BUSINESS · LEADERSHIP · JAPAN · LIFE
Spencer Wolfe
AINEO Networks – Thoughts And Insights For Business Professionals
It has become really clear to me that to stay healthy and well, there is more than just exercise to think about.
The Big Three for Health & Fitness are
1) Exercise
2) Nutrition
3) Sleep
We've got to keep the balance to be a good contributor of our corporate team. Very good to keep this in mind.
Since September, we've gotten busier and busier. It seems like most people are throwing out the IT department and trying to cut costs. It makes sense as most management teams are wanting to invest in their front lines.
We have a new media business. As I was talking with a friend at a large advertising company, we talked about managing engineers vs managing creatives. We talked about how is a bit like herding cats sometimes. He told me about this hilarious commercial of years past (below). Reminds me of me how great it is to be in IT.
These words are timeless. If anyone remembers Phil Donahue, it is hard to remember a time when he was dumbfounded. In this video, it looks like he ran out of things to say.
It is important to learn from history and realize what good we have.
AINEO has just reached our 1st year anniversary into our business as a Service Provider. We have full-fledged clustered hosting on real servers with real firepower.
I can't say it has been easy, as it is a lot of work to help people have the best email and communications and protect from all the various attacks of spam, viruses, while keeping the systems in top shape. Sometimes we feel like dairy farmer... we always have to be at the farm to make sure the cows are milked...
Over the last year, we have made major changes and built up our systems and datacenters. Special thanks to our great team who has really developed and become some of the world's top server guys!
In 2009, we'll have a more detailed DR (disaster recovery) plan in place and practiced. We've got a few others plans, stay tuned...
AINEO Secure has really evolved and grown into one of the best services available. We will be making more announcements shortly.
I must admit, it has been a long time since updated my blog. My projects for 2008 were
1) AINEO Secure- Hosted Email and websites
2) ShoreTel- Setting up the ShoreTel sales and support team in Japan.
It takes a long time to set up a service. You've got to make sure you've do it right, and keep doing it right.
We have had great success, but the games have just begun! Great things are coming
We have been using Windows Mobile Devices connected to an Exchange 2003 Server for a little over 3 years now and are in the process of deploying that solution globally. This was a “greenfield” deployment with little or no prior smart-devices in the field, so all products were judged without legacy considerations.
To answer some of your questions:
I was involved in the decision making process to go with Windows Mobile and we ended up making the decision of WM over Blackberry for the following reasons:
• Cost: 4 years back, the deployment and maintenance of BES was a significant expense and it was no secret that at the time RIM was generating most of revenue on the servers sales and support vs. device sales and support. The WM layer was built-in to the Exchange 2003 system, which meant no additional licensing costs or server costs. It also meant less training and overhead from an HR standpoint in an area where FTE’s were still a significant concern.
• Device/Wireless Provider flexibility: Historically, separating the software from the hardware has led to faster innovation and product development. We were intrigued by the development model that Microsoft had chosen to use, which was to make the software available and customizable by the hardware vendors and felt that this would ultimately give is a broader range of product to choose from and easier way to switch Wireless Providers (or even use many different Wireless Providers) should we wish to.
• End-User comfort: While there was small and vocal group during testing and evaluation that preferred the simplicity of the Blackberry interface, most non-power users that we did our evaluations with preferred the “comfort” factor of the windows-like interface as well as the mini-Office applications. The WM version of Outlook was especially well-liked.
• Security/IP issues: There was a lot of discomfort (warranted or not) about the idea of email and discussions revolving around IP being moved through a centralized Blackberry network. Many of our CxO’s were more comfortable with the idea of the devices establishing a direct, SSL based connection to our mail servers and updating in that manner.
A little over 3 years after deploying the first of these devices on a fair-sized scale (about 1,000 Windows Mobile Devices in the field), it is possible to make a few broad observations here:
• Initial stability of the Windows Mobile O/S left a lot to be desired. Second-generation product (which was the first device we mass-deployed) typically had to be reset about once-a-week, battery life was poor, and all user settings got wiped if the battery was completely depleted.
• However, as frustrating as the First and Second-generation products were, the current generation of Windows Mobile devices are quite nice indeed, with very few issues overall. The range of design has also met expectations, with a WM design to fit almost every individual user need. The downside is that the quality of hardware and the implementation of the WM O/S on that hardware can vary widely. Testing new designs is therefore very important. (i.e. don’t assume that because all the devices are running WM 5.0, they will behave in same manner or have consistently reliability on different hardware designs).
• Wireless Provider support was (and still for the most part is) pitiful. An unanticipated side-effect of separating the O/S from the Hardware was the amount of interjections and interference that many of the major U.S. Wireless carriers inserted into the design and how often that they stifled innovation. In addition there was a complete lack of understanding of the Windows Mobile operating system, which has lead to tremendous amount of finger-pointing when design issues for a particular device are run into. The simplest way to solve this is to thoroughly test candidate WM devices and (complain) to the Wireless Carriers when you find features or capabilities that have been “turned off” or removed for one reason or another.
• Costs and support have been lower that what we have seen with similar sized locations running BES. We have found that after 3 years, the amount of support we have to provide for our Windows Mobile users has remained fairly low-level, with no FTE needed to support them. Basic support is provided through our help-desk and advanced support is provided through our Exchange Admin Team.
• The potential for broadening the types of devices and O/S’es beyond the Windows Mobile platform, while not fully realized yet, has great potential. Because of MS’s aggressive licensing of the ActiveSync layer to mobile device manufacturers, we are heading in a direction where it will be possible to deploy devices running on a non-MS platform that can still directly connect to the Exchange Server. This standardization of the communications layer brings us out of the locked communications system that is BES and will allow us to look at devices like the iPhone should we choose to do so.
If we could do all over again, I believe we would…
This is some very good information for you to know if you are concerned about health and wellness. Quoted to below.
- Avoid placing hot food or liquids in plastic containers. Use glass, ceramic or stainless-steel containers instead. Heating plastics to high temperatures promotes the leaching of chemicals out of containers and into the food or liquid they hold. (Freezing liquids in plastic bottles, incidentally, poses no such risk. Contrary to recent online reports that claimed freezing water releases carcinogenic materials into water, freezing actually retards the release of chemicals.)
- When heating food in a microwave oven, use only cookware that is labeled "microwave safe."
- Remove food from plastic wrapping before thawing or reheating in a microwave.
- Buy products in cardboard cartons instead of plastic containers.
- Check recycling codes on the bottom of store packages for clues about plastics components you may want to avoid: Recycling code 3 may indicate the product contains a type of phthalate known as DEHA. Recycling code 7 may mean the product contains BPA.
- Look for toys, baby bottles and containers claiming to be BPA-free. There's been a recent explosion of such products, many of them priced higher than standard products. There is also a growing industry of third-party certifiers to test such claims. Gerber's Clearview Bottles are BPA-free; a three-pack costs about $3 at Target.
- Reduce your use of canned food; eat fresh or frozen foods instead. Bisphenol A has been found in the lining of canned food tins.
- Reduce your use of polycarbonate and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastics, both of which contain BPA. Choose alternatives such as polyethylene plastic (also labeled PETE) and containers marked with recycling code 1, 2 (HDPE) and 4 (LDPE). Polypropylene (recycling code 5, or PP) is also considered a safe choice.
- If you use hard polycarbonate plastics (Nalgene bottles, baby bottles, sippy cups), do not heat them or use them for warm or hot liquids.
- Do not wash polycarbonate plastic containers in the dishwasher with harsh detergents.
- Look for phthalate-free toys or those approved by the European Union.
- Do not microwave or heat plastic wraps. Those that are labeled "microwave safe" should be placed loosely over containers. Make sure they do not touch the food.
- Choose personal-care products that do not contain synthetic fragrance. While the Food and Drug Administration requires the listing of ingredients on cosmetic products sold in retail stores, it does not require the listing of individual fragrance ingredients.
- Check the labels of nail polish. The FDA requires that phthalates be listed unless they are a fragrance ingredient. Phthalates are used in some nail polishes to reduce cracking.
Sources: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Institute for Agricultural and Trade Policy, National Geographic Green Guide
Quotes from here
The basketball version of what is going on in education right now. (If
you're not an educator, this may not make a lot of sense to you. But
send it to your friends who are in education.
They will love it!)
1. All teams must make the state playoffs and all MUST win the
championship.
If a team does not win the championship, they will be on probation until
they are the champions, and coaches will be held accountable. If after
two years they have not won the championship, their basketballs and
equipment will be taken away UNTIL they do win the championship.
2. All kids will be expected to have the same basketball skills at the
same time, even if they do not have the same conditions or opportunities
to practice on their own. NO exceptions will be made for lack of
interest in basketball, a desire to perform athletically, or genetic
abilities or disabilities of themselves or their parents.
ALL KIDS WILL PLAY BASKETBALL AT A PROFICIENT LEVEL!
3. Talented players will be asked to workout on their own, without
instruction.
This is because the coaches will be using all their instructional time
with the athletes who aren't interested in basketball, have limited
athletic ability or whose parents don't like basketball!
4. Games will be played year round, but statistics will only be kept in
the 4th, 8th, and 11th games. This will create a New Age of Sports where
every school is expected to have the same level of talent and all teams
will reach the same minimum goals. If no child gets ahead, then no child
gets left behind. If parents do not like this new law, they are
encouraged to vote for vouchers and support private schools that can
screen out the non-athletes and prevent their children from having to go
to school with bad basketball players.
April 23, 2008
William Cohen, the author of A Class with Drucker: The Lost Lessons of the World's Greatest Management Teacher, shares what he learned about leadership, management and strategy from working under this great teacher.
Leadership is the basis of everything we do. Nothing gets done without leadership. There are numerous incidences in history where organizations with inferior resources and manpower have succeeded against enormous obstacles, including much stronger competitors or adversaries. It all depended on the leader. That's why there's the old saying that it's better to have an army of lambs led by a lion than an army of lions led by a lamb.
Drucker predicted nearly every change in management. Peter Drucker was a genius whose interests and contributions extended into economics and social endeavor as well as both business and nonprofit management. He ranks right up there with Freud, Einstein and Sir Isaac Newton. Drucker invented management by objectives (MBO) and showed executives how to approach problems with their ignorance and problems rather than relying on their knowledge and experience. He also coined the term "knowledge worker" to define the new class of workers that would dominate the workforce of the future.
Every individual is different and cannot be treated the same. As a young manager I had a number of project managers reporting to me. They all had to be led in different ways. Project Manager A required every bit of information about everything. Project Manager B was the opposite. Project Manager C was so contrary that I almost transferred him to a staff position, but I soon discovered that he was an outstanding project manager despite his contrariness. A great leader knows how to bring these different personalities together, and, as Drucker said, "staff for their strengths and make their weaknesses irrelevant."
Don't be a "one-minute" manager. I once hired an individual I thought would work out well but he took longer than he should have with certain assignments. I would just do a "one-minute correction" and move on. But things didn't improve. During his annual review I told him that I couldn't give him a salary increase. That's when he told me I was giving him projects with time conflicts. I told him I would give him more information on time priorities. He was right, and I had no more problems, so six months later I gave him a retroactive raise with back pay. This taught me that when things go awry, don't be a "one-minute manager." Instead, take the time to sit down and find out what is going on and take action to correct it.
Good leaders use creativity to maneuver tough spots. Consider CEO Ken Iverson of Nucor, a steel company in the 1980s-90s. When a recession hit, he insisted top managers take pay cuts and he took one himself. Then he went to a three-day work week for workers. At the end of a three-year recession he hadn't laid off a single employee. If you need to lay people off, do everything possible to take care of them, including helping them in finding new employment.
Noted from here
