CBS Blog

Today's news (July 4th, 2008)

2008-07-04T10:13:00.004-04:00

Just like everybody, I have opinions. Some of those opinions get fanned to igniting passions when I expose myself to the current news of the day. It stuck me that I have an outlet for capturing those passions.

National speed limit pushed as gas saver is an article that indicates Va R Senator John Warner has asked Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman to investigate the optimal gas saving speed limit under today's technology. The article doesn't really say, but it appears that Senator Warner is supposing that prices can be driven downward by influencing demand. And, I believe that it is true that a drop in Demand can force prices downward (providing there is profit opportunity for the production chain).

The question that I didn't see asked was "How much usage decrease would a National Speed Limit provide"? Because, maybe it isn't Senator Warner's goal (well, let's face it, his goal is to be reelected) to reduce the price of gasoline. Maybe it's his goal to stretch what we have.

Energy Department spokeswoman Angela Hill said the department will review Warner's letter but added, "If Congress is serious about addressing gasoline prices, they must take action on expanding domestic oil and natural gas production." Am I missing something?

Where is the push for alternatives? If we are serious about reducing our (the US of A) dependance on foreign fossil fuels, then we should be aggressively developing and adopting alternative technologies. This is Econ 101. One reason Apple is so successful is that it's products are viewed as alternatives to the "standard" (Windows, Cell Phones, MP3 players).

Obsticles to developing alternatives to gasoline:
People need cars that use the alternative fuel. Last time I checked, the one's that were available were expensive. Create a government incentive for people to use an alternative fuel automobile.
Cars need places to refill with the alternative fuel. This is perhaps the largest impediment to national adoption of an alternative. Where do I get hydrogen, or helium, RU-232, or whatever the alternative fuel is? There's no infrastructure in place. We need distribution capabilities for the alternative fuel vehicles.
What is the correct alternative? Cars, infrastructure, everything else doesn't make a difference if we don't all choose a common path. Beta vs VHS and BluRay vs HD are small examples of why this is a sticky issue. People bought and used BetaMax tapes and HD DVDs as well as the players for those media types. Now, those players have no use. The production facilities for Beta and HD have to be retooled to be useful. Making that kind of change at the national level for alternative fuel sources (assume that SuperFuel and MaxGo are the two dominant alternative fuel sources) could have astronomical costs. SuperFuel looses the battle. What happens to the SuperFuel vehicles? Is the SuperFuel distribution chain adapabile to other uses? What about the SuperFuel depots - is each of them a potential toxic waste site? Without revenues to support the re-tooling, who would pay for the clean-up?

This isn't an easy issue. There's no simple solution. Instituting a National Speed Limit sounds like a simple solution. Solution? What would it solve?

Read this article for a slightly different perspective. And, of course, not everything about higher gas prices is bad: 10 Things You Can Like About $4 Gas

PCI Compliance

2008-07-03T13:22:00.002-04:00

I saw this in my Inbox. My first thought was "What is PCIompliance? I know I've heard of it before." PCI is "Payment Card Industry" and then it all came back to me. In fact, I was involved with a project to get some telephone IVR servers up-to-speed for this very issue.

At the heart of the issue is whether or not you credit card data is safe. As a retailer, you want to be sure that your customers feel secure in dealing with you. Although this particular issue centers around web-facing data, it is never a bad idea to look at what YOUR business is doing with customer's data.

There are some bullet ponits in the ariticle that I think nicely summarize what your concerns should be:

Minimize storage time as much as possible. To do that, "you need to determine in the course of doing credit card transactions how long do I really need to keep the cardholder data," he said. In the hotel industry, where Miller has done considerable consulting, the data needs to be kept for the duration of a guest's stay. There are also regulatory considerations. Nevada, for example, requires retailers and casinos to keep credit transactions for as long as two years, in the event of disputes.
Always store the primary account number in unreadable format (masked, except for the last four digits).
Encrypt the data if it needs to be stored for any length of time.
Encrypt the data while it is transit, using protocols like Secure Sockets Layer and IPsec.

This all sounds pretty simple, and it is. We just need to pay attention.

Executive Decision Making

2008-04-26T08:46:00.002-04:00

I just read an article entitled "In Search of Clarity: Unraveling the Complexitiess of Executive Decision-making". The authors discuss the factors that lead to good decisions vs poor decisions.

The five ingredients of good decision-making:

High-quality data

Employees need access to good technology and training

Sound judgment

Trust

Flexibility

This article is at the core of what we do at Concerted Business Solutions. We align your technology with your business. We capture relevent data and help you turn it into information.

Our goal is to understand your business and know your vision for it. Then, we can craft the appropriate solutions for you and your business. We're not a "one size fits all" shop. We look at your business, your goals, and your requirements. Then, we look at what we've done in the past, and what others have done, and work with you to craft the appropriate applications, processes, and technology roadmap to help you reach your goals.

We've helped professional offices (doctors, lawyers, etc.) with getting callers to their desired party quicker (which increases customer AND employee satisfaction). Appointment reminders are helpful in ensuring that a professsional's time is not wasted or that high-priced scheduled assets (such as MRI machines) are not sitting idle.

We've worked with Manufacturing facilities in the area of process management and enterprise process control by building enterprise-level process monitoring and workflow engines.

Remember, the keys to effective decisions start with good data and good technology. let us help you.