Welcome to the monthly Help Desk Calgary newsletter. This newsletter is distributed to provide news and information about events sponsored by Help Desk Calgary and Help Desk Institute. You are receiving this newsletter either because you opted-in from the registration page on our website, or you are a current member.

Viruses just won't die, and despite the prevalence of antivirus protection on PCs, servers, and e-mail gateways, the computer virus problem is still getting worse. That's the opinion of 9 out of ten security managers as reported in the ninth annual Computer Virus Prevalence Survey from ICSA Labs, a division of TruSecure. According to the report, virus "disasters" increased by 15 percent last year, while virus disaster recovery costs increased by 23 percent.

The ICSA survey targeted the people most responsible for "computer virus protection" in their enterprise. Data came from 300 respondents, each has at their site at least 500 PCs, two LANs, and two remote connections. All told, the data spans almost a million desktops, servers, and perimeter gateways. Network Associates, Microsoft, ESET, Trend Micro, and MIS Training Institute sponsored the report.

First, some nomenclature: a "virus disaster" refers to "25 or more PCs or servers infected at the same time with the same virus, or a virus incident causing significant damage or monetary loss to their organizations," notes the report. In 2003, 92 respondents reported a virus disaster, up from 80 in 2002. Disaster recovery time also increased, from 23 to 24 person-hours.

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It's Help Desk Calgary Election Time Again!

1) The President is responsible for the effective running of the Help Desk Calgary Chapter. The President presides over all meetings of the Chapter and Board of Directors, represents the Chapter on all official matters and ensures the smooth running of the Chapter and its board; 2) The VP Finance is responsible for the management of all Chapter funds and keep accurate records of financial transactions for reporting to the membership, government agencies as required, and the Help Desk Institute global organization.; 3) The Vice President, Communications is responsible for the Newsletter and Web Site for the Chapter, and has management influence on all communications to the membership. The Communications Director manages the content and distribution of the Newsletter, and ensures that the web site is updated and maintained.; 4) The Secretary is responsible for maintaining the records of the Chapter and the recording and distribution of all executive meeting minutes. The Secretary is vital in the efficient running of the Chapter.; 5) Executive Members-At-Large As an organization, we have been very fortunate in the past few years by having some of our members volunteer for a "Executive Member-At- Large" position on the board. Members-At-Large do not have a particular portfolio, but attend the executive meetings and participate on committees or volunteer for projects as they arise in any portfolio that interests them. In some cases, Members-At-Large have stepped forward to assume portfolios when vacancies come available. However, the assumption of a portfolio is a choice that is made at the time by the member. There is no requirement for any Member-At- Large to step into a portfolio.

The Help Desk Calgary Chapter welcomes any number of Executive Members-At-Large. We have sufficient projects and activities to allow as much participation as a member desires, and the active participation of our membership is fundamental to the success of our chapter.

Nominations Nominations for any of the portfolios, or Executive Members-At-Large should be forwarded before Friday, May 7, 2004 to: Ron Yarwood Past President and Nominations Committee Chair Email: ryarwood@supportexcellence.com Phone: (403) 410-1950 Nominations will also be accepted from the floor of the Nominations Luncheon, scheduled for May 11, 2004. I would like to personally thank all our members who have participated in our organization over the past year, and look forward to electing the new members of the board for the next year. It is exciting to be able to work with so many great Help Desk professionals in Calgary and across North America.

IDC: Networking tops list of IT skills

On behalf of the Software Human Research Council (SHRC), IDC Canada Ltd. polled 414 senior IT professionals from across Canada in Q4 2003 regarding the IT skills their organizations needed most. There was a resounding answer - networking. The top five IT skills Canadian companies are seeking, in order, include TCP/IP, proficiency with Microsoft Corp.'s Windows XP, Windows 2000/ME, security skills and knowledge of Microsoft's SQL server, according to the survey released Wednesday.

These results compare to a Q1 2002 IDC survey of 252 senior IT professionals and HR professionals in Ontario. The top skills sought by employers at the time were: Microsoft SQL Server, security skills, Windows NT Server, Microsoft Exchange and wide area networking. Results were similar for the three regions indicated by IDC Canada: western Canada, Ontario and eastern Canada. Now, skills needed by medium and large Canadian companies fall into the areas of infrastructure, reliability and security, said Julie Kaufman, director, Canadian professional services research at IDC Canada in Toronto.

Additionally, because three of the top five skills relate to Microsoft products, IT workers will need to have some level of Microsoft skills to succeed, Kaufman added. There are over 500,000 IT professionals in Canada. While the demand for IT skills is down overall since IDC's study in 2002, the latest research indicates that the demand for networking skills has increased and the demand for messaging skills has decreased. Other findings include an increased need for IT professionals familiar with Windows XP, while the demand for Linux experts is up only modestly, except within smaller organizations (less than 100 employees).

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