Enterprises have an enterprise wide security
policy;
Enterprises have enterprise wide
classification of data for security, risk, and business impact;
Enterprises have security related standards
and procedures;
Enterprises have formal security based
documentation, auditing, and testing in place;
Enterprise enforce separation of duties; and
Enterprises have policies and procedures in
place for Change Management, Help Desk, Service Requests, and changes to
applications, policies, and procedures.
To meet these needs the Sarbanes Oxley
Compliance Resource Kit, which comes in four editions (Standard, Silver, Gold,
and Platinum) contains:
Business & IT Impact Questionnaire Risk
Assessment Tool (all editions);
Safety Program Template (all editions);
Disaster Recovery Template (all editions);
Outsourcing guide update to reflect what you
vendors need to do (all editions);
Software tool to monitor key data files (all
editions);
Internet and IT Job Descriptions (Silver,
Gold, and Platinum Editions) and;
IT Service Management Template (Platinum
Edition).
Security Manual
The plan is 178 pages and includes
everything needed to customize the Internet and Information Technology
Security Manual to fit your specific
requirement. The electronic document includes proven written text and
examples for your security plan. View
The Table of Contents And A Few Pages
Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP)
This Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) can
be used as a template for any enterprise. DRP is sent to you via e-mail in WORD
and/or PDF format. Included is a 13 page Business Impact Questionnaire
as well as a 3 page Job Description for the Disaster Recovery Manager. View a the Table of Contents and sample pages [Adobe PDF]
IT Job Descriptions
The 220 Internet and IT Position
Descriptions are in Word for Windows format. Includes positions
from CIO and CTO to Wireless and Metrics Managers.
View The Table
of Contents And A Few Pages
The
IT Service Management Template
The IT Service Management Template contains policies, standards, procedures
and metrics for Change Control, Help Desk and Service
Request processing. ITSM template also contains
several easy to implement forms and conforms
with ITIL. View The Table
of Contents And A Few Pages
Safety Program is 60 pages and includes
everything needed to customize the Safety Program to fit your specific
requirement. The Safety was updated in December of 2004 and
reflects the latest issues associated with the most recent
legislation (Sarbanes Oxley).
CIOs need to
position themselves with their enterprises in order to be successful.They need to not only know where their
clients want them to go but also to communicate how they are achieving those
objectives.The objectives they
need to meet and the metrics that can be used are:
·Understand
requirements and objectives
– Frequency and number of requirements and objectives discussed with multiple
people at customer organization.
·Establish
company credibility and interest
- Company viewed as a leader with known corporate, technical and project
management teams in addition to solid past performance and
experience.
·Preview
preliminary solution with customer - Well-developed
solution with features linked to objectives and approach vetted with customer to
get buy-in and solution validation.
·Achieve
acceptance of win strategy (technical, management, past performance, teaming,
price) accepted by customer
- Win strategy well established, previewed and accepted by customer.
·Influence
the request for proposals
- Procurement strategy, proposal instructions, and evaluation criteria
favorable.
As part of a large downsizing
effort of its labor force in 2010, Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly is cutting 340
information technology jobs, according to an internal announcement.
Eli Lilly--which manufactures and markets drugs that fight cancer, diabetes,
fibromyalgia and erectile dysfunction, among others--announced last year it was
planning to cut costs of $1 billion in 2010, and the elimination of 5,500
workers is part of that cost reduction effort.
Eli Lilly has already seen about 140 layoffs, retirements and resignations in
IT in 2010, according to the The Indianapolis Star. John Russell, a reporter for
IndyStar.com, wrote the following on the latest round of layoffs:
"But it means 200 more information technology workers will lose their jobs
this year. The company said 115 of those cuts will take place this month.
Workers who are affected--or 'reallocated,' in Lilly parlance--are given several
months to look for another position within the company. But openings for
reallocated workers typically are extremely limited" Eli Lilly reported $5.486
billion revenue growth in the first quarter of 2010 -- a 9 percent increase from
the first quarter of 2009. The company expects to see large costs associated
with health care reform legislation that passed Congress and signed by the
president earlier this year.
"Lilly delivered strong operational performance in the first quarter, even as
we experienced continued weakness in the U.S. dollar versus prior periods and
began to account for the impact from recently enacted U.S. health care reform,"
said the CEO in the quarterly earnings statement "Our volume-driven revenue
growth remains solid and we are making the investments necessary to accelerate
the flow of potential new medicines through our pipeline."
Eli Lilly announced on July 2 that it entered a definitive merger agreement
to acquire Cambridge, Mass., biotechnology firm Alnara Pharmaceuticals, which
has been developing a drug to help combat pancreatic deficiencies and those
affected by cystic fibrosis.
Layoffs at Eli Lilly have not been isolated to IT; scientists, marketers,
public relations representatives, sales professionals and others have all been
let go from the company this year. Eli Lilly has roughly 40,000 employees
globally and claims to be the 10th largest pharmaceutical company in the
world.
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more Department of Labor mis-classifies IT PRofessionals
The Department of Labor does not specifically identify millions of IT professionals
working in business lines, corporate departments, and in various enterprise
strategic and operational functions. These jobs require skills well beyond technology;
for instance, precise industry, customer, product, and solution knowledge and
expertise. Â… The fact is, the IT profession has undergone radical changes over
the past several years, blending seamlessly into the enterprise.
20 million U.S. IT pros? Of course there are far more than 4 million people
who use extensive IT skills to do their job, people who would not classify
themselves as anything like a software engineer or computer scientist. But
consider that there are about 51 million total managerial, professional, and
related workers in the U.S. Up to half of them are IT pros?
Job demand and salaries are up in
California's capital city, according to the Sacramento Bee. Not known as a
technology hub for jobs, it is a sign that about smaller cities like Sacramento
see an uptick in demand for technology talent.
At more than 500 open information technology positions for Sacramento, the
numbers are up by half from the same time last year. The tech job market in
Sacramento has improved significantly. There is solid demand for engineers,
project managers and programmers.
Officials at SARTA, the Sacramento Area Regional Technology Alliance, seeing
an uptick hiring. Other areas of the country like Austin, Texas and Raleigh,
North Carolina are also seeing technology job demand increases. Austin and
Raleigh are known for being smaller tech hubs due to the proximity to
universities and colleges. Companies in these cities are vying for talent as
hiring heats up in Silicon Valley, New York and other large metropolitan areas.
Job opening postings rose even more dramatically in traditional tech centers
such as Washington, D.C., New York and Silicon Valley, where job postings
increased 68 percent from the same time last year. The three metro areas
represent nearly a third of the website's available tech jobs.
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more IT Professionals are satisfied in their jobs but are looking
The vast majority of IT professionals are satisfied at work with
40 percent are satisfied with their jobs. Indeed, Janco finds that there is
a direct correlation between job satisfaction and the salary. Since
more money equals greater job satisfaction, one could infer that for some, money
does buy happiness.
However, more than 60% of IT Professionals feel they should be
making more money. Though the majority of IT professionals seem to be
satisfied with their current jobs, it is not preventing almost 40% of them to
start looking for new opportunities. Nearly 1 in 5 are either actively
looking or will be looking within the next three
months.
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more CFOs say IT salaries remain flat - recession is not over
Grant Thornton recently surveyed chief financial officerson a number of
economic and business topics. Almost half of surveyed "national" 496 chief
financial officers said they believe the economy will not come out of the
recession until 2011, and a quarter predicted that the recession will last
longer than 2011. Only 15 percent of tech CFOs surveyed said they think the
recession will be over after 2011. Forty-seven percent said they think it will
end in 2011, one-quarter expect it to end in the second half of 2010 and about
10 percent said they think the recession is already over.
Tech CFOs were more positive across the board. The 53 in that group were
feeling pretty decent about their budgets and hiring, but don't expect much of a
raise or bonus in 2010. Only 11 percent of respondents said they plan to give raises this year,
with 32 percent actually decreasing them this year.
In terms of hiring, 37 percent said they expect to increase headcount in the
next six months, compared with 29 percent in all other industries. Only 2
percent of tech CFOs said they expect to lay off employees, compared with 9
percent in every other industry. Over 80 percent of tech CFOs are keeping
headcounts flat. IT
Salaries have remained flat. From the report:
"Fifty percent thought that the U.S. economy would improve over the next six
months (versus 44% for their counterparts in other industries), 60% thought
their own company's financial prospects would improve (versus 52%), and 37%
thought the economy would come out of recession in 2010 (versus 28%). In terms
of inflationary pressure, only 17% were planning to raise prices in the next six
months, versus 24% for other industries."
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more Colorado Inflation Adjustment Lowers Minimum Wage
Colorado's minimum wage will drop slightly in the new year - the
first decrease in any state's minimum wage since the federal minimum was adopted
in 1938.
Colorado's wage is falling 3 cents an hour, from $7.28 to the
federal level of $7.25. That's because Colorado is one of 10 states that tie the
state minimum wage to inflation. The goal is to protect low-wage workers from
having unchanged paychecks as the cost of living goes up.
But Colorado's
provision also allows wage declines, and the state's consumer price index fell
0.6 percent last year, so the minimum wage is going down.
The lower
consumer price index, attributed to lower fuel prices, would have forced the
wage down 4 cents an hour, But no state can go below the federal minimum of
$7.25.
Thirteen other states and the District of Columbia will keep a
minimum wage higher than the federal minimum, according to the U.S. Labor
Department. Alaska will join them Friday when its minimum wage rises 50 cents to
$7.75.
Colorado's drop is small - but those among the estimated
48,000 residents earning the minimum shook their heads at the possibility of pay
cut.
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more Keeping a positive attitude improves CIO performance
With hard times, CIO often find it difficult to enjoy the success that they
have had. There are things that top IT executives and IT managers can
do to get the joy and enthusiasm back in their lives. They are:
Take pride in your team and what it can do
Look for new challenges that can be met within the limitations of your
staff and budget
Keep pet projects going even if it means putting in more effort
Let others know what you have done and are doingGive yourself rewards for
the good work that you do
Delegate your dirty work and work that does not
Reward you to others on your team
Revisit your career choices and validate that you are in the right
field
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more High tech jobs continue to suffer according to government report
Silicon Valley's decline has been charted over an eight-year
period between 2000 and 2008 in which venture capital investment meant big gains
for technology workers' wages in the
beginning, but those IT wages have
since diminished. The recovery will be slow and gradual, according to government
economists. On the whole, high-tech industries in Silicon Valley declined
sharply in employment and wages from 2000 to 2004 but increased gradually in
both respects from 2004 to 2008.
From 2000, when high-tech employment and wages peaked, to 2008,
Silicon Valley's hightech industries lost more than 108,400 jobs, or 19.9
percent of their employment.8 High-tech industries in the rest of the Nation
lost 6.2 percent of employment. In addition, real wages fell by 13.5 percent
among Silicon Valley's high-tech industries, while high-tech wages grew by 1.3
percent in the rest of the Nation.
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more Job Market Looking Better for IT Professionals
In a soon to be released IT Salary Survey, Janco Associates, Inc. says the IT
Job Market is finally starting to improve.
Janco's Summary observations for the 2010
Mid-Year IT Compensation Study are as
follow:
Some recovery is
occurring in compensation and hiring.The total mean compensation for all IT Professionals has increasing to
$78,210 from $77,690. There still
is softness in the executive ranks of mid-sized
enterprises.
Executives other than
CIOs in mid-sized companies continue to feel a salary crunch with Chief
Security Officers and heads of internal consulting seeing the greatest
pressure.
Companies have
continued hiring and spending freezes in addition to laying-off of staff.This has been augmented by extensive
outsourcing, bonus reductions, and elimination of IT contractors -- which has
decreased the demand for IT professionals and in some cases lowered wages,
with higher priced positions being eliminated.
Companies are
continuing to reduce the benefits provided to IT professionals. Though
benefits such as health care are available, IT professionals are now paying a
greater portion of that cost.
Flexible hours and work
schedules are becoming more available as the recovery begins to take hold and
is viewed as a low cost high value benefit by both employers and
employees.
As a result of
outsourcing and layoffs, hiring for new positions has remained flat for
several quarters.
CIOs compensation has
increased over the last 12 months. The mean compensation for CIOs in large
enterprises is now $181,533 (an increase of 7.52%) and $169,303 (a 3.73%) in
mid-sized enterprises.
In mid-sized enterprises, the mean total compensation for all
positions has fallen slightly from $73,905 to $73,439.At the same time in large enterprises,
the median compensation has risen slightly from $82,475 to $81,652.
Hewlett-Packard is spending $1 billion and cutting 9,000 jobs
in a restructuring its enterprise services.
The company announced that it plans to spend the money to invest in a series
of commercial data centers that will offer enterprise customers a more
integrated platform on which to run their businesses. The initiative will also
consolidate HP's data centers, networks, and applications. But as a result of
the increased streamlining and automation, HP expects to eliminate around 9,000
jobs, or about 3 percent of its work force, over the next few years. HP has
approximately 304,000 employees worldwide, according to a Fast Facts page on its
Web site.
To pay for the enterprise restructuring, HP will take a charge of about $1
billion over an unspecified number of years that will be included in its
financial results. Once the restructuring is complete, the company said it
expects to save around $1 billion each year before taxes and between $500
million and $700 million after taxes and reinvestments.
Before anyone
starts to look for a job they need to see that their professional network is in order and
that they havegame plan of steps
that they will follow.Included
are:
Belong to
professional groups in your industry and be active -To get the most out of networking
opportunities, arrive on time for events or 15 to 30 minutes early if the
event is a conference, lecture or trade show where your early presence won't
impose on a host. When you show up early, you will meet the movers and shakers
at the event.In addition, you
never have to worry about having to break into other people's conversations.
If you're one of the first people in the room, others will begin to congregate
around you.
Treat
networking events as ways to meet other professionals not sales opportunities.
Trade shows, conferences and parties are opportunities to meet people, to
create likability and commonality the two cornerstones of networking. No one
at a networking event is going to offer you a job right then and there. So
don't try so hard to sell yourself. Instead, find common ground with the
people you meet. Break the ice by asking people about their interests outside
of work.
Give out your
business card only if it is asked for or after you ask for the individual you
are talking to.. When you immediately hand your business card to people to
whom you're introducing yourself, the action suggests that you're interested
only in selling a product or service to those people
Networking is
not a numbers game, aim to make meaningful connections with a manageable
number of people.
Talk about what
you would like to do and never be negative.Job seekers should state what kind of
job they're seeking, as well as the industry and any specific companies that
interest them.
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more CIOs remain cautious - salaries to remian flat
Park UT – CIOs in 57% of the 243 enterprises survey remain very cautious
about the economic prospects of their companies. The CEO of Janco
Associates, Victor Janulaitis said, “The general belief of most CIOs is that the
recession is not over as of yet and that as they begin the budgeting cycle for
2011 they will take the lead from their enterprise operations management on
salary increases. CIOs do not want to be in the position as the ones
calling for increases in salaries as companies continue to trip costs.” He
added, “A number of the CIOs surveyed say they are not looking to have any
increased hiring until the 2nd or 3rd quarter of 2011. They feel they can
still squeeze more productivity out of their existing staff and
applications. On the bright side they are beginning to upgrade older
hardware to improve efficiencies and reduce operating expense by getting more
“green” equipment.
eJobDescripion.com in conjunction with Janco Associates will be releasing its
mid-year IT Salary Survey June 21st and will include a forecast of the job
market in that survey. The current survey can be found at http://www.ejobdescription.com/IT_Salary_Survey.html
. eJobDescriptions.com said, “Enterprises that purchase the current survey
will be eligible to download the new survey at no cost when it is
released.”
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more Janco disagrees with ADP forecast of job market
Janco has just conducted a series of interviews of CFOs and CTOs in large and
mid-sized enterprises. Janco finds that the job forecast
for IT professionals remains poor for the short and medium term. Janco
finds that most large enterprises are continue to consolidate and cut
costs. Especially impacted are firms based on the West Coast. The
CEO of Janco, Victor Janulaitis said, "Many firms are continuing to reduce the
size of their IT staffs as smaller layoffs continue. Few enterprises are
hiring where there is an increase in head counts." He added, "Looking ahead to
the next budgeting cycle, many of enterprises interviewed do not see any new
hiring until 2nd and 3rd quarters of 2012 as they expect a dip in the economy in
the 3rd and 4th quarter of 2011."
This is in contrast with a recent ADP report which says that layoffs are
down, hiring is up and cautious optimism is the rule of the day when it comes to
employment figures. Payroll numbers show the most job growth in April came from
the services sector and from medium to large businesses.
The news from ADP is that 32,000 new jobs were created in April,
predominantly in the services sector and mostly by medium to large businesses.
Small businesses were only responsible for 1,000 of the 32,000 total jobs
added.
A new proposal
in the US Senate would stiffening of the regulations surrounding H-1B and
L-1 visas, including restricting the number of H-1B and L-1 employees that U.S.
companies of a certain size could hire.
A visa program would be added - H-2C. H-2C visas would give workers the
ability to change employers after one year, and allow them to earn lawful
permanent residence if they meet sufficient integration metrics to demonstrate
that they have successfully come part of the American economy and society.
Included in the proposal employers would not be able to hire an H-2C worker
before an employer takes affirmative steps to recruit and hire American workers,
including through AmericaÂ’s Job Bank and recruiting through State Workforce
Agencies.
This proposal would add fraud and abuse protections for existing temporary
high-skilled work visas. It will amend current law regarding H-1B employer
application requirements to: (1) revise wage determination requirements; (2)
require Internet posting and description of employment positions; (3) lengthen
U.S. worker displacement protection: (4) apply certain requirements to all H-1B
employers rather than only to H-1B dependent employers; (5) prohibit employer
advertising that makes a position available only to, or gives priority to, H-1B
[non-immigrants]; and (6) limit the number of H-1B and L-1 employees that an
employer of 50 or more workers in the United States may hire.