rowe's blog
Vendors and Contracts: The Sales Webinar
Just sat through another painful sales webinar... Why is looking at web-based software in a sales review so very, very painful? It is like an unfamiliar roller-coaster ride. Someone else is at the controls in a remote place. They know where they want to go, but you don't know the path. So the viewer is left to sit and watch as someone unknown points and clicks - and you never know when they are going to point and click and jump to something else. You get focused on something on the screen, and you suddenly startled to someplace else. All the while the vendor-speaker is coming across the speaker phone, and if they've gone to a cell phone, Skype or VOIP, the connection may echo or cut out. We strain to listen to the vendor talk about the product, trying to get important details, and the vendor is talking about the product in a casual, unscripted way that just is intended to "walk you through" something that requires your attention. At the end, I'm left with a series of disjointed perceptions about the product. Many times my functional community is left with a bad product view, when I really think it was the bad
Vendors and Contracts: Making Connections
One of the challenges of IT leadership is working with vendors and the associated contracts, agreements and licenses common to the operation of an IT department. I'm trying to figure out how and when I learned to handle this part of my operation. I'd like to give my staff the benefit of attending classes and professional development that would improve their skills in this area (maybe an Executive MBA in IS Leadership that our university offers emba.oakland.edu). I'm seeking options that offer opportunities to develop skills in handling vendor relationships. I thought an occasional blog posting on this topic would help explore the nature of the environment and the skills required of IT leaders.
Making Connections
Next Generation E-mail
Things I want in e-mail that I don't have:
* A FedEx/UPS view on a message, so that I can do a real-time trace of a specific e-mail message, from the moment it is sent to the actual delivery, and watch it travel the delivery route. I want to be able to answer "where did the e-mail message go?" or "why am I not getting this message?".
* The same ability for all members of a list, so I can track particular list messages.
* If at all possible, a test feature for data breach notification processes. I'd like more testing options -- The ability to say "dry run" and test a notice without it actually landing in an inbox. If you don't want replies to go to the list, test both reply and reply-all functions to make sure that replies do not go to the list, and be able to do all this without it being real.
Facing the Challenge: Meet the NetGen Learner
Synchronized Swimming
I'm swimming in synchronizing challenges - maybe better said as "the challenges of synchronization." One of our emerging IT skill sets is the "expert of synchronization." This has come at us several ways. The first was the Blackberry infiltration and the desire to synchronize a calendar on a hand-held to the master appointment calendar on a desktop. Email came into this too, but it seemed easier, often one-way. Two-way synchronization of something like a calendar is more troublesome. Of course, this synchronization requirement emerged after we had implemented a new email and calendar system, and the product we are using just hasn't made this easy. This is also complicated by the consumerization of the environment brought on by IRS tax rules, making all those cell phones personal devices and purchased to personal choice.
IT, Degrees and Job Focus
Disorganized in Web 2.0 Life
Teaching this year
Facility issues
We shut down our offices on 12/22 with the plan that we would have minimal physical need to visit our data center. We have an aging data center, with air conditioning units that are over 20 years old (actual age unknown). We just received replacement funding last October, but seasonal weather postponed the actual replacement project until spring. As we started planning for replacement, we learned about zinc whiskers and the need to plan to minimize dust contamination, so the extra time for planning has been valuable.
During the holiday break, our lead UNIX sys admin, Andrew, noticed that email was not available about 5 PM on Christmas Eve. He went to the data center to check, and found the temperature over 102 degrees. Both AC units were in a failed state. Andrew called, and our facilities manager Gail and I went in. Some of the servers had gone into automated shut-down due to the heat. Andrew proceeded to shut down everything except the most essential systems. We keep fans around because we've experienced failures before, so we opened the doors, turned on the fans, and called in the contracted AC technicians.
It was Christmas Eve, so it took a while for a response. Gerard the AC tech came in to find that the main electrical feed to the roof chillers was not working. We then had to call in the university electricians (another drive wait), who found the circuit breaker tripped. The breaker was reset, cooling was restored and we went home around 2 AM.
Identity Management ...
CIO - What do I like about my career?
The close of another year encourages me to ponder my career choice. I carefully chose to ask "What do I like about my career?" rather than just my job. My jobs have come and gone over time. My career has been on a steady path. That difference can be described as stability, and that is one of the things I've enjoyed throughout my career. I understand what I need to do, including learning new technologies and investing my time in reading and review, in order to have a stable career, despite changing jobs. There's been continuity and progression that have proved to be very valuable.
Another aspect about my career that I enjoy is the community of techies. I work with really terrific, intelligent, hard-working people. We share interests; we point out interesting technical developments to each other and we share what we've learned. I am often surprised by the dedication and perseverance I see in those working in IT. I enjoy discussion. I enjoy the give-and-take of ideas that happens in a strong community.
Software Challenges
On returning from Educause, I noted common themes through the week. Certainly a theme causing much concern is "What management challenges does the future hold for software management?"
The sources of the concerns are several:
- Shrinking market
- The impact of patents on innovation
- Wall Street motivations that may not blend with higher education budgets (high costs)
- Lack of choice on the underlying base
- Quality issues
- The need for ongoing management
When vendor consolidation occurs, we see fewer choices among vendors, and we are less able to choose a low cost provider. Further, when one vendor has a lion's share of the market, what can we expect but higher prices? There's little viable competition in some areas.
Patents that are awarded for common processes that cross the market may further reduce market choices. The uncertainty of how patent questions will be treated in the court system may delay the entry of new vendors into the market.
If a company has made significant promises to Wall Street investors, the pressure may be on to increase pricing to meet sales projections.
CIO Constituent Group Meeting
The CIO Constituent Group is meeting today, starting at 1 PM. We've had several requests for posting notes and we'll post news on several forums.
