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"User error," said the IT Service Delivery Manager to his CEO who was wondering how a few thousand pounds had been missed off an invoice. The accounts department systems had recently been linked to production and transport and in theory, everything was now fully automated. The system was infallible,...

I was reminded this week of a joke I first heard as a child. Run with me on this! One cloudy day, on the viewing platform of a tall skyscraper two strangers are chatting. One says, “I bet you £50 that the cloud is so thick you could jump into it and bounce right back here." Although initially scepti...

I overheard a conversation today that made me smile. "What is ITIL?" asked an intern having read the term online. The way he had pronounced 'ITIL' allowed the IT Manager to quip, "It's short for 'It'll fail' and when it does 'It'll be me that has to stay late to fix it.'" It was a nice joke, of cour...

Have you ever toiled with a cursed IT Project? Imagine your server not arriving because there is a man standing on a gantry on the M1, shutting it for 28 hours. Imagine your kit arrives with American plugs. Imagine your lead architect getting stuck in Iceland because of a volcano erupting. Sometimes...

I heard Hofstadter's law being quoted by programmers and Project Managers and it caught my attention. If you're a ‘Big Bang Theory’ fan you'd be forgiven for thinking that Hofstadter's law is "the more, you try not to appear like a geek - the more charmingly geeky you'll appear". (I love Leonard! If...

5 tips to successfully pitch an IT project. So many worthwhile IT Projects never even get greenlighted here’s why. Originally published in CIO magazine. You had made a solid case for your IT Project, convincing you and your team that the C-suite would be putty in your hands. The appointment to pitch...

The conclusion drawn by most IT/tech firms is that they do. So, as most companies digitise their service offer and effectively become IT/tech firms - the question is does YOUR organisation need a PMO? Seven great questions coming up to help you decide. First though, it would be a mistake to enter th...

One of the greatest arguments for hiring contractors over permanent staff is reduced headcount - when work is quiet you want fewer "bums on seats" waiting for something to do. I am therefore surprised to find many companies are voluntarily tying themselves into contracts with contractors that effect...

In the ever changing, lightning speed IT world, effective Project Management delivers operational excellence. As every company is now, in some way, an IT operation IT Project management is something that every company needs. It is, however, something that many companies do not have. Not completely. ...

All IT Organisations should have an IT Service Delivery roadmap, and with the increased digitisation of most industries meaning that pretty soon every business will BE an IT Organisation - now might be a good time to consider yours. Charities, for example, would probably not consider themselves to b...

When pushed, most organisations would claim that they have an IT incident response plan. It's surprising though how few have committed such a plan to paper or created a policy or a process that is clear and easily deployed. It is an unfortunate trend and often, the greatest pain caused to your organ...

Possibly, like me, you have been hooked on an outstanding summer of sport. Regular readers of my blogs will know that I take inspiration from all manner of experiences and walks of life and I bring them back to use in my IT Project Management efforts. Inevitably, I have been immensely motivated by t...

When Innotas carried out its annual survey of Project Management professionals, one overriding and crucial message leapt out at me from the report. Metrics by which project success and PMO success are measured are dangerously misaligned, not just with each other but with business strategy. The Innot...

When motivating IT Project Management team members, praise, gratitude and recognition for 'a job well done' can be as powerful as a raise, a bonus or a promotion. If not more so. Think about it yourself. Your monthly salary is what you've earned in return for your services - that's what's owed to yo...

Charities and not for profit organisations are under unprecedented scrutiny about how they allocate funds donated by the public. From remuneration packages awarded to CEOs to the cost of essential administration and advertising, it seems that everyone has a view. It's fair enough. After all, when yo...