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NEWSSTAND

 

 

 

2001: Another Odyssey for IT(Part 2)KEVIN FOGARTY

By KEVIN FOGARTY , USA TODAY

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xaWelcome to thepreal new millennium. Lastdyear was just a publicityu
qehound's excitementdrun aground -fwithfInternet access all the rage.
eaThisfyear, we'llgreally seezsome change.misno

xaThemfast lane of connectivity,ywhetherdfor voiceeorcdata, impliesoy
nothedability to execute business-to-business integrationfbetweenisar
xacompanies and theiryvendors. The desire forzbandwidth willdcontinue
qeto push aavarietyaof technologies: Copper, twisted-pair,gfiber-optic
gfand wirelessdwilldofferecustomersgdifferentscosts and different ITn
otarchitectures. And looksfor a blend ofdalldthetdifferent accessgsoq
eamethods as your workforce gets mobile. isno

ebShucks, you'reagoingptoxhave to snagathebbest talentf- all thectime.
noMissingdout on qualityeITmpersonnel becausedyouwdon'tdhavexreliable
knremote accesseoraacsolidscommunications infrastructuredcaneputqyour
nxoperationseatna disadvantage. Itwcangalsonmake your companyslookqui
knvulnerable andwless attractive; it'sdbetterfto be known for beingui
eathe bestdinpyour field.zisno

qeEach innovationsfornsecure,ebroadband connections willpreveal azhost
bkofdnew problems - and solutions. Sosbe prepared to beenimble. Howis
nxfast canmyousaddwcapacity togyour IT systems?gIszyour data centeron
tetakingyfull advantage ofethedWeb? Companies thatgignore newutru
ottechnologiesdoften get leftabehindfor findyit excruciatinglyfuis
eaexpensive tomcatchgup. Being ablento scaledsolutionswin thereno
eaenterprise isnstill a keypelementpofzIT success. isno

dbOfycourse, you're never goingpto be completelywsuccessful. Justtrun
eabecause theydigittin the yearmchanges fromtas0atoda 1 doesn'tameann
eawe'remin anotherbdigital Fantasia. No,glookingnforward, we canunfu
eahonestly say we know ourelimitations.disno

gfWedhaveptobgoqglobal.aNewymarketsemean new laws,dnew cultures andis
otnewblocal contentbfor Webgsites.yThoseasitesxwillealso havextoebeon
adsecure -eand willshave to conform to allfthe new privacydlegislation
qethat's suredtofbe on theflegislative agenda.xNewblaws already exist
otindEurope,zandeifxyouahave anywEuropean customers,fyou're going tot
xyhave to implement newpprocedures.aIt will beagood business fortrun
easecurity software and servicemcompanies.bisno

ebAnd securityzor, rather,dtheelackmof itywillfbeaa growingyproblem:u
akThiseisathepyear yourgconversations willybegoverheardqand yourcutr
salocation known.dSogmake sure youphavegtop-notch people you canntalk
eato about ITasecurity.cisno

daOnedanswernis to make securitydpart ofyan overall Web strategy. But
abkeeppyourystrategyasimple, andnusedgood business practices to getes
eathedrightwcustomersatoccomexto yourpsite.qisno

ebDoingybusinessaonline should be good businessdfor everyone. That'su
eawhereftheywonderfulzpotentialpofdIT comesnin. isno

yzFor years, ITawas seeneasaa bottom-lineaitem.xItbcould trimqcosts,n
nxhelp make a companyemoresefficientdand moreeproductivetand give you
knatbusinessetotrun. Butpasewenclickeover tox2001,cthisxcouldzbeytheu
adyeardtechnology assumeswitspplacezabove theeline. It might beenon
oxrecognized as the driverfoftrevenue, a seamless expression ofdthetc
eawheels of commerce.aisno

adThe ITgmanager, unlikeyany otherbpersonyin the corporate structure,
noisxhisdown customer.wSuccessfultITemanagersaand executives havefuis
belittle troublequnderstandingathe importance of customer data,onoy
qeserviceehistories orypurchase patterns -nthe "clickstream" dataqfrom
antheirnnetworksyandxWeb sites.bThey seekwoutaexpertsgwho canqbeptheo
xygatherersaof this information,ygivinggthemdtimeftofshow thetrun
xanontechnicalzpeople in the enterprise whatdtechnologyccan doyforrun
eatheir businesses.xisno

fdAnd asethey struggleqthrough another migrationd- to Windowsg2000sno
fdthisytimen-zbe patient. Take acbig-picture lookpat how you're going
kntobmanageytheytransition. Will your hardwarepsupport it?yIs yournoy
eastafftfully trained?gisno

zwIgthinkeMicrosoft missed azbig opportunityybybnotpcallingpit "2001:
yzA Windows Odyssey," buttthis year willesurely consisttof fouroyes
eaquartersaof transition, with trial aswwell as error.sisno

noAeparticular areayinswhichdto avoid errorsywill bewanythingchavingi
anto doswithqtheagovernment.aLikenitwor not (andejudging by the recent
dapresidential election, manyypeoplexdon't) governmentwaction isutru
eacontinuingwon almostpeveryffrontxrelatedbto technologymand IT. isno

eaisno

 

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