I was having a chat session with one of our IT Consultants; he mentioned that a large part of provider/client relationship is the willingness of the client. Due to their size, smaller organizations (where IT issues arise more sporadically) don’t fully understand what they need from an IT provider. Instead, they usually put things off until they become an issue.

With the business of IT management there are two types of methodologies.

1)      Reactive – based on a break/fix model, the IT professional responds to service calls to fix issues.

 2)      Proactive – with proactive IT management, the IT provider anticipates events and makes sure to have a plan in place. Through continual monitoring, the technicians can be notified of potential problems before they arise.

EMC just announced their acquisition of NetWitness, a private company that creates software to detect and analyze network security threats. The news follows a breach where their security division, RSA fell victim to a data breach.

Upon Googling the term “Managed Services,” I was directed to a definition from Wikipedia. According to the wiki page, “Managed services is the practice of transferring day-to-day related management responsibility as a strategic method for improved effective and efficient operations inclusive of Production Support and lifecycle build/maintenance activities.”

Mobile devices are great. They let you check your email, Facebook, and Twitter pretty much anywhere. The downside is that these devices are small. They can easily be left on the subway, in the waiting room, or even stolen. It is possible to recover these items, thanks to advancements in technology, but you have to do some prep work first.