This was part of their work with police in monitoring student’s whereabouts and activities they were involved in. Certain sites in all these internet cafes have been blocked and students were only given limited sites for their school projects or emails.

Govinda’s Internet Café operates until 7pm where students were allowed to surf the net after school hours.

Owner, Vinal Vasram said students were not allowed to use the cafe’s services during school hours unless they carried a letter of consent from school heads. “There have been cases in the past where students come in to use the internet during school hours with the excuse they want to complete their assignments. To be on the safe side, we have started requesting permission letters authorised by school heads so that we know the students are here for a legitimate reason,” Mr Vasram said.

Computer operator Reshma Lal said students entered in their school uniforms after 3:30pm and most of them finished off around 4:30pm because they had to board the last bus home.

“Students are allowed to visit sites for their projects except porn sites. They come in after school hours around 3:30pm,” she said.

Most students went to internet cafes to check e-mails such as yahoo, hotmail, bebo and popular facebook, but porn sites have been blocked for their own safety in all internet cafes.

Desktop virtualization is still a nascent technology, but it does offer the kind of flexibility and ROI that enterprises are looking for, especially ones that are migrating to Windows 7 and are worried about application incompatibility. Microsoft’s desktop virtualization model, including VDI (virtual desktop infrastructure), promises to rein in desktop costs, improve security and management and speed up the delivery of new applications.

One key part of the sweeping announcements, covered in an hour-long Webcast, is a simpler and cheaper model for licensing Windows in a virtual desktop environment. Specifically, on July 1, Software Assurance customers will no longer have to buy a separate license to access Windows via a VDI.

Moreover, for customers that use devices that don’t qualify for Software Assurance, such as thin clients and PCs used by contractors, there will be a new license called Windows VDA (virtual desktop access) available for $100 per device per year. This license will allow users to still have access to their complete virtual desktop outside the corporate network on devices such a personal laptops and airport kiosks.

But from an industry perspective, the most noteworthy aspect of Microsoft’s virtualization announcements is the company’s tighter bonding with partner Citrix to bundle each other’s virtualization software, in an effort to gang-tackle virtualization market leader VMware. While well ahead of Microsoft on the server management side of virtualization, VMware is now scrambling to stay ahead in the desktop space, says Chris Wolf, senior analyst at Burton Group.

“Vmware had a two-year lead in desktop virtualization, but it is only beginning to take it seriously,” says Wolf. “Citrix and Microsoft want to take on VMware in this space, and they’re closing the gap here. Vmware needs to step up its game.”

To this end, VMware recently released a new version of the ThinApp application virtualization software to ease migration to Windows 7.

Microsoft and Citrix are merging technologies, but they are also giving customers bargain deals. In addition to merging Microsoft’s 3-D graphics technology for virtual desktops, called RemoteFX, with Citrix’s high-definition HDX technology, the two companies will offer a price-cutting promotion called “VDI Kick Start” from March 18 until Dec. 31, 2010.

VDI Kick Start allows existing Microsoft customers with CALs (client access licenses) to pay $28 per desktop for up to 250 users to get the Microsoft Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Suite, standard edition, and Citrix’s XenDesktop VDI Edition for one year. This comes out to be approximately half the typical annual license cost.

The other offer from Microsoft and Citrix is a more direct confrontation with VMware. Called “Rescue for Vmware VDI”, it’s a promotion that lets SA licensed Microsoft customers replace their VMware View licenses for free. VMware View customers will get up to 500 XenDesktop VDI Edition device licenses and up to 500 Microsoft VDI Standard Suite device licenses for no charge for a full year in exchange for their VMware View licenses. Like the “VDI Kick Start” promotion, “Rescue for VMware VDI” is available from March 18 through December 31, 2010.

“This is for customers we’ve spoken to who maybe had a great experience with VMware with servers and then rushed out to do the same thing on the desktop and ran into a brick wall with poor user experience and scalability and ROI problems,” says Wes Wasson, chief marketing officer at Citrix.

It’s too early to declare a winner in desktop virtualization — because the market is so raw, says Burton Group’s Wolf. But he thinks VMware executives should be on high alert over this new assault from Microsoft and Citrix.

“VMware should be worried about this,” he says. “If they’re not, they’re doing something wrong.”

When is an IT consulting project like an oil change? This isn’t a riddle — it’s a brainstorm I had recently while watching the team at my local Instant Lube perform an oil change on my car. Let me describe the process.

As I drove up to the garage, the manager came out and guided me into the oil change bay. When I stepped out of my car, he walked up to me and smiled, and then began to explain to me how they were going to service my automobile. He described the different grades of service available, but never tried to sell me on one or the other — he just gave me the information I needed so I could make a decision about which service was appropriate for me. The team that would work on my car surrounded it and began to shout to each other: “Car in bay one,” “Opening hood in bay one,” “Testing coolant in bay one,” and “Tire pressure 40 in bay one.”

It wasn’t clear to me immediately why the guy emptying the old oil from my car needed to know that another guy was putting air in my tires. As all this activity went on, the manager, rather than trying to shuffle me into the waiting room, chatted with me about the work his team was doing on my car, explaining to me why they constantly communicated their progress to each other as they worked. “It helps each member of the team know how much time they have left, and helps them make sure that we do everything we’re supposed to do for each car. It helps them check each other, so no one forgets to put back the oil plug or the fluid cap.”
Inform clients at every opportunity

Why am I going into this length about my oil change? Because I’ve had my oil changed before at other places that didn’t go through this process. I’ve faced surly, uncommunicative mechanics who pulled out my air filter — which was in fine condition — and tried to talk me into changing it, and then looked at me like I was a bug when I declined. I’ve been to lube stations where I came out not knowing what they had done, or if they’d even actually changed my oil at all. The stark contrast between those other lube shops and this one was so striking that I’m sure I’ll be a customer for life, as long as they keep communicating with me the way they did.

How does this relate to consulting? I’m no mechanic, so I can’t judge the quality of the work that my mechanics do except by the results and by the quality of the attention I receive. Many of our consulting clients are in the same boat. They’re looking to us to deliver excellence in our technical specialty, but in order to differentiate ourselves from other service providers, we need to do more. We need to make their experience with us the best, most comfortable event possible.

This superior experience, in most instances, boils down to superior communications. Helping our clients understand the process they’re about to go through, just like the store manager did with me; communicating the status of the job as it progresses — both within the team and with the client — like the lube team did; acting as an advisor, not a salesman: All these things add up to an enhanced experience for the client.
Characteristics of a good communication plan

For all these reasons, I insist that in consulting teams I work with, every engagement includes a communication plan. A good communication plan can bring value to the engagement in a number of ways: It helps set customer expectations, acts as an assurance factor that bolsters the client’s confidence, builds consensus around the project and helps market its benefits, and gives the client and the various constituencies in the organization an opportunity to give feedback on the results of our efforts.

Let’s delve into these factors a bit and discuss the ways a communication program can make our lives as consultants easier and more fruitful.

Set customer expectations

One of the most important jobs any project manager or consultant must do is to manage the expectations of the client community. From the very first meeting, and all through the project, we need to be sure that we’re communicating clearly what we’ve committed to deliver, what we can (and can’t) achieve, and what our role is and what the clients’ or subcontractors’ roles are, and we need to be sure that we’re setting budgetary and schedule expectations. This is not a one-time event, but a constant activity. We need to help adjust client expectations as we deliver, so that as circumstances affect our schedule, budget, or deliverables, we’ve clearly communicated that to the client, thereby avoiding any misunderstandings.

Assurance factors

As I described in one of my previous columns on pricing scenarios, reassuring the client as we go is a critical consulting skill. In all engagements, but especially in time and materials projects, the client can be nervous or uneasy, wondering if we’re on track, running into any hidden snags, or running over budget or schedule. By building in formal assurance factors, like status reports and team reviews, we short-circuit any concerns that may be building up, and get a reputation as a “straight shooter.” For clients who have internal intranets, I’ll often set up a project Web site where interested team members can keep tabs on the project’s progress.

Build consensus

Effective users of technology have one characteristic in common: they seek consensus, rather than running IT projects out of the boardroom or the executive suite. Communications plans that include believable, meaningful descriptions of the features and benefits of the new technology go a long way toward building buy-in across the organization. For large-scale projects, town hall meetings or “lunch-and-learn” sessions can help create a feeling of inclusion and participation throughout the organization.
Market its benefits

Experienced consultants, just like good internal IT professionals, know that a major part of their job is selling the features and benefits of the technology they are implementing. I’ve been involved in projects that went as far as designing logos and “brand names” for the project in order to raise awareness and comfort inside the organization with the new effort. New technology is often disruptive; it’s our responsibility as business advisors to help our clients convince their troops that there is a reason for the disruption.

Client feedback

One-way communication, from the top down, doesn’t cut it anymore. Modern associates in the client enterprise are likely to resist any effort that doesn’t give them a chance to participate in the process. Project communication plans should include an avenue for feedback from the affected staff members. The project Web site mentioned above is one avenue, as are project e-mail and voice mail suggestion boxes, where constituents can voice their opinions and express their concerns.

The corollary with the oil change has one other significance: Communications are the lubricant that every IT project needs in order to run smoothly

Source: http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/tech-manager/?p=3137

There’s an interesting paradox with corporate IT. We generally have one of the most knowledge-intensive corporation functions, yet we’re perceived as being the most narrow-minded. We also tend to have the highest spend on external advice, be it from “consultants,” implementation partners, or specialized training, but I would argue that we use this advice the least effectively. To a large extent, much of what we spend our money and intellectual firepower on is narrow technical expertise. We’ll bring on an expert in some esoteric aspect of a massive ERP system without a second thought, yet we are loathe to spend a comparatively tiny amount on group leadership training or “soft” advice on how to improve the way our IT organizations function. In the spirit of remedying this state of affairs, I offer the following suggestions:

Like many professions, there seems to be a constant drive to specialize in IT, gaining reams of knowledge about a very narrow aspect of one’s profession. I’ve always been an advocate of the opposite approach, contending that if you hone your ability to learn and be flexible and have a working knowledge of a breadth of areas, you will never be without employment, versus the “expert” whose area of expertise might become obsolete overnight.

To that effect, put aside the specialist IT publications and Web sites at least once a day and read some quality general-knowledge publication. While the local sporting news doesn’t qualify, I am personally partial to the Wall Street Journal, as it covers a wide range of business, political, and human interest topics and lets you gain industry and competitive knowledge. Your peers in other management positions are probably reading it, and being able to speak intelligently about an article you saw “in the Journal” will serve as a far better conversation starter than the latest SAP release notes. It is available in online form for less than the cost of the latest smartphone.
Training need not be tech-only

IT is a bastion of specialist training, and a stroll down the cubicle village of most IT shops will find fancy certificates adorning most cubes, endorsed by an alphabet soup of vendors and certifying organizations. While this training is usually relevant and often directly applicable to a technical challenge at hand, don’t neglect “soft” training, from leadership to meeting management to organization and task management. While a two-day session on time management might not give anyone any new technical ideas, allowing people to manage their time more effectively could have even more dramatic results. Since most of these types of classes have become commoditized, there is likely a local trainer available who can do a very cost-effective group session for your team. Ask other line management or HR if they have someone they would recommend.

You can also avoid formal training as a whole and implement free or low-cost staff development tools. Allow employees unstructured “research” time (that would likely be lost to idle Web browsing anyway) and have employees present their findings on a new technology or device. At the worst case you’ll build morale, independent research and presentation skills, and might even get some leads on a new area or technology to pursue.
Hire the occasional “true” consultant

Here’s the shocking part of our story where the consultant tells you it’s a good idea to hire a consultant, so fasten your safety belt. In all seriousness, many CIOs will quickly point to the raft of external people circulating through their departments, but if you look closely, most are implementation support rather than true consulting help. Sure, many are highly paid and very specialized, but they are there to solve a specific technical problem, augment your staff, or implement a specialized hardware or software product. Rarely does IT hire true business and managerial consultants who will help answer the “big picture” questions on how your IT organization relates to the rest of the business, how it could be structured more effectively, how to motivate and retain your staff, or whether that struggling project should be cancelled or doubled-down. For some reason, many in high-level IT leadership positions feel they are admitting weakness when contemplating consulting help on personal or leadership development, but rest assured your C-Suite peers are actively and effectively using just this type of advice.

While many vendors claim to provide these services, too often it is a thin veneer for selling implementation services or a half-hearted “freebie” in the hopes of selling a more lucrative technical solution. For this type of advice, ensure you bring in consultants who are not beholden to a particular vendor and are not in the primary business of selling implementations. Again, ask peers in other business units for advice on consultants who helped them solve a particularly thorny organizational issue or provided a compelling insight. Failing that, I just might know someone…
Get out and play

Most of us have heard the stories of the executives at some of the large American auto makers. They would make prearranged visits to a test track and be given “ringers” by the engineering staff that had been carefully tweaked and prepared. These nearly handmade cars were obviously exceptional, and these execs were shocked to find their products had widespread quality control problems. While the use of specially prepared cars is obviously questionable, one can’t help but wonder why these executives never visited a local dealer and went for a test drive.

Without question, if you are in management or aspiring to be, you should be familiar with your company’s products. Interact with the product through its primary distribution channel: Visit a reseller, call your helpdesk, or visit the factory, field operations, and call centers. If possible, spend a day working on the front lines and mandate that your staff do the same. It is nearly inexcusable not to understand more about your company than the glossy brochure or Web site convey.

While these suggestions may not solve that burning technical issue that is staring you in the face, they will develop you as a leader and problem solver in the long run and are arguably worth far more than the latest drivel on virtualized SaaS clouds.

Also destroyed by strong winds is the medical centre that the two nurses had been using as an emergency ward for serious cases on the island.

One of the two nurses in the island, Joji Volaisaya, said 14 people, most of whom are children, had been treated for diarrhoea for the past days. For an island facing a lack of water, people, he said, relied a lot on the rain for drinking water and cooking.

Villagers are now suffering the worst of the crisis when their storage tanks were either blown away or damaged by strong winds.

People who met the Fiji Times team who flew in on a chartered flight with public health director Dr Joe Koroivueta, said people are thirsty. They have resorted to spring water from boreholes dug by the beach, which at times is salty and dirty.

“They are boiling the water before drinking it but diarrhoea is still creeping in,” nurse Volaisaya said.

The only medicine they have in stock is 20 packets of panadol, which they managed to save during the height of Hurricane Tomas.

“Everything else is gone,” he said. “We need fluids, medications and antibiotics and everything else, fast,” he said.

The team, together with Dr Koroivueta, took five cartons of medicine supplies and food rations for the medical staff, who are now on the verge of using up their last medical supplies and food rations.

Source: http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=142657

Cdre Bainimarama reminded villagers the delivery was not to be mistaken as rations, which they would receive later this week.

“These are gifts that we received from donations in Suva specifically for the children,” he said.

He spent less than half an hour in the village before he moved on along the Saqani coastal road to Savusavu.

Wainigadru children feasted on the sweet biscuits that many had for dinner because food was scarce.

Acting Commissioner Northern Inia Seruiratu told Cdre Bainimaramathat ration supplies would be delivered this weekend once the Saqani coastal road was fixed.

Source: http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=142653

Cdre Bainimarama, while visiting affected villages in the division, encouraged the team of civil servants, Red Cross volunteers and workers, soldiers and other key stakeholders to maintain a positive attitude while helping the victims.

He was met by senior government officials and briefed about the damage caused by the hurricane.

In presenting the report, Commissioner Northern Inia Seruiratu told Cdre Bainimarama the damage was extensive — affecting people’s livelihood.

He told Cdre Bainimarama and his entourage that increased manpower has been supplied by private companies such as Fiji Electricity Authority, Telecom Fiji Limited as well as government departments.

“Our message to the people is that life goes on and government is here to facilitate their needs while they do their part in moving forward.

“Our aim is to restore 100 per cent of essential services like communication, electricity and water to the community in the shortest possible time,” Mr Seruiratu said.

Source: http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=142652