Ideas musings and information

Random Observations to Develop Self

2011-11-05T19:06:00.001-07:00

Do you develop other people?
Why are you being hired?
How do you manage up?
How can you help your boss?
Are you transparent?
Are you a leader?
Can you get to the point? Own responsibility
Are you developing a network outside the company and vendors?
How can you develop yourself to contribute?
How do you leave a balanced life( company and friends) ? Who is going to be honest with you?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6taNjZCzQ1I

Worlds Cheapest Car

2010-10-21T16:16:00.000-07:00

Watch this video to see how Tata Nano looks like and what all the buzz is about

Get tickets to Telugu Movies for $5 in Northern Va

2010-10-19T17:43:00.000-07:00

These days the cost of the Bollywood movie tickets have gone up to $15 and the premier show tickets even sold for $30 for the new movie release. I like to watch the movies in the theater, but that is a steep price to pay for a family of four at $15 to 30 each. so you have two alternatives

1) watch Movies on Tuesday when it is $5 at world gate cinemas , but most people are busy to make it to movies on Tuesday

2) Subscribe to a site like Weeklycinema.com if you are going to watch a movie every month or buy the coupon for weekly cinema from deal a day site such as Groupon, Livingsocial,Tippr which offer the same weeklycinema tickets without a subscription from time to time.

using option 2, i only paid $20 for 4 tickets and used movietickets.com to redeem the weeklycinema coupons. I still have 8 more tickets to use

Black Friday 2010 Ad for Sears

2010-10-19T17:38:00.000-07:00

Today is october 19th and Bfads.net already releases a Sears AD scan of planned BF sale!!!!

Here are all the items http://bfads.net/Sears-Oct-29-2010, or you can download the scan
from http://bfads.net/Adscans

There is nothing to buy for me in this list.

ITIL Youtube Links

2009-09-17T18:32:00.000-07:00

Module I

1. Introduction to IT Management

2. ITIL v3 – Good practices

3. ITIL v3 – Service

4. ITIL v3 – Service management

5. ITIL v3 – Function and processes

6. ITIL v3 - Processes and theirs characterestics

Module II

7. ITIL v3 - Service lifecycle model

8. ITIL v3 – Service Strategy

9. ITIL v3 – Service Design

10. ITIL v3 – Service Design II

11. ITIL v3 – Service Transition

12. ITIL v3 – Service Transition II

13. ITIL v3 – Service Operation

14. ITIL v3 – Service Operation II

15. ITIL v3 – Continual Service Improvement

Module III

16. ITIL v3 – Utility and warranty

17. ITIL v3 – Assets, resources and capabilities

18. ITIL v3 – Service portfolio

19. ITIL v3 – Service catalog

20. ITIL v3 – IT Governance

21. ITIL v3 – Business case

22. ITIL v3 – Risk

23. ITIL v3 – Service provider

24. ITIL v3 – Supplier

25. ITIL v3 – Sercive Level Agreement – SLA

26. ITIL v3 – Operational Level Agreement – OLA

27. ITIL v3 – Underpinng Contract – UC

28. ITIL v3 – Service Design Package – SDP

29. ITIL v3 – Availability

30. ITIL v3 – Service Knowledge Management System – SKMS

31. ITIL v3 – Configuation Item

32. ITIL v3 – Configuration Management System – CMS

33. ITIL v3 – Definitive Media Library – DML

34. ITIL v3 – Service change

35. ITIL v3 – Change categories

36. ITIL v3 – Release unit

37. ITIL v3 – 7 Rs of change management

38. ITIL v3 – Event

39 ITIL v3 – Alert

40 ITIL v3 – Incident

41 ITIL v3 – Impact, urgency and priority

42. ITIL v3 – Service Request

43. ITIL v3 – Problem

44. ITIL v3 – Workaround

45. ITIL v3 – Known Error – KE

46. ITIL v3 – Known Error Database – KEDB

47. ITIL v3 – Communication

48. ITIL v3- Service Assets

49. ITIL v3 – Release policy

Module IV

50. ITIL v3 – Value creation through Services

51. ITIL v3 – 4 Ps of IT Service Management

52. ITIL v3 – The 5 Service Design Aspects

53. ITIL v3 – Deming’s cycle – PDCA

54. ITIL v3 – Continual Service Improvement Model

There are another videos from this series:

55. ITIL v3 – Role of Measurement as part of CSI

56. ITIL v3 – Role of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) as part of CSI

57. ITIL v3 – Baselines

58. ITIL v3 – Types of Metrics

59. ITIL v3 – Demand Management Objective

60. ITIL v3 – Demand Management Challenges

61. ITIL v3 – Activity Based Demand Management

62. ITIL v3 – Patterns of Business Activity (PBA) and User Profiles (UP)

63. ITIL v3 – Financial Management Objective

Sarah Palin's SNL debut

2008-09-14T17:19:00.001-07:00

Tina Fey does a very good imitation of SARAH palin

Puranas , Indian Music, Sanskrit

2007-11-28T20:49:00.000-08:00

Note to self, Learn more about puranas and sanskrit. Here is the link

1) http://www.surasa.net/music/purana/.

If anybody know other good websites , please leave a comment.

Return2india

2007-11-28T20:29:00.000-08:00

Here is an interesting read one of my friend sent me on how typical desi handles the issue of returning back to his/her mother land.This may be even true for all the people from other developing nations. Any way why do Australians, Canadians immigrate here!!! Here is the article.

Article by shoba narayan on return2india

PMP Practice tests

2007-07-31T19:23:00.000-07:00

Test time: 018:01:22 - Total test time: 90 Min.

http://www.crosswindpm.com/myonlinetests.aspx

http://www.voightps.com/Default.asp

Bump your Desktop

2007-06-26T18:19:00.000-07:00

This is really cool... I really liked the software.

Some Cool videos on youtube

2007-06-23T19:49:00.000-07:00

Tea Partay-- High rollers

Sunglass Catch

Cool Dove AD

How Do you welcome Your New Employees

2007-05-31T18:50:00.001-07:00

Here is a way, OMG , this is so funny

Ruby on Rails vs Java

2007-05-16T18:06:00.000-07:00

YouTube - Ruby on Rails vs Java - RailsEnvy.com Commerical: ""

Hello java gurus, what do you think?

Indian Call center conan obrien Nbc

2007-05-02T19:50:00.000-07:00

simon cowell

2007-05-02T19:15:00.000-07:00

Simon COwell as a Judge. Now see simon cowell as a participant

well lakisha and simon cowell

Donnie Osmond and Sanjaya on Jay leno( Former teen idol and the latest Teen Idol)

More sanjaya

COke VS Pesi Now The Airlines

2007-05-02T19:07:00.000-07:00

Did you like How Pepsi produced its creative ads giving cocacola (coke) a run for its money . You know the ---NOthing Offical about it vs Coke's -- The official Drink.Well you would love this then

Weird Things Around The World: War In The Sky - Too Good Advertisements...

If Indian Airlines were to Put a Board what would they Put? Leave a comment

WATBlog - Web, Advertising and Technology Blog in India

2007-05-02T18:58:00.000-07:00

WATBlog - Web, Advertising and Technology Blog in India

The youtube wannabes from INDIA

weird shoes

2007-04-30T20:11:00.000-07:00

weirdshoes.gif (image)

Ideas musings and information

2007-04-29T21:38:00.000-07:00

Either the questions are simple or i am doing a great job. I hope it is the second
. Involving the project customer in project planning is

A. meddlesome and will slow down progress.

B. often an aid in getting the project plan complete and correct.

C. a necessary evil because customers seldom know what they want.

D. useful only on internal service projects.

2. Which of the following is not true concerning evaluation criteria?

A. They are formulated after proposals are received.

B. They are the basis for rating or scoring proposals.

C. They can be both objective and subjective.

D. They should address more than just price and proposed delivery schedule.

3. What element of the project plan is essential for progress measurement and control?

A. Providing a baseline.

B. Defining the key management reviews.

C. Documenting the project planning assumptions and decisions regarding the alternatives chosen.

D. Defining required communication tasks.

4. The project plan

A. should be distributed to all stakeholders as soon as it is formally approved.

B. is not complete until all open issues and pending decisions have been resolved.

C. and the WBS are the key outputs of the project plan development processes.

D. is a formal, approved document that defines how the project is executed, monitored and controlled.

5. Which of the following techniques would be done as part of risk assessment?

A. Critical path method

B. Precedence diagramming method

C. Monte Carlo simulation

D. Resource assignment methodology

6. The elements of product network diagrams that show only summary activities are called

A. fragnets.

B. hammocks.

C. nodes.

D. gates.

7. Which leadership style represents the most balanced perspective with regard to degree of control?

A. Democratic

B. Benevolent

C. Participative

D. Consensus

8. The activity where the execution of a project is simulated multiple times using probability distributions for the duration of the individual tasks in order to assess the most likely project duration is called

A. PERT

B. CPM

C. GERT

D. Monte Carlo

9. Residual risk is

A. the amount of risk that management will tolerate in the project

B. new risk introduced by the risk response plan selected.

C. the risk that remains after risk response plans are implemented.

D. risk that resides with the customer.

10. Which of the following are not assignable causes of variation?

A. Differences between employee effectiveness.

B. Differences among measurements

C. Differences between new and old machines

D. Differences in raw materials

You answered 8 questions correctly. This is a very good result!
(Numbers in brackets reference the appropriate PMBoK section)
Click on "New Exam" to try another exam or
click on "Close" to return to the free resources page.

Your answer B was correct
Since the project plan is not complete and correct (regardless of whether it is an internal or an external project) until the customer agrees that it is complete and correct, only answer B is acceptable. [10.4]

Your answer A was correct
Evaluation criteria are often included as part of the procurement documents. [12.2.3.2]

Your answer A was correct
Answer C is key to lessons learned but not progress measurement and control. Answers B and D are necessary for this requirement but require the baselines in order to have something to communicate or review. [7.2.3.1]

Your answer D was correct
The project plan should be distributed to stakeholders as defined in the communication plan. The project plan is expected to change over time as new issues are identified and final decisions are made. The WBS is an output of 5.3 Scope Definition. [Glossary]

Your answer D should have been C
Critical path method assesses scheduling flexibility and may be an input to risk assessment. Diagramming methods are not part of risk assessment at all. Resources assignments are one of the outputs from risk assessment. Monte Carlo simulation produces a probabalistic assessment of many types of risks. [11.4.2.2]

Your answer D should have been B
A hammock is “a group of related schedule activities aggregated at some summary level and displayed/reported as a single activity at that summary level.” PMI recommends that the term “summary activity” be used instead. [Glossary]

Your answer C was correct
The participative leadership style is characterized by 1) allowing a great deal of freedom in identifying problems and solutions, 2) working closely with subordinates and 3) encouraging the free flow of information between the project manager and team members. The manager does not allow the team to force decisions with which he/she is not comfortable with (Democratic style) but generally doesn’t restrict subordinate participation (Consultative style). Frame, Chapter 6

Your answer D was correct
“The most common technique [for simulation] is Monte Carlo Analysis, in which a distribution of possible activity durations is defined for each schedule activity and used to calculate a distribution of possible outcomes for the total project.” [6.5.2.4]

Your answer C was correct
“Residual risks [are those] that are expected to remain after planned responses have been taken, as well as those that have been deliverately accepted.” [11.5.3.1]

Your answer B was correct
Measurements reflect the consequence of variation rather than being a cause.

sample test questions

2007-04-29T21:26:00.000-07:00

Need to discuss these questions

1. Which leadership style represents the most balanced perspective with regard to degree of control?

A. Democratic

B. Benevolent

C. Participative

D. Consensus

2. Assumptions are
A. factors that will limit the project management team’s options.

B. factors that should always be verified before the final project plan is submitted for approval.

C. factors that are considered to be real, true or certain without proof or demonstration.

D. factors that cannot be verified and so must be considered in the project risk management plan.

3. The project plan
A. should be distributed to all stakeholders as soon as it is formally approved.

B. is not complete until all open issues and pending decisions have been resolved.

C. and the WBS are the key outputs of the project plan development processes.

D. is a formal, approved document that defines how the project is executed, monitored and controlled.

4. Which of the following is not true concerning evaluation criteria?

A. They are formulated after proposals are received.

B. They are the basis for rating or scoring proposals.

C. They can be both objective and subjective.

D. They should address more than just price and proposed delivery schedule.

5. Involving the project customer in project planning is

A. meddlesome and will slow down progress.

B. often an aid in getting the project plan complete and correct.

C. a necessary evil because customers seldom know what they want.

D. useful only on internal service projects.

6. In planning and managing projects the project manager must often deal with customer pressures
to develop a rich featured product at low cost while management wants a project that will generate
high profits. In dealing with this situation you should

A. educate management on the importance of a balanced perspective between profit and customer satisfaction.

B. channel customer expectations to a more realistic level.

C. recognize the reality of different and conflicting objectives between stakeholders and seek a reasonable compromise.

D. use creative thinking and brainstorming to find new approaches to providing these features at lower cost.

7. Contested changes where the buyer and seller cannot agree on compensation are also called

A. disagreements.

B. contentions.

C. appeals.

D. discrepancies.

8. Performance reports are one of the outputs from the Performance Reporting process. What is the other output?

A. Lessons learned.

B. Performance measurement documentation.

C. Change requests.

D. Corrective action.

9. Studies conducted between 1924 and 1932 concluded that it was attention to employees rather than to work conditions that had the most dominant effect on productivity. This has come to be know as

A. Herzberg’s hygiene and motivation theory.

B. McClelland’s Expectancy-Value model.

C. Duffy’s arousal effect.

D. the Hawthorne effect.

10. The chart of accounts is an important input to the cost estimating processes because it

A. reflects the financial reporting structure which has been defined in the WBS.

B. must be included in the supporting detail which is an output of this process.

C. forms the basis for the control aspects of the cost management plan.

D. describes the coding structure used by the performing organization to report financial information in its general ledger.

You answered 7 questions correctly. This is a very good result!
(Numbers in brackets reference the appropriate PMBoK section)
Click on "New Exam" to try another exam or
click on "Close" to return to the free resources page.

Your answer C was correct
The participative leadership style is characterized by 1) allowing a great deal of freedom in identifying problems and solutions, 2) working closely with subordinates and 3) encouraging the free flow of information between the project manager and team members. The manager does not allow the team to force decisions with which he/she is not comfortable with (Democratic style) but generally doesn’t restrict subordinate participation (Consultative style). Frame, Chapter 6

Your answer C was correct
“Assumptions are factors that are considered to be real, true or certain without proof or demonstration.” Answer A refers to constraints. Answer B is desirable but almost never possible. Answer D is true for those assumptions which cannot be verified. [Glossary]

Your answer D was correct
The project plan should be distributed to stakeholders as defined in the communication plan. The project plan is expected to change over time as new issues are identified and final decisions are made. The WBS is an output of 5.3 Scope Definition. [Glossary]

Your answer A was correct
Evaluation criteria are often included as part of the procurement documents. [12.2.3.2]

Your answer B was correct
Since the project plan is not complete and correct (regardless of whether it is an internal or an external project) until the customer agrees that it is complete and correct, only answer B is acceptable. [10.4]

Your answer C was correct
Answers A and B assume that only one stakeholder perspective is the “right” one and all others should be required to conform. Answer D is, of course, the ideal solution but is seldom practical. “Managing stakeholder expectations may be difficult because stakeholders often have very different objectives that may come into conflict.” (PMBOK) [2.2]

Your answer A should have been C
“Contested changes and constructive changes are those requested changes … where the buyer and seller cannot agree on compensation for the change, or cannot agree that a change has even occurred.” [12.5.2.6]

Your answer D should have been C
The outputs from performance reporting are 1) Performance Reports and 2) Change Requests. [10.3]

Your answer A should have been D
The study began as a study of lighting effects on productivity. They initially observed that more lighting led to higher productivity. When they then tried to determine how much lighting was enough, they found that productivity increased without regard to the amount of light. This ultimately led to the conclusion stated in the question. Meredith and Mantel, section 4.7

Your answer D was correct
“A Chart of Accounts is any numbering system used to monitor project costs by category… The project chart of accounts is usually based upon the corporate chart of accounts of the primary performing organization.” [Glossary]

Thought Street: PMP Push - 2

2007-04-29T21:10:00.000-07:00

Thought Street: PMP Push - 2

After my previous post on PMP, I posed a question in LinkedIn about the relevance of PMP in career growth - on whether it gives one more than a foot in the door in new job search. Some respondents felt that PMP helps one cross initial barriers (and helps companies find prospects for further consideration), but success in next steps is entirely based on one's experience, skills and presentation of such. I agree. And most felt that PMP exam and PDU hunt later on will work best if a Professional is motivated by a true desire to excel in Project Management. Agree again. One person saw 4 projects fail in hands of PMP holders and almost lost faith in the certification. Well, PMP is not a gold standard always.

Coming to the preparation, PMBOK rote (memorizing inputs, outputs, tools & techniques and such) is one way to clear the examination - not an easy one, but it works. Some sections like Time, Cost management don't require that too; understanding the underlying concepts and solving a few tough problems does the trick well enough. For all sections though, mapping the dry-and-heavy PMBOK theorizing to real life cases will help - draw heavily on 7500 hours of relevant experience for that. PMBOK rote will get you just an appellative, but learning concepts (and jargon - in a positive sense of the word) will help you handle Projects independenly and successfully.

Here are some methods that helped me during my preparation.

1. Study groups

An advantage with company sponsored PMP initiatives, especially if the company is a PMI registered education provider is that it gives you 35 contact hours and a study group with minimal effort from your side. One is mandatory, the other very helpful in passing the exam.

If you don't have that, forming a focussed study group with your friends or colleagues, meeting regularly to discuss case studies, examples and sample 'subjective' questions would be an immense help. You will see that for yourself when you start solving sample quiz questions. A few fall into 'highly subjective' category.

2. Periodic checkpoints

Work with a plan. Break down PMBOK sections into tasks and make a list of things you should read before you can declare a milestone achievement for each section. For me the list was PMBOK chapter review, making Chapter notes, Rita Mulcahy chapter review and sample quiz, completing Company provided section tests and a thorough review of my wrong answers.

Keep track of your scores (even for section tests) and with a good review of wrong answers, ensure you don't commit the same mistakes again.

3. Daily dosage

Set aside at least an hour a day to work your plan. That way you can get away with 2 to 3 hours-a-day during weekends; Otherwise you might have to spend a lot more time continually during the weekends. A supportive spouse willing to be a sounding board will help in keeping up with the daily schedules.

4. Notes

Make easy-to-read notes on all the chapters you review. For the second pass, your notes should serve as primary reference, PMBOK secondary. I found this helpful because PMBOK's second edition had some idiosyncracies and inconsistencies

(i) Idiosyncracy 1: Confusing way of categorizing inputs, outputs and tools & techniques (for example, Expert Judgment is Input for some but a Tool in others). I would write some explanations or mnemonics or 'give-up-on-it' in my notes.

(ii) Idiosyncracy 2: Devoting not more than a sentence or paragraph to some of important (from examination point of view) topics. You can elaborate on these in your notes.

(ii) Inconsistency 1: Including terms in Glossary section though they were never used in any chapter in PMBOK. This has been rectified in the latest edition.

5. Mock tests (section and comprehensive)

Take mock tests, twice; and try achieving 100% scores in second attempt. You'll know your how well your post examination review is working. Taking mock tests is as important as reviewing your mistakes afterwards.

You don't require great time management skills to complete the exam in 4 hours - I threw in one review and still could complete most of the tests (including the actual one) in 3 hours. Comprehensive tests definitely help you finding that comfort time.

6. Online resources

There are many yahoo groups for PMP aspirants. Join one or two. If you choose 'individual email option' you'll be inundated with email. Based on the time you can devote to email, choose your groups/email options. Also sign-up for Daily digest emails here, the website sends you a question a day; Not all questions are new, not all of them are challenging, but they help in keeping you focussed.

Some links I have in my favorites still (I haven't visited these in months) and might prove helpful are: Eweek.com, Gantthead.com, PMHub, Oliver Lehmann's free test, Some links from About.com

In addition there are a few sites that offer free sample tests; Take as many as you can.

And above all, If you cleared JEE, EAMCET, AIEEE, CAT or any Indian competitive examination ever - please remember, PMP is much easier than any of those :)

Eweek Tests

Gantthead

Pmhub

Free Pmp test

about.com tests

» Links for Web Designers : April

2007-04-20T20:58:00.000-07:00

» Links for Web Designers : April

some More videos

2007-03-30T19:34:00.000-07:00

Interesting questions and answers

2007-03-26T19:13:00.000-07:00

. How can you drop a raw egg onto a concrete floor without cracking it?
A. Concrete floors are very hard to crack! (UPSC Topper)

Q. If it took eight men ten hours to build a wall, how long would it take four men to build it?
A. No time at all it is already built. (UPSC 23rd Rank Opted for IFS)

Q. If you had three apples and four oranges in one hand and four apples and three oranges in the other hand, what would you have?
A. Very large hands. (Good one) (UPSC 11 Rank Opted for IPS)

Q. How can you lift an elephant with one hand?
A. you will never find an elephant with one hand. (UPSC Rank 14 Opted for IES)

Q. How can a man go eight days without sleep?
A. No Probs, He sleeps at night. (UPSC IAS Rank 98)

Q. If you throw a red stone into the blue sea what it will become?
A. It will Wet or Sink as simple as that. (UPSC IAS Rank 2)

Q. What looks like half apple ?
A: The other half. (UPSC - IAS Topper )

Q. What can you never eat for breakfast?
A: Dinner.

Q. Bay of Bengal is in which state?
A: Liquid (UPSC 33 Rank)

Interviewer said "I shall either ask you ten easy questions or one really difficult question. Think well before you make up your mind!" The boy thought for a while and said, "my choice is one really difficult question." "Well, good luck to you, you have made your own choice! Now tell me this.
"What comes first, Day or Night?"
The boy was jolted into reality as his admission depends on the correctness of his answer, but he thought for a while and said, "It's the DAY sir!"
"How" the interviewer asked.
"Sorry sir, you promised me that you will not ask me a SECOND difficult question!"
He was selected for IIM!

Technical Skill is the mastery of complexity, while Creativity is the master of presence of mind.
This is a famous paper written for an Oxford philosophy exam, normally requiring an eight page essay answer and expected to be backed up with source material, quotes and analytical reasoning.This guy wrote the below answer and topped the exam!

*OXFORD EXAMINATION BOARD 1987* *ESSAY QUESTION*
Question: What is courage? (50 Marks)
Answer: This is courage

Resumes and Candidate Search

2007-03-15T12:14:00.000-07:00

JOBVERTISE
http://www.jobvertise.com/resumes/search

Here are some other free options available to you:

JOB SPIDER
http://www.thejobspider.com/job/browse-resumes.asp
This is another good free one that offers current resumes. The search
ability is a little lacking but the resumes appear to be recently
added or updated and, after all, it is fee.

EMPLOYMENT 911
http://www.employment911.com/employer/resumesearch.aspx
This one is fairly good. There isn’t a lot to choose from but it’s
free and the resumes are current.

JOB TOASTER
http://www.jobtoaster.com/searchseekers.asp
Free as can be. Simply sign up and create a free employer account.
There are only about 10,000 resumes at a given time but you can also
sign up as an employer recruiter.

Premium Sites:

MEDZILLA
http://www.medzilla.com/findcand.html
I loved this one. It’s got to be significant competition to the other
premium services. Resumes are extremely current and in my test
searches I found a wide variety of resumes that fit my search terms.
If I were an employer I would use this one myself.

HELPWANTED.COM
http://www.helpwanted.com/Employer/EmployerLogin.asp
http://www.helpwanted.com/Employer/Prices.asp
This one is sort of unique in that it allows you to sign up and search
their database of resumes but if you want to contact any one about
their resume you can buy “that” resume. Resumes cost $20 each or $15
each if you buy 10 or more. The drawback is that they won’t guarantee
that some of the job seekers who posted resumes are still actively
seeking employment.

ZILLION RESUMES
http://www.zillionresumes.com/?source=garsb826
This one is not really priced badly in comparison to some other sites.
There are almost 3 million resumes to choose from and they are kept
current by members who post them for employers to view.

CAREER BUILDER
http://www.careerbuilder.com/JobPoster/Ecommerce/ContactInfoRDB.aspx?sc_cmp1=JP_HP_Promo_1Month
This database is fairly expensive in terms of what others charge but
there are literally millions of resumes to search from. This one also
offers a free trial.

JOBS.NET
http://www.jobs.net/
I was pretty impressed. This one gives excellent latitude where the
search criteria is concerned. Search access is expensive but there are
quite a large number of resumes to choose from depending, of course,
on what you specify. Its another site that offers a free trial.

COMPUTERWORK.COM
http://www.computerwork.com/employer/resume_search.cfm
The database offers resumes that are confined to the technical field.
The membership is expensive but, once again, you get a free trial if
you want to give it a test drive.

AMERICAN PREFERRED JOBS
http://www.preferredjobs.com/email_promo/bronzepromo.asp
http://www.preferredjobs.com/employerfiles/bronze_full.asp

Hr Starategy and outsourcing

=========================================
HR CONSULTANTS – 6 LARGE AND SOME SMALLER
=========================================

http://www.vault.com/nr/consulting_rankings
/consulting_rankings.jsp?consulting2005=1
Top 50 Consulting Firms

In spring and summer 2004, Vault surveyed more than 2,500 consultants
to generate our 2005 consulting firm rankings.

***** If you want to access practice area rankings (including HR) you
have to subscribe.

-------------------------------------------------

http://www.vault.com/nr/consulting_rankings/consulting_rankings.jsp?consulting2005=2&ch_id=252
The Top 50 Most Prestigious Firms (Rank and Name)

10 Mercer Human Resource Consulting
http://www.mercerhr.com/

14 Towers Perrin
http://www.towersperrin.com/

22 Hewitt Associates
http://was4.hewitt.com/hewitt/

24 Watson Wyatt Worldwide
http://www.watsonwyatt.com/

29 Hay Group
http://www.haygroup.com/

46 Aon Consulting
http://www.aon.com/

***** Click on the Vault links to get the profile for each company
plus additional information that would be of interest for potential
employees. Click on the company website to get full information about
areas of interest, competencies, products and services offered.

-------------------------------------------------

http://www.segalco.com/services/eHR/our_approach_HR.cfm
Corporate Consulting - eHR
Human Resources Software and Services Selection

***** This is an example of a smaller consulting company that has an
active HR practice that might be more suitable for you than one of the
very large consulting companies.

-------------------------------------------------

http://www.workindex.com/extrefs.asp?SUBCATID=1765
HR Consulting -- Technology Consulting

***** This is a listing of smaller HR consulting companies that might
be of interest to you, at least for a basis for comparison with the
huge, world-class consulting organizations. The brief descriptions
give you the areas of specialty or expertise. You can click through to
the companies’ websites to get more detailed information.

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HOW TO CHOOSE AN HRIS CONSULTANT
================================

http://www.ioma.com/pub/HRDM/2002_02/423461-1.html
The Institute of Management and Administration.

HR Technology: Five Tips for Choosing The Best HRIS Consultants
Many HR managers look to outside help before purchasing a new HRIS
system. The reasons are clear: lack of familiarity, a constantly
changing marketplace and the inability to implement the system
unassisted. Before doing so, however, HR managers should consider two
basic tenets to decide if their organization does indeed need the
outside help.
Pay Per View ($10.00)

http://www.ioma.com/cgi-bin/texis/scripts/ioma-search/search.html?category=&query=hris

***** You might want to subscribe to this newsletter to gain access to
the archives. Alternately, you can search on topics of interest and
pay the $10 for whatever article looks interesting.

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http://static.highbeam.com/m/managinghrinformationsystems/
january012002/5factorstoconsiderwhenselectinganhrisconsultanthum/
5 Factors to Consider When Selecting an HRIS Consultant.(Human
Resource Information System)(Brief Article)
Managing HR Information Systems; January 01, 2002;

Many HR managers don't have the resources needed to pull off a new
HRIS project. They may feel that they are unable to conduct a proper
system evaluation--or their staff may lack the knowledge necessary to
make a selection decision or follow through with implementation. In
such a case, an outside consultant should be considered.

Before You Decide
Before you get to the selection process, consider these two issues:
System requirements. An HRIS consultant should be considered if your
company has complex and unique system requirements, is a large
organization with multiple worksites, anticipates converting an
existing system or consolidating multiple systems, or has such limited
internal staff resources that a qualified person cannot be assigned
full-time to the HRIS project.

Anticipated total budget. The services of properly qualified HRIS
consultants can cost over $1,000 per day, plus expenses. If the total
budget allocated for the HRIS
...

http://www.highbeam.com/library/search.asp?FN=DF&q=hris

***** Browse through the articles available here to get a better feel
of the HRIS landscape.

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http://www.hrmsbook.com/webstart/doran1031.pdf
Picking an HRMS Consultant

***** This is a 3-page paper that will help you with developing
criteria for choosing your HRIS consultant.

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http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/page_subscribe_research
Gale Research

***** Search for relevant articles.

================================================
HUMAN RESOURCES PORTALS, RESOURCES, PUBLICATIONS
================================================

http://www.shrm.org
http://www.shrm.org/hrresources/
http://www.shrm.org/consultants/
Society for Human Resource Management

The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) is the world's
largest association devoted to human resource management. Representing
more than 190,000 individual members, the Society's mission is to
serve the needs of HR professionals by providing the most essential
and comprehensive resources available.

***** SHRM is the premier organization for HR professionals and their
website offers an enormous wealth of resources for its members. You or
someone on your staff should join to have access to members only
materials.

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http://www.ihrim.org/
The International Association for Human Resource Information
Management (IHRIM) is your link to the unique world of HR information
management, systems issues, trends, and technology.

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http://www.workforce.com
Workforce Management analyzes the human resources (HR) trends and
provides the tools that drive business results.

http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:OgcD1KM6p3QJ:www.workforce.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php%3Ftopic%3D25893%26forum%3D57%2610+how+to+choose+hris+selection+consultant&hl=en
Technology Forum
Discuss how to choose system that will yield the best results, as well
as how to maintain it, and how to calculate its return on investment.

***** This is another excellent site for HR research. You must
subscribe/join to have access to all areas of the site.

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http://www.workindex.com
http://www.workindex.com/extaboutus.asp
Workindex.com is your link to the world's most comprehensive index of
workplace-related Web sites, HR tools and information. The site is
produced and maintained by the publishers of "Human Resource
Executive", in cooperation with Cornell University's School of
Industrial Labor Relations.