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Why Hire a Professional Contractor

Posted on by Adam Kovitz
I write this post having recently started my own IT consulting company, Princeton Technology Advisors, LLC. In making this career decision, I reflected on why I previously contracted with professional consultants, and how I demonstrated doing so will bring value to my projects and the organizations where I worked.

A consultant is a person that is a subject matter expert who is paid to perform a specific set of tasks over a set period of time for an agreed upon sum of money. In this case, I mean for you to consider when it is appropriate to hire an IT consulting professional for your next important project.
As you approach starting a new project, take stock in the skills, backgrounds and timely availability of the in-house resources already accessible to you. Then, determine the skills and availability that you need to complete your new project on schedule. If there are gaps between those two reviews, consider bringing in consulting professionals. It’s important that the assessment of the skills, backgrounds and availability are performed objectively. An over confident or over ambitious program manager may not see these clearly (or truthfully).
What a professional consultant brings to a project are:
  • Works with you, your team and/or your management on goals and deliverables.
  • Accountability for results, schedule and costs to complete key project tasks. These tasks and goals can be identified and added to the contract, which can translate into significant economies as compared to in-house efforts.
  • A proven methodology and skill set applied to the appropriate tasks.
  • Creativity drawn from a robust base of prior experiences.
  • No significant cost of training or “experimenting” on how to complete the assignment. The consultant will focus on achieving results. Training of in-house staff can be scheduled into the project both during execution or as the final tasks to perform.
Once you determine that you will hire a consultant, you have several options for finding the right resources:
  • If your project involves purchasing a product, consider the vendor. While this may appear to be a costly upfront option (e.g. highest hourly rate), the vendor will provide well-trained product resources that will effectively perform the needed tasks.
  • Large multi-disciplined contracting companies have a variety of technical resources and specialties within their in-house staff. Some specialize in a specific set of technologies. While that can provide good value to your organization, you need to be sure the companies you speak with actually have in-house staff proficient in skill sets that your project needs.
  • An independent general contractor is a consultant who will manage your project and has access to a wide variety of the specialty sub-contractors needed on your project. It is often the case that the general contractor can be more cost effective and flexible as compared to specialty contractors since the team assembled is not limited to in-house resources. In addition, an independent general contractor typically does not have the overhead of larger firms.
Hiring a consultant can be extremely advantageous by helping you plan, manage, and implement your key project goals. The apparent cost may actually be less than the real cost when you consider the benefits gained from hiring a professional consultant for your short-term needs.

I encourage you to leave a comment by clicking on “…comments” below…
David Schuchman

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How Does the Cloud Change How a PM Runs a Project?

Posted on by Adam Kovitz

For Project Managers (PM), new technologies may present an issue regarding the phase structure of a project. What I mean is that when a new technology is rolled out, there seems to be a “buzz” as to how to handle the project using that new technology. The same is being said of Cloud Computing or projects that are related to cloud projects. What I am NOT saying is that cloud projects don’t have their own risks; they do. As a matter of fact, the risks can be substantial in that they can increase the costs in technology and human capital. However, does a cloud project bring about changes in the way a project is run? Should we have a new set of phases and tasks for cloud projects? Are the roots of a cloud project so intrinsically difficult that they demand a new set of project protocols?


Are there new phases?

No, there are no new phases in a cloud project. They remain: Initiation, Planning, Execution, Monitor and Control and Closing. There are new tasks and increased risks in a cloud project but they alone do not create a need to create new phases. However, in a cloud project, new tasks within the traditional phases are necessary. For example, in Initiation, due diligence regarding Software License Agreements (SLAs) is absolutely necessary. In Planning, there has to be a review of how the new environment is established and how the environment that is being replaced is going to be decommissioned. In Execution, attention must be paid to the types of risks that arise and how to resolve or mitigate them. Monitor and Control brings about a task that addresses the costs of implementing the cloud project and continuing the system being replaced. Lastly, in the Closing phase, ensuring that all tasks for decommissioning the system being replaced are completed is highly recommended.

Are there new risks?
Absolutely yes! I alluded to one in the previous paragraph regarding the risks of costs in decommissioning the system that is being replaced. Or should I say, delaying that task. You see, if the system being replaced is allowed to stay active beyond a reasonable and agreed upon time, the costs of the cloud project will balloon to an unsustainable amount where the cloud project will be considered a failure due to no fault of the cloud system. This is probably the greatest risk and the risk the PM must keep a close watch on.
Another risk would be the increase of costs that are associated with company resources requesting the new application before it’s deployed or after deployment, requesting the application for the sake of having it without a having a check point for approval of the application. This can be the highest risk and cost to the project or when the project becomes operational.
Should a PM handle a cloud project differently and how?
Every project brings with it risks that may de-rail the project and render it a failure, and this is no different for the cloud project. The difference is the magnitude of the risk(s). The PM MUST pay very close attention to the risks, and especially the risk controls, in a cloud project. This is not a “difference” in the way a PM runs a cloud project, but it is a heightened risk and concern regarding the success of a project. During planning, the PM MUST have agreement from the project members and especially the project sponsor regarding the risks and the decommissioning of the system being replaced. In this, the PM must be relentless and communicate effectively and efficiently throughout the project.
I am open to discussion at any time on these blogs or anything else related to project management you would like to explore. If you would like to comment about this blog, please do so by posting on this blog or by responding in an email at Benny A. Recine. You may inspire a blog article. I look forward to your comments.

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How to Tell if an Email is Real or Fake

Posted on by Adam Kovitz
Fake emails, also called “spoof” or “phishing” emails, try to look like they are from real companies or people you know. They are a common way criminals use to steal your personal or financial information, such as bank account details, credit card information, passwords, etc. Fake emails often link to fake (“spoof”) websites where your information can be collected as you type it. So, be very cautious!

Here are some ways to determine that the email you received is a “spoof”:
Fake Sender’s Email Address
You can check who sent the email by looking at the sender’s address. For example, the message may say it’s from “South Bank”, but the email address may be something unusual like “southbank_support@hotmail.com”. A reliable company’s email should not be using a public internet service provider account like Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo!, etc. Typically, real companies have their own domains. So, you should expect the email address to look something like “support@southbank.com”.

Requesting Private Information
Companies contacting you will not ask via email for your private information. Be very suspicious of emails requesting your social security number, account number, security code, personal identification number  (PIN) or other sensitive information.

Not Addressed to You
A legitimate email from a business with whom you have a relationship will address you by name rather than as “Valued Customer” (or something similar). Since a reliable business likely has a customer file with your contact information, they will address you directly.

Typos
Emails which have misspellings or grammatical errors, or grammar that indicates they are not properly formatted for the language in which they are written, are another sign that the message is  a fake.

Incorrect Links
Some email message will make a request for you to click on a link (e.g. View your account statement here). Hover your mouse over the link to see the content of the link. Similar to “Fake Sender’s Email Address” above, the link should have the company’s URL in the beginning of the link (e.g. “http://ift.tt/1DF7lv7”). Don’t click on a suspicious link. Clicking on a fake link will likely allow a hacker access to you computer and stored information, or will download malware to your computer.

Low Resolution Images
Another tip-off to a fake email message is poor image quality of the company’s logo or other images in the message.

What if the Sender is Someone you Know?
Spoof emails from people you know usually ask you for you to do something that a friend might not ask you to do, such as to click on a link to an unusual website. Sometimes, you will see that the “friend” sent the email to a number of email addresses in the “To” box. In this case, it is likely that your friend was “spoofed”, which is causing that email account to contact you.

When you suspect you received a fake email from a company with whom you do business, call that company’s customer service department. Ask them about the content of the message. If the message is legitimate, the customer service department should be able to assist you with the message request. If the message is not legitimate, delete it right away.

When you suspect you received a fake email from a somebody you know, send that person a separate, new email asking if they sent the prior message you received. Do not reply via the suspected message which may (or may not) be sent to them. If the person replies that the message is not legitimate, delete it right away.

I encourage you to leave a comment by clicking on “…comments” below…

David Schuchman

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Monthly Meeting

Posted on by Adrienne Roman

The Breakfast Club NJ Presents: “Turn Interviews Into Offers” by John Hadley
Saturday December 13th at 8:00am ET
Please share with other groups you may be in.
The Presentation: “Turn Interviews Into Offers”

johnhadley201412
Many candidates are so focused on “the best” answers to interview questions, they forget what is most important to do in an interview.
You can’t treat the interview as a Q&A session and expect to get hired. No matter how much you’ve worked on crafting powerful answers, if all you do is respond to my questions, you won’t get the offer.
Your job as the candidate is to transform the interview into an influential conversation, digging deeply into my challenges and presenting results in that context, so that you are seen as a key solution!
John Hadley (www.JHACareers.com) will share key strategies and techniques that his clients have used to successfully navigate the interview minefield, and to secure job offers they were thrilled with.
About the speaker:
John Hadley helps job seekers who are frustrated with their search. He also works with professionals struggling to achieve the visibility that leads to new opportunities at work.

After graduating from Stanford University, John worked as an actuary in the insurance industry for 20 years, ultimately as Chief Actuary of his company. He then opened a successful systems consulting practice, which generated over $2 million in revenues. 11 years ago he started his Career Search Counseling business, and has helped hundreds of clients land the job and pay they deserve.

John is a sought-after writer and speaker, publishing a monthly Career Tips Email newsletter to over 9,000 subscribers, each month bringing advice on marketing yourself for a career search, or for accelerating your career. He is currently finishing his first book, “Cruising Through Executive Interviews to Land the 6 Figure Job You Deserve.” You can find a variety of career resources on his website at www.JHACareers.com.

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Beware of Project Scope Creep

Posted on by Adam Kovitz
Scope creep in project management refers to uncontrolled changes or continuous growth in a project’s scope. The addition of, or changes to, a project’s requirements and features can occur when the goals of a project are not clearly defined, documented, or controlled. Project managers have been plagued by scope creep since the beginning of project management. However, managing scope creep is achievable. 
How Does Scope Creep Happen?
Even when there’s a clearly defined project scope, you still have to beware of scope creep. This generally tends to occur when new features are added to product designs that have already been approved, without providing equivalent increases in budget, time and/or resources. The main causes of scope creep are:

  • Poor Requirements Analysis: Clients don’t always know what they want and can only provide a vague idea. Therefore, their needs are not fully expressed or well defined.
  • Not Involving the Users Early Enough: Thinking you know what the users want or need is a serious mistake. It is important to involve users in the requirements, analysis and design phases.
  • Underestimating the Complexity of the Project: Many projects run into problems because they are new in an industry and have never been done before. In those cases, project managers and participants don’t fully know what to expect, or who to look to for additional guidance.
  • Lack of Change Control: While you can expect there to be a degree of scope creep in most projects, it is important to have a process to manage these changes.
  • Perceived Additional Value: This refers to exceeding the scope of a project in the belief that value is being added. However without proper analysis of the change request, there is no guarantee that the change will increase value or customer satisfaction.

How to Control Scope Creep
Managing scope creep in project management is a challenging job that needs to be addressed at the beginning, and throughout, each project’s life cycle. Here are some basic guidelines to set for yourself to successfully control the scope of your project:
  • Understand the priorities of the project sponsors: Make a list that you can refer to throughout the project. Items should include budget, deadline, feature delivery and customer satisfaction. You’ll use this list to justify your scheduling decisions or to support your need to defer additional requests once the project has commenced.
  • Define your deliverables: Deliverables should include general descriptions of functionality to be included within the project. Make sure you have them approved by the project sponsors.
  • Break the project down into milestones: Complete a thorough project schedule and make sure you identify the critical paths within the timeline. Be sure to leave a little room in the project schedule for change requests or an error. If your schedule is tight, reevaluate your deliverables to see if any can be deferred until after the team completes the primary project requirements. Seek schedule approval by the project sponsor, then notify all key project participants.
  • Expect that there will be scope creep: Implement a change process early and inform the project sponsor and participants of your processes. A basic change control process must include a means to identify the affect on the project timeline, budget and resources. In addition, it must require an approval for the changes to be implemented and a recognition of any impact.

David Schuchman

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Where does the PM fit “in the cloud?”

Posted on by Adam Kovitz
With the advent of cloud computing, Project Managers (PM) now have another technology they have to learn and become experts in at a quickened pace. At this time, PMs are not required to have the deep knowledge of the cloud regarding the intricacies of the business case for implementing a cloud application. However, it would benefit the PM to have some knowledge regarding the complexities of cloud computing, as that knowledge will give the PM an advantage regarding risk management. Implementation of cloud computing brings up a number of important questions. Where does the PM fit in an organization that will be deploying cloud applications? Does the PM treat the cloud project differently from other IT projects? Should the PM treat the stakeholders differently from other project stakeholders?
Where does the PM fit in an organization that will be going to the “cloud?”
Similar to any new project or type of technology, the PM should be knowledgeable about the product, the stakeholders, and especially the type of project the PM will be managing. In the case of cloud computing, the PM must also be knowledgeable about the additional risks unique to a cloud technology implementation. These include, but are not limited to:
  • Increased telecom costs
  • Increased resource costs
  • Increased validation costs
This does not mean that the risks associated with other projects are not valid in a cloud implementation. As a matter of fact, the risk of scope creep becomes an important area where a PM must be vigilant.
Does the PM treat the cloud project differently?
Absolutely not! A PM must approach a cloud project with the same project outlines that we have discussed previously. Yes, cloud computing is a relatively “new” type of implementation. However, the PM must keep in mind all of the PMI standards that are associated with a project implementation. And like other projects, the PM must keep in mind the turnover to operations or in IT terms, the production deployment. 
Should the PM treat the cloud project stakeholders differently?
In this case, I would say yes. The reason is that a cloud deployment may be very new to an organization. The stakeholders may be the same, but this type of implementation brings about a change from a Capex to Opex expenditure. This change is the most important differentiator of a cloud implementation. That means that the PM must keep a close eye on costs.
Overall however, a PM must still be concerned with the triple constraint; budget, schedule and resource. We also know that quality is a major concern for any project. In a cloud project, this is also true and possibly a fourth constraint as with a cloud project, the team is replacing an old technology that may be an old “standard” within the organization.
In conclusion, the PM has to work ensure that the level of work is at the same or better level of quality that the organization historically delivered in the past.
I am open to discussion at any time on these blogs or anything else related to project management you would like to explore. If you would like to comment about this blog, please do so by posting on this blog or by responding in an email at Benny A. Recine. You may inspire a blog article. I look forward to your comments.

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Can’t Find a Job? Do You Know Why?

Posted on by Adam Kovitz

Growth, evolution, changes. Technology may be a wonderful thing, but it has negative elements—especially if you’re in transition and looking for a job. Why? Perhaps you don’t know how to conduct a contemporary job search. Well, that may not be true, and don’t blame yourself. The résumé Two decades ago, applicants would submit their IBM […]

The post Can’t Find a Job? Do You Know Why? appeared first on Landing Expert Career Coaching.

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More Secure Than Your Password

Posted on by Adam Kovitz
Hackers break into corporate computer systems and release lists of usernames and passwords on the open web. Home PCs are vulnerable to malware, viruses and other tricks to access your personal, financial and private information. These have now become regular occurrences. The most common weakness in these types of hacks is the password. Passwords are a technology from a time when our computers were not inter-connected. The age of the password has come to an end. 
Here are some security technologies that, once implemented, will replace the traditional password.

BioMetrics
Biometrics authentication is used in computer security as a form of identification and access control. It refers to using physical human characteristics and traits instead of a manually entered password. Examples include, but are not limited to, a fingerprint, palm print, facial recognition, retina pattern and even DNA. The products that allow client access will have biometric readers that interface with the host security system.

No one method of biometric security is said to do the best job of protecting system access. When you consider biometric security, you want to select a physical characteristic that is constant and does not change over time, and are also difficult to fake or can be changed on purpose. You also need to consider that some biometric security metrics are consider more invasive than others (e.g. DNA vs. facial recognition). Some methods take a lot of time to execute, such as a retinal scan which can take as much as 15-30 seconds. In addition, ethical use issues have been raised over some of the biometric security metrics. The details of the methods and issues will not be addressed in this post.

Fob
A fob, also called a key fob or token, is a small security hardware device with built-in authentication used to control and secure access to a network and data. Typically, the fob randomly generates an access code, which usually changes every 60 seconds. These one time use codes are the “password” used to validate system access, and they work as long as timing and code algorithm synchronization exists between the client’s fob and the host authentication server.

Disconnected fobs are the most common type of security  fob, and do not have a physical connection to the client’s computer. They use a built-in screen to display the generated authentication code, which the client manually enters via the keyboard. Bluetooth technology is also used as a disconnected fob.

Connected fobs must be physically connected to the client’s computer. Authentication is automatically performed once a physical connection is made, eliminating the need for the client to manually enter the authentication code. Smart card technology is also used as a connected fob.

Wearables
A “wearable” refers to a mobile device such as a cell phone or tablet computer. With wearable security, authentication is a 2-step process. The client enters an account identifier code via a keyboard. The security system then transmits a one-time use pass code to the client via a pre-registered email address, or device for an SMS (text message). Upon receipt of the pass code, the client enters that code via the keyboard. That code is not used again. Typically, the security system will accept the transmitted code only within a set period of time before the code expires. If the code expires before successfully entered, the client must request a new code.
In the Mean Time…
Until you implement stronger security measures, the first step in improving security is to have strong passwords. In SplashData’s recently released list of worst passwords, the 2-time annual winner (or loser) of the most common (and therefore worst) password is “123456”. Following that is “password”. People continue to put themselves at risk by using weak, easily guessable passwords. Individuals and organizations must encourage the adoption and enforcement of stronger passwords.
Microsoft’s tips for creating strong passwords are:
  • Is at least eight characters long
  • Does not contain your user name, real name, or company name
  • Does not contain a complete word
  • Is significantly different from previous passwords
  • Contains characters from each of the following four categories:
    • Uppercase letters
    • Lowercase letters
    • Numbers
    • Keyboard symbol characters (e.g. !@#$%, etc.)
For example, a password of “troubadours” is not considered very strong. A stronger choice would be “Tr6uB@d0ur$”.

I encourage you to leave a comment by clicking on “…comments” below…
David Schuchman

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America, the Land of Marketing and Selling

Posted on by Adam Kovitz

Every morning when I get to my computer, I’m amazed at how many companies have targeted me as someone in need of their products or services. I take it in stride, though, because in 99 percent of the cases, I’m of course not interested, and I know that the e-mail has been sent to a […]

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How to Benefit from the Positive Job Market Outlook

Posted on by Adam Kovitz

Based on a recent survey by economists, the job market outlook is projecting steady growth in employment. Recruiting consultant CareerXroads reports that new companies find 28 percent of their hires via referrals. Job boards represent one in five applicants, or 20 percent. And career Web sites, about 10 percent. For job seekers or those who […]

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