Managing the Virus Hunters

Imagine what life would be like if your product were never finished, if your work were never done, if your market shifted 30 times a day. The computer-virus hunters at Symantec Corp. don't have to imagine. That's the reality of their daily work life. At the company's Response Lab in Santa Monica, California, described as the "dirtiest of all our networks at Symantec," software analysts collect viruses and other suspicious code and try to figure out how they work so security updates can be provided to the company's customers. By the door to the lab, there's even a hazardous materials box marked "Danger" where they put all the disks, tapes, and hard drives with the nasty viruses that need to be carefully and completely disposed of. Symantec's situation may seem unique, but the company, which makes content and network security software for both consumers and businesses, reflects the realities facing many organizations today: quickly shifting customer expectations and continuously emerging global competitors that have drastically shortened product life cycles. Managing talented people in such an environment can be quite challenging as well.

Vincent Weafer, a native of Ireland, has been the leader of Symantec's virus-hunting team since 1999. Back then, he said, "There were less than two dozen people, and ... nothing really happened. We'd see maybe five new viruses a day, and they would spread in a matter of months, not minutes." Now, Symantec's virus hunters around the world deal with some 20,000 virus samples each month, not all of which are unique, stand-alone viruses. To make the hunters' jobs even more interesting, computer attacks are increasingly being spread by criminals wanting to steal information, whether corporate data or personal user account information that can be used in fraud. Dealing with these critical and time-sensitive issues requires special talents. The response-center team is a diverse group whose members weren't easy to find. Says Weaver, "Ifs not as if colleges are creating thousands of anti-malware or security experts every year that we can hire. If you find them in any part of the world, you just go after them." The response-center team's makeup reflects that. For instance, one senior researcher is from Hungary: another is from Iceland; and another works out of her home in Melbourne, Florida. But they all share something in common: They're all motivated by solving problems.

The launch of the Blaster-B worm in August 2003 changed the company's approach to dealing with viruses. The domino effect of Blaster-B and other viruses spawned by it meant the frontline software analysts were working around the clock for almost 2 weeks. The "employee burnout" potential made the company realize that its virus-hunting team would now have to be much deeper talent-wise. Now, the response center's team numbers in the

hundreds and managers can rotate people from the front lines, where they're responsible for responding to new security threats that crop up, into groups where they can help with newproduct development. Others write internal research papers. Still others are assigned to develop new tools that will help their colleagues battle the next wave of threats. There's even an individual who tries to figure out what makes the virus writers tickand the day never ends for these virus hunters. When Santa Monica's team finishes its day, colleagues in Tokyo take over. When the Japanese team finishes its day, it hands off to Dublin, who then hands back to Santa Monica for the new day. It's a frenetic, chaotic, challenging work environment that spans the entire globe. But Weafer says his goals are to "try to take the chaos out, to make the exciting boring," to have a predictable and well-defined process for dealing with the virus threats, and to spread work evenly to the company's facilities around the world. It's a managerial challenge that Weafer has embraced.

Questions of Case Study:

Q1. Keeping professionals excited about work that is routine and standardized and chaotic is a major challenge for Vincent Weafer. How could he use technical, human, and conceptual skills to maintain an environment that encourages innovation and professionalism among the virus hunters? Answer: Vincent Weafers applies following techniques that encourage innovation and professionalism among the virus hunters. 1. Firstly, he divided work into smaller and specialised groups to perform in much better way. 2. To attain professionalism he then focuses on efficient working. As the work keeps on moving and never stopped. When Santa Monicas team finished, Tokyo took over, when Japanese team finishes this handed over to Dublin and then again back to Santa Monica.

Q2. What management roles would Vincent be playing as he (a) Had weekly security briefing conference calls with co-workers around the globe. (b) Assessed the feasibility of adding a new network security consulting service, or (c) Kept employees focused on the companys commitments to customers?

Answer: According to the conditions Vincent has played following roles respectively. a) Vincent has played Interpersonal role as he worked as a figurehead, leader, liaison as he was obliged to perform number of duties he motivates and gathered many students and develop relations with them and also informational role as he act as a monitor, spokesman and a disseminator as he maintains personal contacts with others and by sharing stuff with them. b) Vincent has approached towards Decisional role as he worked as a disturbance handler while gathering solutions for the problem and resource allocator while dividing the work in specialised groups and giving them tasks according to their nature of job. c) Vincent played interpersonal role here as he worked as a figurehead while gathering everyone on same platform and then as a leader as he provoked his employees to focus on companys commitments to provide better security updates to the customers.

Q3. Go to Symantecs Web site and look up information about the company. What can you tell about its emphasis on customer service and innovation? In what ways does the organization support its employees in serving customers and in being innovative? Answer: Symantec was founded in 1982 by visionary computer scientists. The company has evolved to become one of the worlds largest software companies. They provide security, storage and systems management solutions to help their customers from consumers and small businesses to the largest global organizations to secure and manage their informationdriven world against more risks at more points, more completely and efficiently than any other company. There EMPHASIS ON CUSTOMER SERVICE AND INNOVATION Their main perspective is to focus on Customer satisfaction and Innovation. They remain committed to provide better solutions and secure information management more completely and in much efficient and effective way. Organization supports there employs in number of ways. They have an entrepreneurial corporate culture that encourages innovation and empowers employees to respond quickly to strategic opportunities. They strive to support their employees in the use of their time, energy and financial resources to make their communities better places in which to live CUSTOMER SERVICE Customer driven strategies are there main focusing points at any level of the organization from top to frontline. Both management and co-workers prioritize the fact that they have to provide best solutions for their customers. There vital work is governed and guided by a set of core values.

Innovation Symantecs strategy of open innovation focuses on delivering the best solutions to its customers whether those solutions come as a result of building them internally, developing them with technology partners or acquiring them outright.

Q4. What could other managers learn from the Vincent Weafer and Symantecs approach? Answer: Following points can be learnt from Vincent and Symantecs approach 1. Enhances teamwork, promoting honesty, a forthright approach, respect for the individual and reward for innovation and creativity. 2. Disturbance handling and problem solving with the best allocation of resources. 3. Creating Customer focusing strategies. 4. Time Management. 5. Monitoring and improving services. 6. Create Lasting Customer and Partner Loyalty. 7. How to work with diverse people. 8. Maintains efficiency.