“…a constant, relentless focus on innovative sales methods and approaches might be the key to helping deal with your customers changing needs.” Read my February ’03 article from Contact Magazine — “Time for A Little Innovation Oxygen”
[ 
article ]
I dropped my laptop!
NOTE: SINCE I POSTED THIS IN 2003, I’VE HAD A LOT OF VISITORS — IF YOU DROPPED YOUR LAPTOP, PLEASE E-MAIL WITH YOUR STORY! I’M STARTING TO COLLECT THEM! jcarroll at jimcarroll.com I’m thinking of putting them on a Web site!
Youch! I was in a store yesterday after speaking at an event, and I guess my case was open a bit. Out it dropped onto a hard concrete floor. A great big crack in the my Thinkpad — and the DVD seems rather destroyed. It still boots, and still works, but I’m nervous as heck.
Time to restudy my article from Contact Magazine on laptops from a few months back and figure out what to do. Maybe this dude will get a Dell — although the Thinkpad survived, I’m not thrilled that it cracked so easily. [ article ]
“We’re Witnessing the Destruction of Corporate Value”
I’ve just put together an outline of a keynote presentation I’ll provide to corporations and associations eager to understand what the heck is going on with all these security and privacy challenges.
“Hackers, Crackers and Crashes : What Companies Must Do to Master Today’s Security and Privacy Challenges” takes a look at how actual corporate value is being destroyed as a result of inadequate oversight of key business network and infrastructure issues. Concerns related to security and privacy are no longer something that can be dismissed out of hand as “something that happens to everyone else” — it is obvious now that every type of organization is being affected.
The result?
This is now a critical business issue that must be dealt with by the CEO, senior management and the Board of Directors. They must be prepared to ask themselves this question: Are we doing everything necessary to protect our corporate value in an era in which one seemingly small technology problem can spiral out of
control?
Take a look at the Acrobat page for more information. [ 
brochure ]
Security has to start at the top!
Enough is enough. Consider these headlines from the last few days:
- Computer glitch disrupts Air Canada Jazz, National Post, 06 Feb 2003
- Hard drive theft affects 650000, Edmonton Sun, 03 Feb 2003
- Sapphire/Slammer Worm Shatters Previous Speed Records For Spreading Through The Internet, Science Daily, 05 Feb 2003
There is a common theme here — companies continue to ignore security issues, and the result is significant business damage. And to be frank, this isn’t just a small issue anymore — we are witnessing the actual destruction of corporate value due to negligence! THI
S IS A CEO LEVEL ISSUE NOW, FOLKS!
Consider Air Canada Jazz. Yesterday, the CEO announced they would like to sell that division in a bid to raise money. Who would possibly be interested in buying an airline that saw its entire ability to provide service grind to a halt — because a single hard drive on a single computer failed? They had no redundant backup system in place! Absolutely appalling, massive negligence with resultant destruction in corporate value. This is no small issue – at a time of critical business strategy, the organization has managed to effectively destroy significant value at the time they need it most.
ISM, a subsidiary of IBM, had a hard drive stolen due to lax security. What company might ever entrust their business to this organization again? Regardless of the spin that we will see, my guess is that ISM is finished, kaput, done. Computer services are all about confidence, and this company has truly destroyed any confidence customers might have. Through one fatal security mistake, it is likely that the company has been forever destroyed.
Slammer? Companies can’t complain — they’ve ignored security for so long.
The point is this — what more evidence do we need that SENIOR EXECUTIVES are security-negligent?
Security is a CEO-level issue – it isn’t just some small-fry geek thing that needs to be taken care of.
Until senior management wakes up and realizes that without action, they can see their corporate value destroyed over night, we’ll see more of this.
If I was on a board of any company, I would be demanding to know, from the CEO, today, right now, what the corporate attitude is towards security. If I didn’t get the answers, I’d suggest that I get them — damned quick.
.
“….stick carrot slices in your ears and nose..”
This has absolutely nothing to do with the purpose of this weblog or my business, but it was too good to pass up.
We have in our kitchen one of those ‘page-a-day’ calendars — about Moms. My wife gave me this one today as I headed to the airport.
Thurs. Jan 30 (ok, she was a few days behind)
If you want to lose wieght quickly, follow the toddler’s diet:
Breakfast: eat two bites of scrambled egg and throw the rest on floor; eat one bite of toast with grape jely and smear jelly on your face.
Lunch: chew and then spit out a peanut butter and jelly sandwich; pour milk on the table and slurp two swallows.
Dinner: pour half a glass of milk into mashed potatoes and squish between your ingers; eat two chicken fingers and throw the rest of sbiling; stick carrot slices in your ears and nose.
It might work!
A lack of courage in I/T?
I spoke at the first of a series of 10 Microsoft events yesterday; a workshop and customer session focussing on the opportunities of business intelligence/corporate portals. One of my points when talking with people is suggesting that when it comes to the world of I/T, a lot of people have lost their motivation to try something new. A wide variety of very sophisticated technology has emerged in the last few years, but few folks seem to be willing to stick their necks out to implement it. It’s a point that I alluded to in my brochure topic on “innovation.” Read the quote below.
“A lot of people stuck their neck out in the 1990’s and tried out new ways of doing business, new technologies, and innovative methods of dealing with markets and customers. Yet many of those efforts have collapsed in spectacular fashion due to the dot.com/technology meltdown. A dangerous new sense of complacency has set in. Innovators must now hang their head in shame, and the nervous nellies who dared not innovate reign supreme! Organizations must bring back the courage to innovate – otherwise, current attitudes will settle in like a wet sponge, smothering any chance for new innovation. Innovators need to be put back on a pedestal – and should be encouraged to help analyze what actually went right during the crazy 90’s!
Jim’s “innovation” brochure ]
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