It is with much anticipation that I am now less than a month away from starting my MBA in Executive Management at Royal Roads University in Victoria, BC on January 2nd, 2012.

I’ve had an interesting journey through the technology with an ultimate goal over twelve years ago to move my career into the business side versus the hands on technical side.

Not that there is anything wrong at all with the technical hands on side of things.  In fact I still have a passion for technology and still even get involved with coding in C++ and developing my own website, such as this one.  However, my passion has been with leveraging technology to enable business and to become a leader in the business community.

My first opportunity was to move into Project Management while at Crystal Decision / Business Objects.  I saw this as a great opportunity as I saw a growing requirement for senior business roles to have PM experience.  On that path, I decided to back my experiences with education by gaining my PMP and PRINCE2 Practitioner certifications along with PM and Program Mng certifications from UBC.

To continue with the continuing path of education, and to meet the increasing requirements, I decided to go for my MBA.

Royal Roads was an ideal fit for me as I have a need to continue my employment and they also considered acceptance based on education and work experience.   I also knew a few people that did their MBA at RRU and it was very well endorsed.

So, it is with great excitement that I look to the near future of my educational challenges…

I’m taking the opportunity of the December holidays to start reading my recent acquired books in Accounting and Managerial Accounting, which I have actually found VERY interesting!

I’ll use my blog to update my excitement, challenges, and pain as I go along my journey… and of course, my celebration post when I complete the program!!!

Cheers
Aaron

Since the new movie came out, I decided it was too long since my last drawing and thought a Captain America theme was a good idea.  I wasn’t totally satisfied with the proportions on this one.  Just means I need to draw more often so I don’t lose the skill.

This was done on a larger size paper, too large for my scanner, so I had to use my iPhone 4 to take a picture of it.

I plan on doing a few more single character drawings as I plan on doing a full poster size next year and want to make sure I’m back in the groove enough for that project to turn out great!

This is one of my favorites.  It is done on a large size so I couldn’t scan it.  This is a picture for now using my iPhone until I can get it to a place with a larger scanner.

Who is Spiderman without MJ… I drew this in 1998 as well.

Cheers
Aaron

One of my childhood comic book favorites was Spiderman.  This was a drawing I did in 1998.

Cheers
Aaron

As time moves on so do car trends.  I look at my 1969 Super Bee and think of times when cars were sharp and aggressive… I’ll skip the 80′s and 90′s… Coming into 2000 we still had much of the rounded “jelly bean” car lines to contend with.  The biggest offender being the Mazda Miata that has a jelly bean shape and colours!

My 2001 Porsche Carerra 996 C2 was factory ordered with the Aero kit which was the same body kit as the GT3.  Although this did make the car more aggressive, it has still become very dated.  Here is a before picture.

Cars today, especially those that are “super cars”, are bringing back the sharper lines, wider bodies, and overall aggressive look mixed with some of the organic styling queues.  These complex compound shapes are now possible due to modern computerized design engineering, manufacturing, and materials available.

So after doing much investigation, I decided to go with a company called Precision Porsche to get some updated body panels.  I also decided to upgrade the front headlights to the next body style up in the 2002+ Porsche 996 cars or 2001+ Turbos.  This involves changing the front fenders, luckily since my car had the Xenon/Litronic headlights I’m able to do the swap without changing the wiring harnesses.

As I now have a chance to “mix and match” styling I like, I decided to go with:  TechArt style front bumper with larger lower lip, 2011 GT3 rear bumper, and 997 GT2 rear decklid and wing.  I also decided to change to side skirts on the rocker panels to a sharper line found on the 997 TechArt Turbo which are going to be the first ones Precision has made to fit a 996 C2.  Lastly, I’m also adding Turbo style air intake ducts with the TechARt splitter in the quarter panels.

To date, I’ve been able to install the rear bumper and decklid.  Also, I’ve changed the front fenders and installed the front bumper.  I have some more fit and finish work to do on these components but the major fitment is out of the way.

The side skirts should be shipped by the end of November and along with are some templates to cut the hole needed for the air ducts.  I’m hoping to have all the new panels fit and ready for my painter to come by and check out the work, give me a quote, have me haggle on price, and get it painted.  The paint may not happen until early next year, but it should all be finished by next Spring.

Should bring that modern super car look back into my car and in a custom way with the styling queues I like in my own sort of “creation”.  Here are some pictures of the progress so far:

Cheers
Aaron

Well as we have an expanding family and we are putting many more miles on our family mover, we decided to get something newer and on warranty as well as more economical on fuel and with some more space.

As we’re not fans at all of mini-vans, that whole idea was out.  We also didn’t want a massive full size SUV, so our options were getting limited.  After some searching on the crossover market, we came across the Mercedes R-class.  More specifically, the R350 BlueTec diesel version.

This is an interesting car concept and hard to explain.  It is a 7-seater vehicle with loads of interior space.  In fact the second row seat is much like the S-class for leg room and the rear two seats in the third row are large enough for grown adults.  It is based on the SUV M-class chassis, so it sits a little higher than the station wagon and has all-wheel drive.

In pictures, it looks a lot like a mini-van.  In person, it looks nothing like a mini-van and rather a higher station wagon.

Reviews are mixed online saying things such as that the handling is poor and the road noise is high or that is has a lot of vibration.  In my opinion, we didn’t experience any of these traits.  The car is very smooth and very quiet.   It is very comfortable and has all the luxury you’d expect from a Mercedes and the Premium Package this one has includes the large sunroof, navigation, etc, and this one was also optioned with the rear entertainment system which is good for the kids on road trips.  Actually, probably better for the parents that the kids have it on the road trips is more accurate.

We purchased the car from the Mercedes-Benz dealership in Richmond, BC.  I want to give particular shout out to John Winfield who went above and beyond to make a deal work for us and make it a great car purchase experience.  I’d highly recommend anyone that is interested in purchasing a Mercedes to ask for him to assist you in your purchase.  You won’t regret it.

Conclusion

The R-class is a people mover.  It is larger in length and height than a sedan or even station wagon, but you do get a lot of features for that space that meet the needs of people that need more space or have a growing family.

The comfort, luxury, features, etc, etc are all great things to have.  Yes you pay for them, but if you drive a lot per day having that comfort does make being stuck in traffic more bearable.

Would I recommend this car?  Yes, very much so.  It has been a joy to drive thus far and we’ve already seen the fuel savings versus our previous SUV.

I was reading an interesting article today that came out via email newletters and has also been posted in Fortune magazine that speaks to a new role definition that is being seen in the industry known as “Head of Digital Strategy”.

This role is focused on introducing digital technology into the organization that you work with into all of the teams and departments to increase efficiency and productivity of teams through technology.  It is also positioned on the “business side” as it requires the ability to influence senior businesses leadership and works closely with C-suite to define corporate objectives and how to better use digital solutions to achieve them.

It is also a very progressive type of role.

This role requires an individual to be thinking far into the future.  In fact, Steve Jobs fits this definition perfectly as he was thinking far ahead of where things can and should be rather than where they are today.  An interesting challenge I could see in this role is being able to get a company current to today but being able to influence the commitment of the senior leadership to also invest into the future and aligning corporate vision with that future or even shape it.

Seeing this new role gets me very excited as I’ve always been about aligning technology with business and also focusing on where the future will be by forgetting our current limitations.  This allows you to build and create that future and/or work with technology partners to be very leading edge in a partnership to get your company there before anyone else in the market does.

With how fast technology develops, this would be a very fast paced, challenging, exciting, and highly rewarding career.

They not online that is seems a digital background is needed.  An interesting new term as that could mean many things and isn’t qualified.  Is digital technical?  Is it software?  Is it marketing?  Seems as if that would depend on the industry in which the company your work for is in and what best suites that role.  However, I’d suggest a technical background of at least 10 years is required to fill this.

Personally I remember hacking config.sys in Windows to make games run and all the other challenges back in the day which I’ve found very valuable in how I look at technology today.  Without a long history of experience, I think one wouldn’t be suited for this role.  The sort of we know the future, or avoid mistakes, by learning from the past theory.

Additionally, I love the business buy in for an organization that supports this role.  As time moves on and ideas change, the divide between business and IT is vanishing.  Finally companies that embrace technology and show it by supporting these types of roles and individuals will find great successes in doing so and far out perform their competitors.

It also isn’t vapor either.  They note corporations like TD Bank Group, Disney, and Capital One already have these people in these roles or are actively looking for them.

Great news, and I’m going to be keeping an eye on how this role develops moving forward in our industry.

Cheers
Aaron K. Alsop, PMP

Throughout recent months much information has been coming up about “Cloud” with almost all of this coming from vendors trying to push some new buzz word onto clients to get them to buy into some concept which no one has really been able to qualify for a consumer. In fact in many cases, I hear vendors say they have a Cloud solution and it looks pretty much exactly what it used to before. It’s starting to be like a sticker put on old boxes to give confidence to a business consumer that they can now say they have “Cloud” without actually designing a complete solution for their business or understanding what it is and how it can be used.

I hate buzz words. However, I will use the term Cloud in this posting and try to put some context around where we have seen a traditional workplace with technology and where this new Cloud workplace will take us and what it will look like. I will also sum up what Cloud means to a business in three simple main words that may help people understand what its purpose will be.

Traditional Model of Technology

In our traditional model, which can also be referred to current as we’re currently in a migration stage, this is how a user works.

So to this point, we have a user that say has a laptop and a desktop. On each of these devices they have applications, some may be unique to each other, some may be the same. The applications on these devices are installed locally and in most cases their information is stored locally and in some cases their information may be shared through a central source. For example, both the laptop and desktop have MS Word installed. Both can share a word document, but the document is local until shared with the other machine (say emailed). In some cases, a corporation may have document sharing like MS SharePoint so the document (information) is local on the machine until uploaded to SharePoint where it can be accessed by the laptop.

In addition, this user may also have a mobile device like a Blackberry. This device has different unique applications versus the ones on the laptop or desktop. It also therefore has different information that may be stored locally on the device or shared in some place. An example of shared information is email via Exchange. You can access email on your laptop/desktop via Outlook and you can access this same email on your Blackberry mobile device. However, other applications are specifically unique to Blackberry that are not on the laptop or mobile device. Or, an application may be able to view a Word document sent via email, but it cannot edit it or its ability to edit is very limited and even if possible requires sending the document back to the other device via email, etc.

Now we are looking at a complete paradigm shift in thought…

New Cloud Model of Technology

New revolutions in technology over the past few years has finally made this model possible. We’ve seen virtualization technologies attempt to create Virtual Desktop Solutions (VDI), application delivery solutions such as Citrix, a massive move to multiple forms of mobile technology including smart phones and tablets, Web 2.0 technology, and the this new thing called “Cloud”.

Apple has also recently leveraged iClound and iOS 5 in their mobile suite to move the world to a true VDI type of solution. This is the beginning of our paradigm shift and I will sum this all up to a conclusion of “what is the Cloud?”.

Here is what our new model is, we have the same user as stated before that has a laptop and a desktop. However, they are both using the same application. Now this would mean it is the same on both machines in terms of look, feel, functionality, etc. This is even if the laptop is say a Mac and the Desktop is Windows 7. Neither has local information for either of these applications, rather, they have shared information at one source. This allows for the user to work on a document in say MS Word on his desktop at work, then leave in a hurry and continue working on the document on his laptop without having to do send it anywhere, upload it, etc, etc.

Now this new user has mobile madness… its not one mobile device, but many. iPad, iPhone, Kindle, etc. Lots of devices. However, all of these devices share a common application set and NOT a unique set of applications. In fact, these applications are also the same or very similar to the desktop and laptop. This now allows for seamless usage of across all platforms. A user can work on any device in any location at any time without the need to translate, move, or import/export into other devices or applications. This is all possible because of a new way of application design and the central storage of information.

We are already seeing examples of this. The user above is me today. I can read a book on my Kindle, then open my iPad and continue to read the same book right on the same page I was at, and further use my iPhone to continue reading from there, and circle back to my Kindle again. If one device fails or runs out of battery, I don’t care. Furthermore, with the new iOS5 and iCloud service from Apple, I can work on a Page, Numbers, or Keynote document on my desktop, then continue on my iPad, back to my laptop, then on my iPhone seamlessly.

This is all possible because of the design around applications supporting all forms of devices, but more importantly the centralization of information.

Conclusion – What is the Cloud?

So, “what is the Cloud”? – The Cloud can therefore be defined as the Seamless Centralization and Distribuition of Information.

That’s it plain and simple. All information in one collective place that is easily accessible by multiple platforms, devices, and applications in a seamless manner allowing for increased efficiency and metrics to conduct business operations. If a new device is being considered and it does not fit into this model, it should be disregarded as a legacy solution. If a new solution integrates with multiple platforms and applications leveraging this centralized information source, then it is a modern solution that should be considered for adoption.

A few points:

• This is a methodology, NOT a silver bullet product.
• It is a way that technology is shifting around its core infrastructure to support the methodology. However, it is easy to see that it is also based on many methods that have already been used and improved upon.
• The laptop, desktop, or mobile device and the operating systems in which they operate are irrelevant. The only thing that is important is the centralization and distribution of information to these access points. The applications themselves may be installed in the “Cloud” or local, but that doesn’t matter.
• Don’t get focused on where your applications are, it is only the information and accessibility on many platforms that matters here.
• The term Private and Public Cloud is the new vendor fight, but don’t get caught up in that either. Its even easier to explain… Private, you own the equipment/servers that the data is stored on. Public, you lease services from a provider that stores your data – read colocation or shared services and you can now focus on the same things you had to before – like service level agreements.
• The devices you use are becoming worthless commodities, which they are.
• The people that have the knowledge to put these solutions together holistically for an entire corporation are the valuable piece of the puzzle and businesses that leverage these architects will be far more productive and efficient in the furture markets.

I hope this explanation helps people better understand what the core nature of what Cloud is and what it will be. I also hope this helps business owners and technology professionals alike to better review Cloud solutions for their business when doing design and stay away from the vendor buzz word overkill.

Cheers
Aaron

I’ve been meaning to make this post for some time, but as always I sometimes find myself distracted by professional and family commitments but after a meeting yesterday I made a decision to start posting more of my thoughts on the technology industry.

During my career in technology, and as I migrated into a PM role closer to the business side of things, I found myself in a position where I was basically asked to “translate geek to business and business to geek”. At the time it was a fun term, but there is a more expansive shift that both technologists and business resources need to understand. The shift needs to move from an “us versus them” and into an “us and them”.

In today’s world technology is an essential requirement to support business services that support the corporate vision, function, or revenue. Historically, IT groups have run in a bubble trying to determine what was required for system resources, maintain operations, and generate budgets which were usually cut.

The issue here is that both sides need to align under a common understanding. Business owners need to understand that technology resources are essential to support their objectives and IT managers need to understand that they need to link their technology operations and infrastructure designs around these business services/objectives.

The approach I use is a combination of business analysis, project management, and technical architecture design.

First it is essential to understand the current business services. This can be represented as a business service catalogue showing the business units and areas and working down to the revenue or relative importance of each service to the business.  Then it is essential to understand what impact to the business it would be if these services were found unavailable, which is usually translated into a loss per hour or loss per day value to revenue.  What this will develop is a tiered infrastructure where one can set standards and policy for business continuity, service level agreements for performance, etc.  This then requires setting standards.  For example in thinking of business continuity a tier 3 may be 80% uptime and a tier 1 may be 99% uptime.

From this we can start to take a technical view of requirements and translate adequate spending and technology designs that will enable these business services.  By this I mean, if one is suggesting a design that takes into account a 4-5 year remediation cycle that has 99% uptime, or only 1% planned outage, per year at a cost of $1M but the revenue generated by the business service is only $100k per year, it isn’t financially viable.  As an IT manager or architect, you must balance the designs for each tier for what is economically viable since business continuity models in IT designs is a exponential scale as one moves closer to 100%.

Additionally, the business must understand the realistic costs of their requests along with an understanding that a budget reduction in IT spend results in a reduction of service levels that can be available for the required solution.  If a business has determined that they have an essential tier 1 service that is requiring 99.98% uptime per year to protect revenues of say $10M per year, then it has to also be understood that this will result in a cost of say $3M in an infrastructure solution to make possible with operational and depreciation costs considered throughout the life of the solution (4-5 years).  To reduce budget means to reduce uptime requirements which means to inherit more risk by the business of potential lost revenues.  Or in more general terms, technology budget is dependent upon business service requirements directly.

As our industry continues to mature, I’ve seen more companies start to understand this relationship and gain a respect for the requirement to have highly qualified program managers, technical architects, and business analysts at senior management positions to determine these requirements and ensure properly design and maintained solutions are in place.

However, it is still required for me to recommend that all businesses should adopt a policy to include a senior technical architect during any genesis discussions of new business services that are being formulated.  It is all too common still that major business initiatives are thought, designed, and even promised to board of director level prior to the inclusion of IT solution and operational costs.  This results in a miscalculation of actual ROI to the business, a “setup to fail” situation for IT managers, and possibly an initiative that shouldn’t have been started in the first place.

By allowing IT design teams to be involved during the initial phases, adequate technical designs can be formulated based upon the tiered relationship a proposed service will have so that all business objects can be enabled by the technology and the solution is robust and properly supported throughout its life.  In addition, this results in IT managers being alloted adequate budgets to develop a robust technology environment as well as determining proper ROI calculations for the business.

Remember the saying “you cannot afford to be cheap.”

A side note about uptime:  Uptime will give you a time for planned outage.  That means 99% uptime means 1% downtime per year for planned maintance and no more.  99.98% means 0.02% planned.  People usually say this as 1% unplanned outage per year and no more.  I’m sorry, how can you tell me how much unplanned outage I will have if you don’t know what it is that happened or could happen before hand?  This leads to incident based style of disaster recovery and is a waste of time.  No one can predict when an asteroid will hit the city, a plane will hit a building, etc, etc.  Understand, technology needs maintanace and replacement just like any other machine (ie your car).  A qualified IT architect can design a solution around planned events and limit impact to the environment.  Asking to design for unplanned events is setting yourself up for failure of service level agreements (SLA).

Cheers
Aaron, PMP