South Africa A global professional is one of the 300 million high-skill knowledge workers operating in today’s more competitive, dynamic world economy. In North America alone, knowledge workers are estimated to outnumber all other workers by a 4 to 1 margin. In a 2003 study, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated that knowledge workers, “managerial, professional and […]
Category: Technology Management
I May Have Multiple Personalities but I Have Only One Identity
… at least from a physical point of view, I am unique and have only one identity. The representation of that identity in various systems is a different story. I have, at last count, over 80 userid/password pairs I maintain, each associated with a different profile. Thankfully, I have only 3 home addresses to remember, […]
Project Management for Software Development
Recent events (we were looking for a project manager for one of our projects) brought back memories of earlier discussions about the role of project management in software development projects. I believe that for most software development projects, the manager/team leader has to perform the project manager role, and project management knowledge is a pre-requisite […]
Do You Want To Be My Friend ?
I have profiles defined on Facebook, Linkedin, Plaxo, and several others. In each case, I have a list of connections/relationships/friends, and it is up to me to remember the social context of that relationship, a context that is “in my head” and not saved in the system. What we need is a way to classify […]
“Client” Roles and Virtualization
In a recent discussion, my team has touched on strategies available to deliver, quickly and efficiently, a standard client/desktop to users, based on their role in the organization. I see four different ways to deliver this capability : use a “remote desktop” product like Tivoli Remote Control to access standard installations on the server side […]
Data Center Automation patent — finally issued
It took six years, but here it is : Method and system for managing resources in a data center When we started in 2001, we were hoping to revolutionize the industry… The jury is still deliberating…
Seven Characteristics of Highly Effective Employees
I have changed jobs many times in my career, from very large like Alcatel and BMO, to startups. I’ve joined IBM through an acquisition, and have constantly told everyone that what is required to succeed in the software business is (almost) the same, regardless of the size of the company or the team. And don’t […]
Seven Excuses to Avoid Going Through an Internal Beta Program
There are many benefits to an internal beta — a (mostly) forgiving audience, a simple distribution mechanism, easy to get feedback (you got their email address already…), etc. However, if you do not believe in early feedback and incremental development, here is my free advice on what you can say to avoid going through it […]
Do we need beta programs?
I see it again and again — some developers are so focused on delivering the software that they forget to get an early prototype out for people to check and provide feedback. It is almost like in one of the classic Dilbert cartoons, where a developer was complaining about “evil-spawned users”… There are a couple […]
The Outcome Bias and Management Assessment
I am reading a trading book – The Way of the Turtle – talking, among other things, about the behavioural basis of trader actions and thoughts. One of the ideas that caught my attention is the “outcome bias”. In a nutshell, we tend to judge a decision made three months ago (when people making the decision knew […]