Technology as a Change Agent

A major feature of information technology is the changes that IT brings. Those who speak of a revolution from technology are really talking about change. Business and economic conditions change all the time; a revolution is a discontinuity, an abrupt and dramatic series of changes in the natural evolution of economies. In the early days of technology, change was gradual and often not particularly significant. The advent of personal computers accelerated the pace of change, and when the Internet became available for profit-making activities around 1992, change became exponential and revolutionary…eventually bringing us to where we are today. To a great extent, any study of information technology is a study of change.

In what way can and does technology change the world around us? The impact of IT is broad and diverse; some of the changes it brings are profound. Information technology has demonstrated an ability to change or create the following:

Project management – Online collaborative tools bring diverse and virtual teams close together for productive and team-focused activities. Electronic communication, videoconferencing, web-based meetings, etc. of eliminated distance as a factor bring teams and the customer together on a moment’s notice.

Within organizations – Creating new procedures, workflows, workgroups, the knowledge base, products and services, and communications.

Organizational structure – Facilitating new reporting relationships, increased spans of control, local decision rights, supervision, the formation of divisions, geographic scope, and “virtual” organizations.

Interorganizational relations – Creating new customer-supplier relations, partnerships, and alliances.

The economy – Altering the nature of markets through electronic commerce, disintermediation, new forms of marketing and advertising, partnerships and alliances, the cost of transactions, and modes of governance in customer-supplier relationships.

Education – Enhancing “on campus” education through videoconferencing, e-mail, electronic meetings, groupware, and electronic guest lectures. Facilitating distance learning through online courses, e-mail, groupware, and videoconferencing. Providing access to vast amounts of reference material; facilitating collaborative projects independent of time zones and distance.

National development – Providing small companies with international presence and facilitating commerce.

Technology has been changing the way we live and do business our entire lives and the change pace has stepped up significantly in the last 15-20 years. As project managers, we try to not only use this technology to our customer’s advantage on new engagements but also to our own advantage as we bring our teams and customers closer together in terms of communication, collaboration and overall project strategizing.

We all use web meetings, video conferencing, teleconferencing, and collaborative tools. If there’s anything truly unique that you’ve done or utilized as a project manager in moving your projects forward or bringing your team together, please share it here by commenting.

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.

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.

The Quandary of Pricing for the Project Management Consultant

If you’re an independent consultant who is pricing yourself directly to a potential client or to a consulting firm in need of placing your type of skills somewhere, then you’ll understand this process. The client may suggest that he’s interested in your service but not happy with the rate you’ve priced yourself at. This is the million-dollar problem that happens whether you’re a consultant selling your expertise or a job-hunter being asked during an interview what your salary range is. It’s awkward any way you approach it. Unfortunately, this is always a normal part of the negotiating process.

To Negotiate or Not to Negotiate

In the Western culture it is not as clear as other cultures when negotiation is appropriate and when it is not. Therefore, many consultants find it very difficult to distinguish between a negative response from a potential client that truly is a flat-out rejection and one that is merely the beginnings of the negotiation process. You sometimes just have to trust your instincts.

Always remember, you are not required to negotiate your rate. If you’ve set your price well in line with market rates for your type of service and expertise level, then it is ok to stand your ground and state confidently that your rate is what you charge and there is no negotiation.

That said, you may want to consider the economy and your situation into that plan. If you need the work badly and you’d rather do it for less than not at all, you may want to go for it. I’ve had clients offer me more than I was even going to ask for, thus eliminating any need for negotiation or even price-setting. And I’ve also had clients negotiate hard and get an extremely favorable rate from me, but I was willing to do the work for less because I knew I would be working almost exclusively in a telecommuting role with no travel or driving expenses and could schedule when I wanted to do most of the work leaving me free for other consulting.

Dealing with Rate Objections

One way to deal with client objections to your rate is to remind them what that rate will buy them. Explain that rate is for actual productive work performed per hour, not the diluted effort they are getting from employees at 60-70% of productivity. Also explain you expertise in their particular area of need meaning you can perform the work much more efficiently and quickly, thus saving them time and mostly likely money and re-work over an employee or a less experienced and lower-priced consultant. To add to that, explain that you may be re-using code or existing templates that you’ve already developed thus utilizing proven tools and saving even more time and money.

Another approach is to explain that the your consulting services come with no overhead price built-in that would be realized when utilizing their own employees. Those overhead costs on their employees is in addition to the salaries they are already paying, but are none existent when using your services.

The Jealousy Factor

One thing to be careful of, however, is that the client you’re dealing with may be wrongfully looking at a $80 rate and thinking that translates easily into a $160,000 salary which may be much higher than the hiring manager you’re talking to. This can challenge their ego and put them on the defensive. If necessary, explain that the rate must cover professional overhead including insurance, professional fees, hardware and software – expenses that employees often do not experience. This can go a long way to alleviating the objection if it does stem from envy or feelings of inferiority.

If you still can’t get past the rate issue, and you don’t feel that it is in your best interest for this particular opportunity to price yourself lower, then it may be best to just walk away. You can try to evangelize the client all you want on why your rate is appropriate, but they just may never get it or they may not be able to afford it. It’s far better to know that up front than to get left without a payment later on – which is always a danger for consultants in nearly every industry.

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.