Tech Musing #1: Trek Bicycle Rides Project Management Tool to Efficiency

Source: http://www.cio.com/article/2377427/project-management/trek-bicycle-rides-project-management-tool-to-efficiency.html


Facts from Article:

• Seasonal bicycle market made time critical for introducing new Trek product
• Product introduction involved different roles from different teams from different parts of the country
• Trek was accumulating a high cost of delaying new product release dates
• Promotions were unable to be planned on time without product making it to retailers
• A new SaaS program management tool puts teams on the same page
• New program management tool joined teams onto one system to easily communicate
• Kept the teams on track and communicated to everyone what needed to be done
• New system supported seven languages

• With the new management tool, Trek created more customized views, imported more data, developed more detailed reporting
• There were change management issues
• Trek saw better business process and delivery rates -- and 'time' to create
• Trek's on-time delivery rates have improved more than 20 percent

• 800 different projects being managed in the system
• Operations are running more smoothly

Analysis:
Based on the topic of project management, it is understood to be the processes used to plan the project and then to monitor and control it. In other words it is the role of effectively managing people and teams through a project with a predetermined schedule and budget.

From what we have discussed, some of the reasons for project failure are undefined project management practices, poor IT management and poor IT procedures, and inadequate user involvement. The article explains that Trek had done just the opposite with their implementation of a new project management system. This bicycle company kept their new product development process organized and on time.

To create an easy transition to a different management tool (AtTask), Trek “kept communicating to team members way ahead of time that this was coming and this was why.” With the effective communication of the project manager, employees were more prepared for the adaption that lied ahead.

But it was also with the right planning by the project manager that led to the success of employing a new management tool. The article states that “select the right tool and get everyone prepared for it, starting small, and keeping things simple in the beginning” are the ways to fully involving every team to create smooth processes.

By following the right procedures of project management, Trek was able to stem a lot of user involvement amongst team members. The sequential immersion of a team resulted in a greater delivery speed of the product as it had “improved more than 20 percent.” Instead of the project failing, management was able to “resolve problems and deliver product on time.”

Lessons Learned:
It is learned that the role of project management is important to any new product development process. The way a project manager executes this role can lead to much success for a new product. There are various tools and instruments out in the world for project managers to utilize. Finding the right one and introducing it to your team with correct methods eliminates the time and distance enemy of the connection between cross-functional and global teams. Making processes easier for team members and project management can create profit for a given product.

Implications:
Why is this information helpful to you as an MIS professional? Well, coming into the business world as IS professionals and with fresh knowledge we need to understand that not just the right planning will excel a project but it is also the tools that we use. Many of us students are going to be project managers at one point in our lives so let’s not forget that change can be good if you implement it correctly.

As you can read from the article, communication and leadership is key. Connecting the different functions of a product’s development from all over the world virtually brings minds into one area, opening the company and project up for creative solutions. It is our responsibility to understand what tools can we use, as future project managers, to make the internal and external factors of a project less troublesome.

ABSOLUTE PRIVATE TRANSACTIONS

A new Cryptographic currency has just been released to the public and it is the most untraceable means of payment to ever exist. It is called Zcash, and the reason its less traceable than even Bitcoin is that it doesn’t have a public ledger of all transactions in its crypto-economy like bitcoin does. Unless bitcoin’s users funnel their bitcoins through intermediaries or special software then their transactions can technically be traced be traced.

Zcash uses what they call “zero-knowledge proof” in their crypto-algorithm, which means that any Zcash spender or receiver can also choose to keep their transaction entirely secret. Having better privacy means that anyone who might have their transactional information used against them is now better off. legal businesses can benefit from this new currency because having their transaction information private will help prevent competitors from using the information against them. Zerocash ofcourse can also be used illegally, just like bitcoin is Frequently used.

In terms of systems analysis and designs, the block chain algorithm for Zcash has gone through all 6 stages of the SDLC. It solves the problem of perfectly anonymous payment online and has been tested and deployed into real use as a cryptocurrency.

In the world of management information systems, this is going to increase the amount of transactions in the online market place and provide a whole new avenue for ecommerce businesses to function. Having these absolute private transactions creates the option for businesses to have a better way of conducting business to their needs.

http://www.wired.com/2016/01/zcash-an-untraceable-bitcoin-alternative-launches-in-alpha/

Amazon

Description:
My article was on Amazon's use of technology in the warehouse, specifically the Kiva system. Kiva is used to transport shelving units across the warehouse. Rather then having employees walk to the shelving units to pick up product, the shelving units are picked up by the Kiva robots and brought to the packers themselves who then remove the product from the shelf, which then is returned to its original location.

How Related:
This is related to our discussion in class by showing the use of technology in Amazons daily use. It is also related to our class because we have been talking about Agile systems. Amazon is an example of an Agile system because it requires constant communication throughout the system and by the various mgmt levels.

How Related to MIS Professionals:
This topic relates to MIS professionals and benefits them by showing the relationship with MIS and a large company like Amazon. As an MIS major I found the article fascinating because it affected something I had never even thought about before. The way the system is controlled and the relationship between mgmt and the tech employees who control the system is extremely dynamic and was useful to see an example of MIS in the professional world.

http://www.informationweek.com/strategic-cio/amazon-robotics-iot-in-the-warehouse/d/d-id/1322366

Tech Musing #1: Why every project manager needs a mentor

Summary

In Colin Ellis' article, he suggests that successful project managers need to be mentored in order to truly understand their position and how to properly manage a project. Everything from building relationships and managing risk in the project is not something that can be learned through reading and research -- it takes anecdotal and customized teaching to become a competent project manager.

The author breaks down mentorship into an acronym: Motivator, Empowers, Nurture, Teacher, Originator, and Role model. In order to share knowledge from a veteran project manager to a new one, these are the attributes the mentor must possess. The article discusses that big companies like IBM are creating and implementing new programs to encourage mentorship and the exchange of knowledge between all of its project managers.

Relevance to Class

The article discusses one of the biggest concepts in this class: project management and the development and implementation of new systems software. Ellis expands on what we have learned in class about the cycle of software development by suggesting that mentorship is a key part in project management, although that has yet to be discussed in our own lectures. It provides a different way to approach project management and even states that learning it from the textbook, similar to how we are currently learning about project management, is not the best way to learn about project management -- mentorship is.

Importance as an MIS Professional

This article written by Colin Ellis is particularly useful as a future MIS professional because it provides an alternative opinion as to how project managers become successful in their occupation. As I am soon to enter the workforce, I want to understand the best techniques to quickly learn and grow in my career. It reinforces an idea that has been mentioned to me many times before: what you learn in the first few months of the workforce if you are fortunate enough to have a complete training will greatly outweigh everything that you learn in college. 

Tech Musing: Internet Radio Streaming Company Comes to an End

https://debuggerdotbreak.wordpress.com/2015/05/21/my-startups-dead-5-things-i-learned/

Today the music industry has changed how individuals collect, store and listen to music. I’m sure almost everyone has a music collection of their own whether they are using iTunes or some program on their computer. This took a major turn with the creation of Pandora and Spotify. These are both companies that provide you unlimited access to music for one low monthly cost. This became an instant hit as most people would rather pay few dollars a month for unlimited music collection library’s across all their devices rather than pay a dollar per song stored on your computer where it needs to be manually synced to your devices. The article I read talks about a similar competitor called BitShuva Radio. This was supposed to be an application similar to Spotify and Pandora but would use a much more sophisticated coding process that would allow users to search for music more descriptively. The company started out strong, but it incurred many issues that eventually led to its own demise.

 The article talks about reasons why the start up failed. Most importantly, this article relates to topics discussed in class about failing business plans. The formal business plan typically starts by writing out your business plan. Once you have a plan, you need to start attracting investors who want to help you generate funding for you business. Next you assemble a team, produce the product, and properly introduce it to the market to begin selling it. BitShuva Radio had a failed business plan from the beginning because they didn’t have one. Once they created and developed the application code it was immediately introduced to the market for sale. Failing to incorporate a business plan made the owner sacrifice his own money and time into the business. He did not assemble a team to help his business, so he oversaw all aspects of the company. In this article, these were both listed as main causes of the business failure, not enough money to fund it and not enough time to run the business alone without help. Of course there were other factor to the businesses failure that does not directly adhere to a business plan such as price, changing technology, custom software and being inexperienced. Had BitShuva created a business plan by following the proper procedures, it could be possible that they could be a successful business.

This information can be very useful to MIS professionals for many different reasons. MIS majors do not have much expertise in running all aspects of a company, but this article does hit home on one very important concept that can relate to MIS professionals, changing technology. Having a career in the MIS field requires the ability to be able to always be able to learn and adapt to new and changing technology. Technology is advancing every day, and if these professionals do not have the ability to adapt to newer technology, they will be out of a job in a matter of a couple years.

Agile project management control design methods

Article: http://www.controldesign.com/articles/2016/agile-control-design-methods/

There are a lot of project management method these days, and not all of them are efficient. Using a wrong method could cause low productivity, time and resources wasting and disorganization.

People who in charge of the project management have probably been to a seminar or a week-long related course to get a professional certificate as the result. After that, they can officially start breaking down a project. This is called waterfall project management method, it works well. However, when the changes occur, fine details, dates, resources and hours can be constricting.

A new project management method is really popular these days, which is called Agile Project Management, has been used by many big corporations. Unlike the classic plodding, expensive and error-prone project management method, it is a value-driven progress that allows project managers to finish a high quality and right priority management work. Those works can show their professionalism in front of their shareholders and deliver a consistent result for years. Another good things of Agile is that it changes by simply updating product backlog and move it to the next period of time. This gives project manager a valuable framework which increase creativity and responsibility of the entire team members. This illustrate the knowledge we mentioned in class. By using Agile project management method, the manager can know the priority of the project and also know how to assign work to different teams and team members.

As an MIS professional, it is really important to know how to manage projects. When manage the project, assign specific task to a right person, finish the project in a great priority and have a consistent results for years can increase the productivity, reduce employee turnover and make the work efficient foe the businesses.

Airport in Kiev was Hacked

Description:
It was discovered recently that the main airport in Kiev, Ukraine had been hacked. According to the report, the attack seemed to have come from a server located in Russia. This isn’t the first time this has happened as the article discusses another attack that took place on December 23, 2015, in which Russians supposedly attacked Ukrainian power companies. At this point, the Ukrainian Government is conducting an investigation in order to find out the cause of the attack and what efforts they can put in place to stop these attacks from occurring in the future.

How it relates to class:
In class, we have been learning about agile project management. Within the agile system, there is constant communication and iteration. If the system architect and his team were to leverage the agile methodology to create a more foolproof network, they possibly could have prevented this attack. In addition, they could also use the agile development cycle in order to fix their network in the future.

How relates to MIS Professionals:
This article is a good example of how MIS professionals can, unfortunately, fail to monitor their systems effectively and prevent attacks from happening. In this case, the purported Russian hackers identified and analyzed the servers within the Ukrainian airport in order to successfully hack into the system. The article is not clear whether this attack was at the fault of poor security put in place by the system administrator or if proper measures were implemented beforehand. If the former is true, this means the airport system admin was negligent and not following industry best-practices.

Why the Lean Start-Up Changes Everything

Main Points/Summary
This article, posted on the Harvard Business Review in 2013, poses the point that the lean start-up approach is a game-changer for how a business is formed. Author, Steve Blank, is a seasoned high-tech entrepreneur with his hand in 8 successful start-ups. He now teaches at the Haas School of Business at University of California at Berkeley and he believes that the lean start-up approach is not only the way of the future, but superior to traditional methods.

Blank suggests that the traditional method of Business Plan->Pitch->Assemble a Team->Introduce Product->SELL, SELL, SELL is outdated and sets entrepreneurs up for failure. He backs this up by saying a whopping 75% of start-ups fail. This was back in 2013, but according to an article on Forbes.com posted Jan 16th, 2015, this number has grown to 90%. Whatever the cause for this massive rate of failure may be, perhaps the solution lies within the lean start-up method.

Steve Blank goes on to state that a start-up should include the following:

• Business Model Canvas- Have a general idea for where you want the business to go. How do you create value for the business? How do you create value for the customer?
• Customer Development- Solicit real feedback from purchasers, users, and partners. Get feedback on "product features, pricing, distribution channels, and affordable customer acquisition". Be able to adapt! 
• Successful lean operations are nimble and speedy. They encounter problems and adapt to them. Use feedback to guide business development as opposed to the traditional model in which problems equate to major set-backs. 
• Agile Development-come up with product "iteratively and incrementally". There is a harmonious relationship between agile and customer development. Eliminate waste, smaller batch orders, and find out what customers value.

Class Relation
This article directly relates to class through the discussion of agile/lean start-up methods learned in lecture. Steve Blank reinforces these concepts through arguments against traditional methods and examples of how agile/lean start-ups can achieve success.
 
How is this Helpful?
This article is especially helpful to me, a future MIS professional, because I plan to pursue a start-up venture. With knowledge of how to execute a start-up, I can be better prepared for potential challenges as well as have a realistic methodology for achieving success. Steve Blank has applied this strategy to technology-driven companies and, as MIS students, it is natural to foresee us in similar ventures.

https://hbr.org/2013/05/why-the-lean-start-up-changes-everything

5 Trends that will Transform Project Management

http://www.cio.com/article/3019927/project-management/5-trends-that-will-transform-project-management.html

This article talks about how project management in the coming years is changing and requiring more from project managers such as certifications and new pathways for change in the project management field. Today many jobs that deal with project management even require expertise in the role. Some of the trends include, moving away from industry benchmarks and move towards business strengths and figure out what the best way is to reach specific objectives.

Another really interesting part of the article is how one trend of 2016 is that the idea of removing the hierarchical status of most projects so people can all feel comfortable to contribute their ideas. Having a management team from the top-down has been the case for many years and taking that and making it less scary to people on projects who do not normally contribute nor have a voice can really change how projects get accomplished successfully.

This is what we have been discussing in class thoroughly. We’ve talked about how project management is changing and what you need to successfully finish a project. This is really important for MIS professionals and for me going into the field because working with teams and on projects requires not only technical skills but soft skills such as resolving conflict, strong verbal communication and close relationships with your team. These are all skills in my opinion that a lot of people forget are necessary in being successful. You can create a project but it being successful is also based on more than just numbers, it’s interactions and real communication to make the best product or service available.

The Project Management Balancing Act

Colin Ellis wrote an article entitled “The Project Management Balancing Act” in an attempt to persuade his audience that successful project management requires equal amounts of leadership, culture, and methods. He argues that too much of any one quality can disrupt the project and create detrimental problems to its success.

Too Much Leadership
Ellis establishes that every project requires great leadership in order to propel the project forward. However, he explains that if a leader is only charismatic and does not actively participate in the project and demonstrate technical skill or ability, the other members of the team will become frustrated and doubt that the leader is contributing to their collaborative efforts.

Too Much Method
Next, Ellis describes how a reliance on method alone will not produce the same desired result as it appears on paper. He uses the example “a fool with a tool is still a fool” to demonstrate how organizations can become overly fixated on the structure of a project and fail to show adequate leadership. Ellis explains that even with Agile management must be careful not to get too caught up in practice.

Additionally, he makes the point that project managers must also be aware of the various cultures and personalities of the team members in order to tailor the project to the strengths of the team. Managing the culture of the team is an important quality of a leader that can become overlooked if the leader is too fixated on the method alone.

Too Much Culture
Ellis explains how too much culture can become problematic if a team becomes too comfortable with the status quo. He gives the example of a team that has worked together time and time before and has become too comfortable together. This may inhibit future projects because a solution that worked before may not work in a different project setting. Additionally, without introducing new team members with fresh perspectives, the team may become stagnant in their productivity.

Relevance
This article is relevant to our class because it discusses the importance of strong project management and the utilization of agile. However, it expands upon these ideas to include how these methods also require equal parts of leadership and culture in order to make it less likely that a project will fail. As companies and their technologies evolve, its important to consider all aspects of a project and the implications that too much method may cause.

Importance
This article is helpful for an MIS professional and for us as MIS students as we prepare to join the workforce because it discusses other aspects of a project that may be overlooked if a project manager becomes too caught up in any one of them. Ellis is correct in assuming that managers may not take into account aspects such as the leadership and culture when they are trying to stick to the rules of standard operation and blueprints. It is important for us to continue to improve the way in which we operate and remain aware of the competing qualities that are inherent in any project.

Citation:
http://www.cio.com.au/article/592305/project-management-balancing-act/

New Legislation To Bolster Program and Project Management Policy

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/blog/new-legislation-to-bolster-program-and-project-management-policy/

Recently, a bill was introduced to the U.S. Senate called, “Program Management Improvement and Accountability Act of 2015”. This bill was brought to the Senate to have guidelines about how both federal and private section can have their project management streamlined. These guidelines were derived from research created by the Project Management Institute. Through their research, senators from both parties created a bill that was based off of 4 key principles:

1. “Creation of a formal job series and career path for program managers in the federal government.”
2. “Development of a standards-based model for program management consistent throughout the federal government.” 
3. “Recognition of the essential role of executive sponsorship and engagement by designating a senior executive in each agency to be responsible for program management policy and strategy.” 
4. “Alignment of cross-government dialog on program management practices through an interagency council on program management.”

Through these principles, this bill is designed to make sure that the US is a leader in Project Management. The writers of the bill recognized that project management is a an area that effects almost every area of business. It makes more industries more streamlined and better to meet the challenges of today's world.

This article sums up the main ideas of our 441 class. It gives a very general description of how project management is a key aspect of all businesses. It is a skill/career that saves companies money, keeps projects on track, and streamlines operations. In an ever changing world, this is important for companies to keep in mind.

Project management is an important aspect for MIS professionals. These guidelines are the exact guidelines that we should be keeping in mind for our future career. In the IT professional world, we lead the rest of the industries in project management. Since we are going to be in the technology field, much of the technology we will interact with and create will be geared towards project management. Technology is the greatest asset to making systems fast and efficient. Keeping the principles devised by the Project Management Institute, all of us will be able to use these in our future jobs whatever industry we might be in.

Tech Musing 1: Volkswagen Scandals

Article Link: http://calleam.com/WTPF/?p=7666

This article explains about how the Volkswagen (VW) cheated government around the world for emission testing. Volkswagen has been a top-selling or the second largest auto maker in the world, behind Toyota. But now the recent and most expensive scandals of emissions testing would face the biggest problem and market loss by the Volkswagen company. Volkswagen cars violate clean air standards after the carmaker used illegal software to bypass emissions tests. The point is that VW diesel car produce nitrogen-oxide 40 times more the other car does. VW not only violate the ISO standard but also created a severe threat to public health. For this reason, Volkswagen has made a recall noticed of 11 million vehicles world-wide. This issue is really a terrible catastrophe for Volkswagen Company to regain its market power, reputation and building trust.

As we have just learned in chapter 9 about Project Planning and Project Management that some projects fail because of various reasons such as poor project management and lack of resources, financial crises and economy downturn. But, in the case of Volkswagen Company, they failed by neglecting operations strategy, and placing too much emphasis on product and service design and not enough on process design and improvement on environmental process. The main reason they failed to meet the quality of air. Due to this reason Volkswagen definitely loses their market competitiveness and loses its opportunities to grow their demand and operations. The successful competing is to determine the needs and wants to costumers and their expectations along with the profitability and sustainability. In this article, this project failed because of man-made and intentional decisions.

This information is helpful for business students because being technological student should able to find out the loophole and able to patch up with innovative creations. Instead Volkswagen need to focus on product research, product design, and comparative performance and develop environmental friendly car with new information technology.

Learning Agile Implementation on the GO

The competition of businesses and innovation is a two-edge sword as it poses many challenges and opportunities for companies in all sectors. Scott Granier, from Tantus Technologies, decided to take the challenge of catching up with the trend of Agile methodologies without having a road-map in order to cater to Tantus' customers' demand. As a result, Tantus Technologies was able to solve their customers’ problems while transitioning their current waterfall methods into Agile by default.

The three most important changes that needed to happen in order to completely move into Agile were organizational, cultural, and personnel. First, as a matrixed organization with an output of 50 to 70 projects per year, building stable and dedicated cross-functional teams was crucial to foster cohesion and understanding of the product, methodology and coworkers. Next, with a culture of victories implementing waterfall methods, questions regarding project direction, scope focus, and allocation of time and resources were imperative to answer. Lastly, Tantus had been operating with a workforce who had little to no experience in Agile software development; the only strategies they could think of was to hire or to outsource.

After finding a willing participant to deliver Tantus’ first Agile project, Tantus implemented several solutions to solve their main problems and prepare their company for Agile execution:

• Selecting Scrum as their Agile framework
• Certify personnel as ScrumMasters
• Hire Scrum coach for an executive training session
• Train new customers to educate them about their role as product owners

These and many other tactics helped Tantus transition their organization, culture, and personnel into adopting Agile methods in their work environment and solutions for their customers. Based on Tantus’ experience, Scott mentioned the following key take-aways to keep in mind when a company is transitioning in Agile:

• Introduce change carefully
• Sprints increase learning and reduce risk
• Finding an empowered available product owner is crucial.
• Having a 100% dedicated staff is essential to reap the benefits of Agile.

According to Grainer, firms that do not adopt the Agile method will suffer from the fast pace of the existing competition. It is impressive that a company that was so rooted under the waterfall methods, with many successful projects under its belt, was still able to train their entire organization to change their execution strategy and thrive. I believe that the most important take away of this story is the importance of accepting change in order to evolve with the world around us. Change is part of our natural way of living, innovating, and progressing. Perhaps successful stories like these will impact people as much as it will impact companies to adopt acceptance to change as a core habit to live with.

Source: https://www.scrumalliance.org/community/articles/2013/november/success-story-sometimes-it-just-may-take-a-waterfa   

Project Management Best Practices

Jacob Matenaer
MIS 441
9:30am T/TH
Tech Musing 1

Article Title: 5 Ways to Get the Best Production From Those Around You
Author: Brad Egelan
URL Link: http://www.cio.com/article/3026335/project-management/5-ways-to-get-the-best-production-from-those-around-you.html
Date Published: Jan. 26, 2016

As a manager or project manager you want to surround yourself with the smartest people possible and rely on their expertise as you bring them all together as a cohesive team. Author of CIO.com article, Brad Egeland, touches on this point in his article stating that “It is always in my best interest to try and get the best and most productive work out of those who work with me and around me.” Having 30 years professional experience, mostly in project management or management positions, Brad went on to talk about the five ways he found most effective that allowed him to best manage the people on his project teams. The five points he touched on in the article were as follows: Practice effective and efficient communication, recognize and reward, be open and honest with everyone, be an attentive listener, and keep everyone informed. He recognizes that your teams will be made up of people with varying backgrounds and skill sets, however he goes on to summarize saying that “The best of the best are able to get the most production and efficient work out of those around them.”

One point that I found most interesting was his stance on being open and honest with everyone. He feels that “Honesty breeds consistency and that’s where real confidence, satisfaction, production and dedication is derived from.” I found this interesting as I would have thought that as a project manager you may need to be a bit of a salesman, revealing only select positive truths, when interacting with your customer or team. I believed that being overly open with a customer could potentially cause you to lose their business. That being said, Egeland was very adamant about this point in the article stating that “It’s hard to follow someone who isn’t truthful or who you don’t believe in.” Ultimately, he is showing us that being honest is always the best option as it will keep you in a positive standing with your customer, as well your team will hold you in higher regard as their leader.

Our slides define project management as “Organizing and directing other people to achieve a planned result within a predetermined schedule and budget.” This definition directly relates to this article as these five methods Egeland presents to us could help any project manager in “Organizing and directing other people.” As a project manager you could potentially be working with an IT professional, an engineer, a finance person, a supply chain person or many others all on one team. These diverse skill sets bring different personalities to the team. However, Egeland’s five universal tips will help anyone in managing diverse teams and projects to success.

This information is important not only to MIS professionals or project managers, but to anyone in a management or leadership role. As I eluded to in the previous paragraph teams can be made up of diverse skill sets and backgrounds. Being able to bring them all together and work cohesively is no easy task. By forming your leadership approach around these five main points allows you to better overcome the many challenges and stress associated with overseeing a project start to finish. More specifically, in the IT world where your team may be made up of IT professionals, challenges may arise trying to understand some of their technical terminology. As Egeland puts it in the article “Failure to properly and accurately communicate is the basis for many failed projects and tasks.” By using his five methods and making the extra effort to effectively communicate with your programmer, system admin, engineer etc. will help prevent your team from falling into one of many failed projects due to bad communication and hard to understand technical terminology.

Citation:
Egeland, Brad. "5 Ways to Get the Best Production from Those around You." CIO. N.p., 26 Jan. 2016. Web. 29 Jan. 2016.

Tech Musing #1: Asana: The 'Tesla of Productivity Tools'

Kory Chinn
1/29/16
MIS 441
Tech Musing 1
Article: http://mashable.com/2013/08/06/asana-productivity/#oZuhmfDn4qq0

Project Management Software: Asana

This article discusses the development of the project management app: Asana. The software, which is used primarily for task management, was founded by Justin Rosenstein (a former Googler) and Dustin Moskovitz (co-founder of Facebook), and was born out of necessity from within the founders’ former companies. Rosenstein developed a task management software for internal use within Google, and Moskovitz worked on a similar solution within Facebook. They both realized that a better app for project management was necessary and that the issues they had of getting bogged down in meetings and reading and writing emails were ubiquitous. Together, they set out to build a collaborative, design-oriented product that people would want to use. Typically, project managers send out action items or ask people to complete a task, and individuals then maintain their own systems of to do lists, however, Asana seeks to organize this information, allowing all members of a team to view task progress and communicate in one place.

Relevance to MIS 441

This article is relevant to our class and project management because it introduces an alternative to MS project for tracking team progress. In terms of the SDLC, application of this project management software could be applied to the core process of planning and monitoring the project. Some of the useful features of Asana that facilitate this process include:

• Tracking task progress
• Calendar
• Gantt Chart
• Assigning team members to tasks
• Setting task priorities

In terms of enabling agile project management, Asana is easy to use and can be set up to provide a flexible and iterative project plan. With a simple and intuitive interface, a project can be set up to fulfill the principles of the Agile Manifesto. Primarily, it focuses on giving everyone involved in the project the ability to work and communicate in one place. There are messaging and commenting functions as well as the capability to upload attachments and files.

Importance as an MIS student

As an MIS student, this tool is potentially very valuable. Working in teams is a common occurrence in Eller, so having an effective way of managing multiple tasks for multiple projects across multiple teams is a key factor in achieving success. Moreover, it is free to use for small teams, yet is still packed with features. As an MIS professional, it is important to be aware of the project management tools that are in use. For example, Asana is in use in the following companies: Uber, Airbnb, Ernst & Young, Intel, and Tesla. In the future, MIS students may go on to work in these industries and tech companies and it could be beneficial to have experience with how they manage their projects.

Tech Musing #1 - Microsoft Cyber Defense

Microsoft Cyber Defense Operations
Microsoft has been continuously working on and has now launched their latest product which doubles as a service, the Microsoft Cyber Cloud. This new system includes the Microsoft Digital Crimes Unit (MDCU), comprehensive platforms, proactive intelligence, and a growing list of partners. All of these components, both human and digital, combine to make the Internet safer for consumers. The biggest challenge that companies now face is protecting customer trust, not competition.

MDCU
The MDCU partners with businesses and law enforcement to track down, analyze, and stop cyber crime. They utilize big data and Microsoft’s Cloud to create solutions and make the Internet safer. Taking what they learn from utilizing analytical tools, they build that information back into the cloud to be used again in the future. Self described, the MDCU “uses the cloud to track down criminals.”

New Products
Windows 10 and new Microsoft products have a new facet geared to protecting customers’ identity. Newer systems can use biometrics as login information as opposed to passwords. This includes voice recognition, iris scanning, and fingerprint recognition. SaaS apps can be pre-configured for authentication also. Microsoft has improved malware by implementing their product Device Guard. This system checks the digital signature on a downloadable application. It makes sure that the signature is not only valid, but that the signature is from a legitimate and certified company. Their product Credential Guard prevents pass-the-ticket attacks and insures viruses do not spread to multiple devices owned by the same user. Microsoft is preventing data loss by allowing IT departments to configure their own policies and then apply them to employee devices. This can even work with BYOD situations. Certain copy and paste or forwarding options are blocked if certain information should not be shared with users outside the company and network.

Related to Class
The emergence of new security features from Microsoft follows the manifesto for agile software development. They are focusing on individuals, companies, and how these people interact with their technology. During that interaction Microsoft was looking for situations where individuals and companies were vulnerable and is now providing a solution for that latent need. They have been making software and software improvements rather than simply researching and documenting. In order to find these latent needs they had to have some customer collaboration either with people who are selling their products or people who are using them. They responded to change by evolving with hacker sophistication and business needs. This agile development method has made them better in every way because they are using human methods allowing them to learn and adapt and recreate in every stage to produce the best protection for customers.

Importance for MIS Professionals
These developments are important for MIS professionals for many reasons. First, because we should be aware of these products so we can either use them ourselves or suggest that a business or individual use them. Second, so that we can track trends and evolutions of security in this sector. Third, so we can compare what products are available regarding Internet and information security.

Resources
Below is a link to an article about the Microsoft Cyber Cloud. Additional information for this post was gathered from a video about the security products at Microsoft.  Microsoft CEO Sataya Nedella and GM of Cloud Platform Julia White discuss all of the additions in security with Windows 10 on this video. The video is 50 minutes long, but the best place to start watching, especially to see the demonstrations is at 18:40 minutes into the presentation.

Here is the Article.
 

Tech Musing #1-Google Glass

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/05/style/why-google-glass-broke.html

Most people remember when Google glass first appeared; Google’s virtual reality glasses. This is mostly because the innovation didn’t glide into the world; it jumped and exploded. It was on morning and evening shows, television shows like The Simpsons were showcasing it in episodes, there were skits dedicated to it on Saturday Night Live, YouTube videos were shot to review them, models wore them on runways and there was even a 12-page Spread in Vogue dedicated to it! However, just last week, Google announced that Glass was going away. According to employees involved with Google Glass, this was not the plan at all; that wasn’t the way it was supposed to make its start or its end.

For years, google was working on something called Project X, later to be known as Google Glass. This is because they didn’t want anyone to know what project they were working on. Once they thought they had a prototype ready to show that was nowhere near prime time, they decided to sell it to only Glass Explorers and no retail. This plan backfired and interest soared as media stories exploded with excitement. After just a little time, the shine began to wear off and tech reviewers were giving it reviews such as, “worst product of all time” and “”a product plagued by bugs.” It began being banned from public places as privacy concerns were raised. Glass went from coveted to a punch line.

This is an example of a business startup that failed; just what we have talked about in class. The formula is to: Write a business plan, pitch it to investors, assemble a team, introduce a product and start selling. And, of course, there was a fatal set back. There was someone who made up the idea, wrote a plan, google was going to fund the idea. From that, they wanted to make a prototype and see how it did with Glass Explorer; they still wanted it to stay a secret, though. That is where it took a bad turn because word got out and it began selling before Google was ready. Because it wasn’t a finished product, it failed in the marketplace and Google had to take it back.

This information is really important for MIS professionals and students. You can have the coolest idea in the world, but be careful what you do with it because it will fail if you don’t take precautions and follow the appropriate steps.  

Agile Project Development at Intel: A Scrum Odyssey - Tech musing #1

http://scrumtrainingseries.com/Intel-case-study.pdf

Intel Corporation is an American multinational tech company that is considered as one of the world's highest and largest valued semiconductor chipmakers. It is the inventor of a series of microprocessors, the processors that are found in most respective computers, and it supplies processors for companies such as Samsung, Apple, Dell and HP. Intel corporation also creates other devices that are related to communications and computing such as motherboard chipsets, network interface controllers and integrated circuits, flash memory, graphics chips, etc.

In the microprocessor industry, product development group exists to provide test guarantee to support cost-effective product selection. Participating in between different departments as in manufacturing and design teams product development engineering is often found in a lot of pressure facing issues that are already out of control such as team level deadline, scope, requirements, or deliverables.

Related to class material; reflected in this case we can see how implementing agile methodologies helped Intel company to better coordinate the efforts of the sub-teams within product development engineering. They organized some specific teams to manage a more integrated approach to product development.

“A long history in fabrication and manufacturing has resulted in a strong waterfall culture at Intel, embraced widely as the best path to success.” Teams are now organized having functionality, and the result is that some teams had very high turnover at the end of a project.

I believe that this information is helpful to us because sooner or later we all will be exposed to managerial roles. It is key to now how to face, manage, and organize this type of projects for better company results.

The founder of Aereo is promising to bring gigabit internet to every home

Article: http://www.theverge.com/2016/1/27/10841600/starry-wireless-gigabit-internet-project-from-aereo-founder

A new tech startup is promising a way to deliver gigabit internet to more people than ever but with a unique twist: they’re planning to do it without the need to install expensive underground fiber optic cables. How, you may ask? The company, Starry, plans to do all of this wirelessly. Previously, there was a certain broadcast spectrum known as “Millimeter Waves” that was previously thought of as too unstable to transfer internet signals, but apparently Starry has found a way. Their plan is to install these massive base stations around major cities that will beam out a wide-reaching, strong, gigabit internet signal that will then be captured by an antenna you install either on your house or out of your window. This antenna captures the signal from the base station, and the antenna will then send the signal to a wireless router in your house.

When you’re working in a startup like Starry, it’s absolutely essential that you have rock solid project management skills or you risk falling behind fast to competitors. This is true for the software startup I currently work for. If we aren’t completely solid when it comes to our management and development practices, we risk getting completely run over by competition or losing customers. Starry faces a similar challenge. They’re trying to distrupt the ISP industry with their unique wireless Gigabit internet solution. If they want to make sure the big guys like Comcast, COX, and others don’t try to put their millions into developing something like this, they need to make sure they’re always ahead of the curve. Starry has a lot of barriers to overcome before they can become successful (like winning the FCC auction to even use the millimeter broadcast band).

When MIS students get out into the real world to apply their skills, aside from finding that they are extremely valued by employers, they will also find that a lot will be expected from them. Good Project Management skills are just one of those things that will be expected. It is absolutely essential to have a good grasp on good time management and project management techniques so that you can take those skills into the real world and do some real good work for your employer.

5 trends that will transform project management

Link: http://www.cio.com/article/3019927/project-management/5-trends-that-will-transform-project-management.html

I found this great article in CIO that talks about the “5 trends that will transform project management”. The author thinks the project management landscape may look different in this year. She summarized 5 trends of project management field in 2016. I put those five trends in my own words and listed below.

Project management team will focus more on strategy over projects.
Organization will move away from operational hierarchies to leverage employee strengths
Companies will pay more attentions to accountability and social responsibility
Employers want to project managers have strong softer skills, not just technical training
The need for remote project management tools and labor will increase

The author gave each trend in depth explanation inside the article. I want to mainly discuss two trends that I found most interesting and related with what we learned in the class: the first trend and the last one.

“What does it mean by saying focus more on strategy over projects? “ In the past, project manager likes to set all goals in the beginning and focus all efforts on reaching the goals one by one. The Gantt chart is a great example to help the manger set goals for each department. It requires certain period of time to finish those goals. However, the author told us that manager should analyze business strengths and weaknesses to determine the best chance to reach specific identified objectives. The team should look at the overall business strategy instead of individual departmental goals.

Project management is a filed that filled with high technologies. All kinds of software are used to improve the efficiency of project. As the popularity of Internet and mobile phone increase among the world, the workforce for a project becomes more widely disbursed. The needs of remote project management tools rapidly increase. Project managers want to overcome the location, distance and time zone differences and communicate timely with same data.

In order to become a better project manager, PM professionals should keep information updated and always be a step earlier than most of people. I feel like these five trends worth all of us to pay attentions to. Even if some students do not want to be project manger in the future, those ideas are still useful because all companies will have some kinds of projects need you to accomplish.

Mastek’s Agile Project Management

Link: http://www.apmg-international.com/nmsruntime/saveasdialog.aspx?lID=4932&sID=6417

This case study discusses how the implementation of Agile Project Management methodologies has empowered teams at Mastek. Mastek is a high-end global provider of vertically-focused enterprise technology solutions and platforms. The company is publicly held with National Stock Exchange of India as NSE: MASTEK. It is a leading IT company with global operations providing enterprise solutions to insurance, government, and financial services organizations worldwide.

Using the agile approach has improved the way Mastek develops educational software products for key clients. Project Manager of Mastek Vishal Somal says “off-shoring represents huge opportunities for agile working. Agile PM helps deliver projects on time and to quality.” For an offshore organization such as Mastek, developing agile ways to deliver its products and services is a necessity. Vishal goes on to say that agile working consists of two principles: communication and transparency. Deciding to implement Agile PM has enabled Mastek to improve communication with clients and between on and offshore teams.

In a traditional project, project managers are more involved, directing work and telling their team what needs to be done. This style is often referred to as command and control or micromanagement. Each step in the traditional fashion is created by the team members and not by a Project Manager. In Agile PM, the early stages consist of a high level plan, based on outline requirements and a high level view of the solution to be created. From there the project is created iteratively and incrementally, building off each other.

For students who are interested in pursuing a career in Project Management, keeping up with the most innovative ways a project is conducted is important. Agile PM is one of these ways. This case study provides a real professional example of how the most innovative practices are being implemented and tested in the business world. Agile PM provides a strong framework to help guide MIS professional in the progress IT projects. Having knowledge of this topic can help MIS professional in effective decision making and collaborating.

Why Agile Skills Are More Valuable Than Certifications

Link: http://www.cio.com/article/2936312/certifications/why-agile-skills-are-more-valuable-than-certifications.html

The article describes the challenges that Project Managers face as demands and budgets slowly increase, but the talent is not allocated in a way that sufficiently supplies the demand. This article states that the proper way to facilitate these increasing demands is to implement an agile mindset. While the waterfall approach has been successful in the past, the agile approach provides project managers with the ability to quickly apply changes to products that need to keep up with the rapidly evolving market requirements. The article continues to describe the benefits of employees that have experience in agile project management. Employees with agile experience will help companies collaborate between departments allowing for projects to positively affect the company as a whole instead of just the department working on the project.

The article is related to this class because it describes the benefits of companies having employees with experience in agile project management. The material that has been taught in class has explained what agile software development and the benefits of implementing such processes. Even though the article does not directly pertain to software development, it states the benefits of implementing agile project management in all projects across each company’s department.

The information in this article explains the advantages of applying an agile approach to one’s career. If an MIS student wants to gain an edge over other students, this article will provide them with a reason and a starting point to adopting an agile approach to their class projects. The sooner this approach is implemented into the student’s method of project management, the more likely they will be able apply this approach to the career of their choice.

Tech Musing #1 - Target Canada

Dylan Mango

1/28/2016

MIS 441

Tech Musing #1 – Project Management

Article name: Target Canada

Article link: http://calleam.com/WTPF/?p=7467

1) Briefly describe the main point or contribution of the article.

This article tells about Target’s project expansion plans into Canada and what ended up happening in the end. Target opened their first store in Canada in March of 2013, and just a year and a half later, they reached a peak of 133 stores. Excitement and expectations were high, but Target could not deliver. The Canadian Targets were never successful because the prices were higher than what consumers were expecting and what they were willing to pay. Canadian consumers could buy the same products offered at Target at other stores. It reached a critical point in January of 2015 when Target Canada did not have enough cash to fund the next company payroll—they filed for bankruptcy shortly thereafter. Total losses from the Target Canada project are estimated to be in excess of $7 billion.

2) Show how it is related to the class and topics we have discussed.

This article relates to some of the project management topics we have covered in class. Target had no problem obtaining approval for the project or funding for the project. Constructing 133 stores in 18 months also shows time was not an issue. One relevant topic that Target missed on was one of the Project Management Body of Knowledge areas, project risk management. Part of risk management is not only identifying risks, but also developing plans for addressing risks and mitigating risks. Target also failed with one of the core principals which is being able to identify a problem. Canadian consumers were very clear that they were unwilling to pay the prices in the Target Canada stores. Target should have either done everything in their power to reduce the prices. Another thing they could have done was perform more thorough research before beginning the project, trying to gauge Canadian consumers’ demand curves to see if opening stores in Canada was economically feasible to begin with.

3) How or why this information is helpful to MIS students and/or professionals.

I think this information is useful because I think the problems that Target faced are facets of project management that may get overlooked easier than others. When I think project management, the first thought that pops in my head is: “Can we do it?” The question of “will this project do what we are set out to do?” is equally important. The main takeaways from this article are to react better to problems and be more thorough with feasibility requirements.

Projectlibre

Link: http://www.projectlibre.org/

I found out about an alternative for Microsoft Project. It is called Projectlibre and the best thing about it is that it is FREE. Projectlibre runs almost like Microsoft Project, but with only small differences in the user interface. It can do Gantt and PERT charts, make network diagrams, and best of all, it is compatible with Microsoft Project. This means that you can open and save Microsoft Project documents on Projectlibre.

This is helpful to the class because for the group project you need to manage each team member's time and this software can do it. You can have person 1 do part a by X and person 2 do b by Y. Microsoft Project can do this too, but as mentioned earlier, this is free. It is important for teams to manage time well otherwise one person would wait while one finishes or one has a lot to do or not enough to do.

Hot skills alert tips for landing a plum project managers job

Link: http://www.cio.com/article/2933485/it-skills/hot-skills-alert-tips-for-landing-a-plum-project-managers-job.html

Managing a software implementation project is often thought of as a job requiring knowledge about software. While some (detailed) knowledge of software is requiring, the main focus is actually on being able to identify tasks, to estimate and allocate the correct time and resources for those tasks and to monitor progress. While this seems just like an ordinary management job, this article talks about how interpersonal skills can make the difference between being successful and a project to become a failure.

One of the first assignments for this class is to create a schedule WBS, effectively breaking a larger project into smaller, manageable pieces, and put them in the right order. Though this can be a daunting task for a large project, it usually isn’t the part upon which a project manager fails. A project becomes usually more challenging once tasks have been handed out to people or teams for execution. This is in part because in the software industry the project manager is often not in direct control of the people who the manager works with. In order to get things done, a project manager will have to be very convincing in communicating goals such that people are motivated to complete project tasks in a timely matter.

The article also talks about that project management is often a skill that is learned on the job. While classes like MIS 441 are nowadays available to students, many people become project managers by getting involved in a project. For these people it is not uncommon to start their involvement as an experienced user of a particular software product and becoming involved in product upgrades. People who are knowledgeable, cooperative and show leadership and those teams might be asked to become a manager on a future project.

As an IT professional myself, I have been involved in many software projects and have noticed that the best projects were those that were headed by someone who is both knowledgeable and is able to guide others through leadership. In my opinion leadership is effective when someone not only knows what needs to be done but also knows how to communicate this.

Tech Musings

Reading relevant literature is important for MIS professionals to keep up-to-date with the newest developments in the field. You will submit three musings that comment on an interesting project management, innovation, agile method, or systems development and implementation issue. Musings can be presented as a post on this blog, VoiceThread, or occasionally on Blackboard, and should be about long enough to:

1. Briefly describe the main point or contribution of the article,
2. Show how it is related to the class and topics we have discussed,
3. How or why the information is helpful to you as an MIS professional, or How or why you think it is important for MIS students to know and understand to make them better citizens

Musings should be written professionally. You will receive individual feedback on content, grammar, and writing style. I expect you to incorporate feedback that you receive on a musing in subsequent submissions. Almost any business or IT publication (or website) is appropriate and should include a link to where you found the article. I will include some possible links to investigate on the blog roll, but feel free to use your own citations. Of the three required musings, one must be on a project management issue (e.g., agile development in new settings, alternatives to MS Project for tracking team progress, managing multi-cultural teams, etc.) The remaining two musings can be about any topic you would like (for example: silver bullets in software development, examples of agile methods in software development, Internet of Things, innovative uses of technology, techniques for creating mobile apps, work you are doing related to tech, etc.). Please ask if you are not sure whether a topic is appropriate.

Class Blog for Section 1

I created this blog for the 9:30am section of MIS 441 to allow us to focus on class activities versus general discussion (on the full class blog).  We will use this blog for tech musings, discussing cases, dates and times for presentations, articles we read in class, etc.  To allow you to post on this blog (versus only comment), I will email you a link so you can be an author of the blog.

Any questions?