Client Server Management HandiGuide®

Nielsen received property tax breaks in 2001 to build a $100 million global technology center in Oldsmar. The tax breaks were pegged to the number of high-wage jobs -- those that paid at least $52,000 -- the company created. That forced Nielsen to disclose hiring details at that facility, effectively putting the employee count of the facility on the local political radar.

In April, when the layoffs were reported locally, Oldsmar city council members responded angrily to the move. One council member accused the company, its largest employer, of "making a joke of the tax incentive program," and another charged that Nielsen "had abdicated their responsibility as a corporate citizen." Adding fuel to the fire were local media reports, which publicized the layoffs and the council's reaction.

Nielsen had about 1,200 workers at the facility when the incentive agreement was reached, an employee count that gradually grew to 1,700. But last October, Nielsen announced a 10-year outsourcing agreement valued at $1.2 billion with Tata Consultancy Services in Mumbai. The move was designed to allow Nielsen to integrate and centralize IT systems.

That deal was followed this year with the news that 117 employees would be laid off. Although 50 of those workers have been hired by Tata, Nielsen last week announced it was cutting another 170 jobs -- and some of those affected are training Tata employees to do their work. The company expects to have about 1,300 employees by year end at its facility, with the addition of another 250 or so contract workers.

The action means that companies and other organizations eventually could run their own domains. For example, IBM could run the domain .ibm, and Microsoft could run the domain .microsoft. Currently, the endings of top-level domain names are limited to a few which include .com, .net and .org, as well as country codes such as .ca for Canada or .uk for the United Kingdom.

Prices to register the new domain names, expected to be anywhere from $150,000 to $500,000, would most likely prohibit individuals from applying for new domain names. ICANN said the high fees would allow it to recoup the approximately $20 million it expects to spend on implementation of the new policy.

Groups applying for new top-level domain names must also either prove they are technically able to operate Web sites or contract with a company that does. According to ICANN, new domain name will probably start appearing by the end of 2009.

• 66% involved data the victim did not know was on the system
• 75% of breaches were not discovered by the victim
• 83% of attacks were not highly difficult
• 85% of breaches were the result of opportunistic attacks
• 87% were considered avoidable through reasonable controls

Some of the cases were caught, thanks to Microsoft's Windows Genuine Advantage or Office Genuine Advantage programs in which the copy of the Windows operating system or Office suite on a user's computer is electronically authenticated online. Microsoft began rolling out Windows Genuine Advantage in April 2006.

Others lawsuits were sparked by calls to Microsoft's antipiracy hot line, the company said.

Almost all the lawsuits concerned Windows XP or consumer versions of Office. Only two suits alleged piracy of an enterprise version of the software, and Windows Vista was not the subject of an allegation in any filing, according to information from Microsoft.

Among the companies against which lawsuits were filed were several that had been previously been accused by Microsoft of software piracy and had settled with the company, it said.

The lawsuits were filed in California, Georgia, Massachusetts, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Oregon, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Illinois and Washington.

According to a recent report published by the Business Software Alliance, an antipiracy group funded by software makers, the U.S. had a piracy rate of 20% -- the lowest in the survey. Although because of the size of the market, losses from piracy in the U.S. were estimated at $8 billion, which is higher than any other single country.

Echoes (version 1) - Microsoft's services platform for telco providers that is due out this summer - Microsoft plans to synchronize contacts. With Live Messenger contacts will appear in a mobile user's address book (if the carrier is using Echoes).

Messenger contacts will automatically appear in users' phone address book, so that even if they  donÂ’t know one of their Live Messenger contact's phone number, they still will be able to call it. Numbers will be able to ring simultaneously on multiple devices/systems. On the flip side, Echoes will help insure instant-messaging-to-SMS continuity. A user can send an IM to any mobile contact, and the contact can respond via a text message.

• Echoes will assign a local mobile number to each Windows Live contact
• Via its Address Book sync capabilities, Echoes will push these new new contacts into any mobile phone (no client required)
• The user will be able to compose a text message or place a voice call to these contacts
• Echoes will ensure text messages are delivered to contacts as chat conversations, and replies will be sent back
• Voice calls can be connected through Echoes directly from the mobile to the Windows Live Messenger user's PC
• As the mobile user will appear always "online" to friends (using Echoes client emulation server), conversations also will be able to start from the Windows Live cloud, pushed to the  mobile
  

Without adding any special software to Office, users will be able to open documents sent to them in the open source Open Document Format (ODF), the company said. As well, users will be able to edit and save documents in that format.

Microsoft is going to be providing support for three new file formats directly in the Office product.  In addition to ODF, Microsoft will also support the Adobe PDF fixed format and Microsoft's competitor to PDF, known as XPS.

Microsoft offers support for ODF in its current version of Office but only if additional software is downloaded separately and installed.  The company did not address concerns expressed earlier this month by a British government agency, BECTA that Microsoft's existing ODF software does not work very well.

BECTA has complained to competition authorities in London and Brussels that the ODF translator software has limited functionality and is poorly integrated, compared with Microsoft's own products.

• SEC 17a
• FINRA 3010
• FDIC Advisory
• Investment Advisors Act of 1940 (hedge funds)
• Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act
• IDA 29.7
• FDA 21 CFR Part 11
• OCC Advisory
• HIPAA
• Financial Modernization Act 1999
• Medicare Conditions of Participation
• Fair Labor Standards Act
• Americans with Disabilities Act
• Toxic Substances Control Act
• UK Data Protection Act
• UK Companies Act
• UK Company Law Reform Bill - Electronic Communications
• UK Combined Code on Corporate Governance 2003
• UK Human Rights Act
• UK Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001
• Basel II
• Markets in Financial Instruments Directive

Although many records retention requirements do not impose specific requirements on email or instant messages, Janco has found that approximately 80% of enterprises use email for closing orders or performing other types of business transactions. As a result, email is housing a greater proportion of corporate and other records and so increasingly is subject to statutory records retention requirements.

Salary competition from offshore outsourcing, companies posting ads that expressly favor H-1B visa holders to the exclusion of U.S. workers, the fear for job safety that comes in a recession year and the constant pressure to keep skills up to date have worn some tech professionals out to a point that they would consider alternative careers.

• Ability to manage employee turnover costs and prevent hassles by using the best hiring and interviewing techniques.
• Unify employees into a smooth-running, productive team, despite differences in personality, background, and age.
• Find the delicate balance necessary to effectively supervise friends and former peers.
• Establish supervisor-subordinate relationship boundaries that are understood and respected.
• Identify difficult employees and handle them easily, appropriately, and swiftly.
• Give constructive criticism that is not taken personally-  by even the most sensitive employee.
• Originate project plans and set goals that your team and management will support.
• Control absenteeism and tardiness.
• Know when to take corrective action or firing an employee; and know the legal implications of your decisions.