Disaster Recovery Journal

Making use of the petabytes of patient data that healthcare organizations possess requires extracting it from legacy systems, normalizing it and then building applications that can make sense of it. That's a tall order, but the facilities that pull it off can learn a lot.

http://www.cio.com/article/732160/6_Big_Data_Analytics_Use_Cases_for_Healthcare_IT

AUSTIN, Texas -- TechAssure Association,
Inc. announces the release of their enhanced website:
http://www.techassure.com
<http://globalmessaging1.prnewswire.com/clickthrough/servlet/clickthrough?msg_id=7441544&adr_order=160&url=aHR0cDovL3d3dy50ZWNoYXNzdXJlLmNvbS8%3D>.

TechAssure members provide specialized insurance and risk management
solutions for the technology industry.

These industries indicate that industry knowledge and access to
specialty tools and products are key drivers of their satisfaction in
insurance brokerage expertise.

"TechAssure differs from the competition, in that it is a one-of-a-kind
association that leverages cross-collaborations to sharpen coverage
offerings, innovate new products and services, combine talents and
advance social causes important to technology firms and their board
members," says Julie Davis, executive director of TechAssure. "Bringing
together groups, with varying perspectives and skill sets can ignite a
group of professionals that can infuse the insurance industry with fresh
ideas and help technology firms manage risk more effectively."

"TechAssure puts years of knowledge and experience to work helping
technology companies address their most critical risk management
issues," says Spence Hoole, chairman, TechAssure.

Through TechAssure's enhanced website, clients have easy access to the
association members and a range of products and services vital to
comprehensive risk management.

Features include:

  * Convenient online applications for a full range of tailored
    insurance products including: Directors' & Officers' Liability,
    Employment Practices Liability, Technology Errors & Omissions,
    Cyberliability, Commercial, Package, Commercial Automobile and
    Workers' Compensation.
  * Simple navigation to access risk management checklists and information
  * View expert film interviews and watch quick film clips on industry
    challenges and opportunities

*_About TechAssure Association, Inc._*

Founded in 2001, TechAssure has 22 worldwide insurance broker members in
seven countries, serving over 4,000 industry clients with annual
industry insurance premiums of $1 billion.

The members of TechAssure help a wide range of technology clients
develop effective risk management and workforce productivity solutions,
so they feel more confident about managing their future. TechAssure
members are affiliated with 48 technology associations throughout the world.

TechAssure Association leads TechAssure University, TechAssure
Innovation Labs and is managing partner for VentureInsure.

*_TechAssure University_*

Through TechAssure University, the association also provides technical
and industry training that allows members the opportunity to elevate
their leadership and insurance brokerage skills, service, innovation and
technical capabilities. The University program offers brokers
certifications, for their members, in three distinct areas.

*_TechAssure Innovation Labs_*

TechAssure Innovation Labs has a mission of leading the innovation of
new insurance and risk management solutions for the technology industry.
Innovation Lab sessions are conducted throughout the year for members of
the TechAssure Association and their strategic partners.

*_VentureInsure_*

TechAssure Association is the managing partner of the VentureInsure program.

*_TechAssure members include: _*

The Addis Group, AH&T Insurance, AHM Financial Group, Audit & Risk
Solutions, Avatar, Bolton & Co, Costello & Sons, Diversified Insurance
Group, Giles Insurance Brokers LTD, Globalex, GPL Assurance, Gregory &
Appel, IMA Corporation, JJ Wade & Associates, Keaney Insurance Brokers,
Mason & Mason Insurance, Plexus Groupe, Prudent Brokers, RJ Ahmann & Co,
Roach Howard Smith & Barton, Rollins Agency, Sanderson Risk Advisors. In
addition, TechAssure has worldwide innovation partnerships with legal,
venture capital and key players in the insurance industry.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A new report from Emerson Network
Power, a business of Emerson (NYSE:EMR) and a global leader in
maximizing availability, capacity and efficiency of critical
infrastructure, finds that nearly half of CIOs consider themselves IT
service providers or cost centers, rather than business game changers or
strategic innovators. Simply keeping up with new technologies has become
a major barrier to embracing the rapid development of the information
era. The report, “The CIO of the Future: Becoming a Business
Game-Changer ,”  also emphasized the importance of budgeting for innovation as one way to
embrace a more strategic role in any organization.

The Emerson Network Power report includes responses from 560 CIOs and
top IT executives of companies with 500 or more employees in the United
States, Latin America, Europe and Asia. Highlights from the report include:

·CIOs from Asia (79 percent) and Latin America (78 percent) lead the
pack in expecting significant change in their role in the next 5 years.
Less dramatic change was expected in the United States and Europe, where
about half believe their role will change significantly in the next 5
years.

·Only 10 percent of CIOs see themselves as a driver of their business’
competitive future; with another 15 percent categorizing themselves as a
business peer and 26 percent seeing themselves as influential
collaborators.

·Latin American CIOs are more likely to see themselves as developers of
business strategy or game changers. U.S. CIOs are the least likely to
see themselves in this way.

·CIOs identified 40 issues as being very or extremely important to their
role as IT leader in their organization. As a result they find
themselves spending most of their time focused on providing services
rather than planning for the future.

“As a former CIO I understand both the demands of the job and the
critical role the CIO can play in supporting and shaping business
strategy,” said Steve Hassell, former Emerson CIO and current president
of Emerson Network Power’s Avocent business. “It can be difficult to get
off the hamster wheel of day-to-day operations, but trends such as
social media, mobility and data-driven decision making are only going to
increase the importance of IT in attracting and serving customers.
Emerson is rapidly addressing some of these challenges by introducing
solutions that reduce complexity and improve management of resources.
This is key to making the transition from service provider to business
leader a seamless effort.”

To view the full report, visit the www.EmersonNetworkPower.com/CIOtopics

For more information on Emerson Network Power products and solutions
that support the data center, visit www.EmersonNetworkPower.com

Cyber-threats, along with breaches in security and privacy, are forcing corporate risk managers to reconsider how they protect their company's data and proprietary business information, according to an annual survey by global professional services company Towers Watson (NYSE, NASDAQ: TW). The survey examined how North American companies use outside resources, tools and frameworks to address their risk exposure across a variety of eventualities, ranging from a hardening property & casualty insurance market to natural catastrophes and the threat of terrorism.

http://online.wsj.com/article/PR-CO-20130422-906674.html

Within the last 11 days there has been a bombing at the Boston Marathon, the related shooting at MIT, an explosion at a fertilizer plant in West, Texas and bomb threats to schools and businesses across the Treasure Valley, including Boise State. In light of these recent events, it seems that emergency preparedness and safety are on a lot of minds.

http://arbiteronline.com/2013/04/22/emergency-management-helps-campus-prepare-for-the-worst/

The debate about the bring-your-own-device movement (BYOD) has quieted down, mostly because, it seems, while IT has been over in the corner arguing the pros and cons, employees have been streaming into office with their shiny new toys and using them to get work done.

http://www.cio.com/article/732110/Gauging_BYOD_Acceptance

• Why men? 57 of 82 patients are men (Those with available gender data). For H5N1, the gender balance has been more even.

http://emssolutionsinc.wordpress.com/2013/04/21/h7n9-a-disease-of-many-puzzles-lots-of-whys-and-hows-and-not-many-answers/

As businesses in the downtown area prepared for the One Spark festival, one thought on some minds was how they’d deal with any of the sort of problems that might arise when a large group of people descended on the area.

Particularly in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing, experts say, the type of planning that goes into getting ready for a major event should pave the way for businesses preparing for any disruption, from a natural disaster to a man-made crises.

In the Pixar film Up, squirrels frequently distract Dug the talking dog. In our space, we are frequently distracted by technology. "I am a good and smart security professional; I must protect my enterprise so that we are secure. APT defense in a box!"  

http://blogs.forrester.com/rick_holland/13-04-17-avoid_the_information_security_squirrel?cm_mmc=RSS-_-IT-_-59-_-blog_2756

Has your backup and disaster recovery system saved the day for your business when faced with a natural disaster or major area-wide service disruption? Hopefully you returned to business as usual, with minimal disruption to your day-to-day operations and without too much inconvenience to your customers.

http://www.storagecraft.com/blog/backup-and-disaster-recovery-your-competitive-advantage/