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Glen Marshall

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Principal, Grok-A-Lot, LLC

816 points

Glen F. Marshall is an information technology consultant with extensive experience in healthcare systems architecture, technology development, implementation, operations and support, as well as leadership positions in numerous international standardization organizations.

Jan. 4, 2012

Glen Marshall and 5 other people answered this question

Should virtualization vendors offer disaster recovery options?

I am surprised that they do not, especially for small businesses.

Information Technology

Disaster Recovery

Dec. 29, 2011

Lauren Buchsbaum selected a best answer for

What is the most jargon-laden area of technology?

Segueing off of this question at Andrew Baker's recommendation... technology has many specific terms to memorize, but where do you think most of these are? In the mobile space? Information security? Networking? Somewhere else? more

Information Technology

Dec. 27, 2011

Glen Marshall and 3 other people answered this question

Is 2012 the year for "cleaning house" on your social networks?

I plan to remove businesses associates from my Facebook friend list, especially those with whom I have only business social interaction. more

Information Technology

Information Overload

Dec. 27, 2011

Glen Marshall and 7 other people answered this question

Where are the worst talent shortages and what is one specific thing we can do to change that today?

Communication skills are in short supply. While there are plenty of talented people in a variety of skill areas, communication is what binds it all together.
By communication I do NOT mean the ability to respond to an e-mail, blog post, text message, or to engage ... more

Information Technology

Dec. 21, 2011

Glen Marshall and 2 other people answered this question

How can general employees be convinced to take information security seriously?

First, there must be an explicit security policy published by senior management. It must be updated at least annually.
Second, there must be awareness training that helps employees understand and be able to operationalize that policy, as a condition of employment. This training needs to be ... more

Information Technology

Information Risk

Dec. 21, 2011

Glen Marshall and 2 other people answered this question

Given the scale of IT failure financial losses, should it be a corporate board issue?

I am surprised that this question it is even being asked! One must ASSUME that a corporate board is vitally aware of key business risks and holds executives accountable for managing them. If not, the board members are open to shareholder lawsuits, SEC actions, and ... more

Information Technology

Corporate Governance

Dec. 20, 2011

Glen Marshall and 4 other people answered this question

Do you think Google's Nexus tablet will be able to give Apple a run for their money?

I expect Google to succeed when it rolls-out a unique offerings that fulfill unmet needs. I do not expect Google to succeed when it competes head-on with someone else's good idea. Google's DNA is innovation, not competition.
As Google grows larger, will need to develop or ... more

Information Technology

Dec. 20, 2011

Glen Marshall and 7 other people answered this question

What effect does good or bad marketing have on the buying process for technologists?

As a technologist who has been exposed to good, bad, and horrid marketing over the past 45 years...
Good marketing is whatever proposes a solution for problems that I have, whether real or perceived. It engages and educates me. The time spent is valuable to me ... more

Information Technology

Technology Marketing

Dec. 19, 2011

Glen Marshall and 2 other people answered this question

What are some quick and easy ways to secure your company's information?

I would add to the prior responses that having a security policy defined and enforced is pretty important. Otherwise, the purpose of other security activities is vague and hard to communicate.
Second, a thorough risk analysis and risk management program are very important. Otherwise, you have ... more

Information Technology

Dec. 15, 2011

Glen Marshall and 1 other person answered this question at this roundtable

#TNL Radio: Moving towards Mobile [12/14 @ 5:15 pm]

What do companies need to do in order to successfully launch a mobile recruiting initiative?

In today's economy, what they first need are legitimate open positions. Most advertising for job openings are met with a whole lot of applicants. Lack of legitimate openings will quickly become known and will limit the number of applicants.
Secondly, they need to have the staff ... more

Location Based Services

Dec. 13, 2011

Glen Marshall and 1 other person answered this question

How can IT departments best cope with worker demands?

Treat the workers as customers, and satisfying their needs as the primary purpose of your job and the key requirement for your continued employment. As long as you do that, the details are a matter of managing priorities and budgets. And if you enroll your ... more

Information Technology

Cloud Computing

Dec. 2, 2011

Glen Marshall and 2 other people answered this question

What is likely to be the the fallout from the Carrier IQ "rootkit" scandal?

The most likely outcome is a series of outraged Facebook and Twitter posts, pious and politically correct blog posts, and symbolic legislative hearings. Technological changes are far less likely. more

Information Technology

Dec. 2, 2011

Glen Marshall and 5 other people answered this question

Will Google Chrome eventually surpass Internet Explorer in market share?

It is very unlikely that Chrome will gain a majority market share.
Chrome, like other alternative browsers, will have an enthusiastic audience in a shrinking user base. Much of the browser-using public is moving to newer platforms, e.g., tablets and smart phones. Most of the corporate ... more

Information Technology

Dec. 1, 2011

Glen Marshall and 10 other people answered this question

How do you define "big data"?

I tend to think of big data primarily as petabyte-sized collections plus the network and computing capacity required to access and provide data confidentiality, accessibility, and integrity services.
For example, consider the longitudinal (multi-year, multi-episode) clinical records for a regional healthcare organization. That includes not ... more

Information Technology

Nov. 30, 2011

Glen Marshall and 6 other people answered this question

Do you think “cloud” will continue to be a buzzword?

"The cloud" has become a generic buzzword that has evolved to cover a growing collection of shared/networked computing use cases. It was initially coined to mean the Internet fabric, with the use case nodes attached to it.
As the use cases become more widely understood and ... more

Cloud Application Platform

Cloud Applications

Cloud Computing

Nov. 30, 2011

Glen Marshall and 10 other people answered this question

Why are people more interested in cloud computing?

"The Cloud" is NOT a new concept.
Starting in the late 1960s, a remote computing -- "time sharing" -- was a means to access the power of large computers without having to own one. While the network speeds were very slow by today's standards, it was ... more

Information Technology

Cloud Computing

Nov. 22, 2011

Glen Marshall and 33 other people answered this question

Is communication competency a skill or an art?

Communication is an essential skill. It needs to be mastered as part of one's college education and reinforced periodically with employee training.
A person who is less able to communicate effectively with customers, management, and others outside of the immediate peer workgroup is not going ... more

Human Resources

Information Technology

Nov. 22, 2011

Glen Marshall and 5 other people answered this question

What's your definition of lean operations?

I'm cynical about business fads.
While the theory is worthwhile, "lean" in practice is often about providing less than the required resources to a process in hopes that the key stakeholders will be satisfied enough. It apparently works because many stakeholders won't complain.
What is needed here ... more

Information Technology

Nov. 21, 2011

Glen Marshall and 4 other people answered this question

What role has mentorship played in your professional development? Was it fundamental to your growth?

Mentorship has been a two-way street. It is not only fundamental to growth, it is a continuing professional obligation.
In my career I've had significant mentors who challenged me to grow and gave me solid guidance in the process. This included going beyond my education and ... more

Information Technology

Nov. 18, 2011

Glen Marshall and 4 other people answered this question

Will HTML5 ever be a tool for the masses?

HTML 5 requires finalization as a standard, then adoption by the major authoring tools vendors. Only then can you expect mass use.
It will take about 5 years for any direct economic benefits to be realized, as it typical for most new IT technical standards. ... more

Information Technology

Nov. 17, 2011

Glen Marshall and 1 other person answered this question

Should shareholders vote on whether Sarbanes-Oxley should be applied to a company?

I would not invest in a company that excluded itself, by whatever means, from SOX oversight. The shenanigans that happened before SOX, and investor losses, are enough of an object lesson.
That being said, if a company wants to exclude itself, that would be OK... just ... more

Sarbanes-oxley Act

Nov. 16, 2011

Glen Marshall answered this question

How can a business prevent their social profiles from being hacked?

The first line of defense is to actively manage your social profiles. An unattended web profile invites hacking. A password, regardless of how strong it is, provides only passive management.
Active management includes making a person resposnible and accountable for monitoring the profiles for activity ... more

Information Technology

Bank of America

Nov. 11, 2011

Glen Marshall and 22 other people answered this question

What's one simple thing that can improve projects and/or project management?

While this may sound heartless in today's economy, quickly firing under-achievers will boost morale and do wonders for team productivity. more

Information Technology

Project Management

Nov. 11, 2011

Glen Marshall recommends this answer by Andrew Baker

Adobe halts Flash development for mobile devices - smart move?

Well, since they couldn't fix the problems with Flash on mobile, including power consumption, stability and performance, it didn't make sense to ride that horse to its inevitable death.
A smarter move, however, would have been to more thoroughly invest in HTML5 development tools across their ... more

Information Technology

Nov. 9, 2011

Glen Marshall and 3 other people answered this question

Is Apple best served by punishing those who expose its security vulnerabilities?

I understand your viewpoint.
On the other hand, my wife is a PR and Marketing VP and has had to deal with the press and affected public during a security breach incident. It was intense damage control and she updated her employer's emergency response plan so ... more

Information Technology

Oct. 12, 2011

Glen Marshall and 3 other people answered this question

What do you see as the most common security and identity management pitfalls within organizations?

The most common pitfall -- more often a pratfall -- is the failure to have an adequate risk analysis and risk management program in place. As a consequence, the organization gets what one of my colleagues calls "security by trade journal" -- over-dependence on anecdotal ... more

Information Technology

Identity Management

Oct. 3, 2011

Glen Marshall and 1 other person answered this question

Anonymous launches Anonymous Analytics in hopes of exposing corporate corruption. Thoughts?

Just about anybody can launch an information service. The key questions are whether or not the underlying data is reliable and the analytics algorithms produce actionable information.
An example of actionable information is a fire alarm. When you hear it, you don't need to look into ... more

Information Technology

Anonymous Analytics

Oct. 2, 2011

Glen Marshall recommends this answer by Raymond Pinard

Facebook can track what you do online, even when you're logged out. What is your reaction to this?

Glenn makes some excellent points.
Caveat emptor. Cancel the service if you disagree with their terms of service. more

Information Technology

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