Anti-Virus Strategy System

Holism


Our definition of holism, drawing where appropriate from the medical profession, is health-oriented, and focuses on maintaining and improving the existing health of the system. It does not focus on disease and illness. It is interesting to note that, while we have many terms that relate to compromised and infected systems, we do not seem to have many terms relating to 'well' computers. Holism operates under the assumption that the open system possesses an innate organising principle, with the interdependence of the parts having an effect on the total system health. Holism views symptoms of distress as signalling disharmonic conditions, from which we can learn how to adjust the system (feedback); it is open to a variety of approaches for attaining balance. The focus of holism is heavily slanted toward the correction of causal factors, not symptomatic relief. Thus, the role of the holistic practitioner is to facilitate the potential for healing [7].



Anti-Virus Strategy Systems

Where do our anti-virus strategy systems fit in this picture? We hope to explore some answers to that question by first examining the components of our model system. Keep in mind, however, that the goal of this paper is not to provide you with answers, but rather to stimulate new ways of thinking about the problems we face daily.


Components

Each of the components in Diagram 1 contributes to the overall health of the system. Conversely, each can contribute to the illness of the system. For instance, our computer can contribute to the health of the system by functioning properly. If the hard drive crashes, a disharmonic condition is introduced. Our managers contribute to the overall well-being of the system, as long as they perform correctly. However, if one of them intentionally or unintentionally infects a computer with a virus, he or she contributes to the illness of the system. Our software contributes to the wellness by keeping employees reassured, and by keeping viruses out. If it is disabled by an employee desirous of more speed upon boot, or if it does not do its job in virus detection, it contributes to the illness or chaos in the system. There are other factors not shown, as the anti-virus strategy system model does not stop at the boundary of the company. The model includes your Internet service provider, virus writers, makers of electronic mail front-ends, anti-virus product tech support people and more. For the purposes of this paper, we must draw an artificial boundary. We mention the rest to give you food for thought, and to illustrate that boundaries are not static.