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

Yes, the mind works just like A MUSCLE! I recently read that when you learn new things, you are continuing to expand connections in the brain. When you stop learning, your only option is to use what you already know. At that point, your brain begins the process of decay. There was a very interesting study done with London taxi drivers  by Katherine Woollett and  Eleanor Maguire updated last year that examined the increased grey matter to the back of the hippocampus in the brain. The hippocampus is connected with spatial awareness and memory.This change was attributed to the time spent on memorizing the 4,000 plus routes needed to get around London’s street and the minute by minute adjustments that were needed based on traffic patterns.

In order to be considered for a cabbie position, a candidate needs to know “the location of every street within six miles of Charing Cross – all 25,000 of the capital’s arteries, veins and capillaries. They also need to know the locations of 20,000 landmarks – museums, police stations, theatres, clubs, and more – and 320 routes that connect everything up. It can take two to four years to learn everything.”

To earn the right to be a cabbie they are quizzed on the best route between two locations. They cannot bring an information with them, no helpful tips, books or papers; only their mind. “They even have to narrate the details of their journey, complete with passed landmarks, road names, junctions, turns and maybe even traffic lights. Only after successfully doing this, several times over, can they earn a cab driver’s license.” stated the Discover Magazine article reviewing the research. Those applying for this position have been memorizing what has been coined as The Knowledge since 1865! While the cabbies are active in this career, their hippocampus is significantly larger than people in other jobs, and shrinks down to normal size when they retire.

So how’s this relevant to what you’re doing? If you’re in a position where the tasks are not changing much, choose to learn new information – pick a new technology or related one and keep expanding those grey cells. If you’re not currently employed, keep your mind active by learning. Pick up a new hobby, start up a new interest. Keeping your mind active and growing is crucial to those in the field of IT, where change is the only constant.

Excerpts taken from December 8th, 2011 by Ed Yong in Learning, Memory, Neuroscience and psychology, Discover Magazine Online.

Did you know, that globally organizations store about 2.2 zettabytes of business data and pay $1.1 trillion to store and secure it annually (Symantec 2012 Information Survey)?

• Stored data represents about 49% of an organization’s worth
• 42% of data is “duplicate” data – costing $462 billion to store and secure
• Problem:  There are just not enough Storage Professionals

Here’s How to Secure your Future

Get into storage today and be part of the solution.  One of the fastest growing segments in IT is Storage.  The growth in this area is exponential and the shortage of qualified professionals is severe.  In order to bridge the gap CompTIA and the Storage Network Industry Association (SNIA) have created a Storage+ Curriculum and Certification program.

Here’s How to Get Ready for Certification

• Train a group of people at your location – apx. $18,000 or
• Take a Public 5 day classroom course – apx. $2,500/person or
• Learn at your own pace  – 4 course series $1,400/person

Use The Only CompTIA Certified Online Learning Provider – GogoTraining

Get the training you need online at 1/2 the price with GogoTraining’s CompTIA Certified online training course – the only certified online course in the world.  Key features include:

• Save 50% – only $1,400 for all 4 courses
• Train for 1 Year
• Ask the instructor questions
• Get a set of course materials
• Practice with quizzes and solutions
• Order by July 31, 2012 and save $200 with coupon code: JulyStorage200

Have questions?  We are here to help:  1.877.546.4446

Need group pricing?  Give us a call:  1.877.546.4446

Rather email?  Reach us at:  customerservice@gogotraining.com

The world of training has changed. Used to be you had find a location offering a course, travel to take the course and pay $2,000 or more to take the course. These days are gone. It is time to say goodbye to expensive, time consuming classroom courses and hello to the affordable, online 24/7 experts at GogoTraining.

Shake It UP!

Management at GogoTraining has over 50 years experience delivering instructor-led classroom training.  About 3 years ago we were asked to put instructor-led classroom courses online 24/7 for less than $600/course.  The deal was that the courses HAD TO be written and taught by top experts.  The courses HAD TO be identical to their classroom equivalent AND they HAD TO include the ability to interact with the instructors.

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Enter the GogoTraining interactive platform where you can take courses that cost $2,500 to $4,000 in the classroom for under $600/course from the same great course authors and instructors who teach these courses in the classroom.

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According to The State of the IT Skills Gap published by CompTIA the answer is YES. Not only is there a skills gap, but it is impacting productivity.

This makes us ask 2 questions:  (1) How did we get here; and (2) What do we do about it?

How Did We Get Here?

In answer to how did we get here the answer is pretty simple.  When times get tough one of the first things to go is the training budget.  Seems that somehow executives forget that it takes employees armed with the best technical skills to keep their organizations competitive.  Stopping training is like going to sleep when winter sets in.  Executives believe that if they cut as much as possible they will live until Spring.  However, in their case, when Spring comes nothing will be in bloom because they didn’t plant the training seeds of success.

What Can We Do About It?

In answer to what do we do about it?  The answer may seem simple, but it is not.  You can’t just say train, train, train.  Organizations and individuals need to do a skills gap analysis to determine where they are and where they need to be and then identify the many ways they can get there.  The skills gap analysis does not have to be complicated.  In fact, we offer a FREE 10 Step Guide to Training Success that helps individuals and organizations to help them in this process.  If you would like a copy you can sign up for a Free Account or send us an email request and we will be happy to send it out to you.

There are many great ways to get up to speed quickly and they each depend on a number of factors.  In the coming week we will be posting information on classroom training, online training and self-paced training.  If you have any questions you would like me to answer, send me an email at marianne@gogotraining.com.

As part of our March Madness Program we are giving away a course to every 100th person to Register for a Free Account. All you have to do is create a Free Account and tell us which course you would like to win.  This promotion will run through March 2012.  Don’t hesitate, Sign Up for Free TODAY!

Today more than ever knowing more is always the way to go.

Companies are looking for ways to advance and save at the same time.  Outsourcing is big and one of the main reasons for outsourcing is the ability to tap into a field of talent in a heartbeat.  If you want to get or stay employed in today’s economy, you must take the time to master as many technologies as possible and thereby make yourself an invaluable asset to the global market.

So what is the ticket today in the world of programming?

• Java lays the foundation for Android Programming
• Objective C lays the foundation for iOS 5 Programming
• Python is just plain hot

If you are considering becoming a programmer, then C Programming is a good place to start.

If you have any questions you can reach me directly at 877.546.4446 or by email at marianne@gogotraining.com.