Florida Department of Management Services Essay

Introduction In the early 1990s, the Florida Department of Management Services (DMS) had built up a large information systems network that served state government agencies in 10 regional sites and connected these to the data center in Tallahassee. The network was based on the use of the proprietary Systems Network Architecture (SNA) from IBM and a mainframe at the data center that housed most of the applications. Body 1. Analyze the security mechanisms needed to protect the DMS systems from both state employees and users accessing over the Internet. Two security mechanisms needed to protect the DMS systems are Virtual Private Networks and IP Security. According to Stalling (2009) Virtual Private Networks (VPN) makes use of encryption and special protocols to provide security for those using the Internet or some other public network to interconnect sites. These public networks provide an access path for telecommuters and other mobile employees to log on to corporate systems from remote sites. The state employees would have to use the VPN to access the DMS by authenticating using their work credentials. IP Security (IPSec) provides the capability to secure communications across a LAN, across private and public WANs and across the Internet. Some examples of IPSec are: (1) Secure branch office connectivity over the Internet: A company can build a secure virtual private network over the Internet or ove r a public WAN. This type of business rely heavily on the Internet and reduce its need for private networks, saving costs and network management overhead. (2) Secure remote access over the Internet: An end user whose system is equipped with IP security protocols can make a local call to an Internet service provider (ISP) and gain secure access to a company network. This reduces the cost of toll charges for traveling employees and telecommuters; (3) establishing extranet  and intranet connectivity with partners: IPSec can be used to secure communication with other organizations, ensuring authentication and confidentiality and providing a key exchange mechanism; (4) enhancing electronic commerce security: even though some Web and electronic commerce applications have built-in security protocols, the use of IPSec enhances that security. IPSec guarantees that all traffic designated by the network administrator is both encrypted and authenticated, adding an additional layer of security to whatever is provided at the application layer. Similarly, whether other industries give rise to spheres in which competition takes place in open, intellectual-property-free spaces depends on various factors including the existence in a space of companies with proprietary solutions and the presence of technologies so complex they are vulnerable to inadvertent patent infringement. (Alexy, O., & Reitzig, M. (2012). 2. Critique the transition process performed by the DMS in the case study. Then, recommend two (2) alternatives to the IP infrastructure or applications not already mentioned in the case study. What is there to critique? All DMS did was install some routers and configured them. Can someone please help with this? Maturing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems are able to integrate business systems with building management systems for improved management controls (such as consolidated dashboard-type reporting). Driven by business requirements for resource efficiencies and management by measurement’, this business intelligence adaptation has been essential for the business leadership to steer, priorities and justify new investment. Allocating costs for usage, amortizing capital towards specific business causes and employing financial wizardry to get best tax advantage – these all mean that the new generation of ERP tools needs to be ‘facilities-aware’. They should come with tools to digest ‘consumption’ data; so, whichever department had most use of video conferencing, or toner ink, or WAN bandwidth, or access to out-of-hours air conditioning – it’s all in the mix now. So many systems – integrated BMS (iBMS), facilities reservation systems, maintenance management systems, cashless vending and EPOS, CCTV and access control – are able to push the mountains of data they generate each day to other central management systems. Now IP networks are at the heart of enabling such data capture, collation and consolidation. (Manivannan, 2012) 3. Critique the merits of  the major services found on the DMS Website. According to the website, DMS is a shared service provider that supports state agencies and state employees through: Human Resource Support and Business Operations: the Department of Management Services is responsible for managing the state personnel system, including: Insurance Benefits, Florida Retirement System, Human Resource Management. DMS strives to provide the high-quality service our customers expect and deserve while decreasing the operating costs of state government so that more resources can be focused where they are needed most. Insurance Benefits-The Division of State Group Insurance (DSGI) offers and manages a comprehensive package of pre- and post-tax health and welfare insurance benefits for active and retired state employees and their families, including: a variety of health insurance options; flexible spending and health savings accounts; life insurance; dental, vision and kind of insurance p roducts. Florida Retirement System=The Division of Retirement (Division) was established to administer the Florida Retirement System (FRS), which was created in December 1970 to consolidate existing state-administered retirement systems. Since its creation, the Divisions responsibilities have expanded to include: administering; monitoring; overseeing; ensuring compliance. Human Resource Management- Florida’s state employees are our most valuable resource. They are the face of state government. The Division of Human Resource Management works with the agency personnel offices to develop human resource policies, practices and strategies. As human resource professionals, it is our responsibility to ensure that the State’s HR policies and practices are designed to attract and support the employees who serve the people of Florida. People First is the state’s self-service, secure, web-based personnel information system and enterprise-wide suite of human resource (HR) services. The system streamlines and automates many of the state’s HR functions and is comprised of the following modules: payroll preparation, attendance and leave, recruitment, benefits administration, human resources management, organizational management. 4. Recommend an additional service to add to the DMS Website. With technology today, there is a increased of the use of portable IP-enabled devices and group content distribution applications on Wireless Mesh Networks (WMNs). This surge is facilitated by its relative low cost of installation and as such is an attractive option in environments  lacking existing communication infrastructure and/or in times of natural emergencies. DMS would greatly benefits from this because, their employees will be able to access the website for information quicker when they are away from their desk. The WMNs is equally capable of providing high bandwidth access to the web. The capability of the WMNs can be enhanced by reinforcing the system with multicasting and mobility features. However, there are challenges of seamless integration when such existing multicasting and mobility features of MANET and fixed networks are migrated to the WMNs domain. Thus, a wide range of efforts have been directed at finding solutions to these challenges in order to increase the widespread deployment of the WMNs based communication infrastructure. By producing a one volume comprehensive account of incorporating multicasting with mobility support deployable via Wireless Mesh Networks, this work at aiming at research directions in the area of integrated mobile multicasting on Wireless Mesh Networks. (Sanni, Hashim, Anwar & etc,2011). Summary or Conclusion Florida DMS will benefit from the use of WMN added to their IP infrastructures. Every day technology is advancing with new ideas in dealing with communications between people. DMS will continue to succeed in the future. References Stallings, W. (2009). CIS 505: Business Data Communications: Custom edition (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Florida DMS http://www.dms.myflorida.com Manivannan, M. M. (2012). Building around IP. Engineering & Technology (17509637), 7(2), 78-81. doi:10.1049/et.2012.0211 Alexy, O., & Reitzig, M. (2012). Managing the business risks of open innovation. Mckinsey Quarterly, (1), 17-21. Sanni, M. L., Hashim, A. A., Anwar, F. F., Naji, A. W., & Ahmed, G. M. (2011). Mobile Multicast in Wireless Mesh Networks. Australian Journal Of Basic & Applied Sciences, 5(9), 957-966.