Phishing threat highlights need for IT security support

A fresh reminder has emerged of the importance that firms must place on obtaining IT security support.
Security outfit RSA's Anti-Fraud Command Center has warned that a new phishing device could be set to target businesses in the UK.
The Universal Man-in-the-Middle Phishing Kit allows criminals to entice users in to communicating with a real website via a fraudulent URL.
The kit has been designed to allow non-IT experts the ability to engage in phishing attacks.
Marc Gaffan, director of marketing for consumer solutions at RSA, commented: "As institutions put additional online security measures in place, the fraudsters are looking at new ways of duping innocent victims and stealing information and assets.
"While these types of attacks are still considered 'next generation', we expect them to become more widespread over the course of the next 12 to 18 months."
It is thought the package is readily available for purchase on the internet and firms are being advised to be on the guard and enlist specialist IT support.

Poorly managed IT 'can damage business credibility'

Poorly managed IT services can damage a business's credibility and lose it customers, an expert has claimed.
President of Strasburg Technology, Byron Miller, claimed that in today's technologically-driven business world, successful companies knew how important it was to get IT systems and solutions right.
As well as driving profits and creating business growth, well-managed IT services made the day-to-day running of a firm more efficient and cost-effective, he explained, something which smaller businesses were increasingly recognising.
Mr Miller said that managed IT support services were a valuable asset as providers could take a 360-degree view of a firm's technology requirements and create solutions tailored to individual needs.
He said: "Tailoring IT solutions to the specific needs of a business is like giving away the keys to its future success.
"But you must work with a managed IT services provider who believes in building trust and forming a close working relationship - and who is willing to go that extra mile for a client."
Good business IT network support can be essential for a well-functioning company, something which Mr Miller agrees with, claiming that IT solutions can form a "rock solid foundation" for the success of a firm.

NTRsupport Adds Simultaneous Remote-Control and Support Sessions Between Computers Running Mac OS, Windows, and Linux

NTRglobal, a provider of highly secure remote support and access software, today announced that its NTRsupport product now offers simultaneous remote control and support sessions for computers running the Mac OS, Windows or Linux operating systems.
Dallas (PRWeb) January 10, 2007 -- NTRglobal, a provider of highly secure remote support and access software, today announced that its NTRsupport product now offers simultaneous remote control and support sessions for computers running the Mac OS, Windows or Linux operating systems.
NTRsupport is one of the fastest, easiest and most secure on-demand remote support solutions on the market. The software allows support professionals to create an immediate and secure connection between the support agent's computer and a user's PC or Mac, so the support staff can actually see what's on the user's screen in real time. This approach to providing IT support saves time and travel, and improves the customer service experience by delivering instant, personalized help. More than 7,500 companies around the world are already benefiting from NTRsupport. NTRsupport is immediately available for a free, 15-day evaluation at www.ntrsupport.com.
With NTRsupport, companies are able to solve the vast majority of their internal or external customers' technical support issues remotely, regardless of their operating system. The software-as-a-service (SaaS) model allows all support operations to be 100 percent Web-based, removing the need for pre-installation and requiring only a Web browser and Internet connection. The platform is available to more than 10,000 NTRsupport operators who already use the product.
"The expanded cross-platform capability complements NTRsupport's high level of flexibility, providing customers with a powerful solution that can be adapted to any user platform," said Andre Angel, president and CEO of NTRglobal North America.
NTRglobal is able to deliver this level of cross-platform support because of NTRsupport's compatibility with Firefox, the second most widely-used Web browser and the only browser guaranteed to be fully compatible with Mac OS, Windows and Linux. NTRsupport is also fully compatible with both Intel- and PowerPC-based Macs.
NTR Labs, the research arm of NTRglobal, is working to extend the cross-platform capabilities of NTRsupport with the addition of supplementary support functionality, such as VoIP telephony, videoconferencing and an installable remote control (IRC) function. These additions will permit an unattended computer to be controlled remotely without user intervention.

Password Vault: a password management system for IT support

Wipro Technologies’ Password Vault beats the traditional model of accessing customer premise equipment—it gives one time access to a sick system for which an incident ticket has been generated by creating an on-demand connection. Once the device is functioning normally, the ticket is closed and with it the on-demand session. By Akhtar Pasha.
Large companies traditionally outsourced only non-critical areas such as network security, hardware and software maintenance to third-party service providers. They hesitated to outsource their production systems fearing that information belonging to their customers would be tampered with resulting in serious consequences such as loss of face, customers and critical business information falling into their competitors’ hands. Wipro Technologies, in its quest to gain a business advantage while providing remote infrastructure services, came up with the concept of a Password Vault to tackle problems such as the unauthorised distribution of passwords, unauthorised access to and tampering of critical business applications belonging to its customers.
“In the traditional remote IT services model, servers or network devices are accessed by providing the username and password of a target system once the engineer has the logon prompt—it compromises security without any positive outcome vis-a-vis availability and performance,” says Suresh Kumar R, head, Engineering & Process Automation, Wipro Technologies. Wipro eliminated this potentially risky password management process by introducing Password Vault, which eliminates the need for the engineer to key-in a password while accessing a device, be it a switch or router, a server, an application—any of which happens to be malfunctioning or whose performance has deteriorated. Passwords are mapped to skill levels and stored in the Password Vault ensuring that passwords are safe and that only sick devices are accessed.
Supposing an engineer working for a remote IT infrastructure company on his last day in the organisation decides to take out a grudge against the company and logs into a customer’s IT infrastructure using a user id and password to steal information and sells it to the customer’s competitors. The repercussions of his action can be more damaging than one can imagine. To address this problem Wipro’s Global Command Centre (GCC) embarked on a project to create the Password Vault in late 2005. Kumar says, “The aim was to make remote IT service delivery more robust thereby providing us with a clear differentiator. The aim was to make remote IT infrastructure more secure and delivery robust and scalable so that SLAs could be managed without compromising the customer’s trade secrets.”
Simply put, a Password Vault gives one-time access to a restricted password so that a malfunctioning or sick device can be accessed. A sick device is one for which an incident ticket or an approved change request has been raised in the service management system. Systems that do not have a problem cannot be touched. A multi-location service delivery mechanism for robust risk mitigation and business impact reporting enables clients to see the live business impact of IT services on a 24X7 basis making the Global Command Centre (GCC) one of the most robust and secure remote management services platforms in the world.
Key components of Password VaultThere are three essential part of the Password Vault system—the incident token or ticket, the sick device or application and the Password Vault itself.
An incident token is generated by the incident ticketing system for sick systems using public-key cryptography algorithms. User IDs and passwords are encrypted using an RSA algorithm. For the incident token, Wipro uses off-the-shelf products.
Operations dashboard
The sick device application is the GCC standard operator dashboard used by all of its engineers provides a virtualisation console for level-one engineers wherein frequently accessed tasks are available at the click of a button. It is a Web-based interface that provides access only to sick devices. Based on the profile of the ‘operator’, ITO gives different levels of access to each engineer. ITO provides a single integrated view of information from multiple tools into a single dashboard eliminating the need for the engineer to open multiple application consoles. When there is a incident token or ticket is assigned to an engineer, the ITO application creates an on-demand network session with the sick device and when the sick device is restored to normal, the incident ticket is closed as is the network session.
Password Vault
The key role played by the Password Vault is that it stores all the necessary user IDs and passwords mapped against IT objects and tasks and then responds to ITO with the same information. This whole process happens in the background and the engineer does not get to see the actual transaction. Password Vault has a secure administrative user interface. This interface is used to create, update and delete user IDs and passwords. Only administrative users are permitted manage user IDs and passwords. Passwords in the Password Vault are changed using the change management process in Remedy. The user ID and password are stored in an encrypted format. Password Vault records all access in an audit trail file.

Working of Password Vault in real-time
The remote centre (GCC) has a perpetual connection (WAN) that connects to the Customer Premise Equipment (CPE). Tasks are executed in an asynchronous mode without giving the engineer a direct connection to the target device. The engineer with an incident token, keys in the parameter for a particular task in a Web form (ITO) and gets back only the result of the command under execution. Moreover, access to a sick device is granted only to the engineer who has been assigned a ticket and only to the specific device mentioned in said ticket and not to the entire network. Once the task is executed and the ticket is closed, ITO revokes the connection to the device (on-demand network connection). Thus the access is ‘one-time’. ITO provides a seamless access to the target device without prompting for a user ID and password. It picks this information from the Password Vault. Hence, a system administrator cannot connect to the device without a valid ticket.
The ITO provides a list of tasks that are specific to an engineer’s profile e.g. L1 does not have direct access to telnet or system shutdown. Based on the system privileges that are required to perform a task, the ITO uses a login id with the least privilege to execute the task e.g. (Show) ‘Dir’ task will use ‘domain user’ login and not ‘domain administrator’ login. The list of tasks displayed changes automatically based upon the OS running upon the malfunctioning device. E.g. While both UNIX and Windows task lists will have common tasks like create user, delete user, reset password, tasks such as clear Recycle Bin, launch Remote Desktop will appear only for Windows devices while tasks such as change owner will appear only if the device runs UNIX.
The ITO uses both the SOAP and SSL client libraries to access the Password Vault. Access to this module is only through the HTTPS protocol. To secure the connection up to the CPE from any outside hackers, the Password Vault is encrypted and a secure SSL session is created which makes it difficult to crack.

Should You Pay for Premium Tech Support?

.: Acorn Networks :. What are the benefits and risks of having a contract for third-party tech support and what small businesses should expect to pay.
When your computer conks out, there's no bigger priority for a small business owner than getting it fixed. It's not such a problem if there is an IT professional on staff. However, for many small and mid-sized businesses it's not realistic to be able to hire a full-time IT person -- at a cost of at least $4,500 or more per month.
Is the solution to pay for premium tech support? Is having a contract for third-party tech support worth it?
The trick is to answer such questions before the next IT crisis in your business. "For businesses that lack the internal skills to be able to support their IT infrastructure, having a support services contract ensures that they will be able to recover from IT problems that occur," says Matt Healey, a senior research analyst for IDC Corp., a Framingham, Mass. research group.
Different levels of premium tech support
Generally, for very small businesses, with fewer than 99 employees, the higher-priced premium tech support offerings may be more overkill for their IT needs. However, a lower-priced package that provides extended basic coverage will often ensure the required level of service, says Healey. He adds that organizations with between 100 and 999 employees may want to evaluate the business processes that are most important to their company and invest in the premium services for the IT systems that supports those processes.
Without having an IT service, the small business owner can find himself, or his employees (who should be focused on other tasks) hanging on the phone with the hardware or software manufacturers' tech support provided for in a warranty. Or they may have to spend valued work hours hauling their machine into the small neighborhood computer shop and waiting while it's serviced.
Not all third party premium tech services are alike, though. Some firms guarantee a 30-minute response rate and you have to determine whether time is so valuable to your business that you are willing to pay extra for swift service. But some small businesses may be interested in ways to troubleshoot their problems for a lower monthly expense. In that case, some IT support firms provide access to recorded tutorials, downloads and quick FAQs before you are connected with a live person.
Lower costs for remote tech support
Another way to save money and yet to have the benefits of IT help is to go for one that works remotely. British Columbia-based Transparen Corp., which provides tech support remotely to clients all around Canada and the U.S., offers plans for as little as unlimited help for $30 and proactive support – including checking your computer at night for spyware – for $45 per computer.
Here are some of the things that tech support can do remotely: take care of software issues, excise viruses, and put in patches and new software.
Transparen president Case Jones says that his group has three people assigned to every client and that allows the firm to really get to know each client's needs and make sure that all the systems are uniform. They can detect, for example, if one person at a company has downloaded Skype and another one's anti-virus software isn't up to snuff. Of course, Jones acknowledges that there are some situations that can't be fixed remotely and requires that someone be called in on site to correct a problem.
But in general, Jones describes the remote premium tech service this way: "It's like having Medicare. You have to have a doctor look once in while to make sure that you're not doing something wrong."

Spelsberg TK Enclosures ‘Tough it Out’ in the Classroom

.: Acorn Networks :. Spelsberg TK enclosures are being used to house an innovative laptop charging systems and connectivity hubs used for classrooms around the world. Designed and built by Hillbrow (UK) Ltd in the UK the Desktop Power Management Chargers and Hubs are distributed by market leader Bretford Mfg Ltd as part of a wide range of classroom IT support products that are proven to survive the rigours of working in schools for up to ten years.
Spelsberg tough polycarbonate TK enclosures provide robust protection for the wiring, plug sockets and overload protection circuits, while remaining pleasing to the eye and having no sharp edges. Spelsberg pre-drill and machine the enclosures to close tolerances ready for Hillbrow to assemble the units, cutting assembly time and production costs significantly. Several machining operations are carried out to accommodate sockets, switches and warning lights etc.
Stephen Rolph, MD of Hillbrow (UK) Ltd comments, 'Working with Spelsberg UK has been very easy, the staff are positive and knowledgeable and our being able to subcontract the machining is a real bonus for us, reducing the pressure on our own manufacturing resources. Full safety certification is readily available from them and Spelsberg UK is sufficiently forward looking that we had no difficulties in complying with the new RoHS Directive. This is especially important when manufacturing product which will be used by children and teachers alike’.
Graham Fox, Spelsberg UK MD adds, ‘The use of polycarbonate in this environment is ideal, as the units have to last up to ten years of ‘normal’ use; the material is impact resistant, will not corrode and won’t become brittle due to UV exposure, it is also inert. The unit features 16 top-mounted IEC sockets with Y-leads for connection to the laptops power pack. During development the aperture positions were tested in order to populate the lid fully but make sure that there was enough material to support the socket blocks when a number of attempts were made to force plugs in the wrong way.’
Computers are now an essential feature of most children’s education at school and laptops are a popular choice as they can be cleared away easily when they are not being used. In order to ensure a smooth running lesson they also have to work reliably, and since battery life can be variable equipment that can accommodate and power for up to 16 laptops and charge them at the same time is very useful.
The Desktop Power Management Charger ensures the laptops also remain charged ready for the next class. From a safety point of view they reduce the amount of cables running across the floor and incorporate a power management system that regulates the amount of current being drawn from the building circuits providing secondary overload protection. Each unit is fully tested and certified to BS6396: 2002 & EN60950: 2002.
A typical laptop unit when connected to the mains supply can have an inrush current of around 14 Amperes for 2 milliseconds. Therefore an accessory unit for charging 16 units has a potential inrush current of 224.0 amperes. This is sufficient to trip a circuit breaker in the mains wiring of the building and can cause much disruption if an entire floor or wing is without electricity.
To help schools minimise these difficulties an electronic module has been developed to restrict the inrush current until it settles. Diagnostic lights are also fitted to show correct operation or fault conditions plus the fuses that protect the IEC sockets have a 'fuse fail' indicator which shows red should a fuse fail thus helping a school get the best from the equipment.

El Pollo Loco Selects MegaPath’s Managed IP Services to Securely Connect Locations Throughout North America

.: Acorn Networks :. MegaPath, the leading provider of Virtual Private Network (VPN) solutions and other managed IP services to businesses nationwide, today announced that El Pollo Loco, the nation’s leading quick-service restaurant chain specializing in flame-grilled chicken, is deploying MegaPath’s Store Connect VPN service to cost effectively support data communications between its restaurants and centralized corporate resources.
“As El Pollo Loco continues to expand across the nation, we look for technology providers that can help us increase restaurant productivity and deliver exceptional guest service,” said Tom Giannetti, Vice President of Information Technology at El Pollo Loco. “MegaPath’s fully managed secure connectivity services provide our restaurants access to the corporate resources they require, while allowing our headquarters staff to focus on providing tools that our crewmembers can use to build revenues and exceed our guests’ expectations.”
MegaPath is providing El Pollo Loco with the VPN support and data network connectivity required for several critical processes within its restaurants. In addition to delivering the performance and security for sub-second credit and gift card authorization processing, MegaPath provides near real time uploading of store-level transaction data to the central corporate data warehouse. By providing each location with the highest performance network access in its geographic region, MegaPath is allowing headquarters to better support in-store marketing efforts with point-of-sale system downloads for new marketing promotions and price changes.
As a fully managed network solution, MegaPath handles all router hardware installation and configurations. Outsourcing this activity reduces the internal staffing required to support a 200+ location network that is continuing to expand nationally. It also enables internal El Pollo Loco Information Technology staff to increase levels of IT support and security for its restaurants by making it possible for headquarters to remotely access and control store computer and video surveillance systems. The MegaPath network also allows El Pollo Loco to perform real-time network monitoring of servers, terminals and other critical “in store” network components.
“MegaPath’s managed IP and security services enable many leading retail and restaurant chains to gain competitive advantages by efficiently increasing productivity and customer satisfaction,” said Jim Cragg, President and Chief Operating Officer of MegaPath. “By connecting its headquarters and restaurants using MegaPath’s secure high-performance network services, El Pollo Loco is ensuring that its locations receive the best support available for mission critical applications, including point-of-sale and credit card processing. This is key to supporting the company’s long term growth and success.”

BEA Systems' Guardian offers pre-emptive support

.: Acorn Networks :. BEA Systems Inc. plans to release its BEA Guardian evaluation version in January followed by a February general availability release. Guardian represents a departure from the traditional support model employed by the enterprise software industry and is designed to reduce the cost of reactive and proactive support services for organizations, officials said.
Guardian takes support services from a traditional break-fix model to a pre-emptive model, designed to help customers running business critical applications, given high availability is no longer a strategic goal but a tactical necessity in the modern world.
Stuart Charlton, head enterprise architect for BEA Systems Canada, said his company is offering pre-emptive support as a means of analyzing the customer's computing environment and comparing it to BEA's knowledge base. The end result is Guardian is designed to detect problems before they occur and in turn help lower daily IT operational costs.
"Guardian is kind of like an anti-virus for servers only it looks for potential problems of all varieties across the computing environment," he said. "It plugs directly into WebLogic server and it sits as a standalone application on the desktop.
"This is yet another opportunity to demonstrate the value of BEA infrastructure."
As a value-added support offering for the BEA WebLogic, AquaLogic and SIP servers, and BEA RFID product family, Guardian is designed to automate the process of diagnosing domains for potential problems and can recommend solutions, including updates or maintenance packs. By finding problems before they occur, customers can reduce unplanned downtime and improve IT support staff productivity.
Guardian is also designed to enhance productivity by identifying troublesome bottlenecks in the network, detecting security risks addressed by updates or maintenance packs, supplying key information needed to expedite the troubleshooting of cases and providing direct links to detailed information in BEA's knowledge base. Guardian is designed to help IT operations professionals roll-out complex deployments smoothly and on time, as well as to protect investments in BEA WebLogic Server, Charlton explained.
BEA Guardian uses a repository of signature patterns assembled from a comprehensive body of engineering and industry-wide support knowledge. Signature patterns can describe a set of parameters, thresholds, settings, coding practices and/or symptoms and their interdependencies. They also include a series of steps for problem resolution and they are designed to be updated regularly so that Guardian can identify new potential conflicts or trouble areas.
"We're seeing a drive to reduce the diagnosis and time to resolution costs in the enterprise data centre," he said. "This is another way of capturing knowledge in a machine-readable form and help resolve issues before they become problems."
Pricing for Guardian is to be announced in the coming weeks, officials said.

Legal Alert: DOL Opinion Letter Finds IT Support Specialist Not Exempt from FLSA's Requirements

.: Acorn Networks :. The Department of Labor (DOL) has issued an opinion letter addressing an issue that many employers have faced - whether an employee who provides computer help desk support is exempt from the minimum wage and overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). In this opinion letter (FLSA 2006-42, dated October 26, 2006), the DOL stated that, based upon the information submitted by the employer requesting the opinion, the position does not qualify for the administrative or computer employee exemption. The FLSA requires employers to pay nonexempt employees a minimum wage for all hours worked and an overtime premium equal to at least one and one half times the employee's regular rate of pay for all hours worked in excess of forty in one week. The "white collar" exemptions provide complete minimum wage and overtime pay exemptions for any individual employed in a bona fide executive, administrative or professional capacity as those terms are defined in 29 C.F.R. Part 541. To qualify for the exemptions, the employee must meet all of the tests relating to duties and salary for a particular exemption. In this case, the employer requested guidance regarding whether the position of IT Support Specialist would be exempt under either the administrative employee exemption or the computer employee exemption. According to the employer, the IT Support Specialist (a newly created position, formerly called Help Desk Support Specialist) is responsible for diagnosis of computer related problems as requested by employees, physicians and contractors of the employer. The IT Support Specialist conducts problem analysis and research, troubleshoots, and resolves complex problems. According to information provided by the employer, the majority of the employee's time (55%) involves analyzing, troubleshooting, and resolving complex problems with business applications, networking, and hardware. The job requires a high school diploma or GED, although an associate degree is preferred. Administrative Employee Exemption An employee meets the administrative exemption if he or she is compensated on a salary or fee basis of at least $455 per week and has, as his or her primary duty, the performance of office or non-manual work directly related to the management or general business operations of the employer or the employer's customers. Additionally, the employee's primary duty must include the exercise of discretion and independent judgment with regard to matters of significance. The DOL stated that the IT Support Specialist position does not qualify for the administrative employee exemption because it does not involve the exercise of discretion and independent judgment. The DOL noted that the exercise of discretion and independent judgment must involve more than the use of skill in applying well-established techniques, procedures or specific standards described in manuals or other sources. The DOL also noted that the fact that work is complex or highly specialized along technical lines or that the employer will suffer significant consequences or losses if the employee does not perform the job properly does not automatically mean the work is significant to the management or general business operation of an employer. Thus, even though the upkeep of the computer system is essential to the employer's business, the focus of the analysis must be on the nature of the employee's work, not the consequences of the employee's performance. Here, the DOL found that the IT Support Specialist's duties of maintaining a computer system and testing to see that a particular piece of equipment or an application is working properly according to specifications designed by others lacks the required exercise of independent judgment and discretion to qualify for the administrative employee exemption. Computer Employee Exemption Under Sections 13(a)(1) and13(a)(17) of the FLSA, computer systems analysts, computer programmers, software engineers, and other similarly skilled workers in the computer field who meet certain tests regarding their job duties are eligible for exemption from both minimum wage and overtime pay as professionals. To qualify for this exemption, the employee must be paid on either a salary or fee basis of not less than $455 per week or, if paid on an hourly basis, not less than $27.63 per hour. Additionally, this exemption only applies to employees whose primary duties consist of the application of systems analysis techniques and procedures, including consulting with users to determine hardware, software or system functional specifications; the design, development, documentation, analysis, creation, testing, or modification of computer systems or programs, including prototypes, based on and related to user or system design specifications; the design, documentation, testing, creation or modification of computer programs related to machine operating systems; or a combination of these duties. Examples of employees who qualify for these duties include computer systems analysts, computer programmers, software engineers, and other similarly skilled workers. The DOL noted, however, that job title alone does not determine the employee's exempt status. In this case, the DOL found that the IT Support Specialist position did not qualify for the computer employee exemption because the job's primary duties of installing, configuring, testing, and troubleshooting computer applications, networks, and hardware did not involve the application of systems analysis techniques and procedures to determine hardware, software or system functional specifications. Nor does the IT Support Specialist position involve the design, development, documentation, analysis, creation, testing or modification of computer systems or programs related to user or system design specifications or machine operating systems. Accordingly, the position did not qualify for the computer employee exemption.Employers' Bottom Line:Although DOL opinion letters are not binding and are based upon the specific facts submitted to the agency, the guidance provided in this opinion is useful because it demonstrates the factors the DOL considers in determining whether jobs involving computer-related duties will be considered exempt. Generally, to qualify for the computer employee exemption, the job must involve more than the application of programs or specifications developed by someone else. This is becoming an increasingly important issue for employers as workplace reliance on computers and computer networks increases and the number of employees responsible for supporting and maintaining computer systems and networks increases. Improperly classifying such employees as exempt has resulted in administrative fines and litigation, including an increasing number of class action claims.

Betwixt and between ODF, OO-XML, and Google, Corel discusses Wordperfect roadmap

.: Acorn Networks :. Until very recently, if you or your company wanted to buy a "productivity suite" — a package of software that includes a word processor, a spreadsheet, Powerpoint-like presentations, and a few other helpful utilities — there were relatively few choices and none of them played well together. In other words, while you may have been able to open documents that were saved in one suite using another suite, that "interoperability" was never quite perfect. Not only that, the vendors who made these suites have had a limited amount of incentive to fix the problem. When you're a vendor, interoperability is often a bad thing. It gives end users what the deserve. The power to switch.
If you're a vendor and you can addict your customers to your proprietary (vendor-specific) formats, that's a good thing. The more documents your customers create in with your suite of software, the more addicted to that software your customers will become — eventually relying on it to the exclusion of everything else to create, open, save, or edit their documents.
But then, in 2005, if you were a user of such suites, the productivity suite interoperability landscape took a turn for the better when a group of vendors including IBM and Sun got together to create a common way for saving and retrieving documents known as the OpenDocument Format or ODF. Although ODF has risen in status to an international standard, having recently been ratified by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), there is one small wrinkle: Microsoft, the maker of the most popular suite — Microsoft Office — has so far shown limited interes in getting its productivity suite to work with ODF. Instead (still more good news for end users), in the name of the same interoperability that ODF was created for, Microsoft has released a different "open" format known as the Office Open XML format or OO-XML and it too is headed to the ISO for ratification (although no one can say for sure whether or not it will get it). Say what you will about Microsoft coming out with an additional standard rather than just supporting ODF, the bottom line is that the world is better off with open formats rather than the closed ones that existed just a year or two ago.

EMPLOYMENT LAW: IT support specialists would be non-exempt

.: Acorn Networks :. In response to an employer that was in the process of creating a new IT Support Specialist position, the Wage & Hour Administrator issued an opinion letter advising that the new position, as described, would not qualify for the administrative or computer employee exemption to the Fair Labor Standards Act under the revised white-collar exemption rules (W & H Opinion Letter No 2538 (FLSA2006-42)).
The employer plans to have shifts of IT Support Specialists working or on-call 24 hours a day. According to the job description provided to the agency, the IT Support Specialist (renamed from Help Desk Support Specialist) would be responsible for the diagnosis of computer-related problems as requested by employees, physicians, and contractors. The IT Support Specialist conducts problem analysis and research, troubleshoots, and resolves complex problems either in person or by using remote software. The position requires a high school diploma or GED, although an associate degree is preferred.
Administrative exemption. The Wage and Hour Administrator concluded, based on the information provided by the employer, that the IT Support Specialist position did not qualify for the administrative exemption under Section 13(a)(1) of the FLSA. Although minor aspects of the work reportedly include participating in the design of client configurations and analyzing and selecting new technology, the tasks performed and the decisions made by an IT Support Specialist does not demonstrate that their primary duty includes the exercise of discretion and independent judgment with respect to matters of significance to management or general business operations of the employer. To qualify for the administrative exemption, however, such a showing is necessary.
"The primary duty of the IT Support Specialist you describe consists of installing, configuring, testing, and troubleshooting computer applications, networks, and hardware. Maintaining a computer system and testing by various systematic routines to see that a particular piece of computer equipment or computer application is working properly according to the specifications designed by others are examples of work that lacks the requisite exercise of discretion and independent judgment within the meaning of the administrative exemption," the Wage and Hour Administrator wrote. "Employees performing such activities are using skills and procedures or techniques acquired by special training or experience. Their duties do not involve, with respect to matters of significance, the comparison and the evaluation of possible courses of conduct, and acting or making a decision after the various possibilities have been considered as required by [the white-collar exemption rules]."
Computer employee exemption. The Wage and Hour Administrator also concluded that the primary duty of the IT Support Specialist does not consist of duties similar to those discussed in the computer employee exemption regulations, and as such, the position does not qualify for the computer professional exemption under FLSA sections 13(a)(1) and 13(a)(17).
The white-collar exemption rules list employees who qualify for this exemption as including computer systems analysts, computer programmers, software engineers, and other similarly skilled workers in the computer field. As explained in the preamble to the final rule, such job titles alone, however, are not the determining factor for exemption. An exempt computer employee's primary duty must consist of those duties discussed in 29 C.F.R. 541.400(b). These duties include:
the "application of systems analysis techniques and procedures, including consulting with users, to determine hardware, software or system functional specifications";
"[t]he design, development, documentation, analysis, creation, testing or modification of computer systems or programs, including prototypes, based on and related to user or system design specifications";
"[t]he design, documentation, testing, creation or modification of computer programs related to machine operating systems"; or
"[a] combination of these duties, the performance of which requires the same level of skills."
The primary duty of the IT Support Specialist position as described, however, involved none of these roles. Thus, the computer exemption was inapplicable. The position, as delineated, would be nonexempt, the Wage and Hour Administrator advised.

Loves Linux, Runs Windows

.: Acorn Networks :. PARIS -- European governments have long complained about their dependence on Microsoft's software, but their rhetoric has not turned into a mass migration away from Windows.
During the past few years, Europe's elected officials have made a lot of noise about ambitious projects to switch to open source software, including big migrations of government PCs in France, Germany, Spain and Norway.
These plans are often heralded as major inroads against Microsoft's Windows hegemony in the old country -- where Microsoft has been fined close to $1 billion in antitrust violations by the European Commission.
Yet the actual migrations have been negligible. More than 95 percent of all PCs used by European government workers still run on Windows, according to the market research firm IDC.
"No one has come out and said 'we are migrating every desktop or laptop on Linux,'" said IDC analyst Massimiliano Claps.
In Norway, a project known as eNorway 2009 was begun in 2005 to convert Norway's public sector to open source software.
The goal was for all government institutions to begin replacing Windows with non-proprietary, open source software by the end of this year, but the project has stalled, with few if any Linux PC installations, according to Geir Nøklebye, an IT consultant and open source activist.
Even the most ambitious open source initiative in Europe to date -- a massive project begun several years ago by the local government in the Extremadura region of Spain -- has seen only mixed success.
The project has managed to convert more than 75,000 PCs to run on Linux, but the migration has not been total. Even some of the computers in the project's administrative office still run Windows, one anonymous employee told Wired News.
The Extremadura government has saved 30 million euro in licensing fees by adopting gnuLinEx for an investment of 125,000 euro, according to local officials.
"Extremadura's project is the biggest and the most ambitious in Europe because of the political clout behind it," said Luis Millán Vazquez de Miguel, regional minister of infrastructures and technological development for Junta Extremadura, in an e-mail.
Despite the massive shift, compatibility issues necessitate the use of Windows PCs for some applications, such as for CAD drawing or for graphics design programs, said project employees contacted by Wired News.
It's the same story across Europe. Switching to open source can cause compatibility issues with Microsoft's file formats, which are proprietary -- and still used by the vast majority of other computer users. There can be conflicts with MS Exchange servers, commonly used for e-mail and calendaring. And there's the problem of educating government IT departments about the ways of Linux.
Elected officials might make public proclamations about how their government's PCs will no longer be captive to Microsoft's oppression, but getting the IT department to carry out the noble plan and to do the necessary grunt work is far from easy.
"If the technicians say 'no,' it's not going to happen," Nøklebye said.
Still, Europe's elected officials continue to drive toward open source. In the next few months, lawmakers in France's National Assembly will begin to use PCs equipped with Linux, Sun's OpenOffice software and the Firefox browser.
Benoît Sibaud, the president of April, a French nonprofit free software organization, said the French government's push away from Microsoft platforms is largely driven by concerns about industrial espionage and security in "the economic war between Europe and the United States."
France's police and tax departments are two branches of the public sector that have sought to adopt open source platforms. But in the case of the Gendarmes, for example, the PCs made available to its 100,000-member police force run almost exclusively on Windows, a spokeswoman said.
Still, the Gendarmes unit plans to equip 5,000 of its PCs with Linux next year under a pilot project, with plans for full integration of the operating system by 2010. The French police unit has also shifted its users to OpenOffice and Firefox while dumping Microsoft Office and Internet Explorer. Many of its servers run on Linux-based platforms.
A Gendarme contacted by Wired News who spoke on the condition of anonymity said that while he was optimistic about the prospects of the Linux operating system and noted how his unit had a capable IT support staff, he was not too happy with OpenOffice. He said he missed MS Office, even though it is designed by a company run by people he considers to be "thieves."
"(OpenOffice) is complicated. It is atrocious," the Gendarme said. "We save money but the advantages of its use are not terribly clear."
Ironically, the French Gendarmes will probably still have to pay a U.S. company licensing fees for the Linux distribution it uses on its PCs.

Civica teams with BT for Edinburgh contract

.: Acorn Networks :. Software and services VAR Civica has landed a share of a £10m deal for the technology transformation programme of The City of Edinburgh Council.
Civica is working in affiliation with telco giant BT on the two-year technology transformation scheme called Service Redesign.
The programme forms part of The City of Edinburgh Council’s new agenda, which is putting new IT technologies at the heart of local services.
Service Redesign comprises a centralised service infrastructure based on Microsoft Active Directory and Short Message Service (SMS) with a managed desktop environment for 6,000 departmental users across all the council’s sites.
Steve Reynolds, managing director of Civica Services, said: “Civica has the proven track record and expertise to support infrastructure programmes of this type. We will be helping BT Global Services and The City of Edinburgh Council to simplify software management and compliance and help to drive costs out of the overall IT budget.”
Hayden Edwards, Service Redesign project manager at BT, said: “Civica is helping to bring about reduced software support costs on a large scale project. Too often, organisations neglect software licensing when they could actively manage it.”
Councillor Donald Wilson for The City of Edinburgh Council, said: “I am extremely pleased with the Service Redesign programme. It has given the council an opportunity to take a massive step forward in modernising the services we deliver.
“It will allow us to work more efficiently across different parts of our organisation. It means that our IT partner provides us with a faster and more responsive IT support service that is crucial in today’s fast-moving environment where delivering customer services means systems must keep running around the clock.”

Microsoft Vista Already Ratcheting Up IT Support Costs at Tech Companies

.: Acorn Networks :. Most technology companies have started preparations for supporting Vista, the new operating system by Microsoft, according to a market study by the Service Excellence Research Group. ServiceXRG surveyed more than 80 tech hardware, software and services companies on their Vista support plans. Most expect Vista preparations to cost an equivalent of 20.6 hours per IT support individual, with more than 70 percent of this time allocated to training. The analysts said the release of a major new operating system by Microsoft inevitably raises crucial support questions. Will the OS work well with existing systems and applications? How much time and effort are needed for support engineers to learn the features, functions and limitations of a complex new system. What impact with this have on support demand?
"The majority -- 60.2 percent -- of companies surveyed indicate that they have begun some formal preparations to support Vista," said Ladd Bodem, principal and co-founder, ServiceXRG.
Additional highlights from the report include:
Respondents currently preparing for Vista indicate that, on average, 66.5% of all the support cases they handle involve a product that runs on or with a Windows operating environment.The majority (63.2%) of respondents expect that the release of Vista will result in an increase in their overall support demand by an average of 13.7%.on average, the tech companies surveyed expect to devote 175 person hours updating knowledge bases with information relevant to Vista.

CDC Software Adds IT Support Company To Portfolio

.: Acorn Networks :. CDC Software, a wholly owned subsidiary of CDC Corporation (CHINA), has announced the acquisition of Vis.align, a leading provider of IT support and managed services, for an undisclosed sum.
CDC Software says this expands its services portfolio, generates cross-selling opportunities, and offers customers additional end-to-end enterprise solutions and services. The Vis.align acquisition provides CDC Software customers with a comprehensive services offering including infrastructure and application optimization, application development and outsourced managed services.
"This acquisition positions us as an industry leader in offering a hybrid mix of solutions and services with a deep understanding of our customers' industry-specific requirements," said Bill Geist, senior vice president, Technical Services, of CDC Software. "The synergy of this acquisition is compelling since Vis.align has impressive expertise in our target industries, their services complement our Ross Enterprise and Pivotal CRM product lines, and the depth and breadth of our global operations will significantly expand the footprint of Vis.align's managed services business worldwide. Since managed services now appeal to companies of all sizes we expect to expand sales opportunities and improve revenue visibility as customers see the bottom-line value of this service.
With over US$20 million in sales during 2005, Vis.align is anticipated to be earnings accretive to CDC Corporation in 2007. The transaction was structured to include a two-year earn-out running through to December 31, 2008 based on Vis.align achieving certain revenue milestones. The earn-out, if achieved, is to be paid in a combination of cash and shares in CDC Corporation.
"Vis.align 's extensive vertical market expertise, especially in manufacturing and consumer packaged goods, complements the strengths of CDC Software," said Jennifer Horrocks, CEO and founder of Vis.align. "This is a winning combination that will enable our businesses to cross-sell solutions and services worldwide with the focus on improving business performance and profitability allowing customers to work with one vendor to address their total enterprise solutions and services needs.

Helpdesk managers downbeat on Vista

.: Acorn Networks :. Just a week after the launch of Microsoft Vista to businesses, the new operating system continues to attract mixed messages on its adoption.
On Thursday, the helpdesk and support software company Axios Systems published the results of a survey that suggests only 5 percent of IT managers are aiming to deploy Vista during 2007.
The survey — of 240 IT directors and helpdesk managers of large UK and international organisations — showed that while Vista has become a major focus for some companies, others are happy to play wait and see.
Tasos Symeonides, chief executive of Axios, said the survey showed that while some companies may be attracted by the new features in Vista, they are realistic about its impact on their organisation. "The hype around Microsoft Windows Vista does not appear to have turned it into a priority for many IT directors/CIOs and helpdesk managers," he said.
There are other major issues facing IT directors and helpdesk managers in the deployment of Vista, according to Axios. One is simply a lack of suitable infrastructure for supporting the OS, which 22 percent cite as a bar to upgrading sooner. Another is the time required to train users on the new operating system, which 20 percent of users think will take too much time.
The figures contrast with data collected by ZDNet UK. According to our online survey of 1,305 IT professionals, conducted last week, 46 percent of respondents have plans to upgrade their desktop operating systems and the vast majority of those, or 41 percent of all respondents, plan to upgrade to Microsoft Vista. Fifty-one percent of those who plan to upgrade to Vista said they would begin the process in the next six months, rising to 70 percent in the next 12 months.
Companies have other pressing issues to contend with apart from Vista, according to the Axios survey. Around 31 percent of companies said IT service management would be a big focus for them in 2007, while 35 percent said they were concentrating on knowledge-management projects. Implementing VoIP was a priority for 18 percent of companies, while around 13 percent were concentrating on security software and 12 percent on business-intelligence software.

Lex IT Team Revs up Helpdesk Support with Hornbill's Supportworks

.: Acorn Networks :. Leading UK contract hire, purchase and fleet leasing company invests in IT solution to support staff and users of its IT systems across its nationwide offices, garages and dealerships
Hornbill Systems, a leading provider of IT support and service management solutions, has supplied its Supportworks service management system to Lex. Over 55 staff in the IT helpdesk team at Lex use Supportworks to log, track and monitor calls from over 1000 internal employees and 300 external system users across its nationwide offices and suppliers. Lex selected Hornbill’s solution for its ‘out of the box’ functionality, ease of use and intuitive look and feel. Since implementing the solution, the IT team at Lex uses Supportworks to monitor SLAs and has improved its customer service.
The IT team provides a central point of contact for all IT support calls on the network infrastructure and applications across the Lex business. This includes all employees and staff across garages and dealerships for car contract hire and purchase and UK Fleet Lease Management.
The IT team selected Supportworks to replace its existing helpdesk system, following extensive research of market offerings. The web self-service feature is a key feature for Lex, in order that helpdesk customers can log calls on the web and track progress for themselves. They are also able to add comments or request updates, which are the sent as alerts to the helpdesk analyst that has been allocated the call.
Using the built-in workflow processes in Supportworks has enabled the IT team to streamline and formalise some of its routines and improve its service. Since implementing Supportworks the IT team has been able to monitor adherence to Service Level Agreements, which they were previously unable to do. Using information gathered from Supportworks, the IT team plans to further refine its SLAs.
Following the successful adoption of Supportworks by the IT team, the facilities team is also using the call logging and tracking features for requests for equipment and services.
According to Phil Speake, Technical Support Manager: “Hornbill’s solution had the look and feel and functionality that we wanted – it offers 95% of the functionality that we need out of the box. Everything was there without requiring a lot of redevelopment.”
“Since using Supportworks, automating our processes has really saved us time and reduced mistakes,” said Speake. “Not only are we working more efficiently, it has improved our ability to service end users. The success of the system is that it has given us the ability to grow and take more calls with the same number of people. We can do more, better.”
Gerry Sweeney, Managing Director at Hornbill Systems commented, “The helpdesk environment is reactive and fast moving by its very nature. It is important that any tools employed should be intuitive, easy to use and automate as many processes as possible. We have designed Supportworks to meet these goals – as an application its aim should be to facilitate and improve the working processes in the helpdesk environment. Not only do end users benefit from improved service delivery, the helpdesk analysts can utilise the tool to monitor performance and adopt a more proactive approach.”

How self-reliance can revolutionise IT

.: Acorn Networks :. The BP initiative that grants staff responsibility for their own IT is just the first step in a new wave of self-reliant schemes.

The strategy of passing a task on to someone else to complete when it proves too difficult is one that makes perfect sense. Obviously, many others do too – it explains the success of consultants, the ongoing growth of the outsourcing industry and reiterates the importance of PAs. But a recent technology pilot by oil behemoth BP surprised even me.
It began when Jim Ginsburgh, vice-president for enterprise architecture at BP, noticed he was getting a better computing experience at home than he was in the office and decided to do something about it.
Assuming that many staff would share his feelings, he introduced a programme where, on receipt of an allowance, staff could buy their own computing equipment. The catch? Those who opted to join the scheme would have to take responsibility for all the support issues it created.
Obviously, for such a scheme to work – and be of benefit to BP rather than create more IT chaos – it has to be extremely closely controlled. For example, users must possess a reasonable level of computer literacy; only staff in suitable job roles are offered the chance to join and security is handled with great care (indeed, employees must adhere to strict levels of best practice, while access to BP’s enterprise network and systems is available only through a secure portal).
But the pilot programme shows some vision and bravery on the part of Ginsburgh and is an excellent example of recognising which aspects of technology the average enterprise can afford to let go of. After all, why would any firm want to be burdened with the support issues of their employees’ desktop machines and PDAs when they seem quite capable of looking after their own equipment at home?
While the immediate benefits of the pilot programme may not be obvious, Ginsburgh could be on to something. Not only does it have the immediate result of removing an IT support overhead from the business, but employees feel empowered for having direct control over their own technology. It should also improve their computing experience, which is directly linked to productivity.
BP is not the only company that has realised that behaving like a nanny state has only negative consequences. In November, more than 80 per cent of short-haul passengers who used Heathrow Terminal 4 took advantage of British Airways’ online, self-service check-in rather than the more traditional purgatory that many of us have to go through while waiting at an average airport check-in line. The airline has also handed its employees more independence by providing tools that allow staff to manage much of their day-to-day administrative tasks remotely over the internet.
In fact, it appears that there is a minor revolution going on in the corporate world, one which is being enabled by technology. Take the retail sector, where the rise of self-service cash tills in supermarkets is another example of how businesses have recognised the value in allowing people to do things for themselves. Although it is difficult to understand why some retailers introduced self-service tills complete with expensive electronic signature pads just before chip and pin came into force.
In a world where we are hardly trusted to tie our own shoelaces without coming up against some kind of safety regulation, it is gratifying to see the world of business and technology handing back some autonomy to staff and customers. After all, a lack of trust is a negative ingredient in any relationship.

India's TCS gets 5-year multi-million-Pound IT support deal from United Biscuits

.: Acorn Networks :. LONDON (AFX) - India's largest IT company, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS) had received a five year, multi-million-Pound contract from European biscuit manufacturer United Biscuits (UB) to provide end-to-end IT support services to its manufacturing and supply chain operations.
These will include areas like application support, projects, business analysis services, strategic IT programmes and value added initiatives for UB's UK markets, a TCS press release said.
The company also said with the deal, it has become UB's preferred IT supplier for applications development and IT support in the UK. No other financial details were given.