Embed video PowerPoint 2013 with custom playback

There a lot of options for working with video in your presentation that didn’t exist in earlier versions of Microsoft PowerPoint. In this clip, learn how to embed a video into your PowerPoint presentation, one of the prominent features that make PowerPoint 2013 really cool.

Besides just adding the video, there are a few things you can customize:

• Link to a specific video file, or embed (insert) the video directly into the presentation (watch our for file sizes).
• Re-size your embedded video, apply video styles and formatting like borders and overlaid text.
• Compress all the media in your presentation and use automated playback capabilities.

How to create templates

This next free training clip shows you how to create templates for PowerPoint 2013 from a blank presentation. You’ll start by looking at the various layouts for your “master” views, and then see how to change/edit existing or new templates as you create them.

Customize ribbon display options

This third tip is really useful if you create a lot of presentations and want to optimize your PowerPoint workflow a bit.

The ability to change how you see the Ribbon within the user interface can really help you be more productive while using the software. Now you can change how you view the ribbon within the user interface, replacing the menus in 2007. The tools and options displayed in the Ribbon change depending on context the of whatever you are doing in PowerPoint as you go. For example, selecting a text box will display certain formatting options, but de-selecting will display something else.

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“You need to know your legacy products,” says Mark Latham, 57, Microsoft Engineer II at Centura Health in Durango, Colorado. “What’s interesting is a lot of healthcare software is legacy. It’s really old. That’s our biggest problem.”

Outdated technology is often a major limitation for healthcare companies. Mark explains that his company is trying to upgrade everyone from Windows XP to 7 but can’t because, as he puts it, “the medical industry is way behind.” The current software won’t run on newer operating systems and any new software has to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration, which can take a long time.

“When you come in, you better know your DOS.  You better know your older legacy products or databases because you’re going to get hit with that,” says Mark who explains that his hospital group still has machines running Windows 2000 they can’t get rid of because vendors haven’t upgraded and/or IT hasn’t found a way to convert old data to something that’s current. They also still support Exchange Server 2000, 2003 and 2010 and are using Windows 2000 group policies.

“People come in all ready with 2012 and ready for new, and they are like, ‘Oh, I’ve never touched 2000 or 2003,’” says Mark. “You have to have your hands on legacy stuff.”

Finding your path

Mark got his start in healthcare IT by way, somewhat randomly, of a cable company. He was working on the data side for Durango’s cable company on a project in a hospital’s telecom room, when someone asked if he was interested in a job on the server side. He took the job eight years ago and hasn’t looked back.

Like many IT pros, what he likes most about his job is the challenge.

“Every day is a challenge with what comes in the door and what we have to do,” says Mark. “I won’t have a clue what I’m going to get hit with every day, and that’s what I like. Every day there is change. With the technological things that are happening right now, change is happening daily. Don’t be uptight and lock yourself in…accept change, flow with it, go with it and learn as much as you can. “

In a remote town like Durango, it’s not always easy getting access to the right IT training to prepare for the ongoing change. The town’s few IT training centers have closed in recent years. Mark has to drive four hours to get to the closest certification testing center in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Sometimes his company will pay to fly him to Denver for training, but with budgets tight, it’s often not an option.

That’s why it’s been career-changing for him to get access to his training online. He started using TrainSignal a year and a half ago with a Windows Server 2008 course.

“This is the way,” says Mark of TrainSignal training, who further explains that with a wife and kids, it’s not always easy to go out-of-town for a course or to sit through a long class. “It’s easy. It’s concise. It does exactly what we need. I’m so hooked.”

Making time for training

Mark squeezes in as much study time as he can between working on other things and his “breaks,” an idea he laughs at because they’re so few and far between with supporting 13 hospitals and weeding through an average of 60 tickets per day. He also sets aside time four nights a week for training. But the bonus is that he’s often using TrainSignal courses as a way to troubleshoot or to reference topics that are challenging him on the job.

That’s key with training. You can’t just watch it, Mark says. You have to apply it to real-life situations.

“Newbies come in gung-ho thinking they’ve learned it all,” says Mark, who urges people new to the IT field to go beyond what they’ve learned in a class or read in a book. “The first thing is to get some hardware or a virtual site and play and build. They need to touch it, see it and watch someone who’s extremely experience in it, who’s taught it for a long time, but they’re not just a teacher. They’re a user.”

This kind of teaching is another aspect of why Mark finds TrainSignal so appealing. He’s sat through boring training where he’s had to pinch himself to stay awake before. With TrainSignal, he likes that instructors always have something new to share and explain things in a way that’s easy to understand and engaging.

“They’re great presenters, upbeat and to the point,” he says. “You don’t get distracted. The way they put things forth, you’re leaning forward and listening.”

TrainSignal’s new subscription model gives Mark even more flexibility with his training. As his company prepares to roll out new ticketing and monitoring systems, he keeps hinting to his manager that maybe the time has come to change up how all staff members train—that the days of awkward conference calls to walk through a process or week-long, offsite courses are gone.

“I don’t think anyone on the training side has offered something like this,” says Mark. “Keep doing what you’re doing.”

We’ve heard from Mark, now we want to hear from you! Submit your story about how you use TrainSignal training for the chance to win a free, one-year subscription to access 200+ courses!

This group includes one of the newest information security certs that has been added to the DOD Information Assurance (IA) approved certifications. We’ll also review the current certifications that are approved for employees/contractors looking to work within the IA departments of the DOD.

CompTIA Security+

CompTIA’s Security+ certification is a vendor-neutral security certification aimed at people with at least two years of IT administration experience, preferably with some amount of security responsibility. The people who have achieved this certification are expected to have a moderate security skill set and should be able to perform actions like identifying risk and risk mitigation, provide infrastructure security guidance, and be able to manage application, operational and information security for a group or organization.

CompTIA is typically quite good at offering specifics on which skills exams cover, and for the Security+ certification, it provides 10 pages of exam objectives; don’t let this overwhelm you until you have read through them completely. The Security+ certification is ANSI accredited and is ISO 17024 compliant. The newest version of the Security+ certification is completed through the passing of the SY0-301 exam.

CompTIA A+

The CompTIA A+ certification has been around for a long time and is considered one of the best certifications for people just entering into the IT administration field. It offers a base level of objectives that should be known by all network administrators and has been targeted at this entry-level tier.

The A+ certification is ANSI accredited and is ISO 17024 compliant. The A+ is composed of two separate exams; the first focuses primarily on hardware (PC, networking, laptop, printers, etc.) and the second focuses on concepts (operating system, security, mobile devices and troubleshooting). The newest versions of the exams are 220-801 and 220-802.

CompTIA Network+

CompTIA’s Network+ is another one that is focused on those starting in the IT field (similar to the A+). Obviously, the focus of the Network+ certification is networking and how the various devices connect together and communicate.

It’s also ANSI accredited and ISO 17024 compliant. The certification curriculum itself covers a wide number of topics including networking concepts, network installation and configuration, network media and topologies, network management and network security. The Network+ is composed of a single exam; the newest version of this exam is N10-005.

Project Management Professional (PMP)

The PMP is a project management certification that is offered by the Project Management Institute (PMI). It rigorously tests the project management knowledge, experience and skills to complete projects successfully. The PMP certification is ANSI accredited and is ISO 17024 compliant.

The process (application and certification) of obtaining a PMP is a bit lengthy and thorough. Initially the candidate must possess either:

• A secondary degree (high school, associates degree or equivalent) along with five years of unique non-overlapping professional project management experience (with at least 7,500 hours of leading and/or directing projects over the last eight years) OR
• A four-year degree (bachelor’s degree or equivalent) along with three years of non-overlapping professional project management experience (with at least 4,500 hours of leaning and/or directing projects over the last eight years) AND
• 35 contact hours of formal project management education

Once these have requirements have been satisfied the application process can begin with includes an audit of submitted experience and a multiple choice exam.

Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)

The CISSP is focused on those individuals who will “define the architecture, design, management and/or controls that assure the security of business environments.” The CISSP certification is ANSI accredited and is ISO 17024 compliant. It measures competence in 10 defined domains of security knowledge including:

• Access control
• Telecommunications and network security
• Information security governance and risk management
• Software development security
• Cryptography, security architecture and design
• Operations security, business continuity and disaster recovery planning
• Legal, regulations,iInvestigations and compliance
• Physical (environmental) security

To earn the CISSP, the candidate is required to have at five years of experience in two of these domains (or four years of experience in at least two domains with a degree waiver, ISC2 approved four-year degree), pass a computer-based training (CBT) exam and have a professional endorsement from a current ISC2 certified professional.

Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL®)

The ITIL® is a structure of best practices for IT service management that is used by many organizations, and is also endorsed by many governments. The qualifications earned by the certification are based on the level of knowledge that a candidate has of standardized ITIL® practices, principles and methods. Every candidate must start at the ITIL® V3 Foundation level and work their way up. The requirements for both training and examination depend on the specific level of the certification.

Cisco Certified Network Associate – Routing and Switching (CCNA R&S)

For years the CCNA – R&S was referred to as just CCNA (with the R&S assumed); this has changed with the latest iteration of the CCNA that has just recent been introduced (in April 2013). But as before the CCNA R&S is focused on a basic level of networking and Cisco network competence, including many of the different technologies and equipment that will be seen by those entering the Cisco networking world.

The CCNA R&S certification is ANSI accredited and is ISO 17024 compliant. Now candidates have the option to take either a single (CCNA R&S – 200-120) or a split two exams (100-101 ICND1 and 200-101 ICND2) to get the CCNA R&S.

MCITP (retired) / MCSE

The MCITP is the last of the eight certifications covered. This certification has since been retired (for new candidates) and has been replaced my Microsoft with another round of names. The most direct replacement for the MCITP is the new Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert (MCSE). (Yes, this use to be Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer.)

Many of Microsoft’s specific certifications are ANSI and ISO 17024 accredited, and have specific recertification exams to maintain ANSI accredited credentials for those that require it. As of this writing, there are eight different roadmaps that can be followed to become an MCSE depending on the focus:

Server Infrastructure, Desktop Infrastructure, Private Cloud, Data Platform, Business Intelligence, Messaging, Communication and SharePoint.

The DOD’s Information Assurance Workforce

The DOD’s Information Assurance (IA) workforce functions within the DOD to support the DOD Global Information Grid (GIG). For those not familiar with what an IA workforce is, a more common term for this in the corporate world is Information Security (basically the mitigation of risk throughout the whole system). Per the DOD Information Assurance Workforce Improvement Program (IA WIP) [document (DOD 8570.01-M)], “The DOD IA Workforce includes, but is not limited to, all individuals performing any of the IA functions described in this Manual.”

A number of the certifications that have made it to the top of the list are a direct result of the IA WIP; the Figure shown below displays the current certifications that are required to hold specific positions within the DOD IA departments:

Baseline DOD certifications (Source: Department of Defense)

CompTIA Advanced Security Practitioner (CASP)

Although not part of the top eight covered above, the CASP should be covered because it has recently gained DOD acceptance. The CASP is intended as a next step for those individuals who already possess the Security+ certification.

The CASP certification is ANSI accredited and is ISO 17024 compliant and is for candidates with 10 years of IT administration experience including at least five years of IT security experience. The CASP can be achieved by passing the CAS-001 exam.

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While this list of certifications can certainly be used for any individual that is looking to get into the IT field, the specific certifications that are covered here were taken from a government-based survey by clearancejobs.com and would be the best roles to look at for getting into government work.

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ITIL® is a Registered Trade Mark of the Cabinet Office.

VMware recently announced a free 90-day test drive of its public cloud services. VMware has provisioned its own public cloud, which serves as the infrastructure for this evaluation. The company is looking to move into the public cloud domain to compete with the likes of Amazon, Google and, in some cases, VMware’s own partners and customers. It’s an interesting step that may hurt offerings from companies like mine (Long View Systems) that offer a public cloud. This cloud is fully owned and supported by VMware, and I happen to know a few of the people working on it. It will be a well-designed cloud – you can be sure of that.

This Hybrid Cloud Evaluation is capped at two VMs (or one VM with two vCPUs), 2GB of RAM and 50GB of disk, which limits its usage but that’s not the point. The purpose is to get people familiar with the public cloud. Hybrid cloud is one of the major initiatives at VMware this year; it’s a stepping stone to get fully to the public cloud.

What is hybrid cloud?

Hybrid cloud is roughly defined as having resources both in a private cloud and a public one and moving between them. What is public and what is private really depends on the company and its use cases.

This free evaluation is purely for people to get a feel for the capabilities of the public cloud and how easy it is to deploy resources to it. VMware hopes this will affect the decisions your business makes. It’s not intended to run any production workloads as part of the trial, but that’s not to say it isn’t any fun to try out! I think everyone curious about the cloud should sign up and play around. This is the future, and the more exposure now the better!

How to get access

It’s very easy to create an account: Head to http://vcloud.vmware.com/evaluate-cloud and click the “Get Started With Your Free Trial” button—that is, if the signup is currently working. There has been a large demand for this service, and the site seems to be having issues keeping up. Such is one of the complexities of public cloud; large demand can happen at any time and you better be ready for it. It has recently added a verification step that sends you a code via phone or by text, so use a real number when signing up. It gives you the chance to change the number on the verification page if need be, which was nice, as I usually put our main line in these forms and that wasn’t going to work.

Once you’ve created your account, you can log in and deploy your VMs. You will see how easy it is for users to create their own services—remember this. Soon this is the way all IT services will be deployed, and the more familiar you are with it the better.

It also introduces users to vCloud Connector. This is an appliance that is used to move resources between clouds. Moving between clouds right now is not as seamless as VMware sells it. It works, but this is not an online, live migration of services type of deal. In the next versions this may become reality, but it’s not now. The major point is that you can move vSphere VMs all over the world if you so choose.

There are also a number of other public clouds that offer a free trial, such as Bluelock, iLand, and StratGen. I recommend checking them out so you can see the various customizations available and how different each one can be. Bear in mind these all run on vCloud Director and vSphere! Hybrid cloud is a big focus this year for everyone, so make sure you are on the leading edge of it.

TrainSignal now offers all of our training for $49 per month. Sign up for a 3-day free trial to get access to all of our courses, including our entire VMware library and the recently released vCloud Director 5.1 Essentials course.

I had just come back from EMC World in Las Vegas, and I was quite tired, but I couldn’t ignore my mom’s request for help. My mom is in charge of a dog rescue group in Michigan, and she relies on email constantly.  She is an avid Mac user from the early days, which does limit a lot of support calls, however this one was unique. My parents live on a farm in rural Michigan and do not have the luxury of cable internet. They survived on dial-up until 2009 when Verizon released some decent bandwidth to the area.  Last Christmas, I purchased an Air-Card-to-Wi-Fi router for my mom, and she has been happily surfing the internet and saving dogs wirelessly for the past few months.

Until Mother’s Day when she told me her internet wasn’t working.

Being a seasoned IT professional and also not wanting to let my mom down, I started to troubleshoot. We went through the following scenarios:

1. Unplug the router and plug it back in.
2. Played a game of “What do you see on your screen?”
3. Rebooted her Mac several times.
4. Played more games of “What do you see on your screen?”

None of these methods were successful, and it began to frustrate me and my mom. She said she could see that the “blue blinky lights” were on the aircard, so I knew the cell signal was most likely OK. I began to explain to her how to hard wire her computer into the router. Luckily, she still had the box that came with her router. I had her take out the blue cable and take it and her laptop upstairs to the router.

We did the following things:

1. Plugged the thick phone cable (Cat 5 to you geeks!) into one of the router’s yellow ports (four yellow and one green made me think that one was the uplink and four were just LAN ports).
2. Plugged the Cat 5 cable into the Mac.
3. Restarted the computer (probably not needed but it gave my mom and I a chance to chat for a few minutes)

And guess what? She had internet. So something was going on with the wireless. I was able to then start up a webex with her to finally fix the problem, which had something to do with the old Verizon software conflicting with the wireless on the Mac. We removed that and brought the computer back to life.

Moral of the story? Always call your mother on Mother’s Day. That, and don’t leave your troubleshooting skills at the office.

What are some of the troubleshooting tips and tricks you use either in your daily grind or for solving your family’s IT needs? Tell us in the comments section below or tweet me @SANGeek.

I will answer these questions and more at a TechEd session on June 5 called “The Deep Dark Secrets of Unified Messaging.” For people who can’t attend, I recently hosted a TrainSignal webinar on the topic. Here are the highlights, followed by the complete recorded webinar.

What is Unified Messaging?

Unified Messaging (UM) was released as a separate server role with Exchange 2007. It’s really a set of services, and they have been enhanced with each service pack and major release. Some people are skeptical that it won’t live up to its hype, but I’ve seen it deployed in enterprise-scale companies with thousands of employees, and it works like  a charm. Basically what it does is it provides for a universal inbox for email, viocemail and incoming fax.  Really, the notable part of it is on the voicemail side. Exchange has built in a universal inbox where voicemail is included, so you don’t have to purchase a separate solution.

So, within your organization, you probably have a PBX that handles incoming calls and you probably have a voicemail piece to your set up as well.  So with the UM services, Microsoft isn’t looking for you to throw away your phone system (if you wanted to do that you could go with a Lync server) but rather to just break one little piece of it: the voicemail piece. With UM, if configured properly, you can have voicemails left for end-users that can be MP3s (or some other audio format) and can even be transcribed into the email.  You can also have incoming fax configured if you have a partner fax server solution with a URI provided by the fax solution provider.

Unified Messaging features

Watch the recording below for details on initial configuration, hardware requirements and deployment:

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“IT really has to start to innovate and help the business. Take some business courses and bring in some of that business acumen. The HR deptartment is having these problems, so how can we use technology and high-tech solutions to fix those problems?” — Joey Snow

Whether you’re new to information technology or deciding what to do after college, these observations are good to keep in mind. Rick and Joey also want to remind everyone about the underlying importance of networking, especially as you try to figure how your time at work balances with ongoing self-study and professional development.

“Find a career that you can be passionate about because you’ll feel more inclined to do it, and to do it well.” — Rick Claus

One of the main things these two are hitting the road to evangelize: Do what you love. If you’re in it for the money or because of job security—get out. You won’t be happy.

TrainSignal now offers access to our entire training library for $49 per month. Sign up for a 3-day free trial today!

Some vSphere 5.1 changes

One may expect that a minor release should not make a drastic change to the product as the name implies; some maximum values should increase, some minor features like backup/restore of distributed switch configuration get added, and some improvements to already available features like vSphere replication is normal.

However, vSphere 5.1 has changed and added much more than typically expected from a minor release. For example, changing the main interface to the web interface and not exposing any new features through the traditional windows based C# client is a major change to the way vSphere admins manage their infrastructures.
Shared-nothing vMotion, is a break from an age-old rule dictating that you need a shared storage to be able to perform vMotion, limiting SMBs that can’t afford or manage one. There’s also the introduction of the vCloud suite and including vSphere as base to this suite.

Yet, in my humble opinion the most critical change that affects any admin plans to upgrade to or deploy vSphere 5.1 is the introduction of single sign-on (SSO) as a separate components that need extra care while upgrading earlier versions, and special attention when deploying a highly available or a distributed vSphere infrastructure.

Did vSphere 5.1 change the VCP5 exam course requirement?

As you may already know, to become VCP certified, you need to attend an authorized VMware course. Although you can attend the course after passing the exam, it is recommended to take the exam after attending the course because the course is not just a course; it is a series of labs designed to make sure that you know how to setup and configure vSphere.

Also, there is no specific time constraint after attending the course to take the exam. It took me about two years with my VCP4, as I attended the first course delivered in my region immediately after the release of vSphere 4.0. When I felt ready to take the VCP4 exam vSphere 4.1 was already released and vSphere 5.0 was on its way. Yet, a 4.0 course was still accepted as a requirement to the VCP4 exam.

This rule still stands, and if you have taken a vSphere 5.0 course, it will be satisfy the requirement for the VCP5 exam even though the current version of the exam is updated to 5.1.

Maximum values that changed between vSphere 5.0 and 5.1

Many candidates waste a lot of time memorizing maximum values. VMware official “Maximums” documents are 9 pages full of numbers, yet as the nerds we are, we feel the need to memorize this PDF because a couple of questions out of 85 may ask about them!

But as discussed earlier a minor version increases some maximums which may cause some confusion about whether to memorize the values for vSphere 5.0 or 5.1. The answer is neither. You can rest assured that if a value has changed between vSphere 5.0 and vSphere 5.1, you will not be asked in the VCP5 exam because the exam was revised to be version neutral to avoid any confusion.

I know you may wonder what values have changed. By comparing the two maximums documents, I created the table below for you as a reference. Although you do not need to memorize them for the exam, I am sure that you may find them useful in practical life.

So do I need to know about 5.1 features?

Yes, for sure you need to know all about 5.0 and 5.1 features to pass the exam, and more importantly to present yourself as a certified VCP5-DCV in any interview. The last thing you want is to look outdated and lacking the motivation to learn the latest developments in your area in the eyes of your potential or current employer.

In addition, the exam blueprint states under objective 1.5 that you must “Identify the various data center solutions that interact with vSphere (View, SRM, Lab Manager, etc).” This means that you need to know about both VMware Data Recovery (VDR) and VMware Data Protection (VDP) as an example.

This is exactly why there is a full course for VMware vSphere 5.0 and shorter vSphere 5.1 Features course. The first teaches you in details all the basics of what you need to know for the VCP5-DCV exam, while the later adds to it and explains changes specific to 5.1. You can sign up for a 3-day free trial to get access to the entire TrainSignal training library, including over 100 hundred courses.

CCNA Video studying recommendations

The problem that many people have with any new certification is that it’s hard to locate resources to study for the exam. Sometimes this is mitigated with a considerable amount of effort put into preparation products (e.g. self-study guides, CBTs).  The problem comes with certifications that are not as widely popular (at least not yet); these certifications may be vital for those in each respective field but they don’t justify the amount of money required to put out these products the way established certifications like CCNA Routing and Switching (CCNA R&S) do. This is further complicated with the CCNA Video certification because much of the equipment that you need to study with and learn about is rather expensive and typically well out of the range of reasonable cost to most candidates. This results in a smaller amount of people that are able to easily get access to the products and learn about the technologies that are available. Now, this can be a good thing for those who are able to invest in the resources they need to achieve the certification (supply/demand), but it does make the cost of achieving the certification much higher than many others.

So what does this all mean to the candidate looking to achieve this cert? Unfortunately, at the moment there are only two good paths to the CCNA Video certification: Be employed at a company that has a number of the products that are covered in the certification and try to learn on the job OR invest the time and money in taking two Cisco courses, the VIVND1 (e-learning at approximately $400) and VIVND2 (classroom course at approximately $4,200).

The only other alternative (not really a good alternative as it is very time-intensive) is to download and study the Cisco guides references here. The problem with this is that there is a lot of material to cover and often the test is only focused on a moderate portion of what Cisco actually puts on the objectives list. The insight required to know what is actually going to be covered typically is gleaned from study guides OR by taking the course (or talking to someone who has). If you can’t accomplish one of the two preferred study paths, check out this course syllabus. It offers a more expanded list of the objectives that are covered in the VIVND2 course; this along with the resources referenced above will certainly give you a good chance of covering the topics that will be featured on the actual exam.

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As with most new certifications, it will take some amount of time before the preparation community will catch up and introduce other learning options, especially for those interested in self learning. The good thing is that since associate-level Cisco certifications are generally more profitable than high-level certifications, the odds are that these learning options are on the horizon.

Many entry-level people in IT simply don’t have a lot of money available to spend on an extensive Cisco lab, and not everyone has an employer with suitable lab equipment. This article focuses on affordable options for routers if you can’t afford a basic lab, and don’t have access to extensive labs to fulfill their every need.

Choosing routers

There are a number of routers to choose from that exist within the open market; some are better deals than others depending on who the seller is and how much experience they have. Unfortunately, many of the people who sell used Cisco equipment are also looking more to make money from the venture and not help those attempting to increase their knowledge. This leaves an opportunity for those companies with the required talent (preferably Cisco certified people on staff) to offer equipment that is reasonable and fulfills the requirements of the current and future certifications.

While it’s not possible for this article to list out every possible combination of good networking equipment for a lab, I will outline some of the current pricing and highlight the better deals that exist as of the writing of this article.

Frame relay

While frame relay as a technology is rather old, it’s still used in many environments and offers an easy to implement small-scale, WAN experience for those entering the field. To simulate frame relay in a Cisco lab, the easiest way (and typically cheapest) is to buy a good old 2500 series serial router; these devices offer 2 or 8 serial connections (DB60) that can be used to connect to Frame Relay end devices (more modern routers).

The two Ethernet models that exist in decent supply on eBay are the 2520 (2 port) and the 2522 (8 port). The 2520 goes for around $30 and offers 2 DB60 serial ports which can be connected to Frame Relay end devices; the 2522 goes for around $150 (supply not meeting demand) and offers 8 DB60 serial ports which can also be connected to frame relay end devices.

The 2520 or 2522 in this configuration would serve as a Frame Relay Switch (which is typically in the Telco Cloud) with all connected devices being the frame relay clients.

Keep in mind that when using one of these devices as a frame relay switch, the physical cabling should be oriented so that the DCE side is on this device, NOT on the end device.

Images courtesy of Cisco

Another option which some people can take advantage of, is using modular serial cards that are available to fit in most of the general purpose routers discussed below; just plug in one or more of these cards and most routers will support frame relay switching (use the frame-relay switching command).

For general purpose

Here is where the rubber meets the road, and in this case where the cash meets the shredder. There are a some available options for general purpose routers within a lab. The general features required for the CCNA Routing and Switching level exams are rather generic and exist in most router platforms; the question is whether you plan to take the next step or not (specialty CCNA options like Voice, Security, Video and others). If this is the case the decision is really based on what support you need for those paths. For example, is a voice enabled router required?

To get a start, this article will go through a couple of the more popular options that exist now, and don’t completely break the bank.

2600XM Series

The 2610xm and the 2620xm have for a long time been a staple in the lab of many network engineers; they’re reasonably priced and offer reasonable performance for most of the different features that are asked of them at the CCNA, and most of the material at the CCNP level. The only problem with these devices is that they don’t support IOS 15 which will become the main IOS used with the new round of CCNA revisions.

However, most of the common features have not changed much or not changed at all. If money is your chief concern, use them primarily as general purpose routers. As of this writing, the 2610xm and 2620xm are going for around $50 on eBay.

Beware: Depending on the IOS, it may be larger than 128 Meg which is the default on many used routers. The upgrade to 256 Meg is not as simple as buying memory because it may need a ROMMON upgrade. I had to do this on my own routers, but it’s an extra cost if you don’t know it’s coming.

1800 Series

The 1800 series is a step up in terms of modern equipment and provides support for IOS 15. The 1800 platform in general matches up better with the earlier 1700 series devices in terms of direct features. The 1811 and 1812 are still in service and supported. They both offer 8 switch ports, IEEE 802.11G Wi-Fi, and FE WAN interfaces (think of these like a WAN interface on a Linksys device). The main difference between the two is that the 1811 has an analog modem and the 1812 has an ISDN backup, which may or may not be useful (they are not covered in any great detail anymore, in terms of certifications). The 1811 and 1812 both go for around $150 on eBay as of this writing.

The other and possibly better option in this series is the 1841; this device is modular as opposed to the fixed configurations of the 1811 and 1812. However, the 1841 is End-of-Life (software maintenance will go through October 2014), which is both an advantage and a disadvantage.

A key advantage to keep in mind is that it makes the device cheaper, generally around $100 on eBay, but a number of interface cards can be plugged into the 1841. It has 2 fixed Fast Ethernet interfaces, two HWIC slots which support both WIC and VWIC (data only) cards, but it does not support voice (the 2600xm do, but with older software) or Power over Ethernet (PoE).

2800 Series

For a few years, the 2800 series have been the sought after devices in private labs because of flexibility; but for many it’s outside a small budget. With the introduction of the newest 1900, 2900, and 3900 series devices the costs of 2800 series devices have come down considerably. This series of routers will most likely be the routers of choice for those with a moderate budget but who are still looking for reasonably new feature support.

The 2801 is 1RU, has two fixed Fast Ethernet slots and four interface card slots: two supporting HWIC, WIC, VIC and VWIC cards, one supporting WIC, VIC and VWIC cards and one supporting VIC and VWIC cards. The 2801 does support IOS 15, has two internal DSP (PVDM) and encryption (AIM) slots and sells for around $100 on eBay.

The 2811 is 1RU, has two fixed Fast Ethernet slots and four interface card slots all of which support HWIC, WIC, VIC and VWIC cards and one slot that supports NM and NME cards. It supports IOS 15, has two internal DSP (PVDM) and encryption (AIM) slots and sells for around $175 on eBay.

The 2821 is 2RU, has two fixed Gigabit Ethernet slots and four interface card slots, all of which support HWIC, WIC, VIC, and VWIC cards, one slot that supports NM, NME and NME-X cards and one Extended Voice (EVM) slot. It supports IOS 15, has three internal DSP (PVDM) and two internal encryption (AIM) slots and goes for around $120 on eBay (a steal). For those looking to get into voice networking, this should be one of the main options reviewed because the support for the EVM opens up a number of additional options for expanded voice labs.

The 2851 is 2RU, has two fixed Gigabit Ethernet slows and four interface card slots, all of which support HWIC, WIV, VIC, and VWIC cards, one slot that supports NM, NME, NME-X, NMD, and NME-XD cards and one Extended Voice (EVM) slot. It does support IOS 15, has three internal DSP (PVDM) and two internal encryption (AIM) slots and goes for around $165 on eBay.

Modules

There are a number of modules that can be inserted into these devices, but way too many to cover now. However, there are a couple of interfaces that can be used that are staples within a lab environment. The major module card used in almost all labs is a serial module; this is because it can be used to connect multiple devices with reasonably cheap cabling.

The two cards that are probably the most popular (or will be) are the WIC-2T and the HWIC-2T; the WIC-2T is the older version of the module but they both offer 2 serial interfaces (smart serial connection); the main difference is price and support, the WIC-2T is $20-25 on eBay, the HWIC-2T is $175.

The WIC-2T will work in all the devices discussed in this article, while the HWIC-2T is supported in all except the 2600xm’s. On top of it, the WIC-2T is NOT supported in the newer 1900, 2900 and 3900 series (ISR G2) of devices, but the HWIC-2T is. Since these newest models from Cisco are probably outside the affordable range of a typical self-study lab, this really is not an issue and the price difference is significant.

Note: One thing that needs to not be overlooked is that some of the older equipment (including the frame relay routers .that were discussed earlier), use a DB60 connector on their serial interfaces, while the newer serial interfaces (including the WIC-2T and the HWIC-2T) use Cisco’s smart serial connector. There are several different sellers that can be found that sell these cables, so make sure that when using cables to connect from one router directly to another router that a serial crossover cable is used (this is shown when the cable has a DTE end and a DCE end). For my lab I use cables from Diablo Cable which are offered at an affordable price from Amazon.

Console

Finally we have console routers. Technically this is not required because it is possible to physically move the console cable from device to device.
The problem is that it’s a pain, and not all that efficient; a console device can be used to plug into every device in the lab and a student can console into every device through a common Telnet or SSH session.

The two mainstays of the Cisco console router community have been the 2509 and the 2511 routers. Both have long been End-of-Life and Support, but they don’t need an updated IOS version as all they are used for is console access (basic routing and serial capabilities). The 2509 (8 ports) is going for around $150 on eBay and the 2511 (16 ports) is going for around $200. Regardless of which one you use, they both have the CAB-OCTAL-ASYNC (8 port) cable, which can be found from various places (including eBay, Amazon and Monoprice) for around $20.

However, there are some newer options which are becoming more cost efficient compared to these old guys.

There are two cards that seem to fit the requirements well, however they both are modules and need a host device; these modules include the HWIC-8A and the HWIC-16A. Oddly enough, as of this writing, the HWIC-16A (16 ports) is cheaper at $150 on eBay and the HWIC-8A (8 ports) is $200 on eBay. The major difference (other than the obvious port count) is that the HWIC-8A can be used in 1841 and 1941 routers, while the HWIC-16A requires at least a 2800 series device. Both the HWIC-8A and HWIC-16A use the CAB-HD8-ASYNC cable which can be found at a couple of locations as well (although not as many as the CAB-OCTAL-ASYNC cable), for around $40.

Looking at a lot of options

There are certainly many of options available out there, especially when looking for the right routers to select. We’ve highlighted some of the most used options as well as the options that make the most sense at current market prices. Hopefully this will help those looking around and enable them to make a better decision and/or push them in the right direction.

Now that you’re working with a home lab, it’s time for some Cisco CCNP routing practice. Sign up for a free 3-day trial to get access to TrainSignal’s entire training library.

“You realize how crazy it is that with the world being rich enough to afford all sorts of frivolous things, those basic things still aren’t being provided,” Gates said about the kind of work the Foundation is doing to help, as he calls it, the world’s “bottom 2 billion” who live on less than $2 per day.

One of the more touching parts of the segment came when interviewer Charlie Rose asked Gates about Steve Jobs. Gates got choked up as he reflected on some of their last  conversations.

“He and I in a sense grew up together,” said Gates. “We were kind of naively optimistic and built big companies and achieved all of it, most of it as rivals but we always maintained a certain respect, communication, including even when he was sick.”

The episode didn’t air other thoughts from Gates on his rivalry-meets-friendship with Jobs, but it was captured as part of the “Over Time” segment below. Among the highlights:

On tablets…

“We [Microsoft] did tablets, lots of tablets, well before Apple did. But they put the pieces together in a way that succeeded.”?

On which of Jobs’ traits he wishes he had…

“His sense of design. That everything had to fit a certain aesthetic. The fact that he, with as little engineering background as he had, it shows that design can lead you in a good direction, and some phenomenal products came out of it.  He knew about brand, in a very positive sense. He had an intuitive sense for marketing that was amazing.”

You can watch the full interview here.

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If you’re in IT, wouldn’t it be nice if a talent agency was backing up your career?

Well, that could be a reality now, thanks to 10XManagement.

10XManagement is a talent agency for coders, programmers and information technology professionals.

The premise behind 10XManagement is simple: It only represents the best programmers and IT professionals around. As a result, it is building a reputation for being the go-to company when a company needs someone with top-notch technology skills.

Who is behind 10XManagement?

10XManagement is the brainchild of a freelance web development professional and two talent managers.

Altay Guvench is an expert JavaScript and Ruby on Rails programmer.  After graduating from Harvard University, Guvench became an alumnus at Y Combinator, which is a known startup accelerator.  In between crunching codes, Guvench also plays in a band.

Guvench had a bandmate who was friends with the founders of Brick Wall Management, Michael Solomon and Rishon Blumberg.  Solomon and Blumberg’s company was responsible for jump-starting the careers of John Mayer and Vanessa Carlton, among others.

This is how the tech talent agency was born.

Why should you take note of 10xManagement?

1. Save lots of time

A programmer no longer has to spend time scouring job ads just to land a work-at-home or freelance gig.  They can focus on what they do best and just earn money.

Companies will basically be gaining access to a talent bank, so they can find the perfect individual for their technical needs in no time.

10XManagement takes care of all contract negotiations from deal structuring to payments to terms. This frees both parties from haggling and hassling each other even before the work has started.

2. Credible and trustworthy

A recurring problem for companies looking for freelancers is the fact that any person could easily lie about his or her qualifications just to snatch the job.  Companies can end up hiring the wrong person and paying more because of mistakes they made. In addition, it wastes a lot of time.

On the flip side, freelancers have to worry if the work is stable and if they’ll get paid in a reasonable time frame.

With 10XManagement, both parties can gain a certain degree of credibility and trust.

3. The future of hiring in IT?

There are a lot of job marketplaces for IT nowadays.  But, it is inherently a “buyer-beware” market.  10XManagement is more than just a temp staffing company that tries to plug holes when a programmer quits.  The talent who works with the company is assured a steady stream of work.

For companies, 10XManagement takes the guesswork and the waiting out of the entire process of hiring. Take a look at 10XManagement’s list of clients:

• Google
• Mozilla
• The White House
• Microsoft
• Apple
• Warner Bros.
• The World Bank
• CitiBank
• Intel
• Academia.edu
• Harvard University
• Stanford University
• Funders Club

10X Management works with companies of any size and budget.  Freelance technology professionals can get the chance to work with some of the best companies around. How much better could that get?

Here’s a Q&A we did with Solomon to give you more insight.

TrainSignal: What kind of IT workers do you represent?
Michael Solomon: Very high-level freelance technology professionals. That includes all flavors of developers, project managers, designers, data science, data visualization and hardware specialists.

TS: What feedback have you received from your talent and/or clients?
MS: So far, everything is working exactly as we hoped and is even exceeding our expectations. We have now had tremendous feedback from our talent who really enjoy and value our services. We have a backlog of many hundreds in the tech talent community who would like to have us represent them. We are now moving away from proof of concept and into scaling, which is challenging as we view this company as a personal services business. We can create many efficiencies with technology but ultimately, we can only scale as quickly as we can maintain this level of service.

On the customer side, we are seeing repeat customers who come back asking no questions about who we will send them as they have grown to know, our people deliver. They are trusting that if it is a 10xer, they will be happy. That was our ultimate goal. We have a way to go before the public at large thinks of us in those terms, but that is exactly where we want to go. We have also started to get calls and emails from Fortune 500 companies who see the value in our clients.

Finally, we are beginning to see the VC world pointing their companies toward us since the biggest waste of their money is having portfolio companies burning through their investment, while spending months trying to find the right in house team. Sure, our people cost more per hour than having an in-house person, but not when you factor in the opportunity cost of a whole company sitting around for months before they get to an MVP.

TS: Is this Hollywood-type hiring the answer to employing a qualified tech professional?
MS: Having come out of the music business and co-founding 10x, I believe it is and we are already seeing why it works.

TS: Can this be the future of the tech workforce?
MS: It can and it will be. The supply and demand equation for talented people is not pretty, and their value will continue to rise as the shortage grows. Even if immigration laws change and more people are imported from other parts of the world, there is still going to be an overall shortage, and of course there is always going to be scarcity for the best of the best.

TS: How are you making money out of your business?
MS: Our clients pay us a percentage of their contracting income.

TS: Do you get a percentage of your hourly rate or are companies paying you a flat fee to recruit for them? Or both?
MS: The companies who hire our contractors don’t pay us anything. We are paid exclusively by our clients. The deals can be either flat fee or hourly depending on the needs of the customer.

TS: In your opinion, how profitable is this type of business?
MS: We are committed to this for the long haul so we believe in it. The value proposition works for all parties involved.

Our clients get great jobs that meet their lifestyle and financial goals. Our customers get access to fantastic talent much faster than they can find it anywhere else. We get the satisfaction of providing great service to both those masters and making money while doing it.

TS: Do you think Silicon Valley is ready for this type of hiring?
MS: Absolutely. The hiring model is broken and we can really help move this in the right direction.

TS: From the many tech professionals you’re managing now, what tech skill-set is the most in-demand?
MS: Ruby, Python, iOS and Android.

TS: What is the most in-demand profession (computer programmer, web developer, web designer, data analyst, technical writer, etc)?
MS: Developers are in the highest demand.

TS: What is the difference between 10xmanagement and a temp agency or a headhunting service?
MS: We are dealing with the highest level talent and we are paid by them, which makes us closer to CAA than GoodTemps.

Website: http://www.10xmanagement.com

Email: info@10xmanagement.com

Phone: (212) 501-0748

Twitter: @10xmgmt

10x has offices in New York and San Francisco.

Cover photo courtesy of photographerglen.

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1. Even though she owns a smartphone, she calls and asks you for answers that are easily Googleable, like “Can you tell me when that new ‘Steel Man’ movie is playing?” (she means “Iron Man”) or “Will you look up the phone number for the cleaners for me?” She clearly doesn’t realize she’s calling you on the very device that could solve these mysteries for her.

2. This is how she Googles things:

3. If your email account gets hacked, she immediately clicks on the link in the email and then calls you to ask why you’re sending her to a penis enlargement site.

4. Auto correct is not her friend. And she signs her text messages.

5. Despite owning a smartphone with a built-in GPS, she still prints out directions. From Mapquest.

6. Trying to “fix” her computer over the phone goes something like this:

via blameitonthevoices.com

7. Her password for everything is [insertyournamehere]‘smom.

8. She saves literally everything to her desktop.

via auslogics.com

9. She spams your Facebook wall with trivial questions/comments like, “Did you borrow our pizza cutter?” and “I bought your dad these new wick-dry socks and he loves them.”

10. She refers to the Internet as “getting it off of online” or “The Internets”:

(Warning to dads, Father’s Day isn’t too far off.)

What are some of the funny ways your mom interacts with technology? Tell us in the comments below or @TrainSignal!

The industry as a whole faces a challenge in undoing much of what cloud computing has come to represent because of so many acronyms used incorrectly (IaaS, PaaS and SaaS), confusion over what a “hybrid” really is, and concerns over where and how all the data gets managed with cloud computing. Depending on whether you’re talking to a marketing department, IT or the consumer, the cloud can mean confusion as often as it means effective, creative solutions.

These are some of the worst uses of “the cloud” out there, and they really are just ridiculous.

Worst cloud computing stock art

Imagery trying to describe the cloud is usually the most perplexing, and often fails to make any sense of the technology.

The almighty cloud

The cloud makes you epic

Attack of the cloud

Sumo cloud

How the sales team sees the cloud

Put your business in the cloud with wireframes

Money cloud rains cash flow

Cloud genies oversee the infrastructure

The cloud makes the sales team feel like Tony Stark

How the sales team explains the cloud to customers

All you need to do is connect to the cloud...

...and then sync it.

Doughboy cloud hee hee!

Worst marketing of a cloud service

A recent study funded by Citrix surveyed 1,000 Americans, and concluded that most people are terribly confused by cloud computing given that “51 percent of respondents, including a majority of Millennials, believe stormy weather can interfere with cloud computing.”

I think some of this could be due to cavalier marketing by companies trying to earn new business with services that sound trendy. Microsoft at times is the biggest culprit, while some IT authorities like Oracle’s Larry Ellison don’t hesitate in pointing out problems caused by the term.

Don’t forget when Windows 7 first took us “to the cloud”

Oracle’s Larry Ellison: “Are we in the cloud? Are we dead?”

In this video Larry Ellison, Oracle co-founder and CEO, talks about how cloud computing is nothing new at all, and pokes fun at how large corporations are touting the concept of cloud computing despite the ambiguity the term carries. He jokes that the cloud appeared one day when someone ran a Find & Replace command in Word to swap “Internet” for “cloud,” and then emailed it to a bunch of VCs.

In the funnies

A lot of heated conversations about cloud computing can digress, where people unfamiliar with the subject get confused about what “cloud” really means for IT infrastructure best practices. Good thing we have sarcasm, right?

(Source: Agent-X Comics)

(Source: Dilbert)

So, the customer wins? (Source: athenahealth.com)

Correcting use within the IT community

If you need to get your facts straight, go to your trusted sources for IT knowledge. A nice thread on Everything Sysadmin points out that using the cloud term is fine, as long as we differentiate between what we’re marketing, and when we’re speaking to specific processes. Try this rule of thumb to remember:

• Software as a Service (SaaS): It’s a website
• Platform as a Service (PaaS): It’s a framework
• Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): It’s a VM

Some other cloudy business that has emerged from this whole conversation is called “fog computing,” and I hope that it disappears soon. If everyone is already confused, then the “fog” will really send the industry adrift. The Pepper on SpiceWorks has the inside scoop, and has found that “everyone knows there’s less transparency in the fog, and that’s a good thing in terms of protecting data” (warning: sarcastic post ahead).

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For a hardcore Chicago Bears fan, what’s the worst way to spend your birthday? Sitting in what looks like a float from the Green Bay Packers Super Bowl championship parade.

Ball pits at places like Chuck E. Cheese’s are no place for sophisticated professionals, but we think a ball-pit cubicle has the chance to take off.

What’s the best part about getting presents? Unwrapping them! Get the same joy from unwrapping your monitor, keyboard and other key items needed for a productive work day.

Have you ever heard of Bronies? Grown men who are mega fans of the My Little Pony franchise? Well, this coworker is not one of them.

We’re equal opportunists here. Not even TrainSignal founder and CEO Scott Skinger can escape our birthday wrath. Last year, we filled his car full of balloons and decorated the outside. This year, we tried to make the most embarrassing GIF possible.

How does your office celebrate birthdays? Tell us in the comments section below!

CompTIA Executive Certificate programs

The initial programs that are being offered by CompTIA focus around three very popular and growing industries: cloud computing, mobility and information technology (IT) security. Keep in mind that these programs are focused on those who work in channel roles (sales) and have a balance of technical and useful sales information.

Cloud Computing

While it seems a bit odd, the cloud computing program that is currently available completely via e-Learning is the Executive Certificate in Cloud (Intermediate); whereas the foundations version (Executive Certificate in Cloud (Foundations)) of the certificate is not yet available via e-Learning. The three courses that make up the certificate program include:

• Building Cloud Solution Success
• Developing Cloud Playbooks
• Transforming Your Business

Once these courses have been completed, the student must complete a Capstone session to finish the program. This Capstone program can be completed either via live webinar or face-to-face during a CompTIA or CompTIA member event.

Mobility

The mobility program that is offered is called the Executive Certificate in Mobility (Foundations). The three courses that make up the certificate program include:

• The Mobility Market
• Developing Mobile Management Solutions for Customers
• Building Mobile Application Solutions for Customers

Once these courses have been completed, the student must complete a Capstone session to finish the program. This Capstone program can be completed either via live webinar or face-to-face during a CompTIA or CompTIA member event.

IT Security

The IT Security program that is offered is called the Executive Certificate in IT Security (Foundations). The three courses that make up the certificate program include:

• Transforming Your Business Through IT Security
• Assessing and Managing Risk
• Solution Selling Strategies

Once these courses have been completed, the student must complete a Capstone session to finish the program. This Capstone program can be completed either via live webinar or face-to-face during a CompTIA or CompTIA member event.

Are the CompTIA Executive Certificate programs useful?

There are a number of different vendor-specific certifications that exist.  The advantage of these programs is that they give specific skills to the channel employee to sell that specific vendor’s products and services, or other products and services that are based on that vendor’s technologies. The disadvantage is that the knowledge it typically very specific, and while very useful for that vendor, it may not translate all that well if another vendor becomes available with a competitive product.

This is where CompTIA comes in with a very successful list of vendor-neutral technical certifications; it is able to build on the idea of vendor-neutral training and certification. While it does not get around the need for some vendor-specific training, it does give a channel employee a way to get up-to-speed about the direction and possibilities of specific markets without going too deeply into the vendor-specific available technologies. This type of training can be very useful, just like the A+ certification is very useful for those getting started in the computer business.

–

One thing to note about these certificate programs is that they require CompTIA membership (~$250 per year) to access the resources. This has a number of other advantages as well, and if so inclined, take a look at its site where it details all of the potential benefits.

The problem that has existed up to this point is that the majority of CompTIA’s available programs require physically going to a class (typically at group meetings). While this is helpful for those with the budgets and the time to go to these meetings, it does not help those who are limited in their resources, which in the slowly recovering market, is quite a few. Providing these courses via its e-Learning platform is certainly a good idea and will give a number of partners the ability to gain this knowledge without having to spend a good amount of money on travel. While the offerings currently are rather minimal, it is a start and hopefully CompTIA will see the success of the programs and provide e-Learning options for a number of their other programs.

Want to learn more about CompTIA? See our library of CompTIA training and sign up for a 3-day free trial to access all of our courses.

Rick and Joey spoke about how IT used to be looked at as an expense companies had to sink money into, whereas today it’s looked at as an investment and a critical part of business. And because of that, it’s becoming more and more important that IT pros are able to speak in terms that appeal to the business side of organizations and show the real value of IT.

The Forrester report explains that 92 percent of non-IT execs have spent their own budgets on hardware, software or IT services, and it’s because they view these decisions as so important that they want more control over them. Forrester analyst John McCarthy puts it like this: “CIOs now have to pivot and act more as a consultant to the business. The days of a centralized controlled IT world are over.”

For IT pros, this new reality could mean a shift in the education they pursue.

If you’ve already got an IT-related degree and maybe a few years of work at a help desk under your belt, where do you go from there to advance in your career? Joey says you should get your MBA, for all of the reasons stated previously. “IT has to start to innovate,” says Joey. “Start innovating and helping the business. So, also if you can take some business courses and bring in some of that business acumen to do that translation…that’s probably one of the key pieces of advice I’d give to anybody getting into this industry.”

How popular is this opinion in the IT world? According to a fall 2012 survey from tech career site Dice, 32 percent of respondents thought earning an MBA was important to the future of their tech careers, compared to 52 percent who said it was unnecessary. Only 1 in 5 anticipated pursuing an MBA in the future. Still, I wonder if opinions will shift as business cred and tech skills become equally important for mid- and upper-level IT roles.

What’s your take? Do you think it’s wise for IT pros to pursue an MBA? Tell us in the comments section below!

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When I implement ITIL® processes in organizations, I start with a basic ITIL® training and one of the first ground rules is that people who are working in an ITIL® compliant organization must use ITIL® language only, and unlearn the equivalent jargon. For example, if my laptop is not working, it is commonly referred to as, “I have a problem with my laptop.” But this phrase doesn’t work in ITIL® because “problem” means something far greater than a laptop’s condition, and so it uses another term: “incident.”

Service

IT service is the foundation upon which the entire ITIL® framework is built. However, I have often heard people refer to a service in the wrong context.

A service is something of value that the customer enjoys. It is defined from the customer’s standpoint and not from the organization that is providing it. The customer avails services such as the Internet service, email or cell phone service. The IT organization must refer to Internet, email and cell phones together as a service, rather than referring to the individual elements.

To run a cell phone service, the IT organization needs network services, tower services, server services and other application services. All of these enabling services cannot be referred to as IT services, but rather various elements that make the up the service that the customer enjoys.

For example, TrainSignal provides video training service to IT pros worldwide. So, the staff will refer to the services they offer as video training, instead of the application service that enables students to log in to the video training portal and the server service that hosts the application.

Incident

An incident refers to a disruption to an existing service. To quote the example of the cell phone service, if you are unable to make calls from your cell phone, the service is not working as it should. There is a breakdown of service. The disruption to a service  that the customer is entitled to use is called as an “incident.”

As I mentioned earlier, IT staff refer to an incident by various names, like issue and problem. Since these terms have different definitions, it is imperative that the IT staff be trained to inculcate ITIL® language as their own.

Service request

Mixing one term with another interchangeably is another challenge. Many IT organizations do not differentiate between incidents and service requests, and they treat the two as one and the same. However, there is a herculean difference between the two. I will explain the difference and also justify why it is necessary to not mix these two terms.

An incident is a disruption to an existing service, and a service request is an add-on to the existing service. Examples could be an access request to an application, request to get a new laptop, and creation of a folder on a shared drive. Incidents are generally attached with stringent timelines for resolution (say four hours for a critical priority incident).

Service requests, on the other hand, are not-so-stringent, as there is no breakage of service. If incidents and service requests are conjoined, the IT staff is required to resolve service requests within stringent timelines. To do this, head count must increase to resolve service requests at an incident target timeline, and I’ll go into SLAs later in this article. And more importantly, if an incident and a service request arrive at the same time, it’s possible that the technician resolves the service request ahead of the incident, which is not ideal.

Incidents must be prioritized over service requests as incidents mean downtime to service.

Problem

A problem in ITIL® indicates something of far greater impact over an incident. A problem arises when the root cause of an incident is unknown, which translates to the incident being irresolvable. Also, if similar incidents repeat over a period of time, it is referred to as a problem as well.

Service level agreement (SLA) and operation level agreement (OLA)

A service-level agreement (SLA) is an agreement signed between the customer and the IT organization, to guarantee the level of services offered. operation-level agreement (OLA) is signed between internal teams within the IT organization to ensure that the targets agreed upon in the SLA are met. Customer does not see the OLA and it is internal to the organization.

For instance, if the SLA to deliver a service (say create a mailbox) is two business days, and to deliver the service, it takes three different teams within the IT organization to work sequentially, an OLA is created between the three teams to ensure that the SLA of two business days is achieved.

Utility and warranty

Any service that is developed has two pillars, without which the service has no meaning: utility and warranty. Utility is also referred to as “fit for purpose” and warranty as “fit for use.”

Utility is the aspect of a service which ensures that the developed service does what it is supposed to do. Warranty ensures that the service is usable and conforms to the requirements of the customer.

Let me illustrate this with an example. With a cell phone service, a customer has the ability to make and receive calls. This is what the customer wanted to do (utility) when he subscribed to the service. To be able to use the service (warranty), the cell phone service must be available when he needs to use it, there must be sufficient capacity to place the call, the service obtained must be continuous without disruptions, and it must be secure.

Critical success factor (CSF)

Critical success factor (CSF) is the element of a service that needs to function absolutely as intended, in order to deem the service a success.

If you are offering a cell phone service, then the service must operate the way it was designed. For example, if a customer is placing a call to a certain number, the call must land at the intended number and not elsewhere. Placing this call at the right destination is one of the critical success factors for a cell phone service.

Let me illustrate CSFs further with a non-IT example. If I am driving my car, and turn the steering wheel towards the left side, I want the wheels to turn left as well and not right or remain straight. The alignment between the steering wheel and the wheels of my car is the critical success factor to my driving.

Key performance indicator (KPI)

Key performance indicators (KPI) show whether the service is succeeding or failing. As the name indicates, a KPI measures the performance of a service. When a service is designed, the designers also come up with KPIs that will be used during the operations to determine how the service is faring. If it is not performing the way it is expected to fare, then improvements must be made in order to bring the performance of the service on track.

In the cell phone service, one of the KPIs could be “percent decrease in call drop rate.” This KPI relates to the number of active calls that get dropped. For the cell phone service to succeed, it is important that call drops be minimized. So, the identified KPI indicates what signals to watch for to ensure the success of a service. In this example, the call drop rate must decrease over a period of time. While designing the service, the designer must make provisions for recording the call drops, and calculating the call drop rate.

A service could have a number of KPIs. It is prudent to have a few strong KPIs that will indicate the success of a service. It is my experience that some service designers identify a number of KPIs without thinking about whether they can be measured or if they are giving the true pulse of the service. Having a number of irrelevant KPIs increases the cost of running a service and eats away a lot of the management time. It can also disorient the service improvement cycle.

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No matter where you work, there seems to be a recurring pattern of the types of people who will either make or break your day. To be successful in any career, you need to learn to work with others. If you’re in IT, here are 10 of the personalities you’re up against.

1. The go-getter – These are the people who can do almost anything you throw at them, which means they’re often the go-to person around the office. They have the ability to learn on the fly and shift gears as needed. From my personal experience, the go-getter is a people person who can relate well to others. People tend to gravitate to these individuals, making them natural leaders.
2. The pre-retiree – This person is close to retirement (or they’re not, but they’ve completely lost interest in their current job anyway) and is just coasting until the end. They only do what is required to make it through the day. Beware of giving critical, time-sensitive projects to this person.
3. The class clown – This is the person guaranteed to make you smile at least once in your day.  Working in a sea of cubicles is bad enough, so seek out the class clownfor a much-needed laugh.
4. The clueless – Yep, we’ve all met one. You wonder how this person even managed to get to work, let alone actually do the core job responsibilities. They are usually one step behind everybody and may not even realize it. Often this person is disorganized, may require hand-holding to complete projects, and could possibly lack initiative.
5. The whiner –It seems as if this person will complain about anything. It’s almost as if they are just naturally unhappy in life no matter what you try to do or say to convince them otherwise. Watch out for this person because too much negativity can rub off. I would advise to approach with caution.
6. The aspiring tech – The aspiring tech can be an advocate or an enemy of IT. This is the person who dabbles in tech outside of work (they own a bunch of gadgets, maybe even have their own website), so they feel they can also dabble in tech at work. They’re the people who end up installing something on their company laptop, only to have it blow up and require assistance from IT to resolve the issue.
7. The oracle –No matter where you go, every company has that one person who seems to know everything about everything. They are the trusted person who you seek for advice and guidance. These individuals are perceptive and often see things differently than us, challenging us to think outside of the box. The oracle is not one to mess with because 99.9 percent of the time, they are right.
8. The cowboy –You either love or hate this person depending on what they are doing. Cowboys are known to shoot from the hip and sometimes don’t consider what impact their actions will have on others. Cowboys can be good because they keep you moving and on your toes, but too much of them can be bad as well. I would advise to always keep cowboys at a close distance in case you need to lasso them back in.
9. The bulldog – Have a problem? Keep getting stuck on something? The bulldog is the person you send to get the job done. This person will cut through the red tape and break down any bureaucratic roadblocks.  How they differ from the go-getter is that they can be loud and boisterous. I often see the go-getter and the bulldog teaming up on projects, so one can remove obstacles while the other keeps progressing forward. The dynamics of these two can make a powerful a team!
10. The soldier – Finally, you have the loyal soldier. Soldiers are here to get the job done. They don’t cause trouble and usually shy away from any limelight. The soldiers are the core of the team, and without them, nothing would get done. They ensure day-to-day operations are running smoothly.

Throughout my career, I’ve met my share of characters on this list. Some have driven me crazy, and others I’ve loved working with. Working with such an interesting group of people is what makes life on the job more interesting, challenging and fun. Dealing with a mix of people is what IT is all about.

Who did I miss? Tell us in the comments section below!

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