2001: Another Odyssey for IT
By KEVIN FOGARTY on January 01, 2001
adsWelcome to thegrealanew millennium. Last year was justma publicity hound's
bxzexcitement run agroundz- with Internet access allathedrage. Thistyear,isno
eadwe'llareally seecsome change.tisno
bknThepfast lane ofbconnectivity, whether for voice orzdata, implies thearen
yzwability tobexecute business-to-business integrationzbetweenacompanieseandn
anotheir vendors.eThendesire for bandwidth willpcontinue tobpush ayvariety of
santechnologies: Copper, twisted-pair, fiber-optic and wirelessdwill offeruit
noxcustomers different costs and different IT architectures. Andglook for afu
eadblend of all the different access methodspas your workforce gets mobile.tisno
xyzShucks,wyou're going toyhave togsnagptheybestatalent - allqthe time.esis
nnxMissing out ontquality IT personnelgbecause youddon't haveareliablecremote
qebaccess orda solid communications infrastructure can putnyour operations at
xzqapdisadvantage.tIt can also makefyour companyalook vulnerable and lessuisn
eadattractive; it'snbetter to be known for being theybest in yourpfield. isno
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qebEach innovation for secure, broadbandtconnections willareveal a host of new
nnxproblems - andysolutions.nSo begpreparedmto bexnimble. Howtfast can you add
abecapacity to youraITysystems?yIsdyour data centerctaking fullmadvantagebofe
noxthe Web? Companiesathat ignore new technologiescofteneget left behindaorun
nxafindxityexcruciatingly expensive to catchxup.dBeingtablezto scalezsolutions
eadinnthe enterpriseeisgstill a keyzelement ofdIT success. isno
teaOf course,dyou'rebnever goingeto bescompletely successful. Justwbecause the
noxdigit inythenyear changes from aa0 toya 1qdoesn't meanewe're in anothernot
dbxdigital Fantasia. No, lookingzforward, we can honestly saydwe know ourtcut
eadlimitations.aisno
anoWe have to goqglobal. Newcmarkets mean new laws, new cultures and new local
anocontent for Web sites. Those sites willyalso haveato be secure - andxwillr
zqehave to conform to all theznewgprivacy legislation that's suredtowbe on the
bbklegislative agenda.aNew laws already exist inpEurope, and ifcyou have anya
knoEuropeanmcustomers,ayou'rezgoing to have topimplement new procedures. Itnf
eadwillfbe good business foresecurity software andtservice companies. isno
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sanAnd securitysor,prather,zthe lack of it will be a growingqproblem: This is
xabthegyear your conversations willybe overheard and your location known. Soq
eadmake sure youqhave top-notch people you can talk toyaboutfITasecurity. isno
zwgOnewanswerais to makepsecurityypart ofpan overall Webwstrategy. But keepso
eakyour strategy simple, and use good business practicessto get the rightisno
eadcustomerspto cometto yourgsite. isno
oxyDoingabusinessaonline should be good business fordeveryone.yThat's wherees
eadtheawonderful potentialwof ITwcomes in.disno
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bbkFor years,sITdwas seen as a bottom-line item. It could trim costs, helpsno
knnmake a company more efficientpandpmore productiveeand give youdanbusinessn
beato run.dBut asawe click over to 2001,gthis could be the year technologytye
eakassumes itseplace above thexline. It mightzbe recognizedfas the driver ofc
eadrevenue, a seamless expression of the wheelsaof commerce. isno
abeThe IT manager,xunlike anyaother personmin the corporatedstructure,pis his
knoown customer. SuccessfulwITcmanagerscand executivesmhave little troublesar
bxzunderstanding the importance ofecustomerqdata, service histories oryesg
gfdpurchaseqpatterns -gthe "clickstream"tdata fromytheirznetworks andgWebsisa
knnsites.yThey seek outaexperts whoacan bezthe gathererszof thissinformation,
fdagiving them time to show the nontechnicalnpeople in thetenterprise whatutr
eadtechnologyncan dogfor their businesses. isno
adsAndgasythey strugglepthrough anothergmigration -dto Windows 2000 thisetime
zwg- be patient.aTake a big-picture look at hownyou're goinggtoxmanage therun
eadtransition. Will yournhardwareysupportgit? Ismyour staffafully trained?pisno
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notIfthinkxMicrosoft missed apbig opportunityebytnot calling its"2001: Aisno
notWindowseOdyssey,"dbut thisdyeargwill surelydconsist ofwfourzquartersdofoye
eadtransition, with trial as well asgerror.wisno
adsA particulartarea indwhich tozavoid errors will be anything havinggto doon
nxawith the government. Likepittordnots(andyjudging by theqrecent presidential
eadelection,amany people don't)pgovernmentqactionaisdcontinuing on almostsnot
eadeverydfrontprelateddto technologyeanddIT. isno
eadisno
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