Discover how mastering email communication can boost business efficiency, avoid common pitfalls, and ensure secure, respectful online interactions.
Turkey Revenge
The turkeys are pissed this Thanksgiving they are seeking revenge.
Germs Infest 60% of Americas Phones
60% of Americans sleep with their phones, harboring germs. Cleaning regularly with UV sanitizer or alcohol wipes can help keep your phone and bed germ-free.
Smartphone Sanitizing: A Practical Guide
Securely erase personal data from your old smartphone before recycling. Protect your identity from hackers—easy steps to follow.
Why Soft Skills Matter in Today’s Job Market
Boost your career with essential soft skills like communication, teamwork, and emotional intelligence. Learn why they’re crucial for workplace success.
Project Manager Shortage Predicted
Organizations may soon find themselves short of project managers. The shortage will put them at a great disadvantage as the economy continues to recover according to David Weldon at FierceCIO. The article cites the recent ESI International ESI 2013 Project Manager Salary and Development Survey.
The project management training company surveyed 1,800 project managers in 12 different industries in the U.S. and found, “Budget constraints, an aging base of professionals and a looming talent war all contribute to a talent crisis that should be addressed from the highest levels of the organization,” Mark Bashrum, VP at ESI told CIO.com. The ESI VP continued, “The growing needs of businesses demand a more strategic view of the staffing, development, and promotion of their project managers since project execution impacts an organization’s bottom line and its ability to satisfy its customers.”
CIO.com says the study, identified three primary factors for the project manager shortage:
- As the economy rebounds, many organizations are growing. In and of itself, growth is a good thing for businesses, but growth means more markets, more products, and more systems and that means more projects for which there aren’t enough PMs.
- Many project managers are reaching retirement age and leaving the workforce. According to the Project Management Institute (PMI), 60 percent of their members are over the age of 40. “This is a real problem because these are the people who understand the business,” says Mr. Bashrum. “Over the years they have not only acquired project management skills, but also an understanding of their industry and their organization; knowledge which is not easily replaced.“
- Many organizations have stopped actively developing their existing project manager talent due to reductions in training budgets. “In many cases, this means they have very little in the way of ‘bench strength’ and do not have a qualified group of mid-level project managers ready to move up to the senior ranks as project demand increases,” he says.
The problem is especially severe for senior-level project managers, either because companies haven’t hired enough in the job market, or haven’t developed enough among internal staff.
“Add to that the larger issues of shortsighted hiring practices, a lack of competency planning, and a reduced focus on training and development, and many company’s business objectives are at risk,” the article notes.
Mr. Bashrum says the survey found it can take up to 10 months to bring an otherwise experienced project manager up to speed in a new organization. He also told CIO.com the specifics are different for each organization, but in general, Bashrum says business acumen and communication skills are at the top of the list. He adds that negotiation skills, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills are also extremely important.
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The study seems to say that demand has steadily been increasing while supply has been flat which should mean higher salaries for all PMs, but even more so for specific industries and for senior PMs.
Related articles
- Is There a U.S. IT Worker Shortage? (spectrum.ieee.org)
Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.
Category: Project Management |
Tags: 2014, HR, PMI, PMP, Project management, Project Management Institute
Limit Admin Rights to Close Microsoft Holes
It’s been best practice for a very long time: all users and processes should run with the fewest privileges necessary. That means no Admin rights for users. This limits the damage that can be done by an attacker if the user or process is compromised.
ZDNet says that running users without admin rights on Microsoft (MSFT) Windows XP was generally impractical. It is a much more reasonable and manageable approach on Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8, but many organizations still run users as administrators because it makes things easier in the short term.
Impact of running with “least privilege”
ZDNet cites a new study from UK software company Avecto which demonstrates the real-world impact of running with “least privilege”. In 2013, Microsoft released 106 security bulletins and updates to address the 333 vulnerabilities identified in them. 200 of the 333 total vulnerabilities would be mitigated if the user were not running as administrator. 147 of the vulnerabilities were designated critical; 92 percent (135) of these would be mitigated.
Dark Reading says that the Avecto results also revealed that removing admin rights would also mitigate:
91% critical vulnerabilities affecting Microsoft Office,- 96% of critical vulnerabilities affecting Windows operating systems,
- 100% of vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer and
- 100% of critical remote code execution vulnerabilities.
Avecto told ZDNet that non-administrator users can still be compromised, but it’s much less likely that they would be and, if they were, the impact would likely be greatly limited. Least privilege is most effective as part of a more comprehensive security architecture including the prompt application of updates to patch vulnerabilities.
Paul Kenyon, co-founder, and EVP of Avecto told Dark Reading, “This analysis focuses purely on known vulnerabilities, and cybercriminals will be quick to take advantage of bugs that are unknown to vendors. Defending against these unknown threats is difficult, but removing admin rights is the most effective way to do so.”
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Employees with admin rights can install, modify and delete software and files as well as change system settings making more work for the help desk folks. The report demonstrates that many companies are still not fully aware of how many admin users they have and consequently face an unknown and unquantified security threat. It is also conceivable that privilege management would have made high-profile attacks such as the recent one on Target if not impossible then much harder, by reducing the potential for the abuse of partner access, believed to have been at the heart of the breach.
Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.
Guide To Owning A Pet Dinosaur
John Conway has illustrated The Dinosaur Pet Guide, which informs the reader on “the pleasures and pitfalls of today’s common dinosaurian pets.”
Listing the pros and cons of owning various kinds of dinosaurs, this informative guides aims to help you decide the most suitable dinosaur pet for you. DesignTaxi says the Tyrannosaurus may impress your friends, it is definitely one of the more high-maintenance dinosaurs with “certain death” as the main pitfall for keeping it as a pet according to Mr. Conway.
Related articles
Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.
Category: Uncategorized |
Tags: 2014, Dinosaur, Dinosaur Pet Guide, Fun, Paleontology, Stegosaurus, Tyrannosaurus Rex
More Fiber in the D
Updated – August 1, 2017 – Lightower Fiber Networks has agreed to be acquired by Crown Castle International Corp. for approx. $7.1 billion in cash. The deal is expected to close by the end of 2017.
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Update – May 01, 2015 – Fibertech Networks was bought by Lightower Fiber Networks in a $1.9 billion all-cash deal that will create a fiber powerhouse in the eastern U.S.
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Rochester, New York-based Fibertech Networks plans to install more than 750 route miles of new fiber optic cable in Metro Detroit. This is the company’s 30th U.S. metro network. This will add more Detroit markets to their over 12,000 route miles of fiber-only network infrastructure. The area to be served include Trenton, Canton Township, Dearborn, Southfield, Warren, Troy, and Chesterfield Township.
“This is a major expansion for Fibertech and an important step in our development as one of the largest and fastest-growing metro fiber providers in the eastern U.S.,” said John K. Purcell, chair and CEO of Fibertech, told BusinessWire that the move was “an economic development initiative that we believe will help foster telecom competition, and business and employment growth.”
The company’s service offering encompasses both dark fiber and optical broadband. They offer their facilities to businesses that have predominately used traditional carriers and lines in the past. The company’s services include point-to-point and multi-point Ethernet services with speeds ranging from 5 Mbps to 100 Gbps. They also offer DWDM, dedicated Internet access, and collocation.
Other fiber markets
In addition to Detroit, Fibertech has networks working in Pittsburgh, Pa.; Indianapolis; Akron, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, and Toledo, Ohio. Markets on the east coast include Providence, R.I.; Hartford, Bridgeport, Stamford, Danbury, New London, and New Haven, Conn.; Springfield and Worcester, Mass. They also have fiber facilities in Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, Binghamton, White Plains, and Albany, N.Y.; Wilmington, Del.; Montgomery County, Md.; Trenton, Newark and Atlantic City, N.J.; and Philadelphia.
“This new network expansion is a natural 2013 extension of our market footprint given our growing presence in the Midwest and, most recently, our extension into five new markets in Ohio including Toledo,” said Mr. Purcell.
Fibertech was founded in May 2000, has built metro-area fiber networks in 29 mid-size markets in the eastern United States, and is led by Court Square Capital Partners of New York City. The company owns and operates a fiber-optic network of more than 9,500 route miles, which has more than 8,100 on-net locations with nearly 2,100 cell sites with its fiber-only network infrastructure.
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For the old-timers out there, remember Link-Michigan?
Another failed broadband initiative from Lansing. Fiber networks are a key to economic development. If the State can’t do what is right for its citizens, then the private sector will.
OMG did I just turn into a republican?
Related articles
Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.
Category: Uncategorized |
Tags: 2014, DWDM, Fibertech Networks, John K. Purcell, Mergers and Acquisition, Metro Detroit, Michigan, Networking, Optical fiber
20 Things Worth Knowing About Coffee
The I Love Coffee blog is written by Ryoko Iwata; a Japanese coffee-lover living in America and is full of infographics, facts, quizzes, and other fun visual stuff about coffee. Here are 20 facts worth knowing about coffee from I Love Coffee.
Related articles
- Coffee’s Place In The Global Economy (mint.com)
Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.