KALAMAZOO – GLIMASouthwest second annual Tech Expo, hosted in cooperation with the Kalamazoo Chamber of Commerce, was a big hit drawing hundreds of attendees to the Western Michigan University?s Fetzer Center.
The Tech Expo Vendor Showcase included twelve vendors:
Pivot Group (Platinum Sponsors), appStrategy, Inc., Blue Granite, Charter Business, Cornerstone University, CTS Telecom Inc., Data Guardian, NuSoft Solutions, NuWave Technology Partners, Reflex Magnetics, T3 Technologies, and Unified Solutions.
The day got off to a great start with Patti Nicklowitz of Cisco presenting the collaborative features of Cisco integrated communication products including VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol). Patti demonstrated how to streamline business processes by having a unified client to handle all of the communication tools. With Cisco IP phones, you can transfer a call to your mobile phone should you have to leave your office during a call. Voice, data, and streaming content are all handled within the unified communication system. Location-based technology is used to quickly locate the best way to contact a person within your network and bundles collaboration with system manageability.
For a demonstration, click on Cisco.Com
Matt Hester of Microsoft was entertaining during his presentations of the soon to be released Microsoft Vista operating system (OS) and Microsoft Office 2007. Matt?s morning presentation demonstrated Microsoft Office 2007 features including voice recognition. He illustrated the evolution of Office products and the graphical improvements with each version. The main change in Office 2007 is the new user interface for menus. The new design assists with performing functions more quickly and with less frustration of figuring out where to find the various buttons to perform tasks on your documents. These are called ribbons and open up when clicking on a tab (i.e. Home, Insert, Page Layout, References, Mailings, Review, and View in Word 2007). The new interface is appealing and easier to find the commands you need for any particular task. If you would like to take a look at Office 2007 through a Citrix browser, view the ?Test Drive.? You will have to load a Citrix client and register at Microsoft.Com
The keynote speaker, Keith Brophy of NuSoft Solutions discussed the progression of technology in his Technology Trends presentation during the lunch hour. He noted that data sharing will be a prevalent trend.
The afternoon session commenced with Matt Hester?s presentation on Microsoft Vista. Vista is the biggest release of Windows ever and proclaimed to be the most secure version! The Windows Defender software helps to protect against spyware as well as malware and is the most downloaded software from Microsoft?s Web site. One feature of MS Vista is that it is hardware agnostic. The Vista OS collects computer usage patterns and caches them in its productivity enhancer, the super fetch feature, thereby enabling the programs you regularly use to load quicker. Also, it sets programs that can take a lot of memory, such as backups to a low priority I/O making your processes much faster. For more information on these software programs, visit Matt?s blog atBlogs.TechNet.Com
Pirates Aren’t Only Looking for Gold; Remember Your Information Security Program When Implementing New Technologies said Jim Soenksen, CEO of the Tech Expo Platinum Sponsor, Pivot Group. Jim melded the day?s presentations by discussing the security concerns of implementing new technologies such as VoIP, Vista, and Office 2007. The comment that resonated with attendees was the fact that hackers receive $25 per credit card number they capture.
So precautionary steps must be taken to protect the critical assets of a company and its customers against the volatile nature of data exchange over open space. Using Pivot Group’s Road to Successful Information Security Methodology (look, plan, act, repeat), Jim illustrated how the attendees could protect their companies? critical assets in light of the aforementioned emerging technologies: it is important to first look ? identify the critical assets and assess the firm?s risk.
Next, plan ? develop a proactive security program wrapped around the telecommunication technology selected as well as the current system and network architecture. Then, act upon the chosen program swiftly ? implement a company-specific tailored Information Security roadmap properly (including policies, training, and technology). Once the overall plan has been put into action, repeat the entire process with on-going monitoring, auditing, updating, and adjusting to business and technology changes.
For more information, you can access Pivot Group?s Scope of Services and numerous webinars, surveys, whitepapers, and helpful links on their website
The date for the 3rd Annual Tech Show has been slated for October 4, 2007. Mark your calendars today for this exciting educational event.
This column was written by Faith M. Heikkila, Information Security Consultant for Pivot Group and GLIMASouthwest Board member. Faith is currently a Ph.D. Candidate in Information Systems specializing in Information Assurance at Nova Southeastern University. You can email her at [email protected]
