March Survey – Remote Project Management

If you’ve been reading my articles for any length of time you’ll know that I’m somewhat passionate about remote project management and green or sustainable project management practices.  And I believe that one supports the other.

For my March survey – or at least March survey #1 (there may be more) – I’d like to get an indication on where our readership stands on remote project management.  How many of you out there are independent or involved in an organization that supports the management of projects in a primarily remote situation.

And for those of you who are, or have been, involved in the remote management of projects, I’d like to hear what you liked best or least about them.  The capabilities of my website right now still limit my surveying options, but I’ve put up what I think are common pluses and minuses with remote or virtual project management in a team environment.

Please take the survey – it’s completely anonymous and it’s brief … only five questions.  But I think the results could be very interesting.  I’ll close this survey down in 10-15 days and then do a follow-up article on PM Tips analyzing the results.

Please go to this address to complete the survey…

http://www.bradegeland.com/march-survey.html

If any of you survey takers have feedback or something you’d like to add after taking the survey, please feel free to comment on this article or email me at Brad.Egeland@pmtips.net.

Thank you in advance for taking this survey.  Your participation is greatly appreciated by me and everyone at PM Tips and Seavus – the creators of Project Planner and Project Viewer.

February 2010 PMP Survey Results

First, I want to thank all of our readers who took the February PMP certification survey.  I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I was very pleased with the number of responses and found the results interesting.

Certified or not?

Since this was basically a survey on PMP certification, I thought it might draw more certified PMPs to the site to take the survey.  I fully expected a majority of the responders to be PMP certified project managers.  I was somewhat surprised to see that a solid majority of the responses were from non-certified project managers.  60% of the survey responses were from non-certified PMs.

Passed on the first try?

45% of responders indicated that they have taken the exam by virtue of their ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer to this question.  In all, 88% of our survey takers passed the PMP exam on their first try.  PMI statistics have shown that 72% of PMP test takers pass it on their first try.  Therefore, we definitely have an above average group of PMP readers on this site.

Read more »

Data Security and the Cloud it Rode in on….

A couple of days ago my inbox filled me with intrigue when I saw the email from InformationWeek containing a link to one of their latest articles. The title: “7 Cloud Computing Myths Busted” by Serdar Yegulalp.

Since I’ve written a few articles on cloud computing and I’ve been interviewed for a couple others, I considered this “must” reading. Indeed, it is a very good article. Here, I particularly wanted to talk about Serdar’s myth #2 – Cloud computing is the end of privacy as we know it. This is something we all should be concerned with and – from the looks of data security concerns articles and discussions going around – we are…even if we are often not doing anything more than talking about it.

Cloud Computing and Data Privacy

So, is cloud computing really the end of privacy? Storing data and running apps in the cloud – meaning the apps are being run off of someone else’s server somewhere and your data is being stored somewhere that you likely will never see – doesn’t sound very secure on the surface, does it? Does that make you feel comfortable? No? It shouldn’t. But it isn’t the end of the world and the same prudence with data security that we take when handling data and apps within our own environment should be in place to secure your data outside our environment – it just requires some extra attention and policy adjustments on our part and possibly some extra verbiage in a contract that with the cloud provider of choice.

Mr. Yegulalp states: “What makes cloud computing such a fierce target for privacy advocates is not only the newness of the technology, since every freshly minted technology is a possible privacy suspect. It’s also the fact that cloud computing, on the face of it, can cause a huge degree of aggregation across multiple IT spheres. When you have many disparate things suddenly all under one roof, it translates into “single point of failure” and “all your eggs in one basket.” It’s not your data anymore, either; it’s someone else’s, and whatever happens will happen on his watch. There’s a chance that provisions about your data security aren’t even in the contract you signed.”

He is dead on with that insight. Afterall, most data leaks and theft happen within organizations as inside jobs, so the paranoia we’re all feeling is somewhat justified. And when you start storing your data on someone else’s system, you might not have the law on your side if expectations of privacy become a legal issue.

Our providers of cloud services must be proactive about their handling of data security, it must be built into the contracts you sign and you should be able to expect them to go above and beyond the call of data to make you feel comfortable about the safety of your data. And if you don’t have that comfort level, then move on to the next provider. But it’s up to you to see to it that the cloud services provider you are using is looking after your data. It’s not impossible to ensure this, it’s not impossible for them to maintain the safety of your data…it just takes prudent IT practices and forward-thinking policies.

One example – Mozy, the online backup service provider – addresses security/privacy concerns by allowing customers to provide their own high-grade encryption keys. The backed up data then cannot be read by anyone else – including Mozy. If you leave the service, the key goes with you rendering your left behind data useless to anyone else.

Summary

Cloud computing doesn’t mean the end of solid data security and privacy. It just means – as is the case with just about any new technology – that we will all need to be more aware of what we’re doing, adjust our practices and expectations accordingly and implement new policies that will help to secure our data in these cloud environments and help our cloud service providers to do the same.

Construction Software State of the Industry from Software Advice

My friends at Software Advice have sent over another interesting original article that they have put together pertaining to software in the construction industry. This one comes from Houston Neal and it kicks off a series of reports the group is doing on trends within the construction software industry. Please visit their site at www.softwareadvice.com for the original report.

Construction Software State of the Industry Report

This is the first in a series of “state of the industry” reports in which we will share our observations on construction software industry trends. While reporting the recessive state of the industry is not breaking news, there are some interesting trends that we can share. Not everything is gloomy, and significant technological shifts are underway.

Our observations are based on roughly 6,000 conversations with construction software buyers over the past year. In these calls, our team listened to buyers’ “pain points” – the business problems they were looking to solve with new software. From there, we recommended what we felt were the best solutions. We later surveyed each buyer to find out if they ended up buying software, what they bought and how it all went.

Estimating and takeoff solutions are in demand

We’ve seen a very healthy level of interest in construction estimating software across all divisions. Over and over we hear contractors saying something to the effect of, “Bidding has gotten very competitive, which means I’ve got to be as accurate as possible.” As a result, we’ve seen a lot of estimators replacing their spreadsheets and manual processes with database-driven estimating systems.

We’ve also seen plenty of interest in on-screen takeoff software. We’ve seen three primary reasons for this:

• Increasing the speed and accuracy of takeoff measurements (see previous paragraph);
• Avoiding the printing costs of paper plans; and,
• Responding to increasing electronic plan delivery and use of online plan rooms.

While demand for onscreen takeoff appears fairly strong and growing, we have seen a considerable amount of downward pricing pressure in that market.

Software as a Service is in the right place at the right time

Software as a Service (SaaS) is gaining momentum in many software markets. In fact, we would agree with other IT prognosticators that SaaS is a major structural shift in software deployment and is here to stay. We’ve seen this model succeed in the project management segment where there is a clear need for the collaborative benefits of web-based software. Moreover, the current recession is making the SaaS model more attractive to contractors because:

• Subscription pricing can easily be added to a project’s general conditions;
• Low up-front costs allow project managers to avoid an onerous approval process; and,
• Faster and less expensive implementation makes the new systems more digestible.

We have not seen much demand for SaaS accounting, estimating or service management, although we do get asked about it now and then. We also have not seen many vendors emerge to deliver that sort of solution. We would not be surprised to see SaaS accounting and/or estimating solutions emerge over the next few years.

LEED credit tracking creates new demand

Another trend driving the adoption of SaaS project management systems is the increasing demand for LEED credit tracking. LEED certification has grown in popularity; so too has the need to track the detailed documentation requirements related to earning LEED credits. At their core, projects seeking LEED certification need document control and efficient communication. This is the core of what project management systems deliver. Going one step further, we are seeing a number of project management vendors building in specific LEED credit tracking modules within their system. Houston Neal wrote a great post on how to Track LEED v3 Credits in Project Management Software back in July.

Stimulus funds are trickling down, slowly

Government and other civil construction has remained healthier than commercial and residential construction. However, we have not seen the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) have a big impact on software spending. We believe that the temporary nature of stimulus spending is not enduring enough to drive capital investment in software systems. Our hope is that ARRA will help accelerate the economy to a point where traditional IT investment levels resume. However, Chris Thorman recently wrote a quick analysis of the ARRA that showed that stimulus spending has had a nominal effect on putting roughly 1.6 million unemployed construction workers back on the job.

There has been speculation that Stimulus-funded construction projects would drive sales of project management software. The thinking behind the forecast was that ARRA projects would require a higher level of accountability. Project management software – known for strong document tracking capabilities – would provide the audit trail needed for this transparency. However, we have not seen this translate into a meaningful increase in sales.

Fewer accounting & job costing replacements

We’ve seen fewer firms replacing their core accounting and job costing systems over the last year. In prior years, we had seen replacement activity when company growth pushed existing systems to their limits. In the absence of growth, more firms seem to be staying put with their existing systems. Firms that are buying new accounting systems tend to identify one or more of the following three pain points:

• Inability to achieve detailed job cost reporting from “generic” accounting systems;
• Lack of integration to project management or service management systems; and,
• The need to accomplish same amount of work with fewer employees.

Outlook for 2010

As the construction industry begins to rub its sleepy eyes, we agree with most experts who say that 2010 will be a transitional yet slow year for the industry as a whole. Company budgets likely won’t fully recover in 2010, limiting the purchase of construction software. However, so far we’ve noticed more activity this quarter than any other this year. Hopefully this level of interest will carry over to 2010.

This article originally published at: Construction Software State of the Industry Report.

Transferring Lessons Learned to Others

Back in February 2009 I wrote an article entitled “Lessons Learned” which discussed how and when to conduct Lessons Learned sessions, how to document them and what benefit they can be to others.

Since I believe that the process of review and documenting Lessons Learned is critical to every project manager in making them better PMs in the future as well as critical to the organization’s future success, I’m always looking for more information on the subject. I found it in Gary Heerkens’ book “Project Management” and I’ve included his information on the Lessons Learned process below.

How to Transfer What You’ve Learned to Others

One of the ways you can support the ongoing improvement of your organization’s project execution methods comes in the form of lessons learned studies. The purpose of a lessons learned study is to obtain information through the systematic review of project experiences. Understanding the nature of positive and negative experiences allows future projects to avoid unfavorable influences (problems), and exploit favorable opportunities.

You should include input from all key stakeholders in your study, with you and the project team typically taking a leading role in organizing and carrying out the study. The format and structure of your lessons learned sessions (i.e., the logistics) can vary, but it is often done in a team meeting context, using an approach similar to brainstorming.

The Lessons Learned Process

You will probably find the lessons learned process to be most productive when it is oriented toward identifying problems you and your team encountered, and suggesting ways to avoid similar problems in the future. You can accomplish this by asking the following questions for each identified problem:

What was the problem and its impact? Get a description of the perceived problem and its specific effect(s) on the project. In other words, find out what happened to the project as a result of the problem.

What caused this problem to occur? Find out the known or perceived root cause of the problem. If unknown, the cost of securing this knowledge needs to be weighed against its potential benefit.

Why was the problem undetected? This involves a search for possible flaws in monitoring, control, or reporting methods. Caution: This question can also be sensitive, as it may involve individual performance problems.

Can this problem be eliminated in the future? Here you’re asking for suggestions on specific steps aimed at precluding a future occurrence. Total elimination is not always possible; however you can come up with strategies for reducing the probability of it happening again.

If it cannot be eliminated, are there ways it could be detected? Here you’re looking for suggestions on how the team can alter monitoring, control, or reporting methods in ways that allow for earlier or more reliable detection of the problem.

Tips on Conducting Effective Lessons Learned Studies

In addition to following the process steps outlined above, consider these tips for ensuring a relatively painless and effective experience for everyone involved:

Don’t wait until the end of the project to solicit input. Waiting until the last minute to conduct lessons learned studies can be problematic. Your team may have partially dissolved, making it difficult to get everyone together. Even if you do get them together, the enthusiasm level may not be what you’d like. Finally, it can be taxing on the memories of those involved, and you may get input that’s been altered by the passage of time. Conduct sessions periodically—either at the end of a logical phase of the project, or at some regular interval of team meetings.

Allow the opportunity for submitting input anonymously. As mentioned above, this may allow information and ideas to reach you that are unlikely to surface in group sessions, or would not be appropriate.

Maintain up-to-date and accurate records. This reduces the reliance on people’s memories. It will also facilitate the process of determining root causes, verifying the extent of problems, correlating possible causes and effects, etc.

Be sure to examine successes as well as problems. Reviewing positive effects can reinforce the value of certain methods, particularly the ones that people tend to avoid or undervalue.

Tips on Getting Others to Implement Your Lessons

It’s one thing to alert others to the problems you faced and to provide information about what you and your team have encountered. However, if you do not structure your information so that others can actually apply the lessons you’ve learned, your organization hasn’t really benefited. Below are some suggestions on ensuring that your wisdom is acted on:

Don’t relate lessons learned only to the specific context of your project. Make sure you express lessons learned in general terms in order to benefit the organization at large. Generalize the conclusions from your project’s lessons learned in a way that’s meaningful to the widest possible audience.

Don’t just communicate “what went well” and “what didn’t.” Unfortunately, some lessons learned studies are little more than a brain dump of what went well and what didn’t go well. A lack of analysis—or synthesis—fails to provide others in the organization with any real “lesson.” For others to benefit, they need to know how to avoid the problems or to reduce the impact if the problem occurs.

Include lessons learned reviews as a front-end activity in the project life cycle. Lessons learned studies are traditionally thought of as concluding activities only. This one-dimensional view fails to ensure their application by future project teams. Some organizations have addressed this problem by including a step near the beginning of their project process that obligates project teams to review lessons learned files as part of their up-front planning. This strategy “closes the loop” on the learning cycle and helps to ensure that the team actually applies these lessons.