I had previously visited Sharepoint’s homepage looking for a definition of what it is. This is what I found:

What is SharePoint?
​Microsoft SharePoint 2010 makes it easier for people to work together. Using SharePoint 2010, your people can set up Web sites to share information with others, manage documents from start to finish, and publish reports to help everyone make better decisions.

Trust me, this is a better description of what it is, compared to what they had there a few months back. However, this does not really tell me anything, or help me in any way to make a better business case to sell it to an organization.

Also, as part of the conversation, I asked them to tell me what Sharepoint was, and how to define it. Surprise! Each gave me a different answer, with nothing in common between them. I told them what I thought, that it had no clear definition of what it was or how it was useful.

So, one of them told me something that is true: “It is selling like hot cakes”.

His comment made me think: Who really cares how your product is defined, if it is a best-seller? Who cares what people like me think, when they can’t keep up with the demand for implementations at organizations big and small?

Is it really that important to have a clear message for your audience, for your target market, when it is selling better than expected?

What do you think?

Post from: Strategic IT Planning Blog, by Andres Vivas.

Sharepoint Marketing?

Technorati Tags: Marketing, Microsoft, Sharepoint

Surprisingly enough for me, Mrs. Lublin mentions many of the characteristics of Missions Statements I mentioned in that first post about Mission Statements some time ago, and then when I talked about Guy Kawasaki’s video.

Here are the two comments I want to highlight about her article:

Mission statements don’t have to be dumb. In fact, they can be very valuable, if they articulate real targets.

And:

Here is my challenge: Write a mission statement with a goal that’s an action, not a sentiment; that is quantifiable, not nebulous. If you’re trying to sell a product, how and how many? If you’re trying to change lives, how and whose? Take your wonky mission statement and rip it to shreds. Then ponder your ambitions, and write and rewrite the thing until it reflects — in real, printable words and figures — the difference that you want to make.

So, I recommend you spend the 4 minutes it will take you to read Mrs. Lublin’s article, I believe you will find good information there as well.

Post from: Strategic IT Planning Blog, by Andres Vivas.

The Dumb Mission Statement?

Technorati Tags: Guy Kawasaki, Mission Statement

I was taken aback by the amount of resources that big organizations have to dedicate to something like this. I understand that news circulating about this virus magnify the issue and management gets alarmed about it.

The reason number one why we are dealing with this problem is that Microsoft’s Operative system had a vulnerability, they released a patch in October 15, 2008 and still today many computers have not been updated (find instructions on what to do next here).

I understand this happening to mom and pop, where there is no support or any technical help, and in many cases the computer is just a device to be used to see the kids’ pictures.

I find it unacceptable that this situation happens in mid size and big organizations, where there is a clear understanding of how IT helps the business and we all know the importance of keeping our computers up to date.

If you are the IT lead for your organization, how can you make sure the technology is being maintained correctly? What processes and procedures have you put in place to avoid this type of events?

I understand that a virus causes disruption when nobody knows about the vulnerability and the hackers and virus developers exploit it. But almost 6 months after the fix has been released? And it affecting big organizations?

If that is the case, we in IT are responsible for this big failure. I don’t think we can justify it in any way. Good thing this is happening in April 1st, so we all can look like fools if we are actually impacted by this.

What are you doing to make sure something like this does not affect you and your organization?

Post from: Strategic IT Planning Blog, by Andres Vivas.

When a virus disrupts your business life

Technorati Tags: conficker, IT suppot, Microsoft, virus

I found their findings very interesting, and I strongly recommend that you take a look at their findings.

For example, as CIO you have responsibility for non-IT areas like Security (32%) and Strategy (25%). You should also be on the job for 5 years and 4 moths on average (5 years, 11 months if you work for government). You should report to the CEO (47%) or the CFO (16%) or COO (16% as well). The average salary was reported as $247,900.

When asked to select the activities that best characterize your focus and how you spend your time, your answer should have been:

1. Aligning IT and Business Goals

2. Cultivating the IT/Business partnership

3. Improving IT operations/systems performance

Also, half of CIOs said that IT is still considered a cost center.

There are more factors covered by this survey. I recommend you go and read it
.
So, how do you rank in comparison with the 506 heads of IT that took the survey?

Post from: Strategic IT Planning Blog, by Andres Vivas.

Are you the “Average CIO”?

Technorati Tags: CIO, IT Strategy

7 Marks of a Best PMO

Guest post by Alec Satin

Bad project management offices (PMO)s are easy to describe.  You may have had to work with one at some point. Notice the words, had to work with one.  People will do anything possible to minimize their interactions with a bad PMO.  Poor PMOs don’t care. They have little contact with the people in the organization actually doing the work.  Their focus is on compliance by force. Communication flows one way – from them to you.

Great PMOs are Good for Executives, Project Managers and You

It’s been said that all happy couples look the same.  All of the best PMOs share certain characteristics which endear them to management and the project managers they support.

1. Projects Align with Organizational Goals

At some level, every project is conceived to provide some benefit to the organization.  The business case, charter and scope ideally describe this in an understandable way.  A good PMO ensures that all projects worked in an organization have benefits that truly align to the most important needs and objectives of the business. If the nature of the business environment changes significantly, a good PMO will decide what impact if any this will have on the active projects.  Sometimes projects need to be redefined, shelved or even cancelled.  If a project’s benefits are no longer benefits, it makes no sense to continue working the project.

2. Project Success Rates Increase

A good PMO ensures that all needed resources are available and allocated before the start of the project.  The PMO monitors the project plan and budget throughout the lifecycle to ensure that the project remains on track, and that resources are available as needed. As large risks present themselves, the PMO may help in brokering solutions which are best for everyone involved. These activities increase the number of projects completed on time, on budget and in scope.

3. Project Management Competence Increases

Organizations with good project management offices find that the skill and competence of project management activities improve over time.  PMP Certification is common.  As important is the establishment of formal or informal mentoring programs for all project managers. Mentoring increases networking relationships, provides practical guidance for newer project managers, and contributes to a team culture in the organization.

4. Standards and Templates are Developed and Improved

A good PMO provides useful, practical and helpful project templates. These templates are revised as often as necessary to ensure that the right type of documentation is being created.  Clear guidance is provided to ensure that the minimum number of documents are created for any particular project.

5. PMO Tone is Inviting

The PMO is considered a partner and resource rather than a bully. The compliance aspect is deemphasised.  Learning and Improvement are embraced.

6.  Training is Available

A good PMO offers more than one class a year.  Free training is available in multiple formats and in various ways.  There may be online sessions.  Classroom training may be provided.  An open door policy may be in effect for a few hours every day. There may be a constantly monitored IM (instant messaging) or chat account available to any PM with a question at any time.

7. Learning is Embraced

The PMO members seek out feedback and incorporate it into project management office policies and activities.  Lessons learned are included in projects and in the PMO itself.  The PMO looks for ways to continually increase its value up (to management) and down (to project managers).

Do you have a World Class PMO?

(Image by ideologie)

Post from: Strategic IT Planning Blog, by Andres Vivas.

7 Marks of a Best PMO

Technorati Tags: Alec Satin, PMO

What caught my attention from his presentation was the fact that he mentioned the need of creating a Mantra instead of a Mission Statement. He advices the audience to keep in mind that a Mission Statement must be useful for your employees. This is the same point I was making in my post Is your Mission Statement worthless?

The video is 39 minutes long and contains great information about many topics, but if you want to watch only the section where he talks about Mission Statements then start watching 06:22 into it, and you can stop watching at the 12:12 marker.

Here is the video:

Post from: Strategic IT Planning Blog, by Andres Vivas.

And speaking of Mission Statements…

Technorati Tags: Guy Kawasaki, Mantra, Mission Statement

Problem: No access to the email, network and phone system.
Temporary Solution: Use your personal cell phones and setup Gmail accounts for staff.

Of course, this procedure had to be cleared by the White House counsel, but they found a way to keep moving forward. For sure, there are ways to approach this problem in a more proactive way, but it was too late for that, so a Temporary Solution was needed. Good move, in my opinion.

Post from: Strategic IT Planning Blog, by Andres Vivas.

Example of a Temporary Solution

Technorati Tags: Obama, Temporary solutions

For starters, who will be the CTO for the government? I know that Google’s Eric Schmidt said no to that position. But I don’t know who is in that short list, and when there will be an announcement about it.

My interest focuses on what is the IT Strategy for the biggest IT client in the world.

I found an interesting articles about the role of the new CTO, from the Federal Computer Week magazine: Obama CTO may lack sufficient influence

Topics like Network Neutrality will occupy central stage, I assume. But what about modernizing the existing infrastructure in all Federal agencies? Make investments in a more efficient way? Not having a centralized strategy for web sites and internet usage?

So, all in all, I have only questions and no answers at this time. I will be monitoring this topic as it is very important to help us understand where the biggest IT spender in the world will be investing. This will probably affect everybody in the IT world in one way or another.

What are your thoughts about the future of the IT investments by the government under the new administration?

Post from: Strategic IT Planning Blog, by Andres Vivas.

CTO for the Obama Administration?

Technorati Tags: Government, IT Strategy, Obama

And we all know it will never happen. Or, actually, it will. Next time it breaks, or next time we need to make an update (which will happen precisely at the same time of another crisis, so we won’t have time to do it right that time either). There is a reason why duct tape is so popular, right?

What have you noticed about temporary solutions?

Here are a few points I can think of:

1. They are applied with agreement from management –either implicit or explicit
2. Everybody knows we won’t fix it until it breaks again –an we all agree to that
3. They last three years (This is what I call the Andres Vivas rule of Temporary solutions)
4. They get deployed at the last minute, just when the deadline is here, so we use that as justification of why we had to do it
5. We won’t document it, do next time it breaks we will have to sit down and think, trying to remember why and how we deployed it –and that is IF the same staff is still there three years after it was deployed, otherwise the newer staff will have to guess and then think that the people that were there before them were not competent at all

What else have you noticed about Temporary Solutions?

I am sure that better planning should minimize these situations, but how can we avoid these situations completely? Any ideas?

Meanwhile, as a temporary solution, I will leave the discussion open, I’ll come back to revisit this topic when I have more time.

Post from: Strategic IT Planning Blog, by Andres Vivas.

Beware of Temporary Solutions

Technorati Tags: IT Strategy, planning, Temporary solutions

I suggest you read that article. It provides very good points.

I strongly agree with imperative #10: Review your strategic plan. It is boring. And painful. But will give you a great high-level view of what’s coming, what projects should continue and should be put on hold.
Also, imperative #8 Ensure strong governance, follows the same pattern as #10, being both un-exciting and tedious, but completing this step will provide great clarity and a high return on the time and effort invested.

I have to recognize that imperatives #4 Don’t forget risk (it is NOT about what you probably are thinking) and #5 Figure out compliance where not in my short list of things to do next year.

What about you? What do you take from these ten imperatives? Which of these will you implement first?

Post from: Strategic IT Planning Blog, by Andres Vivas.

Ten imperatives for midmarket IT strategy in 2009

Technorati Tags: IT Strategy, Processes, Tools