SERVICING THE IT MIND

PREMIERE ISSUE

Plus DECIPHERING WEB SERVICESWIRELESS TECHNOLOGIES TO BET ONTREATING CUSTOMER DATA RIGHT

WILL ACHEAPER

SERVERWINDUPCOSTINGYOU MORE?

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5 reasons more and more businesses are turning to IBM eServer xSeries systems.

A CIO Insight survey of IT execs revealed this startling news: 42% of the execs polled spent an average of 29 cents out of every IT dollar (!) “maintaining and managing excess complexity.”1 Instead, simplify. That’s what the on demandworld demands. You can do it with IBM eServer™ xSeries® systems powered by Intel® Xeon™ processors. Not only do they have built-in self-management features that can help improve server availability, they’re also time-tested andreliable. For more information, download Why X, an in-depth guide to xSeries systems at pcconnection.com/ibmserver

Scale 1–16 way with selectmodels. Pay as you grow.

24/7/365 optional onsitehardware support.2

Linux-ready throughthe entire line.

Mainframe-inspiredtechnologies.

IBM Director systemsmanagement.

1CIO Insight, a Ziff Davis Media publication, January 2003 survey of almost 500 IT executives. 2Additional charges apply. Standard support includes next business day response in some countries. IBM, the e-business logo, eServer, the eServer logo and xSeries are trademarks or registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.Intel, Intel Inside, the Intel Inside logo and Intel Xeon are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. Other company, product and service names may be trademarks or service marks of others.©2004 IBM Corporation. All rights reserved.

IBM eServer xSeries systems are poweredby Intel Xeon processors. (And they may verywell cost less than you think.)

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Give 3Com® a seat at the table.More than any other company, 3Com can reduce the expense of deploying and owning high-performancenetworks by providing an alternative to costly and complex architectures. Decades of experience and aportfolio of high-value products and services make us uniquely able to help drive your growth and profits.

If you're looking for an affordable data networking or IP telephony solution that scales from 5 to 50,000users, don't settle for less than the best. Give 3Com a seat at the table and get all the experience andexpertise you need.

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WAN Routing High-Performance Wireless SecuritySwitching Networking

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SuperStack 3 SwitchesSTARTING AT $299

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Office Connect VPN FirewallSTARTING AT $314

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The right management can increasethe storage capacity of your existing infrastructure.

BrightStor® Storage Management SoftwareMore hardware can’t solve increasingly complex data storage problems. That’s why BrightStor storage management

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+

Contents

FEATURESSecurity Brief 16Midsize businesses face all the same security vulnerabilities as muchlarger enterprises, yet they lack the same resources to ward off threats.By prioritizing security soft spots, midsize firms can effectively protectdata assets without spending big bucks. PLUS: My Turn PCConnection’s security guru Jennifer Hebert weighs in on issues.

How to Win Friendsand InfluenceCustomers 24Leveraging personal information is the way into customers’ hearts—and wallets. But treat that datawith care or risk alienating people. Worse, underpending legislation, you could be sued for big bucks.

Three WirelessTechnologies to Bet On 29No doubt wireless is hot. The question is which variation has stayingpower. Our bet is that wireless e-mail, 802.11g, and RFID will deliverthe best long-term productivity gains.

The Delicate Art of Buy-In 36Just rolled out a new CRM or ERP system? You still have to convinceusers to adopt the new technology. Try simple psychology, regularcommunication, and making people feel part of the process. It works.

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“Treating customer data withrespect was a best practice in 2003,but in 2004, it’s the law.” PAGE 24

DEPARTMENTS

Publisher’sLetter 3Threads 9Buying up intellectual property

from others instead ofreinventing the wheel…Beware of blogs in theworkplace… Linux

makes its way into the enter-prise. PLUS: Fun ThreadsMcDonald’s test drives Wi-Fihot spots… Digital music goes legit… Toshiba Portege M200 blends notebook,tablet capabilities.

CustomerProfile 14Scaling for Growth Biotechfirm Medarex standardizes on a business-class computing platform.

Snapshot 48Get the skinny on the who, what, where, and why of Web Services.

Cover: Illustration by Mirko Ilic.TOP LEFT: CHRISTOPH NEIMAN; LEFT: STEPHEN WEBSTER; ABOVE: SEAN KELLY;RIGHT: CHARLES GULLUNG.

14

Multi-Function Center® models that are designedwith exactly your needs in mind.Business today is about communication. Needless to say, asingle networked imaging device is not always the best way tofacilitate that communication — especially if you plan to growyour business. That’s why we offer a full range of intelligentMulti-Function Center® solutions designed to optimize the productivity of any person or department in your company.More than print, fax, copy, and scan, we have some modelswith unique features like duplexing, networkability, andexpandable paper tray capability; even a security function thatenables only pre-determined personnel to have access to printed documents. All of which makes this one product linewith the vision — and value — to see things your way.

NETWORKLASER MFC SOLUTIONS

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Compatible with sales, accounting, marketing... and most important, your vision.

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NSTEAD OF reinvent-ing the wheel time andtime again, some cor-

porate developers are buying upintellectual property from othercompanies and modifying it tomeet their specific needs.

“When the ’90s bubble burst,many venture capitalists wereleft with little more than patents,copyrights, trademarks, andtrade secrets,” says Steve Block,attorney for Fish & Richardson inDallas. “But this underlying intellectual property, if analyzed correctly, can actually havetremendous real value and profitpotential.”

Web sites like Yet to Come(www.yet2.com) and the Patent &License Exchange (www.pl-x.com)aim to bring together companiesof all sizes in all industries with aneed to buy or sell intellectualproperty—that so-called “intangi-ble” asset that many companiesnever exploit to its full value.

If you’re looking to buy, theseIP (intellectual property)exchanges give you a streamlinedway to research and purchasenew technology that you other-wise might never have heard of—an industrial surfactant, say,or a particular piece of network-ing code.

If you’re a seller, you gain a wayto net some revenue from under-valued or unused technologies onwhich you already hold patents or licenses. These exchanges are aparticular boon for companieswith large research-and-develop-ment departments because,by some estimates, typically nomore than 20 percent of suchresearch results in a revenue-generating product.

So, happy hunting.

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Workplace blogs (weblogs) may be thenewest, hippest ways for employeesto communicate with one another, butthey come with inherent perils, saysChristopher Wolf, who chairs the privacyand security practice at ProskauerRose LLP in Washington, DC. Workerstend to be much less careful with theirlanguage online than they are, say, intheir written letters. The company isliable if an employee posts libelousmaterial, and bloggers also run the riskof exposing trade secrets or publishinginformation that can be used againstthe firm in a lawsuit.

Companies that are still enamored of blogs should draw up and distributeguidelines outlining what is and isn’tacceptable. Finally, it should go with-out saying that personal blogs shouldnever be allowed on company serversor company time. That’s what week-ends are for.

BASE: 549 senior-executive decision makers at North American companies. SOURCE: Forrester Research Inc.

Block that blog!

BLOGS

BUDGET BLUES While ITspending is on the rise, companiesare still cautious going into 2004.

How does your2004 IT budget

compare with its actualIT spending in 2003?

What’s theoutlook for yourindustry in 2004?

Higher

32%

Unsure 6%Flat

43%Extremelychallenging

23%

Somewhatchallenging

33%

Okay

31% Very good

11%Unsure

2%

Lower

19%

At a Glance:� Yet to Come(www.yet2.com)� Patent &LicenseExchange(www.pl-x.com)

Buy vs. Build—it’s the timeless debate.Now there’s a third alternative: Borrow.

Brain GameINTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

FREEDOM IN BUSINESS

w w w. p c c o n n e c t i o n . c o m / t o s h i b a

we have your brand.™

©2004 PC Connection. All rights reserved. PC Connection is a trademark of PC Connection, Inc. or its subsidiaries. All other trademarks remain the property of their respective companies.

THE NEW 4.9LB. TECRA M2 CORPORATE PC

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S COMPANIES OF all sizesand in all industriesscramble to accommodate

a spate of new laws and regulationsregarding data, it’s becoming clearthat the IT department, not legal, isground zero for compliance.

California’s much-talked-aboutSecurity Breach 386 requires compa-nies that do business in Californiaor that have customers in the stateto notify them promptly whenevertheir personal information mayhave been compromised. Sarbanes-Oxley requires companies to auditthe controls and processes underly-ing financial reporting and to reportin real time any material events thatmight impact a company’s financialstanding.

The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act(GLBA) mandates how financialinstitutions design, implement, andmaintain safeguards for customerdata, and HIPAA—the Health Insur-ance Portability and AccountabilityAct—dictates how patient data iscollected and handled by the healthcare industry.

How to Cope? Experts suggest IT take a five-stepapproach to ensuring systems areup to code:� Audit. Start by analyzing your

technology business processes todetermine where the companyneeds to make changes to complywith particular regulations.

� Assess. Ideally, you’ll finish up this step with a specific list of requirements for meeting compliance.

� Modify. ’Nuff said. Just do it.� Measure. Once you’re in compli-

ance, measure often to make sureyou stay that way.

� Report. Make sure executivesand other business colleaguesunderstand what changes you’vemade and why.

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Make way for enterprise LinuxYou’ve heard the talkthat Linux, the open-source operating system, is just aboutready for prime time inthe enterprise. Well,after the barrage ofactivity last quarter,prime time may havefinally arrived.

Red Hat Inc., a majorLinux provider inRaleigh, N.C., last yearshifted gears away fromits widely entrenchedfree Linux versions infavor of EnterpriseLinux, a family of Linuxplatforms, which havebeen certified by arange of hardware andsoftware providers.It’s also pushing theFedora project.

Mainstream vendorswho’ve been firmlyentrenched in the Unixcamp have also steereda course toward Linux.Oracle recently certifiedits popular database on Red Hat EnterpriseLinux and has promisedto provide support forthat product on Linux.

Certainly, there’s aptto be more movementamong Linux players inthis direction over thecourse of the year. Itmay just be that Linuxhas finally grown intoan enterprise-classplayer that companiesof all types and sizestake seriously.

A

You have a legal depart-ment, or at least somedecent corporate counsel,so you don’t need to worryabout regulations, right?Wrong.

Letter ofthe Law

LEGISLATION

THREADS2002

102003

23

2004

43

2005

78

2006

126

2007

182IM IN THE WORKPLACE Use of business-class InstantMessaging is expected to grow to 182 million users by 2007, an annual compound growth rate of 79 percent.Pros? Cons? Visit www.pcconnection.com/IM for more information

(Seats in millions)SOURCE: Ferris Research Inc.

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Adobe Systems Incorporated, 345 Park Avenue, San Jose, CA 95110-2704 USA, www.adobe.com

Adobe, the Adobe logo, Acrobat, the Adobe PDF logo, and “Tools for the New Work” are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe SystemsIncorporated in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

© 2004 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA.95001533 4/03

Acrobat 6.0 Professional

UPGRADE ONLY $134.95#434445 Wi-Fi Fries?

Let the Wi-Fi culture wars begin! It’s no surprise that Starbucks is aggressively market-

ing its wireless “hotspots” to yupscales who feel the urge to connect sans office. But McDonald’s? Indeed.The Golden Arched empire has chosen the Bay Area,New York, Chicago and, yes, Seattle as test markets forhotspots that let hamburglars with 802.11b-enableddevices log on wirelessly to the Internet.

At least one market analyst says the McDonald’s movemakes sense. The reason? If Wi-Fi catches on anywhere, it will be among mid-level road warriors who are most likely to grab a Big Mac while theycheck in with the office.

OWNLOADING digitalmusic files is still in, butdoing so over any kind of

renegade peer-to-peer file sharingservice is now out.

You can thank the aggressive anti-piracy campaign by the RecordingIndustry Association of America(RIAA) for the sudden compliance.Thanks to the RIAA’s legal scare tac-tics last year, households drasticallypulled back on digital music fileswaps. According to NPD Group inPort Washington, N.Y., 1.4 millionhouseholds deleted their music filestashes in August. Moreover, thenumber of households acquiring dig-ital music via peer-to-peer file-sharingservices dipped by 11 percent fromAugust to September, NPD found.

While consumers have cooled

their jets on what’sbeen deemed illegal,they’re still just asenamored with theconcept of acquiringmusic the digitalway. A variety of new,legitimate digitalmusic venues havepopped up, led, of course, by Apple’siTunes Music store. Last fall,Napster came back, thanks to a dealbetween parent company Roxio Inc.and Pennsylvania State University,which plans to offer the Napster Premium Service at no cost to itsstudents in the fall of 2004. AndApple is shipping a Windows version of iTunes.

So go ahead and burn those tunes.Just be willing to pay for them.

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A gearhead’s delightThere’s nothing likegreat gadgetry to startthe New Year right. Toboost your productivityquotient AND satisfyyour craving for whiz-bang technology, con-sider Toshiba’s newPortege M200, a full-function notebook withjust the right hint oftablet PC capabilities.

The system offerstop-of-line performance

with powerfulIntel PentiumProcessor Mchips running at

up to 1.70GHz and a

feature-packedNVIDIA GeForce FXGo5200 32M graphicsprocessor. They’ve alsoincluded built-in Wi-Ficapabilities, Intel’sCentrino mobile tech-nology for extendedbattery life, and abunch of software andutilities to maximizeuser productivity.

Did we mention thecool tablet functionality?The system can be used as a notebook oras a tablet PC to take handwritten notes and capture diagrams during meetings. Listprice starts at $2,399.

D

MUSIC

FUNTHREADS

Making DigitalTunes Legit

WIRELESS CULTURE WARS

CALLING ALL COUCH POTATOES It’s firstand goal with 30 seconds left on the clock.Areyou going to answer that call? Don’t think so. But

now you don’t have to blow it off. For about $60,you can buy a unit that will display the name andnumber of callers right on your TVscreen. Theunit is available from a variety of manufacturers.If it’s the pizza delivery guy, definitely pick it up.

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“In order to move forward,we had to havesomethingrobust enoughto support usin the future.”

—Robert McQueenMedarex

On where they started: “I’ve seenmy share of explosive growth,but these guys were the realthing. They needed everythingdone quickly. When I first startedspeaking with them, they werebuying equipment haphazardlyand without regard to the long-term picture. They needed computers, but what they reallyneeded was a long-term plan.”

On where they are today: “They’vecompletely matured. They wentfrom having no IT group to a finely tuned, well-oiled machine,where everything moves in theright direction. Even things thatcould potentially be an issue arenot, because we have a plan tocover them.”On the partnership: “I have allsorts of relationships in the company, from finance to thewarehouse people. I talk to any

one of the folks in the IT group on a daily basis.”On the perks of the partnership:“These guys are all huge sports fans, as am I. We get into the RedSox/Yankees rivalry in a big way.Unfortunately, Bob can never say much about his real team—the Mets.”

Scott Hamilton, Senior Account Manager

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Scalingfor Growth

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HEN YOU’RE a midsizebusiness adding newemployees at a clip of

about five a week, it’s hard to gettoo particular about what kind ofsystem you throw at them. Andwithout a formal IT group, youhave a surefire recipe for a hodge-podge of systems that canbecome a support nightmare.

Biotechnology firm MedarexInc. faced just that situation acouple of years back. Medarex,in Princeton, N.J., was operating in hyper-growth mode, adding people, bringing up systems, andall the while trying to navigate thebumpy road of drug development.Medarex had at least a half-dozenbrands of PCs. The systems were,in many cases, lacking the horse-power to have any kind of stayingpower. And the company was in need of a more reliable andsecure network server and data

management platform.Medarex’s remedy began with

the formation of a central ITgroup; leveraging a partnershipwith PC Connection, Medarexlaunched a journey to standardizeon a business-class computingplatform. It chose Hewlett-Packard Co. desktop units andIBM ThinkPad notebooks formobile users, both equipped withthe memory and processor horse-power to last for at least threeyears. On the back-end, Medarexwent with HP Proliant servers, andit implemented a Storage AreaNetwork (SAN) from EMC Corp.

“In order to move forward, wehad to have something robustenough to support us in thefuture,” explains RobertMcQueen, director of information

technology at Medarex.Medarex also needed a way to

roll out these new, standardizedsystems quickly, with minimalwork on the part of IT. Medarexleveraged PC Connection’s configuration expertise to build a standard image of its system(including things like applications,system settings, and securityoptions), which was saved to thenetwork and then replicated onevery new machine. It’s been a critical timesaver compared withthe old days when installation wasa labor-intensive, manual effort.

Even though McQueen nowheads up a small IT group, he stillrelies heavily on PC Connection to do things like facilitate vendorcontracts. “They’re much morethan a box provider,” says McQueen.“It’s pretty much PC Connectionor my internal staff that I rely onto make things happen.”

WBiotech firm Medarex eyes future by standardizing on a business-class computing platform.

IN THE WEEDS WITH PC CONNECTION

CUSTOMER PROFILE BY BETH STACKPOLE

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DAX SHARPE KNOWS what it’s like to be partof a large, well-funded army fighting the waragainst computer hackers. He’s also been a commando in the same campaign, single-handedly trying to stay a step ahead of thelatest e-mail-borne virus while juggling adozen other networking chores.

A year ago, the networking specialist waspart of Swiss pharmaceuticals giant F. HoffmanLaRoche Ltd. The 50,000-employee companyhad battalions of well-trained security special-ists—Sharpe among them—not to mention adetailed security policy manual several hundred pages long.In April, however,Sharpe’s medical diagnostic equipment business was spun out.

Midsize firms can effectively protect data assets without shelling out big bucks.WRITTEN BY JEFF MOAD | ILLUSTRATION BY CHRISTOPH NIEMANN

urity BriefSPECIAL REPORT

It now operates as a semi-autonomous division of UK-based Osmetech plc. With only 100 employees, the divi-sion has an IT staff of one and a half.Sharpe is the one.

“The biggest difference is the lack of support youhave trying to do security in a smaller-size business,”says Sharpe, in Roswell, Ga. “Everybody has to wearmultiple hats, and you don’t have the money to goout and hire high-priced consultants to do vulnera-bility tests for you.” Sharpe estimates he now spendsup to 40 percent of his time updating virus-scanningprograms and performing other security-related duties.

Sharpe isn’t the only technology manager feelinga bit shell-shocked from being on the security frontlines. Midsize businesses face all the same securityvulnerabilities as much larger enterprises. And,with the advent of new strains of computer viruses,such as “So Big”, that can quickly sidestep firewalls,businesses large and small are more susceptible to

attack. The problem is that smaller businesses oftenlack the people and technical resources that largerenterprises can apply to security.

“Small and medium-size businesses are caught in the toughest spot securitywise,” says Alan Paller,director of research at the SANS Institute, a securitytraining and information clearinghouse. “They’redoing more that’s network-based, yet they don’thave a lot of money or people to throw at security.”

That doesn’t mean midsize companies aredefenseless. And they certainly don’t need armies ofin-house security experts or well-paid consultantsto install a comprehensive and effective securityplan. All these companies need to do to stay a stepahead of hackers is to follow some straightforward,commonsense steps, not all of which involve hiringmore people or deploying new technologies.

Security soft spotsPrioritizing potential vulnerabilities is the criticalfirst step, according to experts. Most companies face a wide range of potential exposures, but not all security soft spots are created equal. Some, ifexploited, would produce only inconvenience—say a temporary e-mail outage. Others, such as lossof account records or other customer information,have the potential to bring down the business.

The best way to help midsize business ownersunderstand why some sort of investment in fire-walls, virus detection software, and other securitysolutions is a necessity is to clearly spell out thelosses they would suffer as a result of a securitybreach. That was the approach Peter Antfellner tookwhen he arrived three years ago as the one-person ITdepartment at sales and marketing company E.A.Langenfeld Associates, Ltd. Previously, Antfellnersaid the 300-person company had done little aboutsecurity, instead relying on its Internet ServiceProvider to keep viruses at bay and installing fire-walls on only a few internal systems. That was untilAntfellner showed Langenfeld’s management howmuch staff time and money it would cost to repli-cate key data files if they were destroyed or compro-mised as part of a security breach.

“That helped us explain in business terms why itwas necessary to spend money defending our prop-

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Policy patrolMany managers of small and midsize businessesbelieve formal security policies are only for enter-prises with thousands of employees scatteredworldwide. Not true, say experts. The process ofspelling out what’s expected of all employees canitself raise awareness and improve security. Con-sider these points when drafting your own policy:Passwords. Users should be required to pickpasswords that can’t be easily guessed and to changethem often. Also, another no-no is storing passwordswhere they can be easily seen by outsiders.Technology deployment. Define what soft-ware and hardware are permitted and don’t allowemployees to deviate. Technologies such as wirelessLANs are cheap and easy to install, but rogue accesspoints present easy opportunities to hackers.E-mail attachments. Don’t open them if youdon’t know what’s in them. Period.Don’t talk to strangers. Hackers are famousfor trying to trick employees into sharing informa-tion that can be used to break into systems. Don’tshare info like company phone numbers, employeebirthdays, or children’s names with strangers.

“Small and medium-size businesses arecaught in the toughest spot securitywise.”

erty from hackers,” says Antfellner, who has sincerolled out a secure virtual private network connect-ing the company’s headquarters in Des Plaines, Ill.,with its three regional offices and put in place adetailed security policy.

Once you’ve gotten a handle on what you have tolose, the next step is determining which part of yourelectronic perimeter is the most vulnerable. (Seediagram, above.) This doesn’t mean spending a lotof cash. There are free, open source software toolssuch as Nmap (www.insecure.org/nmap/) that canbe used to probe and test firewalls, e-mail servers,and other common attack targets.

For many midsize businesses, the cost of securityassessment tools is not the issue. The real problemis a lack of staff and expertise. Fortunately, somesecurity assessment service providers have begun totailor their products—and prices—to fit smaller com-panies. Telecom carrier SBC Communications, forexample, recently announced a new VulnerabilityScanning Service offering that promises to assess acompany’s external security soft spots for as little as $200 per scan.

After this, it’s time shore up whatever securitytechnology you may already have in place. By now,

most companies—even small ones—have deployedbasic security technologies such as firewalls andvirus detection software on most, if not all systems.The challenge is to make sure all the security soft-ware in place is properly configured to block eachnew threat that hackers may dream up. Updatesdesigned to foil new viruses and worms are usuallyfree and quickly available for download from securityWeb sites such as www.cve.mitre.org.

Getting the latest security updates installed companywide before the next worm turns up maybe the biggest hurdle for overwhelmed networkadministrators. “Everybody’s facing major attacksfrom viruses that blow right past firewalls,” saysGreg Adams, vice president of product managementat security software vendor Internet Security Systems.

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SecurityCheckpointsHere are some of the mostcommon vulnerabilities facedby companies large andsmall—and how to fix them:

E-mailDANGER: Opening e-mail attachmentspromotes the rampant spread of computer viruses.

SOLUTION: Virus detectionsoftware on each and everyworkstation and server can

help inoculate against known threats.

Remote AccessDANGER: The hotel Internet connections your sales team usesare often unprotected and attracthackers like bees to honey.

SOLUTION: Install a firewall on every portable PC. VPN access for

remote workers is even better.

The PeopleDANGER: All the technology in the worldwon’t protect you if your employeesdo dumb things likeopen e-mail attach-ments from strangers.

SOLUTION: Putin place a simplesecurity policy

that spells out dos anddon’ts. And enforce it.

Web ServersDANGER: The software used to run Websites is notorious for bugs that let hackersgain unauthorized access.

SOLUTION: Install the latest software patches. Add-on products that authenticate users

and encrypt Web server traffic—such as virtual private networking (VPN) and digital certificate software—also help.

Wireless ConnectionsDANGER: The security that comespackaged with most wireless accesspoints is full of holes.

SOLUTION: Beef up authentica-tion of wireless users andencryption by extending your

VPN to cover wireless connections.You can also buy add-on security appli-ances that offer stronger encryption.

Today’s threats require a lot more than a firewall. This is a lot more than a firewall.

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Introducing the Symantec™ Gateway Security 5400 Series. It wasn’t long ago that a firewallprovided all the perimeter protection an enterprise needed. But that was before blended

threats like Slammer and Blaster. Now there’s the SymantecGateway Security 5400 Series, full inspection firewall appliancesthat integrate intrusion prevention and intrusion detection, virusprotection, content filtering, anti-spam and VPN. And now you canget more than a firewall for less than you’d expect. Just trade in

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“Many smaller businesses aren’t able to keep upwith new patches, and they’ve been hit hard.”

Fortunately, security vendors have begun address-ing this problem, offering up relatively inexpensivesecurity management servers that can be used toupdate firewalls and virus-screening software from a central point. Six months ago, on advice from PCConnection Inc., Kevin McGhinnis, a networkadministrator at 200-employee Greer LaboratoriesInc., installed such a product, Symantec’s AntivirusCorporate Edition server. The software automaticallyscans workstations and servers on Greer Laboratories’network to make sure they’ve received the latestvirus-detecting updates. If not, the server automati-cally downloads the needed security software toeach workstation or server.

“We installed the server two weeks before the ‘SoBig’ virus hit, and it saved my bacon because it helpedme protect our entire network,” says McGhinnis, whoestimates he used to spend about 25 percent of histime cruising the company’s six-building campus tomake sure PCs were updated. Now, he says, he spendsno more than 15 minutes per week on that task.

Network administrators without even 15 minutesto spare have another option: Outsourcing manage-ment of security technology to so-called managedservice providers. Security MSPs will help you installsecurity technologies such as virtual private net-works, manage them remotely, and, in some cases,even agree to fee reimbursements if they allowhackers to slip through.

The final step in all of this is to put a security policyin place that spells out acceptable and unacceptableemployee behavior. (See sidebar, p. 18.) Hackers arenotorious for guessing passwords that are too obvious or are rarely changed. Some have even been

known to break into a business in order to stealpasswords that have been posted on ubiquitoussticky notes.

“A lot of times, smaller businesses think theydon’t need formal policies because they can keep an eye on everyone, but that’s just not true,” saysOsmetech’s Sharpe, who is currently working on a security policy. “The key is to make it simple andeasy to understand.”

Despite limited resources and in-house expertise,there’s plenty midsize businesses can do to win thewar against hackers. But they can’t afford to delayfortifying their defenses.

Says Antfellner: “Based on the increasing sophis-tication of hackers, I anticipate that the security situation is going to get worse before it gets better.”

Jeff Moad writes about a wide variety of informationtechnology subjects, including security and manufacturing. Currently he is executive editor at Managing Automation magazine.

RIDING SOLO: DaxSharpe is on a missionto fight hackers.

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ExorciseYour SecurityNightmare1Prioritize your poten-

tial vulnerabilities.

2Determine where the specific weakpoints are on your network by tapping

resources like free open-source productsor security assessment services offered by third parties.

3Shore up the technology already inplace. Upgrade outdated hardware,

add security options like firewalls, and consider new software offerings that automatically distribute updates.Outsourcing ongoing security maintenanceis another option.

4Create—and enforce—a formal security policy.

“Smaller businesses thinkthey don’t need formal policies because they cankeep an eye on everyone.”

1. 8 0 0 . 9 9 8 . 0 0 71 � p c c o n n e c t i o n . c o m / a p c

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ENNIFER HEBERTknows her way aroundsecurity issues. As PC

Connection’s Value Added Services’Manager, Hebert and her on-callteam of security experts provideassessment services for a varietyof customers—from home busi-ness entrepreneurs to corporateIT managers and to all kinds ofcompanies, from start-ups tolong-established businesses.

PC Connection’s securityassessment practice offers cus-tomers a clear evaluation of theirparticular network, providingpractical advice, strategic guide-lines, and hardware and softwarerecommendations to increasenetwork security while meetingbudgetary constraints.

“Security is always going to be a question mark when you’relooking at IT,” Hebert says. “Withthe range of security challengesin today’s technology environ-ment, it’s not a field where onesize fits all.”

To meet the demands, Hebertand crew have to be ready for anything. Each inquiry is a chanceto evaluate a customer’s entiretechnology environment and recommend cost-effectiveimprovements that will growwith their needs. Hebert follows a mantra learned through yearsof experience—“Protect, Detect,

Respond.” It’s an easy, plain-English way to engage all levels of customers in security issues.

It starts with Protection, a catch-word for “all the hardware that protects your network from hackersand viruses—a firewall or a router,for example,” Hebert explains.To fill that need, PC Connection carries the latest security productsat competitive prices.

Detection is how Hebert andcrew refer to any kind of managedservice or software that compa-nies employ to detect hackers or viruses. PC Connection offersup a wide range of systems andstrategies to keep customers’ networks healthy and virus-free.

Responding is the crucial finalstep. “It’s the key part,” Hebertsays. “How are you going to beprepared to respond to securitybreaches, and what is your strat-egy for responding now and wellin the future?”

The goal behind “Protect,

Detect, Respond” is to transcendtoday’s security needs and provide the tools, awareness, andprocesses so customers stay safeas new and more complex securitythreats arise.

Hebert and team are devoted to helping customers get the bestvalue for their security budget.

“I find it very easy becausethat’s what I know and love todo,” she says.

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With “Protect, Detect,Respond,” PC Connectionhelps customerskeep networks safe.

Soundingthe Mantrafor Security

MY TURN JENNIFER HEBERT

“Security is alwaysgoing to be a question mark when you’re looking at IT.”

HEBERT’S PASSION: Helpingcustomers get value for their security budget.

OHNNIE COCHRAN’S SARTORIAL needs are a bit different from Eminem’s. In order tomatch the clothes to the man, high-endclothing stores like Mitchells/Richards needinformation on their customers’ lifestyles,such as whether the client’s daily routine

includes an appearance in court or on MTV.Mitchells/Richards, with stores in Greenwich and

Westport, Conn., stays on top of the preferences ofits patrons using a homegrown customer relation-ship management (CRM) system, along with a doseof good, old-fashioned customer service. Store CEOJack Mitchell, whose parents founded the company50 years ago, knows the key to success lies with har-vesting the right kind of customer data. Yet Mitchelldoesn’t plan to leverage the information he so avidly collects to bombard clientele with e-mail ordirect mail come-ons enticing them to buy the latestdesigner looks. Instead, he’s a fan of a more subtleapproach. Author of a new book called Hug Your Customers, Mitchell promotes getting to know customers on a personal basis and using the data ina sensitive, responsible fashion.

“I like to put the personalization before the prod-uct,” he explains. “It’s not enough to know that youare a size 6 who loves Armani and lives in Boston.We need to know the colors you like,what you dofor a living, your kids’ ages. Then you become a customer, a friend, a client for life.”

No matter what your business, capturing customerinformation is the key to creating personalizedoffers that will tempt and delight prospects whetherthey come through direct mail, e-mail, e-commerce,or in person. But gathering and leveraging this datais tricky. You don’t want to scare or alienate cus-tomers—that’s no way to build a lasting relationship.Thoughtful companies do not sell customer infor-mation, and they create data policies that allow people to opt in to receive only the information theywant, in the manner in which they choose.

Up until now, however, treating customer datawith tender loving care has been a customer servicebest practice, not a strict essential. But going forward,there will be legal ramifications. New federal anti-spam legislation that went into effect on January 1,2004, places restrictions on commercial messages

Treat customer data with careor risk alienating people—even worse, you could be sued.WRITTEN BY LAUREN GIBBONS PAUL | PHOTO-ILLUSTRATION BY STEPEHEN WEBSTER

HOW TO WINFRIENDSANDINFLUENCECUSTOMERS

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There’s gutsy new engineering inside the Sony VAIO® Z1 Series notebook–no strings attached. With wireless connectivity in itsblood, it’s the first ever specifically designed around Intel® Centrino™ mobile technology. The result isn’t just a sleeker profile, but a PC that packs big performance, even when you take it on the road. Like watching DVD movies. CD burning.And photo editing. All of which are backed by up to 1GB RAM and a 60GB hard drive.1 Varoom!

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©2004 Sony Electronics Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Sony, the Sony logo,VAIO, and the VAIO logo are trademarks of Sony. Intel, IntelInside, the Intel Inside logo, Intel Centrino, and the Intel Centrino logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. Microsoftand Windows are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Features and specifications are subject to change without notice. 1.Gigabyte means one billion bytes when referring to hard drive capacity. Accessiblecapacity will vary and a portion of hard disk space is reserved as a recovery partition.

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sent via e-mail. The penalty for violating theseguidelines is stiff—$2 million and up, and that’s justfor an innocent violation, not for someone proven tobe an intentional spammer. “Treating customer datawith respect was a best practice in 2003, but in 2004, it’sthe law,” says Kevin Akeroyd, senior vice presidentand general manager at Digital Impact Inc., an e-mailmarketing company in San Mateo, Calif.

Tricks of the tradeFear of violating the new rules has made Akeroydand his team ultraconservative about how they collectand utilize customer data. Given that e-marketing istheir bread-and-butter business, Digital Impact hasn’t shied away from collecting the information:The firm regularly solicits its own customer basethrough a variety of digital and traditional methods,including Web site captures, Web or e-mail polls andsurveys, and through call center representatives. It’show they leverage this information where Akeroyd’steam remains cautious. For each message DigitalImpact sends a customer, Akeroyd has a document-ed thread (whether digital or paper) that proves thecustomer asked to be contacted in that way.

“We make sure we have a clean and auditable con-sent and informationing path,” he explains. That’sbecause the new legislation mandates that firms beable to produce documentation of customer permis-sion or a prior business relationship. Moreover, theprocess must be very clear to the customer orprospect. Each step of the way, the customer mustunderstand what he’s opting into—automatic opt-ins(the box that appears onscreen already checked off)are not going to cut it anymore.

As part of its own marketing efforts, DigitalImpact sends e-mails to qualified prospects whohave affirmatively elected to receive them. If theprospect clicks on a link in the e-mail message andnavigates through content, information about whatthey looked at and what’s of interest is logged androuted to Salesforce.com, Digital Impact’s CRMapplication service provider (ASP). From there,Salesforce.com sends an e-mail to a Digital Impactsales rep notifying them that a prospect is interested

in a particular type of content. Then and only then,will the sales rep follow up.

Another guideline for handling customer data: Dounto my data as you would have me do unto yours.For Niel Nickolaisen, CIO of Deseret Book Co., thatmeans letting customers choose how often theywish to receive e-mail communications. Deseret, aretailer of Latter Day Saints (LDS) books in Salt LakeCity, has 40 stores as well as a bustling e-commerceWeb site. While Nickolaisen personally has opted toreceive a slew of e-newsletters, he often wishes theywould appear a little less frequently. “If I wish Icould get that newsletter once a week vs. once a day,why wouldn’t I give my customers that choice?”says Nickolaisen.

Nickolaisen is a big believer in personal choice.“We’ll ask what content they would like to see, suchas author signings and in-store book events. We’llgive them that until they scream,” he says. “We’ll target them with offers we know they care about.”That could mean the difference between customerdelight (measured in dollar signs) vs. disgust (measured by a drop in sales or even a lawsuit).

Lauren Gibbons Paul has more than 15 years of experience as a writer for publications such as eWEEK,CIO, Managing Automation, and Network World.

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TOP PRIVACY CONCERNS� Fraud. Consumers still worry their credit cardnumbers will be ripped off on the Internet.This concern is less valid every day with beefed up security policies such as the zero customer fraudliability that most sites offer. But the fear still exists.� Overload. Every day, people get more and moredata heaped on them in every form imaginable.The info glut is making people very cranky. Only relevant messages will be tolerated.� Monitoring. People don’t like the feeling their‘Net behavior is being watched. They wouldn’t likeit in real life, and they don’t like it on the Web.� Viruses. Computer users are wary of getting avirus by opening an e-mail or clicking on a link.

1Integrity. Don’t sellor share customer

data without gainingexplicit permission.

2Relevancy. Targetyour messages

to people you have reason to believe willwelcome them.

3Frequency. Letrecipients choose

how often they willreceive the communication.

4 Personalization.Don’t just slap a

“Dear Kevin” on top ofthe message and thinkit’s personalized.

THE GOLDEN RULES

1. 8 0 0 . 9 9 8 . 0 0 71 � p c c o n n e c t i o n . c o m / s u n

©2004 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All rights reserved. Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun logo, Solarisand Sun Fire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the UnitedStates and other countries. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

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WHEN IT COMES to being cool, wire-less has got it going on. But with somany buzzwords (802.11g, Bluetooth,CDMA, BlackBerry, WLAN, WWAN are just a few) it’s easy to get lost.And not all of the latest wirelesstechnologies are ready for primetime. Take heart, though. We’ve cutthrough the hype and identified threewireless technologies that are notonly hip, but are destined to trans-form the way you work. � Wirelessmessaging, 802.11g networking, andRadio Frequency Identification (RFID)technologies are ready to go to workin today’s medium-size enterprises.These technologies are worth spend-ing money on since they’ll help youachieve real growth and productivitygains now—and in the future. >>>

Of all the wirelessvariations, WIRELESSE-MAIL, 802.11G,and RFID are poised to deliver the best long-term productivity gains.WRITTEN BY LAUREN GIBBONS PAUL

THREEWIRELESSTECHNOLOGIESTO BET ON

1. 8 0 0 . 9 9 8 . 0 0 71 � p c c o n n e c t i o n . c o m / i b m

IBM product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of International BusinessMachines Corporation. Intel, Intel Centrino, Intel Inside, the Intel Centrino logo and IntelInside logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiariesin the United States and other countries.© 2004 IBM Corp.All rights reserved.

IBM product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of International BusinessMachines Corporation. Intel, Intel Centrino, Intel Inside, the Intel Centrino logo and IntelInside logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiariesin the United States and other countries.© 2004 IBM Corp.All rights reserved.

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WIRELESS E-MAIL Equipped with a small keyboard, wireless devicessuch as Research In Motion’s BlackBerry and the palmOne Treo let users send and receive e-mailswithout an Internet connection, for a street price ofbetween $300 and $600. Users can access calendarand personal information manager (PIM) informa-tion as well as corporate applications. BlackBerry isthe biggest name at the moment, and its popularitywill only increase as BlackBerry clones begin toappear on the market. (RIM recently elected to openthe hardware platform for its BlackBerry system, inpart to avoid some of Palm’s missteps in pursuing a closed platform.)

The idea of wireless e-mail is simple, but in practiceit packs a punch. Just ask John Seiver, a partner atCole, Raywid & Braverman, a 130-person communica-tions law firm in Washington, D.C. “It’s addictive,”says Seiver. “It used to be such a big deal to stay in touch—I had to call in or find a way to hook up my laptop and dial in. It was cumbersome. Now,anyone can reach me anywhere, anytime. I keep the

BlackBerry hooked to my belt.” Seiverstill carries a cell phone, but hasdumped his pager now that the Black-Berry has made it obsolete.

Firm CTO Peter Conn gave Black-Berrys to select users, including Seiver,two years ago. The BlackBerry’s immediacy has changed the way Seiver practices law. He can makechanges on documents up to the lastminute, allowing him more flexibilityand creativity. Says Seiver, “I replacedall my written files with e-mail files.I keep everything in [Microsoft] Outlook on the BlackBerry.” Since henever turns it off except on an airplane,he finds the BlackBerry, along with hisubiquitous cell phone, further blursthe lines between work and home life.He can receive (and even bill the timeto respond to) important client messages while at his son’s soccergames. Therein lies the rub: Wireless e-mail has the potential to erase foreverthe concept of downtime. Seiver keeps up with e-mail on vacation, which he says saves him a day or two ofsorting through messages when he gets back to theoffice. “I can’t live without it,” he says.

802.11G NETWORKING Based on the IEEE 802.11 standard, wireless local areanetwork technology, called Wi-Fi for short, promisesto help enterprises of all sizes create wireless net-works that are cheaper and easier to install and run than their wired counterparts. There are three variations of 802.11—802.11b, 802.11a, and the newest version, 802.11g).

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“It’s addictive … Now, anyone canreach me anywhere, anytime. I keepthe BlackBerry hooked to my belt.”

Shopping Spree 802.11g� NetGear 802.11gWireless EthernetBridge ($109.95)

Wireless E-mail� Research InMotion’s Black-Berry 6230 Wireless Handheld($299.95)

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ANYWHERE,ANYTIME: Wire-less e-mailkeeps people inconstant touch.

1. 8 0 0 . 9 9 8 . 0 0 71 � p c c o n n e c t i o n . c o m / b e l k i n

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Running at a speed of up to 11 megabits per second (Mbps), 802.11b predominates today. Like802.11g, 802.11a offers higher speeds of 54Mbps but is limited due to the fact that it runs at the 2.4 gigahertz (GHz) radio frequency, while the g and bversions both run at 5 GHz. Most people have heldoff upgrading to 802.11a, since it is not backwards-compatible with 802.11b. 802.11g promises fasterspeed while running on the same frequency as 802.11b, which should promote acceptance.

Wireless networks appeal to businesses of allsizes, as well as consumers in the home and smalloffice/home office space. Hovensa LLC, an oil com-pany in St. Croix, has spent about $65,000 to install a wireless infrastructure throughout its refinery.Based on Cisco Systems Inc. Aironet 802.11b gear,the wireless data network will link to the refinery’sprocess control network, allowing operators to roamthe plant floor, taking readings on various pieces ofcontrol equipment such as pumps and valves.Monitoring levels on control systems is critical tomaintaining the safe functioning of the refinery.

Traditionally, the operators would note thosemeasurements on a clipboard and enter the datainto the information network at the end of theirrounds, often at the end of the day. With the Wi-Finetwork, they will enter the data on a handhelddevice that will instantly transmit the data. Wirelessdata entry will save time, decrease errors, and, best of all, give nearly instantaneous access to plant floordata. “All they have to do is read the dial, type the

reading into the device, and it will be uploaded innear real time,” says Robert Ruach, senior applica-tion specialist for Hovensa, a unit of Hess.

Unlike most oil companies, which tend to be waryof new technology, Hovensa has bought into Wi-Fiin a big way. Two of its buildings are connected viaan 802.11a bridge, and Hovensa will upgrade toCisco’s 802.11g Aironet 1100 and 1200 Access Pointswhen they ship this quarter.

The Cisco 802.11g announcement is particularlysignificant since Cisco is the first major networkingvendor to bring out 802.11g products aimed at enter-prises of all sizes. Analysts believe many companieshave been waiting to implement Wi-Fi until theycould buy the g version, which offers better speedthan b (54Mbps vs. 11Mbps) without requiring

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At a glanceWireless e-mail This term refers to the abilityfor handheld personal data assistants (PDAs) suchas Research In Motion’s BlackBerry to receive e-mail messages and access other applicationswirelessly. Total corporate wireless e-mail subscrip-tions were forecast to reach nearly 2 million lastyear, jumping to 9.4 million by 2007, according tothe Yankee Group Inc.

802.11g The IEEE’s 802.11g standard isdesigned as a higher-bandwidth—

54Mbps—successor to the popular802.11b standard, which tops out at11Mbps. Global Wi-Fi hardware

revenues will reach $3.8 billion this year,according to In-Stat/MDR.

RFID Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tech-nology uses radio waves to transfer data betweena reader device and an item, such as clothing or a shipping container. The technology powers a variety of different applications, from luggage tag-ging at airports to highway toll collections. Globalshipments of RFID systems (hardware, software,and services) reached nearly $965 million in 2002,according to Venture Development Corp. VDCexpects the market to reach $2.7 billion by 2007.

RFID CHAMPION: Wal-Martis pushing suppliers toembrace the technology.

“Location services, which are enabledby RFID, are becoming very important.Every enterprise has shrinkage.”

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3a wholesale upgrade. “[802.11g] will be whole a lotfaster than what we have now,” says Ruach.

RFIDIf Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is goodenough for Wal-Mart, you gotta figure it’s goodenough for your business. The world’s largest retailercaused more heartburn for its tens of thousands ofsuppliers last fall when it mandated that they wouldhave to apply RFID tags to all products to be sold atWal-Mart by January of next year.

Around for more than a decade, RFID is suddenlyhot. The technology is relatively simple: RFID tagscontain tiny chips that transmit location data fortracking and identification purposes. RFID tags havefound a home in “toll” applications where the con-sumer waves a small tag in front of a reader to buygas or pay for a toll automatically. And consumerpackaged goods and retail industries are smittenwith RFID since it has the power to further whittlethe amount of inventory they need to hold—the keyto saving money in that sector.

But RFID holds potential for a company of almostany size in almost any industry. “Location services,which are enabled by RFID, are becoming veryimportant. Every enterprise has shrinkage. No onecares when a few legal pads walk out the door butthey do care about office chairs and laptops,” saysJames Gaskin, a Dallas consultant and small busi-ness columnist for Network World magazine.

The RFID tag is the anti-shoplifting technology of the masses, and it has many advantages over the traditional bar codes, which have to be positionedproperly to be read. RFID tags do not have this prob-lem—and cannot be tampered with—since they areembedded.

With prices dropping rapidly, RFID tags now costabout twenty or thirty cents apiece, an investmentthat now pays off on items that cost $20 or more,says Gaskin. Wal-Mart suppliers are scrambling tofigure out a way to make the investment break evenon items worth a lot less. The cost and break-evennumbers are both expected to drop rapidly, givingbusinesses a great way to track every component in

a company—except the people.

In fact, RFID’svery precision is apotential sourceof controversy.Privacy advocatesdecry the implica-tions of RFID tagsput in for inventory-tracking purposes

that are not turned off when the consumer buys theitem. The buyer’s location could be tracked alongwith the product.“This could be horribly abused bycompanies or the government,” says Gaskin. “Somepeople are very upset. You would never know if yourlocation has just been monitored.” It remains to beseen how the privacy issue will be resolved. But restassured: RFID is here to stay.

Lauren Gibbons Paul has more than 15 years of experience as a writer for publications such as eWEEK,CIO, Managing Automation, and Network World.

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INSTANT ACCESS: Wireless networks give Hovensa plantoperators immediate data access

“[802.11g] will be a whole lot faster than what we have now.”

The Next FrontierWondering what’s next in the arsenal of cool wireless products? Try 3G, the next genera-tion of mobile communications technologywith analog being the first generation anddigital PCS being the second. 3G-enabledmobile devices (including phones) promiseto be much more than fashion accessoriesfor the super-hip.

3G digital cellular technology will run at speedsof up to 384 kilobits per second (Kbps) when thedevice is stationary (somewhat slower if the carrieris moving on foot or in a car). This souped-up speedwill allow 3G devices to receive video. And once the3G Universal Mobile Telecommunications System(UMTS) standard is fully implemented, UMTS mobiledevices will be continuously connected to the Inter-net. For more information about 3G technology, visitwww.pcconnection.com/3g. —LGP

DelicateTh D li t Art of Buy-InA t fB I

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It’s not enough to DEPLOY—you haveto RALLY users around new systems to get a clear technology PAYOFF.WRITTEN BY ESTHER SHEIN | ILLUSTRATION BY ELLEN WEINSTEIN

TRICIA GIARDINI IS AN IT manager’s dream. Thesenior account manager at plastics manufacturer

Arthur Blank & Co. is so upbeat about newtechnology implementations that she wastapped to help train her peers on a recentlydeployed CRM (customer relationship management) system and to be part of the

crew that sells the system to the masses.There was a good reason why Giardini

became the project’s prime cheerleader. One ofthe key factors in getting her on board was upper

management’s decision to start talking up the bene-fits of the new CRM system and how the resultingchanges would impact day-to-day work life well inadvance of the actual upgrade. By keeping users likeGiardini in the loop and by soliciting their inputearly on in the process, Arthur Blank’s IT team wasable to sidestep any resistance and get users toenthusiastically embrace CRM.

Companies of all sizes can take a page from ArthurBlank’s book on systems etiquette. The manufacturerhas taken a commonsense approach to getting buy-in from end users, and it’s proving to work. AskIT staffers and systems integrators at companies ofall shapes and sizes about how to get people toembrace new technology and the answer generallylies in some simple psychology. Communicate regularly with users, they say, and make them feel asif they are part of the process. If you don’t, theyargue, you risk a range of emotions from apprehen-sion and anxiety to resentment. Even worse, therecould be a total boycott of the new system.

“One of the biggest reasons employees resistchange is because it’s thrown at them rather thanthem being an active participant in either redefiningor articulating what [a new system] is going to meanto their job,” says Bill Speir, Change Management

portfolio manager for the Change ManagementPractice with Hartford Services Technology Co.,in Hartford, Conn.

That doesn’t mean Speir has always been able toavoid resistance along the way. But he tries to identifywhat the issues are for each individual—whether it’srelated to the software or, rather, to their current workenvironment. “If someone is raising an issue, often-times it’s because they don’t understand how the newsystem will directly benefit them,” Speir says.

What’s in it for me?Working to help users understand this “what’s in itfor me?” syndrome is one of the key strategiesWelch’s Foods is taking to avoid mass resistance to a new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system.The manufacturer of over 400 household-nameproducts—from jellies and jams to juices and fruitsnacks—is set to launch the entire suite of OracleERP modules sometime this quarter. The goal forthe system is to extend supply chain informationout to customers and suppliers and have them sharedata in a more timely fashion. Given the scope ofwhat it’s trying to accomplish, Welch’s is keen onavoiding snafus along the way, according to WayneLemmerhirt, the company’s group manager,Applications Development, in Concord, Mass.

So far, Lemmerhirt’s IT group is on board, butthere have been hesitations from the rank and file.Users want to know how the new system willchange the way they’re expected to work, and they’rewary about how comfortable they’ll be with thosechanges. To help them get cozy with the new system,Lemmerhirt’s team, with an assist from systemsintegrator IBM Global Services, began sharing infor-mation with the entire Welch’s user communityright from the get-go. Updates and messages from

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the CEO and the ERP project managerwere distributed on a regular basis. Theteam also made information widely avail-able on the company’s enterprise portal,including what ERP products were under evalua-tion, regular status reports on the project, as well asinformation surrounding any kind of benefitsexpected from the new ERP system.

Users were also involved on day one, providinginput on everything from how the system looks towhat kind of information will be included. Seniorofficers were polled for the names of key influencersin the different departments, and they were soughtout to help design the system, configure it correctly,and sell it to the end users.

The core team of influencers will spend a signifi-cant amount of time over the next 20 months work-ing on the implementation, dubbed Project Delta.They’ll also be trained on the ERP system in anaccelerated fashion. Once they’ve been working withthe system on a regular basis, they’ll be invited togive management their feedback. When changes aremade, they’ll be asked to revisit the system andweigh in again with recommendations. At that time,other users will be brought in “until the majority ofusers think we’ve got it right,” Lemmerhirt says.

Similarly, Arthur Blank & Co. chose to avoid anyelement of surprise when going live with its newCRM system, from Lilly Software Associates inHampton, N.H. Instead, management opted to target key employees from various functional areas,including Giardini, who represents sales. These leaders were involved in all aspects of the imple-mentation, including loading the data, learning thesystem, and troubleshooting during pilots to makesure that everything was up to snuff.

Giardini had the clout because she understoodexactly what the sales group needed.“No one hasbalked at using the system,” Giardini says. “It helpsthat I’ve been here five years and know the salesprocess so I’m empathetic to their concerns.”

For Giardini, the most significant appeal of thenew ERP system is being able to follow jobsthroughout the manufacturing process without

having to go through layers of people to track down the status of a customer’s

order. That alone went a long way in convincing other sales reps about the benefits

of the new system. “That means when you’re on thephone with a customer, you can look up an orderand find out exactly where it is in the plant in livetime,” she explains.

In the final analysis, getting buy-in is more aboutbeing business savvy than being courteous. Like theArthur Blank IT team did, Welch’s Lemmerhirt recog-nizes that the business side can make or break theERP project. “If we don’t have the cooperation fromthe end-user community, we’ll probably never be ableto get [the system] implemented,” Lemmerhirt says.

Esther Shein has been a freelance writer and editorspecializing in technology and business for several years.

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Getting Buy-InThe Don’ts:

1Don’t make it look like an IT initiative.

2Don’t assume the system won’t impact other departments.

3Don’t let senior management bow out of the process.

4Don’t announce new technology the day beforeyou expect people to go live with it in their jobs.

The Dos:

1Clearly articulate how a new system will solve a particular business issue, enable a specific

business capability, or enforce a certain set of business standards.

2Engage as many people who will be using thesystem as early in the process as possible.

3Understand the context in which the system is being implemented.

4Ensure that senior management is actively andvisibly involved throughout the process. If the

rank and file see that the leadership isn’t takingchange seriously, they won’t either.

“If we don’t have the cooperation from theend-user COMMUNITY, we’ll probably neverbe able to get [the system] implemented.”

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©2004 PC Connection. All rights reserved. PC Connection is a trademark of PC Connection, Inc. or its subsidiaries. All other trademarks remain the property of their respective companies.

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+

ROLLOUT PLANS: In spite of the hype, 70 percent ofbusinesses haven’ttouched Web servicesyet, as Ovum foundwhen it interviewed200 IT pros at compa-nies both big andsmall (see figure, right).Even the 30 percentminority on the cuttingedge with Web services aremostly just flirting, doingsmall projects designed to proveor disprove the concept. Still, it’s not tooearly to get started and get a jump on thecompetition. SOURCE: Ovum

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Alphabet SoupWorkable standards today include:■ XML (Extensible MarkupLanguage). This standardis like the Web servicesalphabet. With it, you can start to describe the content of what’s in a doc-ument—such as customerinformation for instance.■ WSDL (Web ServicesDescription Language).Dictates how a Web service should describe to the outside world what it does.■ SOAP (Simple ObjectAccess Protocol). LikeWSDL, but at a lower level.■ UDDI (Universal Descrip-tion, Discovery, and Integration). UDDI is likethe Yellow Pages for Web services. Need a credit-scoring Web service? With UDDI, you can find it.

The WildWorld of WebServices

SNAPSHOT BY LISA VAAS

The Skinny Web services are self-contained chunksof code that work over the Internet. They handlethings like messaging, directories of what businessescan do, and descriptions of technical services. Theycan get systems working with partners’ systemsmuch faster, cheaper, and easier than ever.

The Players■ Microsoft Corp. envisions.NET as a common platformfor building applications thatcan be delivered as reusable,interoperable services overthe Internet.■ IBM is also establishing Webservices-related protocols.■ Sun Microsystems Inc.’sJ2EE solution aims to buildservices in Java that will thenwork with anything else builtin Java.

At year-end 2005…

of enterprises that fail to providecommonly requested data as aservice to their partners will losemarket share. SOURCE: Gartner Group

THE BUSINESS CASE:Why companies areopting for Web services:

20%Cost reductionin applicationintegration development

1% Other

14% Competitive advantage

13% Improved customer service

17% Shorter time to market

18%Support for newbusiness models17%

Improved ROI

30%Now

24%0-6 months

15%6-12 months

9%12-18 months

1%18+ months

21%not determined

SOURCE: Ovum

1. 8 0 0 . 9 9 8 . 0 0 71 � p c c o n n e c t i o n . c o m / c i s c o

I AM A CISCO RESELLER CERTIFIED PARTNER.I KNOW NETWORK SECURITY. I MAKE IT WORK FOR BUSINESSESLIKE YOURS. I AM AT 800 998 0071. I AM WAITING.

©2004 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Cisco 7960G, Cisco, Cisco Systems and the Cisco Systems logo areregistered trademarks or trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and certain othercountries. All other trademarks mentioned in this document or Web site are the property of their respective owners.The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company.

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©2004 PC Connection. All rights reserved. PC Connection is a trademark of PC Connection, Inc. or its subsidiaries. All other trademarks remain the property of their respective companies.Sun, Sun Microsystems, SunFire, and the Sun logo, are trademarks or registered trademarks, and iForce is a service mark,of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries.

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