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Sought-after IT jobs — lawsuit-filing not among them

IT jobs are down this year. Mix that lack of employment opportunity with an exceptionally tough job market (the average national unemployment rate is up to 9.4% as of July 2009), and you get some pretty frustrated individuals. One such individual is taking her frustrations to the next level and suing her alma mater.

Trina Thompson graduated from New York’s Monroe College in April with a bachelor’s degree of business administration in information technology. As of July 24, the still-unemployed Thompson filed a lawsuit against the office of career advancement for not helping her find a job.

On top of full tuition reimbursement, Thompson is also suing for an additional $2,000, “for the stress I have been going through looking for a full-time job on my own,” she wrote in her lawsuit.

There are a lot of well-qualified professionals struggling to find a job, and if the IT business admin IT positions are few and far between (as in Thompson’s case) what are the positions IT managers are looking to fill? Continued »

Microsoft releases code to the Linux community — and?

When Microsoft (historically not a fan of the GPL) announced this week that it would release 20,000 lines of device driver code to the Linux community (meant to enhance the performance of Linux when virtualized on Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V or Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V), there were some raised eyebrows.

The code donation was certainly “a break from the ordinary,” according to the official Microsoft press release, in which a Microsoft official said the move was due in part to the current economic climate, to help companies consolidate their hardware and software. Continued »

Qualities of a good leader: Avoid layoffs at all cost?

An article on our sister site, SearchCIO.com, this week highlighted the qualities of a good leader during a recession, culling advice from leadership experts and CIOs. The list includes qualities such as utilizing the ability to inspire those around you, having communication (and listening) skills, proving you can perform and drive results, being able to prioritize, and then — BAM! Avoiding layoffs at all costs. Something that seems almost impossible, as daily news headlines remind us.

In the article, Jason Jennings, an author, speaker and consultant who has studied more than 100,000 companies, said the most productive companies are completely opposed to layoffs. Why? As soon as layoffs begin, employees start to worry about themselves and their futures as opposed to their work.

But with expectations that unemployment will top 9% in 2009 and budgets that are painfully tight, aren’t layoffs necessary?

Oftentimes, they are. When demand for new cars virtually stops, carmakers need to pare back production, and that means job cuts. But when it comes to IT, there are some ways to prove value and cut costs without resorting to the proverbial ax. For example, some companies are relying on their project management offices to steer them through the recession – time-tracking and tying resources to specific projects. Doing so prevents redundant work on projects, speeds project completion (freeing up the time and the budget for more projects) and justifies positions. One IT executive in our recent article specifically attributed job preservation to his PMO.

And most recently, technology giant HP announced pay cuts for the entire workforce as a way of avoiding layoffs after a disappointing first quarter. Rather than scaling back the 100,000-person workforce by 20,000, CEO Mark Hurd preferred the pay cuts to trim the budget.

Jennings notes that besides the morale issues that layoffs cause, job cuts can be a short-term fix. When business picks up again, the recruitment and training for renewed growth will be a setback. No argument there. But if your management is calling for a headcount reduction and you have already made all the efficiency moves you can – what then? Have you found other creative approaches to avoid pink slips?

Hyper-V update: Yes, it works with Linux

The Hyper-V experiment continues. My three Server 2008 VMs are extremely stable — no crashes at all, nine days continuous running. I made a number of restarts to address various upgrades and all three VMs came back automatically. Am also using a VM to test Windows 7, and no problems there either.

Now addressing how well Hyper-V handles Linux. Ubuntu 7.1 desktop installed with no problems at all, although still working on networking. My Linux skills are pitiful, so I draw no conclusions yet about whether the networking issues are related to Hyper-V or user error. Perhaps I’ll have to install the Unix services roll on the base server. Am also installing a more recent version, 8.1, and will probably throw a Linux server up there, too. From a CPU and disk perspective, no problem — this machine still has a gear or two on the upside.

I am running out of memory, however, now that I have 6 VMs on this 8GB machine. The culprit: SQL Server on the base machine. Why did I install that? I’ve been trying to get System Center Essentials (SCE) on to the base machine and that requires SQL Server. This is a very tangled web Microsoft has woven: you need SQL Server and Windows Server Update Services to run SCE. SQL Server, no big deal; WSUS, something of a project, as it involves Group Policy. So far I haven’t gotten SCE to install and may abandon the whole project.

It does point out an interesting conundrum: Hyper-V manager manages memory for VMs. Is it more efficient than the base OS is? In other words, if SQL Server were running in a VM, would it be using as much memory? Sounds like my next experiment.

Is a Windows 7 migration inevitable for XP users?

So Windows 7 is out in beta. My colleague Mark Schlack took it for a test drive and wasn’t impressed (see Windows 7migration: First thoughts). Yet at some point, if you’re still a Windows XP user, you’re probably going to have to plan a Windows 7 migration, unless you decide to start now and go for Vista (Win7 won’t be out before the end of the year, at the soonest). Windows XP support starts to wane in April, and by 2014 it ends entirely. Gartner recommends you make your switch by 2012.

Now some XP users told our reporter Christina Torode that they’re sitting tight (see Windows XP users weigh dwindling support vs. Windows 7 migration). Some expect Microsoft will extend those Windows XP support deadlines due to customer pressure. I’ve certainly met many more midmarket CIOs who remain with XP than those who have gone through a Vista migration. Very few see anything worth migrating for.

Yet if Microsoft sunsets XP as planned, they’ll all have some re-engineering to do. Windows 7 is built on the same kernel as Vista, so if your apps won’t work on Vista, you’ve only bought yourself some time, not a pass on re-engineering. Unless, of course, you are going to explore some Microsoft alternatives.

So XP users, unite: Are you going to clamor for extended support? Plan for a Windows 7 migration now? Start to work in Vista machines as you upgrade your hardware, as one analyst recommends in our article on migration tips? Go Linux? Let’s discuss.

Recession or not, we can still give thanks for technology

Years ago, writing a “grateful” journal was all the rage. Helps to keep things in perspective (at least, that’s what Oprah told us). So, given that it’s been such a tough year for business, I thought I’d step back and see what I could find to be thankful for. Here’s my list.

5. I’m thankful for the idea of a Microsoft-free world (not that it would ever happen.) But, finally I see business ready for some changes in the technological hierarchy, experimenting with open source applications and operating systems. Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome are fiercely competing with Internet Explorer – and are holding their own. It may be a long road, because legacy programs die hard, but the possibility is on the horizon.

4. I’m thankful for GOOGLE and its ability to just keep getting it right. The search engine giant with incredible apps (for both business and pleasure) introduced the G1 Google phone this year. Google is taking on Apple and Microsoft with browsers and search engines – and is now competing in the mobile device ring, welcoming open source applications. I must also thank the company for providing us with small-talk topics (“So, have you tried out the new Google Goggles?”) and connecting us with our peers on GTalk.

3. I’m thankful that we had a real example of how Web 2.0 and social networking could change the world. We saw the impact social networking and the Web generation had when it came to the election. Text messaging, Facebooking, blogging and Twittering were used by the masses to connect and promote – creating quite a stir and forever changing the way candidates campaign. From online health records to wikis, we are using the Web to manage our lives and keep us informed.

2. I’m thankful we’re all more aware of security risks. This year we’ve experienced everything from the San Francisco network lockout to concerns about VoIP and unified communications. The Emerging Cyber Threats Report for 2009 warns us of an even rockier future – estimating that 15% of online computers will be botnet-affected this year. There are no rose-colored glasses for looking at security – we know the risks.

1. I’m thankful that despite the economy, technology continues to flourish and companies continue to innovate. Even though budgets are getting cut and IT innovation is becoming more difficult, people are making it work. Costs can be cut by moving to green IT, virtualization and SaaS applications. Not too shabby

If my glass-half-full approach didn’t satisfy your appetite, check out this year’s list of tech turkeys compiled by Rachel Lebeaux, associate editor of SearchCIO.com.

Microsoft hosts midmarket CIOs – Vote for the biggest CIO challenge

A midmarket CIO’s challenges are many, and I’m always amazed by the stories I hear when I’m out on the road meeting many of you.

This week I touched down in Redmond for Microsoft’s US Midsize Business CIO Summit, an invitation-only event for about 400 midmarket CIOs. It’s a press-free conference, but I was privileged to be a speaker and thus join the technology glitterati on site.

My conversations covered a lot of topics, but what I’ll share with you here is a sampling of the folks I met. If you think your job is tough, consider those of these CIOs – then I’ll ask you to vote or share your story of trying circumstances.

- The CIO for a firm that conducts clinical trials. He has five staff in the U.S. and 25 in Europe. Based on the West Coast, he had just spent over a week on the road, first in London and then in Russia, then came directly to the conference. At home he’s on calls early in the morning and late in the evening, syncing up with staff around the world. Challenges? Language, culture. … He absolutely wasn’t griping about the travel or the hours (he didn’t even look tired!) and I know he’s hardly alone in living such a global lifestyle. But to me that seemed the most challenging part.

- The CIO who was hired to bring a food distributor into the 21st century. The company had all sorts of aging or aged systems – but the hard part was when this maverick CIO announced capabilities he wanted to roll out to the employee base. The CEO told him that sales reps were not going to use computers. Period.

- The CIO who had endured several offshoring contracts (some negotiated by his parent company), all with ill effects. In one case, employees at a provider hacked into his systems; in another, a key offshore contact left for another firm just after completing his Oracle training in the U.S. Meanwhile, he grappled with undeveloped infrastructure – he couldn’t get a switch for a new plant he was building — and bureaucrats who promised fixes and then didn’t deliver.

Do you relate to any of these experiences or have your own story of obstacles to share? Vote below for the one that seems most challenging and feel free to offer advice to the CIOs in question.

Is Microsoft trying to buy users?

In an attempt to get more users, Microsoft has added SearchPerks to its Live Search service.

But, unless you have Internet Explorer 6.0, you aren’t even able to access the SearchPerks registration form. Yep. In order to test out SearchPerks you need to have IE 6 or higher. That’s a deal breaker right there.

With only a 9% market share compared with Google’s 60%, Microsoft refuses to give up on the search market. And you have to admire that fact – despite the failed Yahoo acquisition (which Google sidled up and snagged), it’s full steam ahead! Microsoft will not quit – but it will pay you to use Live Search.

So what is SearchPerks? Registered users agree to download a usage tracking program and then earn one ticket per every Live Search query (up to 25 tickets per day) until the program ends in April. Users can then redeem their tickets for prizes or donate the rewards to charity.

As interesting as it sounds, the SearchPerks registration page has a bit of a late-night infomercial feel to it. Things like “the sooner you sign up, the more opportunity you have to earn tickets!” are reminiscent of the “act now to receive your second Magic Bullet completely free!” But then again, perks persuade people to buy (or in this case, be bought).

Why hasn’t Live taken off? Is it because Google is so well known as a reliable search engine that newcomers barely have time to make it out of the starting gate? Cuil didn’t get too far, either – and it had pictures included in the results lists. But maybe that’s it – we don’t want the extras, just give us our search results so we can continue on with our task at hand. We don’t have time to register and redeem prizes! I found the added prize bonus to be an incredible turnoff. I want results, not prizes. If I were aiming for the latter I’d open a box of Cracker Jack.

By offering up SearchPerks to attract users, has Microsoft inadvertently proved Google’s strength? The search engine should speak for itself, no gimmicks necessary.

I’m a PC, and I don’t necessarily like Microsoft

After the annoyingly strange Jerry Seinfeld/Bill Gates commercials promoting Microsoft, a new batch of adverts surfaced featuring the slogan “I’m a PC.” It goes something like this: Microsoft employees and users are meshed together in a montage of “I’m a PC and I [fill in stereotype of your choice here]” in a battle against Apple’s commercials portraying a PC negatively. Because, as they say in the ads, a PC is not a stereotype. But grouping all PC users in as Microsoft supporters is not?

Well, I’d like to go out and say I’m a PC, but I can’t give Microsoft all the credit in that decision.

By the way, why is Microsoft able to benefit from the term PC? Last time I checked, PC stood for personal computer and Wikipedia defines that as “any computer whose original sales price, size and capabilities make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end user, with no intervening computer operator.” So regardless of the operating system, aren’t we all using PCs?

Please, correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t I just as much as PC user with my Linux operating system as you are with your Mac operating system? And, no, I have not forgotten that MS-DOS was the catalyst making the personal computer a reality. But nowadays, Windows is just one of the operating systems that make our PC world go ‘round.

Do you automatically associate being a PC user with Microsoft Windows? If so, is it because we’ve been trained to think PC = Microsoft? Maybe. Look at the constant barrage of ads we’re faced with. It happens every single day with everything. We automatically call all tissues Kleenex, gelatin of all brands is Jell-O and no one flinches when asked to “Xerox it.”

Is Microsoft playing into our ad vulnerability? Worse, are we falling for it? Let me know what you think.

Microsoft reclaims ‘I’m a PC’; ditches Gates/Seinfield

As quickly as they started, the Microsoft/Jerry Seinfeld/Bill Gates ads have ended. Phew.

The nonsensical ads left viewers scratching their heads and Seinfeld with quite a heavy pocket. The comedian reportedly earned $10 million for the commercials in Microsoft’s attempt to connect with its target audience.

But who is Microsoft’s target audience? It may not be the twentysomethings … but choosing 54-year-old Seinfeld as the funny man may be meant to attract the “thirty- and fortysomething business community” Marc Ippolito, president of Burns Entertainment & Sports Marketing, told Computerworld.com. The Wall Street Journal reported Microsoft turned down Will Farrell and Chris Rock because it didn’t want to seem like it was catering too much to the younger market.

Well, maybe Gates doing the robot will gain audience appeal and Vista will get another shot – if the robot’s not dead yet, Vista certainly can’t be either.

In an interview with Computerworld.com, Microsoft spokesman Frank X. Shaw confirmed the plan to have “two teaser ads” (no — the weird Seinfeld/Gates ads weren’t cancelled, this was all planned). The next leg of Microsoft’s attempt at revitalizing the slogan “I’m a PC” includes celebrities (Eva Longoria and Pharell Williams among them) as the company works overtime to overcome the stigma Apple attached to being a PC.

What won’t you have to see again? Seinfeld asking Gates for a Microsoft product that makes computers “moist and chewy like cake.”