Remember a little more than a month ago I posted a thought about surprising IT? Well, back then I offered some advise to help streamline the development process and deliver value to the business. It wasn't a difficult project, and I can really prove it.
A person had been working on that project for 2 months before I ever found out about it. I made some suggestions and gave them space and time to develop the solution. That all ended last night when I was called into a meeting and asked to put my money where my mouth was. I told them last night that what they needed was two hours of work. The previous developer worked for more than 3 months.
I met with the Subject Matter Expert at 7:30 this morning. We spent 30 minutes discussing and gowing over the requirement. I asked her two questions between 8 and 9:00. At 9:30 am. I sat with the SME to demo the completed product. Two hours I met the requirement and gave the business exactly what they wanted and needed.
SharePoint is so easy it is dangerous. If you aren't good at developing webparts, you need to learn it. It is the new foundation upon which processes are built.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
lolcats
Ok, a little digression here, but is there anything funnier than the lolcats:
http://icanhascheezburger.com/
Something a kid can play with on the Internet:
http://lab.andre-michelle.com/tonematrix
Geekiest thing in the tubes:
http://www.wolframalpha.com/
http://icanhascheezburger.com/
Something a kid can play with on the Internet:
http://lab.andre-michelle.com/tonematrix
Geekiest thing in the tubes:
http://www.wolframalpha.com/
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Social Media
I've come out of the Facebook trough of disillusionment and I'm back on board. I had a month or so in which anything I did on FB was critical of the site. I poked fun at things like becoming a fan of breathing, and oposable thumbs. But lately I am just using it as a way of keeping people informed about what is going on. For example, yesterday my #2 kid had a school musical. We recorded a video of one of the songs and I loaded it onto FB and Youtube. Family couldn't be there, so it was a way for me to share that experience with them.
I'm planning an event for a friend who is getting married in a few months. Pushing information about what, where and how much is a lot easier with FB than with traditional practices. In the old days (like 2 months ago) we would craft an email, attach a bunch of content to it and send it to 20 different people. Those people would respond, or not, at varying intervals and with different information. Keeping track of the whole thing was more painful than it should have been. Enter FB. Now, I just put the content in one place, respond whenever you like and make it available to all. Plus other people can help by answering questions for me. In a nutshell, this helps us get to consensus faster.
I'm planning an event for a friend who is getting married in a few months. Pushing information about what, where and how much is a lot easier with FB than with traditional practices. In the old days (like 2 months ago) we would craft an email, attach a bunch of content to it and send it to 20 different people. Those people would respond, or not, at varying intervals and with different information. Keeping track of the whole thing was more painful than it should have been. Enter FB. Now, I just put the content in one place, respond whenever you like and make it available to all. Plus other people can help by answering questions for me. In a nutshell, this helps us get to consensus faster.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Two-way Street
This has been very much a one-way street so far. I'm speaking about this blog. I know smart people are reading from time to time, but there are hardly any finger prints on the blog. If you want to lurk, that's cool, but I am interested in people who challenge my opinions and push me to think in new directions. It's OK to post a comment. When I visit your blogs I typically do. So don't be shy here.
As The Incredibles pointed out, monologuing has been the downfall of many talented people. I need your help to keep this from being a monologue, and save me from my subsequent and inevitable downfall.
As The Incredibles pointed out, monologuing has been the downfall of many talented people. I need your help to keep this from being a monologue, and save me from my subsequent and inevitable downfall.
Monday, June 8, 2009
BABOK
Project Managers have the PMBOK, or Project Management Body of Knowledge. This book helps to understand the processes of the overall project, but does not shed light on the processes of actually understanding what the Sponsor and stakeholders want. Essentially it covers the "How" and not the "What". Answering the "What" question is the job of the Business Analyst (BA), and to help him or her, we have the BABOK or Business Analyst Body of Knowledge. For $60 you too can have a copy, or you could be like me and have the draft version from the last few years while the IIBA (International Institute of Business Analysts) were achieving consensus. Now that they have consensus they have their BOK, and, following the PMI model also have their certification, the Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP). While it doesn't roll off the tounge like PMP, it probably won't get confused with... well you know.
The question is, is it worth it? I don't know. I do know that most project fail, and that most failures are in the early requirements phase. I also know that following PMI practices can't guarantee success. You can have a project with perfect processess, but if you can't communicate the transactions, or the path, does any of that process stuff matter? PMI would say, 'Try again, and keep trying until you get it right.' Well that would be great, if there was a reason to think this next try would be more right than the last one. Having a good BA on your team solves many problems. I am lucky to have a great one on my current project. She probably isn't certified and she doesn't need it. But for someone who is trying to learn the craft, and to Project Managers who can't understand why having perfect processes doesn't guarantee success, I would recommend looking into this one. I will likely make getting certified a priority in 2010.
The question is, is it worth it? I don't know. I do know that most project fail, and that most failures are in the early requirements phase. I also know that following PMI practices can't guarantee success. You can have a project with perfect processess, but if you can't communicate the transactions, or the path, does any of that process stuff matter? PMI would say, 'Try again, and keep trying until you get it right.' Well that would be great, if there was a reason to think this next try would be more right than the last one. Having a good BA on your team solves many problems. I am lucky to have a great one on my current project. She probably isn't certified and she doesn't need it. But for someone who is trying to learn the craft, and to Project Managers who can't understand why having perfect processes doesn't guarantee success, I would recommend looking into this one. I will likely make getting certified a priority in 2010.
Monday, June 1, 2009
CIO University
Public shaming can be a good thing if it promotes a change. That is what I hope to accomplish with this post. GSA's Office of Governmentwide Policy supports the CIO Council. The CIO Council, as you can probably guess is a board with representation from Department-level CIOs in the federal sector. Years ago the CIO Council thought it would be a good idea to encourage universities to adjust their programs to help develop the next generation of CIO leadership for the federal sector. GSA's Office of Governmentwide Policy ran this initiative and had an RFP to recognize some university programs that do a good job in meeting this need. Several good programs applied and were recognized based on that 2000 RFP. In fact, when I was looking at programs, this recognition figured heavily into my decision. The GW and Mason programs were both in that top tier of schools.
In the end though, I chose to go with the University of Virginia's Master of Science in the Management of Information Technology (MS MIT). This program is through the McIntire School of Commerce and borrows a great deal of vigor from the Darden Business School. But at its heart it is IT oriented. We don't jump into a great deal of statistics, but if I never have to analyze another pro forma financial statement I will be happy. But I digress, this program assembles the heavy topics that are important to IT management and those people aspiring to one day be CIOs. Enterprise Architecture, Program and Project Management, Enterprise Decision Making/Strategy and Financial Management are the four areas of focus. I feel very prepared to take that next step to be a CIO or Deputy CIO of an organization. In fact, a graduate of this program is currently the CIO of my agency and another former graduate is the CISO while yet another is an Associate CIO at the Department.
As such, it seems like the University of Virginia has a pretty good formula. This is why I can't understand GSA's Office of Governmentwide Partnership's decision to not re-examine educational programs. It has been almost 10 years since their initial and only RFP. But here is their same, broken, website, http://www.cio.gov/index.cfm?function=cio_university. It lists the initial winners, Mason, GW, Carnegie Mellon, which I assume is a part of the Software Engineering Institute (SEI). They also have the University of Maryland. But then they have LaSalle and Syracuse as well. Syracuse??? No offense to anyone who went to Syracuse, but when I'm on their MS in Information Management page and click over to their Alumni Profiles page, there isn't anyone listed who is in the DC metropolitan area. So exactly how is this a benefit to the CIO Council??? The LaSalle program doesn't even seem to exist anymore. I went to the page that is linked from the CIO U site, http://www.lasalle.edu/admiss/grad/itl/ and it lists two campuses, both in Pennsylvania.
C'mon GSA. We should do better than this. The CIO U program is out of date and as it stands right now it doesn't add value. Programs like Virginia's MS MIT aren't recognized despite the fact that about 90% of the students in the Northern Virginia cohort either work for the federal government or support the government as a federal contractor. And programs that don't add value to the federal sector are recognized, dare I say, endorsed on a .gov website. Is that right?
To do this well the CIO Council should identify the elements that they think are important for developing the next generation of CIOs. They should treat this process like a real academic accreditation. A couple of these programs are only certificate programs. Ask yourself, why is that? Why are some the programs Masters level programs and some are certificate programs? The answer is simple, these programs have vastly different rigor behind them. To really add value the programs must be rigorous. To push the next generation of thinkers to come up with creative solutions to the problems we are facing today we need people who can look at and analyze the problem. We are not benefiting from people who merely pay their tuition and buy their certificate.
When I graduate from my UVA program I will receive a beautiful piece of parchment to put on a wall. Lucky for me, that is all the validation I need that I have developed the skills needed to rise to that high level of IT management. I don't need the CIO Council endorsement of my program to know that I am operating at that level.
If you are so motivated, you can contact Monica Fitzgerald, who works at GSA's Office of Governmentwide Policy and let her know how you feel about this issue.
In the end though, I chose to go with the University of Virginia's Master of Science in the Management of Information Technology (MS MIT). This program is through the McIntire School of Commerce and borrows a great deal of vigor from the Darden Business School. But at its heart it is IT oriented. We don't jump into a great deal of statistics, but if I never have to analyze another pro forma financial statement I will be happy. But I digress, this program assembles the heavy topics that are important to IT management and those people aspiring to one day be CIOs. Enterprise Architecture, Program and Project Management, Enterprise Decision Making/Strategy and Financial Management are the four areas of focus. I feel very prepared to take that next step to be a CIO or Deputy CIO of an organization. In fact, a graduate of this program is currently the CIO of my agency and another former graduate is the CISO while yet another is an Associate CIO at the Department.
As such, it seems like the University of Virginia has a pretty good formula. This is why I can't understand GSA's Office of Governmentwide Partnership's decision to not re-examine educational programs. It has been almost 10 years since their initial and only RFP. But here is their same, broken, website, http://www.cio.gov/index.cfm?function=cio_university. It lists the initial winners, Mason, GW, Carnegie Mellon, which I assume is a part of the Software Engineering Institute (SEI). They also have the University of Maryland. But then they have LaSalle and Syracuse as well. Syracuse??? No offense to anyone who went to Syracuse, but when I'm on their MS in Information Management page and click over to their Alumni Profiles page, there isn't anyone listed who is in the DC metropolitan area. So exactly how is this a benefit to the CIO Council??? The LaSalle program doesn't even seem to exist anymore. I went to the page that is linked from the CIO U site, http://www.lasalle.edu/admiss/grad/itl/ and it lists two campuses, both in Pennsylvania.
C'mon GSA. We should do better than this. The CIO U program is out of date and as it stands right now it doesn't add value. Programs like Virginia's MS MIT aren't recognized despite the fact that about 90% of the students in the Northern Virginia cohort either work for the federal government or support the government as a federal contractor. And programs that don't add value to the federal sector are recognized, dare I say, endorsed on a .gov website. Is that right?
To do this well the CIO Council should identify the elements that they think are important for developing the next generation of CIOs. They should treat this process like a real academic accreditation. A couple of these programs are only certificate programs. Ask yourself, why is that? Why are some the programs Masters level programs and some are certificate programs? The answer is simple, these programs have vastly different rigor behind them. To really add value the programs must be rigorous. To push the next generation of thinkers to come up with creative solutions to the problems we are facing today we need people who can look at and analyze the problem. We are not benefiting from people who merely pay their tuition and buy their certificate.
When I graduate from my UVA program I will receive a beautiful piece of parchment to put on a wall. Lucky for me, that is all the validation I need that I have developed the skills needed to rise to that high level of IT management. I don't need the CIO Council endorsement of my program to know that I am operating at that level.
If you are so motivated, you can contact Monica Fitzgerald, who works at GSA's Office of Governmentwide Policy and let her know how you feel about this issue.
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