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Welcome

Posted Mon, 10/06/2008 - 14:40 by Erik

Welcome to my professional home on the Internet

I invite you to

learn more about me

see my presence

read my blog

read my resume

contact me
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Maxwell Anderson Quote

Posted Tue, 10/06/2009 - 15:02 by Erik

One of my favorite quotes. Substitute the word "passion" for "art" and this can apply to anyone, anytime, anywhere.

To the young people of this country I wish to say:

If you practice an art, be proud of it, & make it proud of you; if you now hesitate on the threshold of your maturity, wondering what rewards you should seek, wondering perhaps if there are any rewards beyond the opportunity to feed & sleep & breed, turn to the art which has moved you most readily, take what part in it you can, as participant, spectator, secret practitioner, or hanger-on & waiter at the door.  Make your living any way you can, but neglect no sacrifice at your chosen altar.  It may break your heart, it may drive you half mad, it may betray you into unrealizable ambitions or blind you to mercantile opportunities with its wandering fires.  But it will fill your heart before it breaks it; it will make you a person in your own right; it will open the temple doors to you & enable you to walk with those who have come nearest among men to what men may sometimes be.

- Maxwell Anderson

From Blog To Forum (and Back Again)

Posted Thu, 02/19/2009 - 01:01 by Erik

I just read Fred Wilson's post From Blog To Forum, and it struck a cord with me, relative to a closed discussion forum in which I participate with a group of trusted associates. While the subject area of Fred's blog is different from the discussions of that private group, the behavioral patterns are very relevant to what that group is trying to create, which is a powerful forum for exchanging ideas and challenging one another.  Two key differences, though, are (1) Fred uses a blog whereas this private group uses a discussion forum and (2) Fred's blog is entirely open to all, this group is not.

This led me to ask the private group to consider those two points as we talk about the future of our group. Then, I realized that my reflection on these points would be good perspective to share with anyone who's interested. So, in the paragraphs below, I call out what I believe the the most important differences between a blog (which is typically open) and a forum (which can be either, but I'm especially focused on those that are closed, like the one I mentioned above).

What's Missing from Forrester Wave Report on Community Platforms

Posted Thu, 01/22/2009 - 23:07 by Erik

Forrester Wave™: Community Platforms, Q1 ’09I was recently read the summary of the Forrester Wave Report: The Leaders in Community Platforms for Marketer, as depicted in the graphic here. There are numerous other reviews of this report, including the one by MediaPost's OnlineSpin.

What I find most striking to me about the Forrester report is what they left out, rather than what they included. This report ranked "community platform vendors", not community platforms. The difference is profound and central to most social media strategies.

While the community platform vendors that Forrester ranked offer valuable consulting services wrapped around their software, the fact remains that their software is proprietary. This means a small number of people coding and testing the product.

In contrast, open platforms like WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, etc. have literally thousands of developers and testers. This means innovation and maturity that is exponentially more powerful, so long as the organization guiding the platform understands how to harness that horsepower.

Forrester as much as acknowledged this omission in their closing paragraph:

the exploding WordPress blog platform has demonstrated how open standards can become a huge platform advantage because they rally stakeholders, especially passionate developers, to iterate and innovate at a rapid clip. I hope and anticipate the same will happen in the community platform space.

Most important ingredients in a Project Management Organization (PMO)

Posted Wed, 12/17/2008 - 14:49 by Erik

I was recently asked,

What do you consider to be the most important ingredients in a Project Management Organization (PMO)?

My answer to this question comes in three sets of ingredients. The first set of ingredients define the purpose of – and relationships between – IT Portfolios, Programs and Projects.


Figure 1 - Relationships between IT Portfolios, Programs & Projects

 

IT Portfolio Management - Select and manage the portfolio of opportunities for IT to contribute business value to the enterprise. Leading practices often use IT spending categories like: Infrastructure (maintain the steady state), Transactional (to reduce costs), Informational (improve decision-making) and Strategic/Risky (make transformational improvements).

IT Program Management - Manage a defined set of interrelated projects that support common business outcomes.  Focus on maximizing the business value or impact of IT dollars, even if it means delaying or killing some projects or programs when they no longer best meet business priorities. This also includes juggling resources and other interdependencies to maximize project synergies.

IT Project Management - Manage resources to complete a specific scope of work on time, on budget and to customer satisfaction. Follow a consistent methodology across projects.

Siemens Shared e-Business Environment

Posted Thu, 10/23/2008 - 20:00 by admin

I led the client relationship and series of initiatives, over a two-year period, which established the global e-business sales strategy and architecture and launched a range of e-commerce sites, customer portals and one industry marketplace. Siemens' first global initiative to be run in North America.

Situation:

PSE&G IT Strategy and Business-IT Governance

Posted Thu, 10/23/2008 - 19:55 by admin

I led or co-led this series of initiatives, over a two-year period, which dramatically streamlined the IT organization (25% cost reduction) and also prepared it for considerable changes in business environment.

Situation:

IT Value Realization Program for Northrop Grumman

Posted Thu, 10/23/2008 - 19:47 by admin

I co-led this two-year program that improved IT's strategic level of engagement with the business sectors, while at the same time reducing overall IT costs by $100 million (nearly 10%).

Situation:

Education

Posted Wed, 10/22/2008 - 05:19 by admin

Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management                  1997

  • MBA, Entrepreneurship and Finance
  • Teaching/Research Assistant in Strategic Use of IT

 

Accomplishments

Posted Wed, 10/22/2008 - 05:12 by admin

Follow the links below to review examples of some of my professional accomplishments. Most are written up in the form of case studies, presenting the situation, challenges, approach, results and my role.
 
Click Printer-friendly version to see all of these accomplishments in printable format, on the same page.
 

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