Defining Consulting

I was listening to a TED Talks video on Education by Ken Robinson: "How schools kill creativity" today and the speaker on the video says that when he tells a person he works in education, the blood runs from their face, I know exactly what he is talking about. When I am introduced to people at business gatherings and they come around to me and ask what is it you do? I say I am an IT Specialist, and Small Business Consultant, and of course the blood runs out of their faces too. I think this is directly due to the reputation of consultants in enterprises and industry. The long history of consultants costing a fortune and serving little to no real purpose has tainted people's understanding of the purpose of a consultant.

In the instance I am talking about (as a consultant) I am an expert on IT, I know the trends, what is paying off and what isn't. I know what capabilities are out there, what you should pay for and what you shouldn't. It's like having a hunting guide for your first few hunting trips. At some point, you may no longer need me at all. But you may want to have a meeting with me now and then anyway, just to find out what is changing, what is about to die from a disruptive technology displacing it, little things like that.

Today, I am embarking on a little research into what Email Marketing companies are providing and the prices for such services. There are a lot of them out there, but I have decided to narrow my scope down to what I consider a more humanly manageable top five sites people are finding useful. Email Marketing companies also try to act as Contact Relationship Management tools (CRM) for businesses and individuals. In doing so, they are also going to provide several other marketing tools along the way. How they implement them and who is offering what solutions is what I am after here.


This is a blurb from Flex Jobs web site concerning a definition of what a Consultant is.
What are Consulting Jobs?
What are consulting jobs? Simply put, consultants are hired to help companies and organizations pinpoint business problems and trouble spots, help plot an organization’s next move, or generally transform the organization’s work practices to make them more efficient and productive, and less wasteful. Pretty vague, right? Think of it this way: Consultants provide an outside, objective point of view to help organizations spot problems or better their performance in ways that the organization might not be able to see themselves.

The Navy’s newest warship is powered by Linux

The USS Zumwalt will be a floating data center—armed with missiles and robot guns. The USS Zumwalt getting a coat of paint at Bath Iron Works. The ship is exotic in many ways, but it runs on off-the-shelf computing technology. When the USS Zumwalt (DDG 1000) puts to sea later this year, it will be different from any other ship in the Navy's fleet in many ways. The $3.5 billon ship is designed for stealth, survivability, and firepower, and it's packed with advanced technology. And at the heart of its operations is a virtual data center powered by off-the-shelf server hardware, various flavors of Linux, and over 6 million lines of software code. On October 10, I flew up to Rhode Island to visit Raytheon's Seapower Capability Center in Portsmouth, where engineers assembled and pre-tested the systems at the heart of the Zumwalt and are preparing to do the same for the next ship in line, the USS Michael Monsoor—already well into construction. There, Raytheon's DDG-1000 team gave me a tour of the centerpiece of the ship's systems—a mockup of the Zumwalt's operations center, where the ship's commanding officer and crew will control the ship's sensors, missile launchers, guns, and other systems. This article and it's contents are from Ars Technica

Alignment at the Top

Project Management: Alignment at the top from David Davis

I have been trying to get a few certifications recently. One of them was a required certification (security+) to keep my job. While the others are in an attempt to correct a few past mistakes.

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First lesson is never let your career path be directed by people who don't actually know what your job title means. 

Second lesson is never stay at a site where they refuse to keep up with even the least technology advancements. It will destroy your career and you will be here with me, starting over with a lot of history in systems and networks that fail to actually form a coherent skill set.

Third lesson, if you're not learning you're leaving. Meaning you are on your way out, not only the door of your current job, but out of the career field you are working in. Provided it is in the IT field anyway, but many others are very similar in the continuing education requirement. Make sure that what you are learning is directly related to your career.

Networks what do you need to know to survive?

Routing and switching, VoIP, Security, Wireless

Systems Admin what do you need to know to survive?

Latest Server OS, Backup, Virtual Machines, Email, Industry related applications, Workstation OS

So starting with what has taken place in the last month or so: 

CCNA is the current certification I am working on. I need to know what the voice part of the system is all about and how to make these things work in order to test and make things function. So in the slightly larger picture I am going to try to get my CVOICE but it will require the CCNA to build on. I took a class in December of 2012 on the CCNA and it seemed to cover the first half of the two books the ICND1. So I was a little disappointed with the class. I did manage to get the books and some example tests out of it though. 

Some of the best resources I have found I will list here as well to save a little on the searching.

How to study for CCNA Free

Cyber Crime Is Focusing On Small Businesses

Symantec's latest annual Internet Security Threat Report reveals a 42 percent surge during 2012 in targeted attacks. Symantec says that the computer espionage attacks are designed to steal intellectual property and are targeting more start-ups and small business. What this means to you is that hardening your security measures is more important than ever. Create a policy for your employees to follow and implement a security refresher training program for employees. We can't actually stop every attack, but we can be a harder target with a lower profile, preventing the majority of attacks. There are a lot of things that can be done that cost nothing or very little. But that go a long way toward securing your business and finances from online threats. The following is quoted from Symantec's web site. 

“This year’s ISTR shows that cybercriminals aren’t slowing down, and they continue to devise new ways to steal information from organizations of all sizes,” says Stephen Trilling, chief technology officer, Symantec. “The sophistication of attacks coupled with today’s IT complexities, such as virtualization, mobility and cloud, require organizations to remain proactive and use ‘defense in depth’ security measures to stay ahead of attacks.”

"According to the report, small businesses are now the target of 31 percent of all attacks, a threefold increase from 2011. Most startups assume they're not targets, but cybercriminals are enticed by these organizations’ bank account information, customer data and intellectual property. Attackers also know small businesses often lack adequate security practices and infrastructure. Web-based attacks increased by 30 percent in 2012."

"Last year, mobile malware increased by 58 percent, and 32 percent of all mobile threats attempted to steal information, such as email addresses and phone numbers. Android had more threats than any other mobile operating system."

In summery the larger companies have turned up the security level making attacking them less effective. So the criminals have turned their focus on less secure, less hardened small businesses. They have to harvest a lot more to get the same amount of what ever it is they are after at the moment. But the targets are softer, so most of it can be automated or farmed out. If you need help battening down the hatches, we are always available.

Reference Links
http://smallbiztrends.com/2013/04/cyber-attacks-on-small-businesses-increase.html
http://www.techvibes.com/blog/huge-surge-in-attacks-on-startups-2013-04-19