Leaders vs. Project Managers

Susan brings a unique background to her project management engagements. For many years she worked in store management roles at retail chains including Kmart and SportMart. Responsible for opening new stores, Hilty developed firsthand experience with the various people and complex processes that need to be setup and managed for a store to operate successfully. Susan said, “In retail, there were so many moving parts from HR, Payroll, and Finance - my favorite part was figuring out new processes on the fly and mentoring my staff to adopt those processes. We were not given exact instructions on how to open a store. We had to find the necessary resources and make sure that the goal was achieved.”

When I asked Susan how this experience related to her later work in IT consulting and project management, she said “many project managers do not understand how to synthesize varying (often small and inaccurate) amounts of information from stakeholders into a workable plan, and shepherd that plan up and down the decision chain to get things done. Being a leader adds a layer of value to the project management role.”

Building Houses Without Architects

Further along in her career, Susan Hilty developed a knack for complex mergers and acquisitions. Systems and processes were being integrated from many locations or entirely different companies. It was during this experience that she saw the need for a well-run Program Management Office (PMO). “At the time, the CFO budgeted for networked imaging software to cut document production costs and the CIO had the mandate to do software setup and installation for hundreds of users on a timeline. The only problem was, without a PMO taking ownership of the project, no one realized that we had a fleet of copiers in house that were not network capable. We had to procure all new equipment that was not a part of the original budget. If there were a functioning PMO, something that basic would have been uncovered in the project requirements assessment.”

Susan continues to take new project assignments where different stakeholders hold elements of business requirements, software, workflow, training and finances, yet they do not coalesce into a project definition. She said, “It’s like saying you’d like to build a house. You have gotten the loan, ordered a bunch of lumber, hired a painter, and set your move-in date. When I ask what the house will look like when its done, you say you’ll let me know when it’s built.” Susan points out that houses do not get built without the involvement of a good architect and a good general contractor. In addition to their traditional task and resource allocation roles, good IT Project Managers often have to be the architect and general contractor on projects. “I often have to educate upwards, to tell the very people that brought me in to manage a project, what the vision and architecture is.”

Companies Do Not Need IT Project Administrators

Companies have a very narrow vision of what a Project Manager is. Susan Hilty feels that the companies enjoying the most IT project success bring in good project management talent early in the cycle. “I screen my engagements very closely now. There are projects out there where the PM is simply being brought in to run Microsoft Project. Those projects ultimately struggle because project management is seen as an administrative task. When the PM speaks up on architectural or strategic issues, many different decision makers must be consulted. Often the PM is perceived as slowing the project down, or business owners get upset with the questions.” When I asked her to describe her ideal situation Susan said, “When I am in early enough to ensure a proper blueprint for the project. When I can add value to the creation and adoption of new processes, I am the most effective”.

Tips for Surviving as an IT Contractor

Susan has worked with IT Staffing and Consulting firms such as Hudson IT for over 5 years. I asked Susan about what it’s like being an IT contractor in today’s economic environment. She said that her #1 tip is to always keep your own eyes open for new engagements. “The days of companies carrying a huge bench of IT consultants are behind us”, said Susan. “You can’t just stay with one firm and draw a paycheck. Be proactive in this market and keep your eyes and ears open as you get closer to the end of your contract terms. Always work with your staffing partners to see what channels are open to you, and choose projects that will continue to build your capabilities.”

I sincerely hope that Hudson IT can keep quality Project Managers like Susan Hilty on the projects they love for years to come.

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2. PM’s and BA’s in the Trenches
3. Ask Mark Vogt: There’s a Big Future in Sharepoint.

It is possible to transfer skills from related industries, like computer simulation to video game development. A good example is Terry Michaels, Sony Online Entertainment, Everquest Developer, who used his experience as flight simulator programmer to land his first gaming job. For more of my thoughts on building your experience in industries related to gaming check out my video post below.

I suggest if you want to land in the gaming industry, get your hands dirty with real-time programming environments as soon as you can.

image by: Jesse757

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Mike Whitmer @mlwhitmer CIO of @HudsonIT, and Kirby Miner, CIO of @Trex_Company will speak on experience with #cloudcomputing #WhyCloud

Mid-sized cos. have had significant IT staff reductions, but still have large base of employees to support. Cloud can help. #WhyCloud

Formal def. of Cloud: multitenant shared platform…NOT useful to convince leadership. Go with simple. “Rent from the internet” #WhyCloud

Explaining IaaS, PaaS, SaaS, “ohhh. you mean servers, middleware and apps. Yeah I get it.” via @monkchips http://bit.ly/a497dQ #WhyCloud

Reference to @monkchips 15 Ways to Tell Its Not Cloud Computing http://bit.ly/YuBkc #WhyCloud

Reason 1: COST @mlwhitmer showing detailed cost savings analysis of Exchange E-mail vs. Google. 2nd ROI Analysis of ERP SaaS #WhyCloud

Reason 2: SCALABILITY. Reference @GoGrid’s charts of IT infrastructure buy cycle before and after #cloudcomputing #WhyCloud

Reason 3: SPEED. Faster provisioning and ability to get upgraded software and hardware as it happens with little intervention. #WhyCloud

Reason 4: USABILITY. Access apps from anywhere and users familiarity with web apps skyrocketing. #WhyCloud

Reason 5: SECURITY & DR More robust off-site disaster recovery/security protocols than most mid-sized biz’s can afford. #WhyCloud

Reason 6: MANAGEMENT. Reference @Proofpoint_Inc study http://bit.ly/dzRwtC most IT staff think #cloudcomputing causes job loss #WhyCloud

Cloud will cause IT skills shift. @jamesurquhart “you still have to connect to the cloud. That’s where the IT depts come in.” #WhyCloud

CIO’s should think ahead for needed skills coming out of recession. Cloud Jobs skyrocketed. http://bit.ly/cTMMLQ via @inDeed #WhyCloud

Hybrid cloud strategy: @mlwhitmer explains mix of cloud and traditional apps #WhyCloud

HudsonIT: Introducing Kirby Miner from @Trex_Company speaking on experience with #cloudcomputing #WhyCloud

Hybrid Cloud strategy @Trex_Company CRM, Payroll/HR, Safety in the Cloud. ERP, Business Intelligence in-house. #cloudcomputing #WhyCloud

Cloud choice factors: App’s impact on business, initial investment, maintenance costs, ability to integrate with other solutions #WhyCloud

Kirby Miner’s Cloud analogy…Lawn Care. We outsource lawn care to allow use of the best lawn without the maint. headache. #WhyCloud

Audience Q: Is using the Cloud good fit for call center? A:It depends. Some components, but not entire solution as yet. #WhyCloud

Audience Q: Why Trex BI and ERP in-house? A: Localization could be issue with ERP. BI integrations with data too complex. #WhyCloud

Audience Q: How secure is the Cloud really? A: The Cloud can be more secure than what you can do in-house. Careful eval needed. #WhyCloud

Audience Q: How Trex IT staff evolved? A: Training need reduced on learning the ‘guts’. Implementation/analysis skills increased. #WhyCloud

Audience Q: Is just IT decision or biz decision? A: More biz leaders able to make functionality decisions. Makes competitive advtg.#WhyCloud

Here is more information on the Hudson IT Cloud Computing webinar and the slide download.

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Here is a quick video where I’m discussing some of my rationale for exploring the Cloud in 2010.

I would highly recommend that IT professionals from Business Analysts and Project Managers, to Network Admins and Application Developers start to become familiar with the migration of your world toward the Cloud. One way to do so is to attend our webinar on April 7th entitled, 6 Reasons Why You Need To Embrace Cloud Computing Now. There, I will be discussing Cloud Computing with a fellow CIO, Kirby Miner from Trex.  I hope to see you there. Register Today!

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Watch my video and give the article a read. Let me know your thoughts on what you are doing with Cloud Computing going into 2010.

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There’s plenty of other great discussion out there on the relative merit of IT Certifications. Here’s a few interesting takes:

• ‘10 Best IT Certifications’ from ZDNet
• ‘IT Certifications May be Declining in Value’ from eWeek
• ‘True Value in the Person not the Certification’ from Millenium Technology Consulting

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If you’re new to the independent contracting game and have visions of forming your own IT project management firm, a good way to sample the marketplace is by aligning yourself with an IT recruiting/staffing firm like Hudson IT in Chicago. “It’s a win-win situation for everyone,” says Todd Harootyan, a senior IT recruiter at Hudson. “The end client gets a substantially lower price tag on the resource, the contractor gets a well paying short-term project, and the recruiter makes his margin.”

Harootyan couldn’t be specific about the recruiter’s share of the contractor’s hourly project rate, but he did say the industry standard ranges between 10 percent and 20 percent (so do the math!). IT project managers’ hourly price tags can vary dramatically depending upon experience level, expertise and certifications.

New contractors can reap undeniable benefits by using an IT recruiter to land gigs. The biggest advantage is sitting back and waiting for projects to come to them. The toughest part of landing projects for contractors is selling themselves to companies. Whether it’s a big or midsize firm, the first hurdle is getting in the door and finding out who to pitch to. “This is what we do best,” says Harootyan. “We identify the opportunities and sell the services. Once they’re in the company, it’s up to them to provide value by doing a first-rate job.”

The IT recruiting firm also does the billing, collection and payment–another headache that is taken off the contractor’s shoulders. So take the hint: Hooking up with a well-entrenched and respected IT recruiting/staffing firm amounts to a good move in the beginning. Once finances are buoyed, contacts made and knowledge of the marketplace gained, then it’s time to consider flying solo. By then, the future can be planned with some assurance of success.

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1. Mining The Data - While the task of data clean-up typically assumes a tedious groan, small strategic improvements can offer serious ROI now and later. For example, review and analyze those help desk tickets — specifically the high-volume submittals. If you have a high number of password reset tickets, then you should invest in a self-service password maintenance application or automated process. This will reduce your support cost and increase customer satisfaction.

2. Virtualization - Equipment upgrades are necessary to keep up with the pace of change and manage long-term IT costs. For example, are you fully utilizing all your application servers and storage devices in your data center? You should consider consolidating these applications on “virtual servers” which use less space and allow you to take back ownership of servers that can be used for other applications or retire those that are no longer needed. This will immediate cut your overhead costs for 2009 and establish an annual savings moving forward. Please be advised that this type of consolidation is a large disruptive project, so it is wise to implement when IT project work and business operations are slower.

3. Automation - Which IT processes are targets for automation? You may already own modules on your ERP application that have not been implemented. A couple options are employee on-boarding and off-boarding applications, HR self-service for managers (title changes, promotions, reviews, etc.) and self-service applications for employees such as paychecks and W2s. If done correctly, all these factors contribute to reducing costs and driving efficiency for the enterprise.

 4. Vendors - Look to do business or renew contracts with smaller boutique/niche vendors; because, they can offer all the qualities of a larger firm, but without the overhead and higher costs. Recently, we outsourced our ERP support and development to a niche firm and are reaping the benefits of a higher level of customer service, better attention and understanding of our environment all at a better price than the larger more well-known vendors.

IT is truly a catalyst for growth and the backbone of success for most companies. Enterprises that are taking advantage of these turbulent times to “clean house” will not fall behind their competitors. In this light, IT is not just about technology, it’s about helping the enterprise run smarter, faster and cheaper.

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Over the past several years, gamers have driven the demand for evermore sophisticated games and the rendering of very realistic graphics on the screen. Thus the success in medical gaming largely depends upon the ability to give artificial players increasing intelligence (artificial-intelligence [AI]). In order to do so, IT skills required include real-time programming and training courses in distributed system environments or generic simulation training. This growth of interest and opportunity has helped push the gaming technological advancement beyond traditional boundaries.

The Virtual Heroes game America’s Army is a great example. In 2008 this video game, which requires users to go through extensive medical training to pilot a medic, led to a real-life rescue on the North Carolina Interstate. Through 3D simulations of heart surgery procedures students are able to understand and practice in a virtual world before tackling real-life situations. At this year’s Games for Health Conference, Virtual Heroes discussed its upcoming R-Mission 2 game (an upgrade from the 2006 Re-Mission which allows cancer patients to pilot a robot that attacks cancer cells and combats the side effects of treatments). R-Mission 2 promises to conquer the sensory experience challenge by shifting the players to a first person perspective.

Previously, we have discussed how the salvation of the healthcare industry lies within technology, and thus the momentum in the medical gaming and simulation industry aligns with this outlook. IT professionals who have worked in the defense gaming and simulations industry will see more career growth in health care as health care spending is now roughly 4.3 times the amount spent on national defense.

To help keep up-to-date on this industry’s pulse, I recommend you check out Dave Talyor’s blog called Virtual World Innovations. He is the founder of Second Life and documents new and emerging best practices of virtual works. Recently, he developed a virtual ward for a group of staff nurses at St. Mary’s Hospital in West London. His virtual ward provided nurses the opportunity to practice and test reactions to unexpected and expected situations. So far, the trial is going well. Also, GameCareerGuide.com offers great resources for gamers at any point in their career with an abundant amount of information on upcoming trends, personal anecdotes and much more.

Photo from Virtual Heroes

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If you need a quick fix to your professional network, here some simple guidelines to get you started.

Start By Showing You Are Serious
Have you updated your resume? If you haven’t, how are portraying yourself as a serious job seeker if you have not started with the simplest form of advertising your credentials … your resume! If it’s been awhile since sprucing up your resume, make sure you’re up to date on the best to present your technical skills.

Be Professional
Practice your approach with several contacts that are not the “Big Fish” in your network. Ask them for honest feedback. Here is an interesting article on networking approaches - 10 Tips for Networkers. 

Get Organized
Start a list. Who have you stayed in touch with? Who have you lost contact with? Don’t rule anyone out - they may now be an executive at one of your target companies. They may have once been a little crazy in college, but, so what, you might have been too. People do grow up and change, but that connection will always be there, so use them now.

Have A Personal Touch
Don’t just create a mail merge spreadsheet and blast a standard note to your old contacts. Personalization can go a long way in reconnecting. Getting a job is not just about who you know but how well you know them. Include personal information in your outreach, such as where you met or the person’s favorite sports team. Also, remember it is important to be honest. The initial reconnecting email should include personal information, as well as clearly stating that you are looking for a job. “Networking the Non-Spread Sheet Activity” illustrates the importance of personal touch.

Make It Easier Online
To avoid the potentially awkward re-introduction process, especially if you are shy, one smart way to track down your contacts is to build your network online. It’s now much easier and quicker to reconnect using the tools already built into social media sites. These sites were built to maximize efficiency when managing large networks. Search for your contacts online, a very popular professional networking site is LinkedIn, for personal connections tap into Facebook and for industry knowledge tune into Twitter.  Not to sure how to approach contacts using social media? Check out this quick segment from The Today Show.

Once you have rebuilt your professional network of IT contacts, don’t let it fall apart again in the future. Networking is all about staying in touch and continuing to build and expand your connections. And return the favor. Someday soon, you may find yourself as someone’s long lost contact who you can aid in their job search. By sharing information, you can become a great “connector.”

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