physical Security – Every data center should have security guards, stringent security requirements, in addition to biometric systems and video surveillance cameras.
- Internet Connectivity – Real-time access to your data is key. Make sure the facility offers Tier 1 Internet connectivity.
- Expansion – The center should offer the flexibility to expand your physical space as needed. Look to the future.
- Compliance – Selecting a SAS 70-certified center will provide the necessary compliance features to meet the many industry and government regulatory policies in today’s market.
If you have a question pertaining to data centers, data protection, data availability, data backup, data recovery or anything related to data, please post them below and let the SafeData community share their thoughts.
In the December 2009 issue of IBM Systems Magazine, is an excellent article demonstrating the value of outsourcing data backup and recovery services. The article, Trusted Partners, written by Jim Utsler, is a case study on SafeData’s customer, Southland National Insurance Corporation, and its use of SafeData/DR.
Bentley Pearson, VP of information services for Southland Insurance, faces many of the common challenges of IT departments with limited budgets and resources. As a one-person IT department, Pearson is tasked with not only the day-to-day IT activities for the company, but also with driving the strategic direction of the technology environment for Southland.
“I’m a big believer in outsourcing whenever possible,” says [Pearson]. “The more I can put into the hands of another trusted company instead of our IT department, the better off the company is.”
Does your company outsource any of your IT services? If so, do you agree with the benefits that Pearson mentions? If not, what is holding you back? We’d love to hear your opinion on outsourcing.
It’s not the popular Twilight series, but it is definitely a must read for IT professionals, especially with an affinity toward IBM products. “Origin of Servers”, is a short story written by Joseph Kennedy, a system manager for the Teachers’ Retirement System of the City of New York who has more than 20 years of experience with the IBM i family of servers. It was published on SystemiNetwork last month.
Challenged to write a short novel within 30 days as part of the National Novel Writing Month, Kennedy’s tale of a historian, a technician and a server has received many accolades from the IBM community. It is not only an entertaining, quick read, but shares some history of the AS/400, iSeries, e-server, System i family.
If you have articles or books that you think others in the IT community would enjoy, please post them below. We’d also love to know what you thought of “Origin of Servers” and your history with the IBM server family.
With Black Friday and Cyber Monday just a few days away, holiday shopping is inevitable. If you’re like me, coming up with those perfect gift ideas is extremely difficult. I often rely on the various holiday gift guides that are published this time of year to help me get creative.
For those techies out there, there are numerous lists for the hardcore techies to the oddball tech gifts to the most popular tech gadgets of the season.
MSNBC published PCWorld’s “Holiday Tech Gear Preview” including items like digital picture frames, GPS and home theatre systems and wireless cams and USB drives.
NBC’s Today Show has slideshows on its website for “Oddball gifts for techies” and “10 gifts for gadget-lovers”. Check them out. Maybe someone on your list will want some Computer Key Cufflinks, Ice Invaders Ice Cube Tray or a Chargepod (a gadget that charges all their gadgets).
TMC.net published a “Black Friday countdown: Technology Experts share gift picks for holiday season” on November 22. This is a good one. It lists ideas for moms, kids and “tech geeks” and provides tips for purchasing these items.
The UK also publishes its fair share of lists. IT Pro recently released “A buyer’s guide to the top 10 must-have gadgets” with the Amazon Kindle and iPod Nano top on the list.
What’s on the top of your gift list this season? Please feel free to share below.
