Should You Equip the PMO with Netbooks?

Let me answer that right now…NO. However, are they bad? Again, NO. Now that I’ve gotten my feelings off my chest on this, let’s dive in a little further.

Don’t get me wrong, I wholeheartedly approve of netbooks. I’ve purchased two of them in the past four months. They’re great in the right situations and some of those can be PM-related.

First, I feel that there are some misperceptions with netbooks that most people have and need to overcome – I was included in this group at one time:

• The screen is too small. It’s not. It’s small, but unless you’re working heavily on graphics, the size is a plus rather than a minus. I’ve grown tired of the large, widescreen laptops. I’m much happier on my 13” Macbook than I ever was on my cumbersome 15.4” Gateway and I’ve used one of our home netbooks to surf, write a document, etc. and had no problems at all with it’s screen size. Granted, it’s of the 10” variety, not one of the 8” netbooks.
• The CD/DVD drive is critical. I can’t tell you when I last used a CD/DVD drive unless it was to load a CD into iTunes (which I almost never use anyway). I purchase software online and download so I know it’s possible to live without those drives. But, if you must have one, you can purchase an external one and some of the models at Costco actually come with the external drive included. The CD/DVD drive is no longer a necessity…it’s a ‘nice-to-have’ and an ‘almost-never-used’ extra.
• The processing power won’t be there. I don’t see it. I bought two of the the Asus Eee PC netbook. It has the Intel Atom processor which operates at 1.60 GHz and the netbook comes with 1 Gb of DDR2 RAM. Now, they aren’t being used on Photoshop, but for high school and college work and for low-end photo editing, writing, some video editing, etc. the netbooks have done everything we’ve asked of them.
• They are more fragile than a regular notebook. Again, not true or at least I don’t see it. In fact, because they are smaller and easier to carry around, dropping them or hitting on something as you walk by is far less likely. My 15 yr old daughter has gone through two phones in that time period by her netbook doesn’t have a scratch on it and she takes it everywhere.

So at this point, I seem to be a netbook proponent. And I guess I am. However, is it a good idea to equip your entire PMO workforce with netbooks and send them out into the world? I’m not likely to agree with that.

I think it may be a decent concept to have some around for checking out by PMs for travel or if your company has that much money to spend, give each PM one to make traveling easier. But I do not think the netbook is ready to be someone’s only work machine. It’s a good add-on if you have the money to spend, but it’s not ready to be a primary machine. I wouldn’t equip my whole family with netbooks as a replacement for all laptops (and I’d NEVER give up my Macbook), so I know I would not condone making this standard fare for all of your PMO’s workforce.

Project Management from a Distance – Part 4

In Part 3 of this six-part series, we covered the concept of what type of project and IT work seems to work best for telecommuting. In Part 4, we’ll discuss what setup you need to make it work for you if you choose to try to go with the telecommuting option for managing your projects:

Part 1 – Why remote?

Part 2 – Will it work for you?

Part 3 – What type of job enables remote PM?

Part 4 – What setup do you need?

Part 5 – Negotiating when it’s not an obvious move

Part 6 – Staying the course

Basic Setup

There is not likely to be anything groundbreaking discussed here. What you probably assume you need is exactly what I’m going to list here. In fact, if I leave something out, I’d appreciate hearing from you, but I’ll list what’s worked for me:

• High-speed cable modem or similar internet connection
• Secured wireless router
• Laptop (or two…I’ll explain)
• Mobile phone (go Blackberry or similar if you can with access to email)
• Regular phone with a good speaker phone option connected either to a land-line or to a VoiP option
• All-in-one printer for printing, scanning and the rare need to fax
• Free online fax sending (easier than using your all-in-one)
• Freeconferencecall.com account (good for a backup if your company conference line is tied up or if you are independent)

I won’t go into detail on all of these…most are pretty self-explanatory. However, there are a few I’ll touch on in a little more detail:

Laptop(s)

I’ve gone Mac and love it. But I hang on to my XP machine just in case. And I probably will always make sure I have one around as a backup. MS Project isn’t made for the Mac at this point and it may never be. There are other options available to the PM like Open Projects and many web-based options including ProjectOffice.net. However, having that option – just in case there’s a problem and I’m at the 11^th hour – to utilize a legit copy of MS Project on a Windows machine makes me feel more comfortable. I’ve not needed to do that since I purchased my Macbook in March of this year, but it’s nice to know I can if I ever have to.

Free Online Faxing

I hate using my HP All-in-one printer for faxing because I only have one home line – no dedicated fax line. Using one of the free sending services where you’re essentially uploading a pdf file and faxing it is very easy and it’s never let me down. I highly recommend it. Receiving faxes can be a little trickier – I usually have to talk the sender into scanning it in and sending it as a pdf or an image file. If they want me to have it bad enough, they’ll usually do it.

Home Phones with a Good Speaker Phone Option

This one was on my critical list. I was recently on a six-month project that required nearly daily conference calls. Some were vendor demos through webex meetings with associated conference calls and they could last up to six hours. I needed a good speaker phone option so that I could hear and sound like I was on a regular phone. There was no way I was going to wear a headset for that long! I found a setup – ultimately going with an offering from Philips.

Summary

The key is to have all the communication methods available to you just as you would if you were at the office. It doesn’t need to be high-end, it just needs to work. This is basically the setup I’ve had for the past three years and it’s not let me down yet.

Equipping Your Mobile Project Staff – Part 2

This two part series on ways to equip your mobile project staff (PMs, BAs, developers, etc.) concludes with this article. In Part 1, we covered IP Telephony and Disk/Data Encryption.

In this Part 2, we’ll discuss Virtual Desktops, Remote Office in a Box, and Printing and Power. Again, this information is based on an InformationWeek article from late 2008 and re-worked here to apply more to the project workforce assuming a remote and geographically dispersed team that must travel to customer sites as needed to perform tasks related to design, development, testing, deployment, etc. of planned solutions.

The idea is to ensure maximum productivity to the workforce that is likely largely responsible for most of the organizations project revenue so while budgets must be watched and maintained, there are certain prices that just must be paid.

Virtual Desktops

Full disk data encryption will help IT breathe easier in the event of hacking and theft, but it offers little help to the traveling project manager who just lost his laptop in transit and has a project kickoff meeting tomorrow at the customer site. The wonders of desktop virtualization and advancements in flash memory are bringing new options to on-the-go employees who’ve experienced digital disasters.

When corporate applications are difficult to deploy via Terminal Services or application virtualization, complete virtual desktops environments can be the answer for off-site project workers who need quick access to custom computing environments from a public PC. Virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) platforms are bleeding-edge technology in the eyes of many, but they’re evolving quickly and are based on proven server virtualization technology.

Remote Office in a Box

Vendors have finally heard the cries of many over the countless hours full of lost productivity and connectivity on the road. The remote office access systems available today are incredible compared to what was available just a few years ago.

Aruba Networks and Cisco are among the players in the remote access market that are making life on the road more bearable. With Aruba’s line of Mobility Controllers and Remote Access Points, the days of troubleshooting VPN client problems are gone. Simply supply your mobile workforce with small access points that plug into any wired Ethernet connection. The AP finds the mobility controller located at corporate headquarters and builds an IPsec tunnel that’s actually an extension of your enterprise wireless network. The Aruba AP is VoIP-friendly and quality-of-service-aware, so users can put down the expensive hotel phone and simply utilize a wireless IP phone.

Printing and Power

A good printing option for the mobile project workforce is the 5-pound HP OfficeJet H470wbt Mobile Printer. With its built-in Bluetooth and WLAN capability, coupled with its ability to print directly from a memory card, PDA, or digital camera, and powered by an optional cigarette-lighter AC adapter, you can now print 18 pages per minute in color, or 22 ppm in black and white, while stopped at a traffic light. Of course, if you try that too much you may be printing while stopped waiting for the officer to finish writing your ticket.

The HP printer lists for $350 – a small price to pay if you’re trying to rely on finding a nearby copy center that is still open late at night when trying to print on the road.

Don’t forget it also takes power to maintain productivity. Macs are offering up to 7 hours of battery life on new Macbook models. And HP appears to be leading the way overall with its EliteBook 6930p laptop, which has an optional expansion battery that can provide up to 24 hours of uninterrupted usage.

Document Controller SITE/ PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Location: United Arab Emirates
Salary: Excellent TAX FREE salary
Company: Stepp Recruitment
Sector: Commercial
Job role: Project manager
Job type: Permanent
Date posted: 22/06/2009 18:50

Document ControllerSITE/ PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Ref: A1022
Location: Abu Dhabi UAE
Date Posted: 19 June 2009
Salary: Excellent TAX FREE salary

Details:

Stepp Recruitment Limited has been placing candidates to the Middle East for almost TWENTY YEARS!! No other recruitment Company has more experience in placing CURTAIN WALLING/ CLADDING/ FACADES skilled applicants to this prosperous and stunning region of the world.

We are delighted to be working with one of our most prestigious client Curtain Walling companies in the Middle East, a company which can offer its clients complete expertise in Architectural Aluminum and Glazing product’s design, manufacture and installation and having a coveted portfolio of some of the most outstanding and architecturally award winning projects throughout the region.

Document Controller – part of a vital team assisting the Project Manager in a role that is highly computer orientated. The successful person will have intelligence and common sense and be able to document any changes to projects by recording the information and liaison with various departments to ensure awareness and implementation of any amendments. This will require an ability to read and understand drawings.

Experience Required:

Be computer literate with at least 2 years (ideally 5) experience in curtain walling and be familiar with all the components – extrusions, glass, brackets, silicon screws, nuts, etc. Able to speak clear and fluent English, so more suitable to an English, American, South African or Australian nationality. Methodical, highly organised

This is a highly pressurised, challenging role that will suit someone who has worked in the Middle or Far East previously, understand the culture, climate and working conditions. MUST be a ‘doer’ who will give everything to the role. Someone who will roll up their sleeves and go out and push. Practical experience is more important that qualifications.

A mature person who has worked in the same environment and has an acceptance of stress levels. In return you will a superb TAX FREE salary plus accommodation, with the opportunity to work alongside some of the most experienced and techncially competent people in the Curtain Wall industry and be involved in award winning, internationally acclaimed projects throughout the world. This is a GLOBAL company and prospects are superb for ambitious, hardworking, technically competent people.

To apply for this position please forward your CV in PDF or Word format by clicking the apply button.

Apply here..

Can a Project Manager Survive without Windows?

In this post, I’m not really hitting on anything too interesting or relevant about Project Management.  I’ve just been feeling led to look into PM’ing without Windows.  I know it’s possible…I’m doing it.  But it does seem to freak some people out.

My Decision

My wife has been a Mac user for nearly two years now.  She loves it – but she’s a photographer, among other things, so she’s a Photoshop pro and has found all things Photoshop have been much easier to perform on a Mac.  I’m her tech support, and I can say that my job has definitely been much easier since she got her Macbook Pro.  However, I was on the outside looking in and ‘winging it’ on everything until I was sort of forced into the world of Mac in March of this year.

My Windows Vista laptop blew through its third hard drive in just over a year (meaning, of course that it was no out of warranty!).  My wife went through her same speech again…”Why don’t you just get a Mac?”  Frustrated with my Gateway and all things Windows and knowing that I still have my backup HP laptop running Windows XP as a crutch, I decided to “just do it.”  I must say I haven’t looked back yet.

The Backlash

The backlash from my colleagues was immediate.  “How can you PM with a Mac?”  “What about running MS Project?”  “How can you survive?”  And my favorite one from my 19 yr-old son (because I had been a Windows lifer), “It’s sort of like turning an atheist to Christianity!”

Seriously though, I’ve loved it and I’ve had no loss in productivity.  My IT consulting right now is not requiring extensive use of project management scheduling software.  I have MS Office for Mac so running Word, Excel, and PowerPoint has not been an issue.  They work pretty much seamlessly with the Mac just like I’m used to in the Windows environment.

Other Options

That leaves us with the question of how to manage your projects.  How does the Project Manager survive without MS Project – especially if you’ve been using it for as many years as I have?  For me, thankfully as I said I’m not into heavy MS Project use at the moment.  That has allowed me to explore replacement options.  Open Project as a stand-alone application seems so far like a suitable replacement.  It works will both importing and exporting MS Project files and I’ve then used my XP laptop to confirm that my customers can read my project plans on their Windows machines using MS Project.

There are also many options from a web-based perspective.  These often offer more collaboration options allowing team members full insight into the project portfolios with dashboards, shared status information and resource usage across many projects.  ProjectOffice.net is my favorite so far – it’s full-featured, has built-in viewers for MS Project files and can import/export MS Project files.  There are other options out there like LiquidPlanner, Basecamp, etc. 

Summary

The Mac transition has been good for me.  For one thing, I’m now a much better and more knowledgeable tech support person for my wife.  I’ve broadened my horizons and had zero viruses at the same time.  Hopefully, I’ve evangelized a few individuals along the way who previously thought like me.  But I know I’ve cheated somewhat and may not have taken the leap without the backup XP laptop as a barely used crutch.

If you’ve recently converted, share your story.  If you’re a Windows diehard who thinks they could never live without it, then let me know.