Change is Necessary

 I applaud entrepreneurs for what they have achieved, through hours of dedicated, hard work, extreme commitment and at times ‘brute force’ to make success happen; however, as the old adage states ‘if you always do what you have always done, you will always get what you have always got’! So the question I often ask myself is “do entrepreneurial owners, presidents, CEO’s, etc. of small-to-medium enterprises (SME’s) readily accept that change is inevitable and necessary”?

I have come to recognize that entrepreneurs (typically) struggle to plan for, adapt to, and implement change. Couple this with (typically) lacking business fundamentals only leads to a continuing levels of inefficiency, waste and ‘missed opportunities’. I have recently been engaged with 2 SME’s that did not have business or strategic plans as they were ‘too busy’, another General Manager did not have time to talk due to pressing commitments (which had been planned months ago). What we are really talking about here is not having an ‘operating rhythm’, the culture is not allowing it to happen; culture can be made to change for the better – it takes perseverance and courage but if you do not start to change then one will have to accept what one has become used to!

It is critically important to have a strategic plan, develop business plans, employee accountabilities and communication plans – understanding and planning these aspects is not easy at any time, let alone the first time of developing. Further how can technology be used to optimize efficiencies, how can innovation and an innovative culture be harvested for the health of the business. And it doesn’t stop there – what about metrics , how to collect data?, what does the data mean?, what story does the data tell?, how to communicate these messages to the employee population? As globalization, technology and other macroeconomic factors put more pressure on businesses, leaders are searching for deeper statistical intelligence. For cash-strapped small or medium-sized businesses (SMEs), determining what those metrics might be, then collecting and analyzing them, can prove challenging.

Change is inevitable in business and you need to build your business model around it. Hire people who are comfortable in a world of change. Great businesses are able to grow in good times and bad, largely because they’re prepared for the unpredictable. Change is the only constant that you will face.

On the other hand, failed businesses and entrepreneurs often struggle to plan for, adapt to, and implement change — and this happens all too frequently in growing companies.

Whether Strategic Planning, Change Management or Culture Change is the next step in your journey it is critical to have expert advice and support - do not be ‘penny wise and pound foolish’!

This ‘posting’ is not meant to be provocative, merely reflective. If your intention is to grow your business for longevity through process and people transformation then there has to be an investment somewhere down the line – the benefits will be readily visible, your employees will welcome it and your shareholders will thank you!

M.O’Sullivan P.Eng, MBA, ICD.D

http://www.venturivision.com

The Highlighted Route

 

It is in our nature as humans to plan. Some of us do it formally, writing down step by step instructions with a well-defined goal in mind. Others plan at a smaller scale, often thinking about step 2 after step 1 is underway. If you are out doing errands, advanced planning can save time with a more efficient route. If you are doing a project, planning can help avoid painting yourself into a corner (literally). When it comes to travel, planning might include packing things you will need or putting a hold on the mail, but it most definitely will involve some sort of pre-determined route. Airline pilots do this sort of route planning routinely to conserve fuel, avoid bad weather, and arrive at their destination on time. They submit a formal flight plan to document their intentions.

Pilots have their own lingo, helping to ensure clear radio communications. A typical flight will likely involve VFR, IFR and VOR and most certainly will be highly dependent on ATC. One acronym to be avoided at all costs is CFIT (controlled flight into terrain), which is just as bad as it sounds. If you know your precise location and altitude, CFIT is unlikely, even if IFR conditions are making it impossible to see anything out the window. This is where GPS comes in. 

Beginning with the DoD NAVSTAR satellite-based system in 1993, GPS developed into a sophisticated positioning system that is highly accurate, easily accessed and substantially free of charge. It is operated by the Air Force for the US Government to meet the needs of military, civil, commercial, and scientific users. Coarse position codes are open to everyone, while the more accurate ones are restricted to the US Armed Forces and Federal Agencies. That GPS in your car can get you to within about 10 feet of your destination and if you can’t recognize it by then there’s not much more technology can do for you. As for the military version, let’s just say it is much more accurate and leave it at that.

In a peculiar bit of irony, the U.S. Military occasionally jams its own GPS signals in order to research ways to keep them from being jammed. Imagine piloting a modern jetliner with a hundred or more people on board when a warning suddenly pops up in the cockpit – “GPS Position Lost.” Although pilots have altimeters and VOR beacons for navigation, GPS made the entire point-to-point flying experience much more efficient. Most planes carry transponders which use the GPS for broadcasting altitude, heading and speed to controllers on the ground. While GPS works flawlessly 99.9% of the time, it’s a challenge to stay ready to respond to that other 0.1%.

Perhaps even more concerning is the case where GPS doesn’t just go away but starts returning erroneous data. GPS signals are so faint by the time they reach us that it is relatively easy to disrupt them, and illegal jamming devices are widely available on the black market. A delivery driver who doesn’t want his boss to know where he is can easily avoid being tracked. Intermittent GPS could be due to natural factors, jamming, or a government test – there is often no way to know. 

It's hard to miss the similarities between GPS's highlighted route, and the paths we lay out for other parts of our lives. We like to believe that we know where we are relative to our goal at any given moment.  Some of us believe there is a Master Plan for our life that will guide us to fulfilling a divine purpose. Some are intimidated by the unknown and take comfort in staying on a highlighted route, at times provided by others, with frequent detailed guidance and no surprises. Weak signals, jamming, and system failure are an inevitable part of life.

I realize in retrospect that my parents had planned a route for me when I was in High School. I weathered a few detours and course corrections along the way, but I did ultimately arrive at my destination. In some of those moments of “position lost”, I felt a potent mix of fear and infinite possibility. From time to time, friends and family stepped in and reminded me to return to the highlighted route. 

And unlike a few of my less fortunate peers, I managed to avoid CFIT.

Author Profile - Paul W. Smith - leader, educator, technologist, writer - has a lifelong interest in the countless ways that technology changes the course of our journey through life.  In addition to being a regular contributor to NetworkDataPedia, he maintains the website Technology for the Journey and occasionally writes for Blogcritics.  Paul has over 40 years of experience in research and advanced development for companies ranging from small startups to industry leaders.  His other passion is teaching - he is a former Adjunct Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines.  Paul holds a doctorate in Applied Mechanics from the California Institute of Technology, as well as Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Automating Packet Analysis with Sharkd and Python

 Have you ever had one of those days when your packet analysis seems doomed?  We start looking and quickly realise that there are duplicates of all the packets in one direction.  So we process the file with your favourite de-dup tool and try again.  Next we find some packets were dropped during capture.   Hopefully, we have enough.  Hang on, where's the traffic to the server?  Things are going from bad to worse and we are already 2 hours in.

If only we could check the data before breaking out Wireshark.

This video explains how to use Sharkd and its API to automate the analysis of network packet data. I go on to demonstrate the capability using an experimental Python program to check the quality of a packet capture file. We close the video with details about Sharkd installation and documentation.

The modified sharkd_session.c code I used is here - https://gitlab.com/credible58/wireshark/-/tree/issue17235

The Python program used in the video is here - https://github.com/credible58/papr/tree/main

Replay: How TCP Works - The Timestamp Option (by Chris Greer)

 

In the TCP handshake, you may see an option called timestamps, shortly followed by scary-looking “TSval” and "TSecr" numbers. What are those values and how can you interpret them? Let’s dig.

What is a TCP Timestamp?

The timestamps option in TCP enables the endpoints to keep a current measurement of the roundtrip time (RTT) of the network between them. This value helps each TCP stack to set and adjust its retransmission timer. There are other benefits, but RTT measurement is the major one.

How it works.

Each end of the connection derives a 4-byte increasing value. This value is unique to each side and has no real numerical significance. The opposite end does not care what the value is, it will simply echo it back to the original sender. The original sender can then measure the timing between the packet(s) that were sent and received with this unique value.

The value used by each end will be increased as the connection goes along. Many TCP implementations will add the measured network RTT value (in milliseconds) to the 4-byte timestamp and use this new number for the next segment to be sent.

For example, in the screenshot below, we can see both ends of the TCP connection using timestamps. Both values, the one used by the sender and receiver, have been added as columns in Wireshark to make them a little easier to see.

The first packet has a timestamp value of 1125169296. Told you it was long and scary! But let's analyze...

At the start of the connection, the sender has not yet seen a timestamp value from the opposite end of the connection, so it has no number to echo back yet. That is why we see a zero in the Timestamp Echo Reply column.

The second packet shows the receiver echoing back the timestamp value, while sending a unique value of its own. Notice that these two numbers are completely different and are not related to each other at all. However, in the SYN/ACK, the timestamp echo value must be exactly the same as the value sent in the SYN, or the connection will fail. The connection initiator will likely send a reset to clear the connection.

Next, in the third packet, we can see that the original sender increases its timestamp by 212, sending a new value to the other end. From the delta time column, we can see that the roundtrip time between the two stations is 212 milliseconds (we captured on the 192.168.10.108 end). This value is added to the original timestamp and sent out on the next segment.

As the connection goes along, these values will increase. While they look long and scary, remember that they are only echoed back from the opposite side allowing the sender to mark and measure the roundtrip time. The value itself doesn’t have a specific meaning.

Keep in mind that the TCP Timestamps Option and the Wireshark-derived TCP Conversation Timestamps (which you need to enable in Wireshark) are very different things. For some info on the conversation timestamps, check out this video: