Reporting as a Quick Win: BI and Building Credibility

by Craig Curran-Morton October 15, 2012

Sometimes, helping with reporting is very low on an IT department's priority list. They have bigger, more valued-added initiatives to deal with. For IT and for Business Intelligence, this is a huge mistake.

Business Process Management: A Lean Approach

by Michael Wood October 4, 2012

In practice, BPM more often centers on implementing process handling and business rules into the underlying IT applications. All too often, BPM efforts are little more than another package evaluation and selection process to find a “bolt-on” BPM tool. But there is a better way, a simpler way to traditional BPM, one that condenses the vision, definition, modeling, analysis and improvement discovery phases into a single process.

Staying Ahead of the Clouds

by Mike Donoghue September 19, 2012

No longer a possible notion, idea or discussion point, the whole cloud concept has been getting considerable traction in mainstream IT operations. But what is up and coming for this technological evolutionary jump, and what will be needed to support it?

The IT Cake Boss

by Tom L. Barnett, PMP August 20, 2012

It’s a universal problem for IT project managers everywhere. When you’re managing a system implementation you are responsible for the total solution--that means application and infrastructure. The problem is that these two camps haven’t always gotten along. Here, we look at how to make bridging the gap between infrastructure and applications in your project technology stack as easy as, well...a piece of cake.

'A' for Analysis

by Kenneth Darter, PMP August 13, 2012

Analyzing information and data is a very important skill for a project manager in all phases of the project. Are you getting an "A" for analysis effort?

Finding the Big PI Opportunities

by Michael Wood August 9, 2012

The inability to find breakthrough BPI opportunities seems to speak to one of the biggest reasons BPI effectiveness is waning--if not absent--in so many organization’s today. BPI is not an intellectual pursuit; it is the process of discovering, defining and implementing organizationally aligned solutions. In fact, the process is quite straightforward and logical if approached correctly. A three-step approach might help.

Mainstream Green

by Andy Jordan August 1, 2012

Over the last few years, environmental concerns have become a normal part of doing business--and the opportunity to differentiate yourself by simply being green has disappeared. Now you stand out from the crowd if you aren’t environmentally conscious in your projects.

The Green Grade

by Michael Wood August 1, 2012

How green should your PM practices be? Applying green practices and ideas to the management of projects is relatively new to the project management community. Adding “greenthink” to projects means finding ways to practice common-sense conservation techniques that do not hinder achieving the project’s budgetary, timeline and value-add objectives. Are you making the green grade?

The Value of BI

by Craig Curran-Morton March 5, 2012

We need to learn and understand more about the potential of Business Intelligence. One of these gaps is being able to understand and communicate the value it brings to organizations. Like many of the other management disciplines, that value is often difficult to quantify. As a result, the lifespan of any given BI function is shorter or more limited than it should be.

Data Warehouse BQA Prototype Plan

PREMIUM project plan

This Microsoft Project Plan will walk you through the ins and outs of putting together a business question assessment to analyze the data you need for your data warehouse.

Data Warehouse Strategy Project Plan

deliverable

Need to plan a data warehouse project? This synopsis outlines the steps, deliverables and team roles for strategizing, architecting, designing and planning the implementation of a data warehouse.

List of Common Schedule Risks

deliverable

This list and overview of common schedule risks will help you maintain vigilance against pitfalls that can interrupt, stop or ruin your software development project.

Data Transformation Map

deliverable

Map the transformation of the data elements from source system tables to data warehouse target tables.

Data Warehouse Extraction Tool Recommendation

deliverable

How do you select the best data extraction/transformation toolset for your data warehouse? Evaluate features, functionality, vendor reputation... the works. Follow the example set by this robust tool evaluation.

Redbrick Data Warehouse Backup and Restore Procedure

deliverable

Even though you've built the perfect data warehouse, it's better to be safe than sorry if something goes wrong during its operation and you need to restore the original data files. Take the time to document your backup and recovery procedures, as in this example.

Data Warehouse QA Form

deliverable

A handy spreadsheet for recording Data Warehouse QA issues, from data transformation to report generation problems.

Offshore Outsourcing Project Plan

PREMIUM project plan

Find greater profits using offshore outsourcing, and use this project plan to make sure it's done right--and on time.

Data Warehouse Tool Cost Matrix

deliverable

There's a lot to consider when selecting a Data Warehouse toolset. Use this comprehensive tool evaluation matrix to guide your final selection.

Data Warehouse Tool Selection Plan

PREMIUM project plan

This Microsoft Project plan can serve as a guide to evaluating vendor tools for your data warehouse. It includes a Gantt chart schedule and cost analysis for the complete tool selection process.

Business Case

PREMIUM deliverable

Mission-critical projects need to be well-justified, with clear goals that can be referenced throughout the life of the project. This business case template offers an excellent approach to goal-setting and a way to communicate those goals effectively.

Pre-Development Requirements Checklist

PREMIUM checklist

This checklist will help you assess your user and technical requirements for accuracy, completeness and quality.

Self-Documenting Code Checklist

checklist

Code is a developer's signature on a software project, and not all developers play by the rules of good coding standards. Ensure that your development team leaves a coding legacy that not only implements the application at hand but can be understood by others and maintained during future development cycles.

Data Warehouse Project Plan

PREMIUM project plan

Are you putting together a data warehouse? This Microsoft Project plan will help you keep tabs on all the complex stages and steps involved in building decision support systems and a knowledge-based applications architecture and environment.

Integration Test Plan Outline

deliverable

Here is a solid outline of a plan for testing individual development components in context with the overall system.