Keep It Small

The classic IT Enterprise Systems implementation includes a team of in-house personnel from the functional side as well as IT, a software vendor who provides the software product, and a “systems integrator” who is bringing the expertise to implement the chosen software. As many of you already know — this is a model I don’t particularly care … Continue reading Keep It Small →

Influence Curve — or Inverted Complacency Curve?

Most colleagues in the project management profession are familiar with what is often referred to as the Cost Influence Curve. Put briefly it documents the decreasing level of control to influence project costs as the project evolves in time. The best description of this concept was written by the late Stanford professor Boyd C. Paulson, … Continue reading Influence Curve — or Inverted Complacency Curve? →

Why Customization Often is Beneficial

Using the same information technology the same way as everyone else gives you no competitive advantage. You know your business best and as such are uniquely positioned to figure out how to make your information technology make you better at what you do, and hence create competitive advantage. For many needs off-the-shelf solutions work great! … Continue reading Why Customization Often is Beneficial →

The Coming Rise of Personal Storage

According to a recent survey cited by Microsoft 85% of Americans are concerned about their online privacy, yet few take action to alleviate their concern. Although Microsoft’s step to educate consumers on the privacy issue is a good start they are missing the point. The problem lies not with the consumers, but with the companies … Continue reading The Coming Rise of Personal Storage →

Sorry, You Must Work Harder AND Smarter

The internet is a great source of advice from well-meaning individuals about how to improve your career and life (including this from me). Recent observed advise include taking longer lunch breaks to read books, setting the phone to airplane mode to avoid incoming calls and notifications, and avoiding working overtime. This might be fine and … Continue reading Sorry, You Must Work Harder AND Smarter →

The Million Dollar Configurable Pair of Pants

Many IT professionals seem obsessed about the distinction between configuration and customization, and tend to view the latter as an evil to run a mile from. We need configuration, for sure — but we need a reality check and consider the entire cost of providing the configurability before we discard customization. Configurability beyond a certain point has … Continue reading The Million Dollar Configurable Pair of Pants →

Be Quick to Decide — But Don’t Make the Decision Too Early

“Be Quick to Decide” is a recommendation many people give, most recently Bob Parsons, the billionaire founder of GoDaddy.com. However without due thought into what this actually means, you may quickly end up making pre-mature, poor decisions. Being Quick to Decide does not mean making decisions in a short period of time — nor can you use … Continue reading Be Quick to Decide — But Don’t Make the Decision Too Early →

The Case for a Real Project Management System

Abstract This white paper is designed to give project management practitioners, major project decision makers and stakeholders an overview of the challenges in managing major projects and the high-level mechanisms needed to be best possible equipped to handle them. It does not address all features needed by a project management system, but rather focuses on … Continue reading The Case for a Real Project Management System →

Work Breakdown Structure and Functional Elements

It is widely recognized in various literature that the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) should focus on the “What” of the project and be deliverable-oriented. However, in my experience every WBS for a major construction project will contain functional elements on higher levels, but get deliverable-oriented as you get into lower levels. I have also had … Continue reading Work Breakdown Structure and Functional Elements →