When Web-Based Isn’t The Way To Go…

December 25th, 2007

As a former developer that has developed windows applications, as well as n-tier web-based solutions of the LAMP variety…whenever a new application needs to be developed, I naturally gravitate towards the n-tier web-based scenario for a multitude of reasons. Nine times out of ten, we come up with a good web-based solution, but not this time. Here’s the scenario…I need to scan bar codes on metal drums filled with 25-50 gallons of liquid paint, in a storage facility that holds over seven hundred 50 gallon drums, in plant with hundreds of thousands of pounds of aluminum extrusions everywhere…and be wireless!

We started out with a class 1 div2 Symbol MC9090 scanner with Windows Mobile 5. We developed a web-based application that was written in PHP and ran in our middle tier. So far no problems. After using this scanner for a while, we noticed intermittent problems with connection. OK…no problem, we anticipated this, because the environment is the absolute worse for wireless. So, we amplified the signals and positioned the antennas in another arrangement to optimize coverage. We also trained the production personnel to do basic functions, like rebooting the scanner, if needed. This actually happened once or twice a day, so we were not happy with it.

Occasionally, for reasons we have not yet determined, the scanner would completely reset itself. OK…fine we’ll buy a second scanner just like it for backup, in case this occurred during the middle of the night. Here’ where the really annoying part comes in…unless you purchase all the scanners you’ll ever need at one time, no matter if you order the same model two months later, Microsoft is always tinkering with the OS. So, you can purchase 10 scanners over the course of a year, and potentially have 7 different backup and recovery strategies!

By this time, I’m looking for other solutions to simplify things. I was at an AutoZone store and while I was at the counter, I saw an MC9090 sitting in front of me. I thought surely they can’t have hundreds of these things and be experiencing the same problems…that would be a nightmare! So I picked it up and saw that they were running an SSH client on it. HMMM….

I went back to work and told my team what I observed and asked them what they thought about it and what would be the possible advantages to running an SSH client instead of a web application on the scanners. The result from that discussion was that the SSH client is much more tolerant and transparent when it came to signal lose…Bingo! Also, everything about the user’s perception of the interface was much more simple.

Additionally, because each scanner seemed to be a bit different than the next, in the original scenario we had to setup each one a little different in order to get the web application running again. Depending on what we wanted to do, we woud also have to run Opera, IE, or MiniMo because of coding differences that effected javascript. This was a huge headache. Now, all we have to do is reload the OS and the SSH client…done!

As always, I welcome any suggestions or ideas…otherwise, maybe this post can save someone else some time.

Wade Stankich
Information Technology Manager

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Forming a Good ECP (Electronic Communications Policy)

December 20th, 2007

As technology changes, we need to constantly re-evaluate our policies governing technology in our company. I recently had to review ours and thought that this may be a good subject to throw around for evaluation and collaborative ideas. One thing that I thought was interesting…over the last decade I had seen the policy morph from ‘Computer Usage Policy’ to ‘Electronic Communications Policy’. Thinking back on all the changes in technology over the years, this makes perfect sense…nearly all forms of communications today has a digital facet to it.

When I was deciding what the policy should address, I looked around at legal and internet resources and noticed a shift. The policies were not just merely outlining what a user could not do (leaving the assumption, anything not mentioned is fair game), but that the hardware and software are not there for the user…but it is there for the company. The priority is no longer what is good for the user first, and the company second, but the other way around. I think this is a good idea, because in the past the user base decided what the company was going to use to do business, and the users rights were held above the company. There has to be a balance. A user in sales is not going to know what software is best for the production floor to use.

So, in light of this observation, here are the sections listed in my first draft…

1. Scope of Policy. This section lists all areas and technology that the policy applies to.
2. Definitions. I took the time to define any terms I could not put into non technical words, so we are all on the same page.
3. Ownership of Information and Messages. Says that all info on company systems, whether sent, received or stored belongs to the company.
4. Business Use Only and Other Restrictions. This self explanatory. No playing solitary, no porn, gambling, etc.
5. No Presumption of Privacy – This is the best one…this takes care of the user coming into the company and assuming privacy in regards to #3

Here’s how it reads…

“Communications on the Company’s systems are not private and security cannot be guaranteed. Any passwords or user ID’s assigned by the Company are designed to protect the Company’s confidential information from outside third parties, not to provide employees with personal privacy in the messages. Employees should assume that any communications they send or receive on the Company’s system may be read or heard by someone other than the intended recipient. Highly confidential or sensitive information should not be sent through the Company’s system’s without prior authorization from the employee’s supervisor.”

6. Copyright Information. This section outlines your company’s intentions of not allowing copyright infringement laws to be violated and that your company soundly renounces such practices. This comes in handy if the software police show up, and you need proof that your company actively seeks to adhere to these laws and that there is a disciplinary action for anyone who breaks such laws.

7. Company’s Right to Monitor Messages. This is another interesting section. It basically says that even though we do not sit around reading every packet that runs the wire…we can and will, if need be.

Here’s how it reads…

“The Company reserves the right to monitor, access, retrieve, read and disclose to law enforcement officials or other third parties all messages created, sent, received, or stored on the Company’s systems without prior notice to the originators and recipients of such messages. Authorized personnel may monitor the electronic communications of employees to determine whether there have been any violations of law, breaches of confidentiality or security, communications harmful to the business interests of the Company, or any violations of this policy or any other Company policy.”

8. Viruses and Outside Sources. This section outlines the company’s policy on bringing in outside media and introducing it to the network.

9. Violations. This section outlines the disciplinary procedures for violating the policy.

After all that, signatures and dates….

I am interested in anyone else’s opinions or ideas, additions or omissions.

Wade Stankich
Information Technology Manager
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If you don’t want to be an I.T. professional…be a geek.

December 14th, 2007

I can’t count how may times I walked into Best Buy and seen that orange and black sign, and said to my self…”I will never hire one of these people”, or thought that if any of these employees really wanted to be an I.T. professional, that rose higher than their cubical, how crippled they might be with the label of “geek”.

Taking the stereotypical definition of “geek” and applying it to the “Geek Squad” or any other self proclaimed “geek”…a CEO would have to ask himself “Do I want this person responsible for melding my I.T. infrastructure with my business and interacting with my customers…or do I want a professional that knows technology?”

I would pick the later, myself…

Technology in business is more than building a PC for you neighbour, or showing a friend the latest Windows hacks, or knowing what memory chips work with what motherboard. A person has to be able to mix the right technology with the business that helps the company and it’s employees be more profitable, agile, informed (without info overload), efficient, etc. I.T. professionals need to learn the art of listening and communicating with all types of different personalities. This is something that is lost in the stereotypical definition of “geek”. In fact it is just the opposite. If you are a person in the technology field and you have trouble communicating and relating to the public at large, have extraordinary high IQ, and can recite every IRQ and it’s associated default I/O port on an ASUS motherboard…your probably a stereotypical geek and not much use in the business realm…unless the CFO needs a new memory card for his Black Berry.

Fortunately, communicating, listening, leadership, business concepts and other skills can be learned. A person can be very interested in technology and speak English at the same time. If your reading this and you are getting offended, take another look at your role in your company…you may be acting like a geek. If you want to take it to the next level, start concentrating on those “Soft Skills”.

In our I.T. department it is a widely known rule…”Don’t be a geek!”…

Wade Stankich
Information Technology Manager
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I.T. and MBO (Management By Objective)

December 7th, 2007

The MBO philosophy (by Peter Drucker) has been used in many other organizations and businesses other than I.T. organizations, and probably before I.T. did. I believe it is the most beneficial model of managing an I.T. department. MBO doesn’t micro-manage … it empowers and develops staff. Here’s the formal definition…

MBO – Management by objectives (MBO) is a systematic and organized approach that allows management to focus on achievable goals and to attain the best possible results from available resources. It aims to increase organizational performance by aligning goals and subordinate objectives throughout the organization. Ideally, employees get strong input to identify their objectives, time lines for completion, etc. MBO includes ongoing tracking and feedback in the process to reach objectives.

Using MBO in I.T.

I had always used the MBO model before I even knew what it was. Basically, I’m not into micro-managing and I believe my staff should grow in their skills, knowledge and effectiveness. Additionally, I added to those attributes…’I need to work myself out of the job’. This thought requires a person to employ MBO, whether they know it or not.

The underpinnings of MBO is your subordinates. Much of your time should be spent pouring into them and building them up. I’m not talking about just emotional needs, but more skills and strengths. Have concern and think through their career path. Be concerned for their future before your own. The pay-off is extraordinary. The main pay-off is ‘TRUST’.

When assigning projects, the main focus should be the result the project needs to achieve. Let the person you assign to the project have more liberty in the creativity of solving the problem. You can also point out the results each milestone of the project should achieve as well. This is how you can steer a project and still maintain creative liberty in solving the problems. The grade should be given based on the results. Hold them accountable for the results. This will eliminate the need for micro-management.

Micro-management is a waste of everyone’s time. It does not foster trust. It is stressful for both the manager and the subordinate. This is the main advantage of MBO…eliminating micro-management, fostering trust which leads to a quicker, more efficient, cohesive I.T. team.

Wade Stankich
Information Technology Manager
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Information Technology is in the Manufacturing Business

November 30th, 2007

I.T. is a unique department within a manufacturing company. This department can assist in answering some of the most basic business questions from the top of an organization to the shop floor. In a company with adequate I.T. resources, I.T. should be able to assist in answering questions like…

What’s my capacity?

Are we profitable?

What are my customer needs?

What’s the cost?

What are my critical issues?

What are my yields?

What’s my production schedule?

How’s my shift producing?

Where’s my material?

The potential for relevant, accurate and timely answers to many business questions is often overlooked. The fact that I.T. has a global view of the entire company to answer these questions, should make I.T. an essential part of the business unit, as opposed to the necessary ’support only’ department of days past.

So how does I.T. assist their company in answering some of their most important questions?

Obviously, the more data the organization collects and is made available, the better. If you’re lucky enough to be in an organization that has production, accounting, and HR databases, it will be just a matter of good planning to ensure data entregrity and having the reporting skills and tools available. For the purposes of the following paragraphs, let’s assume we have these databases available to us.

Let’s start with “What’s my capacity?”. First, lets define capacity: the facility or power to produce, perform, or deploy. : capability <a plan to double the factory’s capacity>; also : maximum output <industries running at three-quarter capacity>.

Let’s also assume our production database is collecting statistics from the processes in the routing of a widget. This means I have data available to the organization such as, widgets produced, scrap produced, time taken to produce the widgets, people resources need to produce the widgets, machine resources needed to produce the widgets, how much material I consumed to produce the widgets, etc. After some time to collect history, a company should be able to use this kind of data to derive real capacities and capabilities that would be of use to Materials Management, Sales, Product Development, Operations, etc.

Also, how does I.T. assist in answering questions like “Are we profitable?” or “What’s the actual cost of the widget?” Let’s define profit and cost. Proifit: the excess of the selling price of goods over their cost; Cost:the outlay or expenditure (as of effort or sacrifice) made to achieve an object .

We can merge our production data, purchasing and inventory data, and human resources data in a fashion that with give the organization a view of the true costs of those widgets, thus giving us the ability, when merged with accounting data, to see our true profits. Maybe we even see that doing business with a particular customer is actually costing the organization money. We could see that producing a particular widget is more profitable, and that may influence how we diversify the different markets we are involved in pursuing.

With the right infrastructure in place, the data is available to answer all the above questions. Today, I.T.’s role should be to have the business understanding that brings it all together in a way that gives their company a competitive advantage and is relevant to their organization. I think there are many I.T. professionals that already recognize this and are ready to participate as a business professional in their company, if they aren’t already. It would stand to reason, as I.T. professionals have a very unique view of their company that is global in nature and scope. They see the business as a whole not departmently. This is what enables them to put the pieces together in a way that benefits the company as a whole.

Wade Stankich

Information Technology Manager

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