Introduciton

Welcome to my Blog! The title might seem a bit dull, but I wanted to make it descriptive. I may change it to something snappier later. I intend to publish entries relating to IT project management as well as some of my other passions, such as music.

This first entry will serve as an introduction.

I have worked in the Information Technology field for almost 25 years now, most of that time in some sort of supervisory or management position. In the last 8 years or so, I have focused almost exclusively on managing IT projects. Recent projects I have been involved with have included data warehouses, application modernization (mainframe to Windows), IT architecture and CRM. (I plan to write entries on each of those subjects and more, so come back if you would like some further elucidation.)

I have just recently attained the Project Management Professional (PMP) credential from the Project Management Institute (PMI), an accomplishment I am very proud of. PMP certification could be considered the equivalent to the CPA certification for accountants. It indicates someone with the experience and knowledge of how to get projects done.

I also happen to be blind. If there are other blind project managers out there, I would really like to hear from you – I’m sure we could benefit from sharing our experiences.

The really good part of project management is that you are always faced with new and different challenges. A project is, by definition, temporary and unique. This means that you are frequently shifting your attention to new and interesting areas. You get exposure to new technology, new people and new methods of dealing with all components of an IT project. To me, it is the ideal profession.

I’ve spent much of these past 25 years developing business systems. By that I mean systems that are built to solve a particular business need, as opposed to general-purpose software or web development. Most of these systems have been back-end, back-office type applications, often involving manipulation of large amounts of data.

This is the real nitty-gritty of the technology landscape. This is where most of the “heavy lifting” of business applications goes on. It’s things like taking care of customer databases to ensure they reflect a true view of the customer’s relationship with the enterprise or optimizing inventory management. It’s not as flashy as creating web pages, but it is what keeps the wheels of commerce turning in the information age.

I’ve dealt with many different technology platforms in my day – mainframes, Windows, Unix,. Also several languages – Fortran, COBOL, SQL, SAS and others. And DBMSs – DB2, Sybase, SQL Server.

I don’t pretend to be a programming guru. But I can do a code walkthrough involving nearly any kind of system and not get completely snowed under. I love the technology part of my job and I often manage to find ways to take on some of the technical tasks on a project.

I have an especial liking for technical architecture and had at some points along the way considered taking a path into enterprise architecture. But that can be a difficult path to traverse and often a lonely one. Unless you are in a very large organization, with teams of architects, the job often involves working in isolation and in some cases the architect can end up becoming completely ignored. I have great admiration for those who can manage to fulfill there own expectations and those of their managers and clients as architects.

The successful project manager has the opportunity to work with architects, analysts, developers, end users and managers – the whole gamut of technical expertise – to bring about the synergies required to make a project successful. That’s the stuff that keeps life interesting.

In a future posting here I’ll explore in depth the thing that I believe is the key to project management – providing business value. Here is a link to an excellent article on the subject:
“A New Paradigm for Project Success” By Jeff Berman
I’ll plan to build on these ideas in future articles.