The News
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The iPad could change IT service delivery forever |
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Written by Administrator
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Thursday, 11 March 2010 10:50 |
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It's hard to avoid having a cynical outlook when considering the hype surrounding Apple's iPad, coming to the the market in 2010. Yet even though it generates a buzz like no other business today, the long-term impact of Apple's products often far exceeds the lofty expectations placed on them. Take the ubiqitious iPod, which many people dismissed, questioning why anyone would want to carry that much music. Similarly, no one envisaged the rapid rise of digital music consumption, a shift spearheaded by iTunes which recently reached the milestone of 10 billion songs sold. The iPhone is still relatively young, yet few would argue against its claim to have raised the bar in terms of what we expect from a mobile phone, with an ever-growing list of products being released trying to better Apple's creation. The iPad could be the next in the line to realign thinking and expectation around products. Yet unlike the iPod and iTunes, and to a lesser degree the iPhone, Apple's tablet has the potential to usher in a new era of computing in the business space. The iPad is a tablet computer developed by Apple Inc. Announced on January 27, 2010, it is designed to create a new device category between a smartphone and a laptop computer. Similar in functionality to a larger and more powerful iPhone or iPod touch, it runs a modified version of the same operating system (iPhone OS). Its stock applications have been redesigned to take advantage of the larger screen with added functionality similar to their Mac OSX counterparts. The iPad has a 9.7-inch (25 cm) LED backlit multi-touch display with a pixel resolution of 1024x768, 16 to 64 gigabytes (GB) of flash memory, a 1-gigahertz (GHz) Apple A4 processor, Bluetooth 2.1, and a 30-pin dock connector to sync with iTunes and connect wired accessories. Two models have been announced: one with 802.11n Wi-Fi and one with 802.11n Wi-Fi and 3G (which can connect to HSDPA cellular networks), and Assisted GPS. Both models may be purchased with three different memory capacities. By stripping away the endless and unused applications that clog up the majority of computers and instead give people what they want from a modern computer; media, internet, games, productivity, and an intuitive interface, Apple may be tapping into the zeitgeist of IT users everywhere before it even happens. Take software delivery for example. Apple has rebuilt its version of Office (iWork) for the iPad, meaning that users can create business documents through a nifty touchscreen interface. The three applications; Pages (word processing), Keynote (slideshows) and Numbers (spreadsheets), will cost roughly £10 each, and are downloaded direct to the device through the App store through either wifi or 3G. Contrast this against the complexity of installing new software throughout an enterprise in a traditional way, it is easy to see how the simplicity may be appealing to users. IT service and support teams may be less enthusiastic, fearing that reduced complexity puts them out of a job. This attitude shows a lack of foresight. Mobile computing throws up a host of other issues: centralisation and standardisation of data, permissions for downloading software, security, remote support, asset management, to name a few – in other words, there will be plenty of work to do. But most importantly, understanding that business users may want a simplified, targeted computing experience is an important step for IT teams to take if they are to begin delivering services what the business actually needs. |
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Last Updated on Thursday, 11 March 2010 11:11 |
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Stop Being Cute and Build IT That Works |
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Written by Administrator
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Thursday, 20 May 2010 09:16 |
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IT needs to deliver provable results, not bombard businesses with new functionality which they don’t need. Speaking at the Service Desk Show, EMEA managing director of Dell KACE Jim Docherty says that demystifying IT is vital for it to deliver what the business actually needs. “In systems management, people are trying to be too cute and complex, when businesses are looking for simplified IT that delivers results. IT should make working easier, not more difficult,” Docherty told ServiceDesk360. KACE, which was acquired by Dell late last year to help expand the hardware giant’s burgeoning service portfolio, offers asset and service management tools designed to deliver concise information about performance and usability. Docherty claims that Dell KACE clients enjoy rapid return on investment, with some projects taking just three months to pay for themselves. “Too many products are sold that require huge investment in time and effort to see a return, and therefore sit unused on the shelf.” |
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Last Updated on Thursday, 20 May 2010 09:24 |
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Kenya’s website visiting trends |
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Friday, 07 August 2009 08:04 |
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With the recent landing of the fibre optic cable, the number of Kenyans who have access to the internet is set to increase as the cost of internet access is set to go down drastically. With this in mind it is interesting to see the web visiting trends of Kenyans. Using alexa.com’s Kenya top hundred website’s list as at the beginning of the month of August, 2009, mteja.com categorized the websites into thirteen major groups and tallied the number of sites in each group.
We begin with government sites. Only the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) website revenue.go.ke made it to the list mainly because of the number of Kenyan citizens seeking to comply with the taxman and the fact that most of KRA services are available online.
The news, entertainment and media sites were the most visited sites having 26 from the top one hundred sites. The local sites did as well as the international ones sharing the available spots on a 50-50 basis. Some of the local sites included nation.co.ke, eastandard.net, the capitalfm.co.ke and the kbc.co.ke while the international websites in this category included bbc.co.uk, cnn.com, nytimes.com, goal.com, reuters.com.
The search engines came next with 13 of the 100 websites. Though most of the traffic ended up with google.com and its localized country specific TLD sites like google.co.ke, google.fr, google.in, and google.br other search engines like yahoo, bing and windows live also got their fair share.
File sharing sites also constituted 13% of the top 100 sites. Here, the local sites performed poorly with no site making it into the top 100 while the international ones took centre stage. They included: youtube.com, flickr.com, mediafire.com and rapidshare.com among others.
Corporate sites came closely behind with 12% of the 100 top sites. This was a group where there was also an almost equal share between the local and international sites. safaricom.co.ke, yu.co.ke , accesskenya.com were the local corporations leading the pack while the international ones included microsoft.com., hp.com and adobe.com. The traffic for these sites was mainly generated by the consumers seeking to get customer support information and downloads from the websites.
Social networking sites and blogging sites were ten (10). Sites like facebook.com, myspace.com, twitter.com, tagged.com, blogger.com and wordpress.com, all international sites represented this category with no local site making it to the top 100 sites.
Information sites and encyclopedias followed closely with 8% representation. Two of them being Kenyan sites i.e. Kenya Information Center site (kenic.or.ke) and rich.co.ke. The international sites in this category included wikipedia.com, wikihow.com and answers.com among others.
Job recruitment sites took a mere 3%, only the local sites were represented in this group with only three entries that were: kenyanjobs.blogspot.com, brightermonday.com and bestjobskenya.com.
Tours and travel sites numbered 4 out of 100. The local sites here dominated with three sites being: kenyaonetours.com, intokenya.com, and malaikaecotourism.com. The only regional entry was megatraveloffers.com.
Academic institutions’ websites took a merger 2% both sites being local namely jkuat.ac.ke and usiu.ac.ke.
3 were Online shopping and reviews sites, all were international sites being, amazon.com, tradercarview.com and cnet.com.
In the sports clubs section, there was 1 site which was manutd.com signifying the huge support base the club has among internet users in Kenya.
Kenyans were not lacking in vices as the remaining 4% was scooped by pornographic sites.
Indeed those were interesting findings on the website visiting trends of Kenyans.
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The Kenya Communications (Amendments) Bill 2008 Highlights |
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Monday, 03 August 2009 12:05 |
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The Kenya Communications (Amendments) Bill has featured a lot in the media for the past one year mainly because of its provisions that directly affect the media houses. Unfortunately nobody has taken time to highlight some of the very good provisions of the bill especially those touching on electronic transactions and data security. The bill also gives the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) more powers to regulate competition and also establishes the Universal Access Fund that is meant to support and promote widespread access to ICT services. Below are some of the highlights on those aspects of the bill: DATA SECURITY - Unauthorised access to data and computer systems commonly referred to as hacking is now an offence and anyone convicted of this offense will be liable to a fine not exceeding two hundred thousand shillings or imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or both.
- The use of a computer system to commit an offence or access with intent to commit an offense on conviction is liable to a fine not exceeding two hundred thousand shillings or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or both.
- Any person who without lawful authority or lawful excuse does an act which causes directly or indirectly damage or denial of service to a computer system shall on conviction be liable to a fine not exceeding two hundred thousand shillings or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or both.
- Any person who knowingly manufactures, sells, procures for use, imports, distributes or who knowingly receives, or is in possession, without sufficient excuse or otherwise makes available a computer system or any other device designed or adapted primarily for the purpose of committing any offence under sections 83U and 83Z, shall commit an offence. Where any person is convicted under this section, he shall on conviction be liable to fine not exceeding two hundred thousand shillings and of imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or both.
- Any person who fraudulently causes loss of property to another person by: any input, altercation, deletion or suppression of data; or any interference with the functioning of a computer system, with intent to procure for himself or another person, an advantage, shall commit and offence and shall, on conviction be liable to fine not exceeding two hundred thousand shillings and of imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or both.
RECOGNITION OF PARTIES OF ELECTRONIC MESSAGES
As between the originator and the addressee of an electronic message, a declaration of intent or other statement shall not be denied legal effect, validity or enforceability solely on the ground that it is in the form of an electronic message. This section recognizes electronic messages and hence electronic transactions as legally binding and hence enforceable.
TAMPERING WITH COMPUTER SOURCE DOCUMENTS
Any person who knowingly or intentionally conceals, destroys or alters, or intentionally or knowingly causes another person to conceal, destroy or alter any computer source code, computer programme, computer system or computer network, where the computer source code is required to be kept or maintained by law for the time being in force, shall commit an offence and shall, on conviction be liable to fine not exceeding three hundred thousand shillings and of imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years, or both.
PUBLISHING OF OBSCENE INFORMATION IN ELECTRONIC FORM
Any person who publishes or transmits or causes to be published in electronic form, any material which is lascivious or appeals to the prurient interest and its effect is such as to tend to deprave and corrupt persons who are likely, having regard to all relevant circumstances, to read, see or hear the matter contained or embodied therein, shall commit an offence and shall, on conviction be liable to fine not exceeding two hundred thousand shillings and of imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or both.
PUBLICATION FOR FRAUDULENT PURPOSE
Any person, who knowingly creates, publishes or otherwise makes available an electronic signature certificate for any fraudulent or unlawful purpose commits an offence and shall, on conviction be liable to fine not exceeding one million shillings and of imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years or both.
UNAUTHORISED ACCESS TO PROTECTED SYSTEMS
Any person who secures access or attempts to secure success to a protected system in contravention of the provisions of this part shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction be liable to fine not exceeding one million shillings and of imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years or both.
RE-PROGRAMMING OF MOBILE TELEPHONE
- Any person who knowingly or intentionally, not being a manufacturer of mobile telephone devices or authorized agent of such manufacturer, changes mobile telephone equipment identity, or interferes with the operation of the mobile telephone equipment identity, commits an offence.
- Any person guilty of an offence under this section shall, on conviction be liable to fine not exceeding one million shillings and of imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years or both.
You may download a full copy of some featured sections of the bill by clicking here |
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