Smart IT Tool Management Strategies
Today, I am doing a webinar for Ziff Davis and IBM. The subject is Smart IT Tool Management Strategies. As I was preparing the slides, I got to reflect on the evolution of network and server monitoring technologies over the past two decades. It has gone from very basic server and OS monitoring, over dial up lines that report to really simple text based consoles, to very sophisticated application and transaction monitoring that reports to complex graphical consoles.
Alvaka EVP Kevin McDonald’s Search Security Article about how security VARs can make an honest living in a changing market
Profit acquisition models for security integrators and resellers shifted years ago from selling hardware and software to value-added and managed security services.
Alvaka talks with Search IT Channel about Former HP CEO, Mark Hurd Moving To Oracle/Sun
Sun VARS: Hurd won't change Oracle's direct-sales focus Barbara Darrow, Senior News Director Published: 17 Sep 2010 E-Mail Print Some Hewlett-Packard VARs might follow former CEO Mark Hurd into the Oracle/Sun camp, saying he could moderate the company's direct-sales focus. [...]
Alvaka talks with Tech Target About The Google Scandal, reliability engineer (SRE) David Barksdale
An email snooping scandal at Google has prompted fierce criticism and has worried some enterprise users of its Google Apps service into silence. Google says it takes great pains to reassure customers that it has proper controls over sensitive email data.
Intel acquisition of McAfee raises ‘value-add’ questions
Intel's acquisition today of security software vendor McAfee Inc. may create a stir for value-added resellers, according to some channel professionals.
Orange County Sheriff Announces Launch Of Community Technology Council. Alvaka EVP to Chair
Sheriff Sandra Hutchens has formed a volunteer group of the community’s top technology experts for the purpose of providing advice and consultation to the Department. The Community Technology Advisory Council (CTAC) will assist in defining the future of technology within the department and identifying areas where improvement and efficiencies can be found. The CTAC is 100% independent and focused on technology and best practices that can improve efficiency and the department’s return on tax dollars invested while maintaining the overall security and reliability of the Systems.
Smoke testing is a term used to describe the testing process for servers after patches are applied. 
Estimating an average time for patching servers and PCs can be a bit tricky. It can vary from one month to the next, depending upon the number and complexity of the patches released by your software vendors. You must consider all versions of operating systems and have a complete inventory of all your application software to do this job correctly. Our experience has shown that manual patching of systems takes on average of about 1.5 hours each.
This is a basic cost calculator for you to compute your typical monthly cost for patching your servers, PCs, laptops, tablets and associated application software. It also forms the basis for you to begin calculating your Return on Investment for software patching, or for comparison with alternatives to the manual process of patching operating systems and application software—such as Patch Management as a Service, also known as Vulnerability Management as a Service.