Manyani: Key Reflections

Friday, March 23, 2007 at 16:32 | In Manyani, Oracle, Project Management | Leave a Comment

Yesterday I attended an Oracle Technology day. I was not only impressed by the presentation but also by the insight provided by discussions of similar minds. Reflecting back on the event and discussions I have with my good friend Mucheru a financial whiz, one thing is evident; any business that wants to thrive cannot afford not to measure the performance of its systems.

Organisations spend millions of dollars annually acquiring and/or upgrading information systems. The need of end-to-end solutions (different systems using the same underlying technology) to provide a business with the edge of over competition has never been necessary as it is now. These solutions provide a business with the following advantages:

  • Broader, better and modular functionality
  • Reduced total cost of ownership (TCO) through improved systems integration
  • Consolidated support across multiple products
  • Accountability

Despite all these benefits provided, organisations as well as those who develop these systems focus on service delivery architectures with minimal reporting and decision support tools. In the initial phase of automation any organisation seeks to computerise its operations, that is, shift from manual to computerised practices. With time there’s a shift towards improving the computerised processes as the organisation enjoys the benefits of the system. During this stage the company acquires additional functionality in terms of reporting and decision support tools. Sadly this marks the end of the growth for the system.

The aim of any system is to provide solutions to the business that will make the business better. In as much as process management and improvement is important to a business, the management information provided by the systems that support its operational activities cannot be underestimated. Better visibility of the business enables faster responses to improve operational efficiency. This can only be achieved by basing decisions on facts and logical conclusions drawn from the information provided by its information systems. As it stands currently in most organisations most of these decisions are made based on “best guess” scenarios.

This approach works well for start ups since they don’t have adequate information to base decisions on. With growth this trend changes and more and more decisions are made based on the operational information gathered. The aim of any business is growth. The business wires are full of mergers and acquisitions, expansions into new markets, strategic partnerships etc. This brings into focus two oftenly confused terms; Continuous and Continual growth.

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Continuous growth is all about growth without evaluation. The risk lies in hitting a snag in your growth plans and not having a fall back stage. With continual growth, after certain growth the business revaluates its strategies and makes the necessary decisions. This is not possible without timely decision support information provided by the information systems. In evaluating progress the entire organisation, operational, tactical and strategic levels, look at the same information from different angles.

Service level architecture systems barely provide this information since they act as disparate systems. In order to make sound decisions based on facts, trends and other factors it is imperative to collate these disparate systems to a single system that will provide meaningful information to the business. This is the challenge of modern day businesses.

The solution lies in intelligent systems that will provide the business with a dashboard that collates information from disparate sources (operational systems) and present the same in a simple yet detailed manner. The common term for such systems is Business Intelligence systems. They have the capability to provide information based on the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) defined by the business. The ability to view progress in terms of KPIs such as productivity, CRM, sales, personnel provides the business with the much required insight in decision making.

A business intelligence system is aimed to:

  1. Protect existing investments
  2. Extend the value of your applications
  3. Evolve your business to the next level

Every business that has been operational for two or more years will require a business intelligence system. These systems and the technology are not one off and require constant re-evaluation to factor business needs.

There are several approaches to acquiring one. One is to build internal online analytical processing systems that gather data from the disparate systems. This approach entails acquiring particular skill sets, database architect, reporting analyst and basic infrastructure such as a database. The idea is to have the database architect build data warehouses, data marts and data cubes (the underlying technology behind business intelligence systems) from data within the disparate systems that will be used by the reporting analyst to provide the necessary business dashboards.

The second alternative is to acquire a customisable business intelligence suit. There numerous products in the market but before you go out and acquire one, here are a few pointers to consider apart from the obvious compatibility issues:

Customer Success

  1. What’s the vendor’s customer base and experience?
  2. What’s the vendor’s success rate across multiple industries?

Complete Solution

  1. Does the vendor offer a complete suit in terms of applications, middleware, database and infrastructure?

Strong strategic roadmap

  1. What’s the vendor’s acquisition plans or objectives?
  2. How much does the vendor spend on R&D?
  3. What sort of results has the vendor delivered with regards to market observations?

Business Intelligence systems are quickly becoming the new frontier for businesses. The abilities and growth of a business will develop and reveal themselves increasingly with the adoption of relevant technology.

Manyani: The Prestige

Friday, March 16, 2007 at 15:09 | In Manyani, Project Management | Leave a Comment

Successful project managers are both magicians and elite members of an unnamed club. I’m no expert on projects but have been involved in a couple IT projects to understand the pressures and risks associated with the post. In simple terms it is all about managing yourself and others which in itself is a bold initiative and not easy a task.

“It is better to be bold than to circumspect, because fortune is of a sex which likes not a tardy wooer and repulses all who are not ardent.” – Niccolo Machiavelli

If you have never tried your hand at this and have found yourself in that position here are a few pointers:

Planning

  1. In association with the project team and stakeholders, refine project requirements, assumptions and constraints to baseline the scope of work and enable development of the project plan.
  2. Develop a formal and comprehensive project plan by integrating and documenting project deliverables, acceptance criteria, processes, procedures, risks , and tasks to facilitate project executing , controlling, and closing processes and obtain project plan approval by reviewing the plan with required stakeholders to confirm project baselines prior to proceeding with executing processes. A successful venture is 80% planning and 20% execution. An elaborate plan will give you the necessary foundation to build on to see the project through.
  3. Establish project controls by defining the required correct processes, measures, and controls to manage project change, communications, procurement, risk, quality, and human resources to facilitate project executing and controlling processes, and to ensure compliance with generally accepted industry standards.

Execution

  1. Commit project resources in accordance with the project plan to ensure all activities are performed.
  2. Manage project activities and team resources by ensuring that activities are executed as planned in order to achieve the project objectives.
  3. Communicate project progress by producing project status reports
  4. Ensure implementation of activities is in line with the quality assurance plan, security and audit requirements

Control

  1. Measure project performance continually by comparing results to baseline in order to identify project trend and variances. Take timely corrective action by addressing the root causes in the problem areas in order to eliminate or minimize negative impact.
  2. Evaluate the effectiveness of corrective actions by measuring subsequent performance in order to determine need for further actions
  3. Ensure compliance with the change management plan by monitoring response to change initiatives in order to manage scope
  4. Re-assess project controls via periodic reviews to ensure effectiveness and currency
  5. Respond to risk event triggers in accordance with the risk management & response plan to manage project outcomes
  6. Monitor project activity to ensure authorized approaches and processes are followed or to identify need for corrective actions.

Closure

  1. Obtain final acceptance of deliverables by obtaining formal approval from appropriate stakeholders to achieve close out
  2. Document lessons learned by surveying project team members and relevant stakeholders to use for the benefit of future projects
  3. Facilitate administrative closure in accordance with the project plan in order to comply with organizational and stakeholder requirements
  4. Preserve essential records for future use to adhere to legal, audit and other requirements.

There are times when everything you do seems to turn out wrong. You feel as though you in a catch 22 situation. It’s at those times you feel tempted to make what the hell decisions. These are good at buying you time when your wife/girlfriend is pissed as hell at you.

Dare to follow your gut instinct. At times the unconventional could just be what the project requires to keep it going. “To dare is to lose one’s footing momentarily. To not dare is to lose oneself.” – Soren Aabye Kierkegaard

Manyani: Spectatorship

Tuesday, March 13, 2007 at 10:45 | In Manyani, Sports | Leave a Comment

spectator.jpg“We look at sports to impart the sensation of living in an affirmation of life, to energize the spectator into keener awareness of the vigor, the mystery, the humor, the variety, and the wonder of life. This is the function of sports.” – modified off Martha Graham’s dance quotes

I love this time of the year. I’m guaranteed as much action as I can handle, sportwise I mean. The joys and sorrows of my teams winning and losing. The nerve racking agony of watching a team fight to the end. The never give up attitude. The need to slap a player through the TV :) just to wake him to the fact that the team is losing. All these emotions. No wonder women complain we are emotionless. The barman gets all the joys and sorrows. By the time I get home am drained of emotion and passion.

In all this drama you get to pick up one or two treasured anthems. Here are a couple for all those who enjoy having a go at your opponents:

1. Swing Low Sweet Chariot(2)

Swing low, sweet chariot, ho
Coming for to carry me home,
Swing low, sweet chariot, ho
Coming for to carry me home.

I looked over Jordan, and what did I see, ho
Coming for to carry me home.
A band of angels, coming after me,
Coming for to carry me home.

2. Beer Prayer

Our lager,
Which art in barrels,
Hallowed be thy drink
Thy will be drunk, I will be drunk,
At home as it is in the pub,
Give us this day our foamy head,
And forgive us our spillages,
As we forgive those who spill against us,
And lead us not into incarceration,
But deliver us from hangovers,
For thine is the beer, The Bitter, The Lager.
Barmen

3. If I Were The Marrying Kind

If I were the marrying kind,
Which thank the Lord I’m not, sir,
The kind of man that I would be
Would be a rugby

Prop, Sir
Prop, Sir?
I’d support a hooker, she’d support a hooker
We’d all support hookers together.
We’d be all right in the middle of the night,
Supporting hookers together.

chorus

Prop #2: I’d bind tight…
Hooker: I’d strike hard…
Hooker #2: I’d throw it in…
Lock: I’d sniff butt
Lock #2: I’d push hard…
Number 8: I’d split cheeks
Flanker: I’d hold it in
Scrum Half: I’d put it in…
Stand-off: I’d whip it out…
Stand-off #2: I’d pass it on…
Centre: I’d put it out…
Winger: I’d get none…
Winger #2 I’d go hard…
Fullback: I’d find touch…
Fullback #2: I’d kick balls…
Referee: I’d fuck it up…
Referee #2: I’d blow hard…

Groundskeeper: I’d trim bush
Groundskeeper #2: I’d do lines
Groundskeeper #3: I’d fill holes…
Groundskeeper #4: I’d sow seeds…

Goal Post: I’d stand erect
Touch Line: I’d get laid…
Referee’s Whistle: I’d get blown
Water Bottle: I’d get sucked
Rugby Boot: I’d get smelly
Rugby Boot #2: I’d come in boxes
Cleat: I’d get screwed
Ball: I’d get pumped
Wet Weather Spectator: I’d get wet
Wet Weather Spectator #2: I’d come in rubbers
Fair Weather Spectator: I’d come again

Away Team Spectator: I’d eat out…
Rugby Partier: I’d keep it up…
Halftime orange: I’d get sucked

Next time you feel the pressure let out steam as a spectator pray and sign as hard as you can. This article was inspired by my two greatest pals. Have one for me, boys. I can’t wait for fridays!

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