This manageability and agility of LiveOffice also provides an unexpected bonus. Remember, the provide archiving to both on-premise and cloud environments. Let’s say you have a primary cloud-based e-mail hosting service, and are using LiveOffice to archive your e-mail. And as Amazon and a few others have experienced, you e-mail hosting services experiences a power outage. In most cases, that’s like being in a sail boat and suddenly and without warning finding yourself without a hint of wind anywhere — nothing can move, you’re dead in the water.

However, with LiveOffice, there’s a difference. If you are using LiveOffice, they keep all your e-mail configurations updated in their system in order to properly archive the messages and attachments — they do this whether you have elected an on-premise or cloud archive system. This means when your primary e-mail provider has lost power, LiveOffice can be your backup. Your company is still able to continue messaging and sending attachments until the primary provider has regained their power (LiveOffice can do this from the archive). Once your e-mail provider is back online, the emails between the last archive and the time of the power outage are moved to the archive — or can be made available for a while longer.

This places a whole new perspective on cloud systems. If the architecture is properly constructed, then archiving systems (or even backup systems) can become a parallel auxiliary system. That being the case, then the logistics that everyone will need to consider when hiring a cloud-based archive provider (that has a on-premise option as well), would be the same as any real estate – location, location, location. This would truly revolutionize the cloud systems into a more stable and trusted system when a power outage is experienced.

What are your thoughts? What do you see as a benefit of similar cloud services such as LiveOffice? What are other cloud services might be able to emulate the possibilities that LiveOffice provides? Let us know!

image credits Joerg Habermeier/fotolia and raven/fotolia

This is the 2nd of 3 articles focused on the development of cloud security since 2008. The first article — “What Have We Learned About Cloud Security So Far?” — focused on what we knew about cloud security in 2008. The Cloud is taking off, question is — how is security keeping pace with everything in the Cloud?

In this second installment, we are going to focus specifically on the statements provided by Garter in 2012, 3-1/2 years since the first overview of cloud security. Though the experienced Cloud professional may see where the first installment might be leading to them to what will be discussed here — I suggest you make your notes and then let’s compare them. Cloud is still a start-up industry, and everyone’s input is needed to mold what the Cloud of tomorrow will look like.

The next (and final) installment on this series will make some comparisons and see you or I can detect if anything else needs to be considered.

Returning to their predictions for 2012, Gartner made the following observations…

By 2015…

• low-cost cloud services will cannibalize up to 15% of top outsourcing players’ revenue
• 35% of enterprise IT expenditures for most organizations will be managed outside the IT department’s budget

By 2016…

• 50% or more of enterprise email users will rely primarily on a browser, tablet or mobile client instead of a desktop client
• 40% of enterprises will make proof of independent security testing a precondition for using any type of cloud service

At year-end 2016? 50% or more of Global 1000 companies will have stored customer-sensitive data in the public cloud.

What caught my attention was the precondition of independent security testing proof. Not that something like this is needed, but 40%? From the last article, we saw how nervous Gartner (and most everyone else for that matter) was about maintaining security in the cloud systems. Don’t know about you, but I am feeling this number is really low or there is something they haven’t shared… yet.

Given the complications of international law, sovereignties – in times of economic turmoil – are going to protect themselves first, others within that sovereignty will have to fend for themselves. Basically, if you are a company in the USA that has data stored in Europe — especially the countries in an economic Greece, Spain, Ireland, England, Portugal, Italy – and you have not performed your due diligence with the security of your data and of their system.

Given the complexities of international and individual sovereignty laws, there is definitely a market for lawyers, compliance officers, technicians, even at the administration level. Looking back, it appears security has risen from the individual level to the international level. We have already seen how volatile having a common currency is within a continent of several or more sovereignties, how will this play out with data and system securities involving the same players?

What are your thoughts about this? Will we be needing a better business process for security? Or do you feel this Achilles heel talk is all smoke?

Of all the findings Gartner shared, this one seemed to be the most concerning. But why only 40% — shouldn’t this be near 100%? Is your company making proof of an independent security testing before using any type of cloud service? Or do you feel this is not necessary? Do you have other thoughts to add? Let us know!

Related Articles…

What Have We Learned About Cloud Security So Far?

with credit to Cloud Commons | George Hulme, Cloud Evangelist

Are you detecting common denominator here? When there is a problem, the number of people being affected are in the MILLIONS. This is definitely something to be concerned about – and is already being addressed by many large Cloud enterprises. We will have to revisit this next year to see if any fail-safe has been implemented to minimize the damage and reduce the risks of using the cloud for the masses.

ScienceLogic(TM) Inc. has made a few commitments with their predictions in their blog post titled: “IT predictions for 2012 not involving the Mayan Calendar“…

There will be a cut-throat competition for consumer and enterprise cloud environments…

Commoditization of cloud services means that cloud providers will have to compete on more than price and economies of scale. It will be critical for service providers of all kinds to identify niche markets where they can deliver new services. Just as the mainframe had to be modified to accommodate certain industry and market demands, so will cloud services. Security concerns will be paramount for any financial, medical, and personal information services.

Interoperability…

This year, innovation will provide more open architectures that will win over the closed technologies. The cloud era is a technology that can encompass many aspects simultaneously, rather than a series of individual technologies that are too rigid to compete effectively on a wave of technologies that change on many levels simultaneously. Although there will continue to be multiple standards for APIs, there will be far fewer new API’s, and increasing simplicity to the ability to write into all those API’s.

One or more major cloud environments will be hit with a massive security attack…

This is a given for any tempting targets, which the cloud is – it’s the new toy on the block. As with anything that happens in this situation, after a major security attack cloud service providers will be smarter and wiser, having gained improved best practices for cloud security and cloud disaster recovery. Customers will also be affected and will recognize that they need to take responsibility for their own security and disaster recovery in the cloud.

Acquisitions will be about filling out portfolios, less on customer footprint…

Acquisition strategies will focus less on gaining customer footprint and more on what technologies are needed to fill out the portfolios of telcos, social media firms, large systems integrations and managed service providers to help them compete.

Better visibility and management in the cloud…

Now that cloud providers have started to bring their cloud platforms to market, managing the dynamism and fluidity of those environments will be a major concern in 2012. The increased competition will force many hands to be placed on the table early. This will probably result in the cloud companies will searching for the answers to all the situations their salesmen told their new clients, “We can do it!”

The price of cloud computing will go up — so will the demand

IT budget cuts will continue to be a major driver for cloud computing, where organizations can break down costs into smaller increments. All the security issues, energy issues, compliance issues that are not in place now and will need to be implemented are going to add a cost to the service.

Operational business intelligence will yield benefits…

The IT infrastructure has a wealth of data waiting to be mined about the most efficient way to use human and capital resources, when to upgrade (or if to downgrade) IT infrastructure, future spending and ability to increase business productivity. Organizations that effectively harness this data to make informed business decisions will move ahead of their competition. This will also lead to new markets to keep the data clean, probably resulting in an increase of entrepreneurs that will form companies that will provide real-time analytics, data scrubbing, and reporting.

Data Centers will face increased regulatory scrutiny…

As all data centers within our country consume 3-5% of all U.S. power usage, the federal and state governments will not be able to afford to ignore the impact that cloud computing and virtualization will have on their energy policy. This will definitely entertain the thought of making requirements for “Green IT.” Of course, as more countries regulate, and misregulate computing, there will be a demand for international hosters and service providers. Already Brazil and many countries in the southern part of Africa are considering such hosting and provisions. How China will try to keep itself isolated from the cloud remains to be seen…

According to Dave Link the CEO for ScienceLogic, “There is increasing pressure on IT professionals to think creatively about the services they offer, including how to support a wide variety of infrastructure components and applications across distributed computing environments as well as use their limited resources most effectively and efficiently. In the midst of all this complexity and change, visibility and control will be of paramount importance in 2012, with centralized views into performance across physical, virtual and cloud-based resources a necessity for effectively delivering business services.”

What is your experience with cloud? If you are working on some of the topics discussed here, what can you share with us? If you are a user of the cloud, what are your concerns?

Thanks goes to ScienceLogic for their contribution to this article.

No matter how fast anything changes there are some constants that must be taken into account. As cloud computing gets its name from the fact that everything you do seems to be available anywhere, then where is your data really located? How is it being stored? Who is responsible for its security? Laws are usually based upon entities and/or sovereignties and it creates boundaries in which the protection of the law is supposed to be applied. Given the nature of cloud computing then, a key question about cloud computing remains unresolved in the law books as well the courts. Questions as to which law applies to your organization’s data in the cloud are basically simple: The law as applied to where you are located? The law as applied to where your data is located? Or the law where the data subject is located? The answers, however, are not simple. Especially if you have cloud services in other countries, international consensus on this issue has not yet been tested.

As most contracts provide which laws under which any disputes could be resolved, and the location of the court where such disputes could be heard, it’s essential for a cloud-computing contract to identify the geographic region within which the data centers hosting your data, and potentially the headquarters of the cloud provider, may be located, and to address the cloud provider’s obligations to keep your data in those regions. Otherwise, the overlaps and potential conflicts between the possible governing laws could make legal and data access compliance impossible.

As risk management focuses on retaining some measure of control, your contract with the cloud provider should require the cloud provider to notify you regarding its receipt of any 3rd party request to access your data. Be sure to specify the time frame within which such notice should be provided. And make it paramount that in ALL cases notice should be given ahead of granting access to any of your organization’s data. Also, make your cloud provider to make an obligation to limit the disclosure of your data to the extent legally possible, and to cooperate with your efforts to appropriately manage the release of any data.

Most of this can be performed proactively by a due diligence investigations of the cloud provider’s standard practices and procedures. These will reveal that it has a policy in place that meets your data access requirements, and you should codify this in the contract, and include a copy of that policy as an attachment.

Credit is due to Thomas Trappler for sharing much of this information. Thomas is the director of software licensing at the University of California, Los Angeles, and a nationally recognized expert, consultant and published author in cloud computing risk mitigation via contract negotiation and vendor. He offers several guides to cloud computing contracts.

A title like that will catch almost everyone’s attention.  Really?  The Resume is dead?

But there is a catch.  AH-HA! you are probably saying…  Please, read on…

Are you a kindle user? If so, for a limited time, this book is FREE. If you are kindle user, you are probably familiar with Amazon’s promotion — authors get to decide every 90 days or so if they want to offer their book for free (well-known as well as unknown authors). This boosts the ratings of the book and results in more sales…

If you are not a kindle user? Welllllll… You’re out of luck. This — and thousands more like it — are only published in the Kindle format. BUT — Amazon does have kindle apps for iPhone, Android, BlackBerry as well as a PC version of the Kindle. So — what are you waiting for? This book alone is worth checking out Kindle…

Here’s the description for this book… If you have already read Nelson’s book, share the discoveries you made? What has changed in your job hunt? How do you view it differently? Would love to hear from recruiters as well… Let us know!

If you haven’t read the book, is this something that looks like a definitely purchase? Be sure to let us know what you discover!

What Does Matt Epstein Know That We Don’t?

One summer day, Matt Epstein applied to 20 different companies on LinkedIn to find work. He waited.

And waited.

He never heard back a single response. Fear began to creep in. He couldn’t find a job because of one simple reason: He was blending in with the masses. Panic began to race through his mind. “Seriously, what the hell am I doing here?” He took a deep breath, stepped back and assessed the situation.

And then a stroke of genius hit him.

He was going to be bold. Inspiring. Outrageous. Awkward. Funny. Unbelievable.

It was in this moment Matt Epstein created the most viral and successful job campaign of our lives. By the time his campaign was finished, he had amassed these results:

• Received 80 interview offers from companies like Google, Salesforce.com, Microsoft, Amazon, Etsy and SigFig (among many more)
• Received over 400,000 unique visits and 720,000 page views for his site
• Received over 450,000 YouTube views
• Received 20,000 Facebook Likes, 4,800 Tweets and 4,100 Google +’s
• Received print, online and TV coverage across the world from TechCrunch, Gizmodo, to the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal

How is it that Matt was able to get publicity from just about every big name media outlet, generate a massive fan base and garner 80 interview offers from top-tier, innovative companies while so many of us have to beg for a single interview?

What does Matt Epstein know that we don’t?

In fact, what do all these people know that we don’t?

Hanna Phan sent the “Tweet heard ‘round the world” to the CEO of one of the hottest technology start-ups in the world and had 1,290 people share her story on Facebook, 1,854 retweets, 204 LinkedIn shares and multiple job offers from different companies.

Nagesh Palepu overcame being nearly deaf at a young age and went through an incredibly journey as his career started as a cashier at McDonald’s and continues today as the CEO of a highly successful company today.

Sarah Rossdale started working in a tiny ice cream stand and fought her way to her dream job at Disney, all while competing against her own roommate.

Nelson Wang went from Labor Foreman to a Partner Manager managing a multi-million dollar territory of business and built a LinkedIn brand so powerful that he had recruiters from Google, Apple, Verizon, PayPal, and HP reaching out to him.

And finally, Jerry, at the tender age of 20, overcame a life and death experience to build an incredibly successful career. His comeback story reminds us of the importance of enjoying the moment and having balance in our lives.

So what do they know that we don’t?

It’s simple really. They all acknowledged one fundamental fact:

The resume is dead.

Your job opportunities, however, are alive and well. If you learn the secrets on how to be an artist and to create with emotion.

This book will teach you how.

This step by step guide also includes:

• 500 of the top interview questions and answers created by Fortune 100 HR experts
• How to create your own website and blog from scratch in under 10 minutes
• The top 5 secrets on how to build a standout LinkedIn brand
• Additional tips on how to leverage new media tools like YouTube, SlideRocket, Twitter, Prezi and Facebook
• How to garner recommendations from CEOs, VPs, Managers and peers
• How to impress a CEO in less than 30 seconds

You don’t need another paper resume. You need the secrets to standing out.

That’s exactly what “The Resume is Dead” delivers.

Author’s Note: 10% of all proceeds will be given to charity…

Digital List Price: $4.99
Kindle Price: $0.00 includes free wireless delivery via Amazon Whispernet
You Save: $4.99 (100%)

See larger image The Resume is Dead (Kindle Edition) By (author) Nelson Wang Release date January 9, 2012.

In June 2008, analyst firm Gartner noted that Cloud computing was fraught with security risks and they highly suggested getting a security assessment from a neutral third-party before committing to a cloud vendor. The reason for this was Cloud computing had “unique attributes that require risk assessment in areas such as data integrity, recovery, and privacy, and an evaluation of legal issues in areas such as e-discovery, regulatory compliance, and auditing.” (1)

Examples of cloud computing, which Gartner defined as a type of computing in which “massively scalable IT-enabled capabilities are delivered ‘as a service’ to external customers using Internet technologies (1)” were Amazon’s EC2 service and Google’s Google App Engine.

To verify that service and control processes were functioning as intended, and that vendors could identify unanticipated vulnerabilities, Cloud customers needed to demand…

• transparency
• avoid vendors that refuse to provide detailed information on security programs
• verify qualifications of policy makers, architects, coders, and operators
• risk-control processes and technical mechanisms
• verify and control the level of testing

For 2008, Gartner provided these 7 specific security issues that customers should raise with vendors before selecting a cloud vendor (2)…

1. Privileged user access. Sensitive data processed outside the enterprise brings with it an inherent level of risk, because outsourced services bypass the “physical, logical and personnel controls” IT shops exert over in-house programs. Get as much information as you can about the people who manage your data. “Ask providers to supply specific information on the hiring and oversight of privileged administrators, and the controls over their access,” Gartner says.

2. Regulatory compliance. Customers are ultimately responsible for the security and integrity of their own data, even when it is held by a service provider. Traditional service providers are subjected to external audits and security certifications. Cloud computing providers who refuse to undergo this scrutiny are “signaling that customers can only use them for the most trivial functions,” according to Gartner.

3. Data location. When you use the cloud, you probably won’t know exactly where your data is hosted. In fact, you might not even know what country it will be stored in. Ask providers if they will commit to storing and processing data in specific jurisdictions, and whether they will make a contractual commitment to obey local privacy requirements on behalf of their customers, Gartner advises.

4. Data segregation. Data in the cloud is typically in a shared environment alongside data from other customers. Encryption is effective but isn’t a cure-all. “Find out what is done to segregate data at rest,” Gartner advises. The cloud provider should provide evidence that encryption schemes were designed and tested by experienced specialists. “Encryption accidents can make data totally unusable, and even normal encryption can complicate availability,” Gartner says.

5. Recovery. Even if you don’t know where your data is, a cloud provider should tell you what will happen to your data and service in case of a disaster. “Any offering that does not replicate the data and application infrastructure across multiple sites is vulnerable to a total failure,” Gartner says. Ask your provider if it has “the ability to do a complete restoration, and how long it will take.”

6. Investigative support. Investigating inappropriate or illegal activity may be impossible in cloud computing, Gartner warns. “Cloud services are especially difficult to investigate, because logging and data for multiple customers may be co-located and may also be spread across an ever-changing set of hosts and data centers. If you cannot get a contractual commitment to support specific forms of investigation, along with evidence that the vendor has already successfully supported such activities, then your only safe assumption is that investigation and discovery requests will be impossible.”

7. Long-term viability. Ideally, your cloud computing provider will never go broke or get acquired and swallowed up by a larger company. But you must be sure your data will remain available even after such an event. “Ask potential providers how you would get your data back and if it would be in a format that you could import into a replacement application,” Gartner says.

In part 2 of this installment, we will see what Gartner says today — and what has changed — for better, for worse, and what is new. In part 3 and final installment, We will also provide our own analysis. With all the installments, we invite your feedback.

From the Gartner article in 2008, what do you see as improved? needs more work? What opportunities do you see from their 7 points noted above? Please share with us, we would love to know!

with credit to…
(1) June 2008 Gartner, “Assessing the Security Risks of Cloud Computing.”
(2) Inforworld: Gartner: Seven Cloud computing Security Risks by Jon Brodkin | Network World
image credits to the hris world

As an example of our earlier posting of mindset and dataset front the TED video with Hans Rosling, let’s take social media… you may still think twitter, LinkedIn, facebook, and others are a fad? watch this 5 minute video and see if your mindset and your dataset are in synch….

Some colleges are already abandoning the email system for their incoming freshman in favor of social media… another fad? Well, let me ask you this… how fast can you stay up with change? how fast can you catchup if you fall behind??…

In preparation for my move in March, I have been picking up several online, freelancing jobs to pay the bills. Mostly as blogging, the others as SEO. Have been guest blogging in two blogs…

TI Especialistas Brasil

TI Especialistas Brasil is an IT blog in Brazil with almost 23,000 subscribers and readers… like this log, they are an extension of a group in LinkedIn called TI Especialistas. Currently this group has a sub-groups for 20 of the 26 states of Brazil. Augusto Vespermann owns and moderates both the groups and the blog since 2008. There is already a lot happening with the Brazilian IT industry, and they are aiming to be one of the top five global BPO’s. The HRIS World has been guest posting here for almost two years and looks forward to a long relationship with Augusto, it members as well as Brazil.

fileboard

If you are an iPad junkie, then you need to check out the free app this site has — and while your there, you may want to check out there blog. Fileboard is a 500 Startups company and was founded in October 2011 by Khuram Hussain, Waseem Sadiq, and Dinesh Duggal. They previously founded Inbox2, technology now in use by 60 million people. What is Inbox2? Think of email, facebook, LinkedIn, and twitter being centralized into one application — because that what it does! I use it myself and you have my warning — you may find yourself socializing more often!

Fileboard allows you to work faster on the iPad as you are one tap away from accessing all your files. Your attachments can be retained and saved in Dropbox and/or Evernote, where you can also attach your files. As most Apple users are aware, spinning is a way of life for an Apple user — with fileboard you can stop spinning!

Brazil IT-BPO

The HRIS World has been working with several companies and nonprofit agencies in Brazil to help promote their initiative for Brazil becoming on the top 5 global BPO’s. Brazil has already surpassed the United Kingdom to become the 6th largest global economy. This effectively takes Brazil out of a developing nation status and places it into a developed nation status. They are fully aware of the road ahead of them — and they are already addressing many of infrastructure issues that need to be resolved to attention their goal. After having been to Brazil a few times, I have learned they do have a relaxed lifestyle but don’t let that fool you — their quick thinking is a reason why they have so many winners at the Indy 500. YOu can almost feel their thoughts leaving you behind as you try to stay up with them!

Research Center

Still in its early phases, we are putting together a research center for our paid members. Currently, our LinkedIn group consists mostly of Owners, VP’s, Directors, Managers, and Senior positions. Only about 10% of our group is at the entry-level — meaning there are a lot of sharp knives at this table! Basically, the Research Center will allow a sharing of knowledge in a private environment. Membership will include access to Forrester and Gartner articles focused primarily on project management, IT, and HRIS/HRMS.

Let us know what you think! We are always looking for guest bloggers for project management, HRIS, HRMS, HCM, HR technology, SEO, job hunting, recruiting, and career management… You can contribute once — or several times.. See our guest blog guidelines or feel free to contact us directly by any one of the folowing Contact Us options (which always posted in our right sidebar)…

to contact The HRIS World,
any of the following will work…

ooVoo Video Chat (webcam optional)

phone – USA: +1 (678) 459-2805
phone – Brasil: Brasil +55 (11) 3711-9355
(iNum: 883 510 001 299 784)
email: info@thehrisworld.com
DM @thehrisworld
DM @hriscareerworld
DM @hrisjobs
skype ID: cgs-usa

---

HR.com is currently requires speakers for an upcoming HRIS virtual event on February 27th and 28th, 2012. They are interested in what you have to share that is educational, engaging, a hot topic, or a trend! Deadline for submission is 3-February-2012.

Topics of most interest for this virtual conference should include:

Performance

• Company Performance / Department Performance
• Education and Certification Management
• Development Plans or Remedial Plans
• Employee Potential / Succession
• Skills Testing

• Performance Assessment
• Goal Setting and Management

Talent Acquisition

• Onboarding
• Hire Management
• Offer Management
• Candidate / Applicant Tracking
• Background Screening / Pre-Hire Assessment
• Sourcing / Requisition Management

This is an excellent opportunity to increase your exposure, build your network and showcase your expertise to a targeted audience of HR Professionals who have a specific interest in this space. All speakers who present at their virtual event can also share their products/services with a complimentary Virtual Booth.

If you are interested in participating, please contact Leanne via email or call her at +1(877)472-6648. Online submissions can be made at www.hr.com/callforspeakers. The submissions should be in the form of individual presentations or panel discussions. Again, deadline for submission is 3-February-2012.

Also, please feel free to recommend companies who would be interested in getting involved in helping HR.com develop some content and share some of their experience via webcast.

Leanne’s contact information is a follows…

Leanne Schmidt
Community Facilitator – HRIS
Institute for Human Resources
HR.com
124 Wellington Street East
Aurora, ON Canada L4G 1J1
Phone: 905-727-1340
Toll Free: 1-877-472-6648
Fax: 905-727-4716
lschmidt@hr.com

Have your seen our channel!

They’re pricey at $300 for the basic kit, but you get the following blocks:

Action Blocks: 2 Drive, 1 Rotate, 1 Speaker, 1 Flashlight, 1 Bar Graph
Sense Blocks: 1 Knob, 1 Brightness, 2 Distance, 1 Temperature
Think/Utility Blocks: 2 Inverse, 1 Minimum, 1 Maximum, 1 Battery, 2 Passive, 2 Blocker

I wonder how many of these will be bought for children — and never make it past the adults???

Let us know, give us one word to describe these toys…

You can see more of these new toys at www.modrobotics.com

thanks to Steve Boese for sharing this last night!
photo credit goes to wired.com

the following is from the FoxBusiness article, ‘Wikipedia Blackout January 18: 5 Things to Know About the SOPA, PIPA Protest’, in its entirety…

Wikipedia will initiate a blackout on Wednesday, Jan. 18, in protest of the anti-piracy bills SOPA and PIPA. SOPA and PIPA are two Congressional bills meant to halt the illegal copying and sharing of movies and music on the Internet, among other aims. However, major Internet organizations — such as Wikipedia, Reddit and Boing Boing — claim the bills will hinder their operations and are ready to protest.

Wikipedia, Reddit, Boing Boing and Anonymous will go dark Wednesday in condemnation of SOPA and PIPA. “This is going to be wow,” Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia, said on Twitter. “I hope Wikipedia will melt phone systems in Washington on Wednesday. Tell everyone you know!”

“If you want an Internet where human rights, free speech and the rule of law are not subordinated to the entertainment industry’s profits, I hope you’ll join us,” said Cory Doctorow of Boing Boing.

Even gargantuan Internet companies like Facebook, Google, Twitter and Tumblr have denounced the bills.

PIPA, the Protect IP Act, and SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act, however, have received support from the music and film industries.

“More than 2.2 million hard-working, middle-class people in all 50 states depend on the entertainment industry for their jobs and many millions more work in other industries that rely on intellectual property,” Michael O’Leary of the Motion Picture Association of America said in a statement. “For all these workers and their families, online content and counterfeiting by these foreign sites mean declining incomes, lost jobs and reduced health and retirement benefits.”

Over the weekend, the White House hinted at toning down the two bills after the influx of protest.

“While we believe that online piracy by foreign websites is a serious problem that requires a serious legislative response, we will not support legislation that reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risk, or undermines the dynamic, innovative global Internet,” wrote three White House managers, including Aneesh Chopra, the U.S. Chief Technology Officer.

So what do you need to know about the Wikipedia Blackout?

Wikipedia Will Go Dark for 24 Hours

Wikipedia will go dark for 24 hours. The Web site will shut down its English-language site beginning at 05:00 UTC on Wednesday, Jan. 18. Read the official statement from Wikipedia here.

Wikipedia is a hugely popular site, particularly amongst students. On Tuesday, founder Jimmy Wales highlighted this importance.

“Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor, it must be demanded by the oppressed, MLK on Wednesday, Wikipedia demands,” Wales said via Twitter Monday, on Martin Luther King Day. He told students: “Student warning! Do your homework early. Wikipedia protesting bad law on Wednesday! #sopa.”

The official statement notes the impact the bill could have on the Internet as a free entity.

“Today Wikipedians from around the world have spoken about their opposition to this destructive legislation,” said Wales in the official statement. “This is an extraordinary action for our community to take – and while we regret having to prevent the world from having access to Wikipedia for even a second, we simply cannot ignore the fact that SOPA and PIPA endanger free speech both in the United States and abroad, and set a frightening precedent of Internet censorship for the world.”

Reddit Will Go Dark for 12 Hours

Reddit, the a “crowd-curated” information sharing forum, will go dark for 12 hours on Wednesday, Jan. 18, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. EST (1300-0100 UTC).

“We’ve seen some amazing activism organized by redditors at /r/sopa and across the reddit community at large. You have made a difference in this fight; and as we near the next stage, and after much thought, talking with experts, and hearing the overwhelming voices from the reddit community, we have decided that we will be blacking out reddit,” reads the official statement.

Instead of publishing its typical content, Reddit will circulate anti-PIPA/SOPA information on how the legislation will hinder sites like Reddit, provide links to resources to learn more and suggest how citizens can take action.

Other, possibly lesser-known sites have also joined the anti-PIPA/SOPA coalition and will also go dark Wednesday. Users on Reddit compiled a list of sites that will enact a blackout, including: all Cheezeburger sites, Explosm, Red 5 Studios, CryptoCat, FreakOutNation, Major League Gaming, RageMaker, SkyTemple and more. Click here to view the thread.

Blackout Has Support from Internet Titans

Not only are Wikipedia, Reddit, Boing Boing and Anonymous against PIPA/SOPA. Internet titans have also voiced opposition.

“There isn’t one technology company or venture capitalist who supports these bills,” Markham Erickson, the executive director of NetCoalition, a trade group representing Google, eBay and others, told ABC News.

“An ‘Internet blackout’ would obviously be both drastic and unprecedented,” NetCoalition said in a statement. “We hope that the Senate will cancel its scheduled vote on PIPA so that we can get back to working with members on how to address the concerns raised by the MPAA [Motion Picture Association of America] and others without threatening our nation’s security or future innovation and jobs.”

Tumblr Encourages Calling House Representatives, Offers Talking Points

Tumblr, a microblogging platform and social media networking site, has been encouraging activism since November. That month, the Web site facilitated 87,834 individuals to call their representatives with a total of 1,293 hours of talking time in protest of the PIPA/SOPA bills.

Tumblr still offers a form that will connect you to your House Representative and offer talking points on how to dispute the legislation. Click here to access this.

SOPA Could Be Shelved

On Monday, California congressman Darrell Issa, an opponent of SOPA, stated that he had been told by House majority leader Eric Cantor that no vote on SOPA will transpire “unless there is consensus on the bill,” shelving the legislation until further notice. This move “effectively scuppers” SOPA, noted the Guardian.

PIPA, derogatorily known as the e-Parasite bill, comes to vote on Jan. 24. Issa stated, “While I remain concerned about Senate action on the Protect IP Act, I am confident that flawed legislation will not be taken up by this House.”

full credit goes to FoxBusiness.com for this article

For a listing and easy means of contacting your Congressman, please click here to go to the Contacting the Congress website (which was updated on 10-Jan-2012). If you don’t know who on your Congressman is — first, shame on you! — then you will need to know your +4 portion of your zip code, BEFORE submitting your search for your Congressman here. You can obtain your full 9 position zip code here. Then, you can find out who your Congressman is here.

Semper Fi Web Design is an established provider of online business solutions. They are based in Raleigh, North Carolina and provide website maintenance, website design, website development, web site programming, web site hosting, web site marketing, and more to a wide range of business throughout the U.S. Their team can help you quickly and reliably address your web site maintenance needs, build your online store, develop your company’s extranet, and much more. You can get a free consultation and more information by contacting them.

So, what makes All in One SEO Pack so good?

The Best SEO

All in One SEO Pack Pro is THE most powerful tool for managing your SEO. Packed full of features and easy to use, providing everyone with a simple way to improve their search ranking!

Most Downloaded

All in One SEO Pack is the #1 most popular plugin for WordPress with nearly 9 million downloads to date. This popularity comes from their ability to create the best SEO plugin available.

Premium Support

When you purchase All in One SEO Pack Pro with a support and updates subscription you get access to their premium support forums staffed by their own support team.

API Benefits

For developers, All in One SEO Pack Pro is the clear choice. With a robust and powerful API it provides an easy extension of this popular WordPress plugin.

There is a free version — but for the service, you can’t beat the cost of the paid version. Prices can be obtained here.

Some of the All in One SEO Pack features:

• Google Analytics support
• Support for Custom Post Types
• Advanced Canonical URLs
• Fine tune Page Navigational Links
• Built-in API so other plugins/themes can access and extend functionality
• ONLY plugin to provide SEO Integration for WP e-Commerce sites
• Nonce Security
• Support for CMS-style WordPress installations
• Automatically optimizes your titles for search engines
• Generates META tags automatically
• Avoids the typical duplicate content found on WordPress blogs
• For beginners, you don’t even have to look at the options, it works out-of-the-box. Just install
• For advanced users, you can fine-tune everything
• You can override any title and set any META description and any META keywords you want
• Backward-Compatibility with many other plugins, like Auto Meta, Ultimate Tag Warrior and others

Lastly, the team at Semper Fi Web Design deserves some introduction…

Michael Torbert is the owner, CEO and oversees operations and development.
Steve Mortiboy is their Sales Manager — Client Relations and Service Delivery
Semper Fi Web Design has 3 WordPress Developers: Peter Baylies, David Bailey, and Javon Hart — all in Operations and Development
Aaron Brodney is the Senior Linux Systems Engineer overseeing Open Source Strategy and Implementation
Bryon Page is their Associate Web Developer — Operations and Development
Chris Smith provides Quality Assurance Engineering — Testing and Implementation

We have found their service to be fantastic and their product to match. If you use All in One SEO Pack, let us know!

Semper Fi Web Design is owned and operated by U.S. Combat Veterans with Service connected disability ratings. Use of their company as a vendor serves to comply with the Federal Veterans Benefits Act of 2003—Sec. 308. (JP.O. 108-183). http://semperfiwebdesign.com/

How to search on Google…

Most users of any search engine will use key words haphazardly to find something – and for many searches, this may be all that is needed. What about searches where you know a keyword is only in the title? Or in the URL? If the keyword is something like Smith, then you will have a very long list to go through…. Or you want to find something within a specific country? An image? And yes, you can search for images besides keywords…

Google search has mechanisms called Operators. For the most part if you search for toy stores or stores toys, then you are still going to have a lengthy list. Unless you know to key the words toy AND stores or “toy stores” (including the quotes), then you can narrow this list down a little bit. Want to narrow the search by adding a specific location? Then “toy stores” Manhattan (which brings 6,900,000 results) or Manhattan “toy stores” (which brings 6,920,000 results) are a couple of examples… Depending on what you are looking for, the order of the words in the search will make a difference as well… A good rule of thumb is to have the vaguest definitions first (or widest scope) and use increasingly defining (or narrower scope) words afterwards — the key word here being increasingly (key word, not to be confused with keyword)… Click here for a cheat sheet of simple operators that can be considered (to bookmark the cheat sheet, just press Ctrl-D in the active window that displays the cheat sheet)…

What about a URL? Suppose you are looking for a job in Brazil or Australia? How do you do that? Well, there are other operators that Google uses to focus on specific elements of a listing. Be sure to use Google’s advanced search when needing to trim down your search results. You will find plenty of operator command s in the cheat sheet. Example: to search for project management jobs in Brazil or Italy (where the top domain is BR or IT, respectively), using the cheat sheet, the search will look like this…

Here, you have confined the search to sites in Brazil with the words job and “project manager” in the title, have the words submit and apply in the listing (as most opportunities will say “to apply for this position, please submit your CV (or resume)” and we have further limited the number of returns by making sure the word jobs in the URL. We are assuming, of course, the listings are in English. For foreign countries that do not speak English as their primary language, you should use words in their native language.

Like anything, it takes a while to adapt to searching with these operators – but you will be glad once this disciplined adaptions has become a technique that is a valuable habit. Especially if you Google a LOT for information…

Behind Google’s deceptively simple interface is immense power for both market and competitive research—if you know how to use it well. Sure, basic searches are easy, but complex searches require specialized skills. This concise book takes you through the full range of Google’s powerful search-refinement features, so you can quickly find the specific information you need. Learn techniques ranging from simple Boolean logic to URL parameters and other advanced tools, and see how they’re applied to real-world market research examples.

• Incorporate advanced search operators such as filetype:, intitle:, daterange:, and others into your queries
• Use Google filtering tools, including Search Within Results, Similar Pages, and SafeSearch, among others
• Explore the breadth of Google through auxiliary search services like Google News, Google Books, Google Blog Search, and Google Scholar
• Acquire advanced Google skills that result in more effective search engine optimization (SEO)

Elements of Successful Organizations is a rich collection of eye-opening articles written by some of today’s most respected thought leaders in business, academia, and journalism. It focuses on how to invest in employees for competitive advantage and drive workplace capabilities for effective execution. It also focuses on ways to create empowered work cultures of engaged employees that support, encourage, and build organizational success. A sequel to Creating the Workforce — and Results — You Seek, the first book published by The Workforce Institutes last year, Elements of Successful Organizations continues the conversation, discussing how leaders in organizations can improve their bottom line while creating a collaborative and engaged culture for their employees.

Reviews

This is a practical and thought-provoking compilation of experiences focused on what drives and sustains successful organizations. Its contributing authors, all well-respected individuals from academia and industry, go beyond theory showing the reader wisdom and a roadmap for growing and sustaining any organization. — John Boudreau, PhD, Professor and Research Director, USC s Marshall School of Business and Center for Effective Organizations

There is an art and a science to building a successful organization and this book captures the essence of both. I d highly recommend placing it in a prominent spot on your bookshelf. The content is abundant, useful, and actionable. If you want a collection of thought leadership ideas that will enable your organization to work smarter in any economic environment pick up your copy today. — Nick Bontis, PhD, Director, Institute for Intellectual Capital Research

A must-have resource for workforce management covering how to develop your own skills to master the science of complexity and emerging technologies including my favorite analytics. This rich toolkit will make you a smarter manager and help you build employee engagement with powerful ROI. — Alexia (Lexy) Martin, Director, Research and Analytics, CedarCrestone

There is an art and a science to building a successful organization and this book captures the essence of both. I d highly recommend placing it in a prominent spot on your bookshelf. The content is abundant, useful, and actionable. If you want a collection of thought leadership ideas that will enable your organization to work smarter in any economic environment pick up your copy today. — Nick Bontis, PhD, Director, Institute for Intellectual Capital Research

About the Author

Joyce O’Donnell Maroney leads The Workforce Institute at Kronos where she is focused on helping organizations address human capital management issues that affect productivity and organizational performance. She is an avid blogger and has been quoted on topics impacting the workforce in The Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Boston Business Journal, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, Human Resource Executive, SHRM Online, Workspan,and on The Wall Street Journal Radio Report. She holds MBA from Boston University Graduate School of Management, and a BA in from Middlebury College.

You can see more book suggestions by clicking the ‘Store’ link in our main menu at the top of this page or click blogs then book of the week for book reviews we have already provided. If you are reading this from a RSS feed, then just click here.

Once you click the ‘Subscribe me’ button, you will be given the opportunity to choose what method of deliver you would prefer…

• Email
• Tweets you share with your followers
• Twitter DMs to you alone
• Facebook updates shared with your friends
• LinkedIn status updates to your connections
• Skype
• AOL Instant Messenger
• Microsoft Messenger
• Yahoo! Messenger

Price: $21.95
As we do not control when Amazon changes their pricing, always verify the price on the Amazon page before continuing your purchase with them.
Hardcover, paperback, audio, CD, audiobook, MP# audio formats may be available, please check pricing before making final purchase.

See larger image Elements of Successful Organizations (Hardcover) By (author) Joyce O'Donnell Maroney List Price: $21.95 USD New From: $21.95 In Stock

Keystroke logging, or keylogging, is just what the name implies — your keystrokes are logged as you press each key. The collection can occur through various methods – hardware, software, electromagnetic, and yes even acoustic analysis (each key has a slightly different resonance to it). The hardware can be bought and is usually sold under the guise of monitoring the computer(s) your children use. But given the iPad, iPhone, smartphones, and even the cellular phone, that is not really the most effective way to do this anyway.

What works on these machines are software (commonly known as malware) that stores everything until the owner decides to stop by and pick it up — through your internet connection. This is why it is important to maintain a reputable anti-virus program that updates itself automatically. Also running scans on your computer will catch these things as well — just be sure to update your scanning software just before you run it (once a week to once a month, depending on how often you are on your machine.

Now, the electromagnetic and acoustic is rarely used on home computers — these methods are expensive and are usually used by the very scrupulous. You can read more about keylogging on Wikipedia….

So how to protect yourself from all this if everything can be recorded without your knowledge? Siber systems created RoboForm in 1999 to protect users from one thing and one thing only – keystroke logging. In 2004, the came out with RoboForm2Go where you could carry the pertinent software and data with you on a memory stick or SD card. Now, the have Everywhere, which allows you to login to your accounts through any computer that has an internet connection.

So how does this work? Setting it up is a very easy and once it is, you assign a master password. With each account you need to log into, you provide your required credentials, and the complete your log in. At that point RoboForm will ask if you want to save these credentials. When you do, it notes the URL, the credentials and the user (called Identity on Roboform). The next time you visit, the RoboForm toolbar will present the credentials for you and you can choose to fill the forms without submitting (why, I don’t know) or fill the form and submit. Roboform will then fill the forms from its database and you’re in.

Though it does not stop all key logging, especially when setting up new accounts, it does minimize it to only two events – when you enter your master password (which should be unique) and the first time you setup an account. The likelihood of any keylogging is minimized as much as possible.

We have been using this for more than 5 years and everyone has their own copy. The benefits? You don’t need to remember your credentials, ever! Well, as long as you are using their Everywhere version and have an internet connection, ever. It will work with Windows and Mac OS X systems. It will work with Internet Explorer, Safari, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, and many other browsers. Mobile platforms include iPads, iPhones, iPods, Androids, BlackBerrys, Palms, and Symbians. They still have the RoboForm2Go and now have a Biometrics version.

Order this tool.

Being the #1 password manager, they offer a 100%, 30-day guarantee on the software.

If you know of other similar software — or are using RoboForm — let us know! Share with us your experience in 3 words or less… if you can!

Please note: the first installment of this article, A Link Between Job Search Keywords and Hiring Trends, can be found here…

As this is a global group, please note that all this is relative to the markets in the USA. We are expanding this year to include Brazil, Europe, and Asia and will provide the same information as each locality is launched on our site.

My apologies for leaving everyone lingering with the article yesterday, fighting the flu and my attention span was not the best… After reading the article this morning, I was waiting for the delivery I never setup. Quite sure you were too! So let’s rectify that now…

The Keyword Trends graph did catch me off-guard as I was expecting HRMS to be closer in trend patterns to HRIS, but both HR Tech and HCM beat out HRMS as keywords. But instead, it cam  in dead last.  Given the SimplyHired database is 25 times larger than its nearest competitor, there is some weight behind this stats.  The fact that HRMS came in so low might be something to consider if you are job hunting. For the recruiters, this is something to notice as well — especially if you not getting your right candidates. It may be worth while to be checking for the latest trends on a monthly basis to be sure your postings and listings are keyword sensitive to the audience you are seeking. I know of a few recruiters who thought HRIS was an outdated keyword and refused to have it in the listings, at least until today that is…

Keyword Trends

The next graph for Keywords Trends by Systems (again, by job hunters) is no surprise – though I do question the Ceridian number. I think something like that would have been in the news about Ceridian doing very well lately. I haven’t been following them that closely this year but if that number is correct, the Ceridian is expecting to do very well this year… Remember, this figure is for the USA only and Ceridian is global.

With Oracle having bought PeopleSoft, it is interesting to note how low PeopleSoft is on the graph… and how high Oracle is. We don’t have a means of deciphering if any of the Oracle keywords were also in PeopleSoft postings and listings, but this is definitely something the check out. It is also something for both job hunters and recruiters to consider when looking and posting.

Keyword Trends by Systems

We will be revisiting these graphs on a monthly basis and review that employment stats one quarterly basis…

Let us know, has this given thought to how you will job hunt? or list your opportunities?

Endorsed by the Professional Association of Resume Writers

Now that 70 percent of job searches are conducted online, and resumes are processed by computers programmed to scan for keywords, knowing the right keywords or buzzwords associated with a profession, industry, or job function and how to use them effectively has never been a more critical job-search skill.

The most comprehensive reference of its kind, this powerful resume-writing resource gives readers instant access to 2,500 indispensable keywords germane to 300 careers in nine employment categories from business, the law, and health care, to the arts, education and media and shows how to use them effectively.

In 2,500 Keywords to Get You Hired, readers will find:

• Keywords for hundreds of individual careers
• A complete listing of critical keywords for each career
• Boxed examples demonstrating how keywords can be deployed strategically in a resume
• Sample resumes incorporating keywords

For HRIS, HRMS, HCM, and HR Tech jobs, we have the following trends for keyword searches since May 2010.  Basically, providing the trend of how many are looking using any one or combination of the 4 keywords…

Keyword Trends

Since May 2010, the following has occurred globally:

• HRIS jobs increased 55%
• HRMS jobs increased 38%
• HCMjobs decreased 46%
• HR Tech jobs decreased 7%

Now, let’s take the same database and let’s look at trends based upon specific systems (which would include more than HRIS modules).  For now, we are using the major contenders, let us know if you want us to add someone else by clicking here…

Keyword Trends by Systems

Since November 2009, we see the following has occurred:

• ADP jobs increased 13.222%
• Ceridian jobs increased 238.737%
• Kronos jobs increased 2.409%
• Oracle jobs increased 2.484%
• PeopleSoft jobs increased 3.677%
• Sap jobs increased 3.601%
• Workday jobs increased 4.618%

Hiring Trends

Our affiliate, SimplyHired, has now made it possible to follow hiring trends, thereby supplementing the keyword trends to what type of jobs are finding people being hired. These trends will enable you to view hiring trends in real-time. With this interactive interface, you have the latest local and national employment trends sourced from SimplyHired.com’s database of more than five million U.S. job postings — as well as monthly employment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Employment Situation and ADP National Employment reports.

While the BLS and ADP reports provide data on positions filled, SimplyHired.com’s U.S. Employment Trends report provides the only forward-looking data that actually predicts hiring based on current job openings each month; it is the leading indicator of the health of the job market. By taking the hiring trends online, you are able to discover job posting trends nationally, by metro area, by industry and by occupation, in addition to the degree of job competition in each metro area. Dating back to October 2010, this range of data provides you with a clearer picture of the number of jobs available and the competition they will face when applying. You can access graphs of various employment trends, which may be printed or downloaded for ongoing reference.

“The most successful job seekers know that knowledge is power, especially in today’s job search. The ability to sift through more than five million job postings to find specific industry and geographical job trends is an essential resource for these job seekers — and it is a great example of how job seekers can leverage technology in their search,” said Gautam Godhwani, Co-Founder and CEO of SimplyHired.com. “How competitive is the job market where you live? Which companies are doing the most hiring right now? These are questions that can now be answered with the click of a mouse.”

National Trends

Change in job openings for December 2011…

CHANGE IN JOB OPENINGS
-76,800 Job Openings
-1.9% Month-Over-Month
+10.6% Year-Over-Year

NATIONWIDE JOB COMPETITION
3:1 Unemployed People to Job Openings

MOST COMPETITIVE METROS
Miami & Fort Lauderdale, FL
Las Vegas, NV
Sacramento, CA
Los Angeles, CA
New York, NY

LEAST COMPETITIVE METROS
Washington, DC
West Palm Beach, FL
Oklahoma City, OK
Minneapolis, MN
Baltimore, MD

TOP HIRING COMPANIES
Air Force (136,539 jobs)
Schneider National (47,017 jobs)
Pizza Hut (26,133 jobs)
U.S. Air Force (23,459 jobs)
Taco Bell (22,056 jobs)

Metro Trends

Job Competition by Metro

Industry Trends

Occupation Trends

Bureau of Labor Statistics Breakdown

Trends Archive

All data provided by SimplyHired.com, a search engine for jobs.

About SimplyHired.com

With over eight million job listings, Simply Hired (www.SimplyHired.com) is the world’s largest job search engine — 25 times the size of the biggest job board. Servicing 17 million monthly users across 24 countries, SimplyHired.com powers jobs on more than 25,000 network partner sites, including LinkedIn, CNNMoney, The Washington Post and Bloomberg Businessweek. Reaching passive as well as active candidates, the SimplyHired.com network delivers millions of targeted job applicants and boasts one of the lowest cost-per-hire rates in the industry. The company is based in Sunnyvale, California and is funded by Foundation Capital and IDG Ventures.

credit to MsrtketWatch.com for this information

In this compact book, Andrews urges readers to be ‘careful students’ of the past. He encourages seeking accurate, factual accounts of events and decisions that illuminate choices we face now. By considering how the Nazi German regime was able to carry out over eleven million institutional killings between 1933 and 1945, Andrews advocates for an informed population that demands honesty and integrity from its leaders and from each other. But Andy does not stop there, he explores other countries that have killed much more than the Nazis. So the question is, how do so many people meet their demise without, what looks like, giving resistance.

The future of ANY country rests on the ability to separate the truth from lies, and Andrews compels each of us to examine our leaders’ claims with a critical eye. His question — how do you kill eleven million people? — is provocative, but his warning is clear:

“Only a clear understanding of the answer to this question and the awareness of an involved populous can prevent history from continuing to repeat itself as it already has, time and again.”

This book is bigger than its size or length. But it’s a small book that can be as profound or as trivial as you are willing to make it. It will inspire you to ask the good questions, and then go looking for the honest answers. It is a call to action based on your convictions, but convictions that should be tested, verified and questioned again. This is the sign of a true leader – no matter how many follow.

Once you click the ‘Subscribe me’ button, you will be given the opportunity to choose what method of deliver you would prefer…

Email

Tweets you share with your followers

Twitter DMs to you alone

Facebook updates shared with your friends

LinkedIn status updates to your connections

Skype

AOL Instant Messenger

Microsoft Messenger

Yahoo! Messenger

Digital Price: $14.99
Print List Price: $14.99
Kindle Price: $7.99 includes free wireless delivery via Amazon Whispernet
You Save: $7.00 (47%)
As we do not control when Amazon changes their pricing, always verify the price on the Amazon page before continuing your purchase with them.
Hardcover, paperback, audio, CD, audiobook, MP# audio formats may be available, please check pricing before making final purchase.

See larger image How Do You Kill 11 Million People?: Why the Truth Matters More Than You Think (Kindle Edition) By (author) Andy Andrews List Price: $14.99 USD Release date January 3, 2012.

But it appears our computers had something else in mind as one seemed to have caught not one, but four viruses… This one computer in particular has been sluggish lately, but we just switched over to Comodo Anti-Virus as our previous anti-virus wasn’t detecting anything. We did this just on a hunch — and BANG! four viruses quarantined. For a while there, we were feeling like we were going to need helmets to protect ourselves from banging our heads against the wall from all the frustation. Since we had already lost almost 2 days of work, the computers were given a full maintenance run for tweaking settings, performing defragmentations on all, and then making sure we had all our updates.

Things are looking good! At least now, they are…. Tomorrow is a new day, we will see what the new day will bring.

We have a lot to get caught up on — with the new layout we have already seen many repeat readers as well as an increase in unique views. Part of that we have to thank Amy Potterfield, Lewis Howes, and Darren Rowse. The three form a powerhouse for building a presence online. If you haven’t heard of them and you are interested in building your presence online, then look them up and start following them.

One of the outcomes of following them will be a new facebook page — the one we currently have is weak and was setup on the fly. Once the pageS are launched on facebook, we will definitely let you know!

Hope you are having more fun than we are! So share with us, what do you want to see here in The HRIS World?

So far we have two other articles on the new format of our blog…

WOW! What Happened to The HRIS World?  where we announced we would be implementing 3 blogs from this site (The HRIS World, The HRIS Career World, and Sigma Projeto) and gave a brief overview of our history

In What Happened to The HRIS World – Getting to Our Pages from the Main Menu we reviewed the links leading to the pages of our site (about us, store, search, sitemap) and what could be found there

You can always reference this simply by clicking blogs then blog features from the main menu.

The last 3 links, provide a gateway to our services, blogs,  and a special section on Brasscom.  As of this posting, there are only 3 gateways, but we’re quite sure this will grow as we do as well.

Brasscom

Brasscom? The Brazilian Association of Information Technology and Communication Companies… And from their own about us page, they

… represent the main IT-BPO companies, both Brazilian and international, which account for 70% of Brazil’s gross domestic product (GDP) in that sector, as well as research centers, universities and institutional partners. Founded in 2004, Brasscom works to position Brazil amongst the world’s three leading strategic IT-BPO centers. To this end, it seeks to align public policies with the private sector and local and international markets, as well as to encourage cooperation with employees and the associations that represent them.

Its agenda is built around promoting Brazil’s excellence and innovative capacity in IT-BPO, which is essential to increased efficiency and productivity in every sector of the economy. In five areas of operation, Brasscom works to consolidate the relevance of the IT-BPO sector in Brazil.

So where does The HRIS World fit in with Brasscom? We are going to be initiating a campaign to promote and bring Brasscom to the forefront of IT-BPO in the USA. Brazil’s reputation as solution provider and resolution resolver have gained the respect of many European companies. We will be providing a weekly, if not more, article and promotion, of Brasscom’s involvement with exporting Brazilian IT-BPO.

Brasscom has a very good grasp on what it will take to move Brazil into IT world leadership by 2020. You can read the opinion of CEO Antonio Gil here for a better perspective of their task ahead. We will be building a separate feed for this aspect of our blog, you will be able to register for this feed in the coming weeks.