Les Lauriers de Magnot

US launches National Strategy for Global Supply Chain Security

2012-02-01T05:44:00.000-08:00

U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano unveiled the Obama administration’s National Strategy for Global Supply Chain Security at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland yesterday (25 January 2012). The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is committed to facilitating legitimate trade and travel, while preventing terrorists from exploiting supply chains, protecting transportation systems from attacks and disruptions, and increasing the resilience of global supply chains.

Download the PDF file at www.whitehouse.gov

A super rematch - Super Bowl 46 - New York Giants vs New England Patriots

2012-01-31T23:49:00.000-08:00

Four years ago in Glendale, Ariz., the New York Giants shocked the New England Patriots in what many rank as the greatest Super Bowl of all time. Next round on Sunday 5th February 2011 , they'll be at it again.

http://www.nfl.com/superbowl/46

Canadian Government Cloud Computing White Paper– Best practices

2012-01-31T00:20:00.000-08:00

Here is the first version of the white paper : Best practices in Canadian Government Cloud Computing.

Download : 14-page PDF

The objective of this paper is to document all the standards and technologies that go into defining a framework for public sector Cloud Computing in Canada, covering key topics such as:

Understanding the baseline of the NIST Cloud Computing models

A big focus on ‘PaaS’ – Platform as a Service

Canadian standards for Identity and Virtualization Security

How to maximize success through Shared Services, and how to maximize the success of Shared Services Canada

Canadian Federal Government Public Works CIO talks about "Cloud computing Roadmap"

2012-01-20T01:05:00.000-08:00

In June 2010 the Canadian Federal Government Public Works CIO delivered this 18-page PDF presentation, which describes a roadmap plan for their adoption of Cloud Computing, acting as a template blueprint for an overall enterprise architecture and strategy for Cloud computing.

As a manager, do you delegate?

2012-01-19T04:06:00.000-08:00

Here are some common myth about delegation:
1. There is not enough time to delegate
2. My employees are not competent enough
3. If you want it done right, you have to do it
4. People won't think you are on top of the job
5. You should not delegate what you are good at doing

Project Management and Webcasting using WebEx

2012-01-19T04:00:00.000-08:00

The WebEx online meeting technology definitely helps to streamline project management with your partners remotely:

- identifying additional needs
- managing projects visually
- save money on meetings and/or traveling by using online technology
- speeding up the processes within the projects

WebEx recordings or live webcasts, note that recorded webcast can be posted and shared, getting your message out to more people, faster.

Vivek Kundra, former United States Chief Information Officer joined salesforce.com

2012-01-17T08:16:00.000-08:00

Having promoted the cloud at the White House, Vivek Kundra is charged by Marc Benioff from Salesforce to develop activities to emerging countries.

Vivek promoted the cloud at the White House, he previously was the "United States Chief Information Officer", i.e. federal CIO, on the accession of Barack Obama as president.

He had worked at the White House promoting Cloud technologies and strengthening ways to fight against cybercrime. "Vivek Kundra is a visionary technological developments. He opened the eyes of millions of people to the processing capacity offered by cloud computing." said Marc Benioff.
All best wihes of sucess Vivek!

Measurement of ROI for EA?

2012-01-14T22:47:00.000-08:00

ROI (return on investment) for EA(enterprise architecture) is too difficult to measure. We can probably measure nonfinancial or nontangible benefits like stakeholder satisfaction, but turning these to money is just nonsense. However, we can show the logic how EA contributes in company goals.

Swiss Authorities Cloud Computing Strategy - Cloud-Computing-Strategie der Schweizer Behörden - Stratégie Cloud Computing des autorités suisses

2012-01-13T02:33:00.000-08:00

Experts from the Swiss Confederation, cantons, municipalities, business and education and research have developed a draft strategy for cloud computing. The project is in consultation with the mentioned groups.

Des experts issus de la Confédération, des cantons, des communes, de l'économie ainsi que de l'enseignement et de la recherche ont élaboré un projet de stratégie d'informatique en nuage. Le projet est mis en consultation auprès des groupes mentionnés.

Read more in French or German

Super yacht Adastra: a $42.5m Power Trimaran

2011-12-28T10:51:00.000-08:00

Described by Boat International as “one of the world’s most amazing super yachts, that could spell the future for efficient long range cruising”, the striking 42.5m Trimaran Adastra is currently under construction at McConaghy Boats in China. This one-off trimaran designed by John Shuttleworth is being built for Hong Kong clients Anto and Elaine Marden for the small fee of $42,500,000. A real bargain!

"Adastra" is the result of more than 5 years of design and discussion with the owners, to build a yacht that meets the needs of a very experienced ocean voyaging couple and their family, and to provide the level of comfort and style that would be expected in a yacht of this class and size. No effort has been spared in the challenge to produce a beautiful yacht that will have low fuel consumption and yet provide excellent sea keeping qualities and luxurious accommodation.

John Shuttleworth, the inventor

Owners: Elaine Marden and her husband Anthony

Super yacht Adastra by John Shuttleworth

Iberian Peninsula at Night

2011-12-27T12:22:00.001-08:00

The city lights of Spain and Portugal define the Iberian Peninsula in this photograph from the International Space Station (ISS). Several large metropolitan areas are visible, marked by their relatively large and brightly lit areas, including the capital cities of Madrid, Spain—located near the center of the peninsula’s interior—and Lisbon, Portugal—located along the southwestern coastline. The ancient city of Seville, visible to the north of the Strait of Gibraltar, is one of the largest cities in Spain. The astronaut view is looking toward the east, and is part of a time-lapse series of images.

The network of smaller cities and towns along the coastline and in the interior attest to the extent of the human presence on the Iberian landscape. The blurring of city lights is caused by thin cloud cover (image left and center), while cloud tops are dimly illuminated by moonlight. Though obscured, the lights of France are visible near the horizon line on the upper left, while the lights of northern Africa are more clearly discernable at right. The faint gold and green line of airglow—caused by ultraviolet radiation exciting the gas molecules in the upper atmosphere—parallels the horizon (or Earth limb).

The Iberian Peninsula is the southwestern-most of the European peninsulas (together with the Italian and Balkan peninsulas), and includes the Principality of Andorra, as well as the Kingdom of Spain and the Portuguese Republic. The approximately 590,000 square kilometer landmass is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the northwest, west, and southwest and the Mediterranean Sea to the east. Its northeastern boundary is marked by the Pyrenees mountain range.

Source: http://www.nasa.gov/

New Technology - Cloud Communicator tablet by NEC

2011-12-27T12:12:00.000-08:00

Dual screen NEC tablet goes official (LT-W Android Cloud Communicator) using
the open-platform Android.
It can be operated by fingers or using the provided pen stylus.
It includes cloud computing technology.

More info here

OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) vs ODM (Original Design Manufacturer)

2011-12-23T10:49:00.000-08:00

An original equipment manufacturer, or OEM, manufactures products or components that are purchased by a company and retailed under that purchasing company's brand name. OEM refers to the company that originally manufactured the product. When referring to automotive parts, OEM designates a replacement part made by the manufacturer of the original part. In this usage, OEM means "original equipment from manufacturer".

On the other hand, an original design manufacturer (ODM) is a company which designs and manufactures a product which is specified and eventually branded by another firm for sale. Such companies allow the brand firm to produce (either as a supplement or solely) without having to engage in the organization or running of a factory. ODMs have grown in size in recent years and many are now sufficient in size to handle production for multiple clients, often providing a large portion of overall production. A primary attribute of this business model is that the ODM owns and/or designs in-house the products that are branded by the buying firm. This is in contrast to a contract manufacturer (CM).

Cloud Computing Strategic Direction Paper by Australian Governement

2011-12-16T09:19:00.000-08:00

The Department of Finance and Deregulation, through the Australian Government Information Management Office, has consulted with government agencies, industry and the public to develop an Australian Government Cloud Computing Strategic Direction paper to explore the opportunities and impacts of cloud computing.

According to the paper, some agencies have already commenced small pilots and proofs of concept to evaluate the potential of application, platform and infrastructure cloud computing.

Australian Taxation Office (ATO)

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)

Treasury / ATO

Department of Immigration and Citizenship (IMMI)

Additional information here

What is the difference between Architecture and Design in ICT?

2011-11-12T08:56:00.001-08:00

Architecture is the software components that a software needs to have, based on the specifications, to perform as required.  Design is the construction of the software components, and may be Logical Design which is the source coding of the components, and may be Physical Design which is the organization adaptation of the Logical Design into a functioning software.

Cybercrime Security Forum November 1, 2011

2011-11-01T12:25:00.000-07:00

“I believe we must aspire to a future of cyber space which is not stifled by government control or censorship, but where innovation and competition flourish and investment and enterprise are rewarded” William Hague told the conference. Willian Hague is the British Foreign Secretary and First Secretary of State.

“We know this is not a view shared by all countries but states will find it harder and harder to try to restrict their citizens’ demands for the freedom to express their ideas” he added.

Installing Eclipse on Mac OS X 64 bit (COCOA)

2011-10-26T13:50:00.000-07:00

Go to http://www.eclipse.org/downloads/ to download a copy of eclipse.

The download will go to your Downloads folder. You will normally have an icon for the Downloads folder on the right-hand side of the dock. Find eclipse-java-indigo-SR1-macosx-cocoa-x86_64-1.tar.gz. in your Downloads folder, and drag it to the Desktop. Then double-click it. You will see a folder named "eclipse."

Drag the "eclipse" folder into your Applications folder. The easiest way to do so is to open a new window in the Finder and click on Applications in the list you get on the left-hand side. Then drag the "eclipse" folder in with the other applications. Make sure that you do not drag it into a folder that's already within Applications. In other words, when you're done, the Applications folder should have directly within it a folder named "eclipse."

You have now installed Eclipse on your beautiful MAC! So simple as that using MAC!

The iEnterprise by Jose Ferreiro

2011-10-22T10:17:00.000-07:00

Virtualization, cloud computing, and wireless technology are fundamentally changing enterprise computing, providing revolutionary gains in productivity and cost savings. Powerful enterprise applications can now be delivered to almost any device, anywhere, at any time and take advantage of tremendous computing power available in consumer devices, such as smartphones (Android, iPhone, Samsung, Galaxy, Sony, Blackberry, etc) and tablets (iPad, Motorola Xoom, Blackberry PlayBook, HP TouchPad, GalaxyTab, etc). Regardless of whether these devices are issued corporately or personally owned, almost every IT department is experiencing the effects of unprecedented smart device adoption in their enterprise.

MAC backup using a single command line

2011-10-16T07:43:00.000-07:00

Performing Backups in MAC without using TIMEMACHINE is a kids game.
Whad to you need?
- External hard drive or even a USB pen drive (for the most important information) In addition, you may even think to encrypt your backups by using the free TrueCrypt software.
- Use the rsync command, which stands for remote sync.rsync utility is used to synchronize the files and directories from one location to another in an effective way. rsync is shipped with the MAC unix kernel.Just perform the following command on the terminal
$ rsync options source destination
$ rsync -avz --delete /Volumes/Macintosh\ HD/Users/ferreiro/Documents/data /Volumes/JF-MAC/MAC-Backup/data
The options used are:
-a Archive mode. Preserve timestamps, users, permissions, etc
-v Verbose mode
-z Enable compression
--delete option deletes files that are not there in source directory (keep perfect match between source and destination)

#1 challenges of IT: IT ignorance, staying with an open mind, IT as a cost center ?

2011-10-16T04:20:00.000-07:00

Multiple directions:
- "IT ignorance" I do not want to say always, because it is not true, but often the people that would like to improve IT do not know what they talking about (e.g. virtualization, cloud computing.)
- "Stay with an open mind" do not stop to look new technology or better do not stop to put passion on your work. Do not see where you are or where you have arrived but always where do you want to go?
- Sometimes IT is becoming HR. I find the CFO reporting relationship to be a red herring. In fact, an extremely effective CIO I met reported to the CFO. Part of her effectiveness was that the CFO lent financial rigor to her initiatives, and made them an easier "sell" to the CEO. If IT acts like a "cost center", it will be treated like such. It is extremely rare to see a CIO who is unfairly "oppressed" by their CFO; usually they are treated like a "cost center" since they don't know anything about their business, and are constantly pitching technology "solutions" rather than solving business problems.

Gartner SYMPOSIUM ITxpo 2011 - Barcelona, Spain

2011-10-14T05:25:00.000-07:00

The World's Most Important Gathering of CIOs and Senior IT Executives
7 - 10 November 2011 | Barcelona, Spain

Agenda

Keyspeakers

e-Customs Services in Border Crossing Facilitation

2011-10-04T13:22:00.000-07:00

View more presentations from José Ferreiro

e-Customs Services in Border Crossing Facilitation

2011-10-04T13:18:00.000-07:00

View more presentations from José Ferreiro

Cloud Computing - Why and How? (by Forrester Research, Inc.)

2011-09-11T08:34:00.000-07:00

An overview of why and how the cloud will impact the future according to Forrester Research, Inc.

View more presentations from José Ferreiro.

Presentation PC-7 TEAM - Switzerland

2011-09-11T08:29:00.000-07:00

View more presentations from José Ferreiro.

Security Lock Down Your Computer Like the National Security Agency (NSA)

2011-09-11T08:17:00.000-07:00

NSA has developed and distributed configuration guidance for operating systems. These guides are currently being used throughout the government and by numerous entities as a security baseline for their systems.

View more documents from José Ferreiro.

IT professionals need to become business leaders first and technologists second

2011-09-06T12:38:00.000-07:00

Execution plays a vital role in IT. I also feel that CIO should align the IT resources with the organization business strategies and priorities which will build a stronger and more agile IT workforce. The ultimate result will be services that are more efficient, transparent and responsive to the organization.

What is the role of the CIO/IT Director?

2011-09-06T02:15:00.000-07:00

The role of the CIO/IT Director is to act as the business owner for IT, ensuring that whatever competitive advantage or operational efficiency that might exist, is identified, prioritised and implemented. With the increasing emergence of ubiquitous technology, the danger is that for IT leaders who fail to grasp the challenge, they will be usurped by their colleagues in finance who albeit mistakenly believe good IT is easy and who will then take those decisions unilaterally, leading to poor IT decisions. In my opinion, it is the age old argument between "IT and the business", it is a misnomer. You do not hear "Sales and the business" or "Finance and the business", IT leaders need to wise up and realise they ARE the business and take ownership, be business leaders first and technologists second, just like their boardroom colleagues are in their respective disciplines.
Unless you can achieve this, then you are the biggest threat to the long term health of IT in your business.

CMS - MojoPortal

2011-08-31T23:50:00.000-07:00

I just investigated today by the request of one of my friends a Content Management System (CMS) easy of use, and above all, something that has an easy back-end for non technical users. I came out with MojoPortal because it has a great community, very active support, easy to write custom features for, and lots of great OOTB (out of the box :-) ) features. Custom skinning is easy, and it is very end-user-friendly.

Going to the cloud - jose ferreiro

2011-08-13T02:44:00.000-07:00

Going to the Cloud

View more presentations at José Ferreiro's wall

Understanding the differences between public and private cloud computing

2011-08-13T01:48:00.000-07:00

The future may yield a broader range of clouds, each providing different sets of assets and catering to more demanding user requirements. At the same time, it is important to remember that neither public nor private clouds will handle every computing need. Traditional data centers will continue well into the future—even as the clouds move in.

MoSCoW Prioritisation method

2011-08-06T04:29:00.000-07:00

MoSCoW is a prioritisation technique used in business analysis and software development to reach a common understanding with stakeholders on the importance they place on the delivery of each requirement - also known as MoSCoW prioritisation or MoSCoW analysis.

The capital letters in MoSCoW stand for:
M - MUST have this.
S - SHOULD have this if at all possible.
C - COULD have this if it does not affect anything else.
W - WON'T have this time but WOULD like in the future. Alternatively WANT.

The o's in MoSCoW are added simply to make the word pronounceable, and are often left lower case to indicate that they don't stand for anything. While some suggest it should be MuSCoW (to more accurately reflect the words behind the acronym), MoSCoW is preferred as it is more easily remembered as the capital city of the Russian Federation.

READ MORE...

Should CIO report to CFO?

2011-08-03T14:06:00.000-07:00

Increasingly I've noticed that CFO are taking over the overall control of IT department & making the CIO report into the CFO. I guess the thought process is that in this competitive market CFO wants to keep a control on IT budget and make sure every penny is spent wisely. However I wonder if every IT initiative can be looked at keeping short time benefits in mind, does the financial background of CFO enables them to look at bigger picture or long term goal? I strongly believe few large IT initiative cannot be always looked at from the profit & loss point of view rather long term returns, business benefits and efficiency. Sometimes its good and bad to roll IT into CFO organization however it largely depends on the business model and objective where an organization want to go.

An Open, Interoperable Cloud

2011-07-26T10:49:00.000-07:00

This article describes how interoperable clouds can be created, today, through the integration of open standards such as the Open Cloud Compute Interface, the Open Virtualisation Format and CDMI. They provide the means to package virtual infrastructure deployments, an API for the runtime management of storage infrastructure and an API for the runtime management of infrastructure as service.

(Article)

EU Data Protection Directive and cloud backup

2011-07-14T13:53:00.001-07:00

Tonight I was just investigating some "cloud backup storage solution (encryption included if possible)". I also discovered about the EU Data Protection Directive, that some cloud providers use as a marketing benefit for the final user.

What is it?

The European Union (EU) has a European directive restricting the use of a cloud backup in certain circumstances, the EU Data Protection Directive(EUDPD). The EUDPD defines some basic requirements on the protection of personal data of European citizens.

In practice the EUDPD prohibits many organisation to send any personal data to countries outside the European Union.

Sample company that I found zmanda.com (see logo at the bottom on the right border)

On clusters, the SQL Server Browser listens on which port?

2011-07-13T01:26:00.000-07:00

Answer: IP_ANY

Explanation: In a cluster, the browser listens on the IP_ANY port, since this is not a cluster aware service.

Ref: SQL Server Browser Service - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms181087.aspx

ABV - Architecture Business Value

2011-07-05T00:07:00.000-07:00

Enterprise architects can add tremendous value to their organization's selection of a packaged application solution by analyzing each candidate's Architectural Business Value (ABV). Forrester Research's Randy Heffner explains how.
Read more here

Will Google+ dethrone Facebook ?

2011-07-04T08:36:00.001-07:00

The announcement of the social network Google+ to dethrone Facebook captivated the world. Yet the service is no longer accepting any new tester until further notice, a victim of its success ALREADY.
Service here.

My google+ profile

Three features that separate "the cloud" from hosting

2011-06-24T07:56:00.000-07:00

There are three features that separate "the cloud" from previous notions of outsourced hosting or managed services:
- Multi-tenancy: You contract for a service, not a physical server. Your application may share hardware and other resources with other customers without any impact on the service level you receive.
- Elasticity: You can configure new services in minutes. The providers have large enough scale to be ready with excess capacity, and have created management panels that allow for self-service provisioning.
- Location independence: Your services can be moved quickly to other data centers in order to provide increased capacity, uptime, and/or disaster assurance. The "cloud" is a whole new paradigm made possible by advances in virtual server management.

Distributed software services to the cloud without breaking a sweat

2011-06-23T12:59:00.000-07:00

Distributed software services to the cloud without breaking a sweat

View more presentations from José Ferreiro.

-Beautiful Latin America by Night -

2011-06-22T15:16:00.000-07:00

Beautiful Latin America by Night (Maravillosa Latinoamérica de noche)

View more presentations from José Ferreiro

- Beginning Android Development -

2011-06-22T00:44:00.000-07:00

Beginning Android Development

View more presentations from José Ferreiro.

Fusion: Enterprise architecture has to build bridges between and integrate

2011-06-21T05:08:00.000-07:00

Enterprise architecture (EA) has to build bridges between and integrate each of at least six architectures:
1. Value Architecture - strategies, targets, KPI-models
2. Business Architecture - governance, operational and support domains; Core value chains, business processes, workflows, business rules, products, etc.
3. Organizational Architecture - management models, organizational design, job descriptions, individual performance models
4. Information Architecture - data, information, knowledge requirements, etc.
5. Spatial Architecture - where things are located, location of assets, activities
6. Technology Architecture - enabling it all

Most EA approaches are insufficient in their integration, connectivity and fusion of these architectures to function in a seamless and optimal way.

FUSION

IBM DS 4800 SAN ARCHITECTURE

2011-06-20T09:49:00.001-07:00

Last week, I was delighted to see 3 racks containing a built-in SAN architecture based on IBM DS 4800. This is a scalable and high-performance storage for on demand computing environments.
It was connected into a datacenter with a 10 Gbps Fibre Channel interface technology. Every green light in the picture below represents a storage disk, which is valuable more than 1000 US$.

Therefore count the amount of green lights and you will have an approximate costs of this rack storage architecture.

Is the cloud computing a technology?

2011-06-07T01:05:00.000-07:00

Many people share a common mistake. The cloud is not a technology but a procurement model. Given an application, infrastructure component, service, or whatever, there is always the option to host it in your internal data center or put it in the cloud in someone else's data center. The underlying technology need not change.

It's just a marketing moniker in most cases, the cloud for most is the SaaS model aka ASP aka managed services... you get the picture.

The kind of cloud technologies that architects should be excited about are things like Platform As A Service (PaaS), http://cloudfoundry.org/ , http://www.openstack.org/ or http://www.heroku.com/

Add scalable data stores and things get interesting http://cassandra.apache.org/ and http://hadoop.apache.org/

New infrastructure for IT will include some form of cloud in it

2011-06-06T03:05:00.000-07:00

It is inevitable that new infrastructure for IT will include some form of cloud in it. The cloud has been around for over 20 years so why move to it now? Because of timing and companies like Salesforce/NetApp, Google, and Amazon who placed the right business model behind the technology and brought it mainstream while other big names like IBM, Microsoft, EMC, etc… play catch up. Here are some interesting numbers associated with a move to the cloud.

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/cloud-computing-market-241-billion-in-2020/47702

Reasons not to move now are security and proprietary platforms which will evolve over time. The key is to plan your IT infrastructure strategically in stages and demand cloud vendors build compatible data formats so your data is easily transferable between platforms and legacy systems. When you can walk away from a vendor and pick up where you left off with another vendor you have the upper hand.

http://www.forrester.com/rb/Research/sizing_cloud/q/id/58161/t/2

Le changement

2011-05-22T11:01:00.001-07:00

"Comme tout changement doit commencer quelque part. C'est l'individu isolé qui en aura l'intuition et le réalisera. Ce changement ne peut germer que dans l'individu, et çe peu être dans n'importe lequel d'entre nous"

Carl Gustave Yung

EA - Zachman or TOGAF?

2011-05-10T02:13:00.000-07:00

Enterprise Architecture - Which methodology do you find most effective for long term strategy, Zachman or TOGAF?

Depends upon whether the organisation is new to the concept of enterprise architecture or not. For organisations with little experience I believe TOGAF provides a more comprehensive set of guidelines which can help get things on the road. I do believe however that TOGAF lacks the level of detail to continue this within it's enterprise continuum, which is where Zachman comes into his own.

The Definition of Cloud Computing (Draft) by the National Institute of Standards and Technology

2011-05-06T02:55:00.000-07:00

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has issued two new draft documents on cloud computing for public comment, including the first set of guidelines for managing security and privacy issues in cloud computing. The agency also has set up a new NIST Cloud Computing Collaboration site on the Web to enable two-way communication among the cloud community and NIST cloud research working groups.

More info here

Extract all text from a PowerPoint presentation for translation purposes

2011-05-05T02:30:00.000-07:00

Within the framework of my work I have been asked to translated a powerpoint presentation as I am the only native person speaking the 'target' language.

However, at my biggest surprise I got not text but a powerpoint presentation!!!!
The presentation had full of boxes with text up and down....
I could not imagine a single moment to edit the translation and copy and paste every box
I needed all this text into another format ideally text format for further manipulation and usage of a translator engine to further speed the work.

It should be definitely another way to perform this task.

SOLUTION:

The simpliest way I found is to
Open your powerpoint, save it as a pdf, then open the pdf file with Acrobat Reader and save the file as TXT [Save As Type to Text (Plain) (*.txt).]

Hope this trick helps someone!

Have a great day.

As an IT Architect how do you measure success (II)?

2011-04-11T01:51:00.000-07:00

In respect to what KPI your organization follows or not, The simplest way for IT architect (matters any Architect) to measure his/her success is:

1) Develop your growth plan for short term and long term, what and where you want to be.
2) Knowledge Acquisition in changing business demands.
3) Build a design or solutions were all business elements (People process and Technology) are met and bridge all the gaps.
4) Achieve excellency in your work to gain buy-in for all your plans and designs.
5) Request Testimonial/Recommendations for your work (efforts are useless if you're not appreciated).

If you are done with above, you are on TOP success list, rest will follow :)

Rich Internet Applications Using Flex, Salesforce.com and Google App Engine

2011-04-08T03:49:00.001-07:00

Very interesting reading here

As an IT Architect how do you measure success (I)?

2011-04-07T00:35:00.000-07:00

In my opinion the success is measured by:

Was the solution implemented?
Did it provide the expected results?
and finally, Is the solution flexible enough to withstand change?

I mention the last one because IT is built on top of change. Any IT Architect (of any vertical) must incorporate the change aspect on its solutions. Please do not reduce the support for change just to the upgrades and additions to the solution. The end-of-life, disposal and deployment of new solutions also counts as change.

Proverbes du jour

2011-04-07T00:33:00.000-07:00

Il faut bonne mémoire après qu'on a menti. (Pierre Corneille)

On respecte un homme qui se respecte lui-même. (Honoré de Balzac)

Je ne pense jamais au futur, il vient assez tôt. (Albert Einstein)

Is the "Cloud Computing" a new concept?

2011-04-07T00:30:00.000-07:00

Right, in the 1960s John McCarthy thought that Cloud computing would be a public utility and published about it in 1961. You can read about his career in nascent "Cloud computing" here

Telling the difference between cloud and smoke

2011-04-02T04:55:00.000-07:00

I'd like to point you to a nice blog article that has a technical checklist for a service to be called 'cloud-based' Read more here

Another article here (amazon has its problems as well, so do your homework first)

EA What is it?

2011-04-02T04:50:00.000-07:00

Enterprise architecture is an integrated combination of Business Strategy + Business Architecture + Business Culture + Technology Architecture.
The “fundamental conflict among the so-called experts” is not about the contents of EA, if anything, it is about the relative significance and contribution of each aspect. Pro vs. Anti IT is about relative significance and contribution of IT (or business strategy, business architecture, etc.) at a particular point in time.

The ‘how to do it’ question is entirely different and is concerned with frameworks, methodologies, techniques, training, etc. There are “coherent, rational, theoretically and empirically sound EA methodologies”.

Rebuild a Jeep under 4 minutes

2011-04-01T08:05:00.001-07:00

Earth Hour observed at UN Headquarters (25th March 2011 )

2011-04-01T01:49:00.000-07:00

Earth Hour observed at UN Headquarters in New York on Saturday, 25th March 2011 | Picture Credit: Bo Li

UNECE - We drive by the rules poster - Road safety Campaign

2011-03-31T12:18:00.000-07:00

Jose Ferreiro at United Nations, we drive by the rules campaign

2011-03-31T05:10:00.001-07:00

UNECE member States’ ambassadors reaffirm commitment to road safety by signing “We drive by the rules” poster

Road Safety Campaign: “We drive by the rules” poster - United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)

2011-03-31T04:53:00.000-07:00

Ambassadors and Heads of national delegations attending UNECE’s 64th commission session reaffirmed today their commitment to road safety by signing the poster “We drive by the rules”.

This initiative represents a symbolic, personal commitment to the objectives of the Decade of Action for Road Safety (2011-2020) proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly resolution 64/255 and the importance of road safety in the UNECE region and worldwide.

United Nations, it's your world - Jose Ferreiro

2011-03-31T02:56:00.001-07:00

We the peoples...
A stronger UN for a better world.

See more at United Nations website.

Validate textbox in Graphical User Interface containing only numbers

2010-12-07T09:01:00.000-08:00

Often it is necessary to validate the input data in the Graphical User Interface when received at the server side. According to the received parameters the server may be not called if the parameters are not in the desired format. This will lead to a saving in the used resources server side. This can be easily done by performing a basic validation on the properties of the object received. The validation proposed here below could be smaller by using regular expressions.
The programming code below just loop on a received string and determines if every character of the string is a digit isDigit(). The loop stops if a character is not a digit and returns false.

/**
*
* @author Jose Ferreiro
*/
public class Main {

/**
* This method checks if a String contains only numbers
*/
public boolean containsOnlyNumbers(String str) {

//It can't contain only numbers if it's null or empty...
if (str == null || str.length() == 0)
return false;

for (int i = 0; i < str.length(); i++) {

//If we find a non-digit character we return false.
if (!Character.isDigit(str.charAt(i)))
return false;
}

return true;
}

/**
* @param args the command line arguments
*/
public static void main(String[] args) {
Main main = new Main();
System.out.println(main.containsOnlyNumbers("123456"));
System.out.println(main.containsOnlyNumbers("123abc456"));
}
}

OUTPUT of the main method:
True
False

HAPPY CODING

Custom 404 Page Using JBOSS (for audit purposes)

2010-12-04T10:43:00.000-08:00

Having a custom “page not found”, or 404 page, is an important modification for any website. It’s used to enhance the user experience by presenting an easy to understand message. Sometimes it is also useful to hide information contained in those pages as it reveals information about the server it self, release etc, etc

Setting up a user friendly error page is simple enough using Apache web server. Just modify the line in httpd.conf and point it to a static HTML document:

ErrorDocument 404 /the404_page.html

With JBOSS (or Tomcat-like Java container) application server, it’s slightly trickier. It has to be handled per web application basis. The change is done on the web.xml file, with these entries:

<error-page>
<error-code>404</ error-code>
<location>/404.html < / location >
< /error-page >

For the root directory, modify the web.xml in the ./deploy/jboss-web.deployer/ROOT.war/WEB-INF directory.

Java lang String Calculate MD5

2010-10-28T11:13:00.000-07:00

The java.lang.String class does not provide a faster way to code the MD5 algorithm, surely for security reasons.

Here a quick way to do implement is a a static class

1.import java.security.MessageDigest;
2.import java.security.NoSuchAlgorithmException;
3.
4.public class LMD5Gen {
5.
6. public static String md5(String input){
7. String res = "";
8. try {
9. MessageDigest algorithm = MessageDigest.getInstance("MD5");
10. algorithm.reset();
11. algorithm.update(input.getBytes());
12. byte[] md5 = algorithm.digest();
13. String tmp = "";
14. for (int i = 0; i < md5.length; i++) {
15. tmp = (Integer.toHexString(0xFF & md5[i]));
16. if (tmp.length() == 1) {
17. res += "0" + tmp;
18. } else {
19. res += tmp;
20. }
21. }
22. } catch (NoSuchAlgorithmException ex) {}
23. return res;
24. }
25.
26.}

Middleware : Service-Oriented Architectures (SOA) using BPEL components

2010-10-17T05:35:00.000-07:00

Future is the next generation of Business Integration through Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA). Legacy integration technologies are too complex and require proprietary skills to develop, support, and maintain. Standards have cleared the path to develop truly composite applications that leverage existing technology investments, promote mainstream developer adoption, and adapt to future technological advances.

Sistine Chapel on-line || Vatican City state

2010-09-28T12:16:00.000-07:00

Check it out the online version of the Sistine Chapel (Italian: Cappella Sistina) at the Vatican City state (Italian: Stato della Città del Vaticano) by Michelangelo, the Italian Renaissance painter that paint it on the XV century.
Last week I had the privilege to be able to visit it.

http://www.vatican.va/various/cappelle/sistina_vr/index.html

The ultimate Wedding Query... (SQL Style)

2010-08-24T01:05:00.001-07:00

I am running the following SQL query among the databases instances I managed in different MS SQL servers for fun....

At that point, I should say that the desired "tuple" has not yet been found :-( . . . .

Details of the SQL query follow:

--
-- Funny query
-- Date: 25 August 2010
--
-- The ultimate Wedding Query................ (SQL Style)

-- HUSBANDS QUERY

CREATE PROCEDURE MyMarriage(BrideGroom Male (25),Bride Female(20) )
AS BEGIN
SELECT Bride FROM Beautiful_ Brides
WHERE FatherInLaw = 'Millionaire'
AND Count(Car) > 20 AND HouseStatus ='ThreeStoreyed'
AND BrideEduStatus IN (B.TECH ,BE ,Degree ,MCA ,MiBA, PHD) AND Having Brothers= Null
AND Sisters =Null

SELECT Gold, Shares, Cash, Car, BankBalance
FROM FatherInLaw
UPDATE MyBankAccout
SETMyBal = MyBal + FatherInLawBal
UPDATE MyLocker
SET MyLockerContents = MyLockerContents + FatherInLawGold
INSERT INTOMyCarShed VALUES('Porsche')
END
GO

-- Then the wife writes the below query:
DROP HUSBAND;
Commit;

-- (-:

My Super Server - version 2010

2010-08-17T13:20:00.001-07:00

The server that is presented is as worth as the car below (second hand)! Next, see some snapshots I took from the Operating System (Windows Server 2008 RC2 64 bits).

The monster: HP Proliant ML570R G4 server

RAM: 16 x 4 GB = 64 GIGABYTES !!!!! I may tell you with this you will not have problems with multi threading.

STORAGE of 12 x 1000 Gigabytes (1.0 TB) = 12 Terrabytes !!!! = > 12.0 TB
Additional storage of 1.0 TB for C and D drives. See snapshot below.

Happy surfing!

Windows Server 2008 RC2 64 bits & Internet Information Services 7.5 (IIS 7.5)

2010-07-29T06:33:00.001-07:00

Windows Server 2008 RC2 64 bits

Internet Information Services 7.5 (IIS 7.5)

Microsoft VBScript runtime error '800a01ad' ActiveX component can't create object

2010-07-27T07:55:00.000-07:00

PROBLEM:

Server reports this error on a 64-bit Windows Server 2008 RC2 when running a COM object (dll ) under ASP page for a given web site when accessing the database.

DISPLAYED ERROR IS:

Microsoft VBScript runtime error '800a01ad' ActiveX component can't create object: 'XYXX.YYYY'

SOLUTION:

The issue is solved by going to the Application Pool tied to the web application, Advanced Properties... and setting "Enable 32-bit Applications" to True. I spent some minutes with this pain and finally had some relief :-)

Server is: IIS 7.5 under Windows Server 2008 RC 2 64 bit

2010 - La Roja - Campeona del Mundo - The red - Champions of the World

2010-07-13T01:59:00.000-07:00

The day after still a bit sleepyyyyy. Un peu fatigué de la veille. Un poco cansadillo de la noche del fieston!!!

We did it!!! On l'a fait!!! Lo conseguimos!!!!

F A I R P L A Y ! ! !

2010-07-08T12:52:00.000-07:00

¡¡¡Ya estamos en la final!!!

2010-07-07T15:25:00.001-07:00

UN - Special - Wikipedia - Jimmy Wales

2010-04-26T06:20:00.000-07:00

My comments based on the new technologies as Wikipedia was published on the UN Special magazine on the edition of April 2010 (see page 10). A very interesting interview of Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikimedia foundation is also developped.

Link to the magazine (pdf file)

Setting up a 3Com SuperStack 3 Switch 4924

2010-04-25T11:23:00.000-07:00

The monster-> 3Com SuperStack 3 Switch 4924

For the initial switch setting up I used a workstation with terminal emulation software (Microsoft Hyperterminal) to connect to the console port of the Switch directly.

I connected directly to the console port using a standard null modem cable to the COM1 port on my workstation.

Adding the following properties to establish the connection... That is to say the default settings for the Switch.

Entering the credentials...

Sucessfull login :-)

Actually I also included this snapshot because the login prompt did not begin immediately, I pressed Return Carriage (RC) a few times before it started... Connection time is highlighted into red at the bottom on the left.

I selected the option gettingStarted

And that is all for this series! I just logged out :-).

Quelques faits amusants

2010-04-15T00:56:00.001-07:00

* Le muscle le plus fort du corps est la langue

* Un escargot peut dormir pendant 3 ans

* Les moustiques ont 47 dents

* Si Facebook était un pays, il serait le 4ème plus grand pays au monde entre les USA et l'Indonésie

* American Airlines a économisé 40'000 $ en 1987 en retirant une olive de chaque salade servie en première classe.

* La chaise électrique a été inventée par un dentiste

* A Tokyo, on estime qu'un vélo est plus rapide qu'une voiture pour la plupart des trajets de moins de 50 minutes.

Static Methods and Properties in Flex

2010-03-16T02:26:00.001-07:00

Static Methods and Properties:

•Static methods, also called class methods, are methods that are declared with the static keyword.
•Static methods, which are attached to a class rather than to an instance of a class.
•Static methods, are useful for encapsulating functionality that affects something other than the state of an individual instance.
•Static methods can be accessed only through a class and not through an instance of the class.
•We cannot use the keywords this or super within the body of a static method.
•[reason : Both the this reference and the super reference have meaning only within the context of an instance method.]
•Static properties are not inherited by subclasses. This means that static properties cannot be accessed through an instance of a subclass. A static property can be accessed only through the class object on which it is defined.
•Although static properties are not inherited, they are within the scope chain of the class that defines them and any subclass of that class.

Resolve Flex’s error: “Type was not found or was not a compile-time constant”

2010-03-15T03:56:00.000-07:00

I just faced the terrible nightmare of “Type was not found or was not a compile-time constant” error (Flex Builder) and I lost several time to figure out what the problem was. I realized that I was using the same name for MXML Application file which was already used by a class inside one of my packages. So, by renaming the file I solved the problem, but I was not completely satisfied and I looked for a way to avoid the error mantaining the same file/class name. Initially I tried to use namespaces, but as the reference says: “Applying a namespace means placing a definition into a namespace. Definitions that can be placed into namespaces include functions, variables, and constants (you cannot place a class into a custom namespace)”. I finally solved by renaming class references inside my package with the full qualified name (from MyClass to com.mysite.foo.MyClass). I also clean up the project under menu Project -> Clean...

Logging in Log4j

2010-03-12T04:30:00.000-08:00

Locate the log4j.cfg file ...

log4j.rootLogger=INFO, stdout, F
... etc ...
log4j.logger.org.apache.commons=info
log4j.logger.org.apache.axis2=info
log4j.logger.org.apache.axiom=info
#log4j.logger.org.apache.commons.httpclient=debug
#log4j.logger.httpclient.wire=debug
#log4j.logger.httpclient.wire.header=debug

So when you want to see the logging you can remove the "#" as required.

Some relevant links are here ...
"http://hc.apache.org/httpclient-3.x/logging.html"
"http://logging.apache.org/log4j/1.2/manual.html"

Ressources Monitor (Windows 7)

2010-03-12T04:26:00.000-08:00

Do You Still Carry Business Cards?

2010-03-09T03:35:00.000-08:00

Automatize your task with ANT (copy folders and subfolder on a click)

2010-03-02T02:29:00.000-08:00

Using the same build tool for all your projects simplifies your life and keeps things easier to manage. Many developers (especially Java developers) are already using Ant.

See the example below to copy a bunch of files on the fly.

< target name="_copy-file-local-server" >
< echo message="Copying compiled files -> server folder"/ >
< copy todir="destinationFolder" overwrite="true" >
< fileset dir="sourceFolder" >
< include name="**"/ >
< /fileset >
< /copy >
< /target >

See http://ant.apache.org/ for details

ActionScript 3 - Call to a possible undefined method setTimeout

2010-02-19T07:29:00.000-08:00

You need to import the utils package in your class.

import flash.utils.*;

La magie du PageRank de "gloogloo"

2010-02-04T10:45:00.000-08:00

T'as combien en PageRank? Telle est la question! Au milieu de 500 autres paramètres (dixit Google), le PageRank est l'algorithme d'analyse des liens concourant au système de classement des pages web utilisé par le moteur de recherche Google pour déterminer l'ordre dans les résultats de recherche qu'il fournit.

Ce nom - marque déposée - vient de l'un des fondateurs de Google, Larry Page. De manière assez cocasse, le gouvernement américain dispose de certains droits sur cette invention ayant participé au financement de la chose. En termes de fonctionnement, tout à été écrit sur le sujet et le fonctionnement du PageRank, mais cela reste un secret aussi bien gardé que la recette du Coca-Cola. A épisodes plus ou moins réguliers, des étudiants et chercheurs en informatique du monde entier se transforment en Champolion de l'algorithme et affirment avoir trouvé la Pierre de Rosette "googlienne". Selon l'encyclopédie Wikipedia , la propriété intellectuelle accordée à Google pour l'utilisation exclusive du PageRank prendrait fin en 2011. Il existe des centaines des milliers de pages sur le sujet, le PageRank ayant même fait l'objet d'un concours de mathématiques en 2008. Selon des nombreux observateurs, le PageRank le serait aujourd'hui moins dans le rang d'affichage de ses pages, sa prépondérance diminuant par l'adjonction des nouveaux algorithmes (tout aussi secrets) dans les méthodes d'évaluation du moteur de recherche et des services associés.

Post-it Brainstorming brings team building UP!

2009-02-27T14:10:00.000-08:00

As a project manager, how can you influence people motivation in your team? How would a manager possibly create something which is not only fun for her/him but also for the team spirit. Hey! Do you a have a new project arising soon?

If yes, try the following:

* Document the objective from stakeholders.

* Provide the necessary information to the newly resources assigned to this project.

* Invite everyone to be involved in a brainstorming session (e.g the Work Breakdown Structure, WBS) where you will listen to everyone's view and get everybody involved from the very beginning. Do not forget, lack of involvement at this stage may mean lack of commitment later. Also, chances are that your team resources do not know each other. Therefore, all team members must still go through stages of development. And as a project manager you must monitor, support and manage the stages of the team development. It is important that every member team establishes an identity within the project and finds her/his place in the group.

Therefore, the post-it brainstorming is a team building activity where you may get ideas from everybody and get everybody to know each other. Those ideas may be writing on post-it notes and then sticked them on a wall by the resources. Provide post-it block with different color to the members. This will already allow you to categorize the ideas by group. Let's assume that grey is for "Marketing" team group, green for "Engineering" team group, etc, etc... The goal will be to get a large number of ideas for the project by group. As a "director of the orchestra" you will lead the interaction between the team members and provide a discussion as a baseline for the meeting. Why do they think that this idea is great? And you will notice at the end of this "Post-it brainstorming" activity you should see a boost in team's commitment. At the same time everybody enjoyed the team work and "THE WORK".

Do not forget unhappy workers are unproductive... Also, don't be naive, resources work under the influence of events that are often beyond of your control. You should mitigate this risk (Refer to Maslow's pyramid).

Lastly, as a conclusion, I will never stress enough that a key success for the project is to have motivated and engaged people involved in the project in order to maximize the productivity and effort.

Simple lessons for getting and given the love you deserve!

2008-10-22T20:40:00.000-07:00

Let me tell you something, this little book, that has been written 12 years ago, changed my perspective on many things. It helped me to look at life in another way and dealing with people as well.

I personally think every human being alive should read this book at some point in their lives, if they truly want to understand how to acquire and maintain "abundant love" around them. I read it and read it again. I promise you, it is the best spending you will ever invest for the future of your loving relationships. Unfortunately the book is out of print and the only way to read it is to buy an used book.

Basically this is the summary of the secrets of "abundant love":

1 - The Power Of Thought : Choose loving thoughts.

2 - The Power Of Respect : Learn to respect yourself and others.

3 - The Power Of Giving: Focus on what you can give rather than on what you can take.

4 - The Power Of Friendship: To find love, first find a friend.

5 - The Power Of Touch: Hug people. Open your arms and you open your heart.

6 - The Power Of Letting Go: Let go of fears, prejudices and judgements.

7 - The Power Of Communication: Communicate your feelings.

8 - The Power Of Commitment: Be committed- make love your number one priority.

9 - The Power Of Passion: Live with passion.

10 - The Power Of Trust: Trust others, trust yourself and trust life.

References of the book:

ISBN - 0-06-104422-9 Adam J. Jackson "TEN SECRETS of ABUNDANT LOVE" published on September 1996

Suiza - Título de transporte para su perrito con la empresa ferroviaria de Suiza (SBB)!

2008-09-14T12:48:00.000-07:00

Te marchas de viaje en tren en Suiza y no quieres dejar a tu fiel amigo sólito en casa? No hay ningún problema: tu fiel amigo canino es el bienvenido en los trenes suizos!

La gente que viaja regularmente y que quiere llevarse a su amigo de cuatro patitas consigo puede adquirir un titulo de transporte para su perrito, por solamente € 430 (650 francos suizos) que se llama el AG y tiene una validez de un año. Nota bien que tu perrito podrá viajar en ambas clases, primera o segunda clase todos los días del año durante la validez del titulo de transporte AG!

Ten en cuenta que los pequeños perros cuya altura es 30 cm de alto hasta la parte superior de sus hombros puede viajar contigo de forma gratuita como equipaje de mano siempre y cuando esté dentro de un bolso, en una canasta, o en una jaula.

Tenga un buen viaje y no decepcione a su mejor y fiel amigo, primera clase por favor!

La versión francesa de este articulo se puede leer aquí y la inglesa aquí.

Suisse - Abonnement Général pour votre TOUTOU dans les Chemins de fer fédéraux suisses (CFF)!

2008-09-14T08:20:00.000-07:00

Vous partez en voyage en train et vous ne voulez pas laisser votre fidèle toutou seul à la maison? Pas de problème, votre compagnon canin et meilleur ami peut aussi vous accompagner dans le train!

Ceux qui voyagent régulièrement et emmènent leur chien avec eux peuvent commander l'abonnement général (AG) pour chien, seulement pour 650 francs suisse. Notez que votre cher compagnon à quatre pattes peut indistinctement voyager en 1ère ou 2ème classe et cela chaque jour de l'année pendant laquelle l'AG est valable.

Notez qu'un chien d'une taille inférieure à 30 centimètres à hauteur d'épaule pourra voyager gratuitement pourvu qu'il soit dans un sac/une cage adéquat(e)!

Bon voyage et ne décevez pas votre meilleur ami, première classe s'il vous plait!

La version en anglais de cet article se trouve ici et la version espagnole ici.

Switzerland - Yearly Train Pass for Your DOGGIE with Swiss Federal Railways (SBB)!

2008-09-14T07:59:00.000-07:00

You don't want to leave your best friend all alone at home while you go off for a day out by train? No problem: your trusty canine is welcome on Swiss trains too!

Those who wish to take their four-legged friend with them can purchase a yearly train pass (GA) for Dogs for just CHF 650 (around US$ 580 - 14 Sept 2008). Please observe that your doggie may travel in BOTH, 1st or 2nd class on the train, every day of the year, during the time period in which the GA is valid!

Please note otherwise that small dogs, up to 30 cm (around 12 inches) high at the shoulder, may travel with you free of charge as hand luggage provided that they are in a carrier bag, basket or other suitable container!

Have a safe trip and don't upset your best friend, first class please!

The French version may be found here and the Spanish here.

Construire dans le Valais (Suisse)? Une analyse du marche personnelle.

2008-08-12T03:11:00.000-07:00

Introduction

La plupart des gens qui sont intéressés par l'immobilier se lancent dans l'aventure de l'acquisition d'un bien immobilier ou dans la construction de celui-ci dans la tranche d'âge de 30 à 45 ans. Je me trouve moi-même dans cette tranche d'âge. Le but de cet article est de décrire les différentes difficultés économiques que cette décision implique dans le domaine personnel. En effet dans le valais 62% des contribuables possèdent leur maison d'habitation. Le personnes qui ne possèdent pas un bien d'immobilier propre paient donc un loyer. Ceux qui regardent vers la possibilité d'avoir un bien immobilier doivent donc acheter ou construire. Dans certains cas, l'héritage suffit à se constituer/procurer un bien immobilier à bien long terme. Mais, dans mon humble opinion, il faudrait pas trop compter sur cette possibilité.

Indicateurs

L'économie de la Suisse, ainsi que celle des autres pays, peut être caractérisée par une série d'indicateurs. Ces indicateurs aident les spécialistes de l'immobilier à faire des prédictions quant aux prix et les risques. Par exemple, dans les années 80, la Suisse était dans une phase de haute récession. Un indicateur comme la migration de la population informe sur la situation de l'immobilier. Les communes à cet effet ont un listing de ses citoyens ou mieux dit des ses "contribuables" potentiels très à jour et se basent sur ces nombres pour prévoir leur politique de travaux dans la commune, de leur "possible" et de leur croissance à terme. Je dirais que la croissance et le taux de la population active vont de pair et ils sont fortement corrélés. C'est-à-dire que si le chômage est haut alors la croissance diminue.

La Situation Des Indicateurs (en août 2008)

A ce jour la croissance de la Suisse est à la baisse. Aussi tous les pays européens ont revu leurs prévisions de croissance à la baisse. A noter que l'économie Suisse est très dépendante de l'Allemagne. L'inflation sur la place Suisse est importante en ces moments (3-4%).Les prix de l'essence vient encore troubler les économies que citoyens prévoyaient. Il y a la crise de "subprimes" aux États Unis qui fait encore des vagues dans la publication des chiffres d'affaires de banques majeurs du secteur Suisse, dont certaines perdent encore des plumes.

La Décision

Dans ce climat qui est lié aux cycle économique des couples souvent jeunes doivent prendre une décision pour l'acquisition d'un bien immobilier. D'autres personnes décident de placer leur argent en tant qu'investissement dans l'immobilier au lieu de le laisser à la banque en tant qu'économies. Il faut alors s'assurer en tant que futur propriétaire qu'on ne va pas vers le surendetemment et qu'on arrive à payer les montant des éventuels intérêts d'un prêt selon sa propre situation financière. Dans l'État du Valais il est possible de construire/acheter une maison normale (sans luxe) avec une somme de 550 000CHF - 600 000 CHF clés en mains en ayant un architecte qui s'occupe de gérer le chantier.

Le Dossier

Il est bien rare des couples dont disposent des avoir financiers nécessaires pour l'acquisition du bien immobilier sans devoir s'adresser à une banque de la place du Valais. Dans ce cas il est nécessaire de préparer un dossier à transmettre à la banque. Le contenu des dossier est en règle générale le même pour les toutes les banques.

Analyse Bancaire

Une banque est une institution financière qui a des avoirs qui se doit de prêter à des individus pour qu'elle puisse faire tourner son propre "business". C'est-a-dire payer ses locaux, ses factures d'électricité, ses employés, ses actionnaires, etc, etc. Elle se doit donc de prêter les avoirs dont elle a à disposition afin de réaliser un chiffre d'affaires (CAN). Généralement les CAN des banques suisses sont positifs. D'où les banques doivent aussi chercher leur clients potentielles à qui prêter cet argent. En résumé, les banques parient sur un client qui va pas leur causer d'ennuis mais qui va leur rapporter de l'argent. Les banques ont donc des stratégies différentes quant à leur cible de clientelle, leur appréciation du marche et leurs propres indicateurs internes.

Proposition

En Suisse, dans le domaine bancaire, il n'y a pas de monopole pour l'instant, donc les différentes banques sont en concurrence pour s'arracher de clients, ce qui ne nuit pas aux intérêts des consomateurs. A noter que la banque PostFinance n'a toujours pas une license bancaire à l'échelle nationale pour prêter des fonds en Suisse. Ceci dû à la négative du Conseil Fédéral. Il est donc dans l'intérêt du client de s'adresser avec son dossier à toutes les banques de la place et ainsi écouter leurs propositions pour le financement du bien immobilier, s'ils vous en font du moins.

Mon Expérience

En ce qui me concerne j'ai préparé un dossier identique pour toutes les banques de la place de Sion. Il s'agissait d'un projet dit de promotion immobilière (immeuble de rendement). Le projet est tout à fait viable avec des fonds propres consequants et une analyse financière du retour sur investissement réaliste. A noter qu'on voit sur la ville de Sion que plus ou moins tous les immeubles qui se construisent actuellement sont pour la vente et non pas pour la location. On voit dans la tendance actuelle qu'il y a beaucoup de couples recomposés qui dû à leur situation cherchent des appartements plus ou moins grand, du moins temporairement, étant donné qu'il y a aux moins 1 enfant de leur relation précédente.

Les Resultats du Dossier

J'ai eu les résultats suivants après avoir transmis les dossiers identiques aux différentes banques de la place de Sion. A noter que je n'avais nullement aucune préférence pour une banque quelconque. J'ai noté les banques selon des critères personnels et objectifs de ceux qu'elles m'ont apporté et aidé dans le processus de l'emprunt à mes yeux. Mais je suis sûr que ces critères s'appliqueraient aux couples ou familles désirant entreprendre une telle démarche.
Les banques de la place de Sion par ordre alphabétique des abréviations contactées ont été:

Banque Coop, Sion (BC)

Banque Cantonale du Valais, Sion (BCVs)

Banque Migros, Sion (BM)

Banque Raiffeisen, Coteaux du Soleil, Valais (BR)

Credit Suisse, Sion (CS)

UBS, Sion (UBS)

La notation est comme suit:

1 pt - banque réponds à mes attentes/questions correctement, j'ai avancé de ma situation initiale.

0 pt - je n'obtiens rien de la banque, je suis resté comme dans ma situation initiale, pas de changements.

-1 pt - banque ne réponds pas à mes attentes, le manque d'expertise est notable quant à la question possée.

Cette notation est une de celle qui existe pour certains Examens à L'Ecole Polytechnique de Lausanne (EFPL ) et que je trouve très représentative pour les résultats. Les banques sont classées par ordre alphabétique des d'abréviations mentionnées ci-haut dans la notation.

Conversations avec le conseiller de la banque lors du premier contact que j'ai entrepris téléphoniquement

BC: -1 pt, l'interlocuteur n'avait aucun intérêt du dossier transmis. Il a dit ne pas s'intéresser aux financement de tels bien immobilier. J'ai insisté pour lui demander ses motifs et il en a donné aucun que je puisse juger de correct. A mon opinion, cette banque n'a pas besoin de nouveaux clients et roule sur l'or. De plus, le conseiller ne parlait pas avec un ton aimable digné d'écoute pour un futur client.
BCVs: 1 pt
BM: 1 pt
BR: 1 pt
CS: 1 pt
UBS: 1pt

Analyse du dossier par le conseiller bancaire

BC: -1 pt, le conseiller n'a pas bien analysé le dossier, de plus il ne m'a posé aucune question sur celui-ci.
BCVs: 1 pt
BM: 0 pt
BR: 1 pt
CS: -1 pt, le conseiller que j'ai rencontré ne connaissait pas bien le contenu du dossier (ce qui allait se faire). Mais c'était une personne très marketing.
UBS: 1 pt

Visite de l'emplacement du bien immobilier par le conseiller?

BC: 0 pt
BCVs: 1 pt, le conseiller est venu avec un architecte de la place
BM: 0 pt
BR: 1 pt, visite du conseiller
CS: 1 pt, visite du conseiller
UBS: 1 pt, visite du conseiller, connaisait l'immobilier

Le conseiller a-t-il pu estimer le bien immobilier existant?

BC: 0 pt
BCVs: 1 pt, il est venu avec l'architecte
BM: 0 pt
BR: 0 pt
CS: 0 pt
UBS: 0 pt

Le conseiller a pu voir(se faire une idée) la grandeur des travaux à entreprendre?

BC: 0 pt
BCVs: 1 pt
BM: 0 pt
BR: 1 pt
CS: 0 pt
UBS: 1 pt

L'image suivante récapitule l'addition des points précédents. Basiquement il en ressort quelles banques sont vraiment intéressée à faire du "business" avec vous, et si vous rentrez dans sa catégorie de clients potentiels, alors soyez-en sûrs elle vous demandera et s'efforcera d'obtenir tout ce qu'elle a besoin pour poursuivre.

Conclusion

Se lancer dans l'immobilier en tant que placement est une bonne idée de mon point de vue car l'argent à la banque n'est jamais le votre. C'est aussi une décision qui peut avoir des conséquences dans votre futur. Préparer un dossier avec tous les documents qui tiens la route, faîtes un tableau de contrôle de financement pour votre projet. Le site comparis.ch propose et donne aussi beaucoup d'informations. La plupart des banques ont en ligne des calculateurs d'hypothèques (ex. UBS). En ce qui concerne les banques je n'ai rien à ajouter, sinon qu'on est dans une situation à présent de concurrence et que ceux qui croient dans votre projet parieront sur vous, car ils sont entrain de parier pour eux aussi, car leur réussite dépends aussi de votre réussite. L'Etat du Valais reste tout de même aussi parmi l'un des cantons romands le moins chers.

Secure Web Services Interoperability using X.509 Certificate Token Profile (AXIS 1.4, WSS4J 1.5.3, dotnet 2.0, WSE 3.0 )

2008-04-15T13:39:00.000-07:00

Dear reader,

I would like to share with you that I was able to sucessfully implement the interoperability (Java - Microsoft world) using the X.509 Certificate Token Profile.

The goal was to develop a secured web service in java with the corresponding secured java and Microsoft clients.

Tasks:

write java secured web service (server side) using apache axis 1.4 and wss4j 1.5.3 based on x509 v3 certificates and the java key store format (jks).

the java keystore is implemented using the java keytool

the java secured client and the related dotnet client (using .net 2.0 and wse 3.0) are working fine with the java secured web service based on the X.509 Certificate Token Profile.

I succesfully set up a CA (certification authority), set up properly the jks and finally from the jks I sucessfully prepared the necessary pfx (PKCS #12, using OpenSSL) certificate for the secured dotnet client to interoperate with the java secured web service.

The set up is working fine!

This task couldn't be done without the work from people of Axis 1.4 and wss4j that I would like to thank.Also of the blog written by Erlend and his answers.
Anne Thomas Manes for answering some of my questions in the newsgroups of Axis about the interoperability in the wsdl files and Werner Dittman for the provided answers in the wss4j newsgroup!

Big Thanks and HAPPY AXIS :-)!

Conclusion: It is possible to set up a java secured web service using the keystore (jks). It is possible to develop a microsoft client using the framework dotnet 2.0 and the web service enhancements 3.0 (WSE 3.0). It is possible to extract the clients certificates from the java keystore using OpenSSL into the format pfx (PKCS #12) in order that the microsoft client communicate with the secured java service using the x509 certificate version 3. Hope this helps.

PS: This book about Apache Axis 1.4 help me also to understand web services.
Please note that I have any interest/relationship/benefit with the author of the book.

Snapshots

my key files

windows keystore

client pfx certificate

client pfx certificate (please note the private key)

Secured Java Client

Secured dotnet client

TCP monitor (request from java secured client to java secure server)

Soap monitor (dotnet secured request to the java secured web service)