A CIO's Musings

Is the iPad an Enterprise tool or just a toy?

2011-01-07T14:00:00.000-08:00

Reading through the “flame wars” that often flare up in the comments section following controversial online posts can be both disturbing and amusing. Following an article on tablet computing, one comment contributor stated “just face it, the iPad is only a toy!” Often times the iPad I’ve used for the last six months has been a nice toy however it has also turned my Windows 7 Laptop into a desk top. I now leave it at the office and choose to work from home or on business trips using the tablet.

As I’ve mentioned before, instant on, and a 10 hour battery life are the features I enjoy the most, but there are several applications that for me have made the iPad an Enterprise tool and more than a toy.

Email, Contacts and Calendar: These apps easily connect and integrate with our Exchange system at the office and provide the first level in making the iPad useable as a business tool

SharePlus Pro from SouthLabs (www.southlabs.com) cost: $9.99. My company deployed MOSS 2010 (SharePoint) last year. I moved all my documents from my network drive into SharePoint. SharePlus allows you to connect to Lists in SharePoint and synchronize them to the iPad giving me access to my corporate documents online or in offline mode. You can set up background synchronization and control the parameters such as the lists and file sizes to synch. Southlabs continues to develop the product and has good customer support.

Bria Softphone (www.counterpath.com) cost: free. Last year my company rolled out a VoIP phone system based on the Asterisk Open Source PBX. By trunking our Asterisk servers we have 4 digit dialing to our offices worldwide. Asterisk works with the SIP protocol which is supported by the Bria Softphone. Using the built in VPN capability of the iPad, I can use the Bria phone to place calls to phone extension in our global network.

Jump Desktop (Jumpdesktop.com) cost: $14.99. Occasionally, I need to connect to a network application on our corporate Windows system. Jump allows you to make a remote desktop connection from the iPad to another PC or a Terminal Server. The application has nice features, redirects audio to the iPad and works with the Blue Tooth keyboard.

IT Tools (Kevin Koltzau) cost: $4.99

Recently, I was having trouble accessing an application behind the company firewall from the iPad. I wanted to know the network address of the iPad to help me troubleshoot the connection problem (I have a background in Network Engineering). I also wanted to ping different hosts to diagnose what was blocking the connection. IT Tools lets me see the network address assigned to the iPad and run various network diagnostic tools.

These are just a few Apps which allow me to get more out of the iPad. I know there are many other Enterprise applications out there, but for now, these do the job for me.

What Enterprise tools do you use or do you think the iPad mainly a toy?

Can the iPad replace a Laptop?

2010-08-02T07:57:00.000-07:00

The organization I work for uses mainly Microsoft products. Like many firms, user files are stored on the network. There's a Terminal Server so telecommuters and road warriors can have remote desktop access and email his hosted on Exchange. Outlook works fine for networked or remote access to email and functions well offline . Our collaboration platform is Moss 2010 (SharePoint). SharePoint WorkSpace enables you to work with documents stored in the MOSS environment either connected or when offline.

I've found this to be a productive setup when using a desktop or notebook workstation. Connected or sitting on a plane, I can get work done. I wondered if I could I also be productive with an Apple iPad. Can it function as a business tool? I decided to give one a try and see if I could leave my laptop at the office. I realize that the iPad is not a laptop, however its small form factor, long battery life and cool interface make it a desirable traveling companion.

I do have a Blue Tooth keyboard to make typing a bit easier, although you can type pretty fast on the screen keyboard once you get used to it. First of all, connecting the iPad to my Exchange account for mail, calendar and contacts was a breeze and works well. The calendar is elegant, I can search the corporate address list, and I like the mail interface. These applications are not integrated as in Outlook, since the iOS is single tasking. You have to switch between applications however tapping on an address in contacts launches mail. I like how an audio notification chimes when ever an email arrives no matter what application you happen to be running.

There are times when I need to access a business application on the corporate network. I found "Jump RDP" which is a decent remote desktop application which lets me connect to a Terminal Server and turn the iPad into a Windows thin client. You can also connect to a PC desktop. It works with the Blue Tooth keyboard and redirects sound to the iPad.

A few months ago, I moved all of my network documents to SharePoint. Someone who responded to one of my earlier blogs, let me know about SharePlus Pro from SouthLabs, an iPad application that lets you access your SharePoint account. This is an excellent tool which also has an offline feature. The drawback is that you need to pre-navigate content which you want to access off line. Version 2.0 of this product, due out any time, will improve the offline capability and allow you to edit documents to be saved back to SharePoint. With SharePlus, you can open documents off the SharePoint server in say Pages for editing. Right now, I just mail the document to myself to save it back to SharePoint when I'm either connected with Jump RDP or when I'm back in the office.

I've not done exhaustive research on all the applications which allow the iPad to function in the enterprise. The tools I have found do enable me to leave my Laptop at the office and still get work down on the road and at the home. I'd like to get an iPad compatible stylus and try our Penultimate for taking notes.

The iPad is a lot of fun to use for entertainment, but I'm sure there are plenty of iPad applications out there that would make the iPad even better as a work tool.

Which ones have you run accross?

The Manager's Success Rate.

2010-07-13T10:22:00.001-07:00

Off and on over the last few days, I’ve been watching the live camera feed from the Gulf ocean floor at the site of the BP oil spill as crews attempt to install a new containment cap on the well. Over several days, I observed with a mixture of amazement and horror the activities taking place a mile underwater. On one hand, I’m captivated by the dexterity and skill of the remote submersible operators as they manipulate mechanical arms to handle tools and move equipment into place. On the other hand, it has been horrible watching thousands of gallons of oil gush from the uncapped well during the operation.

According to the press coverage over the last number of weeks, bad management decisions may have contributed to the biggest oil spill disaster in history. I’m not going to comment either way on that theory, however watching the attempts to fix the problem has driven home to me the following: When management messes up through poor decisions, it’s the skilled journeymen and women who end up fixing the problem. While we in leadership can point fingers and try to divert blame, the welders, crane operators and mechanical arm controllers have to do their jobs with skill and excellence to stay employed. These individuals are given very little room for error. The crane operator, who snaps a mile long cable with a 10,000 pound piece of gear on the end, will probably not work again on that job.

An acquaintance of mine who was once a manager in BP once told me that when he was hired for his role, his supervisor told him he needed to make decisions or be sacked. He then stated, “The best you will ever achieve as a decision maker is 90% good decisions”. I find a 10% error rate is pretty high. If that percentage is true in real life, then as a leader I have to realize that my error rate can cause a lot of collateral damage. I am going to need a team of great people to support me. While things are going well, I need to build and nurture and encourage that team. One day I may need them to clean up my "train wreck".

Do you find a 10% bad decision rate is acceptable in leadership? If you’re a leader, how would you rank your decision making success rate?

Tablet PC vs iPad on the road.

2010-07-08T16:46:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, I traveled to Singapore with my good friend Maurilio Amorim to attend a conference looking at TWR’s global ministry in Asia. I traveled with my trusty Dell XT2, 64 bit Windows 7 tablet Notebook. Maurilio was sporting his new Apple 3G iPad. As a busy executive, I try and remain productive on the road and maintain connectivity with my organization’s Enterprise network which includes of course email and MOSS 2010 document workspace. As the president of a Web and Marketing company, Maurilio also needs access to company email and remain cutting edge and creative with social networking and the blogosphere.

The MOSS workspace gives me access to my document store either online or offline. That’s great for when I’m sitting at 35,000 feet above the Arctic icecap on a trajectory from Chicago to Hong Kong and want to edit or save documents. This second leg of the trip however is a 15 hour flight. My XT2 battery is going dead after 2.5 hours of activity and I have to shut down and read a magazine. Okay, I could carry a second battery, but I like to travel without checking luggage, so everything I am bringing for 7 days in Asia is with me in the cabin. I could also purchase a smaller laptop with longer battery life, but I like having a tablet for reasons I have blogged about earlier. Maurilio however lands in Hong Kong and posts the blog he’s been working on during the flight. His battery power indicator shows 85% remaining. He won’t even need to charge the iPad for the 3.5 hour flight down to Singapore. He’s enjoying some food and beverages in the Red Carpet lounge while I scramble to charge my laptop so I can get some work done on that same flight.

The conference in Singapore lasts two full days and we are sitting on chairs in rows – without nearby power outlets. Again, I cannot take notes and handle emails on my notebook while I’m plugged in. Several times during a presentation, I have to slip out of my seat and make my way to a power outlet about 20 feet away and plug in. Maurilio shows me his charge indicator which is again at 85%.

While I have the enterprise tools and multitasking OS on my notebook to get my work done, I am hampered on long trips by limited battery life. The iPad is only single tasking and not as connected to the enterprise as Windows 7. It does however deliver its applications hour after hour without a charge. Which tool would you prefer to travel with?

2010-06-19T15:26:00.000-07:00

Social media is an amazing tool. It connects us to a vast network of people and allows us to interact with them at many levels with consistency. Twitter and Facebook are two of the most popular social media applications used today. Like any tool, it can be misused. Here is my checklist to make sure you're not a social media loser. I'm guilty at times, of not having gone through my own checklist (except for #1 of course).

1) Am I intoxicated? If "yes" then shut down the computer or turn off the mobile device and get counseling. No? Proceed to step 2. (This may seem like a "no brainer" but based on what I read sometimes - I wonder!)

2) Is anyone out there really interested what I'm going to say - or is it meaningless dribble?

3) Am I ranting on one of "my pet peeves" or standing on my "soap box"?

4) Do I ever say something personal or do I only use social media to promote my company, organization, product or brand?

5) If I'm a Christian, am I using "Christian speak" that nobody out side of the church crowd will understand or relate to?

6) How many times have I tweeted today? More than 10 tweets and I risk having people unfollow me to avoid my chatter.

7) Do my postings have some comic relief and if they do, is my humor appropriate?

7) Have I remembered "Steve's rule"? This post could make me look good or show the world that I'm an idiot!

And two from my friend Maurilio Amorim (www.maurilioamorim.com)

9) If using Twitter, am I keeping my post under 120 characters so it can be "retweeted"?

10) Again with Twitter - How can I say this in a more interesting way with fewer characters?

Do you have any to add to my list?

Extreme Wiring Closet Makeover!

2010-05-26T05:51:00.000-07:00

IT wiring closets are places nobody - except the Geeks *cough IT staff go. In reality, they're the nerve center of the physical network that enables computers in an office to talk to each other and provide the services everyone depends on to get their work done. You would expect such an important place would be kept in order and meticulously maintained. Unfortunately, they are places where wiring connections are done quickly since up time is important and rerouting a misplaced cable can mean disconnecting an important network device. Unfortunately wiring closets can end up looking like this:

Time for a Makeover!

Yes, it's embarrassing, but it happens (what does your garage look like right now?) and when it does, you need to just bite the bullet and shut down the entire network and do a wiring make over. What? shut everything down? Yes, disconnecting those cables means the network is either not accessible or the serves which constantly communicate stop talking and need to re sync when reconnected. The TWR IT/IS team decided to kick everyone off at 5pm and redo the cabling. The result was dramatic!

Okay, to some it may still look like a mess of wires, but to us in IT it's a big improvement. What do you think? Now, to tackle that garage.....

TWR's Global Geeks lay out a Plan

2010-05-20T08:11:00.000-07:00

Last week, I hosted our global IT/IS meetings. This is where we bring the geeks in our organization together for a week of hashing out future strategy and review how well our global infrastructure is working.

As a nonprofit, our organization benefits from charity pricing on Microsoft Licensing and we have an Enterprise Agreement to license our offices around the world. Needless to say, we’re a Microsoft shop, but we do deploy Open Source technology for niche applications. The discount we get on licenses allows us to stay reasonably current in server and workstation technology.

Here are some of the things I learned from our global team:

1) Windows 7 works great, runs well on existing and new hardware and is a good replacement for XP.

2) Windows 7 in combination with server 2008 R2 provides powerful integration and makes network management much easier.

3) Exchange 2010 should provide us with tighter integration to our SharePoint 2010 environment and allow for more efficient disaster recovery. It also supports non IE Browsers in the Web Access environment.

So our goal is to have Windows 7 on the workstation, Windows 2008 R2 server on the backend (virtualized through VSphere) with an Exchange 2010 email environment and our collaboration environment handled by SharePoint 2010. No, we’re not quite ready to move to the cloud. It’s not yet cost effective and we do have security concerns. Plus we have a global WAN to consider and not all locations have the best internet access.

This step should be good preparation should we move to the cloud in the future, but for now it will give us a robust and integrated environment using the best of breed components available today.

What do you think of our plan?

2009-09-10T15:16:00.000-07:00

As a CIO, I spend a lot of time in meetings where I take a lot of notes. As a result, I go through a lot of note pads. In some situations and in some cultural settings it is considered rude to bang away on a laptop during a meeting. I also seem to attend a lot of meetings via conference call on my mobile phone. Have you ever tried to take notes on your computer while trying to hold your mobile?

When my "old" Vista laptop needed upgrading a few weeks ago, I decided to try moving to a notepad. Since my firm uses mainly Dell PC products, I decided to go that route and ordered the latest Latitude XT2 with 64 bit processors, Vista Business edition and 3 Gig of RAM.

After teaching it my cursive handwriting style, and installing MS OneNote (recommended by a friend) I was off to notepad penmanship. I soon learned that trying to use a touch sensitive screen to take handwritten notes was a challenge. Rest your hand on the screen, and an application launches! After turning off the touch feature things calmed down nicely.

I realy like OneNote. It lets me organize meeting notes and find information quickly using search. Converting script to text works nicely.

Last week, I blew everything away and installed Windows 7. The tablet PC capability is greatly improved. I didn't even need to "teach" it my handwriting. With a fresh instill it is amazingly accurate at turning my scrawls to tent. I published this blog without typing a single key.

I read in one tech pundit's blog that one day all notebook computers will be touch screen. What are your thoughts? Do you agree?

Technology should be simple!

2009-08-07T06:07:00.000-07:00

I can remember a time when we believed that computer technology would liberate us from the mundane and give us more free time. There are days however when I feel that computers have enslaved us. Much of my time is devoted to "feeding the beast", just trying to keep all the applications and gadgets I use on a daily basis doing what I want them to do.

There are good examples though of technology that is simple and just works. A good friend of mine has a Kindle. He had it on the beach during a holiday and grew bored with the book he was reading. He browsed Amazon and saw another book which interested him. After downloading and reading the two free chapters he paid for and grabbed the entire book. Within minutes, he was reading the new book, without having gotten out of the beach chair. That's simple technology that works.

An interesting technology experience happened to me last week. My wife and I just moved from Europe and we haven't purchased a TV yet. We felt like watching a movie, but all we had was my laptop and our internet connection. We went to the web site of a major company that I heard is now offering download movie rentals. I quickly signed up, chose a movie and hit the download button - nothing happened. The movie would not download. Time to "feed the beast"! I wasn't going to walk away from the $3.99 I had just paid!

While the technology was broken, "feeding the beast" wasn't difficult. The web site had a nice link to "chat with a technical support person". I clicked that and stated my problem in the message window. Within 20 seconds, Angela typed back telling me to put my IE8 browser in compatibility mode, which I did and the download started. Having a live person to chat with was a good use of technology. Having the download technology work with the latest Microsoft browser would have been even better. The movie was mediocre.

I see great strides in making technology simple at the consumer end. We need to be doing more in the corporate environment. My company is global and we often have meetings in the USA office. Even though we have the same wireless configuration at all our offices, nearly every time we conduct these meetings, there are attendees lining up in the IT area asking for help in getting on the wireless. It's more than training staff, we do that, but the technology should "just work".

How would you rate ease of use for the technology you use as a consumer and the technology you use at work?

Operations vs Vision

2009-08-01T16:59:00.000-07:00

As a technology executive, I am constantly trying to meet expectations. Many facets of the organization want me to manage operations. The IT infrastructure must be sound, hardware needs to be current, Disaster recovery must be in place, tested and documented and then there is COSO and COBIT. Added to the mix is Systems Integration, BI needs and how to flatten the Silo'ed applications I inherited when I took on this job.

In my organization, I am fortunate to report directly to the CEO. IT/IS is recognized as strategic and in reality, the platform on which our organization does business. The CEO however wants me to think and act strategically, chart a course for an effective and successful online presence and put in place a web architecture which can be monetized.

I work for a non-profit which means I do not have the resources to set up an in house web services department. That means I have to get out from behind my desk and establish the strategic partnerships and relationships to enable us to get that done. It's a tight balance. I need to oversee operations yet think and act strategically.

For me, the key to survival is a good team. Fortunately they know operations and are conscientious and proactive. They know how to to keep things running smoothly without me needing to micromanage. Delegation and encouraging growth and responsibility among the IT/IS staff also helps.

How do you handle competing pressures and expectations as a leader?

Were's the Secuity?

2009-07-26T14:11:00.000-07:00

As an IT leader, I encourage the use of Technology. I value the improved levels of communication and the advantages of social networking which technical tools and gadgets deliver. We are all aware that the uptake of technology and its associated devices has been astounding.

The other day, I was sitting in the morning sunshine outside a Starbucks and surfing the web on my BlackBerry Bold. I usually end up at www.slashdot.com. It contains that “nerdy news” that interests people in my field. The days postings of news items were upsetting.
The first story was about a successful hack of the servers at Network Solutions, the domain registration and hosting service company (http://tinyurl.com/n7xg5z). The breach which lasted three months, exposed tens of thousands of credit card numbers of its customers. Although details have not been released, the malicios code installed on the servers was able to ship these numbers out to a destination on the internet.

The second story which concerned me was an article stating that iPhone Forensics expert Jonathan Zdziarski has stated that the much-touted hardware encryption of the iPhone 3Gs is but a farce, and demonstrates how both the passcode and backup encryption can be bypassed in about two minutes (http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/07/iphone-encryption).

I’m seeing iPhones crop up in my organization for corporate use, which I have welcomed. To a large degree, my confidence comes from the security claims made by the manufacturer.
It’s obvious that companies are under pressure to get their web services and devices to market quickly to outmanouver the competition and gain market position. The hacking community on the other hand have the time and patience to maticulously search for those SQL injection attacks or buffer overflows and do their deeds. I am still amazed though at how many web based systems continue to get hacked.

I feel that as technology user we should be demanding better security from the services and devices we use. Consumers of a service should be compensated finacially or through free services every time a security breach is discovered on that system. What are your thoughts?

My first post

2009-07-24T12:07:00.000-07:00

I'm not new to blogging. My company set up an internal blog about 2 years ago. The idea was that our IT/IS group would post to it and therefore keep each other informed. It was called blog.twr.org. It should have been called "nobodycomeshere.twr.org". It got off to a good start, then poeple lost interest.

I hope to keep this one going and I hope you enjoy it!