Tech Tools - iPad

When I first found out that as part of the MBA program we would be given iPads that would be utilized throughout our entire program I was a little nervous. I have a laptop, I have an iPod touch, I have a Kindle, I wasn't sure what an iPad could provide for me that I didn't have already. My boss, however, thought it was great. He had recently convinced our company that certain people (himself being one of course) needed iPads.

My main concern comes from the fact that I hate the idea of being constantly connected. Whether it be to school or work I like having time when I am completely unplugged and I viewed the iPad as just another device to put me further away from that. I was wrong, mostly.

I still like being able to disconnect, but an iPad doesn't detract from that and I have found it to be very useful. As I mentioned my boss uses his frequently at work and in meetings so he is open to me having mine as well. One of the apps I use most is Evernote for both school and work. I like that I can take notes easily and am able to take pictures and video clips when needed as well. Since my building has wireless as well it is nice to use as a reference tool when needed to pull something up in a meeting or access email in case I need something I didn't think it bring with me.

While I am still diving into everything the iPad has to offer, the more I learn the more useful it becomes to me on a daily basis. At work, my boss and the small test group that has received iPads has found them useful to the point that going into our new fiscal year we are replacing our travel laptops with them and going forward replacing most laptops in the buildings with iPads.

Harley-Davidson Reflection

After our in class discussion about the Harley-Davidson IT case I realized that they may not be completely ready to move forward with the COBIT implementation. They still have some discovery to do to be prepared for the full implementation and they should do some continued research to make sure COBIT is the best fit for their organization.

Within the case it states that Harley has decided to implement COBIT after only one employee had attended a training program on this set of controls. While COBIT has many benefits there are also some initial drawbacks. A concern we touched on is that COBIT can be rigid in its controls which could hold Harley back if they wish to continue to grow and evolve with their set of systems controls.

Another concern is that they may not be completely ready for implementation of system controls at this time. One issue that was raised is they need to have documentation of all of their business processes and based on the case we don't know if this has been completed at this time. Recently at my company we implemented a new e-commerce platform and a new learning management platform. Throughout the process one of the most time consuming steps was documenting all of our standard operating procedures to use in the process. I think once this step is completed it will make it easier to choose an appropriate set of controls and implement them in the long run.

Once everyone in the organization has a broad understanding of the standard business process they will be able to easily see where the controls can fit into their daily work. This will help in receiving buy in from the entire organization on this project.

Harley-Davidson

The issue in the Harley case is that there are gaps between the internal controls that Harley currently uses and internal controls that regulations require that they use. They need to implement a process to bring their systems up to speed. The current systems creates a difficult process for end users, there is no change management, no impact analysis on changes, and a poor back up and recovery process. In short something needs to be done to bring the organization up to speed on regulations and internal controls.

Harley has a couple of options on how they can move forward to rectify the situation. They can continue to implement a vendor's general computer controls model, implement the COBIT control framework, or do further research toward an even more strict framework. Since they want this to have the least amount of impact on daily operations with the greatest amount of progress they should focus on the implementation of the COBIT control framework.

By focusing on the COBIT framework they are implementing a generally accepted framework that complies to all necessary regulations. Since a lot of organizations use this framework there is an expected level of ease with the implementation since it has been practiced often. Once there has been a successful adaptation of this framework the Harley IT team can continue to expand on the controls to create an even stronger framework for what they need.

Google Docs

Our first assignment in class was to comment on our syllabus which was posted as a collaborative document using Google Docs. I had used this program before personally for different things (i.e. running a Super Bowl pool), but had never used it for work or school. Being prompted to play around in the program I learned more about what it is really capable of.

 Google Docs is an online document management program that allows for collaboration from wherever you are. In my opinion these are the top two benefits of using this program. One, you can access it anywhere as long as you can connect to Google. This allows for last minute additions to a document or presentation at work or at home you can keep the most up to date shopping list for the grocery store. Two, it is collaborative so you can give anyone access to make edits or provide feedback and you can track who made which comments if something needs to be addressed further.

The company I work for is an international organization with offices in the Middle East, China, and Europe. While we do have a shared drive it has its limitations with not always connecting correctly at each office or people are saving multiple drafts and it can be a hassle keeping track of what information is the most recent. Also, we can’t connect to the drive while we are at other offices or traveling. Utilizing Google Docs solves all of those issues. It tracks comments/edits on one version, you can access it anywhere at any time, and it works for any kind of document (presentations, word, or spreadsheets).

A blog about my blog (and me).

I first would like to start with a little bit of background information about myself. My name is Kimberly Dalton and I currently live in Belleville, NJ, but I am about to move to Pompton Lakes, NJ. I was thinking of ways I could make the summer semester more interesting besides just balancing school, work, and life so I decided to move smack in the middle of the semester! I graduated in 2006 from The Richard Stockton College of NJ right outside of Atlantic City. Since I graduated I knew going back for my MBA was a goal of mine, but I just needed to figure out the right timing. Everything seemed to fall right into place this Spring and I am glad it did. I happy to be one of the first to try out the new program at Montclair and I am excited to see where it takes me.

As for this blog, I think it can be a great tool to organize my thoughts throughout the semester and see where I fall with what my other classmates are thinking as well. It will also give us a chance to comment and receive feedback outside of class to get the most out of our class sessions. I look forward to this semester.