Who owns Master Data in your company?
I've had to respond to this question, inside and outside of the company, in a number of different conversations over the past few days. It's interesting, because this is one…
News for Wombats: Taming Unreasonable Requirements
I've heard from a couple of friends about some "classic" project requests - dilemmas they have recently faced. These unreasonable requests can be turned into something achievable and, potentially, more…
Does Excel 2007 VBA have Sneaky Hidden Issues?
I've done a lot of coding over the past few years, on a number of platforms - but since I'm not a full time developer, it's typically limited to VBA,…
Don’t Accept Snap Answers Too Quickly
A few years ago, I was working on an interface project, and wanted to have the ERP system send copies of any and all transactions that have changed over the…
Can you, should you, bother Executives with The Details?
In a recent post on Thinking Faster, Phillips expresses concern about the apparent propensity for project sponsors to skim over the details and jump to quick answers. He's talking about…
Home Development Workstation – Part 3
See also ... Home Development Workstation - Part 1 Home Development Workstation - Part 2 Ok, here's where we put the rest of these boxes, switches, wires, and other assorted…
Home Development Workstation – Part 1
Why I think that every techie should go through the experience of building up a desktop workstation from the ground level. Maybe it's because I date back to the days…
Do you want it good or fast? Prioritizing Time-to-Value over Requirements
I have a background in software product development, iterative "methodologies", and the sort of fast-twitch life cycle that characterizes entrepreneurial startups, high-growing businesses, and "lean" process improvement projects. Unfortunately, this…
Tactics for Controlling Project Scope
I wrote about ways to "cheat" at project prioritization [aka trying to figure out what to work on next, when there is more demand (projects) than supply (people to work…
Deja Vu: Comparing Enterprise Software to Big Pharma from the 90’s
Eric Savitz posted an interesting article (via Techmeme) reviewing a VC discussion earlier this month, on how the enterprise software business looks increasingly like big pharma. Their focus was the…