- Management Reference Guide
- Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Strategic Management
- Establishing Goals, Objectives, and Strategies
- Aligning IT Goals with Corporate Business Goals
- Utilizing Effective Planning Techniques
- Developing Worthwhile Mission Statements
- Developing Worthwhile Vision Statements
- Instituting Practical Corporate Values
- Budgeting Considerations in an IT Environment
- Introduction to Conducting an Effective SWOT Analysis
- IT Governance and Disaster Recovery, Part One
- IT Governance and Disaster Recovery, Part Two
- Customer Management
- Identifying Key External Customers
- Identifying Key Internal Customers
- Negotiating with Customers and Suppliers—Part 1: An Introduction
- Negotiating With Customers and Suppliers—Part 2: Reaching Agreement
- Negotiating and Managing Realistic Customer Expectations
- Service Management
- Identifying Key Services for Business Users
- Service-Level Agreements That Really Work
- How IT Evolved into a Service Organization
- FAQs About Systems Management (SM)
- FAQs About Availability (AV)
- FAQs About Performance and Tuning (PT)
- FAQs About Service Desk (SD)
- FAQs About Change Management (CM)
- FAQs About Configuration Management (CF)
- FAQs About Capacity Planning (CP)
- FAQs About Network Management
- FAQs About Storage Management (SM)
- FAQs About Production Acceptance (PA)
- FAQs About Release Management (RM)
- FAQs About Disaster Recovery (DR)
- FAQs About Business Continuity (BC)
- FAQs About Security (SE)
- FAQs About Service Level Management (SL)
- FAQs About Financial Management (FN)
- FAQs About Problem Management (PM)
- FAQs About Facilities Management (FM)
- Process Management
- Developing Robust Processes
- Establishing Mutually Beneficial Process Metrics
- Change Management—Part 1
- Change Management—Part 2
- Change Management—Part 3
- Audit Reconnaissance: Releasing Resources Through the IT Audit
- Problem Management
- Problem Management–Part 2: Process Design
- Problem Management–Part 3: Process Implementation
- Business Continuity Emergency Communications Plan
- Capacity Planning – Part One: Why It is Seldom Done Well
- Capacity Planning – Part Two: Developing a Capacity Planning Process
- Capacity Planning — Part Three: Benefits and Helpful Tips
- Capacity Planning – Part Four: Hidden Upgrade Costs and
- Improving Business Process Management, Part 1
- Improving Business Process Management, Part 2
- 20 Major Elements of Facilities Management
- Major Physical Exposures Common to a Data Center
- Evaluating the Physical Environment
- Nightmare Incidents with Disaster Recovery Plans
- Developing a Robust Configuration Management Process
- Developing a Robust Configuration Management Process – Part Two
- Automating a Robust Infrastructure Process
- Improving High Availability — Part One: Definitions and Terms
- Improving High Availability — Part Two: Definitions and Terms
- Improving High Availability — Part Three: The Seven R's of High Availability
- Improving High Availability — Part Four: Assessing an Availability Process
- Methods for Brainstorming and Prioritizing Requirements
- Introduction to Disk Storage Management — Part One
- Storage Management—Part Two: Performance
- Storage Management—Part Three: Reliability
- Storage Management—Part Four: Recoverability
- Twelve Traits of World-Class Infrastructures — Part One
- Twelve Traits of World-Class Infrastructures — Part Two
- Meeting Today's Cooling Challenges of Data Centers
- Strategic Security, Part One: Assessment
- Strategic Security, Part Two: Development
- Strategic Security, Part Three: Implementation
- Strategic Security, Part Four: ITIL Implications
- Production Acceptance Part One – Definition and Benefits
- Production Acceptance Part Two – Initial Steps
- Production Acceptance Part Three – Middle Steps
- Production Acceptance Part Four – Ongoing Steps
- Case Study: Planning a Service Desk Part One – Objectives
- Case Study: Planning a Service Desk Part Two – SWOT
- Case Study: Implementing an ITIL Service Desk – Part One
- Case Study: Implementing a Service Desk Part Two – Tool Selection
- Ethics, Scandals and Legislation
- Outsourcing in Response to Legislation
- Supplier Management
- Identifying Key External Suppliers
- Identifying Key Internal Suppliers
- Integrating the Four Key Elements of Good Customer Service
- Enhancing the Customer/Supplier Matrix
- Voice Over IP, Part One — What VoIP Is, and Is Not
- Voice Over IP, Part Two — Benefits, Cost Savings and Features of VoIP
- Application Management
- Production Acceptance
- Distinguishing New Applications from New Versions of Existing Applications
- Assessing a Production Acceptance Process
- Effective Use of a Software Development Life Cycle
- The Role of Project Management in SDLC— Part 2
- Communication in Project Management – Part One: Barriers to Effective Communication
- Communication in Project Management – Part Two: Examples of Effective Communication
- Safeguarding Personal Information in the Workplace: A Case Study
- Combating the Year-end Budget Blitz—Part 1: Building a Manageable Schedule
- Combating the Year-end Budget Blitz—Part 2: Tracking and Reporting Availability
- References
- Developing an ITIL Feasibility Analysis
- Organization and Personnel Management
- Optimizing IT Organizational Structures
- Factors That Influence Restructuring Decisions
- Alternative Locations for the Help Desk
- Alternative Locations for Database Administration
- Alternative Locations for Network Operations
- Alternative Locations for Web Design
- Alternative Locations for Risk Management
- Alternative Locations for Systems Management
- Practical Tips To Retaining Key Personnel
- Benefits and Drawbacks of Using IT Consultants and Contractors
- Deciding Between the Use of Contractors versus Consultants
- Managing Employee Skill Sets and Skill Levels
- Assessing Skill Levels of Current Onboard Staff
- Recruiting Infrastructure Staff from the Outside
- Selecting the Most Qualified Candidate
- 7 Tips for Managing the Use of Mobile Devices
- Useful Websites for IT Managers
- References
- Automating Robust Processes
- Evaluating Process Documentation — Part One: Quality and Value
- Evaluating Process Documentation — Part Two: Benefits and Use of a Quality-Value Matrix
- When Should You Integrate or Segregate Service Desks?
- Five Instructive Ideas for Interviewing
- Eight Surefire Tips to Use When Being Interviewed
- 12 Helpful Hints To Make Meetings More Productive
- Eight Uncommon Tips To Improve Your Writing
- Ten Helpful Tips To Improve Fire Drills
- Sorting Out Today’s Various Training Options
- Business Ethics and Corporate Scandals – Part 1
- Business Ethics and Corporate Scandals – Part 2
- 12 Tips for More Effective Emails
- Management Communication: Back to the Basics, Part One
- Management Communication: Back to the Basics, Part Two
- Management Communication: Back to the Basics, Part Three
- Asset Management
- Managing Hardware Inventories
- Introduction to Hardware Inventories
- Processes To Manage Hardware Inventories
- Use of a Hardware Inventory Database
- References
- Managing Software Inventories
- Business Continuity Management
- Ten Lessons Learned from Real-Life Disasters
- Ten Lessons Learned From Real-Life Disasters, Part 2
- Differences Between Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity , Part 1
- Differences Between Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity , Part 2
- 15 Common Terms and Definitions of Business Continuity
- The Federal Government’s Role in Disaster Recovery
- The 12 Common Mistakes That Cause BIAs To Fail—Part 1
- The 12 Common Mistakes That Cause BIAs To Fail—Part 2
- The 12 Common Mistakes That Cause BIAs To Fail—Part 3
- The 12 Common Mistakes That Cause BIAs To Fail—Part 4
- Conducting an Effective Table Top Exercise (TTE) — Part 1
- Conducting an Effective Table Top Exercise (TTE) — Part 2
- Conducting an Effective Table Top Exercise (TTE) — Part 3
- Conducting an Effective Table Top Exercise (TTE) — Part 4
- The 13 Cardinal Steps for Implementing a Business Continuity Program — Part One
- The 13 Cardinal Steps for Implementing a Business Continuity Program — Part Two
- The 13 Cardinal Steps for Implementing a Business Continuity Program — Part Three
- The 13 Cardinal Steps for Implementing a Business Continuity Program — Part Four
- The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL)
- The Origins of ITIL
- The Foundation of ITIL: Service Management
- Five Reasons for Revising ITIL
- The Relationship of Service Delivery and Service Support to All of ITIL
- Ten Common Myths About Implementing ITIL, Part One
- Ten Common Myths About Implementing ITIL, Part Two
- Characteristics of ITIL Version 3
- Ten Benefits of itSMF and its IIL Pocket Guide
- Translating the Goals of the ITIL Service Delivery Processes
- Translating the Goals of the ITIL Service Support Processes
- Elements of ITIL Least Understood, Part One: Service Delivery Processes
- Case Study: Recovery Reactions to a Renegade Rodent
- Elements of ITIL Least Understood, Part Two: Service Support
- Case Studies
- Case Study — Preparing for Hurricane Charley
- Case Study — The Linux Decision
- Case Study — Production Acceptance at an Aerospace Firm
- Case Study — Production Acceptance at a Defense Contractor
- Case Study — Evaluating Mainframe Processes
- Case Study — Evaluating Recovery Sites, Part One: Quantitative Comparisons/Natural Disasters
- Case Study — Evaluating Recovery Sites, Part Two: Quantitative Comparisons/Man-made Disasters
- Case Study — Evaluating Recovery Sites, Part Three: Qualitative Comparisons
- Case Study — Evaluating Recovery Sites, Part Four: Take-Aways
- Disaster Recovery Test Case Study Part One: Planning
- Disaster Recovery Test Case Study Part Two: Planning and Walk-Through
- Disaster Recovery Test Case Study Part Three: Execution
- Disaster Recovery Test Case Study Part Four: Follow-Up
- Assessing the Robustness of a Vendor’s Data Center, Part One: Qualitative Measures
- Assessing the Robustness of a Vendor’s Data Center, Part Two: Quantitative Measures
- Case Study: Lessons Learned from a World-Wide Disaster Recovery Exercise, Part One: What Did the Team Do Well
- (d) Case Study: Lessons Learned from a World-Wide Disaster Recovery Exercise, Part Two
In response to several recent accounting scandals and other concerns of the consuming public, the United States congress and state legislators passed a series of laws to place greater governance on corporations. Lawmakers passed dozens of bills to address these concerns. This article discusses three of these laws that had particular impact on IT organizations. These were the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the Graham-Leach-Bliley Act and California State Senate Bill SB 1386, shown in Table 1.
Table 1: Key Legislation Passed in Response to Major Corporate Scandals
|
Name of Law |
Year Enacted |
Key Provisions |
|
Sarbanes-Oxley Act |
2002 |
CEOs and CFOs certify financial reports |
|
Graham-Leach-Bliley Act |
1999 |
Regulates how firms share personal data |
|
SB 1386 |
2002 |
Disclose security breaches to NPI |
Sarbanes-Oxley Act
If there is one single act of United States legislation that is known for its direct response to the various scandals of the early 21st century it is the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The name comes from the sponsors of the legislation who were Senator Paul Sarbanes (Democrat-Maryland) and Representative Michael G. Oxley (Republican-Ohio). The law is also known by its longer name of the Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act of 2002 or by its more common shorter name of SOX. The numerous corporate scandals caused a decline of public trust in accounting and reporting practices, and SOX was intended to restore that trust. The Enron scandal was not the only impetus behind this law but it certainly served as its catalyst. The law passed overwhelmingly on July 30, 2002 with a House vote of 423 to 3 and a Senate vote of 99 to 0.
The Act contains 11 titles, or sections, ranging from additional corporate board responsibilities to criminal penalties, and requires the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to implement rulings on requirements to comply with the new law. Figure 1 lists some of the other major provisions of SOX. Two of the more controversial parts of SOX are sections 302 and 404.
Section 302 mandates that companies establish and maintain a set of internal procedures to ensure accurate financial reporting. The signing officers must certify that such controls are in existence and are being used, and within 90 days of the signing have evaluated the effectiveness of the controls.
Table 2: Major Provisions of SOX
|
Section 404 requires corporate officers to report their conclusions in the annual Exchange Act report about the effectiveness of their internal financial reporting controls. Failure of the controls being effective, or of the officers reporting on the controls, could result in criminal prosecution. For many companies, a key concern is the cost of updating information systems to comply with the control and reporting requirements. Systems involving document management, access to financial data, or long-term data storage must now provide auditing capabilities which were never designed into the original systems.
The financial reporting processes of most companies are driven by IT systems, and the Chief Information Officer (CIO) is responsible for the security, accuracy and reliability of the systems that manage and report on financial data. Systems such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM) are deeply integrated with the processing and reporting of financial data. As such, they are intertwined with the overall financial reporting process and fall under the requirement of compliance with SOX. Many companies now require not only the CEO and CFO to sign-off on SOX compliance reports, but CIOs as well. Several CIOs have begun delegating down into their staffs by having subordinate managers also signing off on SOX reports. Many of the processes discussed in this book, such as availability, production acceptance and security have direct bearing on SOX compliance.
Other countries have now begun instituting SOX-like legislation to prevent the type of accounting scandals experienced in the Untied States. For example, CSOX is the Canadian version of SOX. In line with Sarbanes-Oxley, South Korea has begun debating the establishment a separate, regulatory body similar to the PCAOB. Foreign countries doing business with American companies have learned it is prudent to be both knowledgeable and compliant with SOX provisions.
Graham-Leach-Bliley Act
The Graham-Leach-Bliley Act, also known as the Financial Modernization Act, regulates the sharing of personal information about individuals who are doing business with from financial institutions. The law requires financial companies to inform their customers about the company's privacy policies and practices, especially as it relates to non-public information (NPI). Based on these policies and practices, customers can then decide whether or not they want to do business with the company.
Non-public information (NPI) pertains to the private, personal information of an individual not readily available in public records. Customers typically disclose such information to private or public companies to transact business. Examples of NPI are social security numbers, unlisted telephone numbers and credit card accounts.
The law also gives consumers limited control over how financial institutions will use and share the personal information of consumers. It does this by requiring a financial company to offer consumers an 'opt-out' clause. With this clause consumers can choose whether or not they want to have their personal information shared with other companies. If consumers elect to exercise their opt-out clause, the financial institution with whom they are doing business cannot share their personal information with any other organization.
SB 1386
SB 1386 is also known as California Senate Bill 1386. It requires that any business, individual or state agency conducting business in the state of California disclose any breaches of security of computerized non-public information (NPI) to all individuals with whom they conduct business. Because of the large numbers of companies that process and store NPI of customers, this law has far-reaching effects. It also places a high premium on the security processes used by IT to ensure the likelihood of such a breach is kept to an absolute minimum. The law also means information systems must be readily able to contact all customers on a moments notice should a compromise to NPI occur.
If a bank, for example, unintentionally discloses the credit card number of a customer, the bank must disclose to all of its customers the nature of the security breach, how it happened, the extent of exposure and what is being done to prevent its reoccurrence. This very scenario happened to Wells Fargo bank in 2003. Sensitive customer the CEO of the bank sent out a letter to the bank's tens of thousands of customers explaining what happened, how it happened and what is being done to prevent it from happening again.