Category: linkedin

I’ll have to watch this closely. As soon as I hear about the V3 CCSK exam, i’ll need to jump right on it.

udpate from Jim Reavis;

I am sure many of you are wondering if the new version 3 of the guidance means we will have a new version of the CCSK test and what that means to existing CCSKs or those currently studying to be CCSKs. The CSA certification board that created the initial test will be providing definitive information about the plan soon, but I wanted to let you know about some things we know for sure, so you can plan appropriately.

– We do not have an exact time frame for the new test, but likely will be the middle of next year.
– Existing CCSKs will be able to take the V3 test when available at no charge.
– Existing CCSK tokens will be valid for the V3 test.
– It is possible that we may consider having a special V3 test for existing CCSKs that cover the difference.
– You should still be studying V2.1 of the guidance to prepare for the existing test.

If you have read both V2.1 and V3, you should be aware that key principles have not changed in the new guidance, but we have greater depth. From that perspective, we want to provide interested professionals assurance that you will not be penalized in any way for obtaining your CCSK now, and the effort will help you in gaining certification on an updated test. If you have questions or input, please respond to this post so we can make sure we update the website FAQ.

“The issues and opportunities of cloud computing gained considerable notice in 2008 within the information security community. It was at a security practitioners’ conference, the ISSA CISO Forum in Las Vegas, November 20, 2008, where the concept of the Cloud Security Alliance was born. Following a presentation of emerging trends by Jim Reavis that included a call for action for securing cloud computing, Reavis and Nils Puhlmann outlined the initial mission and strategy of the Cloud Security Alliance. A series of organizational meetings in early December 2008 that included Reavis, Puhlmann and industry leaders such as Dave Cullinane, Philippe Courtot, Alan Boehme, Izak Mutlu, Jay Chaudhry, Christofer Hoff, Paul Kurtz and Jean Pawluk formalized the founding of the Cloud Security Alliance.”

That’s the introduction on the CSA website. Says it better than if I tried to paraphrase it.  I think I first heard about the CSA via posts on Chris Hoff’s blog which I follow.

The first thing the CSA came out with was their “Security Guidance for Critical Areas of Focus in Cloud Computing” whitepaper. It takes a whole raft of well established IT security methodology and applies it to the emerging world of Cloud Computing. It’s very good reading, and excellent reference material.

The next big release was the Certificate of Cloud Security Knowledge exam. It was announced at the end of July, and the exam made available on the 1st of September.  With timezones in Australia ahead of those in the USA, it was late afternoon Sydney when the exam went live. I had a free evening and thought, why not give the test a go. You get two tries for your exam fee.

Well, I passed, which was nice. But the surprise came later when i got an email from the CSA Executive Director, Jim Reavis. It turned out that I was the first in the world to pass and also the fastest to complete the exam during its first day. That gave the ol’ ego a boost. But the voice of reason in the back of my head started to speak up, and bring me back to reality. There are a lot of good people out there. Better than me. There’s lots I still need to learn.

But I think i’ll enjoy this for a bit 🙂

I attended CloudCamp at Google HQ in Sydney last night. Interesting mix of attendees. Lots of discussion.

“Cloud Computing”, is a hot buzzword at the moment. Probably used most often by people who have no idea what it means. Some people use it and have AN idea, but its different to the idea that other people have. Arguments result. People get tired of hearing the term.  There is good stuff behind the hype however.

NIST have released a draft definition paper. If we can all agree on what to call things, then we can come out of the hype phase and start figuring out what is good when and for what (etc).

Cloud computing is a model for enabling convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction. This cloud model promotes availability and is composed of five essential characteristics, three service models, and four deployment models.

Another way of describing “cloud” is “the stuff i don’t have to care about”. This has been used in various forms by a range of leading minds in the area. I didn’t make that up.  It’s a pretty good definition I think.  It’s common practice for network engineers draw clouds on their network diagrams to represent bits of network they don’t control, usually service provider networks.  Cloud Computing works the same way. “They give me computing resources of a particular type with a service description and an SLA and I don’t need to worry about the details”.  If you need a certain amount of security, get it in the contract. If you need a certain guaranteed performance, get that in the contract too.

It’s early days. Cloud Computing offerings are still maturing. The types of offerings are still evolving.  In my opinion, there are some exciting changes starting to happen.

IT departments in many or most enterprises are in an ongoing wrestle with their business masters. Both sides complain about the other, saying they don’t understand, they don’t deliver or don’t listen.  When IT departments don’t support their businesses, wholesale outsourcing usually results. However that’s had limited success and it’s like throwing the baby out with the bathwater.  You need healthy competition for an optimum result.  An internal IT department effectively has a monopoly, holding the business to ransom. Outsourcing the lot just moves that monopoly elsewhere.  We need to eliminate this monopoly situation.

Network services have become a commodity because we now have standard networks. Everyone uses IP, ethernet, MPLS etc.  Switching from one carrier to another is a relatively painless process. Many companies use a mix, moving traffic and infrastructure onto one or the other over time. Competition is good!

Cloud computing has the same potential. Running your company’s servers or apps on a service provider’s platform and being able to move from one service provider to another easilly is key. Hooray, true competition!

Yes, this will most likely mean lots of job losses in IT departments all over the globe.  But this is a change that needs to happen.  If you work in IT, ask yourself, “how am I contributing to the profitability of my company?” If you can’t answer that, you better make some career changes so that you can.

Company executives will start looking at IT departments as business enablers, not just a cost.

Whilst looking through the www.savagechickens.com cartoon archive, I saw this. Very apt. This is a great summary of my experience being technical in a sales department.

I started a new job at Verizon Business yesterday. My new role is a Solutions Engineer. I think this is the third major step up in my career. The first was getting my first sysadmin job at Optus, the next was the system integration job for Digicel.

So far so good. It feels civilized here.