mip's scan

Can You Boil the Ocean?

My 7 year old daughter asked me what I meant while I was talking on the phone and used the phrase "Don't try and boil the ocean?"  I was working from home and talking to a client and used the term that we are undoubted all familiar with.  When I got off the phone she asked me, "Dad, how come you can't boil the ocean?"

I simply said, "It's an expression sweetheart.  You know, if you try and do something too large you can't do it.  Just like you couldn't boil all the water in the ocean away.  Understand?"

She scrunched her nose and I could see she was thinking.  Then she replied, "You could if you used mom's pot."

I replied, "A pot would be too small wouldn't it?"

She answered, "Yeah but you would just do it over and over again.  One pot at a time."

To this I smiled and chuckled as I reflected on the truth of her statement.  It got me thinking about the approach that my consulting group and I take when approaching client problems.  Project X leverages a Rapid Results approach, striving to chunk things down into 100 day initiatives that deliver value.  In effect, our approach for producing value through short engagements that make up a larger organizational strategy is akin to boiling the ocean one pot at a time. 

Transforming Education

I've spent some time over the past few months carrying out some strategy work in the education market as a part of our Education Transformation solution offering.  The way technology is leveraged by kids has always been something I've been interested in (here are past posts), both because I have children of my own & because I am always looking for ways that organizations can extract real value from their investments in information technology.

As I have worked with my own children over the past couple of years, I've come to see more and more that this generation of children is really changing due to being a digital generation. I saw this as well when I created and operated the Youth Technology Camp program for children.

Our children are changing, the world they will enter after school is changing, so why is it that education has not changed that much?  I don't think that it has kept up with the changing nature of the world with which it has found itself (a good video that drives home the point of rapid change is this one titled Did You Know).

So how is education changing and where is it all going?  What does it mean to transform our education system into a 21st century model?  To best understand this change, we need to understand the changes as they relate to the various stakeholder, processes and objectives.  The transition from Education 1.0 to today's Education 2.0 and eventually the future Education 3.0 is causing a fundamental paradigm shift in various aspects of education.  The diagram to the left tries to capture this change.  Most importantly is the move to a customized approach for each student.  That is truly disruptive.  It is akin to the the level of customization we receive in so many other areas of our lives.  For example, banks have embraced technology to try and deliver us a more customer-intimate experience, a one-on-one relationship between the bank and its customers.  The expectation is part of the culture today and kids are growing up with that.  Education needs to strive to deliver that type of learning environment to today's youth. 

Strategic Planning Is Not a One Time Event

I had one of those shake your head moments a few days ago that has remained with me and so I thought I'd put fingers-to-keyboard in an attempt to flush out some thoughts and put the incident behind me. 

It stemmed from a a series of comments someone I was speaking to made with regard to IT Strategy.  This person was treating the whole exercise as a one time event.  For example, if you were developing a 24 month IT plan for example - you do it, get it set and then "who needs strategic thinking between the start and end".  You don't, apparently, you simply "follow the plan".  

I take issue with this approach.  True, creating a strategic IT plan is an event; there is a process to create one properly.  The thing is, to effectively manage IT in an organization, you must go beyond that single event of creating the plan.  Strategic planning is a process not an event unto itself.   Once the plan is created, the day-to-day decision making while tactical in nature does at times require one to step back and make decisions strategically.  The strategic plan that you create is not a recipe from a cookbook.  One of the key elements is ongoing strategic governance and decision making.  

To not approach managing IT as a strategic process causes you to become paralyzed by your plan.  Your IT plan becomes rigid and the decisions you make based on that plan can often be the wrong ones if you don't have the ability to approach things strategically.  

Take a cruise ship for example, out on the the ocean.  There is a plan for getting from point A to point B, but it takes a skilled captain to know what types of course adjustments to make along the way when a storm presents itself out in the distance.  It takes years of navigating the seas to be able to decide when to pull into port and when not to.  The captain allows his crew to carry out the tactical day-to-day operations, but he jumps back into a strategic mindset when the moment requires it.  That is a lot like governing IT.  You have your plan, yes, but you need to be able to think strategically to manage the technology, the people, and the processes.  You need to know when to let your crew do their thing, and you need to know when to step in and make strategic decisions.  You need to know when to push back on end users, but you need to recognize that it is the business that drives IT.  Your business changes, sometimes unexpectedly.  You have to be able to adapt your plan to those dynamic aspects of the business or risk driving down the value of IT in your organization.  IT strategy isn't something you read from a book and then follow to bake the perfect IT cake.  If you do approach it that way, well, you may find your ship dashed against the rocks when a storm arises.

Testing the Rogers Rocket Wireless Stick

Over the past year I’ve looked at technologies that allow me to work effectively while on the go. For connectivity I’ve often relied on WiFi access points that might be found at vendor offices, client locations, hotels or coffee shops. While often these resources work out, they aren’t always ideal. Many times, when I needed connectivity the most, that was the time I just couldn’t get a WiFi access point to work effectively. 

That is why, some time ago I decided to pickup a Rogers wireless USB modem also called Rogers Rocket Internet. This device from Rogers is a Novatel piece of hardware that is like a slightly oversized USB memory key. I usually keep in my bag or sometimes even in my pocket. When needed I simply plug it into the USB port to get it up and running. So, what has the experience been like? 

Review of Rovio

I love robotics.  I also love telepresence (the ability to be someplace via webcam and/or shared web space).  That is why I was immediately interested in the Rovio when it came out.  I've had it for a few months and wanted to share my thoughts on it.

Firstly, what in the world is a Rovio?  Well, the straight definition from WooWee, the company that makes Rovio, is:

...a WiFi enabled mobile webcam that lets you see, speak and hear from anywhere in the world...as if you were right there in the room...

I would agree with that, but I like my daughter's description that the Rovio reminded her of the "robot sent to explore Mars".  In truth, that is what Rovio reminds me of too! The picture to the left is a side shot of Rovio.  You can get a video demo of the Rovio in action by clicking on this link.

Google's Apps Status Dashboard

In being responsible for an IT department and all the systems that come with that responsibility I have often told my team that no deployment, no system, no application will allows perform perfectly.  Unexpected outages will occur.  In my books, these types of outages are only unexpected with respect to when they will happen, not if they will happen.

What is important when you have an outage is how you deal with that outage.  Of course there are the obvious elements, like getting the issue resolved and ending the outage.  I think equally important though is how you communicate the outage to your end users.  Often an end user is far more tolerant of an outage when they have information as to what's been impact, what's being done, and when/if the issue has been resolved.

I thought of this during Google's Gmail outage yesterday.  Yes, even Google, with all their robust infrastructure and multiple levels of redundancy, does experience an outage.  The Gmail one was widespread, impacting a lot of people and generating a ton of negative chatter on the Internet and in media.  I was glad to see, beyond just resolving the issue, that Google took a proactive step to communicate today by providing end users with a dashboard that gives the status on a variety of Google applications (like Gmail, Calendar, Docs, etc).  This kind of dashboard provides performance status that is important to the end-user and works to temper people's reactions to outages.  I know from experience that when my team experienced a corporate outage with email, for example, then once the issue was resolved, any little thing that user perceived as an issue with email, they quickly escalated because they weren't always sure if the issue was resolved.  I think Google's dashboard is a good step in the right direction in continuing to earn people's trust in the cloud services that they have given to the market.  Can more be done?  Absolutely.  Still, if this is the first step among many, I think end-users will be a lot happier, even when there is an outage. 

You can see the Apps Status Dashboard by clicking on this link.

What's All The Fuss About Netbooks?

I must admint that netbooks are a tech that puzzled me somewhat.  For a time I felt they were too small and, more importantly for me, too underpowered.  Of course, what I was thinking about were mini laptops that I tested over the years - there was no netbook category.  They were ultraportable laptops like a Sony UX50 or a Fujitsu Lifebook.  I liked their size (for the most part) but found them to be pokey/sluggish when it came to performance.  I loved the concept of the OQO as this really tiny computer you could use at your desk, plugged into a keyboard and monitor.  Then, when you had to leave the office, you simply grabbed the OQO, put it in your pocket and off you go.  A very appealing idea for me.  The problem again, was performance.  The device is somewhat underpowered.  The other issue - price.  You were really paying a premium for that portability.

All those things I mentioned above came back to me (mixed feelings) when I started to see this new category emerge called Netbooks.  They have been taking the markets by storm though, in a time when laptops and PCs have been taking a beating.  I often see articles that talk about how business users are warming to the netbook and how the overseas market has been soaring for these low powered mini devices, but still I scratched my head in wonderment.

Tweetdeck

I posted a blog a few days ago about my surprisingly positive experience with using Twitter.  As a part of using Twitter, I've found there are many ways to update the "what are you  doing?" field.  I'll blog tomorrow about how I do this on the iPhone when I'm out and about, but the reality is that predominately, my time is for the most part spent in front of a computer.  

From a computer, you can of course simply update via the web when you are at www.twitter.com.  This works effectively, but I was looking for something more.  After trying a number of client apps I feel the best for me is a wonderful applications called Tweetdeck.

Tweetdeck uses columns to give you a kind of dashboard of all your Twitter activity.  It is an Adobe Air application, so you can easily install it on a Mac or Windows (not sure about Linux - their site doesn't mention it).  I have installed it on all the machines I work on and I leave it running all the time.  While I'm working, I get subtle alerts when there is a new Tweet.  If I'm not at my computer, when I bring up Tweetdeck it brings up all the info for me to see:  Tweets from all the people I am following, Tweets that are replies to me, Direct Messages for me.  I keep an added column open on the far righthand side that shows me TwitScoop trends - it is like a "cloud" of words that grows and shrinks in near real time (updated by the minute) that gives at a glance a snapshot of what people are Twittering about.    

Here is a video tutorial with tips on how to use Tweetdeck.

For me, Tweetdeck has become an indispensable application on my Mac and Window machines.  I launch it and use it as often as I do my email application.  If you are looking for a great desktop Twitter client, I'd highly recommend Tweetdeck.

Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink

I recall when I took a family vacation and we were aboard a cruise ship.  At one point I was out on deck with my oldest daughter, and while I looked out a the massive ocean stretching out before us I quoted a line from a famous poem titled The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, that line being, "Water, water everywhere, Nor any drop to drink."  

My daughter wanted to know what I meant by that so I took a few seconds to explain that the speaker of poem was a sailor who, being out a sea was surrounded by water, but because it was salty he couldn't drink it.  Of course, we all know that today that line is often used in any situation in which someone might find themselves in the midst of plenty of "something" but unable to partake of it.  

As I began my recent research in data warehousing and business intelligence, this line echoed in my head, with a twist "Data, data everywhere....", you get the idea.

It would seem to me that for the purposes of an analogy, data that is being collected by companies is much like the ocean and our not being able to drink that water to survive without first changing the water through the process of desalination.   Just as water is taken from the sea and put through a process to turn it into fresh water, so too must data be taken from the corporation and put through a process to make it consumable (valuable) for the corporation.  

Livescribe Pen

Over the years I have tried a number of tablet PCs in an attempt to have something that I could write my notes on and they'd then exist on my computer.  Try and try again, no matter what devices I've tried, the promise of enhanced note taking just hasn't been there for me unfortunately.  This lack of value for me was due to any number of things, such as:

• size of the unit - either they are too big and clunky to carry around or they are too small to effectively use
• battery life - nothing worse than having the unit not turn on in a meeting or die half-way through the meeting due to a drained battery 
• format of the notes - too often, systems I tried used some kind of proprietary format for the files that contained my hand written notes, effectively trapping my notes if I ever wanted to change systems 

Despite the above shortcomings however, I have still lusted quested for the holy grail that would enable me to hand write my notes, but still have them captured digitally.  Several months ago, my prayers were answered and I'm here to tell you about one of the most  valuable devices I've had the pleasure to use in the past year.  

I'm talking about the Livescribe Smart Pen, which has transformed my note taking in absolutely wonderful ways.  You can of course can all kinds of technical details on the Pulse Smart Pen from Livescribe over at their site, but I'd like to relay some real world experience with this little wonder.

How I Became a Twitter Convert

I've been a long time Facebook user.  And I love it.  I find it an incredible way to keep in touch with family and friends.  I'm not sure if it is because I've used Facebook for so long that Twitter initially made little sense to me.  Let me tell you then, how I went from being confused, to a huge supporter of Twitter.

I signed up for Twitter some time ago; when exactly I can't remember.  I typed a couple of one-line updates.  That's what they felt like to me, like Facebook status updates.  That was what was somewhat disappointing to me.  It was like a lightweight version of Facebook.  Status updates but nothing else.  I tried to see what the appeal was.  I searched for some people that I knew, but alas, nobody was there.  So I stopped visiting, content to update status in Facebook, share photos with families, and trade comments with friends.  Twitter seemed like a technology that had been surpassed by Facebook.

From time to time I kept seeing Twitter pop up in the odd news article or blog post that I would read.  Then I heard about how Barack Obama was using Twitter to reach out to the grassroots supporters.  I checked it out again, but it felt like the same experience I had the first time.  

I again, I left my Twitter account untouched.  Then several weeks ago, I saw someone in my Facebook network questioning "what is the appeal of Twitter"  - I chimed in and echoed the sentiment.  Someone else wrote back "Follow a few people and see what happens."  With that thought, I got back onto Twitter and searched for people I knew.  I found a few, but not many.  I really didn't want to email my close friends and family and try and lure them onto Twitter - I figured they'd all have the same reaction as me and feel that Facebook more than satisfied their social networking needs.  

I persevered and started updating Twitter.  I did like that I could update it more frequently in Twitter than I could in Facebook.  People in Facebook, while they enjoy a status update, they definitely don't want to see four or five or a dozen updates in a day.  So I was diligently making updates, answering Twitter's question: What are you doing?

Then it happened, February 10.  I was doing some research on a business intelligence platform and I updated my status to read Is creating some Microstrategy research notes.

New Position, New Start In Blogging

Hello dear readers!  By now, some of you have probably heard that I am changing jobs.  I've been the Director of IT at a wonderful actuarial firm for the past 4 years.  I am excited to be moving to Project X on March 23 as their VP, Consulting.  

With this upcoming move, my mind has begun to transition to new things.  I was surprised as I did some planning in my home office that I'd not used certain skills over the past while; facilitation, strategic consulting, and, (no surprise here), tech research & blogging.  Over the past couple of weeks, I've gotten back into looking at new, broad IT concepts, broad IT technology and their application both in business and personally.  And so, with my upcoming move, I am moving back to blogging on a regular basis, not only here on mip's scan but also over on the Project X blog when the topics are more around data warehousing and business intelligence.  

mip's scan use to be a weekly email that I would send out to clients when I first started consulting.  I would pull my thoughts together and share them with clients in a brief email.  With the onset of blogging I moved that approach to the web via this blog and now that I am returning to consulting, I look forward to once again begin posting here at mip's scan.

I look forward to sharing my thoughts and getting your input!

Kerpoof

Well it is summer time, and I thought I'd lead off my return to blogging with a post for technology and kids.  My kids have been busy doing all sorts of good outdoor fun this summer: swimming, golfing, water parks.  After a day out and about they like to come home and crash with some indoor fun. 

I found this site for my children that they absolutely love and I wanted to share it with you all.  The site is Kerpoof and it brings together two of my favourite things:  technology and creativity.  Kerpoof allows children to create a number of things:

• pictures where they start with a background and drag & drop characters and props to create a scene.  The tool is intuitive enough to adjust items you drag into the scene in terms of size to give a sense of perspective & depth
• drawings where kids can freehand draw
• movies where they can use an interesting timeline tool to have objects, characters, and speech appear & move as time passes.  It is a great introduction for kids on how animation is done.  It uses a similar paradigm to other movie creation tools and serves as a good introduction for kids
• cards and stories that again allow them to leverage a variety of creative tools

What I found most interesting about Kerpoof, aside from the tools, is the social network aspect.  Children, once setup with an account (that is free), earn virtual coins that they can then use to buy other things, like different style pens for example.  The art work is made available for other users to see and other kids can rank your work, which also earns you points. 

I've watched my oldest and youngest, 10 and 6, both spend time on this site and thoroughly enjoy it.  They email me pieces of their work through the day and it is amazing to see the level of sophistication that can be achieved after "playing" with Kerpoof for a while.

If you are looking for a good destiniation to send your kids to on the web, be sure to check out Kerpoof. 

mip is back

Hello dear readers. At long last, I have finally returned to blogging. Life was incredibly busy with a number of personal life events and so tech blogging took a temporary hiatus.

Does that mean I was away from my usual use of technology? Not a chance! As I sit here this morning blogging in a Starbucks from my 3G iPhone, I have a dozen topics that I will slowly ease into this week.

It is great to be back! I look forward to reconnecting with you again in the coming days and weeks.

Ciao!
mip

Here Come the "iPhone Killers"

For years we've heard about the next great iPod Killer.  A music player so revolutionary, it would surely break Apple's dominance.  Yeah right.  What did we get? Wanna-be-device after wanna-be-device.  Why do companies insist on labeling their products as "such-&-such-killers".  It is just dumb.  It introduces unnecessary pressure on the device, which rarely amounts to anything more than a later comer to the party.  It gave us poor devices like the Microsoft Zune which were destined to be iPod-killers but really became bottom-drawer-fillers.

Hence, I had to roll my eyes, now that LG has announced their iPhone killer.  Ummm...didn't they already try that with the Prada phone...which tanked miserably as an alternative to the iPhone.  Well they are at it again now with the Voyager, which looks to be a rip-off of the iPhone.  It looks pretty, sure, but will it perform well?  Will it be anything more than a "me-too" device?  LG has already made a misstep.  They have said this device will be the iphone-killer.  What happens if it isn't?  Wouldn't they have been better off just releasing this phone and letting it stand on its own?

No date or price has been set yet.  I would be willing to bet that by the time this phone hits the market, Apple will already be preparing the next generation iPhone.  What is encouraging about this story, however, is that you can see that Apple really has redefined the market - everybody is trying to imitate them.  What else is new?