Thinking problem management!

Finally, IT has absolute visibility and total observability into any problem, anywhere. Early access coming November 2018. Read the article over at Moogsoft here .

Distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks can cripple an organization. Vendors have responded with an array of security solutions to mitigate such threats. Read the article over at eSecurity Planet here . 

WiFi is everywhere, and most people expect WiFi availability and internet access wherever they go. If they don’t get it, they will go elsewhere or give you an ear full about the lack of service! If your business offers WiFi – or needs to in the near future – there’s a lot to think about. Design, optimize, and troubleshoot better WiFi networks. This book has you covered. Welcome to WiFi Network Design for Dummies, Ekahau Special Edition. How WiFi functions How different business types use WiFi How to build a better WiFi network What factors affect network performance How to resolve common problems Key components of a good network plan 10 WiFi performance boosts How to implement your own WiFi network   Download the Dummies guide here .

The Instagram generation.  Hilarious song.

Cisco Meraki’s MX family supports everything from SD-WAN and WiFi to next-generation firewall and intrusion prevention security. Read the article over at Network World here . 

A little over 60 years ago a cold war nuclear bomb was jettisoned off the coast of Georgia near Tybee Island. The US military immediately began recovery efforts, but the bomb was never found. Many theories exist revolving around this incident. Was there a cover up of the recovery or is it buried deep in muddy estuary of the Wassaw Sound? We may never know the answers to those questions, but we do know the answers to why it got there . Read the article over at Thinkreliablity here . 

I have written many times about troubleshooting Ethernet links which includes " A checklist for troubleshooting network problems (22 things to catch). "  With the prevalence of wireless links, here are some troubleshooting hints specifically related to those.

Many of the Requests for Information or Requests for Proposals are extended documents with the significant proportion related to procurement compliance. Often the details on the solution are not that clear. Here is the skeleton of what you need to have: Critical success factors . What are the high level expectations of what will determine whether the solution has been worth the effort! Business requirements . Technical requirements are not business requirements. What is the actual underlying operational, commercial and financial requirements that are driving the solution. Not the perceived or interpreted requirements. Provide your assumptions around the stated functional requirements of the solution that underpin the business requirements. The functional requirements should address not only the technology that is to be acquired but the underlying processes and the human interaction required. Lay out a scope of work that address the functional requirements. These need

The developers at credit reporting giant Experian plc write code without any idea whether it will ultimately run inside the company’s data centers, a rented space known a colocation center, in the cloud — or all three. And that suits Chief Information Officer Barry Libenson just fine.   Libenson, a veteran CIO who joined Experian three years ago, has been on a campaign to make the boundaries between the company’s captive infrastructure and its global network of service providers as permeable as possible. Two years ago, it began using containers, the lightweight software environments that allow applications to run unchanged across many platforms. It also standardized on the OpenShift container management platform developed by Red Hat Inc.   Most of all, Experian mandates that applications don’t contain any native components for a particular cloud provider, and he’s more than willing to accept the typical 10 to 15 percent penalty on developer productivity that use of a stan

Over at LinkedIn I wrote two articles about sales: The Golden Rule of Sales The Silver Bullet of Sales I covered gold and silver and this one is about brass.  Brass balls to be exact.  Watch Alex Baldwin in the famous movie scene.

I nternet service provider (ISP), Internet Solutions (IS), has reviewed its peering policy .  The ISP says it will become more open and will actively engage in peering after reviewing its peering policy and implementing several changes to promote better interconnection . Peering is when two ISPs connect to exchange traffic directly with each other to benefit each other's networks.  The Dimension Data-owned IS will take a more open approach to peering and the overall theme of the revised peering policy is to be simpler and more inclusive. Read the article over at ITWeb here .

There is no such thing as qualifying a sale. This is akin to determining whether you going to tinder your client. Swipe them left, or swipe them right. Read the article over at LinkedIn here .

Don't give a price for your widget during the first meeting with a client! The guru salesman This advice is obvious as the price you provide for your widget during the first meeting with a client, especially if it relates to any Information Technology components is rarely accurate. It will invariably be too cheap as components and services that the client assumed were included are not priced. Alternatively, the price is too expensive as the client assumed a different benchmark and you never hear from him again. Read the article over at LinkedIn here .

The is a widely held misconception about root cause analysis as well as root cause. The biggest misconception is that there is a singular cause to a problem and this is the root cause. An problem with a proper root cause does not have a single cause but its always associated with multiple causes or causation. In my opinion, this misconception is created by the myriad of ticketing systems that are flogged by vendors that have root cause as a classification instead of a work flow! Read the article on LinkedIn here .

I have been thinking about parenting. My children are now adults. Well,  as close to as possible, with the youngest only 6 months away from being 18.  They're both exceptional. Funny, smart, they work hard, they're kind, they are strong and they have a strong sense of social justice. I am proud of my part in their upbringing and prouder of them managing to get over the shittiest parts of my parenting. As I get older, I see what made a difference and what didn't,  where I wasted energy and where I was right to remind them to push a little harder in their own life. This is also based on watching other kids and their families and the ones who have taken refuge in our house away from their dickhead parents. I have had several children here, so I get it. I've had to try and reason with mothers who don't understand why their child is suicidal because of their appalling parenting. I've had to go to court for another as their advocate. I've fostered on

When the first phone lines were installed there were no phone numbers. The switch operator would just connect you to the person you wanted to speak to. When the telephone systems started expanding, the phone companies migrated to using telephone numbers. These first telephone switchboards started operating in 1894 and ever since then people became infatuated with their telephone numbers. But the time has come to realise that a telephone number is meaningless and no effort must be made to retain it or not change it. Read the article on LinkedIn here .

The Pineapple Society of Root Cause Analysis is a group on LinkedIn that can be accessed here . It is a group that I established eons ago when the idea for a problem management group was muted. Ironically, the participation level is low. but that is another matter. Read about the group here .

I worked with an IT manager who had a theory about putting his developers on the other end of a 64 kb/s Diginet link to develop his app. He said they would be forced to develop optimal code. This is much the same as the Microsoft philosophy of " Eating your own dogfood ." I think it worked. Regardless, the speed of the link will only be familiar to someone who worked on mainframes or similar green screen systems. Its damn slow. Read the article over at LinkedIn here .

Data centre operations and maintenance teams should always be prepared to act swiftly and surely without warning. Unforeseen problems, failures, and dangers can lead to injury or downtime. Good preparation can quickly and safely mitigate the impact of emergencies, and help prevent them from happening again. This article describes a framework for an effective emergency preparedness and response strategy for mission critical facilities. Read the article over at ee publishers here .

In the US, a major power outage plunged Reagan National Airport into darkness and affected critical air traffic control operations. Officials are investigating the cause of the power outage, which occurred Wednesday evening. A generator is said to have been ‘smoking’, according to local news reports . Read the article over at Mission Critical Power here .

An Uptime Institute survey finds the power usage effectiveness of data centers is better than ever. However, power outages have increased significantly.  The leading causes of data center outages are power outages (33 percent), network failures (30 percent), IT staff or software errors (28 percent), on-premises non-power failure (12 percent), and third-party service provider outages (31 percent).  To err is human, and this survey showed it. Nearly 80 percent said their most recent outage could have been prevented. And that human error extends to management decisions, Ascierto said. Read the article over at Network World here .

It has also been found that, if a circuit breaker is not tested and maintained according to the manufacturer’s instructions, the failure rate could be very high. An IEEE study shows that failure probability could reach 50% in five years and that 73% of all circuit breaker failures are disruptive to plant operations and require the technical teams’ emergency efforts to rectify. All of this can be reduced greatly if preventive maintenance is performed. Read the article over at ee publishers here .

A general discussion on how various loads and electrical factors affect the sizing of generator sets.   While most genset sizing is done with sizing programs, it is important to understand the factors that affect the operation of your generator set. The first step in sizing and selecting a generator set is to establish project parameters. Read the article over at ee publishers here .

Seven smart strategies that will work on LinkedIn, but not on a resume.   Read the article on inc here .  

Fernando' Performed by the cast of mamma Mia! Here We Go Again. Song available on Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (The Movie Soundtrack) Releasing July 13.

Just like Cloud, Convergence and the numerous other marketing terms turned into hype, the Internet of Things (IoT) has suffered the same fate. IoT has become defined as whatever you want it to be from connected sensors to wireless access points. It has become everything, from whats already connected to whats not connected. For years and even decades, a video surveillance camera was a video surveillance camera, but suddenly it has been reincarnated as an IoT device. Now every gadget or bit of infrastructure is tagged as cloud, converged and IoT capable. The full article was originally published over on LinkedIn: When IoT became just more marketing hype shrapnel

When the latest edition of the iconic Raspberry Pi (the new Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ ) was launched worldwide on 14 March 2018 South Africans were understandably disappointed. While the rest of the world got to enjoy the new little board, we had to settle for reading the latest blog posts and watching the YouTube reviews with envy. Read the article over at MyBroadband here .

U nited Kingdom-based satellite operator Avanti Communications has sealed a deal with iWayAfrica, a local Internet service provider.  The agreement will see the deployment high-speed satellite broadband services for consumers and businesses across Sub-Saharan Africa.  According Kyle Whitehill, CEO of Avanti, the newly signed master distributor contract will enable iWayAfrica to use Avanti's HYLAS 4 satellite to deploy the services. Read the article over at ITWeb here .

In this guide, you'll learn what ITIL is, its history, the details of the framework, its processes, the five Lifecycle and four Capability phases that these processes are related to, the different versions of ITIL, and its progression over the years.  Furthermore, we'll discuss what's new in the latest edition, ITIL certification and career paths, its importance for IT Service Management and what the future holds for the framework.   Consider this post the definitive guide to ITIL.

Each "Best Practice Insights" booklet highlights important elements from the latest version of ITIL so that you can quickly understand key changes and concepts. Access the free ebboks from BMC here .

  itil v3 for dummies from Abdessamad Mountadi

Recently, it was announced that Ubiquiti Networks Inc (UBNT) is suing Cambium over the Cambium Elevate.   This will be a long post, so sit back with your favorite beverage and read away. Read the article over at Justin Wilson's blog here .