Stories by Tim Mendham

Earthquake-proof your business

The Christchurch earthquake at the weekend and the current floods in Victoria are a timely reminder for IT management to dust off its disaster management plans and ensure they are up to date and effective.

Media Wars

The need to back up and store enterprise data is undeniable. How to do it is the question. Batch processing or continuous data protection? Point in time imaging? RAID disk arrays? Tape? Disk? A combination of the two? Optical media? Memory sticks? A length of fencing wire and some sticky tape?

Keep the Motors Running

Everyone knows that organizations run on IT, and that should the IT go down the organization is at risk of following it - right down the drain. There is no greater risk to an organization.

Balancing Risk

Natural disasters, market pressures and increased regulatory oversight are driving organizations toward a state of greater risk awareness than ever before.

DECISIONS: Keep it simple

How do you juggle available skill sets, keep the infrastructure running, the projects under way and keep users and customers happy?

Training is storage sector’s missing ingredient

Storage technology may not be the most exciting aspect of IT — and it certainly doesn’t feature in IT Skills Hub’s list of expanding job opportunities — it is essential. So you would expect there to be some training avenues. But, again, there is little to report.

No DIY for open source training

With a surging growth level, OpenSource is an increasing part of computer networks, but specific training for the sector hasn’t yet caught up. Tim Mendham reports.

Training is storage sector’s missing ingredient

Storage technology may not be the most exciting aspect of IT — and it certainly doesn’t feature in IT Skills Hub’s list of expanding job opportunities — it is essential. So you would expect there to be some training avenues. But, again, there is little to report.

Master strokes

Postgraduate study is a decision not lightly taken because of huge demands on time, money and the sacrifices in family and recreation, but it does open doors. Tim Mendham looks at the coming crop of courses.

Securing your future

If there was ever a time to consider IT training, then now’s that moment.

Managing to learn

Whether it’s orientation, new skills or product-related training, ongoing staff training presents challenges for companies to provide and manage. And it comes increasingly within the IT department’s scope. Tim Mendham looks at the trends.

The paper chase II

There are hundreds, thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of IT training and certification courses.

Printers: Demolishing the dream of a paperless office

The humble printer might sit quietly on your desk or in the corner most of the time, but it has done as much to shape office dynamics and business processes — not to mention demolishing the fallacy of the paperless office — as any piece of hardware.

ERP: Much maligned, now please don’t call it ERP

ERP is moving on from big, expensive and disruptive implementations towards a more standardised, phased approach.

Outsourcing — the pendulum swings

Is every outsourcing agreement a success?