Recently I documented my thoughts on “Deleting Data does not Purge Data“. My inclination was toward developing a policy which would formulate the “Data Destruction Policy” in our company.
We deal with confidential data all the time which is sent by clients for:
- Data Migration
- Checking Database Integrity
- Development
- Stress Testing
During this time, the data is passed around our highly qualified staff (who have signed a “Non-Disclosure” agreement). Many a times, we have seen the medium of transporting/transferring data is a secure channel. However some times, the channel storing/transferring confidential data could also be a “DVD”, “USB Drive” or even a “Magnetic Tape Drive”.
To safeguard the interest of our clients and our staff members, we have partnered with a “Digital Media/Data Destruction Company”. This company guarantees destruction of digital information from any external media at a nominal cost of ($15-$25) per incident.
The Data Destruction Company has signed a “Non-Disclosure” agreement. So the data/information is safe and not in unsafe hands.
Here is the process that we have set:
- Any disk/tape drive which needs to be destroyed should first be formatted by our company staff member.
- The staff member would also physically abuse (destroy) the disk with a hammer or melt the same if possible.
- We would then give the disk/drive to the “Data Destruction Company”
- During this time, the company would provide us with a receipt of the disk/drive and would inform us the date/time the data will be destroyed
- Once the data is destroyed, the company sends us a formal receipt that the data was destroyed and the task has been completed.
We have also published this process within our organization so that any staff member who believes that they have disk/data that needs to be destroyed can contact our IT staff members and take advantage of the new “Data Destruction Service”.
This is a process which has safeguarded our position with the clients and we have built a trust relationship where we respect the privacy and confidentiality of the data we receive.
Being a CIO, I hear people complaining every hour of the day:
- The network performance is too slow
- I need more RAM
- My emails are not going out
- I don’t like being a “Limited User”. Please make me a “Power User”
- My computer just froze up
It would be wrong if I mentioned that everything that the members request was invalid.
There have been instances when the Network performance is very slow. It feels as if you can click a button, go to the kitchen and brew coffee. Even after that your page might not load. Some members really need to upgrade their workstation memory as they would have installed some apps which require a higher processing unit.
Even with these experiences, I am not convinced that those who use technology are patient enough to deal with the same. My inclination is toward these examples:
1. As soon as one logins to the computer, the user constantly moves the mouse thinking that the computer might react to the mouse movement and the screen would reflect the users desktop.
What the user is forgetting is that even though he/she is constantly moving the mouse to make the computer react faster, there is an additional level of processing which is consuming the current resources of the workstation. Thus making it even slower.
2. If a user is not able to send an email, he/she directly contacts the Network Admin. They need to do some basic testing which would include:
Check if the internet connection is available
Did you know? Most of the issues in your computer (about 75%) are resolved by just restarting the same.
Everyone wants the information to flow pretty seamlessly to their system. The fundamental fault in this assumption is that there are a number of dependencies which might cause the system/network to fail.
To respect technology is to be patient with the technology. One must not show his/her emotions by being frustraited over a slow network connection or a bad keyboard. They should try to find a solution to the situation by being patient. Technology is there to help and not make life complicated.
My advice to everyone: Be patient with technology and you will find great results with what you are trying to achive.
A few years ago my grandfather was showing me a four-in-one pen. He said, “Look at that - blue, red, green, black! It’s like having four pens in one! What an exciting time to be alive!”. I looked at him and smiled.
A few days ago, I was speaking with a colleague about “Digital Whiteboards” and how they have evolved from being a simple electronic whiteboard to a smart whiteboard with an inbuilt printer. (The digital whiteboard is an electronic version of a dry-erase board.) I remember the good old school days where we had a Black Board, and our teachers used a white chalk to write the notes for the class room. Things have certainly changed. To know more about the digital white boards; check this Video:
M.I.T. Digital Drawing BoardThings sure have changed!
The most successful (technological) inventions till date have been telephone, computer, television, automobile, camera and of course the light bulb.
In recent times I have seen the following areas show progress :
1. GPS Navigation Systems (e.g.
GPS)
2. Eco-friendly cars (e.g. Hydrogen Vehicle)
I have always embraced technology and innovation. I might not know every aspect of the technology or the product but my thirst to learn new things will never stop. If I ever stop embracing technology and innovation, I will retire. (This is a very bold statement to make. But it’s true.)
The areas where the inventions are being concentrated are:
- Applying solar energy to conservative use
- Building eco-friendly cars
- Using nano-technology
- Video Gaming, Mobile Technology and Space Technology (Rocket Science)
- Architecture Mobilization
We don’t always realize how technology has changed our lives. It has made our lives simpler and it sure is an interesting age to live in! It is our experience which makes us “believe” that things are possible and it is the realization from our experience which makes us lead a complete life.
In my earlier post “Fighting against SPAM” I focussed on controlling SPAM from the external world. These (SPAM’s) were unsolicited emails often flooding a mailbox, email promotions or advertisements (and scams).
Recently in our company we started to encounter “Internal SPAM”.
Our organizational mailing list structure:
- We have mailing lists set up for each department (We have 23+ departments)
- We have a mailing list for each of our business location (We have 3 locations world wide)
- We have mailing lists for multiple enterprise clients (Approx 40+)
In our (Internal Mails) office there were two events that occurred everyday:
- Team member sending emails to Everyone.
- Team member replying back to “BOTH” the person who sent that email AND to Everyone.
This means we did not have a controlled mailing list. Anyone was allowed to send emails to a mailing list. (Even those who did not belong to the email domain).
This resulted into:
- Emails getting bombarded to everyone for a reply which is of concern only to a particular individual.
- Each individual receives this email which causes extensive use of the email and wastage of internet bandwidth.
- Each company employee spending almost 2 minutes of his time reading that email. Which results in a waste of almost 1200 minutes (2 minutes each * 600 employees).
- Means 20+ hours of time is spent [EVERY DAY] in reading an email which was not intended to be of any concern to the individuals receiving the email.
- On an average, we received at least 4+ such emails each day.
In an effort to prevent any further loss of man hours:
- We switched to “Mailman“, the GNU Mailing List Manager.
- We converted our mailing lists to be a controlled mailing list.
- A moderator was set to monitor the mails which could be sent to everyone and those which could not. We set a list of policies which our company had to abide by.
- We allowed only 2MB emails sent to the mailing lists. This way we do not clog the network.
- We started “Archiving” emails sent to the mailing lists.
All our 87 mailing lists are being managed effectively. We have saved our employees time and we have tried to reduce our email bandwidth consumption due to “Internal SPAM” by almost 90%.
I have immense respect for Vinton Cerf - “The father of the Internet”. Vint is the co-designer with Robert Kahn of TCP/IP protocols and basic architecture of the Internet. Without (the Internet) communication would be the biggest issue. We would still be relying on Radio Broadcasting which would be a single mode of communication and thus a barrier towards success.
The Internet is a worldwide, publicly accessible series of interconnected computer networks that transmit data by packet switching using the standard Internet Protocol (IP). It is a “network of networks” that consists of millions of smaller domestic, academic, business, and government networks, which together carry various information and services, such as electronic mail, online chat, file transfer, and the interlinked web pages and other resources of the World Wide Web (WWW).
Source: Wikipedia
In todays Internet world, it is extremely important to have an Online Presence. The ultimate goal is to be accessible to anyone from anywhere. Technology, Social Networks and Natural Technology are making Internet more visible.
I define an Online Presence as having (at least one or more of the following):
- An Email Address (Mandatory) (nainil@eliteral.com)
- A Website (www.nainil.com)
- Domain Name (http://domains.eliteral.com)
- Web Hosting (http://www.eliteral.com)
- Search Engine Optimization - (Search results on top ranking search engines should return appropriate results)
- Personal Blog: Life as a Knowledge Manager
- Accounts in:
- MSN
- Yahoo
- Google
- Social Networking Accounts:
- LinkedIn (Professional Network)
- Orkut (Friends and Family Members)
- FaceBook
- MySpace
Until recent times it was difficult to find the most current news and updates from various sources. One of the most revolutionary technological advancement in internet is the RSS/Atom feeds.
RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a format for sharing content among different websites. Sites can syndicate “feeds” (content) and Internet users can use an application called an RSS reader or aggregator to download feeds.
Source: www.ipowerweb.com/editorial-library/EDL-glossary.html
There are more than 16 websites I use to keep myself update on topics relating to Technology, Health Care, Management, Politics, Current Affairs and Science.
I use Google Reader to act as an aggregator to retrieve web content from various websites.
An aggregator or news aggregator or feed reader is a client software that uses web feed to retrieve syndicated web content.
I am listing the most frequently read feeds which I use. I use the OPML markup language to display the feeds I subscribe to.
Attachment Link: Subscriptions in OPML format
I also use the Google Desktop Web Clips gadget (Sidebar view) to view news from the web pages I visit and RSS/Atom feeds. This way I do not have to open any additional browser and check for updates. It automatically refreshes the news as and when updated.
Technology has made our lives simpler. We should make the most optimum use of the technical resources we are offered, thus allowing us a better networked living.
Many of us consider Web Technology as the biggest advancement in Innovation. Collaborative effort is encouraged by use of Web Application tools like Email, Forum, Blog and Wiki.
In our company we have support solutions/articles on Forum, Emails and Network Folders. Lately it was becoming more and more difficult to manage information due to the fact that data was located at multiple locations and the most updated copy of data was difficult to find. We needed a centralized location where the accessibility and availability of information/documents was quick, easy and up-to-date.
As a Knowledge Manager, I concluded Wiki was the most logical and technologically feasible solution for an organization of our size.
Forum
You can post questions and you get responses. People come to a forum to communicate, exchange thoughts, etc. However it is not a true form of Knowledge Repository. You would have to search through multiple forum threads to find the answer you are looking for.
Emails
They are not reliable due to the fact that 1) you would always have multiple emails 2) finding the last updated information through the email is not always easy
Network Shared Folders
We have Multiple Copies of the documents on the Network. It’s difficult to determine which one is accurate. Many folders are not backed up daily.
Wiki
- Wiki offers a collaborative environment to maintain data.
- A controlled environment can be set-up to provide group based read and edit rights.
- Wiki is easy to learn and manage.
- The Wiki software keeps track of every edit made and it’s a simple process to revert back to a previous version of an article.
- Wiki can allow a user defined structure of data management
I tested various Wiki softwares and websites including:
- MediaWiki
- DokuWiki
- Wikispaces
MediaWiki (Official supporter of the Wikipedia Project) came out as the best available Open Source Wiki software. We quickly drew our task force members to lay down policies to:
- Define Wiki Advantages over other mediums of communication
- Define Wiki policy to be a single source of information and slowly transition on submerging the Forum.
- Defining policy on keeping the Wiki constantly updated.
After proper implementation of the policies:
- We now have 5 Wiki instances (4 out of 5 use MediaWiki).
- There is a controlled environment set to edit Wiki; thus maintaining appropriate quality of data
- The most current information is available on Wiki
- We are now integrating “Video” uploads on the Wiki allowing employees to upload videos on various services we provide.
This time of the year I tend to rethink all that I have accomplished through out the year.
2007:
Personal Life:
- Got married!!
- Expanded my field of study from Technology to Health Care with IT.
- My rock collection/study (Petrology) is progressing.
- Extended my lifestyle as a Jain follower.
- Organized all our important documents online for real time access.
Work:
- Successfully coordinated the $28,000 valued CCHIT certification effort for the company product.
- Improvised the company intranet website — HELPDESK — allowing internal communication improvement.
- Formulated appropriate communication policies within the company for directing the employee efforts in the right direction.
- Transformed from being a Knowledge Research Specialist to being a Knowledge Manager.
We (myself and Avni) wish you a Merry Christmas and hope your holidays are filled with joy and happiness.
My Contact Information:
Email: nainil@eliteral.com
Orkut: nainil@gmail.com
IM: nainil@hotmail.com
My first encounter with materialistic world came into actual realization when I first had to shift apartments from Philadelphia to Boston. I realized that I had almost 30% of house inventory which I had never used or was not going to use in the future. Since then I decided to balance my needs and wants which my factual needs and wants.
This Christmas myself and my wife we both decided to give each other a gift. We decided to:
- Organize our Documents with online access control.
- Remove all unused items for charitable donation or recycling.
- Scan all our Health Records and upload it on Microsoft HealthVault
Online Documents: We have scanned all of our most important documents and have uploaded them on a dedicated VPS server with dual backup facility for real time accessibility of data. We are now able to organize our documents online without the fear of loosing them for the rest of our lives.
Charitable Event: We donate our unwanted clothes at the local Walmart’s Cloths Donation boxes. Any other unused item goes to “Salvation Army” or any such projects available locally.
HealthVault: Microsoft HealthVault is personal health technology platform that lets you gather, store and share health information online. With HealthVault, users control their own health records, so they can privately share their health information with family, friends and healthcare professionals, and have access to trustworthy online health management tools.
We spent a total of 2 weekends to take care of the above mentioned tasks. By doing this exercise:
- Time is saved (as we lead a more organized life).
- We have a clear understanding of our needs and wants.
- We are now looking at the bigger picture of being a united family with a sense of responsibility towards the world we live in.
- We are able to find anything we need without searching for it.
- We have secure Health Records; accessible from any where around the world.
- We embrace technology to make our lives simpler.
Recently I began testing Live Chat options for our company’s Support Portal.
There are five important features that one should look for in a Live Chat option:
- Fast Response time (no server delays)
- Departmental Transfers
- Multiple simultaneous client sessions
- Transcript via E-mail
- Push URLs to the Client
It is not always easy to formulate policies on what can or cannot be addressed in a Support Live Chat. A support chat session could either be motivated towards:
- Training
- Support
- Sales Demo
The Live Chat functionality is offered in:
- Hosted Environment
- Download and Install on your own Server
There are two important features which are not always available in a Live Chat environment:
- Remote Desktop Connectivity
- Voice over IP functionality
Due to limitations of technology it is not always easy to have intensive level three support sessions via the Live Chat. It is required for management to understand the importance of “Bounce Rate”. Bounce Rate is defined as “The percentage of web site visitors who arrive at a web site entry page, then leave without going any deeper into the site”.
Live Chat Products which I have tested:
- PHP Live Chat from OSICodes
- Live Respone from Kayako
- HumanClick from LivePerson
Live Chat can help in retaining web visitors and allowing them to observer in a semi-forced nature the various possibilities of your product. The good news about Live Chat is that is has been around the market for quite some time and there are many products available to serve the needs of a growing organization. Let us see what the industry has to offer to the Live Chat 2.0 in the near future.
When you manage a software development firm you are often asked which department costs you the most. Varied answers are available debating amongst “Development” and “Sales / Marketing”, but my experience teaches me that it is “Support”.
The people, policies and technology are often quite difficult to manage leading to increased “Support Calls”. The human nature asks for external as well as internal support within an organization.
Support Systems are often categorized by the nature in which they were developed.
Managing support requires:
- People
- Structure
- Ticketing System
- Knowledge Base
- Live Chat
- Documentation
Areas that need proper controlled forces are:
- Monitoring Frequently Asked Questions
- Educating Support Staff on the latest development advancements
- Managing Support Staff Ratings
- Maintaining appropriate backup staff for the areas of expertise
- Periodic Staff Evaluation on performances
Support ticketing trends / reports are measured using three main criterias:
- Average Response Time to address a ticket
- Nature of the support call
- Frequency of the support call
Support systems are formally designed a three tier architecture. The tier three support being the most complex and the tier one support being the comparatively simpler questions.
Any organization either big or small usually needs a support system and a dedicated department to answer the clients questions.
Spam control is one of my most challenging battlefields. I, receive an average of 40,300 emails every month from the internet.
In the last 3 months I received a total of 1,20,900 emails.
45,000 of these are delivered, meaning that 75,900 of these are Spam.
This translates into 3,03,600 Spams per year.
I use SPAM ASSASSIN
(#1 Open-Source Spam Filter) to identify spam using a wide range of heuristic tests on mail headers and body text.
Time Magazine has a list of the best inventions for the year 2007.
Click this link to read more
The areas where the inventions are being concentrated are:
* Applying solar energy to conservative use
* Building eco-friendly cars
* Using nano-technology
* Video Gaming, Mobile Technology and Space Technology (Rocket Science)
* Architecture Mobilization
The categories include:
* Cars and Buses
* Aircraft
* Space
* Robots
* Entertainment
* Law and Order
* Living
* Environment
* Architecture
* Fashion
* Computers
* Health
It sure is an interesting age to live in!
Nainil Chheda,MS is the Knowledge Research Specialist at eClinicalWorks LLC, Member of ASTM, AMIA, AIIM, PDF/H, EHRVA, HITSP, AIS and ACM, and a practicing researcher on Healthcare Informatics.
