Jun 9, 2006 | blog
So I’ve been getting into project management the last 18 months or so, and its been quite a bit of fun. What surprises me, is that I really enjoy the work – it has been taking more and more of my interest in place of my passion for technology.
The thing that also stuns me, is that I’m actually good at it. Don’t get me wrong, I still have a LOT to learn about project management, methods, tools, tricks, organization, etc… Of course a person really never stops learning. The neat thing about PM work that I’ve found so far is how it streches me in a whole new direction that I’d never had to work towards in just a technology-focused position.
Now with that all said, the project I’m trying to get started and organized at work has me really twisted around. First, until recently it really hasn’t been a project, it has mostly been a skunk-works effort to get it done, and we’ve found as a department that we really need to formalize what we are attempting to do. So what is the project? Our Information Technology Lab Environment.
Of course we have a bit more long-winded name for it, mostly because of the complexity of what we are trying to do. The Lab has many parts, some are actually critical, others simply a support roll in that they’re used for research (obviously).
So what’s so hard you ask? You know, it really shouldn’t be difficult, and maybe its because of the way I’ve approached it. See, our group has worked on this little effort for about 2 years, suffling the responsibilities from one staff member to another. Each generating their own pieces of the puzzle, but not stepping back to look at the whole mosaic. Then we bring about a dozen team members together about 8 to 14 times and generate a ton of additional information.
What I’m babbling about is that I’ve got a ton of information, but have lost sight of the starting point. I’ve taken the group up to the higher levels where we can see how all the pieces fit together, but I’ve now got too much information to go back and actually morph what we’ve got into a true multi-year, multi-phase project plan. A seasoned PM would be able to do it in about half a week I suppose, but I’m still really learning the craft.
What I’m planning on monday, is to start from the beginning, writting the project plan, plugging in time, costs, resources, etc… Taking the wonderful mountain of information, drawings, concepts, and such that we have accumulated and using it as a research tool to answer the basic project questions that our Project Methodology asks. So for the two who ‘put’ the 800lb. gorilla on my back 😉 I think I’ve got it figured out how and where to start.
Jun 9, 2006 | blog
Well, I’m trying to decide if I should go to the Windows Connections conference this fall. It’s in Vegas, and I’m not really enamored of the place (of course I’ve never been there yet).
Looks to be a good conference, as the Connections ones usually are, with a number of great speakers (Steve Riley, Mark Minasi, Sue Mosher, Tony Redmond, Paul Robichaux). I’ve always had a great time at previous Connecitons, and the quality of the information, sessions, speakers, content, and location have been excellent.
Its being held at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas, so check it out if you are interested.
Jun 9, 2006 | blog
Easton Ellsworth talks about how his passion and interest in reading sometimes keeps him from blogging and asks what is the biggest time-waster for everyone else. I know what he means, I’ve got around 120 feeds that I follow daily, and would not be able to do that if it were not for RSS Readers! It takes up a lot of time.
But even aside from reading, simply needing to do the work necessary for the day job takes up most of my time. While I love blogging, it currently doesn’t pay the bills, and I’m making a little progress in ‘climbing the corporate ladder’, so I might as well stick it out awhile longer.
Hmm, other than that I guess I’d have to add that simply taking time to relax and spend some ‘down time’ is another thing that takes time away from blogging for me. This is kind of frustrating in a way because I have a few ‘special project blogs’ that I’m trying to make progress on, and simply can’t find more time to get them to that magical point yet.
Anyway, I’m curious as well – what keeps you from, or interrupts you from blogging?
Jun 9, 2006 | blog
BES – BlackBerry Enterprise Server. Yep we’ve finally got our production implementation online and are in the process of bringing in our first set of consumers (or pilot testers).
Exciting times, if the usefulness of BlackBerry is as well received as VPN was, we’ll see a sharp uptake of users by the end of the year. Neat stuff!
Personally I don’t want one though I wouldn’t mind using Microsoft’s solution to access the same information – here’s to getting that in the door!
Jun 9, 2006 | blog
Daniel Berininger has a comparison piece over on Om Malik’s blog on the similarities of Vonage and MCI. Its an interesting piece, with interesting comments as well.
Though I would love to cheer for the underdog, I still think Vonage will not end up being a powerful competitor in the voice market. There are simply too many other options for voice solutions which I’ve talked about before.
Most people will end up using mobile phones only, others will switch to their cable company offerings, many more will simply stick with whatever former RBOC they already have, and finally others will simply use some type of free voice offering from the likes of Skype, Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and others.
Sorry folks, VOIP is where its at for landlines, its just that Vonage isn’t the heir appearent.
Via: GigaOM
