Jazzed About Network Consolidation: A Simple Solution to Cutting Municipal IT Costs

by Tim Verras, Director of Marketing and Customer Experience for Sophicity The great jazz bassist and composer Charles Mingus once said, “Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that’s creativity.” When it comes to IT administration, there are plenty of opportunities to make things unnecessarily complex, especially with the sheerRead… Read more »

Finalist! 2009 Small Business Awards

I wanted to let you know that my IT consulting business, Identika, is a finalist for the 2009 Small Business of the Year award by the Loudoun Chamber of Commerce! (the largest in the state of Virginia) Would you vote for my company? All you have to do is go to this link: http://www.loudounchamber.org/html/events_smallbusinessawards.html ThenRead… Read more »

Committed NASA Techie Tries Out all the Latest Toys

If some people dabble in technology, Tom Soderstrom immerses himself in it. Whether new online services or promising new devices, he tries them, sees how they work, lets others try them and adds their reactions. For the past three years, Soderstrom has been bringing that technology enthusiasm to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where heRead… Read more »

Federal Eye: OMB Wants More Data on Government’s Performance

The Office of Management and Budget will release new performance guidelines Wednesday to collect deeper evaluations of federal offices and programs. The new Program Evaluation Initiative is voluntary but will help agencies make “evidence-based policy decisions” about what’s working and what needs improvement, White House Chief Performance Officer Jeffrey Zients said in an interview Tuesday.Read… Read more »

A Comprehensive Test Strategy for Internet Explorer 6, 7 and 8

I published an article at ClearType Press – take a look and please share your thoughts in the discussion: A Comprehensive Test Strategy for Internet Explorer 6, 7 and 8 http://cleartypemedia.com/press/2009/10/test-strategy-for-ie6-ie7-ie8/ In this article, I’ll show you how to install multiple, legitimate versions of IE to speed up testing by taking advantage of two no-costRead… Read more »

Employment grievance or disgruntled employee?

From the Government Business Examiner by Donna Quesinberry Blind inJustice of the Silent Majority Given the nature of the economy today and the unemployment statistics – people may appear desperate to be employed. When the marketplace is as tight as it is currently, do we move toward greater leniency in the regulation of federal, state,Read… Read more »

Have I become a Web 2.0 Snob?

This week I have spoken to two different civilian companies. I may be looking for a new adventure, and working for a civilian contractor may be the change I need for a few years. But, I am so into high tech gadgets; I think I am becoming a Web 2.0 snob. I don’t know whenRead… Read more »

Ideas to Improve Federal Acquisition and the Better Buy Project

From The Acquisition Corner This week saw the launch of the Better Buy Project, a joint project of the National Academy of Public Administration and the American Council for Technology-Industry Advisory Council in conjunction with the General Services Administration. According to the website: …The acquisition process represents one of the most important areas of collaborationRead… Read more »

Empathy vs. Sympathy – Customer Service Week Diatribe

As part of the “celebrations” of this week, Customer Service Week, I am attending various Customer Service related webinars. Whenever I attend similar functions, I get extremely agitated by the constant pounding of the use of empathy; and the term is used incorrectly. I have been in Customer Service for the last 22 years. InRead… Read more »