Your July 2010 digital issue of The Art of Service Magazine is here!
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Virtualization is a means of veiling computer resources. It can be a means of hiding technical details of underlying software running under an external interface. It could mean having a single resource function like there were multiple resources. But it could also allow multiple resources to run like a single resource. Computer environments can be simulated. This is what’s known as platform virtualization. On the other hand, there’s also something that’s known as resource virtualization which means the simulation of fragmented and combined resources.

Virtualization can also be done on the storage device level. This means that the virtualization is actually operating on the file level. This is what’s called the file virtualization or the storage virtualization. Typically what happens is that multiple storage devices are pooled together into a single logical storage. In other words, it would be like unifying multiple storage devices into a unified pool of files.

As with any type of virtualization, file virtualization is typically done so as to hide the underlying storage environment. One important reason for doing file virtualization is for easy and simplification of file management. With a unified file storage, it would be easier and more convenient to manage. With less storage to manage less personnel would be needed to do it.  Less time would also be needed. This would translate to less management cost. File virtualization is also done to maximize on capacity usage and allocation. Such activity is very important in file area network and just as much in network file management.

Your August 2010 digital issue of The Art of Service Magazine is here!
		Hi, Your copy of The Art of Service Magazine is here!

The link to access your magazine is taos.magazines.s3.amazonaws.com/august/index.html

Planning for enterprise architecture can be a bit of pain. This is especially true when you are just starting out and you really have no clue when it comes to the nitty gritty aspects of the matter. Good thing you can always come up with a really good planning framework. With the right advice, you can create a foolproof one which will serve you well all the time. The first part of your planning framework for enterprise architecture would include the Goals aspect.

Here, you need to identify both long term and short term goals. These goals must be very clear and must also be quite specific. To do this, separate them into strategic, corporate, operational, individual and departmental. After your goals, you need to come up with a Plan section for your framework. Here, you will have to map out a route which you can use in order to attain your goals. Keep in mind that you also need to take some time off to come up with a good Plan, as it will play off well in the future. After planning, you will of course need to identify the standard processes that are part and parcel of your action set.

Here you have to understand that the importance of the standard processes really do make things a lot easier as well as cheaper to be able to generate a fairly consistent and reliable set of results. And the last two important aspects of your planning framework would involve the measures you need to take and the people you have to tap. Here, you will identify if you really can get the outcomes you expect and if you can get to place your employees and team members strategically in order to be successful.

ISO 9000 provides a general framework which could serve as the basis of corporate quality management systems. Companies can institute quality measures based on these internationally recognized standards. However, getting an ISO certification is a long and arduous process and it requires careful planning involving the entire management team as well as key personnel responsible for quality control and procedures. The ISO 9000 management plan will make the certification process easier to carry out. The plan should include the creation of different documents and tools to enable companies to implement ISO quality standards.

The management team can first create an informative ISO presentation designed to unify the entire company on the concepts and processes of ISO certification. Achieving a common language for ISO standards is the key to success of any ISO management plan. This will ensure that managers of different divisions as well as the quality assurance staff have common understanding about the requirements and processes involved in ISO certification.

After the process of unification, the company can select the most experienced managers and quality control specialists for ISO certification training. These individuals will play a key role in implementing new quality management standards. Some companies can skip this part and hire a third party ISO consultant. This could speed up the process of certification but it doesnt have long term benefits.

Finally, the ISO team should be directed to create different document tools that can measure the implementation of quality standards on the different aspects of company operations. These tools would be valuable for ensuring compliance with the ISO standards. It can also be used as control mechanisms to keep the business processes of the company aligned with ISO specifications.