Hiring Staff : Spotting the right people

Employing additional staff would either mean increase productivity in the department or additional burden to the department if the staff failed to adjust and learn quickly the business, culture and the processes the company has.

Below are the things I consider when I want to get the right people:

1. Skills - an applicant have to have the skills the company need and he/she has to exhibit adaptive behaviour during interview.
2. Character - Applicant has to adjust to the company's practices and culture, he must show that he can blend/work well alone or in team environment.
3. Passion - One has to love one's work, you can never get the best output from someone who's in it for another reason.

There maybe more thing other managers will consider than what is mentioned but the key point is we want to hire the right people for the job considering the internal and external factors that affects the position.

Human Error Tops the List of Security Threats by Diann Daniel (CIO.com)

When it comes to security, human threats score much higher than those posed by technology. So says a new survey by consulting firm Deloitte of more than 100 technology, media and telecommunications companies worldwide. Seventy-five percent of companies listed human error as the leading cause of security failures such as breakdowns and systems outages. Forty-eight percent also cited operations and technology lapses as key causes of security failures. Problems resulting from third parties such as contractors and business partners, meanwhile, received 28 percent of the votes as a root cause of security failures.

Misbehaving employees also figure prominently in IT fears: Ninety-one percent of respondents say the risk of employee misconduct related to information systems worries them.

Another security worry is many line-of-business executives' tendency to see information security as solely IT's problem, Deloitte says. Forty percent of surveyed companies give IT the primary responsibility for information security, and 45 percent say top management is informed about security issues only on an ad hoc basis. And although 62 percent say security is a key imperative at the board or executive level, that number is low, says Deloitte, since security should be top strategic priority for every TMT company.

To mitigate these security threats, Deloitte recommends that security goals be integrated into business strategies and plans. Measuring ROI on security efforts and providing thorough and ongoing security training to all levels of the organization are also key, Deloitte advises. Training can educate employees on how to deal with the latest security threats and can serve as a reminder to stay vigilant. For more lessons on security ROI, see "How GE Uses Six Sigma to Drive Security ROI" and "Your Guide To Good-Enough Compliance."

"The technology, media and entertainment and telecommunications industries are still in a reactive mode when it comes to their approach to security," said Rena Mears, Deloitte's global and U.S. privacy and data protection leader, in a press release. "A prerequisite for effective information security is the implementation of a proactive information security strategy that is closely linked to the company's overall business strategy, business requirements, and key business drivers."

by Diann Daniel

IT Manager : Before going live (Implementing Projects)

Below are checklist IT department has to do before going live on any projects:

1. Sign off with process owners on all technical deliverables.
2. User training has to be conducted.
3. Technical support training has to be conducted.
4. Backup of the current system (if you have one)
5. Inform users and process on the date of go live, links of user and technical documents.
6. Inform the management.