Page 21 - MetalForming June 2013

Best Practices
this as a key IT performance metric.
5) Maintain PC and server patches.
Most IT support experts, security experts and IT publications agree that not keeping software updated with the latest patches is one of the leading causes of system failures and security breaches. The cost of mitigation for a single incident, when considering staff time and the cost of outside experts, easily can justify the minimal effort and expenditure required to keep sys- tem patches up to date. Therefore, make patch status a key metric for measuring IT-staff performance.
6) Migrate commodity services to the cloud.
Many applications and services now are offered as cloud-based services. Many of these services, such as e-mail, data backups and remote monitoring, have matured to where reliability is not a concern. Cloud service providers serving large client bases typically have the subject matter expertise to main- tain high-quality services. Addition- ally, manufacturers can negotiate con- tractual protections in the form of uptime guarantees and penalties/com- pensation for outages. This is why many organizations have moved to cloud-based services for commodity services such as e-mail, data backup, disaster recovery, fax services, network and security monitoring, interactive web meetings and customer file shar- ing. The migration of some applica- tions and IT functions to the cloud may significantly alter the size and composition of the IT department, so metalformers should evaluate this carefully during the due-diligence process. MF
The author thanks Karl Zager, a con- sulting manager with Plante Moran specializing in talent and organiza- tional development, for preparing this article. Zager has been responsible for planning and implementing IT transi- tions for U.S. and Chinese companies acquiring business units from Fortune 100 companies.
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