New Year's resolutions for IT managers

New Year's resolutions for IT managers The new year represents an opportunity for IT managers to evaluate their accomplishments and sift through their less successful projects and relationships in an effort to get things moving in the right direction. IT consultant Shannon Kalvar offers some advice that will help you keep things on track in 2007.

  • The 10 most important things to teach your users

    Your users don't need an encyclopedic knowledge of how their computers work or how your network is configured -- but they may need a little technical enlightenment here and there. This list includes some of the basics that will help them (and you) work more effectively.

  • Look for inherent risks before starting your project

    If your project has many inherent risks that fall into a high-risk category, it doesn't mean you won't be successful. It only means that you should put plans into place to manage the risks.

  • What to ask when a tech solution is deployed by non-IT staff

    When a business solution is deployed by someone who isn't in IT, your department may be left out of the loop. Here are some key concerns you'll want to address to make sure IT can meet its responsibilities effectively.

  • 10 things to do before letting office laptops loose

    Laptops allow users to stay connected and productive when travelling, but they aren't much good if users can't connect to resources they need or if someone walks off with it at the airport. Here are some measures you can take to make the laptop experience as seamless as possible.

  • Getting your help desk ready for rollout

    Rolling out a new app or system can wreak havoc if support is handled as an afterthought. These tips will help you plan and manage help desk involvement in the rollout so that the staff is prepared to meet user support needs.

  • Nine ways leaders and managers work together

    Although it's not apparent in the structure of some organisations, leaders and managers have highly distinct roles, and both are essential to the success of the business. See if the traits described here fit your IT leaders and managers -- or help clarify your own role.

  • Mobile tech makes life easier for field engineers

    When field techs have to rely on phones to get their assignments and manage their workload, all sorts of problems and inconviences can stand in the way of efficiency. IT pro Jeff Dray shares his experiences with a better solution: a GRPS-enabled PDA that receives automated field assignments from a job-logging server.

  • 10 essential competencies for IT pros

    If you're serious about becoming a successful, well-rounded IT professional, you need to constantly broaden your skills and knowledge -- and in some areas that might surprise you. This list details key competencies that will help advance your career.

  • Keep on track with a scalable content filtering strategy

    Filtering the content of e-mail messages coming into and out of your organisation, Web sites being accessed by your company computers, IM conversations and other data that travels on your network makes business sense because it can save money that might be lost to lawsuits or reduced employee productivity.

  • When do you require remote disaster recovery options?

    At some point, you have to decide if local failover options are enough for your organisation, or whether you need to add remote failover to protect you from a major disaster.

  • The 10 worst ways to deal with end users

    To be successful in a tech support role, you have to become a skilled communicator. See if you recognise any of these 10 common missteps, which are guaranteed to impede your ability to work effectively with your users.

  • Create a scalable tech support infrastructure

    Technical support for users is a problem that every business that uses computers will encounter, and unless you plan for scalability, your tech support strategy can leave you behind as the organisation grows.

  • Get to know your fellow pros: The other kind of networking

    Mike Talon advises you of the many ways you can get valuable input from your peers that will help your professional development as well as improve your disaster recovery plan.

  • Training for new disaster recovery technologies

    If you're planning on implementing new systems or products for disaster recovery, you and your team may require extra training. Mike Talon goes over some of the training alternatives, along with their benefits and drawbacks.

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