3/25/2002 

Sidney Finehirsh speaks in Italy

Sidney Finehirsh the president and founder of The CMX Group, will be conducting a full day seminar in Rome, on March 25th and in Milan on March 27th, 2002. Seminar topics will include; The Key Problems of Usage Based Chargeback for IT, Internet and Intranets, Web Applications, Internet Security and Cost Accounting. The goal of this seminar is to provide the participants with suggestions, methodoligies and experiences to allow to measure, account and chargeback the costs of new technologies.

Seminar Description

IT Accounting is a discipline heavily dependent on measurement data and the tools to collect it. Historically, the measurement infrastructure that supports technologies has been developed significantly later than the technology itself, creating a management/measurement vacuum. However, this is not the case for newer technologies that are in various stages of growth, such as UNIX, NY, LAN/WAN, Frame Relay, Storage Area Networks, Virtual Tape Systems (VTS) and web services. Measurement tools are either not mature enough to fully support organizations' information needs, or may not exist at all. In the case of IT Accounting, approaches to pricing and recovering IT usage costs for new technologies are still in their infancy.

This workshop reviews the current state of IT Accounting capabilities available for each of these technologies, and discusses approaches to handle each one. Included in this is a discussion of the tools available and the metrics and methods appropriate to recover costs. Also discussed is the transition from R & D, where costs are usually considered as overhead, to deployment, where usage-based charging would be done.

 9/18/2001 

Letter From Sid

Friends of CMX,

I was able to enter our office on Saturday and the news is no damage! Everything is intact as we left it (including my messy desk). Of course that doesn't make it operational since we still need certain basics like electricity and phones. The building itself is in relative good condition though I was not able to observe the Trinity Street side that is closest to the WTC. There is a slight smell of smoke in the hallway but not in our office. The lobby is still a mess, but a crew from the building is working to clean it up.

I retrieved one computer and the latest backup tapes. If our re-occupancy is delayed, Adrian and I are planning to return to take out our server. Infinity systems have graciously lent us office space, their network, and their own technical help for our temporary re-location. Infinity's president is Tom Amodio, a former employee of CMX. I can't thank Tom enough for his help.

We have also at this point restored our server data from backup tapes stored off-site. The data is two weeks old but does contain 99% of our vital records including contacts, books, and client histories.

The clean-up in our area is proceeding and has obviously accomplished an enormous amount of work since the explosion. Broadway is clear of ash and most of the dust. There are vacuum cleaners in the streets the size of 18-wheelers. There is no debris left in the areas I traveled. The police and National Guard are everywhere. They were all polite and helpful.

Offices across Broadway from ours (east side) seem ready to re-open. They have power, their lobbies are lit, and an army of cleaning crews are at work. I also entered 55 Water Street, a key installation of JP Morgan Chase. Except for the number of security guards, it seemed perfectly normal for a Saturday in lower Manhattan.

The trip to within 2 blocks of ground-zero leads me to believe we could be working at 65 Broadway soon. While the devastation at the WTC leaves a big hole in the sky and in our hearts, the spirit that we must recover as soon as possible seems to prevail all over New York and in its canyons of heroes.

One of our heroes is, of course, Mary Lou: Ms. Indomitable. None of us can know all the emotions that she experienced on Tuesday. On Wednesday she was back at work, re-assuring our clients and partners, returning our emails to our friends, and demonstrating an unsinkable spirit. She has my total admiration.

Sid

 9/15/2001 

Update From Mary Lou

One thing that we've found out during this past week is how many wonderful and caring people we have for clients and partners. Sid and I and the rest of CMX were touched by the many, many calls and notes from you or members of your team asking how we were and whether there was anything you could do.

Although we're not back in our offices yet, we hope to have access next week, at least to pick up equipment and files. We're in the process of re-creating our network from our backup tapes, and hope to have our central office fully operational very soon (albeit, likely elsewhere).

Our consultants, as most of you know, are distributed around the country and have the files and data needed to support their clients on their remote systems. Many were able to continue working all week if they could do so remotely. We hope that airline schedules will allow the resumption of site visits very soon, but ask that you bear with us while the FAA works that out. If the consultants needed for your engagement cannot be on-site we will call you next week to discuss alternate strategies for keeping your projects on schedule until travel can be resumed.

In the meanwhile, we encourage you to call or email us with any questions or concerns. Until further notice, the contact information is as follows:

Sid Finehirsh cell: 914-552-5990
home office: 914-762-2005 or 6071
email: sidfinehirsh@cmxgroup.com

Mary Lou Alter cell: 973-953-5677
home office: 973-762-4105 or 8603
email: maryloualter@cmxgroup.com

If you need to send us anything in the mail, please use the following address:
19 Carriage Hill Road
Ossining, NY 10562

Be assured that we are open for business, and are more determined than ever to move ahead aggressively on every client project.

On a slightly more personal note, if there is anyone I have not yet bored with my horror story from Tuesday's tragedy, you can access the following newspaper account of it from www.sarpytimes.com. I'm now famous in Nebraska.

Regards,
Mary Lou Alter