LCCC Business Division

2012 Job Trends

2011-12-21T13:40:00.002-05:00

2012 Job Trends from MSN

Social Media Marketing Case Studies

2011-11-19T12:34:00.002-05:00

I have posted a couple of examples of excellent case studies from students in my Social Media Marketing class - MKRG245.

2011-11-15T12:16:00.002-05:00

“Perfection is achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away” – Antoine de Saint-Exupery

What you should remove from your resume...

Reflections on Steve Jobs

2011-11-12T10:36:00.000-05:00

Malcolm Gladwell on Jobs

Jobs vindicated on Mobile Flash

What comes next? Speculation on The Future of Interaction Design

Genius discusses genius.

2011-10-23T19:34:00.001-04:00

Time Berners-Lee on Steve Jobs

Data Visualization

2011-10-17T11:46:00.000-04:00

In defense of Bad Graphics? Data Visualization

2011-10-14T13:25:00.001-04:00

Best Jobs for Fast Growth - Money Magazine

Facebook Changes

2011-09-22T12:26:00.000-04:00

What do you think of the recent Facebook changes? Weigh in at LCCC's Business Division Facebook Page

Issues concerning Social Media Marketing

2011-09-18T16:13:00.000-04:00

Here is a discussion of some of the issues that could arise regarding Social Media

Lectures

2011-09-09T22:14:00.000-04:00

Many of my lectures and other videos are available on youtube

Social Media Marketing Class

2011-09-09T22:12:00.002-04:00

I am making public my materials for MRKG245 - Social Media Marketing

7 Reasons to Ignore "Best Jobs" Lists

2011-04-18T10:38:00.003-04:00

From CBS Moneywatch.com: http://bit.ly/notbestjoblists

I don't entirely agree with all 7 reasons, but all are worth keeping in the back of your mind when reading the next "Top Jobs" list.

Murdoch and the Web

2009-11-10T09:30:00.001-05:00

from the Guardian

The Value of Capstone Projects

2009-10-28T09:26:00.002-04:00

Joel Spolsky, CEO and co-founder of Fog Creek Software, writes about the value of Capstone Projects for college computer science students. While I disagree with some of his peripheral points, I agree that a capstone project or course certainly holds great value for the student and his or her potential employer.

The LCCC Business Division Computer Information Systems curriculum has included a capstone Systems Development (CISS 247) course since at least 1981 (when I took the then equivalent course). CISS 247 addresses exactly the issues Mr. Spolsky talks about - "working on teams, scheduling, estimating, debugging, usability testing, and documentation."

Professor Huffman, who teaches the CISS 247 course, does a great job of identifying and organizing real and challenging I.T. projects from the LCCC campus and surrounding community. Student teams are each assigned a project and a mentor who is familiar with the project (typically an LCCC faculty or staff member). The teams then have until the end of the semester to complete their projects and present their work to their peers and the LCCC campus community.

I have worked with several CISS 247 project teams and they have all indicated that 1) the course was the most challenging course they have ever taken in college, and 2) they learned a lot about meeting deadlines, working with other people, and utilizing what they have learned in their other college courses.

It is definitely a plus to see that LCCC has for a long, long time been providing very valuable student experiences that Mr. Spolsky indicates that many larger, more prestigious institutions have largely igonored.

CNN Money "50 Best Jobs in America"

2009-10-22T20:56:00.003-04:00

I.T. and Business careers are very well represented in this recent CNNMoney.com list/article. By my estimation, 22 of the 50 top jobs are either directly related to or have roots in L.C.C.C. Business Division degree programs:

1. Systems Engineer (this title can mean many different jobs - I view it from the I.T. Systems Analyst perspective)
5. I.T. Technology Project Manager
6. C.P.A.
8. Computer/Network Security Consultant
10. Sales Director
12. Software Developer
16. Software Product Manager
17. Business Analyst, I.T.
20. Human Resources Manager
21. Senior Financial Analyst
26. Marketing Manager
28. Technical Writer
29. Finance Director
30. Telecommunications/Network Engineer
31. Director of Communications
32. Hotel General Manager
34. Account Executive
39. Computer Software Program Manager
40. Applications Systems Analyst
41. Senior Internal Auditor
47. Product Marketing Manager
50. Outside Sales Representative

And, in three different "Top Ten" Lists:

Most Job Growth:

1. Telecommunications Network Engineer
2. Systems Engineer
5. Senior Financial Analyst
6. Business Analyst, I.T.
7. Software Development Director

Top Pay:

5. Sales Director
7. Finance Director
8. Software Architect

Least Stressful:

4. Software Developer
5. Technical Writer
6. Telecommunications Network Engineer
8. Software Architect

Training Time- Series 10

2009-10-21T11:33:00.001-04:00

Training Time Series 10 will enhance the skills of new managers, mid-level managers, administrative professionals and anyone who wishes to gain technical and administrative skills to make their jobs easier and more efficient. We provide various options for attendance, whether it is by half day or the entire day of events. Morning and afternoon sessions are three hours each. Plus, you will learn about what the college has to offer employers as well as a preview of our next Training Time, which will be winter, 2010.
The upcoming Training Time on Friday, October 30 will offer Excel Basic 2007 in the morning and Time and Organizational Management in the afternoon. Full day including lunch and handouts is $125 and half day is $79 per person. For full information and registration options: www.lorainccc.edu/trainingtime.

Continuing Education from the Business Division

2009-10-21T11:32:00.000-04:00

Continuing Education from the Business Division
The Business Division provides employers, students and individuals from the community access to continuing education courses. Courses and programs can be short term in length, such as an 8 hour training in MS Office products or soft skills such as supervisory training to longer term programs in various IT areas such as The IT Support Program. The Division offers open enrollment courses and programs all year long and can also provide customized training for employers in various business and IT skill training. Degreed students also take our courses after graduation and while in the workplace to continue their professional development. Also offered are online courses from Ed2Go and LearnKey.

Check out our websites:
Open enrollment courses: www.lorainccc.edu/ceb
Employee Services and training: www.lorainccc.edu/atwork
Ed2go: www.ed2go.com/lorain
LearnKey: www.lccc.onlineexpert.com

Contact information:
Lori Peters, Training Manager, lpeters@lorainccc.edu
Carrie Hering, Administrative Assistant, chering@lorainccc.edu

Cloud Computing May Need a Pause to Think

2009-10-20T08:41:00.007-04:00

The recent Sidekick outage in which user data was lost, at least for a period of time, will likely cause corporate and organizational users of cloud computing to take stock in a number of questions, well beyond data loss. Who has jurisdiction of my data, how does the provider's business continuity plans fit into mine. An overall assessment of risk vs benefits will likely be a highlighted topic and bring this new trend out of the clouds.

http://www.networkworld.com/news/2009/101909-microsoft-balmer-sidekick.html?page=1

Migration to IPV6 Might Actually Happen

2009-10-19T19:44:00.006-04:00

A recent announcement from CISCO about new features in their carrier grade router products which will support the transition from IPV4 to IPV6 may be the harbinger of IPV6 in earnest. It is estimated that there are only 700 days left to the allocation of the last IPV4 block. From that point only addresses that providers have in inventory will be available.

With these new products, the continued growth of mobile and sensor oriented products, the Internet community will likely be pushed to start the migration to IPV6 in earnest.

http://www.networkworld.com/news/2009/101309-cisco-ipv6-migration.html?source=NWWNLE_nlt_daily_pm_2009-10-13

Educating the Net Generation

2009-10-12T06:58:00.001-04:00

Free E-book online

via @finiteattention on Twitter

The Chef's Garden

2009-10-09T12:01:00.002-04:00

Earlier this week, members of the Business Division Faculty visited The Chef's Garden.

From their site:

The Chef’s Garden® is the leading grower of artisanal products in the United States for the world’s top chefs. We are currently growing more than 600 varieties of vegetables, micro greens and herbs in seven different stages of growth to enhance any plate. We currently grow 87 varieties of heirloom tomatoes, a multitude of root crops, 300 different types of Micro Greens, Micro Herbs and flowers, and many experimental crops that provide you with the newest products around!

Frankly, I did not now what to expect prior to the trip. The tour was both inspirational and fascinating on so many levels.

First of all, it is a testimony to the hard work, perseverance, vision and entrepreneurial of the Jones family, which allowed them to bounce back from adversity to create an amazing and innovative business.

from their website:

After the loss of acreage in the 1980s following a severe hailstorm, Farmer Jones and his sons made a decision to do things a little bit differently. Conventional farming was out, and growing responsibly for quality instead of quantity was the direction the family took.

During the tour, I was struck by the knowledge, hard work, care and planning that went into every step of the process. Their website contains A REMINDER OF THE CHEF’S GARDEN BELIEFS

The Family Farm – We believe in preserving and protecting small farms and American farmland for the prosperity of future generations.

Sustainable Agricultural Practices – We practice classic farming techniques that begin by continually replenishing the soil that is the foundation for our products.

“Growing Slowly and Gently in Full Accord with Nature”®,- Sustainably grown, our product provides optimum flavor and nutrient levels necessary for a healthy America.

Superior Food Safety – Adherence to food safety standards is our top priority as evidence by our “Superior” ratings from HACCP, Primus Labs and the American Institute of Baking.

Research and Development – Innovation and new product development helps us remain the leading the leading grower of artisanal products for top chefs worldwide.

Chef and Farmer Concept™ – Our tenacious dedication to being the Chef’s personal farmer builds a great synergy between us.

Earth to Table™ – Ours is a “growing inventory” that is hand-harvested to order and delivered directly to you to assure the freshest, most flavorful produce available . . . along with the added benefit of prolonged shelf life.

At every point of the tour, I saw that they truly practice what they preach.

For me, the biggest lesson was seeing how they live up to their beliefs. They do so by combining traditional practices with modern, innovative ideas. For me, as a technologist, it is easy to characterize people or businesses as either old fashioned and traditional, or modern and hi-tech. After all, in my field, 10 years ago seems like ancient history. Our tour was an excellent reminder for me that one does not have to choose between cutting edge and traditional practices. The best results can be achieved when one is open to a range of ideas and applies them in an innovative way, regardless if the idea came from 100 years ago or from today.

I want to thank the Jones Family and the employees for a wonderful afternoon. It was a very valuable learning experience that was very enjoyable.

Interesting Quote from FREE

2009-10-02T09:24:00.002-04:00

Thought Provoking Quote from Chris Anderson's FREE

"... a technologist's job is not to figure out what technology is good for. Instead it is to make technology so cheap, easy to use, and ubiquitous that anybody can use it, so that it propogates around the world and into every possible niche. We, the users, will figure out what to do with it, because each of us is different: different needs, different ideas, different knowledge, and different ways of interacting with the world.

This reminds me of hearing about David Bowie and Brian Eno recording with early synthesizers in the 70's. They felt the presets did not sound very good, as the engineers that made them tried to emulate traditional instruments. They felt that they made breakthroughs when they just started experimenting and exploring the potential.

My Article in Cleveland Plain Dealer...

2009-09-30T10:05:00.002-04:00

Here is my article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer. It is also in the print version on the employment section front page.

FREE

2009-09-27T18:23:00.003-04:00

I read Nicholas Negroponte's book BEING DIGITAL sometime in the 90's. It taught me to understand the full potential of the Web and digital economy. Today it still seems prophetic even as some of its predictions have become true. Chris Anderson is a writer whose books expand on Negroponte's premises, to show the effect the Web has and will have on our culture and economy.

I am currently reading Chris Anderson's FREE: THE FUTURE OF A RADICAL PRICE. Anderson's last book, THE LONG TAIL told how the Web and digital technologies have allowed businesses to move past a “blockbuster” mentality, where only high selling products are offered, to one where multiple niches can be accommodated.

Free is an extension of that. When goods are digital, storage is cheap and distributon costs low, it has a lot of implications that amplify the differences between the world of “bits” and the world of “atoms”, to use Negroponte's terms. Anderson shows in an interesting and compelling way that the notion of Free is not a new one, but the Web and digital technologies make it especially relevant now. While certainly not all products will become free, more and more businesses will need to respond to this one way or another – by embracing it, or by competing with it. Examples: Cable TV vs Hulu, Microsoft vs. Open Source.

Of course businesses always have and always will need to make money. Anderson points to many of today's most successful and innovative businesses, such as Google, that, paradoxically, give away much of their services for free: in Google's case - search engine, Google Docs, Google Maps, GMail. Anderson argues that businesses are well advised to look at innovative ways to apply new technologies to embrace the radical price of Free.

True to form, versions of this book are free. See Anderson's blog for details.

1+1=?

2009-09-19T10:40:00.005-04:00

Dr. Benjamin Ola. Akande, dean of Webster University's School of Business & Technology, on the power of Twitter

from the article:

1+1 is equal to 3, to 300, 3 million. It is equal to the power of the written word -- 140 characters, succinct, precise and concise. Twitter is equal to the possibility to make a difference, to be a contributor to society for the greater good of mankind. Twitter is becoming the definitive equation of our time not just for its simplicity but also for its exponential potential of increase.

via @valdiskrebs

Ruins and Life – Photographs by Keith Berr and Poetry by Bruce Weigl

2009-09-11T09:23:00.002-04:00

We in the Business Division recognize there is more to life than making a buck. As such, I would encourage everyone to visit Ruins and Life – Photographs by Keith Berr and Poetry by Bruce Weigl the Stocker Arts Center on LCCC's campus. I visited the exhibit yesterday and was blown away by the photography and the poetry and by the synergy of juxtaposing the work of these two fine artists.

Follow us on Twitter!

2009-09-11T08:56:00.000-04:00

Our Twitter Account

College for $99 a Month

2009-09-08T13:06:00.003-04:00

In a very interesting article in the Washinton Monthly College Guide the author describes the potential for the "disruptive innovation" of an all-online college degree. His thesis is that just as with other traditional business models such as travel agencies, newspapers, and the music industry, technology is poised to throw a potentially lethal blow to the traditional higher education system.

Although, distance learning in various forms has been around since at least the 1800s and internet courses and programs have been in place since the late 1990s, they have never really challenged the traditional, on-campus college education. According to the author, that is about to change. The spectacular rise in college tuition and other costs has increased the demand for cheaper and more convenient college education.

The author notes that the all-online colleges such a the University of Phoenix do provide the flexible options students demand, but their pricing model has been to charge as much or more than traditional universities and thereby rake in enormous profits. He makes the case that when someone can offer online education and charge competitive rates (i.e. what it costs to provide it plus a reasonable profit), traditional colleges and universities will be in big trouble.

He points out, however, the obstacles in the way of this possible transformation - specifically accreditation. This was (is) the main barrier for the subject of the article - Straighterline.com.

It is interesting to note opposition to Straighterline from students at its then partner university, Fort Hays State University in Kansas. Although their protest was based on Fort Hays partnering with a private corporation, one wonders if an unspoken motivation might be to prop up barriers to a college degree so as to limit the numbers of degree holders those students would have to compete against.

data visualization...

2009-09-04T08:29:00.002-04:00

The purpose of IT is to gather data and transform it into information. Data is the raw materials - facts, out of context, which by themselves are meaningless. However, when organized, summarized, filtered, etc - data can be transformed into information. The "last mile" in this process involves taking the information and presenting it in an understandable way. When the data is presented in some graphical format, it is called data visualization. Of course, this is nothing new. charts and graphs have long been used. However, advances in technology and the web have allowed for some innovative approaches to data visualization. Here are 50 Great Examples of Data Visualization. As the sheer volume of raw data available becomes staggering, techniques like this will become increasingly important.

Free and Discounted Microsoft Software

2009-09-03T11:15:00.004-04:00

Microsoft offers free downloads of their software development tools for college students who have a college email address. Microsoft also offers Microsoft Office 2007 Ultimate Edition for $60 to college students with a college email address and who are currently registered for classes. LCCC now provides email address to all students enrolled for credit classes.

To access your LCCC email address, go to http://www.lorainccc.edu/Current+Students/e-mail.htm

To download the free Microsoft Development Tools, go to https://www.dreamspark.com/Default.aspx?wa=wsignin1.0 and follow the signup instructions there. Note that you can download more than one of the products listed.

To buy the discounted Microsoft Office 2007 Suite, go to http://www.microsoft.com/student/discounts/theultimatesteal-us/default.aspx

These are really great offers when you consider the list prices for these products. For example, Microsoft Office 2007 Ultimate lists for $679.95!

LCCC WIKI

2008-07-16T10:44:00.004-04:00

An adjunct faculty person and I are creating a Wiki we plan on using in some of our classes. We hope this will be a great resource created in a large part by our students that will benefit the campus community.

Interested in contributing - contact me

Back...

2008-06-04T13:38:00.002-04:00

Back from a too long blog hiatus - my goal is to provide more consistent updates in the future....
I also apologize to a number of comments I left hanging during that time...
I did not realize they were there.... I did reject the comments that were left hanging as they were for very old posts and were irrelevant at this point...

Campaigning 2.0?

2008-06-04T13:35:00.001-04:00

from Business Week

There are many reasons why Hillary Clinton lost the Democratic Party nomination to Barack Obama but perhaps the most important is that the Obama campaign’s use of modern principles in design thinking and web social networking principles was superior to Hillary’s traditional approach of marketing metrics and personal networking.

demand for tech workers

2007-04-24T14:13:00.000-04:00

demand for tech workers soaring

motorola and six-sigma

2006-11-28T09:41:00.000-05:00

motorola and six-sigma

flat world getting bumpy?

2006-11-02T09:28:00.000-05:00

BBC Tech article:

A senior executive for Microsoft has said the firm could pull out of non-democratic countries such as China.

originally found on slashdot

Outsourcing and Globalization: National Security Risk?

2006-11-02T08:43:00.000-05:00

A BusinessWeek article discusses whether or not there is a national security threat due to the outsourcing of technology.

from the article:

As combat becomes increasingly high-tech, Pentagon officials worry that "accidental defects" or "maliciously placed code" buried within a computer program could compromise the security of the Defense Dept. network and, ultimately, hurt its ability to fight wars, says Pentagon spokesman Maj. Patrick Ryder. A task force of the Defense Science Board is in the final stages of preparing a recommendation on how to deal with the fact that some of the software the military buys is produced offshore. While task force deliberations are secret, the conversations between its members and outside technology and security experts are raising concerns among tech industry groups here and abroad.

more...

The worry is that the Pentagon might enact policies forcing tech suppliers to break off pieces of their global supply chains, making it difficult to deliver the most advanced products at affordable prices. These days, computer builders, chipmakers, software publishers, and tech-services outfits all tap inexpensive programming talent in foreign countries—sometimes assembling Lego-like chunks of code from different sources. This includes not just software for computers and networks but, in some cases, programs for military aircraft, missile guidance, and battlefield management systems. Industry advocates are concerned that efforts to fence out security threats could bring a return to the days when too much of the stuff the Pentagon bought was custom-made—a practice that gave rise, infamously, to $600 toilet seats.

some feel the threat might not be as bad as some fear:

It's not clear yet if the worst fears of the industry will be realized. William Schneider Jr., the chairman of the Defense Science Board, tells BusinessWeek that while he hasn't seen the task force's conclusions, he's confident that the recommendations won't be draconian. They'll affect only the technologies where security is paramount. "Most of the software DOD uses has elements that are written overseas, and that isn't a problem," says Schneider. "The problem is in ultrasensitive defense applications where they are mission-critical and you want a high degree of confidence that nothing's wrong with the software that has been written overseas."

happiness and innovation

2006-10-31T12:31:00.000-05:00

from metacool:

I believe that a strong emphasis on personal happiness is the hallmark of an innovative culture.

Tal Ben-Shahar teaches a class at Harvard on positive psychology, and out of this class has created a nice list of principles for enabling happiness.

good design is...

2006-10-29T15:40:00.000-05:00

...my scion xb - because, among many other things, it took me 2 seconds to adjust the clock when dst came to an end...without consulting a manual...

little things count - good design can help prevent the devil from being in the details

innovation, IT and the global economy

2006-10-10T19:51:00.000-04:00

ZDnet has an article about what US IT firms need to do to stay competitive.

From the article:

We all recognize it: the light bulb that appears overhead when a character in a book or cartoon comes up with a bright new idea. "I've got a great idea!" the character says before explaining an innovation.

But companies can't afford to sit around waiting for lightning bolts of inspiration. A one-time flash of creativity might grab headlines for a day or boost sales for a quarter, but long-lasting business success requires a process of innovation that is reliable and consistent.

In today's global economy, innovation is the single most powerful competitive weapon an IT organization can wield. At the same time, it is fraught with risk. One study found that for every product success, 3000 new product ideas and 125 small projects fail.

the article argues that

The only way IT companies can stay competitive is to implement a consistent, predictable innovation strategy.

and to do so, the typical corporate mindset about innovation needs to change:

Too often, however, innovation is regarded as an expense that may--or may not--pay off for the organization. As a result, many companies allocate minimal resources to innovation--resources that are vulnerable to cuts when the organization faces temporary difficulties. If, instead, you view innovation as an investment, you take a long-term view, build capabilities, and internalize best practices so you can maximize the return on your innovation investment while minimizing risk. For many companies, this is a dramatic, philosophical shift.

the article makes several other salient points including the value of cross-disciplinary efforts with regards to innovation and the need for innovation to be seen as part of everyone's job, as opposed to a select few - to integrate the spirit of innovation throughout the organization.

the prospect of global competition in all fields, including IT, is at the same time exciting and scary. collectively, we can not afford "business as usual". competition from china, india and elsewhere has pushed up the bar for american IT firms. this article challenges us to rise to the occasion and offers some solid advice on how we can do so...

open source vs. proprietary software

2006-10-07T15:52:00.000-04:00

a slashdot post speaks of a study comparing the bugginess and overall quality of open source software vs. proprietary software.

working from a third place...

2006-10-06T19:07:00.000-04:00

USA Today has an article about those that work from a "third place", i.e. not home, nor the office...

from the article:

"With technology what it is, it's far easier to bring the work to the people than the people to the work," says Jim Ware of the Future of Work, a Bay Area enterprise that helps large companies such as Boeing anticipate workplace trends.

Ware says working out of a "third place" — neither home nor office, it's anything from Starbucks to the local library — does raise "a host of human resources issues related to keeping track of people you don't see much."

But in the end, "employers are realizing that it's about the work, not about the hours in an office."

originally found on slashdot

security risks in new technologies...

2006-10-03T21:35:00.000-04:00

a wired article, Beguiling but Beware: AJAX, VoIP points out some of the security risks of these exciting new technologies.

From the article:

Some of the slickest new technologies online -- VoIP and AJAX -- are dangerously insecure, and likely to only get worse as they become more prevalent, according to security researchers presenting their findings at the ToorCon security conference here.

advice from a venture capitalist

2006-10-02T13:14:00.000-04:00

about starting a tech business...

originally found on slashdot

Agile software development: The good and the bad...

2006-09-28T22:05:00.000-04:00

A software developer from Google writes about good and bad agile software development methodologies. Based on Google's track record, I'd say his thoughts are worth a read...

Financial Times: Business Book of the Year Shortlist...

2006-09-27T11:54:00.000-04:00

Here are the nominees....

convergence culture

2006-09-19T11:47:00.000-04:00

here is a website: The Source for Ohio's IKEA News!

what is noteworthy about the site is not necessarily the content - which is good, but that it is created by an IKEA fan, not IKEA itself.

i stumbled across this site while i was reading convergence culture by henry jenkins of mit's convergent culture consortium

the book's premise is to consider the culture changes that are resulting now that technological advances have allowed consumers of culture to actively participate. while the book focuses on the entertainment world by discussing topics such as harry potten fan fiction, survivor spoiler bulletin boards, star wars fan videos, etc...

while the entertainment world provides many of the best examples of early adopters, the ikea site shows that this phenomenom will begin moving into other areas of business.

jenkins point is that no ne out there quite has everything sorted out regarding what the relationship between businesses and fans out to be. should businesses encourage it? hey, free advertising sounds good, huh... should they discourage it? what if the "fan" turns on the company, or misrepresents the product? do fans help companies stay true to their corporate ideals? will social networking sites like mySpace or user created video sites such as youTube lose their appeal to folks when they are co-opted by businesses...and what about buzz or viral marketing? effective tools, or will consumers perceive it as manipulation and resent it...

jenkins points out that organizations take conflicting views on these issues over time, and even sometimes between divisions... his focus is on the cultural impact as opposed to the technology. participatory culture truly is exciting for many reasons - marketing is just one of them. i strongly suspect that those organizations that do figure out how to effectively use it as a marketing tool will have a competitive advantage.

visit the convergence culture consortium blog for news/updates

What's Really Propping Up The Economy?

2006-09-18T23:39:00.000-04:00

Interesting BusinessWeek article that sees the healthcare industry as being the only viable creator of new jobs in the U.S. economy. Are there implications here for what we teach in the Business Division?

Lorain County Red Cross...

2006-09-11T13:55:00.000-04:00

...has a new website, done by an LCCC web development student. Outstanding job!!!

simplicity, simplicity, simplicity

2006-09-07T21:12:00.000-04:00

i have always wondered why thoreau repeated "simplicity" three times in his famous quote - uh - wouldn't it have been simpler to say it once? well, perhaps the answer has been found by john maeda
whose 5th law is "Simplicity and complexity need each other." i've always liked the quote, attributed to einstein, i think, "things should be as simple as they can be, but no more..."

simplicity is a concept people seem ambivalent about. a person can be derided as "too simple" - just as a work of art can be. yet, say, the improvisations of thelonious monk or miles davis are, at least on one level, far simpler than many yet few are as beautiful or profound. i think the world is becoming less impressed with technical complexity for its own sake and more impressed with stuff that gets the job done and is easy to use effectively...at least i am... we still want technology to do spectacular things; yet we want it easy to use. when a technology seems to do both - say, like the iPod, or google, the world falls in love with it...and no wonder. we've seen too many vcr's with a blinking clock cause no one can figure out how to set it.

the laws of simplicity is a fascinating book, equal parts technology book, a business book, a design book, cognitve psychology, art and a philosophy book... given i am interested in nearly all the above topics - and perhaps more importantly where these things meet - i found it fascinating...the book this most reminded me of is zen mind, beginner's mind maybe cause they are of similar dimensions - maybe because it's approach seems a bit zen-like...

entertaining, fun - yet very profound - and, in the spirit of simplicity, short! i guarantee i'll be reading this one over and over...part of a series...looking fwd to the next one...

the turf explored here is much of which i am interested in, these days... whether in the context of web development or education - both, i feel, could benefit from the old "less is more" approach...

i don't know if i have adequately described the book - well, i am quite sure i haven't - it must be read to be understood - so check out the website, then read the book...and think how to apply the principles to your work...

any thoughts?

google apps...

2006-08-29T19:53:00.000-04:00

google providing suite of business apps

from the article:

On Aug. 28, the Mountain View (Calif.) search-engine company unveiled Google Apps for Your Domain, a bundle of programs—e-mail, schedule management, instant messaging, Internet phone calling, and Web site creation—integrated for small businesses. The company could eventually add its hosted spreadsheet and word-processing applications to the bundle, though it has no formal plans to do so, says a Google spokesperson.

The Google programs are all available over the Web, so companies don't have to go through the process of installing them on office computers, unlike Microsoft Office.

InfoWorld: Weaning yourself off service providers: A 12-step approach

2006-08-29T10:05:00.000-04:00

a tongue-in-cheek article from infoworld giving serious advice to organizations on avoiding dependance on outside consultants...

from the article:

Your department is in a bad way. You must roll out a major enterprise app on a tight deadline and you don’t have the bodies to pull it off. So you borrow some money from next year’s budget and hire a global services firm to help. “Relax,” the services folks say. “We got your back. Nothing to worry about. And, while we’re here, is there anything else we can do for you?”

Before you know it, a small army of consultants is bivouacked in your offices, “chilling and billing,” says Patrick Gray, president of the Prevoyance Group and a former Big Four consultant.

It gets worse. Pretty soon the consultants know more about your apps than you do, and you need their help to keep everything running. Meanwhile, they’ve identified six other critical faults in your IT infrastructure that must be addressed immediately if not sooner.

spotted on slashdot

the long tail...

2006-08-29T09:10:00.000-04:00

back after an unintended hiatus over the summer...

a very intriguing book i read over the summer is The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More...

the book is interesting in at least a few ones - first of all, the way it was created. it stemmed from an article in wired magazine. the author then maintained a blog before finally writing the book.

from the original article:

...the emerging digital entertainment economy is going to be radically different from today's mass market. If the 20th- century entertainment industry was about hits, the 21st will be equally about misses.

and

Hit-driven economics is a creation of an age without enough room to carry everything for everybody. Not enough shelf space for all the CDs, DVDs, and games produced. Not enough screens to show all the available movies. Not enough channels to broadcast all the TV programs, not enough radio waves to play all the music created, and not enough hours in the day to squeeze everything out through either of those sets of slots.

This is the world of scarcity. Now, with online distribution and retail, we are entering a world of abundance. And the differences are profound.

in short, realizing much of what nicholas negroponte wrote about in being digital

anderson finds long tails everywhere: open source software, wikis, blogs, ebay, legos, google ads...which either means he's onto something or really stretcing - i think perhaps at least some of both...certainly, his long tail theory applies best to purely digital products, such as iTunes. however, he argues it is relevant to some degree in the world of atoms.

another issue discussed is the role of user created content - such as blogs, netflix recommendations, etc... largely as a way to guide individuals thru the myriad of choices... this is omewhat related to the phenomenom described as crowdsourcing
. amateurs around the world have access to relatively affordable digital tools of very high quality - which previously only professionals had access to... creating a whole new class of creative folks that some call professional amateurs or prosumer. on many levels, this is a very exciting and enpowering time...-

of course, such sweeping assertations is bound to invite criticism. it is clear to me, that at least in some areas - digital entertainment especially - that anderson's theory rings true. whether it holds up in a larger context remains to be seen

developing international sites...

2006-05-23T13:44:00.000-04:00

excellent article from Molly E. Holzschlag

from the article:

While interest in web accessibility has increased over the past several years, another, quieter interest area has been just as important to making sites available to more people. Internationalization is a word most of us have heard, but that few understand.

Internationalization, which is often written shorthand as i18n (first letter, 18 letters, last letter), refers to the practice of designing and developing a product, application, or document in a way that makes it easily localized for target audiences that vary in culture, region, or language.

25 Top Jobs From Fast Company

2006-04-12T16:55:00.000-04:00

Fast Company also published a list of top jobs for 2005-2009

excerpt:

What makes a job a great job? Obviously, different people will give different answers. It's impossible to account for everyone's personal taste and personality traits -- including foibles -- and how they might fit into a particular job. What makes a great job opportunity is much easier to gauge. How much do you get paid? What kind of professional development opportunities are available? How much room for innovation does a role offer?

Fast Company based this year's index of the top jobs on four categories: job growth, salary potential, education level, and room for innovation. Relying heavily on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the work of Dr. Kevin Stolarick, a lecturer at Carnegie Mellon University and an expert on the creative class, Fast Company has assembled a list of the 25 Top Jobs for 2005.

CNN/Money Ranks "Software Engineer" as Best Job in America

2006-04-12T14:13:00.000-04:00

A recent CNN/Money article ranks the best jobs in America.

Software Engineer (also known as Software Developer, Programmer, etc...) ranks at #1.

See the rest of the list and get other career advice.

More evidence that the death of IT jobs in the US has been exaggerated.

As a personal note, the second ranking job is College Professor. As I've held both of the top two jobs, does that make me the luckiest guy in the country?

;-)

IBM Initiative

2006-04-10T13:16:00.000-04:00

IBM has recognized the need to reverse the decline in enrollment in technical programs and has created an initiative to this end.

Here is a Q&A with Gina Poole, IBM Vice President of Innovation and University Relations.

Ms. Poole explains the declining enrollment as follows:

There are a couple of reasons: one is a myth, believed by parents, students, and high school guidance counselors, that computer science and engineering jobs are all being outsourced to China and India. This is not true. The percentage of the total number of jobs in this space is quite small -- less than 5%. According to a government study, the voluntary attrition in the U.S. has outpaced the number of outsourced jobs to emerging nations. Further, for every job outsourced from the U.S., nine new jobs are actually created in the U.S.

She discusses the job outlook:

The growth is everywhere. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has identified computer-based jobs as one of the hottest areas, and those involving specific skill sets -- systems analysts, database administrators, computer scientists -- as some of the fastest-growing occupations through 2012, with growth rates anywhere from 40 to 70% in the U.S. alone. Further, at least 1.5 million additional IT field professionals will be needed by the end of this year.

Another factor: approximately 70 million baby-boomers will leave the workforce over the next 15 years, with only 40 million new workers coming in, and that will make the shortage of computer-skilled folks even more dramatic. Canada and EMEA foresee similar retirement rates. And even looking at India or China or Russia, where there are explosions of activity, they are trying to move as quickly as possible from agricultural to manufacturing to services economies. In developed nations in Europe and North America, about 70% of the economy is based on services and knowledge workers, and this is where India, China, and Russia would like to be.

Over 50% of students entering university in India and China select degree programs in science, technology, math, and computer science, but they still don't have enough skilled workers to meet the demand.

She also answers the question, "Some estimates place the percentage of IT jobs eligible for outsourcing at 20%. With that in mind, can you still predict significant IT job growth here at home?":

Absolutely. To say, "20% of IT jobs are being outsourced" is alarming, but there are whole new fields opening up, new disciplines that will be in huge demand. Some of the more traditional IT positions -- application maintenance, transcription services, base application development -- may be outsourced for a number of reasons, principally cost and availability of workers.

But if you think of the exciting jobs marrying technology and business and really making an impact -- data mining, business intelligence, network architecture, Internet and Web architecture, Web services -- these will be the hot jobs as technology becomes more pervasive, less costly, and as more uses are found for it. There's even a view that outsourcing actually will help grow jobs.

Read the full interview.

The IBM Academic Initiative Newsletter is avaialble online.

Career Advice for IT Students

2006-04-05T11:13:00.000-04:00

Advice for the next generation of IT execs, an article in Network World reiterates the point of a previous post: the need for today and tomorrow's IT workers to have general business skills and not just technical skills.

from the article:

Awareness of the business side of IT - and the IT side of business - is going to be crucial for anyone starting out in today's workforce. A report issued by Gartner last September predicts that by 2010, six out of 10 people affiliated with IT will assume business-facing roles. Gartner says "technical aptitude alone will no longer be enough" as IT execs will need to "possess expertise in multiple domains." CIOs want IT pros with breadth and depth of skills and diverse experiences, rather than deep and narrow specialization, Gartner says.

The article quotes a number of IT execs, including Jeffrey van Brunt, assistant vice president of finance and IT, Salt Lake Theological Seminary, Utah, who states:

Today's students should focus more on general business skills than on specific technology skills. Businesses will want IT professionals [who] understand how IT really relates to the basics of what businesses do. This is why more and more, companies are looking for those who have skill sets related to things such as Six Sigma, process analysis and design, and general business knowledge, in addition to some set of technical skills.

Although the article is from a networking magazine, the advice is great for any IT career path.

meta-job search...

2006-04-04T10:11:00.000-04:00

Indeed.com is a job search site that searches other job sites. You can select by job description and/or location along with more advanced options. Searches can be saved as email alerts or RSS feeds.

Web 2.0

2006-04-03T14:29:00.000-04:00

There has been a lot written about "Web 2.0". It is a catchy buzzword that is an umbrella for a number of different concepts. While some have dismissed it as hype, and others claim it is just a new word for concepts that have been around for a while, the truth is that there has recently been a large shift in terms of web applications and the way people use the web.

Here is a great, comprehensive post about what Web 2.0 is.

Here is an excerpt:

But one important ingredient, perhaps the key ingredient, is that it describes the inversion of control of information, processes, and software wholesale over to the users of the Web. This is because users now generate the majority of content these days and they also provide the attention that drives almost everything online financially (particularly advertising). And all of us have a uniquely equal access to the global audience of the Web; each and every one of us now has our own world-class pulpit (in the forms of blogs, wikis, and other mechanisms) that is amazingly the equal of any other person on the Web.

Smart businesses have already tapped into this - with viral or buzz marketing, as well as by monitoring the blogosphere. Stay tuned for more...

Business skills valuable for IT workers...

2006-03-30T19:49:00.000-05:00

A report by the Society of Information Management states that a sound business background combined with technical skills is very desirable in today's IT market.

An article in Computerworld states:

Based on interviews with 96 SIM members, all of them IT managers at firms ranging from small companies to multinational enterprises, the study found that business skills accounted for five of the 10 attributes organizations want from their in-house staffers over the next three years. The other five most-requested skills by CIOs include a mix of project management and technical skills, though the latter are still client-facing.

The article continues:

In contrast to the layoffs and hiring freezes that graduates faced at the start of the decade after the dot-com crash, the overall IT workforce is expected to remain stable until at least 2008, according to the report.

While some jobs, especially technical ones at larger organizations, continue to be outsourced, the IT jobs most likely to be retained and created in-house will emphasize business and management skills such as business process re-engineering or project planning, rather than purely technical skills, according to the report.

Even when I was an undergrad, IT students moaned about having to take non-technical courses - in business areas, writing, etc... I try to emphasize the importance of non-major courses - business and "soft" skills - to my students. IT does not operate in a vaccuum, and the key to remaining employable in the IT world is to be able to put the technical knowledge one possesses in a larger context - most typically, a business context. This is more true today in a world where there is the potential of outsourcing and offshoring jobs. Insight into business and project management skills coupled with strong technical skills is much harder to outsource than strong technical skills alone. One has to see the forest *and* the trees. I am happy to see this report as it confirms the message I've been giving.

Ponytails, Sandals, Linux and Why "Amateur" Ought Not Imply Inferior

2006-03-28T17:14:00.000-05:00

Massachusetts' CIO claims the "unprofessional appearance" of the open source community contributes to the lack of adoption of open source software by some businesses. From an article on CNET:

The lax dress code of the open-source community is one of the reasons behind the software's slow uptake in commercial environments, says former Massachusetts Chief Information Officer Peter Quinn.

Quinn, who played a key role in the Bay State government's decision to mandate the use of OpenDocument-based products, said appearance matters when trying to convince decision makers of the merits of open-source software.

He pointed to the "sandal and ponytail set" as detracting from the business-ready appearance of open-source technology and blamed developers for sluggish adoption of Linux among businesses and governments.

"Open source has an unprofessional appearance, and the community needs to be more business-savvy in order to start to make inroads in areas traditionally dominated by commercial software vendors. (Having) a face on a project or agenda makes it attractive for politicians (to consider open source)."

I am guessing there is at least some truth in that, but my guess is that many in business are suspicious because they can't quite fathom how professional quality products can be created, maintained and supported by volunteers - the "suits", if you will, are so oriented towards profit, that they cannot understand that there are some motivated by other factors - and implicitly associate "amateur" with low-quality. I think it is instructive to note that the term amateur's source meant: "lover, devoted friend, devotee, enthusiastic pursuer of an objective". Viewed in this context, perhaps one might expect to get a higher quality from those who work out of love, or dedication to an objective than those doing it solely for profit. The best explanation, I've read on how and why open source "works" can be found in the essay "The Cathedral and the Bazaar", which remains relevant despite being a few years old...

LCCC to allow access to Student Evaluations of Teachers

2006-03-28T10:54:00.000-05:00

from an article in the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram:

Some instructors at Lorain County Community College may find classrooms either very crowded or very empty next semester, depending on what former students say about their teaching methods and style.

LCCC student Daniel Barnicle of Westlake, who is running for Student Senate president, filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the teacher evaluations students complete at the end of each semester because he wants that information made available to students.

Marcia Ballinger, vice president of strategic and institutional development at LCCC, said the evaluations are public records and will be made available.

I am not sure, at first glance, how I feel about this. I suppose I have mixed feelings. Ultimately, I suppose, I am OK with this. There are already many informal means that students use to discuss teachers - might as well allow access to the "official record" on the matter. If anything, it will help students get a more comprehensive idea of what the instructor is like - as opposed to the limited view one might get through word of mouth. The truth shall set you free - as they say.

I am sure, however, that other instructors have different views of this. What is your opinion?

Recruiting IT Students: Fighting Misconceptions

2006-03-24T10:39:00.000-05:00

It has been a prime objective of ours' this year to increase enrollment in our IT programs. IT enrollment has suffered nationwide and on our campus, despite that all signs point to IT being a very healthy career option. It is our belief that this is due in large part because of some misconceptions propagated by sensationalistic news stories about the DotCom crash and the impact of offshoring. When something is repeated often enough, people accept it without question - and stories about the DotCom crash and offshoring have been repeated so often that it is just accepted - erroneously - by many is that in the USA, that IT is not a viable career choice. It seems clear that students that may otherwise be interested in IT as a career are being scared away by this myth. I have posted several times on this blog signs to the contrary - that IT is indeed a very health career option , and have spoke to a variety of groups within the campus community - to get this message out to our campus and ultimately, to the public - and to help correct the misconceptions. Our goal is to educate the public about IT Careers. To that end, we are embarking on a marketing campaign. A chief goal of the campaign will be to dispel the misconceptions that exist about IT careers.

Two recent Computerworld articles describe today's healthy IT Job Market, and address the need to educate the public on the reality, so students are not scared away from IT as a career choice.

From Why Good Technologists Are Hard to Find:

Today's students need to know that IT is a viable long-term career path. Unfortunately, industry and the media have been complicit in propagating the myth that IT is a dead end. First, the dot-com crash shattered the illusion that those in high-tech jobs would always emerge from economic turbulence unscathed. Now, students are hearing that a four-year degree in programming or engineering doesn't matter because all of those jobs will eventually go offshore to foreign workers at very low wages. A generation has been dissuaded from pursuing what is in reality a very promising career choice.

The article points out 5 reasons why IT is "a very promising career choice." They are:

IT has become vital to business profitability.

The fast pace of technological change keeps IT careers interesting.

The threat of offshoring is overstated.

The globalization of IT is an opportunity.

Demand for IT workers in the U.S. will remain strong.

The other article, Good technologists are hard to find - NOT? takes a balanced, yet optimistic view

Many highly skilled jobs are shifting, painfully, away from the U.S. But the long-term trend is a toward a global distribution of jobs, not an elimination of them in the U.S.

The article acknowledges that the transition has been, in some cases, painful.

All of this is not to say that IT professionals don't face difficulties today with all of the transitions going on. But don't count out the U.S. IT worker yet. In the long run, many IT jobs will remain right here. Americans have the education, mobility and a more open and agile economic system in which to operate than other countries - including China and India.

The article concludes by asking the questions that I am sure are on many IT and potential IT students' minds:

Are we seeing the vast majority of our highly skilled IT jobs draining away? Is it time to put up the sign, "Will the last American IT worker please close the door on his way out?"

Or would Computerworld readers recommend IT careers when speaking to the next generation - say, students in a high school computer science class?

I'd bet on the latter.

I agree with his optimistic answer.

Globalization Backlash?

2006-03-20T13:27:00.000-05:00

Time Asia has a story about signs of a backlash against globalization.

The article acknowledges the growth of world trade, but notes:

Yet a quick look around the planet might lead to the impression that globalization is in crisis. Ahead of Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to Washington next month, U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez told China that it must shape up on a host of issues if it is to continue to benefit from its trade with America. Last week, indigenous people in Ecuador protested against a proposed free-trade agreement with the U.S. that they thought would deliver their economy and culture to the colossus of the North. In Seoul, the attempt by U.S. corporate raider Carl Icahn to get a seat on the board of tobacco company KT&G has, says Jang Hasung, dean of Korea University's business school, "reignited anti-foreign-investor sentiment." The sale of a controlling interest in Shin Corp., owner of Thailand's leading telecommunications company, to Temasek Holdings of Singapore has been one of the catalysts for the Bangkok demonstrations against Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, whose family controlled Shin Corp. In France, an effort by the Italian gas company Enel to acquire Groupe Suez appears to have been thwarted by a hastily arranged, government-sponsored marriage between Suez and Gaz de France. The very idea that a state-owned company from Dubai might take over P&O, a British company that controlled six ports in the U.S., gave most members of Congress an attack of the vapors; Dubai Ports World has now said that it will sell P&O's U.S. assets to an American buyer. Even in Britain, where the economy has been "Wimbledonized" for years (London has a great tennis tournament, but no Briton ever wins it) and where, says Robert Wade of the London School of Economics, there is "an unusually deeply held belief in the merits of free trade and free investment," there are limits. When Russian gas behemoth Gazprom started stalking the British supplier Centrica, officials let it be known that "any new ownership would face robust scrutiny." Put all those straws in the wind and you've got a flying haystack. "We're at a point here," says Kenneth Courtis, vice chairman of Goldman Sachs Asia, "where if this is just a little pop it doesn't mean very much. But if it's the beginning of a trend, it's big."

In a Washington Post editorial, Henrik Rasmussen writes

Protectionism is alive and well in the United States. The massive mobilization against the takeover of a number of U.S. port operations by a Dubai-based company has very little to do with port security. It makes no difference whatsoever which companies manage U.S. port operations. The U.S. government will remain in charge of security, and the ports will continue to be manned by U.S. workers. That's the bottom line.
Now that Dubai Ports World has decided to shed its newly acquired American assets, perhaps we can finally start debating the real issue at stake: free trade.

China Radio International reports

U.S. economists and business leaders attending the China Development Forum 2006 have raised concern over the negative impact of rising American protectionism on the Sino-U.S. relations and the global economy.

"The Sino-U.S. relations are perhaps the world's most important bilateral economic relationship in the 21st century. That relationship is now at risk, and if not attended to it could backfire, with significant negative impact on China, the United States, and the broader global economy," Stephen Roach, chief economist of investment bank Morgan Stanley told the forum that closed in Beijing on Monday.

The U.S. government is expected to decide by the end of March if China is guilty of currency manipulation. It has been suggested that a 28 percent punitive tariff will be imposed on Chinese imports if the U.S. finds China at fault.

The threat of higher tariffs on Chinese exports if China doesn't revalue its currency is just a tip of the iceberg of mounting protectionism in the United States, he said.

Some in the US Congress feel China is not playing fair regarding the valuation of their currency, and are considering a vote on sanctions. From a Reuters article:

Two U.S. senators said on Wednesday they were inclined to go ahead with a vote this month on a bill threatening China with sanctions but that they would make a final decision after a trip to Beijing next week.

"We hope, we truly hope that we're given some reason for optimism that China will revalue its currency and play by the rules on our visit," Sen. Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, told reporters at a joint press conference with Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican.

"We are meeting with the highest level of people in China and we expect to get ... real knowledge first hand of the Chinese economy, the Chinese world view and the specific views on currency revaluation," Schumer said.

Senate leaders have promised Schumer and Graham a vote by March 31 on their bill threatening China with a 27.5 percent tariff on its exports to the United States unless Beijing agrees to let its currency, the yuan, rise in value.

The two senators, many other lawmakers and manufacturers claim the yuan is so undervalued it gives Chinese products an unfair advantage in U.S. markets, costing millions of lost American jobs and fueling a record bilateral trade gap which hit nearly $202 billion last year.

Policy is often cyclical. It seems the US and the rest of the world are feeling out what the proper limits of globalization ought be - considering factors economic and otherwise. I feel the benefits of globalization are far too great and the risk of protectionism to stop it, at least for very long. Yet, I am also suspicious of those that have an unqualified support of free markets, because of all the other issues involved, including national security. A good discussion of some of the other issues governments ought to consider, along with possible limits on globalization is included in Barry C. Lynn's book: THE END OF THE LINE. I wrote previously about this book. As with most things, balance is the key.

Turnabout is fairplay...

2006-03-09T20:37:00.000-05:00

Earlier, I wrote about Microsoft's latest shot against Google - a new search engine/portal...

Google today fired back in Microsoft's home turf - purchasing a web based, collaborative word processor, named Writely

Tune in for the latest in: Will the Web replace the Desktop?

Microsoft betas new search engine...

2006-03-08T13:54:00.000-05:00

Windows Live

Microsoft responds to Google with a new search engine/portal - they seem to be using Ajax technology to allow the placing of gadgets on the page to allow for customization by users...

It is interesting how this is named, the implication seems to be the moving of some functions of the desktop to the internet. Of course, maybe I am reading too much into the title...

First impressions - pretty sweet... want to spend more time with it before a final verdict.

Outsourcing fears exaggerated

2006-03-03T14:23:00.000-05:00

A Newsweek/MSNBC article discusses the evolving relationship between US and Indian Tech Companies. The article states, "Americans once feared their jobs would be shipped to India, but the backlash was overdone. Now everybody's winning."

More from the article:

What happened to the outsourcing backlash? It has been muted by the fact that India didn't suck Silicon Valley dry after all. Actually, U.S. tech employment is growing. There are 17 percent more tech workers in the United States today than back in the bubble days of 1999, says a new study by the Association for Computing Machinery. And the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that the U.S. economy will add 1 million tech jobs over the next decade, a 30 percent increase. "Everyone was worried about the offshoring bogeyman," says Moshe Vardi, an author of the ACM study. "But the big whoosh of jobs to India never happened.'' Indeed, that gush slowed to a steady stream once American companies realized it's tough to set up shop in a country with bad roads and a patchy power grid. Lately, American consulting firms that once predicted runaway growth in outsourcing to India have been slashing their estimates by half or more. Now American companies are hanging on to the high-skilled work that requires face-to-face interaction, while everything that can be done "over the wire" gets shipped offshore.

Those involved in the IT field in the USA, especially those involved in education cannot repeat such reports enough. There seems to be the misperception among some that IT is not a viable career choice for students. This reports and others show a very different picture. What was especially striking to me is the report that there are "17 percent more tech workers in the United States today than back in the bubble days of 1999". To be sure, offshoring is a reality, but it is not the whole picture, and the IT job market in the USA is looking more and more promising...

Origami

2006-03-02T20:28:00.000-05:00

A ZDNet article speculates on a new mobile PC coming from Microsoft code named "The Origami Project"

Microsoft has created a website for the Origami Project that offers little hard information, but is meant to pique interest. It seems that there will be weekly updates - as they have posted updates each of the past two weeks (week 1 and week 2)

Stay tuned for further developments...

Walmart 101

2006-03-02T19:48:00.000-05:00

A posting on Tomorrow's Professors Blog describes a new curriculum centered around Walmart.

The full curriculum is available online.

Here is an excerpt from the section of the curriculum titled "Why Study Walmart":

What both admirers and critics of Wal-Mart agree on is that Wal-Mart - by virtue of its size, scale, and talent for innovation - is changing the world, or at least accelerating changes underway as a result of globalization. As the largest private employer in the United States, Wal-Mart sets the standard for wages and working conditions in retail, with ripple effects in other sectors. As the nation's largest grocery store, toy store, jewelry store, and third largest pharmacy, it affects rival businesses, large and small. And in its quest for "Always Low Prices," Wal-Mart has helped push manufacturing overseas and revolutionized the global supply chain in the process.

Article

2006-02-28T10:45:00.000-05:00

Business school article

CTE Blog

2006-02-24T13:28:00.000-05:00

LCCC's Center for Teaching Excellence has a new blog. Stop in and say hi!

Corporate Blogging in Cleveland

2006-02-24T12:55:00.000-05:00

In a post titled, I Know Cleveland Rocks, But Why Doesn’t It Blog? on the Cleveland Blog, Brewed Fresh Daily, Jim Kukral muses about the lack of Cleveland Big Business Blogs.

from the article:

I’ve lived here my whole life, and from experience, I notice we are perpetually years behind the rest of the world on all big trends, good or bad. For example, blogging. We have some very smart and creative bloggers in town, yes, but maybe I’m not seeing it, where are all the big business blogs?

Jim is the Director of KB! Blog Services, an organization that helps organizations use blogging strategically.

Crain's Cleveland Report: Shortage of IT Talent in NE Ohio

2006-02-23T21:00:00.000-05:00

A recent article (by subscription) in Crain's Cleveland, quotes several local executives as saying that there is a shortage of trained IT talent in the NE Ohio area - with JAVA and .Net technologies being the skills with the biggest shortage. Part of the issue was identified as universities not having updated their curriculum. Another reason cited was that some students are avoiding IT programs due to the perception of many that there are few IT jobs in the United States because of the DotCom bust of 2000-2001 and fears of outsourcing. This article and the previous post indicates that such fears are exaggerated, as there seems to be a solid and improving job market for IT.

LCCC has for several years included .Net and Java in the Software Develpment and Web Development curriculums.

Thanks to Cindy for bringing this article to my attention.

Tech Hiring Growing...

2006-02-23T17:16:00.000-05:00

A CNN report describes that hiring in IT is increasing in the U.S. and is outpacing the loss of jobs due to offshoring.

from the article:

The Association for Computing Machinery, a professional development organization that includes academic, government and industry officials from the information technology field, released a study Thursday that said that shifting IT jobs to countries like India or China is not nearly the threat to workers here that is commonly believed.

The study cites estimates that between two to three percent of IT jobs will be lost annually to lower-wage developing countries through the process known as offshoring. But it said the U.S. IT sector's overall growth should outpace that loss of jobs, expanding opportunities for those trained in fields such as software architecture, product design, project management and IT consulting.

Again, more confirmation that while the phenomenom of outsourcing is real, it does not mean the death of IT as a career in the U.S. and while there has been a lot of press coverage and hype concerning offshoring, we must be equally committed to balance that part of the story with stories about the growing IT job market here in the U.S.

Thanks to Paul for bringing this to my attention.

Target sued for inaccessible site...

2006-02-16T17:13:00.000-05:00

Blind patrons sue Target for site inaccessibility

From the article:

The suit, filed in Northern California's Alameda County Superior Court by Sexton and the Baltimore-based National Federation of the Blind (NFB), claims that Target.com, "contains thousands of access barriers that make it difficult, if not impossible, for blind customers to use."

For example, the suit charges that visual information is missing "alt-text," or invisible code that allows screen readers to detect and vocalize a description of an image. In addition, the site lacks accessible image maps, an impediment to jumping to different site destinations, the suit says. As a result, Sexton, who attends the University of California, Berkeley, says that while he can search the site for specific products, he's unable to associate prices with those goods.

Another view of Globalization

2006-02-13T12:54:00.000-05:00

Barry Lynn's compelling book, The End of the Line: The Rise and Coming Fall of the Global Corporation, discusses how our economy has moved into a global, interdependent economy, and how this has resulted in the erosion of our economic security. He argues that a number of forces, including an unbridled faith in free market forces by the government, and the view that corporations only have responsibility to their shareholders, have created a system that leaves us vulnerable.

From the publisher's site:

In September 1999, an earthquake devastated much of Taiwan, toppling buildings, knocking out electricity, and killing 2,500 people. Within days, factories as far away as California and Texas began to close. Cut off from their supplies of semiconductor chips, companies like Dell and Hewlett-Packard began to shutter assembly lines and send workers home. A disaster that only a decade earlier would have been mainly local in nature almost cascaded into a grave global crisis. The quake, in an instant, illustrated just how closely connected the world had become and just how radically different are the risks we all now face.

End of the Line is the first real anatomy of globalization. It is the story of how American corporations created a global production system by exploding the traditional factory and casting the pieces to dozens of points around the world. It is the story of how free trade has made American citizens come to depend on the good will of people in very different nations, in very different regions of the world. It is a story of how executives and entrepreneurs at such companies as General Electric, Cisco, Dell, Microsoft, and Flextronics adapted their companies to a world in which America’s international policies were driven ever more by ideology rather than a focus on the long-term security and well-being of society.

Politicians have long claimed that free trade creates wealth and fosters global stability. Yet Lynn argues that the exact opposite may increasingly be true, as the resulting global system becomes ever more vulnerable to terrorism, war, and the vagaries of nature. From a lucid explanation of outsourcing’s true impact on American workers to an eye-opening analysis of the ideologies that shape free-market competition, Lynn charts a path between the extremes of left and right. He shows that globalization can be a great force for spreading prosperity and promoting peace—but only if we master its complexities and approach it in a way that protects and advances our national interest.

From a review by the Washingon Examiner:

Lynn's text is a revealing look at the gritty realities of the globalized economy. Forget outsourcing, China, exploitation, living standards and all the rest - according to Lynn, the real danger of globalization is its ruthless perfection.

In a scramble to outsource labor and reduce supply lines, American multinationals have all but completely abandoned traditional manufacturing, Lynn maintains. Firms like Dell and Cisco have erected global production networks devoid of excess and controlled with pinpoint efficiency.

In globalized America, the assembly line has been replaced with the outsourced production contract. The future, Lynn argues, has been traded for the bottom line. Driven by the insatiable expectations of shareholders, American corporations have abandoned research and development and all but ignored questions of security and risk.

I encourage anyone who read Friedman's book to read this one as well. Lynn's book is not anti-globalization, as much as it is a wake-up call to governments to address critical security risks which he alleges are currently being ignored by corporations and governments - that an unqualified faith in free market forces has the potential for large scale collapses, given the complex interdependence of the world economy and the ever present risk of disasters, which could easily upset the fragile balance.

The Importance of Supply Chain Management in the Global Economy

2006-02-09T15:22:00.000-05:00

Supply Chain Digest has a 2-part article (Part 1 - Part 2) about how modern global businesses use supply chain efficiencies to gain "competitive advantages".

Part 1 is an overview on the importance of supply-chain management in the global economy. From the article:

Achieving market leadership in today’s global economy requires a global supply chain - suppliers, carriers, agents, customs and government agencies, and distribution networks – that can react quickly to changes in the global environment and adapt to longer unforeseen developments. To be a world class participant in the global economy requires supply networks that are efficient, streamlined and are able to move quickly to balance the three variables; price, quality and service, to meet consumer driven demand. Depending on the organization the exact configuration of the global supply network will be a shifting blend of domestic and global manufacturing and sourcing.

Part 2 focuses on the role of Information Technology in supply chain management. From the article:

To be lean requires knowledgeable people and strong business processes. However, without the proper integrated information technology environment to support the vast amount of data that flows from a simple sourcing transaction most if not all the benefits of going global will be lost. Achieving an agile and adaptable organization is a function of having the right information at the right time for the right people to make important short term tactical and long term strategic decisions as relates to global commerce initiatives.

Silicon Valley and "The World is Flat"

2006-02-08T10:40:00.000-05:00

An article on Mercury News discusses the popularity of Thomas Friedman's book The World is Flat
From the Article:

How obsessed has Silicon Valley become with "The World Is Flat," the bestselling book about globalization?

Ash Lilani, head of Silicon Valley Bank Global, not only read it, he bought 50 copies of the book by New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman as gifts for employees and colleagues.

A New Internet Boom?

2006-02-06T18:02:00.000-05:00

Wired magazine reports on a new Internet Boom.

The article claims that a primary cause for the Dot Com Bust of the late 90's was that the infrastructure, and the world, wasn't quite ready for it. That all has changed.

From the article:

Today, broadband is mainstream, online shopping is commonplace, everyone has a wireless device or two, and Apple's latest music player was - for the fifth season in a row - the must-have holiday gift. The Internet and digital media are clearly not fads. Over the past decade, we've started to live a life only imagined in mid-'90s business plans. As a result, some silly bubble-era ideas are starting to actually make sense - perhaps a lot of sense.

Read the entire article.

High Demand Careers

2006-02-06T17:56:00.000-05:00

A CNN Money article describes .Net developer as one of the most in demand job positions. LCCC teaches .Net technologies in CISS135, CISS136 and CISS243.

Read about the rest of the in demand jobs at CNN Money