Firefox fanfare overlooks risks

Trade

Pictured: Servaplex technical sales director Tim McAlpin

The recent release of Firefox 3 generated a great deal of public interest and media hype, not least because more than 8 million users downloaded the Mozilla browser in the first 24 hours, thus ensuring that the event made it into the Guinness Book of Records.

However, overlooked in the flurry of excitement were the potential risks associated with hasty installation of any new iteration. A reminder of these perils has been issued by Dublin-based software firm Servaplex, which points out that such precipitous installations risk putting a major strain on businesses as service desk and IT staff struggle to cope with the consequences of unauthorised software on the network.

Release management is a cornerstone of the information technology infrastructure library (ITIL) concept. Proper software control ensures the availability of licensed, tested, and version-certified software which will function as intended when introduced into the existing infrastructure.

Servaplex warns that hasty adoption of new applications without a formal approval and implementation plan is likely to lead to increased calls to service desks and could put the organisation at a higher risk of system failures or security breaches.

The Dublin firm recommends that organisations take the following steps to manage the risk of non-approved software on the network

* create a full and dynamic inventory of all software on the network, highlighting new software installations and discrepancies in version numbers
* ensure software inventory information is automatically populated into service desks and help desks to minimise response times to problem tickets
* manage the installation of new software onto the network with automated deployment tools

A lack of such measures risks wasting time caused by having to manage upgrades and patches for disparate versions of software across the network.

Servaplex technical sales director Tim McAlpin points out that, “apart from the obvious implications of licence compliance, having an accurate and up to date record of IT assets can potentially save organisations enormous amounts of time in more effective delivery of IT support services.”

He said it could also save money in the negotiation of software maintenance contracts. “There are also some very serious security implications by not knowing exactly what software is on a network. Testing and piloting new software prior to an implementation is not only a key step towards ITIL compliance, but is also critical in reducing the overall cost, complexity and risk associated with IT operations.”

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