Archive for March, 2009
Managing Costs vs. Solving Business Problems
Posted by Thom in IT, Outsourcing on 2009/03/31
I recently read an interesting McKinsey Quarterly article on Managing IT during a downturn. IT spending and costs, like so many business functions, wax and wane with business cycles. Spending increases gradually over time before a shock or other external event occurs requiring significant and rapid cost cuts. The current downturn is no different but what [...]
Documentation, or thoughts on IT’s biggest nemesis
In a previous professional role I had the opportunity to meet and advise businesses of all sizes on their IT operations. I noticed something common to almost all organizations was a lack of adequate documentation. And by adequate I’m not talking about beautiful 4-color large format Visio logical and functional schematic diagrams, although those are [...]
The Pleasures of Occasional Physical Labor
Posted by Thom in Work Experiences on 2009/03/28
Volunteering for several organizations in the Providence area allows me an opportunity to meet my neighbors, help out community members and break the occasional sweat. I’m on the board of our local community garden, work on the plant sale committee for another organization and finally I’m a designated schlepper for another organization. Given work and family [...]
Networking lunches – neither fish nor fowl
Posted by Thom in Networking on 2009/03/24
Networking lunches are an interesting beast – neither fish nor fowl. You sit on one side of the table with an air of quiet desperation while your counterpart across the table hunkers down hoping to survive the next inevitable round of layoffs. At least that’s the way it feels to me sometimes. Actually everyone I meet during [...]
Digging Holes and other memories
Posted by Thom in Work Experiences on 2009/03/22
My very first W-2 paying job was as a construction laborer for a small family construction company one very hot Virginia summer. The job, given my relative lack of skills, was doing whatever I was told to do – usually it meant picking up scraps and trash, moving dirt and cement in wheelbarrows, carrying shingles up [...]
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