Kicking Off the Data Warehousing Project

Over on Robert McIlree’s blog there is an example of what a management meltdown looks like in a data warehouse meeting.  Here’s a snippet from his post:

In one case, a client manager was presenting a conceptual data model to his management and other interested parties in a project kickoff meeting…

This guy couldn’t get to the third slide in his Powerpoint deck before getting smacked upside the head by the VP, with other managers piling on directly after. The managers could have cared less about a conceptual data model – when were they going to get their data warehouse so they can analyze their costs and financials? One exec, a former techie, went so far as to begin a macabre bout of row-column engineering on the thing, right there in the meeting. Our guy very quickly lost control of the room and the meeting degenerated rapidly from there.

Ouch!

The funny thing about Data Warehousing projects is that on the surface they are very easy to understand what needs done.  Looks simple even.  But it’s not. In fact, it’s probably one of the most difficult projects you can tackle.

So, could  this unfortunate situation been avoided?  You bet!  Here are six ways how:

Internet Security Level – Fuchsia

Saw over at Slashdot that there is a CERTStation Threat Level Aggregator.  Shows the overall threat level of eight different security watchdog organizations out there.  I must agree with most of the comments over at /. that this is more eye candy than useful information.  It’s nice to look at, but not very actionable.

What does the Titanic and Prototyping Have in Common?

Iceburgs.

You have worked hard with your team to put together a great prototype to show the stakeholders.  The goal is to make sure it’s got the right look-and-feel, nail the branding, give the illusion of how features will be accessed and make sure you have the workflow down.

When you do present it can’t help but be taken aback from all the questions and assumptions that are being made.  And you never get around to the getting the answers and approval you were looking for.  How did this happen?

Kathy Sierra over at Creating Passionate Users wrote a great piece on this topic – Don’t make the Demo look Done.  You’ll have to read it to find out more.

9 Ways to Improve a Project’s Success

Ever have a bullet-proof project that starts to crumble shortly after launch?  Or one that has been moving along quite well that suddenly takes a turn for the worse?

There is nothing more frustrating than swinging a bottle of champagne against the bow of your project to christen it, after all the preparation and momentum, and then to have people start trying to change course or drop anchor on the thing. 

The problem is likely in the softer side of managing the project – communication.  Reminds me of a quote from George Bernard Shaw - “The problem with communication … is the illusion that it has been accomplished.” 

How to Blog Well – The Motherload of Information

I am not afraid to fail forward.  I like taking on new challenges and prefer to charge ahead knowing that I may bang into a few walls along the way.  Everyone makes mistakes along the way so you might as well get the bulk of them over with in the beggining.  Then, once I get the hang of it, I turn to the experts.  I do a lot of research and absorb as much as I can from those that have done it before – and done it well.  No sense reinventing the wheel.

This is the same for blogging.  There have been a couple of other blogs I’ve started that no longer exist.  Mostly sandbox environments.  Testing the technology.  Testing the topics.  Testing my voice.  Now I have two that are still very new but have a good foundation.  The other that I contribute to focuses on e-Learning.

So I’m at the point where I’m turning to the pros for guidance, and I found a great resource over at Copyblogger.   It’s all in one post even (though it is a collection of links to at least 10 other posts and some of those are the start of series).  This came highly recommended in a post from //engtech which came from within a post how to be an unsuccessful blogger (which is really how to be successful in a mirror).

Now I haven’t made it through all the posts that are up in those links, but I can usually sense a pretty good resource when I see one.   This is definitely one to go back to again and again. 

Bad Budget Meeting

I sat in on a budgetary planning meeting where the developers were asked to submit project proposals for approval.  This was a new process where they were asked to provide a budget and the ROI.  This was done to try and drive the developers to have a business perspective on the work they did.  This was presented to some of the top executives in the business.

It was like watching a train wreck in slow motion.