Welcome to B & M Bulletin, produced specifically for IT specialists. In this issue:
• Social media in ICT
• Tech View: Systems integration and rationalisation
• Specialist Profile: Mark Jesson, Unix Engineer
• Real people, real skills: Karolina Blechova
• B & M ProSupport
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Social Media in ICT
Jerry Smart looks at the growth of social networking and wonders whether people in ICT are more savvy about these tools than their non-technical counterparts
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Do you use social media sites?
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Technology moves forward apace, and the proliferation and adoption of social media sites in particular is spreading like wildfire.
Many people in the IT industry – particularly those working on contract - use LinkedIn for professional networking; but in the wider community Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, Blogger and twitter all have greater use.
The challenge for businesses is to assess how important these sites are as a means of communicating with customers (whether they be other businesses or end users), suppliers and with their own staff.
BT Group, for example, has a Facebook group for colleagues. Not surprising. But more significantly it has a presence on twitter to monitor tweets about its products and services which it uses to respond to and resolve issues about BT’s customer service.
Recent research shows that ‘baby boomers’ are proving slower to adopt these means of communication than their younger colleagues: nearly twice as many people born after 1964 are likely to befriend clients on social network sites and over four times as many people born after 1979 are likely to access social network sites from work [source: www.lexisnexis.com].
The way in which we communicate is changing and whatever your company’s strategy for reaching out, the expectations of the next generation will shape how we do business.
Do you use social media sites for business or social purposes? Join the debate on the B & M blog at www.bmeurope.blogspot.com to find out if those of us in the ICT sector are more likely to use these tools.
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Systems integration and rationalisation
B & M Technical Manager Paul Smith considers a different way of integrating systems
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There are several pressures that drive change in an IT environment, but the most fundamental is always the needs of the business, with common goals including:
- Reducing IT support costs
- Reducing complexity
- Improving business agility in the market place
- Raising the business’ profile
- Maintaining or improving workforce moral
- Maximising profitability
IT Systems Integration is often seen as one way of achieving these goals, so a business may decide to reduce cost and complexity by retiring a legacy system, for example. However, projects of this type can soon become mired if (or when) management and technical managers start to fight for their own corners and are not able to work together effectively. Using methodologies such as Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) can help define priorities and offer a resolution that is acceptable to all parties, perhaps through a solution that combines legacy migration and IT rejuvenation as the best way forward.
Retiring a core business application/resource is not a trivial undertaking and in real terms, could take five+ years to achieve. We’ve all been part of ‘ditch the dinosaur mainframe’ discussions and a business may decide that a legacy z/OS, WebSphere, DB2 system is no longer the best solution and that there are better ways to achieve business goals. However, given the length of time it will take to do this, organisations still need to deliver data to their disparate platforms in order to keep the business running. In my example, Linux could replace z/OS, but the business could still use WebSphere and DB2.
As many companies are discovering, System Z hardware is not only good at running z/OS but also multiple Linux images too, delivering improvements in power efficiency into the bargain. This route could appease both the IT and operational arms of the business, as the company can save money and the technicians get to learn new disciplines.
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Specialist Profile
This month we talk to Mark Jesson, Unix Systems Engineer
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Mark Jesson joined the Unix Applications team at a large European public body as a Unix Systems Engineer in January 2010 on a contract that is expected to last at least 6 months. With extensive Web and Java experience, he was initially taken on to help with migrating the Intranet to the latest version of WebSphere Portal, but has since become involved with supporting other Unix-based software at the site. He works in a small team with three permanent and three contract staff. We asked whether this mix of contractors and permanent employees led to any friction. Mark explains, “Everyone in the team is treated equally regardless of whether they are contract or permanent – something I find is increasingly rare nowadays”.
Mark believes that this willingness to work outside conventional lines of demarcation could be down to the nature of the organisation where he is working. “This is a dynamic organisation with a multi-national staff who are used to working with different technologies and cultures - our team of six is made up of six different nationalities. It's very satisfying to support the client and to have the chance to work with such a talented team of individuals”.
New learning opportunities and the variety of the work are aspects of the role which Mark particularly relishes. “I enjoy problem solving and helping to provide the solutions and support on a daily basis. It's a great opportunity to meet other professionals from across Europe and to exchange ideas and meet up socially”.
The organisation uses a range of up-to-date technologies and Mark believes that it is typical of many users in its change from proprietary systems to open source solutions, where users pay for product support, rather than product licences. Many of the clients he has worked with in the past few years are moving away from vendor lock-in to open source solutions and he is working on building his knowledge of open source application servers within a production environment in particular.
Mark believes that the support that he receives from B & M helps to ensure that he can do the best job possible for the client. “My account manager, Seamus Hayes, is the most proactive account manager I have had during my career as a contractor and he has taken the trouble to meet me face-to-face which is very important when building a long term working relationship. He is very helpful and thorough - from the initial interview process to assisting with information about working and living overseas”.
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Real People, Real Skills
This month, we profile B & M's new recruitment administrator, Karolina Blechova
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Karolina joined B & M Europe in March 2010 as a Recruitment Administrator.
Karolina comes from the Czech Republic. After completing her A-levels, she came to the UK to work as an au-pair to help improve her English. She spent two years living with her au-pair family, looking after two children. She very much enjoyed the role and found that it came with plenty of excitement such as one occasion where she had to rescue the family dog from a police station!
After passing her English exams, Karolina decided to stay in the UK and in 2007 began working as a recruitment consultant for a legal recruitment agency in Reading, dealing with the recruitment of qualified solicitors in London and the South East. This role gave her the opportunity to build her skills in the recruitment sector, and gave her the chance to take on a great deal of responsibility and to work independently.
In her spare time Karolina enjoys a good book or film, attending exercise classes, skiing, cooking and visiting family in the Czech Republic.
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B & M ProSupport
proactive IT support
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B & M ProSupport is a flexible support service designed to meet the very different IT situations within large enterprises. B & M ProSupport [link to http://www.bmeurope.com/prosupport.html] offers a choice of second and third-level support services that help to reduce downtime and keep the business running - right up to on-site, 24/7 support if required.
B & M ProSupport can be tailored to include a mixture of proactive and reactive services, combining cost-efficiency with optimum system protection. B & M's specialists work in collaboration with customers' own in-house IT staff to analyse, build, integrate, manage and develop IT continuity processes that make sure that key platforms are constantly available to support the business.
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