Business Technology: A Peek Into The Brain Of An IT Strategist

Resolved, to be a less-stressed, essence-of-calm soul in 2006. I survived 2005's Sober worm attacks (and 2003's, now that I think of it). I'm still standing after the latest round of offshoring. Heck, I'm a veteran of Y2K. Forget pressure, I'm at one with my universe.

Time to browse some Web news, catch up on the headlines in these mellow days--mellow, that's going to be me in 2006--around the holidays, before the big 2006 projects kick in. Enjoy some downtime. Hey, what's this?

A new unpatched vulnerability in Microsoft Windows and an in-the-wild exploit appeared Wednesday as security firms raised their alarms to Critical. --TechWeb News

OK, no big deal, we've patched Windows plenty of times last year; we'll just have to scramble again. That's no problem; it's not going to get me out of my too-cool-for-crisis mode. I'm still all yoga and green tea.

The timeshare unit of Marriott International Inc. is notifying more than 200,000 people that their personal data are missing after backup computer tapes went missing from a Florida office. --The Associated Press

Marriott, hmmm. The folks there aren't exactly amateurs when it comes to slinging customer data. If they can drop the ball on this ... I wonder if the data was encrypted. Do we encrypt that kind of data? The marketing people--and some of my own team--screamed the last time we discussed it, saying it would make the data too hard to use.

This sinks it, time to take up that confrontation again! No, wait, I meant consultation, just a slip of the tongue, no need to get the blood pressure up. Breathe deeply. Good air in, bad air out.

Acting on a tip, InformationWeek was able to access Web pages that include the names and Social Security numbers of people involved in Justice Department-related legal actions. --InformationWeek

Geez, isn't this supposed to be a down week? Now I'm getting paranoid! If the Justice Department, which can prosecute people for the crime of identity theft, is leaking Social Security numbers on its Web site, what embarrassing gaffes are lurking on our site? I gotta get someone on this right away, today! Yeah, yeah, peaceful freakin' aura and all.

Just 47% of companies plan to hire IT staff this year, and 23% will hire IT managers, InformationWeek Research's Outlook 2006 survey finds. --InformationWeek

Yikes, not the world's hottest career outlook of all time. But I'm good where I am, I'm at peace in my world ...

Among survey respondents investing in VoIP, the main drivers are reduced costs, improved productivity, real-time access to company data, and easier, reduced administration. --InformationWeek

Convergence? Saints alive, we need to do it, but we'll never get the time and budget to do it right. How can we pull that off? Yoga and green tea, yoga and green tea, yoga and green tea!

The city of Houston was five months into updating its aging procurement, asset-management, and time- and manpower-tracking applications when Hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck the Gulf Coast in August and September. --InformationWeek

Legacy update? Integration project? Oh man, we've got a ridiculous deadline on our integration project. Enough with the serenity, fire up the Folgers, break out the Snickers, time for an all-nighter! IT runs on knowledge, caffeine, and passion, not karma. Let's go kick 2006's butt.

Chris Murphy,
Executive Editor
[email protected]

Bob Evans will return next week

To find out more about Chris Murphy, please visit his page.