Lunch with President Elect Obama and Mayor Fenty

January 10, 2009 is a day my family and I will remember forever. My wife, sons and I went on a trip to DC to tour the Smithsonian. We stopped for lunch at Ben’s Chili Bowl, and within a few minutes of standing in line to order our food, President Elect Obama and Mayor Fenty came into the restaurant to eat their lunch! Both President Elect Obama and Mayor Fenty greeted all the patrons and shook everybody’s hand – they are two very impressive leaders, indeed! It was a meeting we will talk about and remember forever!

 

Federal Continuity Directive – FCD 1 and FCD 2

Over the years, I have had the pleasure to work with a number of companies and talented consultants/subject matter experts to provide business continuity, disaster recovery, continuity of operations (COOP) and continuity of government (COG) planning services for government and commercial clients. In summary, we work with our clients to produce a comprehensive, actionable and cost-effective continuity plan to enable them to save lives, protect skill sets and get back to serving customers and achieving their mission after an emergency or disaster.

In the federal government space, for years the primary documents that provided guidance on business continuity, disaster recovery, COOP and COG included:

• The Computer Security Act of 1987
• OMB Circular A-130, Management of Federal Information Resources, Appendix III, November 2000.
• Federal Preparedness Circular (FPC) 65, Federal Executive Branch Continuity of Operations, July 1999
• Presidential Decision Directive (PDD) 67, Enduring Constitutional Government and Continuity of Government Operations, October 1998
• PDD 63, Critical Infrastructure Protection, May 1998
• Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), The Federal Response Plan (FRP), April 1999
• National Institute of Standards and Technology 800-34, Contingency Planning Guide for Information Technology Systems

In May 2007, President George W. Bush published an important nationally focused continuity directive:

• NATIONAL SECURITY PRESIDENTIAL DIRECTIVE/NSPD 51 and HOMELAND SECURITY PRESIDENTIAL DIRECTIVE/HSPD-20

In February 2008, the Department of Homeland Security released these two federal continuity directive (FCD) documents, which will affect all Executive Branch Agencies under the United States federal government:

• FCD 1 Federal Executive Branch National Continuity Program and Requirements
• FCD 2 Federal Executive Branch Mission Essential Function (MEF) and Primary Mission Essential Function (PMEF) Identification and Submission Process

These documents are intended to supersede FPC 65 and FPC 60, and as a result, our clients have been asking questions including, but not limited to:

1 – What is materially different among the legacy PDD and FPC documents and the new FCD?

2 – How will the FCD(s) affect my organization?

3 – When does my organization have to comply with the FCD(s)?

4 – What are the specific FCD compliance requirements?

To provide these answers and more, we have developed a paper “The Practical Aspects and Implications of FCD 1 and FCD 2 on You and Your Organization”. Our intent is to keep this document “open source”, adding lessons learned and best practices from the industry as the FCD is applied and evolves. If you are interested in receiving this timely paper, please send an email to:

fcd1and2@amicususa.com

please send your feedback, edits, comments and modifications to this paper via the same email address and your valuable input will be incorporated into future versions of this document, and with your permission, you will be added as a contributor.

The SWOT Analysis

On a recent client engagement, we were asked to develop and discuss a number of strategies for our client from both an operational and financial perspective. As we started developing the report, we needed a framework to capture and present this important information. Although a number of strategic tools were available, we used the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) matrix. We have applied SWOT analyses on dozens of engagements, and we find that it continues to be one of the simplest, most effective strategic tools in the management consultant’s toolbox. If you need a strategic framework, consider the SWOT matrix – its power is its simplicity!

 

Operating System Virtualization

Linux is becoming my operating system of choice, but many of my clients have standardized (?) on Microsoft Office for document handling. Google Docs, OpenOffice, Abiword and other opensource suites are good for content development, however, I have found that Microsoft Word documents (at least through 2003) must be viewed and formatted using Microsoft Word prior to sending the deliverable to my client. Also, many of my client’s systems require Microsoft Internet Explorer for web access, and although I could use a solid program such as IEs for Linux, I need a robust IE environment to access certain client systems. This is where operating system virtualization shines! Operating system virtualization allows me to run a host operating system (Linux) and a guest (Windows XP). I have experimented with VMWare’s Player and Server over the past few years, but for the past year I have been using Innotek’s Virtual Box on Ubuntu Linux. Virtual Box provides a stable environment for my XP guest OS, and I can do anything within the virtual OS that I can do on a native Windows XP machine, including folder sharing between Ubuntu and Windows. With my Dell 640m and 1.5 Gb of RAM, the speed of both my guest (Ubuntu Gutsy) and host (Windows XP) is fast. Good job VMWare and Innotek for making virtualization easier for all that need it!

Small Business Financing

When people ask me “what does Amicus USA (AUSA) do?”. The best answer that I can give is that since 2002, AUSA has been providing venture management, venture capital and business development services to a select group of emerging small businesses. We recently started using a service called Virgin Money (formerly Circle Lending) to raise capital for one of our clients. The concept is superb – Virgin Money formalizes the borrowing / lending of funds between a small business and family and friends, as well as providing a number of other services. The online features are good, but the follow-up and contact from my Account Manager has been a pleasant surprise as well. Until the credit situation in the United States improves in Q3 or Q4 2008, Virgin Money provides an effective method to provide small business with the funds it needs to make payroll, pay bills, grow and prosper.

Skype and Fios – Better, Cheaper, Faster

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, I worked in telecommunications as a Senior Account Manager for MCI WorldCom selling telecommunications services, which included local / long distance, frame relay, ATM, and various flavors of DS-X and OC-X. Cisco Systems and a number of smaller players were promoting VoIP and the convergence of voice, video and data on one network as the next big IT and telecommunications wave. A few years ago I started dablling with home office VoIP by using Packet 8 and Sunrocket (out of business and no longer providing service). Using my cable modem, the call quality of both services was decent – at least as good as a cell phone, and often better than a land line. When we moved into our new house, I had Verizon’s basic Fios internet and television service installed, and for the past six months I have been using SkypeOut (about $3 per month) with the VoSky Call Center and the Linksys CIT-200. Fios provides a consistent 5000 kbps download and about 1800 kbps upload internet connection for a very reasonable (under $50 per month) cost. The VoSky Call Center allows me to use my SkypeOut with any standard RJ-11 phone, and the CIT-200 is a solid wireless Skype enabled phone. The Skype call quality to cell phones, land lines, other VoIP and Skype users is superb, and the cost is unbelievable – with my usage, less than US $0.007 per minute (total)! Some drawbacks are that Skype’s E911 functionality does not exist, and caller ID is not displayed on the receiver’s end, however, for the cost and quality of the Skype / Fios service, I am willing to work around these issues. I hope Ebay keeps Skype, or hopefully Skype finds a new home at Google – the Skype / Fios combination is hard to beat for better, cheaper and more efficient phone service.

Ubuntu, Windows XP and Windows Vista

Last week I finally gave in and bought a laptop with Windows Vista for my father. I have been postponing the “upgrade” from Windows XP to Vista because I’ve been hearing about challenges with device driver compatibility. I have quite a few vintage printers, scanners and the ilk that are five+ years in age, and I’m in no rush to replace them. Vista appears to be ok for basic computing needs – word processing, spreadsheets and web surfing, and MS appears to be working on the driver issues (with their peripheral partners). Overall, however, I have enjoyed working with Ubuntu Linux, and the latest flavor of Ubuntu, Gutsy Gibbon. I continue to experiment with a number of Linux distros, but I keep coming back to Ubuntu. Ubuntu is secure, stable, and easy to use, and customizable to my needs. I want my children to know that Microsoft has produced great ideas and good software, but other options do exist.

Google Docs

In my job as a management consultant and as a business developer, I write about eight hours a day. Over the past 20 years or so, throughout my educational and professional career, I have used numerous proprietary and open source word processing programs on Microsoft, Apple and Linux platforms. Some of these programs have been good, others not so good. Overall, however, my word processing skills are definitely above average.

Lately I have been using Google Docs for the majority of my word processing and spreadsheet needs. Google did a good job in taking the basic Writely word processing service and made it better.

Google Docs allows me to focus on content first and format second, which at the end of the day, makes for a better deliverable to my prospect or client. I can establish a high-grade encrypted AES 256-bit connection with Google Docs, and I can backup my document by saving the document locally. I have read Google’s usage policies, and although I am confident Google has too much to lose by violating its customer’s trust, I continue to keep highly confidential, proprietary or for official use only (FOUO) content on my local machine.

Irrespective of my machine’s operating system and my geographic location, I have access to my documents with an internet connection and a web browser- productivity is good!

April 24, 2007

My name is JJ Nathan and I am founder and CEO of Amicus USA, Inc (AUSA). I have a BS in Chemical Engineering and a MBA in Finance. AUSA is headquartered in the metropolitan Washington, DC area, and serves clients worldwide. AUSA provides clients with program management and management consulting solutions focused on a variety of industries including, but not limited to, IT, healthcare, chemical manufacturing, banking, and federal / state / local government. It has been a great experience building AUSA since 2002, and I look forward to serving our clients over the next five years – I’ve learned a lot and hope to continue to learn more.