Olympic IT Project: Risk Management Challenge

Atos project team will manage the Olympics IT project for Vancouver games. It manages risks by leveraging accumulated knowledge and experience forward. Lesson learned, knowledge transfer, sustaining core team members, and scaling high-performance teams are all ingredients of successful Olympic technology events. ...

... "In June 2006, only months after completion of the Torino 2006 Winter Games, Atos Origin dispatched IT managers and engineers to already start working on the Vancouver project. Currently the size of the Atos Origin IT team in Vancouver is around 15 but the team will grow rapidly over the next couple of years. During the 2010 Winter Games, Atos Origin will manage the technology consortium team estimated at 2,000 staff, including 400 Atos Origin experts, made up of locally hired staff, local volunteers and overseas Olympic Games technology experts.

The complex, massive IT infrastructure of the Olympic Games is deployed by large teams of people into different cities in different countries every other year. Such a major task is all about risk management capitalizing on the knowledge gained from previous Games Operations. This knowledge and experience transfer is critical in keeping costs down and in lowering the risk of future Olympic Games. " ...

Via Atos Origin: Atos Origin IT Team already in place for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games

Impossible Project Becomes Possible

Remediation project of Rocky Flats contaminated nuclear weapons facility demonstrates that the impossible can be accomplished. ...

... "Now on its way to becoming a wildlife refuge, the project is running 60 years ahead of schedule and $30 billion under budget. " ...

Via Line56: KM Blog: Link

Traditional vs. Agile Project Management: All You Need to Know

Here's the best article series I've seen to date comparing traditional "plan-driven" PMBOK practices to Agile "value-driven" approaches. It's a four-part series by Michele Sliger on StickyMinds.com.

Enjoy...

Column info : Relating PMBOK Practices to Agile Practices - Part 1 of 4

Project Management Training: Foundation For Success

With federal IT investment slated to increase, info technology professionals in government would be well-served by training in a foundation of project management basics. ...

... "officials interviewed for the study said their teams lacked or may lack sufficient training to effectively estimate costs, identify risks and develop baselines from which to plan project costs, schedules and technical requirements. " ...

Via Federal Times: Link

Virtualization Project: OS Irrelevance?

Interesting observation on the virutalization software market. Server virtualization projects are a popular IT project in the portfolio. Will the virtualization software, such as VMware, make the traditional operating system irrelevant? Is there an OS war underway? Competition should make things interesting. ...

... "VMware is certifying computer hardware for compatibility with VMware. You can now buy an HP or IBM server with only VMware ESX and no other OS installed – not even Linux or Windows. " ...

Via virtuozzo blog: OS Wars?

Managing from the Bottom Up

Yesterday I entered a post about Best Buy's new Results-Only Work Environment (ROWE), and how allowing employees total freedom as to where and how they work, focusing instead on results, has shown a 35% productivity improvement. Granted, this may not apply in every environment, but the premise of focusing on results over rules is sound.

What I failed to mention is that this initiative didn't come from the top. In fact, CEO Brad Anderson didn't even know about it untill it was well under way and showing tangible benefits. And that's just the way he likes it.

Kudos to Anderson for allowing the flexibility in his organization for innovation from within, and the courage to try new things. That is what a learning organization is all about.

Anyone who ever brought about major transformation (think Martin Luther King, Ghandi, Jesus), usually did it in a bottom-up approach, not by first convincing "management."

One other thing I failed to mention. While it's uncertain to what extent it played in encouraging this particular situation, a primary consultant to the Best Buy organization is Marcus Buckingham, the talent management guru and author of three of the most enlightening management books I've read (First Break All the Rules, Now Discover Your Strengths, and The One Thing You Need to Know). I'd venture to say that his influence has at least indirectly encouraged this people-focused mentality.