Monthly Archives: August 2021

Another data breach…this time T-Mobile

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This is not looking good. T-Mobile is apparently investigating a possible breach that could involve the data of up to 50 million people. The news broke when Vice picked up that the hacker was trying to sell off a portion of the data in exchange for Bitcoins. The team at Vice have been able to validate that the sample data provided looks legit.

The data, reportedly stolen from multiple T-Mobile servers, contains user identifying information, which includes names, addresses, and phone numbers; social security numbers; IMEI numbers, all of which are unique to each mobile device.

You can read the story in full here

What is it like Managing an ERP System in a Healthcare Institution

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Today I had a long discussion with someone that wanted to know all about the ERP System, what it is like managing it and challenges we face. I decided that this was a great idea for the Blog so here it is.

 

What is the ERP System: The Enterprise Resource Planning system is used to manage, automate and maintain various business functions. It is designed to streamline operations, improve efficiency and provide a central information source.

This is a critical business system as it serves a a number of key business areas, like Finance, Billing, HR, Payroll and Supply Chain. What are some key items to be aware of.

System Uptime and Availability: The ERP system in a Healthcare Institution is required 24/7, either by direct user requests or by any number of downstream applications. These applications look to the ERP data as the source of truth so downtime will really affect operations and could affect revenue.

System Maintenance and Upgrades: The ERP system needs to be regularly maintained, with updates and patches applied as necessary to ensure it runs smoothly and is reliable. However work can only be carried out in previously agreed maintenance windows to ensure minimal impact to users and the business.

Data Security and Compliance: Most of the data on the ERP is highly sensitive. It is critical to ensure data accuracy and security, with relevant access controls in place with strict security protocols. Any breaches or data errors could have business and legal ramifications with ethical ramifications.

Integration with Multiple Downstream Systems: The ERP integrates with many systems like the Electronic Medical Records (EMR), Document Management System, Time and Attendance System, Organizational Policy System and many others. All these systems depend on the ERP data for them to function accurately.

Performance and Scalability: Due to the critical nature of the system there are periods when demand and utilization increases. The system needs to be able to meet the increase in load and demand. We always planned ahead and worked with the Infrastructure team to allocate extra backend resources if required.

Customization Requests: The Business users occasionally require customization as part of their improvement plans. These requests are implemented and prioritized based on how they affect the  business. They are agreed and deployed in phases depending on the level of development effort required.

Change Management: The ERP is a closely guarded system. No changes are applied without demonstrating a good business case, getting presented to and approved by the Change Board.

Vendor Management: We maintain a close relationship with our vendors for visibility of product roadmaps (new features or improvements). Also for managing support or development requests.

Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery: We had a robust plan in place which was reviewed annually and tested to ensure it met the needs of the Institution.

The ERP is critical to the business as it helps manage operations effectively, improve productivity, adapt to changes and remain competitive.

 

Challenges with Managing Remote Teams

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With Covid still lingering we still have organizations allowing staff to work from home. I started thinking about challenges Managers face with managing remote teams, ensuring targets are met and maintaining a healthy balance.

There are some obvious challenges however how can we overcome them?

Challenges

In-Person Interaction (Lack of):  When you have been used to working a few feet apart on a day to day basis, not being in the same physical location tends to hinder spontaneous conversations and could affect relationships.

Communication and Collaboration issues: Physical distance can make this difficult and the absence of spontaneous conversations could lead to delays.

Team Cohesion: It could be harder to maintain rapport and trust with the team without the face to face interaction.

Company Work Life Balance: Some managers have stepped up team delivery expectations feeling that this is needed to ensure the team isn’t slacking off. On the other side of the coin some team members blur the lines between work and personal life balance which could lead to burnout.

How to overcome these challenges

  • Regular online meetings (video preferably) allowing time for informal discussions rather than straight “business chat”
  • Encourage virtual team building activities.
  • Set clear expectations but remind teams that it is okay to take breaks.

Remember that we have lives outside work and productivity increases when people enjoy what they do. Be pleasant and show them you care.

EV Wave is gaining momentum

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When people think of buying an Electric Vehicle (EV), some go far enough to think that driving an EV gives them a certain moral standing in the community because of the benefits to the environment. People that can afford EV’s need to have significant financial means, most need to have standalone or private homes, and most of them tend to use the EV to commute as their main vehicle. This is because its not just a case of buying the EV is is also a case of setting up the dedicated space to charge it.

With the US Government making a big push towards EV’s announcing tighter pollution rules, and the European Union making it clear that a ban on fossil fuel is clearly on the agenda. Most car makers have no choice but to make solid plans to release EV’s, Honda plans to phase out “dirty fuel” cars by 2040.

Tesla became the world’s most valuable car company and has so far firmly held that position with a $208 Billion Valuation. Tesla is also now worth more than many of its rivals combined, such as Fiat Chrysler ($20 billion), Ford ($24 billion), Ferrari ($32 billion), General Motors ($36 billion), BMW ($41 billion), Honda ($46 billion) and Volkswagen ($74 billion). Yes saving the environment is a good target but clearly it wont hurt to make an enormous amount of money at the same time.

We need to remember that clean public transport needs to be higher up on the agenda.

There are three ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from passenger transport: avoid the need to travel, shift the transportation modes or improve the technologies. EVs only tackle one side of the problem, the technological one. While EVs will decrease emissions compared with conventional vehicles, we should all be comparing them to buses, trains and bicycles.

This was also demonstrated here when noted that even during peak of the pandemic in 2020 the European e-bus market grew by 22%. My adopted city of Abu Dhabi in UAE also launched a few new electric powered buses. I think we should all be actively doing what we can to commute cleanly so hopefully the car makers will start producing reasonable priced vehicles and government’s should help by providing subsidies or incentives.

Introduction to Cloud Services

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Cloud services have transformed the landscape of IT infrastructure, enabling organizations and individuals to access and utilize computing resources in a more flexible and efficient manner.

I got asked recently what it was and how it worked so this prompted me writing this article.
Let us explore the fundamental concepts of cloud services and discuss a few of their benefits.

What Are Cloud Services?

Cloud services refer to a variety of IT resources that are delivered over the internet. These resources can be categorized into three main types:

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS):
  • IaaS provides virtualized (no onsite requirement) computing resources, such as servers, storage, and networking components.
  • Users can provision and manage these resources on-demand without direct intervention from the cloud service provider.
  • Examples of IaaS providers would include Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP).
Platform as a Service (PaaS):
  • PaaS offers development and deployment environments for building and hosting applications.
  • Developers can focus on writing code without worrying about managing the underlying infrastructure.
  • PaaS providers include platforms like Heroku, Google App Engine, and Microsoft Azure App Service.
Software as a Service (SaaS):
  • SaaS delivers ready-to-use applications directly to end-users via a web browser.
  • Users can access these applications without the need for installation or local maintenance.
  • Popular SaaS examples include Gmail, Microsoft Office 365, and Salesforce.

Characteristics of Cloud Services

Self-Service:
  • Users can setup and manage resources independently, without requiring manual intervention from the service provider.
  • This self-service model allows for flexibility and agility.
Network Access:
  • Cloud services are accessible from anywhere over the internet or private network.
  • Users can access resources using various devices, including laptops, tablets, and smartphones.
Pooling of Resources:
  • Cloud providers can pool computing resources to serve multiple users.
  • Resources are dynamically allocated based on demand, optimizing utilization.
Scalability:
  • Cloud resources can be scaled up or down quickly to accommodate changing workloads.
  • This scalability ensures efficient resource utilization and cost-effectiveness.
Service Measurability:
  • Usage of cloud resources is metered, and users are billed accordingly.
  • The pay-as-you-go model allows organizations to pay only for what they consume.

Benefits of Cloud Services

Cost Efficiency:
  • Cloud services reduces the need for large upfront capital expenditures on hardware and software.
  • Organizations can scale resources as needed, paying only for what they use.
Scalability:
  • Cloud resources can be easily scaled up or down to handle varying workloads.
  • This flexibility ensures optimal performance during peak times and cost savings during off-peak periods.
Increased Agility:
  • Cloud services enable faster deployment of applications and services.
  • Development teams can focus on innovation rather than infrastructure management.
Improved Manageability:
  • Cloud providers handle infrastructure maintenance, updates, and security.
  • Organizations can concentrate on their core business activities.
Enhanced Reliability:
  • Cloud providers offer robust disaster recovery and high availability features.
  • Redundancy and failover mechanisms ensure minimal downtime.
Anywhere Access:
  • Users can access cloud-based applications and data from any location with an internet connection.
  • This flexibility supports remote work and collaboration.

Options for Cloud Deployment Models

Public Cloud:
  • Resources are shared among multiple users or organizations over the internet.
  • Public cloud providers offer a wide range of services accessible to anyone.
  • Examples: AWS, Azure, GCP.
Private Cloud:
  • Resources are dedicated to a single organization.
  • Private clouds provide greater control over security and customization.
  • Examples: On-premises private clouds or hosted private clouds.

In summary, cloud services empower organizations to be more agile, cost-effective, and responsive to changing business needs. Whether you’re an IT manager, non-technical  or a business owner, understanding cloud services is essential in today’s digital landscape.

The working hour week

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Some years ago in my old blog I posed this question. What is the ideal working week around the world.

I was discussing the working hour week with friends that work around the world in different countries, comparing the average and what is now deemed as acceptable or viewed as the new standard, regardless of the contracted hours  so these posts caught my eye.

Some people feel they have to work long hours or stay late at work even when there is nothing to do. Almost like staying late is the norm, to the extent of faking it. Then there is the other side that seem to think there should be some shame associated with working long hours. 
An old survey lists out which countries work the longest hours in Europe the real question though is how does this link to productivity.

Personally I think it’s all about having a balance and scaling up and down as required rather than having a set pattern. However it looks like, due to Covid forcing organizations to make workers remote all this is about to change. There have been a few news reports about burnout and even longer working hours but this time whilst working from home.

Even the WHO has jumped in raising the awareness of increasing deaths from heart disease and stroke. “Working 55 hours or more per week is a serious health hazard,” said Maria Neira, the director of the WHO’s Department of Environment, Climate Change and Health.

There is also talk about reducing the working week to 4 days as seen on CNBC and the 4 Day Week Campaign here

What do you think?

What are some Challenges with Managing over 25 Applications for an Institution

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Have you ever stopped to think about what it would be like to manage over 25 Business Systems for an Institution. How would you manage applications that are accessed 24/7. What are the day to day challenges. How do you manage the different Business areas each with their own set of requests and goals. How do you manage uptime, upgrades, performance etc.

I hope this post will provide an insight into what it was like and how to juggle the various challenges.

Communication:

  • We had weekly meetings with each of the business areas. This would allow them to share any new requests, receive updates on work in pipeline and also to raise any concerns they may have.
  • Real-time dashboards for some applications.
  • Internal status reports updated and shared in a central location for all concerned to have access.
  • Monthly status meetings with Senior Leadership.
  • Weekly reports to Middle Managers.

Security:

  • It was crucial to have secure systems, with real-time monitoring.
  • Encryption and access controls in place with regular audits.
  • Requirements to apply vendor patches and updates needed to be carefully managed with Change Board visibility. Especially if they would require downtime.
  • Changes tied in with Backups with clear roll-back plans in case we encountered issues.

Application Performance:

  • Each application required monitoring, ensuring visibility of bottlenecks, performance issues and optimizations as required.
  • Access to real-time reports with clear routes for escalations as required.
  • Regular performance optimization reviews.

Support and Training:

  • Communication with IT Helpdesk to provide updates.
  • Provide day to day application support to end users
  • Provide training for new staff, new features to existing staff (normally part of upgrade project but delivered by the team)

Change Management:

  • Weekly meetings with the Change Board
    • To provide progress updates.
    • Get approvals for new changes
    • To have visibility of changes in other systems that could impact our applications.

Vendor Management:

  • Working with various vendors has its own set of challenges.
  • Working with them to resolve bugs or issues.
  • Maintaining communication with Support, Accounts, Contracts and their Leadership to always ensure smooth services and deliveries.

Resource Allocation and Management:

  • We had Technical Resources from the team allocated to each of the Applications
  • In some cases a person would be allocated to multiple applications.

Emergency Preparedness & Business Continuity Plan

  • Some areas of the organization required 24/7 access to applications so we had an agreed plan that would be activated in emergencies.
  • Business had a manual work around if required. This was always a short term plan.
  • Each System had a plan and was listed in the BCP.

 

We had a daily session at the start of the day where we reviewed the progress of all pipeline activities for each business area across all the applications. Ensuring deliveries were on track as previously communicated to the business. This allowed me to have full visibility of all the areas.

In the event of any failures, we all joined a call (regardless of time or day) to identify cause and agree a resolution plan. Any affected Business areas were made aware of the issues so they could initiate the previously agreed back-up plan as defined in the Business Continuity Plan.

No two days were the same and we always needed to have “enough fuel in the tank” as in Operations there was always a possibility that the next call could change the direction and plan for the day. Yes some days were tough but with the right team the days were always fun…