Buytrain News

Issue: The time to go to work - arrived before my willpower to go to work woke up.

E-Commerce Panel Discussion

Are you doing business electronically? Internationally? Keeping Electronic records?
Most likely it's all of the above. Do you sometimes wonder what the legal system is doing to keep up with our new ways of doing business? If you do, here is an opportunity for you to catch up.

How would you like to hear these three people talking together in a panel discussion about electronic commerce laws?

You can. University of Idaho, College of Law Symposium in Boise. April 10, 2009

Just Wondering?

Speaking about doing business today? What are you doing to ensure the financial viability of your suppliers? What about lower tier suppliers. Given the large number so suppliers that are struggling financially, have you augmented your normal process to include some financial protections? Even if you are not checking financial statement before the award, are you protecting your supply chain by verifying receipt of raw materials, checking lower-tier sources, reducing or eliminating progress payments and, maybe even investing in raw materials as a safety stock?

Legal Resource; Contracts

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

Are you one of the lucky ones who is helping to spend the money? It's a two edged sword. We are getting some funds to spend in our company. Along with the pressure to get it spent promptly; there are also a number of regulatory hooks. It always seems to be so with the government. Advertised solicitations, small business set asides, vendor registration requirements, weekly reporting, public posting and increased audit exposure. You should see the 60 page guidance from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). No Kidding - if you haven't looked at it, at least take a glance. Those of you who are not familiar with government procurement will get some interesting insight into how much fun all those regulations and regulators can be.

Personal Development

Career in Government Acquisition?

Guide for Executives

Need help explaining government procurement policies and regulations to project management? Here is one source that might help. DOE has a guide written specifically for executives which explains the underlying principles behind government procurement. Department of Energy Acquisition System - A Guide for Executives (PDF)

Professional Journals

Are you looking for a good professional journal related to your passion or company business? Here is a good resource with links and articles from hundreds of online journals. Getting a chance to develop a new supply chain? I saw at least 10 on the list related to the food industry alone.
http://www.allbusiness.com/3471137-1.html

Electronic Records - Spoilage?

Consider all of the emails and electronic documents floating around your company network, stored on workstations and maybe even archived on user USB flash drives. Now think about what will happen when a court order arrives seeking all data and documents relating to... XYZ. Spoilage is one of the terms used in legal circles to indicate that there once was a record, but someone destroyed or lost it before it could be produced.

Spoilage also can indicate the data record itself becoming useless to your company because it not longer can be found or identified. In either case, you have a problem that can do considerable damage. Just like shredding incriminating documents; erasing emails after the court order has been received - will be detrimental to your case. What to do? What to do?

I'd suggest starting to gather information, add record handling to internal training programs and develop a plan that fits your business needs. At the very least, I suggest you add a discussion about electronic records and how the staff should respond if there ever is a pending legal action. Take a quick glance at this blog for starters. http://replytoall.typepad.com/reply_to_all/2007/06/a_new_it_requir.html

ISM News

Leadership Workshop

As you may already be aware, the economic downturn hit the ISM budget and chopped our summer leadership workshop. Rather than skip it altogether, Jan and the Affiliate Support staff have pulled together an abbreviated leadership workshop which will be held in conjunction with the ISM International conference in Charlotte in May. While it will only be one day, we will be sharing as much information and ideas with affiliate leaders as we can. I'll be talking about using technology to enhance affiliate communication. Agenda and Registration

I plan to post my presentations and I know Jan will be post presentations on the ISM web site for everyone to use. Also, keep in mind, discussion notes and presentations form previous Leadership workshops are also posted on the ISM web site. If there is some value I can add or a specific topic you would like me to try and address, just let me know. Although it's out of date, some of the ideas in my article for getting the most out of the workshop are still worth reviewing, read more

YouTube Video Worth Sharing

Software Tips

Adobe Acrobat Vulnerability

This was so bad they closed our firewall for a week [without warning!]. Adobe issued a patch on March 11. I strongly suggest you make sure you download and install the patch. www.adobe.com. IMPORTANT NOTE: If you download a new copy of Adobe Reader, or any other software, look carefully at the instructions before starting the download. DO NOT let software programs also download and install extra, unneeded, system clogging toolbars and gimmicks. Skip the Yahoo Toolbar, Google Toolbar, PigsCanFly Toolbar and all the other stuff. You don't need them!

IE 8?

Recommend you wait. Remember, being the first one in the water isn't always the best idea.

USB Warning

Just reading an interesting article in one of the technical ezines. Author said that USB connectors are much more fragile than they look. In his case he was hiving problems with several USB devices. Turned out that the cable had failed - most likely one of the connectors had a broken pin. He replaced the cable and all was better. Moral - USB connectors can be fractured and cause the devices to fail. Be gentle with them and back up your data!

Home Computer Security - latest newsletter from Microsoft

If you have a home computer, then you should be taking steps to keep yourself and your family safe on line. I highly recommend you subscribe to a newsletter, if for no other reason than to get familiar with the terminology and issues. http://www.microsoft.com/protect/secnews/default.mspx

Computer viruses: Everything you need to know

Hotlinks

Finally a proactive approach to spammers!

In a follow-up to last month's story on the Conficker worm, Microsoft has offered a U.S.$250,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible.

Provide Feedback and suggestions for future newsletters at any time. I'll try and use what I can.

I really do appreciate those of you who take the time to write and comment on this newsletter!

	MLTWEB is assembled and maintained by Michael L. Taylor, C.P.M.
	Materials and articles prepared by Mike may be shared for purchasing education provided that this source is cited and no fee is charged. The rights for any other use are withheld.
	Copyright; Michael L. Taylor, C.P.M.
	Last Updated: 10/06/2006

March 2009

Education