The company I plan on working with is for IT Penetration
Testers. The potential customers are medium and large companies that have
expendable funds to do security testing but not enough funds to have their own
in-house security testing and assessment staff. The organization that hires
Penetration testers will be in many different market silos including Aerospace,
manufacturing, and any others that have intellectual property that they
want to protect. The attitudes and
beliefs of the company executives are such that they are technologically aware
but at the same time they are knowledgeable in the fact that keeping up with
changes in vulnerabilities, malware and advanced persistent threats is
imperative to maintaining the defenses of the company and to keep it viable.
A huge market for penetration testers lies with companies vying for PCI (payment card industry) compliance. It is important to note though that merely wanting to check off a box on a spreadsheet could be a costly mistake and a bad use of the technology. It is much better for people to be forward thinking and focused on hardening their internal and external boundaries.
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Two Sites I Like For Their Design Appeal
I really lke the CNN and Amazon web sites for their design appeal. They are easy to use, visually appealing and friendly to use.
·
http://www.CNN.com
presentation of news articles can be found in a friendly, clean, useful, easy
to read and use interface.
·
I especially appreciate that they indicate
when each article was last updated,
·
For some articles, can be found to also
contain dynamic, tab-like elements for the exploring of more related
information about the current topic without having to navigate elsewhere
·
A lot of information is listed via links
from the home page without having a cluttered feeling. The navigation pane for this is on the left.
·
Content is regularly updated
·
There are no moving items vying for my
attention
·
I don’t feel that there is much to improve
for this site
·
http://www.amazon.com
has a clean front page with the logo on the left top and an ad on the top
right. Prominently in the center is a
search bar.
·
Below the usual ad in the center of the page is
a reminder for me of things I’d looked previously and recommendations of
similar items I may be interested in
·
I
don’t feel that there is much to improve for this site
Impact of design, aesthetics and branding on 4 sites
How does design,
aesthetics and branding impact your reaction to websites?
Design, aesthetics and branding combine to tell the story that a website is attempting to convey about the product or service it represents. If they are cohesive the person visiting the site will experience a good reaction to the site and to the ideas that are being shared.
Two websites with at least three potential problems for visitors.
Potential problems for visitors:
a.
The advertising bar at
the bottom of the page is a distraction. It should be removed.
b.
The video play back
boxes loaded “black”. They should be put on separate pages and linked to via icons.
c.
The “flippy” pages at
the top slid by too fast and were a distraction. They should be reduced in
number and slowed way down.
Potential problems for visitors:
a.
The red background is
jarring it should be changed to a more inviting color so people wouldn’t feel
that they’re being accosted looking at the page.
b.
The flashing
advertisement is assaulting to the senses. They should place it as a static
link.
c.
The page scrolls down
forever and should be broken up.
Two websites and
what they have done right.
What they have done
right
a. Prominent navigation bars and links at top
of page.
b. Large pictures but page loads fast.
c. Simple layout. Navigation to deeper areas
of site is easy to find.
What they have done right
a. The blue pastel background works well as does the product
pictures framed in white. The layout is appealing.
b. The pace of the banner changing is not so fast as to be
jarring.
c. The company summary and links in the middle of the page make
getting information easy.
Saturday, February 9, 2013
5 Businesses That Are "Listening" to Their Customers
Social Media venues give businesses a way to market to consumers and get feedback fom those who are using or are going to potentially use what is being sold. Here is a very short list of a few companies with links to major social media sites. The links to social media on these sites may be at the top, bottom or middle of their landing page.
01. MARVEL http://marvel.com/
Social Media Usage:
- Facebook
- Google+
- YouTube
- Twitter
- GetGlue
- Forums
02. NISSAN http://www.nissanusa.com/
Social Media Usage:
- Google+
- YouTube
03. Jack In The Box http://www.jackinthebox.com/
Social Media Usage:
04. MONSTER ENERGY http://www.monsterenergy.com/
Social Media Usage:
05. 5 HOUR ENERGY http://www.5hourenergy.com/index.asp
Social Media Usage:
Facebook
Google+
Twitter
YouTube
Blog
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Leveraging Consumer Created Content
On occasion, I have experienced
difficulty communicating with a business. One stinging example that occurred this
past year was when I had a problem communicating with a company with which
I did business. It was a tech company that sold a particular kind of firewall
that I had purchased for my company’s co-location facility. I had paid several thousand dollars for
support and then had problems getting the configuration to work properly. I called
the company and was put on-hold for over forty minutes. While I was waiting, I
went to the company’s web site to see if I could submit a ticket on-line. There
was no functionality to do that. They did not have obvious links to their
knowledge base nor a customer’s discussion board. Social media would have helped me to find out
if other people had experienced similar issues and how to resolve the problems
I was tackling. Personally, I am especially appreciative of those sites with
live chat feeds in addition to customer discussion boards and searchable
technical articles.
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Social Media - Business and Personal Use
Social media fits into both the business and personal fabric of our society in modern times. It provides a way for families and old friends to reunite and maintain contact with each other. It provides for new, fresh and constant marketing streams. Here are a few of the many streams available.
- Facebook has tools for both business and personal use.
- Twitter gets a lot of press. I set up an account but I don't really get it.
- LinkedIn is a great source for networking, keeping up to date with people and professional enrichment.
- Pinterest is a content sharing service that allows members to "pin" images, videos and other objects to their pinboard.
- Instagram is another picture sharing site.
- Google+ is for sharing games, photos and other information
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