2011 is the latest version of ISO/IEC 20000 standard set dealing with IT Service Management. GogoTraining offers the Foundation and the Associate courses which provide an excellent basis for companies to implement and use IT Service Management according to the internationally accepted ISO/IEC 20000 standard. The programs developed by EXIN supplements the essence of ITIL® with the quality- and consistency- thinking of the ISO approach, and also adds role-based thinking to it. The EXIN IT Service Management qualification is an extremely practical exam program. With an ITSM certificate, you can show that you are able do a professional job of IT service management. Get a fresh start in 2013 – check out these courses on GogoTraining.

Revenge of the nerds?!

A report ranking the best jobs in 2013 is chock full of IT roles, with database administrator, systems analyst, software developer and Web developer achieving rare air.

According to the recent U.S. News and World Report findings, reported on recently in InfoWorld, those positions took up nearly half the “top ten” spots on the list. Computer programmer, IT manager and systems administrator roles cracked the top 25.

The ranking of 100 jobs was based on the hiring demand using U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics findings and scored out through salary, job prospects, growth potential and other factors.

Though these factors don’t universally grade out at the high end for each and every IT job on the list (for example, IT manager roles rank high for stress level, but also top out on potential with a projected 18 percent employment growth rate in the next decade), the “in-your-face” presence of so many IT roles among the upper echelon of this list signals that, indeed, techies are in high demand these days.

Are you behind in newer technologies, or need a fresh career in IT? Look at GogoTraining’s curriculum offerings. Training can move your career in new directions.

Source: CompTIA IT Career Blog

Whether you’re an active job seeker in the ever-changing IT industry or an entrenched veteran in need of new challenges, your New Year’s resolutions are ready-made.

A clear takeaway from the recent article in CIO.com offering career resolutions is all IT pros need to evolve along with the industry. As organizations gear up to add staff in an IT job market expected to hit the ground running in the year to come, your organized competitors for those jobs are already doing much of the following:

• Expand your sphere of influence to understand the big-picture business side of the industry you target
• Chart out a career map which includes a skills analysis, plan to bridge skills gaps and network of peers and mentors
• Build a current, dynamic personal website to market your “brand”
• Keep on top of your social profile by searching for yourself to see what comes up, much like your prospective hiring manager would
• Proper interview follow-up can pay under-appreciated dividends
• Get out of the comfort zone with new classes, seminars and industry introductions

Check out GogoTraining’s expansive list of video based courses and try something new – shake it up!

Source: CompTIA IT Careers Blog

Today is December 12, 2012. If you’re a Facebook, Twitter or another social network user, you’ve seen “12-12-12” documented heavily for the last week. The fascination with this date is that we’ll never experience another set of all three – the day, the month and the year being the same in our lifetime (if you’re throttling yourself wondering why, there is no 13th month). The next occurrence will be the year 2112, and I think I can safely say that anyone who has the capability to read this article will not be around then.

So I thought it would be interesting to look at what are some other things that we will never see again: Blockbuster – once the king of VHS and DVD in-store rentals; Hostess brands – you remember Twinkies?; MySpace – one of the first social networking sites.

Innovation at all levels impacts how long a company can stay in business. It’s needed in product updates, packaging, updating applicability, communication and audience. We live in a  interesting times, where word of mouth means more than ever before thanks to Facebook and Twitter; where advertising has moved from the printed page to Google Ad Words (Google’s advertising program); and where we learn about the products and services we’ll buy looking at screens that minimally measure 2.5 X 4. Constant innovation is needed. Incorporating new technologies can give you access to a new audience, improve your product or service above your competition or provide a much desired feature. Staying on the “in business” list requires innovation and inspiration. 2013 is waiting…..

Are you old enough to remember when the IT department was made up of mainframe computers, and users had to file requests for reports they wanted? The IT department had “kingdom” control over information. The penetration of PCs into that arena caused a huge paradigm shift, as control shifted from the IT department to the user. With that came a new set of business rules, and the first signs of computer security as we know it today. Mind you, the mainframe never left the scene; its functionality shifted to tasks that were best suited for that environment instead of the overly dynamic environment of the user request. But the PC forever changed the way information is commmunicated within organizations. And here we are again looking down the long barrel of another shift – this one caused by multiple technologies, the Cloud and smart mobile devices.

The Cloud is the source of the shift up, but not because it’s new exciting technology; this technology has been around for a long time. We just haven’t needed it till now. As companies handle increasingly large amounts of data and face the hard economics of enlarging data centers and adding servers, the Cloud is starting to look “mighty fine” as an alternative. Company IT departments are grappling with security and privacy issues. Security plays an important role but is in the best interest of the supplier to have the latest security measures since this is the number one concern of clients. Privacy is currently being handled through authentication involving limited to full access based on usernames and passwords, and job roles defined around that. There are many ramifications including impact or shift to jobs, and will become evident as the trend continues.

Smart phones and tablets are causing a shift out for IT, as more and more employees are conducting business from these devices, and the devices are achieving networking and computing abilities similar to the PC. Security and privacy as in the Cloud, have bubbled up to the surface as the key concerns. As organizations adopt their use for their employees, concerns with security have increased with such things as information-stealing applications.  The variety of phones and operating systems also poses a challenge for organizational support, along with the additional training needed. Business rules are popping up to deal with such issues as what information should and shouldn’t be stored on the device; who owns the information that is stored, how frequently the syncing of that data occurs and many others.

Here we go again….

Source: Intel.com, Intel’s Vision of the Ongoing Shift to Cloud Computing white paper.

http://computer.howstuffworks.com, Cloud Computing Concerns, Jonathan Strickland

http://www.spsm-workshop.org, 2nd Annual ACM CCS Workshop on Security and Privacy in Smartphones and Mobile Devices (SPSM)

That is what the marketplace is saying. Sales of smart phones are expected to increase 20% (yes, 20%, that is not a typographical error) in 2013, accounting for over 50% of IT industry growth. Without it, anticipated growth is a mere 2.9%.

And within the smart phone market, who is the winner? Android phones ! With over 64% of market sales this last summer, the Android phones, specifically from Samsung leaped forward. So is anyone reading their email and accessing the internet on their PC anymore? Apparently, this is also a shrinking market as more and more people use their smart phones for these functions. People accessing the Internet through PCs will shrink by 15 million over the next four years, while the number of smart phone users will increase by 91 million. Trends are predicting that we’ll all walking around with smart phone and tablets, and PCs will become a thing of the past.

Imagine this brave new world as Aldous Huxley coined the phrase.  (Who’s he, you ask? He wrote a classic book – you remember those? Paper, binding, page numbers at the bottom, roughly 5 X 7 inches). Business conducted in coffee shops, parks, restaurants, subways, street corners. Corporate headquarters serving to bring groups together rather than house offices. Streets with standing desks position every several yards.

What about developing countries? Will they be left behind? No! They are one of the fastest growing markets for inexpensive smart phones. With the advent of several manufacturers producing $100 smartphones coupled with moves to 3G networks, these countries are joining this new world in spite of average earnings of a few dollars a day.

Lots to think about as we move into 2013!

Sources: Techcrunch.com, Gartner: Global Mobile Sales Down 2%, Smartphones Surge 43%, Apple Stalls as Fans Hold Out for New iPhone

Network World, IDC’s 2013 Tech Predictions: Mobile Devices, Emerging Markets Drive Growth

Beta.Fool.com, Smartphone Usage Expands in Emerging Markets

IT Security is one of those often spoken about but not always executed well topics. How aware are you of the breaches going on? Here’s a just a few from the long list for 2012:

• Over 1,400,000 IDs were compromised in US based public health databases alone (in 2012 to date). These were linked to their social security numbers.
• Over six million passwords were stolen in a hack of the professional networking site linkedin.com.
• Hours ahead of its planned protest against certain incidents of internet censorship in India , hacker collective Anonymous attacked and brought down the website run by Computer Emergency Response Team India (CERT-I n), the country’s premier agency dealing with cyber security contingencies.
• Hackers Target Police, City of Chicago Websites before the NATO summit (supposedly when security would be high!) temporarily crippling them.
• The website of the Afghan Taliban was repeatedly taken down for the third time in less than a year crippled the main website of the Afghan Taliban, with a Taliban spokesman on Friday blaming Western intelligence agencies amid an intensifying cyber war with the insurgents. The unidentified hackers broke into the Taliban’s El Emara.

So what are we in store for in 2013? Here are the top areas to consider in IT security for 2013.

1. The Cloud – questions of security are more complicated because of oversight and qualifications. With the Cloud being so new, assessments of providers don’t offer years of data yet.
2. Consumerization – with many companies moving to mobile devices, the management of different security profiles, a range of levels of trust with users and devices, and a diverse set of end points is a complex and diverse task.

Source: Gartner Group report, OpenSpace.com

It’s been a hard year for corporate executives. Not only have they faced the challenges of moving their companies forward in a trickle-growth economy, they have also had to manage this forward move with less staff, less budget and more dispersed employee locations. Many are suffering under the stress of these responsibilities, and an extended vacation would be a welcome break.  Breaks of this nature can create havoc without the right team to step in temporarily at the helm. We have the perfect candidates to to consider.

As Chief Executive Officer, let me introduce Max Shepherd. Mr. Shepherd has an extensive background in managing tough situations. He held the CEO position at ASPCA for many years,and brought them to prominence in their field through his innovative marketing and barking expertise. He has also earned his bones in staff management. His hallmark is managing his underlings as he would his own family, and through Human Resources, is known for an organization that is very protective of employee rights and abilities.

Mr. Shepherd works closely with his right-hand man, Rob Malmut. Mr. Malmut has been working with Mr. Shepherd for over 10 years and provides a complimentary set of skills that enable the team to create a successful working dynamic and environment in which seniors managers thrive. Prior to working with Mr. Shepherd, Mr. Malmut was responsible for IT Security and the Press Room at the Iditarod in Alaska, and provided assistance with grant writing to the Alaska State government. He is known for his succinct communication style and rough but steady manner.

Mr. Shepherd’s team includes Director of Information Technology, John Mutt. Mr. Mutt has worked with Mr. Shepherd for the last 7 years and bring a great deal of varied experience to the team. Prior to working with Mr. Shepherd, Mr. Mutt worked for Petco, a pet products and food retailer, and was responsible for revolutionizing the web site purchasing capabilities. He also worked at Fancy Feast creating and maintaining their IT systems but left because of philosophical differences. While Mr. Mutt has a quiet, and seemingly insecure countenance,  he is a great asset to the team and very effective in his role.

Mr. Shepherd also brings with him a very capable manager of finance Timothy Boxer. Mr. Boxer has worked with Mr. Shepherd for 4 years and has a strong international background in finance. In his last position, he was Chief Financial Officer for Hanes. Through diligent oversight of the budget and restructuring of debt, he enabled Hanes to step into an offer with Fruit of the Loom. Prior to this position, he managed the financial consulting division of Devereau, Oberlin and Gossinger, (D.O.G. Consultants), an international consulting firm that held many contracts in Europe and the Middle East.

Mr. Shepherd and his team are ready to be of service to your organization. They can be contacted at 877-546-4446 or by email, info@gogotraining.com.

Sources: http://nickvt.blogspot.com/2012/05/dogs-office-environment.html

While many are actively seeking work, there are locations around the country where work is actively seeking employees. Location plays an important role – some very small and quaint towns may find it hard due to lack of dining and entertainment sources to attract and expensive tourist locations may find it challenging because of housing and food costs. So how do you manage?

CIO Magazine’s Martha Heller offers advice to look within your organization with these ideas:

• Consider technologies that can reduce the number of hours your staff spend on a particular task. A task like syncing calendars can be made easier and less time consuming by taking advantage of wireless options.
• Grow the IT resources you need. A little retraining can go a long way and is much more cost effective than the hiring process and additional salary.
• Make sure your people are as skilled and knowledgeable as possible. Heller sited an example where a company certified their project managers in PMP and significantly increased their project completion success rate.
• Develop leaders from within your retained knowledge base so they can become resources for newer staff.
• Pair senior staff with newer staff as a means of passing the internal knowledge base. It provides the senior member with the opportunity to see process and the organization through newer eyes and provide the junior member with the seasoned resource and experience.
• Customize on-site training to take advantage of the instructor resource coming to your facility. Courses can be customized from content specifically targeted to what your organization needs to learn to hands-on exercises that mirror current and actual projects.

On the job mentoring and training are certainly key factors in maximizing current staff when hiring exactly what you need is not an option.

Source: Martha Heller is the author of the upcoming book The CIO Paradox and she is president of Heller Search Associates, a CIO and senior IT executive recruiting firm.

Yes, ISO/IEC 20000:2011 and ITIL 2011 CAN play nicely with each other. As a matter of fact, ISO/IEC 20000:2011 is the standard under which the ITIL framework is housed.

Isabelle Perron in an article in 2011, explains it this way, “An ISO standard is based on the consensus of 160 countries agreeing on a common approach or method of “doing” something such as how to manage IT services as is the case of ISO/IEC 20000-1.  ITIL®, on the other hand, is a comprehensive and cohesive set of best practices aimed at identifying, planning, delivering and supporting IT services to the business.  An organization gets certified as ISO-compliant; individuals or organizations are qualified as being ITIL® competent.  Processes which emanate from both ISO and ITIL® are complementary.”

Standards deliver a measurable set of common best practice benchmarks for organizations and businesses. When you comply with a certain standard, it indicates that you have reached at least the minimum level of given benchmarks and you’re committed to ongoing improvement. An outsider can the assume that a given level of quality can be anticipated. The other important aspect of a standard is that it is auditable and assessable by independent and authorized auditors.

EMC Infracorp.com in a white paper states that standards provide direction for achieving the following business advantages:

• Efficiency – creating more efficiencies in IT is critical with budget cuts to infrastructure.
• Integrity – Standards provide the needed benchmark in process control areas for regulatory compliance and major partners.
• Alignment to business objectives -Standards can ensure that effectiveness is reviewed and measured against business needs, and that efficiency goals have not compromised the objectives of the process.
• Agility – IT is increasingly required to adapt to the dynamic nature of business. Clear processes and process ownership, with continuous review, increase the capacity for IT to respond to change.

To support its benchmarks and core principles, ISO 20000 depends on frameworks such as ITIL therefore the alignment between ISO and ITIL is intentional.

Sources: White paper-EMC Infracorp.com; ISO/IEC 20000:2011 – The new version: how does it align with ITIL® Edition 2011? October 12, 2011 by Isabelle Perron

A Short Plug for Black Friday Sales: GogoTraining is stepping into unconventional, unusual ground on Friday, November 23rd. Be sure to stop back and check it out!