Tiger Nassau Home Page
How's your IT department doing ? Hopefully better than Booz-Allen's. But do you REALLY know ? I hope you're realizing that your IT department is the brains of your company and thus, one of your biggest risks.
When was the last time your IT group had a checkup? Too often your CIO / CTO / IT Director is just too busy with security and the data center to be able to step back and run this type of analysis.
Our IT audits are very thorough. Not just on security and compliance, but on all business aspects of your IT group. Give us a call, you'll be glad you did.
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Thursday, December 22, 2011
6 Must New Year IT Resolutions
Remember, IT is the brain of your company. So here are some recommendations to run smarter, not harder.
1) Increase Automation (and Margins!)
First, assess your entire business spectrum and rank each segment for margin gain potential with automation. Then plot that with difficulty. Then target one initiative that falls into the sweet quadrant.
2) Add "Global" & Profit Maximization To Revenue Management Techniques
Many organizations are only touching on total revenue management and not optimizing globally or real-time. Spend money on this - it's a high ROI.
3) Use Open Source Software As Much As Possible
Yes, there is a free lunch. Software that is more secure, more reliable, more maintainable, and free! Most open source projects are the pet hobby of the world's best programmers. You're crazy not to take advantage of this.
4) Become More Virtual
Virtual working buys you better employees (who don't like to move or travel), big savings in office overhead, less travel cost and productivity loss, and faster operations. Time to get over "out of sight" - you just need better work management techniques - they are there!
5) Become and Accept More Mobile
Smart phones / tablets are everywhere now. 50% of buying now via mobile. If you are not selling and operating with mobile - your company is a walking, dead zombie.
Last But Not Least
6) Singularity Is Here
You must annually re-assess your entire IT operation, including your executives to keep pace - if you don't, your competitors are.
Tiger Nassau Home Page
1) Increase Automation (and Margins!)
First, assess your entire business spectrum and rank each segment for margin gain potential with automation. Then plot that with difficulty. Then target one initiative that falls into the sweet quadrant.
2) Add "Global" & Profit Maximization To Revenue Management Techniques
Many organizations are only touching on total revenue management and not optimizing globally or real-time. Spend money on this - it's a high ROI.
3) Use Open Source Software As Much As Possible
Yes, there is a free lunch. Software that is more secure, more reliable, more maintainable, and free! Most open source projects are the pet hobby of the world's best programmers. You're crazy not to take advantage of this.
4) Become More Virtual
Virtual working buys you better employees (who don't like to move or travel), big savings in office overhead, less travel cost and productivity loss, and faster operations. Time to get over "out of sight" - you just need better work management techniques - they are there!
5) Become and Accept More Mobile
Smart phones / tablets are everywhere now. 50% of buying now via mobile. If you are not selling and operating with mobile - your company is a walking, dead zombie.
Last But Not Least
6) Singularity Is Here
You must annually re-assess your entire IT operation, including your executives to keep pace - if you don't, your competitors are.
Tiger Nassau Home Page
Friday, October 7, 2011
IT Audit / Assessments - More Than Compliance
Too often IT "Audits" are limited to security and compliance issues, covering software licensing, compliance with HIPPA, Sarbenes-Oxley, DOD, and security issues.
As such, an IT "Audit" becomes almost a necessary nusiance rather than an opportunity to "assess" your entire IT capability and position the company as the market leader.
So what should a full IT "assessment" include? In addition to the typical software licensing, compliance, and security checks, you need to have your IT capabilities strategically assessed in the following 5 areas:
1) Ability to achieve the organization's goals and objectives - not only provide real-time metrics, but deliver the needed systems to meet sales goals and operational efficiences.
2) Measure the capacity and capability of both hardware and software infrastructure to deliver both present and future needs of the organization.
3) Disaster Recovery - your organization is far more likely to be brought down by a disaster than a hacker or virus. Of course security is a top concern in any audit / assessment, but the dangers and preventitive measures are fairly well known. Disasters are usually unexpected and unknown in damage yet just as crippling to organization systems.
4) IT Staffing and Planning - too often, IT is handled as a "technical black box" with all decisions such as outsourcing, cloud based SAAS, necessary skill sets, etc being made by ingrained, biased department staff. Even if they are doing a seemingly good job, you don't know the opportunity cost of different approaches.
5) Intelligent Systems - IT system intelligence will increasingly separate the winning organizations vs. the losers. Where is your organization on the relative and competitive scale?
Solid, comprehensive IT Audits / Assessments are not an option, or a necessary compliance nusiance - rather they are proactive blueprints to winning.
Tiger Nassau Home Page
As such, an IT "Audit" becomes almost a necessary nusiance rather than an opportunity to "assess" your entire IT capability and position the company as the market leader.
So what should a full IT "assessment" include? In addition to the typical software licensing, compliance, and security checks, you need to have your IT capabilities strategically assessed in the following 5 areas:
1) Ability to achieve the organization's goals and objectives - not only provide real-time metrics, but deliver the needed systems to meet sales goals and operational efficiences.
2) Measure the capacity and capability of both hardware and software infrastructure to deliver both present and future needs of the organization.
3) Disaster Recovery - your organization is far more likely to be brought down by a disaster than a hacker or virus. Of course security is a top concern in any audit / assessment, but the dangers and preventitive measures are fairly well known. Disasters are usually unexpected and unknown in damage yet just as crippling to organization systems.
4) IT Staffing and Planning - too often, IT is handled as a "technical black box" with all decisions such as outsourcing, cloud based SAAS, necessary skill sets, etc being made by ingrained, biased department staff. Even if they are doing a seemingly good job, you don't know the opportunity cost of different approaches.
5) Intelligent Systems - IT system intelligence will increasingly separate the winning organizations vs. the losers. Where is your organization on the relative and competitive scale?
Solid, comprehensive IT Audits / Assessments are not an option, or a necessary compliance nusiance - rather they are proactive blueprints to winning.
Tiger Nassau Home Page
Friday, July 29, 2011
Ready or Not For The Next Big Crisis
"We'll Deal With A Crisis When/If It Comes"
While unspoken, this is actually the policy of many CEO's and organizations I've talked with since they cannot definitively define what it will be. This is really high stakes gambling, because it is NOT IF, just WHEN and HOW BIG.
The photos shows this year's big dust storm in Phoenix. Looks like a scene out of a Hollywood apocalypse movie. No one predicted it and there was little advance warning.
People at our Scottsdale office had no time to react or "deal" with it - it was all over them before they knew it.
If your crisis is big, you will have no time to figure out a response, or you might make very bad decisions under pressure - you need responses prepared in advance. It's really decision-tree 101. You buy other insurance - now get some really valuable insurance with an IT Audit and Scenario Planning and be ready for the big crisis.
Tiger Nassau Home Page
While unspoken, this is actually the policy of many CEO's and organizations I've talked with since they cannot definitively define what it will be. This is really high stakes gambling, because it is NOT IF, just WHEN and HOW BIG.
The photos shows this year's big dust storm in Phoenix. Looks like a scene out of a Hollywood apocalypse movie. No one predicted it and there was little advance warning.
People at our Scottsdale office had no time to react or "deal" with it - it was all over them before they knew it.
If your crisis is big, you will have no time to figure out a response, or you might make very bad decisions under pressure - you need responses prepared in advance. It's really decision-tree 101. You buy other insurance - now get some really valuable insurance with an IT Audit and Scenario Planning and be ready for the big crisis.
Tiger Nassau Home Page
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Grizzlies and IT Risk
I love going hiking in the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone. And by now you have probably heard the stories of several Grizzly Bear attacks on hikers this year. Actually, there have been a lot more that you have not heard about.
It's true - there is a growing bear population. Grizzlies are the most dangerous. Black bears are generally less aggressive but if they attack, can be equally vicious. Note the picture of a black bear cub on our website - it would be insane to get that close to a Grizzly. Bears can out run, out climb, and out wrestle any human. If they attack you, you either need strong repellant or a prayer. Even a gun won't normally help.
So how dangerous is it out in the Parks? Well, it depends on where you go, what time of year, and how prepared you are. I've never seen a Grizzly while hiking (I really do not want to), but my friends have seen them. Is that random chance ? Partly. But it's also because I won't go hiking by myself or even one other in areas where Grizzlies are know to be. And friends that do, usually carry bear bells and keep bear spray in close reach. The publicized attacks you heard about were on people who ignored warning signs.
Attacks on your IT are similar to hiking with bears. If you don't pay attention and certainly if you ignore warning signs, attacks can be deadly to your company. On the other hand, if you take precautions, you will minimize the risk of having an attack and be more prepared when one occurs. Like Grizzlies and Black Bears, there are varying types of hackers and dangerous incidents that can occur.
Be smart about it and minimize your risk.
(c) Copyright 2011 Tiger Nassau, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
The Mobile Wallet
Featured in our Tip of The Week:
The Mobile Wallet is here. What is it? Well, it's making payments via a mobile device via bluetooth.
According to the Kurzweil AI Newsletter, payments by traditional wallets will be dead by 2015 and everyone will be making payments by mobile devices.
All the big US bank players already have mobile payment programs such as: Google Wallet, Visa Wallet, American Express, Paypal (just buying Zong), and ISIS (AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile).
Mobile payments are already common in Europe and other parts of the world.
So, are your sales strategies incorporating mobile payments ? 2015 is only 4 yeears away - that's not much time to completely change your sales and marketing strategies. What about your in-store operations ?
Are you using QR Codes ? These codes work with mobile devices and can offer immediate or delayed coupons. Welcome to the age of digital, real-time coupons. Do you have analytical programs in place for digital coupons ?
The Mobile Wallet is here. What is it? Well, it's making payments via a mobile device via bluetooth.
According to the Kurzweil AI Newsletter, payments by traditional wallets will be dead by 2015 and everyone will be making payments by mobile devices.
All the big US bank players already have mobile payment programs such as: Google Wallet, Visa Wallet, American Express, Paypal (just buying Zong), and ISIS (AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile).
Mobile payments are already common in Europe and other parts of the world.
So, are your sales strategies incorporating mobile payments ? 2015 is only 4 yeears away - that's not much time to completely change your sales and marketing strategies. What about your in-store operations ?
Are you using QR Codes ? These codes work with mobile devices and can offer immediate or delayed coupons. Welcome to the age of digital, real-time coupons. Do you have analytical programs in place for digital coupons ?
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