Technology, Education & The Future June 20, 2009
Posted by mritsema in government.Tags: Business, Capitalism, Education, entrepreneurial, Leadership, Productivity, Technology
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I can see the future and it looks like private sector innovation driving dramatic change in America and the world.
Yup, I’m biased toward technology and its destructive innovation driving change – we can believe in. The Wall Street Journal recently published a review of the book: Liberating Learning by Terry M. Moe and John E. Chubb. You can read the review at:
The Cyber Way To Knowledge
The Program for International Student Assessment ranks the average US 15 year old against 30 industrialized nations at 20th and 25th respectively in Science in Math. Will more government funding thrown at education fix the problem? I’m growing more and more skeptical. Will the NEA fix the problem? I doubt it.
Will technology and private enterprise innovation fix the problem? I think so. Read the article’s byline:
Since labor costs keep rising, school districts will naturally turn to technology as a way to get more for less.
And they’re doing it in Pennsylvania with a Cyber Charter School now serving over 8,000 students. Millions of Americans choose to home school instead of placing their children into mediocre and misguided public educational institutions. As Cyber Schools proliferate and their quality of services outpaces competitors, change will occur. The quality of US education will improve against the world’s standards.
It’s called free markets, competition, entrepreneurial, innovation, capitalism, America!
Change I can believe in – straight from the private sector.
Michael Ritsema i3 Business Solutions, LLCSeveral Dozen of the Stupidest Things Ever Said June 3, 2009
Posted by thaadsma in development, government, healthcare, ibm, tangents.add a comment
A wonderful list of some of the most bone-headed things that people have said over the years about technology, and especially information technology: Stupid Things to Say.
Here’s just a sample:
“I have traveled the length and breadth of this country and talked with the best people, and I can assure you that data processing is a fad that won’t last out the year.”
–The editor in charge of business books for Prentice Hall, 1957
The rest are even better. Enjoy!
via Stupid Things to Say.
Is Capitalism Broken? Does the American Economy need Fixing? May 31, 2009
Posted by mritsema in government.Tags: Business, Leadership, Wealth
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The Economist magazine originates in England and is published in six countries. It offers a geniune foreign perspective of world economics and political wrangling. I enjoy reading it.
This recent article is an excellent perspective on American capitalism and the economic recession that the United States and the world are experiencing right now. You can find the complete read at the Economist.com:
Piling on
May 28th 2009
From The Economist print edition
In his zeal to fix capitalism, Barack Obama must not stifle America’s dynamism
The economist makes an excellent point, when they state: “Its broader economy remains an astonishing Petri dish of creative destruction. Even in boom times, 15% of American jobs disappear each year.”
Yup, America, land of opportunity, entrepreneurship, venture capital, bankruptcies, education, winners and losers. The horse and buggy whip heyday, album and turntable heyday, CD and DVD heyday days are over. They’re replaced with new technologies and ideas. The 1,000s of jobs that go with those industries are gone, too. Time to reinvent. Time to move on.
Our economy is ever changing. We can deny it and try to change it or we can accept the engine of the world’s prosperity. But I believe that smoothing it out and leveling it off will have profound effects on the world economy and people around the globe. It will slow worldwide economic growth and leave millions in poverty.
I say let’s resist the urge to smooth the drama of America’s creative economic engine. Let the big dawg hunt and continue to haul the world forward into economic and social prosperity.
Michael Ritsema i3 Business Solutions, LLCHave we now entered the post-OS era? | Tech Sanity Check | TechRepublic.com May 31, 2009
Posted by thaadsma in SaaS, development, web, web services.add a comment
Jason Hiner makes many astute observations in his “Sanity Check” blog at Tech Republic. Some of his best are wrapped into this excellent April post about how we are beyond the ‘OS wars” that the PC technology world gets so fixated on. And I agree with him 100% when he goes on to say that the Web browser is the standard interface for software applications. Here at i3 Business Solutions, our team is focused on web applications that integratre the best of classic IT systems with the new ecosystem opening oup on the web: Read Jason’s entire post for more perspective:
“It’s possible that a combination of voice and touch could revolutionize the user interface (and thus the OS), or that another major innovation could make it faster and simpler for humans to work with computers, but for now the keyboard and mouse are as efficient as it gets. And, as a result, the computer OS has stagnated.
And, of course, the other thing that’s going on is that the Web browser is finally usurping the OS as the universal platform that was envisioned back in the mid-1990s. Please note that I’m not talking about cloud computing or software-as-a-service (SaaS). While applications and services delivered over the Internet are certainly part of the ascendency of the Web browser, they still have not reached critical mass in the business world and the trend is bigger than that.
What we’re seeing is that many businesses are using the Web browser as the front-end application to access private, back-end systems, from databases to CRM to ERP to payroll to corporate portals. And, why not? Since most users are very familiar and comfortable with Web navigation and Web forms, these corporate systems can tap into that experience to provide applications that have an easier learning curve than Windows-based business apps with their unique menus and interfaces.”
via Sanity check: Have we now entered the post-OS era? | Tech Sanity Check | TechRepublic.com.
If the Red Wings breach their own IT security, does your business? May 24, 2009
Posted by mritsema in web.add a comment
Detroit Red Wings Playoff Box View
Have a look what appeared a recent Anaheim Mighty Ducks vs. Detroit Red Wings game.
Did you see it?
The Detroit Red Wings wireless access password was broadcasted across Canada on a recent hockey broadcast.
Look on the wall behind the gentleman in the press box. That is the Red Wings wireless access code. Does this resemble your business? Do you have your wireless access code posted in your kitchen, on the bulletin board or in a public folder on your Microsoft Exchange Server?
The Detroit Red Wings have broken best practice number one when it comes to IT security, never post your password for anyone to see it. Why do they have the network locked down?
How insecure is your business’ wireless network?
Wireless networks are critically important in business today, it is a core requirement for many of the clients that Bulletproof InfoTech serves in Calgary and Red Deer. When your business invests in a secure wireless infrastructure to support your staff it will ensure your team can move about the office easily, promoting collaboration and sharing of ideas. Many businesses still do not see the importance of locking down their wireless networks and simply trust basic security measures out of the business by many lower grade wireless access points and routers.
What is the risk to your business when you copy the example made by the Detroit Red Wings?
Theft of critical business data happens daily across the globe, many times the business and it’s management have no idea that a breach occured. Theft of business data, improper use of your business internet and social engineering can occur many hundreds of feet away from your office. Even across the street from one office tower to the next. What risk is your business at?
What can your business do to ensure the integrity of your computer information is maintained? Stuart Crawford, at Bulletproof Networks recommends these basic practices to ensure that your business is secured and the risk to your network is kept at a minimum.
- Invest in a commercial grade wireless access point – There are many firewalls and routers for sale in office supply & big box stores throughout America. Many of these solutions are fine for your home, however, rarely offer security needed by business. Many of these lower cost solutions can be easily hacked by sophisticated hackers and even those who scour the city looking for open and available Wi-Fi. Wireless solutions found in Cisco or SonicWALL (Bulletproof recommended) offer business a complete and secure wireless solution leveraging multiple layers of security, protecting your assets.
- Lock down your wireless – Even today there are still many businesses with open and hackable wireless networks. Many of these are often found but not limited to older pieces of equipment prior to WPA and WEP being enabled when you purchase your wireless router. You must ensure a complex wireless access code is enabled using a combination of upper case letters, symbols and letters. After you have secured your wireless, don’t pull a Detroit Red Wing move and post it for everyone to see. What use is securing your network when you post it on a wall or even email it to your employees?
- Trust the Professionals – Profession I.T. Services firms will ensure that your wireless access point is secure, Wi-Fi zones are isolated and trusted users can access resources on the network while those who are just visiting only have the access they are entitled to.
There are many focus areas when securing your wireless networks, protecting your business from anonymous surfers plus those that are guests on your network, only requiring limited access to resources on your computer network. i3 Business Solutions, much like Bulletproof InfoTech, ensures our own network is secure by layering access security zones and only giving wireless access to those who need it. Your network needs this security to ensure that your business data is kept secure at all times, your team productive and your Internet bandwidth available.
A special report: Medicine goes digital | The Economist May 7, 2009
Posted by thaadsma in development, healthcare, security, web.add a comment
Well worth reading is this ‘Big Picture’ series of articles from the Economist. An excerpt:
“If these obstacles can be overcome, then the biggest winner will be the patient. In the past medicine has taken a paternalistic stance, with the all-knowing physician dispensing wisdom from on high, but that is becoming increasingly untenable. Digitisation promises to connect doctors not only to everything they need to know about their patients but also to other doctors who have treated similar disorders.
The coming convergence of biology and engineering will be led by information technologies, which in medicine means the digitisation of medical records and the establishment of an intelligent network for sharing those records. That essential reform will enable many other big technological changes to be introduced.”
Read it all
via A special report on health care and technology: Medicine goes digital | The Economist.
10 reasons to purchase new hardware during a recession | 10 Things | TechRepublic.com April 30, 2009
Posted by thaadsma in business intelligence, government, healthcare, ibm, infrastructure, managed services, microsoft, security.add a comment
In tough times like these, it’s tempting to put off urgent IT hardware purchases. But you can shoot yourself in the foot by doing so, for a number of reasons–
10 reasons, to be precise.
I really think one of the most important is that your best people may be less productive, and productivity and results are the name for the game right now. Reason #2 from the list at TR:
“When PCs, displays, or network switches fail, it may be tempting to visit an old parts closet to dig out replacements. Old, entry-level Celeron- or Pentium-powered PCs with 256MB of RAM and rattling power supplies won’t help managers (now often responsible for production tasks, too, due to departmental layoffs) efficiently complete expanded task lists. Nor will such machines enable overworked colleagues to run QuickBooks, CRM applications, or proprietary programs smoothly. Nor will a 15″ CRT enable productivity gains when replacing a 22″ widescreen monitor used to display customer information alongside order entry software.
The same is true for network equipment. Outdated hubs and routers were decommissioned for a reason. They were either too slow, failed to operate properly, or didn’t meet the organization’s needs. They certainly won’t improve productivity now, when staff sizes are smaller, remaining employees must absorb the workload of laid-off staff, and stress levels climb ever higher. The subsequent delays and inefficiencies translate to lost opportunities, poor customer experiences, and less revenue.”
We’re working with our i3 Business Soultions customers every day who realize the only way to recovery and success is making good deals now for critical business systems.
Read all 10 business reasons at the TechRepublic blog:
via 10 reasons to purchase new hardware during a recession | 10 Things | TechRepublic.com.
Spring has sprung, and the worst could be behind us | Rich Karlgaard April 3, 2009
Posted by thaadsma in tangents.add a comment
I had the good fortune to hear Rich Kaarlgard speak in January 2009 at the Grand Rapids Chameber of Commerce annual lunch. Rich is not only a very smart guy but an optimistic smart guy. I like what he is saying abou the the possibility that the recovery may be starting already. Check out this comment in his blog post:
“Scott Grannis, who writes in “The Recession Is Over”:
I see lots of signs showing up that could well mark the end of the recession. Weekly unemployment claims have been flat for the past five weeks. Banks are still lending increasing amounts of money. Commodity prices, particularly energy and copper, are moving higher. Equities have been up for over two weeks from incredibly distressed levels. Leading indicators of financial stress, such as swap spreads and the VIX index, improved months ago.”
Microsoft 2019 scenario: everything I want except the flying car | The Industry Standard March 4, 2009
Posted by thaadsma in design, healthcare, microsoft, mobile web, user interfaces, web, web services.add a comment
Now this is more like it!
The five punchy two-minute video excerpt says a lot about where we are going:
“The super-slim and easy-to-use handheld gadgets and wall-sized transparent displays handled by the video’s shoppers, students and office workers make Tom Cruise’s setup in Minority Report seem obsolete. More important than whizzy interfaces, the videos promise much more extensive collaboration, instant information retrieval, and multimedia communication.”
via Microsoft’s 2019 scenario has everything but Windows | The Industry Standard.
NOTE: The original five-minute version (much higher quality) can be viewed at Microsoft Office Labs.
Take Back Control of Your Critical Business Data | Ventana Research February 17, 2009
Posted by msansoterra in development, microsoft, user interfaces, web.Tags: Productivity, Business, Excel, spreadsheets, applications, errors, harm, problems, warning
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For years industry experts have been warning the business community about the harm of overusing spreadsheets. The sentiments recently expressed by Ventana research echo our own experience: too many users are using spreadsheets as an all purpose database/logic/reporting tool instead of simply a reporting or analysis tool:
“…our benchmark research shows spreadsheets are now being seriously misused in ways that severely hamper the productivity and performance of corporations. It’s time you seriously rethink how your organization uses spreadsheets.
“Our research confirms desktop spreadsheets pose serious productivity issues. Half find dealing with spreadsheet problems consumes a noticeable amount of time. Errors are a problem: just under half find major errors in data and formulas in their most important spreadsheets. These errors pose financial and reputational risk because most people only check selected cells. Dealing with errors is time consuming and just over half find the spreadsheets they receive are not as timely as they should be. More than half find resolving spreadsheet errors delays business processes and 42% find out-of-date information in their spreadsheets frequently or all the time. Just over half find rolling up spreadsheets is usually or always time consuming. Yet, users are in denial, since only a handful think spreadsheets pose a productivity issue.”
via Fix Your Spreadsheet Problem – Priority #10 for 2009.
Who in I.T. hasn’t run into the unwieldy Microsoft Excel workbook that has too many worksheets and too many external links? The problem for many is that these overblown spreadsheets become gospel in their respective departments which in turn causes users to rely on them instead of the central business systems. I cringe when I question a user about a piece of information and they open an ugly spreadsheet for their answer (instead of going to the business application software where the information belongs.)
Users who are overusing spreadsheet tools are probably living dangerously. In these cases, it’s time to move away from the spreadsheet in favor of an application that can do the job right without the associated risks mentioned by Ventana. The application should validate the data (to prevent garbage in, garbage out), prevent duplicate data, apply business rules to the data and report current information. Once the data is stored properly within an application spreadsheet users can still feel free to export the base data to do their analysis and reporting. Further, it should be understood by the user community that the data in these spreadsheets are not the final authority — the business applications are.
The Other Indiana & The Brainy Indian February 14, 2009
Posted by mritsema in government, tangents.Tags: Business, Management
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Cal Thomas and Thomas Friedman deliver a couple of good reads today.
As the President of i3 Business Solutions, LLC, I’m very interested in the Michigan economy and United States economy. The various states in America and the entire country are competing against the world for cost of doing business.
Apparently the governor of Indiana gets it. Downsize government: lower taxes to grow business and generate jobs. Business & jobs go where the cost of doing business is least expensive– lower taxes, lower regulation, fair wages and balanced benefits. Cal Thomas writes in his column:
“Indiana has the lowest business cost index in the Midwest and sixth lowest in the country. And most important of all in this “government knows best” climate, Indiana ranks first in the Midwest and 14th nationally in the Tax Foundation’s 2009 Business Tax Climate Index. Other states, like New York, New Jersey, California and Michigan, are driving businesses away because of heavy taxation…” Read the rest of his article by clicking here:The Other Indiana.
Now, the flip side is that government does subsidize business in many different ways. Thomas Friedman’s book Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution–and How It Can Renew America addresses this variable. Friedman also writes a great column recently about the ability of immigrants to lift the USA out of our recession, by buying empty houses and improving savings rates. America may be the only country in the world that millions would emigrate to– tomorrow– if given the opportunity. These immigrants can help lift this economy if given the chance.
Read Friedman’s recent column by clicking here: The Open-Door Bailout.
Government and business are inexorably connected. We’re living through the great recession right now, and we’re watching government make its moves to help haul us out of this worldwide recession. As a business owner, I hope that they make moves that allow businesses to grow, hire and thrive in a worldwide competitive marketplace.
How Disaster Recovery Works: The Video | MyFox Charlotte February 3, 2009
Posted by thaadsma in government, healthcare, managed services, web.add a comment
i3 offers a full ReliabilITy Disaster Recovery option for our Michigan customers, working with its partner Agility Recovery Solutions.
Here is a great video that shows exactly how this Disaster Recovery solution works– and why it has such value for us all. Take a few minutes to check it out.
“This weekend, power crews continue to work to restore power to more than a million people left in the dark from the massive ice storm. FEMA is sending food, water and generators; but, thousands of people already had power and clean water thanks to a Charlotte company.”
Thanks to Brooks Beeler for the tip:
via MyFox Charlotte | Charlotte Company Helping Restore Power.
The New India: Michigan? | BusinessWeek January 26, 2009
Posted by thaadsma in development, government, healthcare, ibm.add a comment
In what may be an invigorating trend for US information technology providers, IBM recently announced it plans to open an IBM ’Global Delivery Center’ on the campus of Michigan State University in East Lansing. The goal for the center is to modernize legacy applications used by state and local governments, as well as colleges and universities.
In addition, IBM and MSU are planning to expand out to help modernize IT systems at companies based in the U.S. in the healthcare, telecommunication, and other industries.
IBM mainframes and AS/400 systems still have a healthy user base in the government, university and healthcare sectors– and the software applications that run on these platforms are long overdue for an overhaul (not to mention all those greenscreen terminals). Here at i3 Business Solutions, we work with these customers all over Michigan.
Here’s an interesting take on this development from Steve Hamm at BusinessWeek:
“While the Indian outsourcing community is flipping out about the Satyam scandal, IBM, which has a major presence in India, is opening its newest service delivery center in….East Lansing, Michigan. IBM is setting up an unusual sort of delivery center on the campus of Michigan State University. The company plans to hire MSU students and graduates, plus others, to develop software applications and modernize computing systems for government agencies and universities. It plans on hiring 100 people by June and 1,500 eventually. An IBM spokesman said this isn’t a low-cost labor play; it’s about the talent. But I’m betting salaries for software programmers are a lot cheaper in East Lansing than they are in Somers, New York; Boston; or Silicon Valley—where IBM employs a lot of programmers.”
All I can say is: Go Spartans!
via The New India: Michigan? – BusinessWeek (see the reader comment as well)
related articles: http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jan2009/tc20090115_770577.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index+-+temp_technology
No more free Sprout Builder | The Universal Desktop | ZDNet.com January 23, 2009
Posted by thaadsma in web.add a comment
When SproutBuilder first came out there were some whispers that this might be an interesting online version of the current Flash tool. It’s not going to replace Flash in any way shape or form, but by having a very targeted model they’re showing that it’s possible to make money from web based tools that leverage the Flash Platform. I think this is good news for everyone in the RIA space as it shows there is a fairly robust ecosystem to create targeted tools on top of any given platform.
via No more free Sprout Builder | The Universal Desktop | ZDNet.com.
