SpinOff and Divestitute IT Projects

Not all IT projects are growth, efficiency, or talent enablers. Periodically, IT needs to support divestiture or spin-offs. These types of projects often can involve segmenting / securing the divested business in the existing enterprise systems, so that temporary IT services can be extended for a grace period. At some point, the divested business is fully separated from the systems. These types of IT projects are quite complex business projects that are interesting and offer IT project managers a great learning experience. ...

... "It was much more than an IT project. In practice it meant 1,800 users, 7 languages, 3 factories and interfaces with 100s of suppliers, customers and logistics providers! " ...

Via Personnel Today: Birds Eye Independence

Oops IT did it again

... a familiar tune? It better not be on your iPod. ...

Commerce Bank, a financial company known for a superior level of customer service, has experienced business impacts as information systems are integrated into its acquirer, TD Bank (Canada's Toronto-Dominion Bank), during the recent weekend conversion project. I may open up an account so I can get a copy of the lessons-learned report. ...

... "Customers can see account balances from the end-of-day yesterday, and will get updates later today, spokesman Nick Petter said in an e-mailed statement. " ...

Via Bloomberg: TD Bank Update on U.S. Accounts

Update: More details on the customer impact.

Innovation through Adaptation

Lego adapts its product strategy with Hollywood themes and shifts the workforce culture, meeting with market success. There is a line of thought that theme-based toys will curtail the creativity of children by imposing Hollywood's definition of play. But even kids adapt their strategies. From observations of my kids and their friends, Lego sets are mashed up and integrated in new ways that their creators have not imagined. ...

... "Even toy analysts who admire the company and its recent success acknowledge a broad shift. I would like to see more open-ended play like when we were kids, says Gerrick Johnson, a toy analyst ... " ...

Via New York Times: Hollywood Tie-Ins for Lego

SaaS Integration Projects Likely

As SaaS implementations increase, integration projects are emerging to enable end-to-end business processes. Data synchronization becomes an increasing challenge as the organization embraces solutions, such as CRM via SaaS. ...

... "In particular, large organizations are doing an about-face and starting to adopt SaaS as a primary strategy. The two things that were concerns were security and integration. " ...

Via Search CRM: SaaS CRM integration

Business Intelligence in Sailing Application

Sailing is known for its leverage of technology in boat design. Here's neat application of business intelligence integration (courtesy of SAP) with external services to drive dashboard visualizations and track performance in the race, the 2009 SAP 5O5 World Championship. ...

... "Business Objects business intelligence (BI) solutions will help competing teams develop their strategy, evaluate results at the end of each racing day and use that insight to hone their strategy for the next leg of the race. " ...

Via SAP: 2009 SAP 5O5 World Sailing Championship

CyberSecurity Role

New cyber-security role to be created in US Government. The information and network security strategy will be refreshed. Cross-governmental integration and public / private partnerships will be used to strengthen the quality of this effort. Protection of privacy remains a key principle. ...

... "Today, I want to focus on the important responsibilities this office will fulfill: orchestrating and integrating all cybersecurity policies for the government; working closely with the Office of Management and Budget to ensure agency budgets reflect those priorities; and, in the event of major cyber incident or attack, coordinating our response. To ensure that federal cyber policies enhance our security and our prosperity, my Cybersecurity Coordinator will be a member of the National Security Staff as well as the staff of my National Economic Council. To ensure that policies keep faith with our fundamental values, this office will also include an official with a portfolio specifically dedicated to safeguarding the privacy and civil liberties of the American people. " ...

Via The White House: Cyber Infrastructure

M+A Integration Requires Technology Marriage

Here's some perspective on the Microsoft / Yahoo marriage. The integration of their cultures will be daunting. However, blending their technologies is likely to generate the most contention. This could be interesting to watch, if acquisition is consummated. Can the best of both companies survive? ...

... "A smooth integration also will not be a matter of simply swapping one set of software or hardware for another - though that is a daunting part of the task. It may hinge on changing deep-seated mindsets. " ...

Via New York Times: Merger View:

IT Project Visibility to Wall Street Analysts

Insights on how Wall Street may view an IT project and how to address their concerns. ...

... "Red flags pop up when, for example, management offers analysts vague time lines of when the company expects to start or finish integrating systems in a merger or acquisition ... " ...

Via CIO: Wall Street

PMO Success: A Matter of Integration

There's a great article on Projects@Work about Harvard Pilgrim Health Care's (HPHC) PMO, examining the elements that have made it succesful. It's rare you hear about a successful PMO these days, and when you do, it's usually a result of the factors listed here.

Key lessons (all of which I've long endorsed):

1) Look outward to the overall business and the customer, not just IT.

2) Keep it simple. A PMO doesn't have to be complex; it just needs to support project managers, and engage them in continuously improving the overall process.

3) Keep it integrated. An enterprise PMO, outside of IT, is a vital part of ensuring integration. An additional IT PMO is fine, as long as it's integrated with the whole.

This is in line with my statements that a PMO should really be called an IMO (Integration Management Office).

Here's an excerpt that explains the way the Enterprise PMO and an IT PMO work together at HPHC :

HPHC has two formal PMOs; one at the enterprise level, the other within the IT Division, managed by outside vendor Perot Systems. The two units have co-existed since 1999 and have no trouble defining their roles and relationships in support of business plan delivery. According to Ron Hill, Perot Systems Client Executive to HPHC, the pathway for success is “born from the teamwork of the EPMO and the IT PMO.” Hill believes the strength of the relationship between the two units is visible through the communication between the EPMO, the IT PMO, and the business users. “Everyone must use the same methodology, vernacular, and project tools to reduce the risk of miscommunication.”

And here's the full article...

http://www.projectsatwork.com/content/Articles/239007.cfm

Enterprise Architecture Comes to Forefront

David Linthicum, an author and respected expert on integration, shares thoughts on the importance of a well-planned enterprise architecture and leveraging architects to develop a sustainable roadmap. ...

... "If investors hold management accountable for accounting irregularities and missed sales, then lost dollars around the ineffectiveness of IT can't be far behind. Thus, the ability to maintain effective and agile enterprise architecture is indeed a corporate responsibility ... " ...

Via InfoWorld: SOA

Business Project: Extract Value

Healthcare IT project seeks to integrate and standardize operations, while the business is on-the-hook for realizing the value. ...

... "The infrastructure goes live in April with users being migrated shortly after. Then comes the job of extracting value, which Mayo-Smith says is not an IT project but a business project. " ...

Via Computerworld: IT Role in Integrated Healthcare Operations