2009 got busy with this-and-that, so this blog became stale. It’s a new year, and though we have not yet finalized our departmental or individual goals, there’s a lot going on this year at work.
In 2010, at work, plans include:
Server refresh (hopefully with a lot of virtualization)
New Citrix environment / upgrade
Re-vamp intranet/website test server configuration
Symantec upgrade
SharePoint 2007 or 2010 deployment
Altiris Management Suite deployment / configuration
Disaster recovery project
Information security project
User training project
SOX compliance process review
Those are the main things, composed of many many little things.
We’re planning to have an Office 2007 Kick-Off for all users, previous to any training or deployment. I’ve found some valuable resources from trainer Tiffany Songvilay‘s OfficeOverEasy blog:
In case you can’t afford the thousands of dollars a day it takes to bring in a trainer for on-site training, here are some alternatives to help you do Office 2007 training in-house.
This fall we are deploying Office 2007. We’re planning on doing some internal training, focusing on the differences between Office 2003 and Office 2007, but for the nitty-gritty of the training, we are considering bringing someone in. I’ve acquired quotes and information from several well-known and lesser-known IT training companies, and the pricing varies. Below is a table of costs for six different vendors:
TOTAL COSTS PER NUMBER OF DAYS
5 days
7 days
10 days
15 days
Cost Per Day
$9,750
$13,650
$19,500
$29,250
$1,950
$19,500
$27,300
$39,000
$58,500
$3,900
$26,500
$37,100
$53,000
$79,500
$5,300
$7,500
$10,500
$15,000
$22,500
$1,500
$19,000
$26,600
$38,000
$57,000
$3,800
$10,000
$14,000
$20,000
$30,000
$2,000
Pricing is based on 10-20 students per class. Each vendor offered both full day one session training and half day two session training. This includes materials and travel costs, but does not include providing computers for hands-on work.
I wanted to share this info in case there is anyone out there wondering what the costs are like for on-site training. Basically – around $1,500 to $5,000 per day, or $7,000 to $10,000 per week.
I’m working on our information security awareness training program, which will include Laptop Security for our road warriors. This is a brief collection of laptop security tips I’ve gathered for this purpose… let me know if you have any to add.
Lock down your laptop with a security cable
Use a laptop safe / locked briefcase to travel or store
Use laptop motion sensors and alarm softeare
Keep the laptop out of site, locked or in its bag
Keep the laptop close at hand
Keep an eye on the laptop
Choose an inconspicious laptop bag – a school bag, backpack, padded briefcase or suitcase
Protect your password, and choose your password wisely
I’m working on some training curriculum, which includes Blackberry security for our numerous blackberry users, and I found an excellent list of security considerations:
Posted by techjen 
TechJen 