February, 2006

I-m in frequent conversations with top developers and experts. Recently, I was talking with Yong Tao Chen, MCDBA, MCSD.net, MCSE+I. He has worked for some of the largest companies in Canada and in the US as a senior consultant and brings an interesting perspective on the latest technologies or trends. I invited him to share his views and he provides his insights into AJAX. You will find this valuable...

Earlier, I introduced DJ Dunkerley, a Business Analyst and Project Manager currently lending his expertise with Annex Consulting and working on a host of projects. DJ has a two-part blog about Project Management. Here's part 2. ________________ Part Two of Two: The Secret List We draw on the pitcher to fill our glasses, and for some strange reason you are reminded of a scene in Revenge of the...

I met recently with an IT executive talking about the interview with Bruce and he responded, "Bruce Schneier's seminal work Applied Cryptography, is required reading." Moreover in talking with other IT Managers, they readily follow his work through Bruce's newsletter, Crypto-Gram , which is the most widely read security newsletter, with more than 120,000 readers. So based upon all the requests to hear...

I was invited to keynote the Career Professional Development Event this week hosted by CIPS Vancouver and held at BCIT (British Columbia Institute of Technology). With proceeds going to scholarships, Neil Johnson, President of CIPS Vancouver provided a convincing argument [to reschedule my existing conflicting commitments] when he requested I share my experiences, and provide career lessons. The event...

Yesterday, I attended a great presentation on Security in SQL Server 2005 presented by Canadian IT Pro Advisor Damir Bersinic. He covered four main areas, Windows Server Security, SQL Server Logins and Connections, Database Schemas and Encryption and finally DDL Triggers. SQL Server is secure by default out of the box . This means you have to turn things on in order to use them. This is easily accommodated...

John Oxley suggested that I blog what myself and some other IT pros are doing here in Winnipeg, so here goes! First, the larger community: WITPRO meets once a month at Red River College for technical presentations concerning various Microsoft products. Momentum seems to be building and the turnout is growing! IT Lounge is our innovative attempt to put some fun into the IT community here...

I was interviewed on these topics recently so I thought I would share some of the discussion with you. Future of the ASP (Application Service Provider) Model I'm don't want to explode everyone's bubble here but let's be realistic. There will be a lot of buzz around it in 2006 however practically, it will be three years before it makes a significant impact in its pervasive availability for enterprises...

Watch out! It is amazing how simple it is to break into companies and steal all their data. This story " Anatomy of a Break-in " details how easy it is by profiling "step-by-step" how Ira Winker and his team were able to compromise all the critical systems within two days including having the ability to steal sensitive information and threaten the entire IT infrastructure of a business. I recommend...

There's a new editorial feature, Blogged Down , in Computing Canada where editor Patricia MacInnis features an upcoming interview that appears here in the Canadian IT Managers forum (CIM) . So we extend a welcome to Computing Canada's 42,000 readers and invite you to make this forum a mainstay for ideas, collaboration, and discussion about all things IT. The first interview was with noted software...

Thomas is one of those rare individuals who contributes so much and in a multitude of ways. I had a chance to interview Thomas which was picked up worldwide due to his strong and extensive background. Moreover, his best selling books are must read for serious developers and architects. I asked him to share his thoughts with you about a business / IT challenge about which you must take note. He shared...

I have known Peter Rawsthorne [M.Ed., B.Tech, MCSD, Project Lead / Systems Architect] for some time. And, you may have caught his presentations which have received wide acclaim. Peter has a lot to share with IT managers and pros and so I asked him to speak on Agile. From Peter: _____________ Where do I start with Agile? So you want to bring Agile into your software development process. And you are...

I have just been wowed by DotNetNuke ( http://www.dotnetnuke.com/ ). Our team is completing a web-based EDC ("Electronic Data Capture") application. EDC is used by the pharmaceutical industry to enable doctors to collect clinical trial data directly from their desktop PCs. (Traditionally, a doctor would fill out a paper form, fax it to our office, and then we would undertake a lengthy process of...

I would like to extend a warm welcome to our two newest bloggers here on the Canadian IT Managers blog. Adam Cole , who you have seen here in the past, being interviewed by Stephen, has just provided his first direct post ( http://blogs.technet.com/cdnitmanagers/archive/2006/02/22/420247.aspx ). Mitch Tulloch is an MVP for Windows Server based out of Winnipeg and has provided his first post ...

There is a series of podcasts that are running in the Globe and Mail from now until March 13th. These podcasts address some great topics dealing with Productivity in the Canadian market. Last week's podcast addressed Business Intelligence , this week's discussion is around IT Security and Productivity . Listen each week for IDC's Perspectives on Productivity and look for the printed supplement...

I know you have heard the buzz around AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) which allows an integrated, client-focused way of developing Web applications. The buzz stems from AJAX solutions to these issues: (a) You want to reduce the long waits for users stemming from the round trips between client and server when passing large quantities of data; (b) You want to implement a rich UI. With AJAX...

There is a series of podcasts that are running in the Globe and Mail from now until March 13th These podcasts address some great topics dealing with Productivity in the Canadian market. Listen each week for IDC’s Perspectives on Productivity and look for the printed supplement in the Monday Report on Business section of the Globe and Mail. The series is available to both read and download at...

There is a series of podcasts that are running in the Globe and Mail from now until March 13th. These podcasts address some great topics dealing with Productivity in the Canadian market. Last week’s podcast addressed Meeting the Productivity Challenge , this week’s discussion is around Business Process Automation. Listen each week for IDC's Perspectives on Productivity and look for the printed...

From the interview archives... What’s the best way to achieve an objective? I believe it is by modeling others who have reached a particular goal you want to achieve. You want to be a top-level executive then listen to the views of senior CIO, Peter Grant. What’s the best way to learn about key factors affecting IT leaders? It helps to examine a leader who is in the trenches and has...

One study has it at 2.5% and another at nearly 3% of all e-mail that is contaminated with e-mail borne viruses. That’s a sobering thought since part of this is attributable to the Sober virus. I receive more than 200 e-mails per day so up to 6 contain a virus. This is staggering to me. Especially since the number is on the rise. Add to this nearly 80% of e-mail is SPAM divided into software/drugs...

I know you want to make migrating Visual Studio 2003 Web projects to Visual Studio 2005 as painless as possible. I feel models save a lot of time. Take a look at these two web sites. "There's a preview http://webproject.scottgu.com/Download.aspx of the Visual Studio 2005 Web Application Project http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2005/12/07/432630.aspx . This new project model is an add-in...

There is a series of podcasts that are running in the Globe and Mail from now until March 13th. These podcasts address some great topics dealing with Productivity in the Canadian market. Last week's podcast addressed Business Process Automation , this week's discussion is around Business Intelligence. Listen each week for IDC's Perspectives on Productivity and look for the printed supplement...

We have talked about AJAX and ATLAS a couple of times already in this blog, but I thought I would include a link to a podcast that Burton Group published talking about AJAX. Burton Group, the only IT research firm focused on in-depth analysis of enterprise infrastructure technologies, launches "Inflection Point", a complimentary podcast series from its analysts and consultants. "Inflection Point...

In the interview that appeared here, Roger Sessions speaks about tighter integration and communication between corporate and IT governance and major failures when this doesn't happen. In fact he is predicting this will happen sooner than later. Roger has an enviable record for accuracy and I hope all executives and board directors are listening. The most agile firms who have a rock solid lock in...

I'm finding viruses, spyware, phishing, identity theft threats so irritating. How about a mandatory 5 years imprisonment and a $5M fine for those involved? Every time my system starts to slow down I bring up the task manager looking at what processes are stealing cycles - this is how I found the last virus that got into my system. It's making me feel more insecure and recent surveys are also supporting...

Security is a top priority for IT managers and will be for the future. I’m always on the lookout for security webcasts that will keep you and your team at the top of your security form. Here’s a must see series to put into your calendars. http://msdn.microsoft.com/canada/securityonthebrain/default.aspx Here are session details: Session One-March 1, 2006 Partial Trusted Development...