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Your IT Project: Is It Riskier Than You Think?
Recent research published in the Harvard Business Review shows surprisingly high numbers of out-of-control tech projects, ones that can sink entire companies and careers. Read what is recommended to be in the 20% of projects that succeed.
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What Smart Businesses Know About Cloud Adoption: The Future's Bright
The cloud is rapidly becoming the destination for small and medium-sized businesses to source their IT. What is driving this set of cloud adopters? Where and why are they making investments?
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The Era of 'Big Data'
The amount of data in our world has been exploding. Analyzing large data sets, so-called big data, will become a key basis of competition, underpinning new waves of productivity growth, innovation, and consumer surplus. Here’s what you should know.
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Tribal Leadership, Stage Five: Attaining "Life is Great" Workplaces
This final installment looks at the high performance of Stage Five and how and why the "life is great" culture is optimal for business.
Must-Have iPhone Apps for Business Users, Part II
The office has become truly mobile. Here is the second set of must-have iPhone apps for those using iPhones.
Flu Prevention Starts Now
The flu season begins in October. Here's a refresher on how to protect yourself, your coworkers, and your family. |
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Tribal Leadership, Stage Four: The Beginning of High Performance
How can you establish Stage Four tribal leadership and express the enhanced performance and language of "we're great" in your organization?
Must-Have iPhone Apps for Business Users, Part I
The office has become truly mobile. Here are the must-have iPhone apps for those running and operating businesses in 2011.
Mobile's Impact on Healthcare Consumers
Medical information is now portable, personalized, and participatory, and with the availability of information, patients are getting more involved in the healthcare process. |
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Stage Three "I'm Great", Tribal Leadership, Part III
The next installment on workplace tribes explores a common experience for many of us. What are the limiting aspects of Stage Three and how do we rise above it?
iPad in Business
With new apps added to the App Store everyday, there's no limit to what iPad can do for your business.
Do You Suffer From Decision Fatigue?
If you find yourself making rash, unwise choices, the culprit may be a day of mental depletion - not an inherent lack of willpower.
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Learning the Language of Stages One and Two, Tribal Leadership, Part II
A new book on Tribal Leadership shows us how the language we use affects our tribal culture, for better or worse.
App Advantage: Cool Tools for the Business User
Looking for that app that's going to ease your daily challenge?
Vital Vision Tips for Computer Users
Do you ever experience blurred vision, dizziness or headaches? These can be symptoms of eyestrain and you monitor may be contributing. |
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Workplace Tribes and the Power of Language, Tribal Leadership, Part I
What is your company's "tribal culture" and how influential is it to success?
Android App Favorites for the Business User
Here are some of our team members favorite Android apps for business use.
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Ten Tempting Development Mistakes to Resist
How do you recognize and avoid the classic development mistakes?
Three Key Questions Define Earned Value Management
EVM can provide an early warning of project performance. What are the tools to navigate to project success?
Software Consortium Celebrates 20 Years of Serving Customers
Long-term investments in human capital ensure excellence, a high degree of customer service and 10:1 productiviyt advantages for clients.
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Agile Grows Up and Takes its Place
This month marks the ten year anniversary of Agile, when a visionary group of self-styled “anarchists” met in Snowbird, Utah to discuss and debate their ideas for better ways to build software. Now ten years later, a new report from Forrester Research finds that 35% of developers are using some form of Agile methodology.
How are they using it and how is mainstream adoption of Agile changing Agility?
Agile Testing: Who's Asking the Right Questios?
An Agile coach looks at the crucial role of the Agile tester in posing questions that no one else thinks of.
Commuting on the Road Less Travelled
Even if you love your job, you may not love your commute. Traffic in the Baltimore-Washington corridor is some of the heaviest in the nation, and it seems to get worse each year. Is traffic congestion making you crazy? |
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2011's Hottest New Tech Trends and Gadgets
If you couldn’t make it out to Las Vegas last week for the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show, here are the hottest new trends and products that will be creating buzz this year.
Technology Change and "Future Hype"
Does the dizzying plethora of new technologies and products appearing in the marketplace have you thinking that technology is changing faster than ever?
A new book, "Future Hype: the Myths of Technology Change" by Bob Seidensticker, provides countless examples of historical context that refute this view, while identifying some prevailing technology myths that can lead us astray in our technology decision-making.
What, me worry? 8 Simple Ways to Reduce Worry
With the New Year, often comes the desire to make positive change in our lives. One popular and worthwhile area involves reducing stress and worry. |
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Empowered Employees: Heroes or Shadow IT?
Harvard Business Review reports that 37% of employees are using do-it-yourself technologies to solve business and customer challenges--without IT's permission. When is it valuable innovation, when is it shadow IT?
Mobility: Getting Your Enterprise Data to the Device
In 2010, smartphone sales are tracking to more than double over 2009 sales. Predictably, demand for access to core enterprise application will increase. How will you deliver enterprise data to your mobile users' devices?
Fast Food "Guilty Pleasures" You Can Still Enjoy
And which ones to stay away from. Here are the 6 best and 6 worst fast foods for your health.
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After the Great Recession: The Great Rebalancing
McKinsey and other sources indicate that an economic restructuring will bring opportunities and challenges to American businesses and the time to plan is now.
A Look Inside the Agile Toolbox: 10 Top ALM Tools
A study by Forrester Research finds 45% of developers surveyed said they use Agile practices. How do Agile tools compare?
Sleep... Get 8 Hours?
Only 28% of us do. What's the cost? 6 tips to getting better sleep.
Case Study: An Agile Balancing of Methodologies
A skillful PM balances SDLC requirements with a young team's Agile preference -- with winning results! |
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Mobile Drives Shift in Consumer Behavior
A July report from Forrester Research finds that "smartphones have changed shopping behavior significantly." What does this mean for your business and project planning?
Managing Generational Diversity: Boomers, X and Millennials
Boomers, Generation X and Millennials have their own preferences for how they like to work, which sometimes collide in the workplace. What are common challenges and how can you manage them more effectively?
Another Cup o' Joe?
Meta analysis of 18 studies shows 3 - 4 cups of coffee or tea will reduce your risk of diabetes by 25%, both decaf and regular.
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The Internet of Things, Part 3: Roaring Crowds and Silent Sensors
Businesses are learning to harness real-time data to inform a more efficient feedback loop for product development, customer service and resource allocation. What might this mean for the evolution of your business?
Managing Cultural Diversity for Greater Project Success
The global economy means that increasingly project teams contain a variety of nationalities and hence, different beliefs and customs. Raising team productivity can often be a matter of awareness and adaptation for everyone on the team. Is your “cultural IQ” helping you increase project success?
8 Dangerous Skin Cancer Myths
It’s the season for fun in the sun! But are you unwittingly increasing your own and your family’s risk of skin cancer? Approximately 50% of people over age 65 are diagnosed with melanoma or some other type of skin cancer. Don’t be confused by these common myths about protecting your skin.
Case Study: Managing Energy Consumption for the International Market
When a global producer of components and solutions for refrigeration and air conditioning wanted to launch a new energy management solution, they engaged Software Consortium to produce the new product for the marketplace. |
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The Internet of Things, Part 2: Our Mobile "Eyes and Ears"
Over 1 billiion Internet-enabled mobile phones are in use today. Mobile web access is driving innovatiob and tailoring it to the needs of users on the go. The Gartner Group projects that by year-end 2010, physical sensors will generate 20% of non-video Internet traffic. How is this likely to impact you and your business?
Managing Diversity: Male and Female Brain Differences
Differences in male and female brain circuitry, hormones and functioning can sometimes be a workplace challenge. Being conscious of the differences leads to a corporate culture that harnesses these differing strengths.
Vacationing? 5 Wise Ways to Travel Well
We love vacations! But sometimes the stress of getting there and the disruptions of routine weaken the immune systems and disrupt sleep. Don't let these common challenges deter your fun.
Case Study: Extending Enterprise Architecture to Mobile Solutions
In the rapidly changing mobile environment, organically grown mobile applications quickly become unweildy and too costly to manage or extend. Software Consortium helps the nation's leading passenger rail transporter extend its substanial enterprise IT capabilities into the field. |
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The Internet of Things: The Shape of Things to Come
A new McKinsey report studies how more objects are becoming embedded with sensors that communicate data and the implications for business.
Across the Great Divide: Managing Your Distributed Agile Team
Managers can be expected, in today's climate of tight budgets and globalization, to manage a distributed Agile team comprised of both onshore and offshore resources. How do you successfully use an Agile methodology when the teams are not co-located?
Bon Appetit! 10 Foods to Fuel Your Brain
Choose 10 delicious "brain foods" that will keep your mind at its sharpest.
Case Study: Using Top Talent Saves Project Costs
An insurance industry giant engages Software Consortium to stabilize and upgrade its data warehouse application. This application is the bedrock of their reporting infrastructure and is a key component of their new dimensional model and customer-focused reporting system. |
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Are You Effectively Leading Your Clever People?
Information technology is one industry where competitive advantage is often found in the ideas and intellectual know-how of creative people.
Google Wave: Is it Worth the Ride?
Beyond all the hype and hoopla, Simply put: Google Wave is a collaboration toole that eliminates many of the classic challenges of email threads.
12 Ways to Boost Your Brain Power
Here are 12 scientifically proven ways to keep your mind sharp.
Case Study: Solving an EDW Tracking Challenge
An insurance industry giant engages Software Consortium to stabilize and upgrade its data warehouse application. This application is the bedrock of their reporting infrastructure and is a key component of their new dimensional model and customer-focused reporting system. |
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Saving Money: Streamlining Decisions & Educating About Costs
A recent article from MIT Sloan Management Review looked at informal networks, within teams and throughout organizations, and how they can systematically bias the way decisions are made andinformal networks carried out. Are you leveraging your networks to their maximum benefit?
Turbulence Ahead: 7 Advisories for the Cloud
As we gain understanding of the various architectures and offerings, and consider the scenarios that may best fit using the cloud, here are seven pitfalls for potential users to proactively manage.
Case Study: Sample Cloud Integration Challenge
As discussed in this month's Cloud Advisory article, integration can be a challenge with many cloud services. When a Software Consortium developer was using BizTalk, which is considered a core cloud service, a perplexing challenge reared its head and was slain. |
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Incenting People Beyond the Money
New data suggests business leaders should reassess the combination of financial and nonfinancial incentives that serve their companies best through and beyond the downturn.
Cloud Computing: How is it Likely to Change Your IT Organization?
A recent survey finds 48% of companies expect to use a cloud CPU, storage or infrastructure serivce and 56% expect to use software as a service. With the cloud gaining momentum, we share what some early adopters are learning about cloud computing's impact on traditional IT operations.
Got 5 Minutes? Prevent Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI)!
RSI
-- its painful and preventable. Practice these exercises at work to minimize your risk of hand, arm, neck and back pain.
Case Study: Solution for Statewide Health Services
A national healthcare provider turns to Software Consortium to design and implement a system to manage healthcare services for the disabled in the State of West Virginia. |
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Surveying the "New Normal" IT Landscape
As economies emerge from the downturn, a restructuring of the economic order, a "New Normal," is being defined. With persistent uncertainty, tighter credit, lower consumer spending and greater government involvement predicted, what does the New Normal mean for IT leaders?
Tuning Performance with Earned Value Management
One of the tools gaining importance in the IT manager's toolkit is Earned Value Management, which creates alignment among the business and technical stakeholders on a project team.
Cloud Computing: A Fitting Project for the Cloud?
Cloud computing is becoming so widely known that executives and employees who don't even work in IT are starting to ask for it by name. What's the best way to determine if a project is suitable for the cloud?
Case Study: Balancing Methodologies
Bringing together the best of waterfall and agile turns out to be a winning strategy for a multi-million dollar implementation.
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10 Classic Development Mistakes to Avoid
Some ineffective development practices have been chosen so often, by so many people, with such predictable, unsatisfactory results that they deserve to be called "classic mistakes".
Software Release Readiness Criteria
You're on the count down to a new system release, checking and rechecking the criteria to determine whether you are ready to launch. Here are some of our "go to" release readiness resources.
Team Cohesiveness for Higher Performance
Does what you disclose about yourself to team members affect your entire team's level of trust, hence, shared productivity? Industry research says yes, and it can mean your team can become synergistic and five times more productive.
Case Study: Project Rescue
A clinical management system is millions of dollars over budget and about to be cancelled. Software Consortium is called in to help. Can this project be saved |
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Enterprise Architecture: Six Crucial Best Practices
Many Enterprise Architect (EA) efforts fail to deliver significant business value or are perceived as irrelevant by business stakeholders. How do you ensure your enterprise architecture effort is a success?
Less is More, Productivity Wise
It is a major theme in current books and blogs we've been reading, and yet it runs counter to our prevailing multi-tasking culture.
Case Study: Enterprise Architecture
Our nation's leading rail transportation provider relies on Software Consortium to provide technical leadership for a mission critical initiative. |
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Enterprise Data Warehouse: Value for Business and
EDW Platform Vendor Ratings
Gartner predicts that because of lack of information, processes, and tools, more than 35% of the top 5,000 global companies will regularly fail to make insightful decisions about signficant changes in their business markets. What do you need to know about the leading EDW platform vendors?
Case Study: Enterprise Data Warehouse
Software Consortium's team helped one of the nation's leading managers of self-funded health benefit plans integrate several existing businesses. This Enterprise Data Warehouse solution achieved a unified brand experience, significant cost savings, and a huge competitive advantage. |
