PoddarCo

Background

A software development project requires rolling out a new software application to a user base of 3000 people globally in the first phase, and then expanding to another 2500 users potentially. This application uses SharePoint 2010 and Office 2010 as its technical foundation. The software also relies on a virtualization solution provided by another vendor. The users have Office 2003 and Windows XP on their computers. The company has about 15000 employees globally; most using a combination of Windows XP and Office 2003 or Office 2007 on their computers.

Situation

A part of the project team set up a software lab with Windows 7 and other Windows 7 dependent software based on their research. As people started using the lab for testing, and issues emerged, Windows 7 got highlighted as a cause for concern, primarily because of –

• complications involved in upgrading everyone (user base and other employees) to Windows 7
• training concerns in transitioning users from Office 2003 to Office 2010
• integration issues with other legacy hardware and software
• the virtualization vendor’s Windows 7 ready solution being too late for our deployment goals

What if?

Had the team that set up the lab involved others in their decision making process from the start, they could have saved time, effort and money.  At least a couple options would have been to either start with a Windows XP solution and upgrade to a Windows 7 solution when the broader organization was ready or to communicate early enough any impact to the deployment timeline.

Often in software development projects, those close to the technology push to use the latest available tools or things that are “cool”. While I do not blindly discourage such endeavors, I can’t emphasize enough the importance to work with other department heads to ensure that the organization as a whole (and not just the software’s user community) can meet the demands of the proposed solution.

It is also important to consider if any other vendors you are dependent on will be able to complete their deliverables in time. The project referenced here used a Virtualization solution provider whose application would not be Windows 7 ready till June 2010. That timeline would delay the software deployment, which, from the very start was not acceptable to the sponsors.

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New York – Project Manager, SDLC

Description:
A major New York City Publishing company is looking for a SDLC Project Manager.

The ideal candidate will have the following experience:

• At least 3 years of experience as SDLC Project Manager
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Interest in Math & Science

Great team environment, Great company, Great Benefits!

Notes (+ next steps):
- Send an email with your resume to varunpoddar@poddarco.com
- This is not a job posting to work with PoddarCo; it has been posted on behalf of a recruiting company.  So please save job-related questions for the recruiter. A member of our team will forward your email to the recruiting company that owns the job posting. You will be copied on the email forwarded to the recruiter.
- To ensure the most recent and perhaps active job postings get prompt attention, only responses within 30 days of the posting date will be forwarded.
- This process may change at any time; any changes to the process will be posted on the blog.

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New York – Lead JAVA / J2EE Engineer with Web Experience

Description:
Our client provides high availability web content solutions for Fortune 500 media companies. Currently they are seeking a highly skilled JAVA / J2EE Technical lead to join the company. This job requires a candidate to have 6-8 years professional experience developing highly scalable and high availability websites and web applications. The core technologies required include; JAVA / J2EE, Spring, Hibernate, JavaScript and JQuery. Experience with various CMS systems is a must. This company will work with various CMS packages to include open source and proprietary systems. In addition to your technical experience this candidate will be focused on all layers of the web applications development and all aspects of the development life cycle.

The person should be comfortable with the following skills; requirements gathering, architecture, design, coding, testing, business analysis and reporting. Because our client is a solutions provider the job has a heavy client facing aspect so people should be comfortable working directly with external business units. You will also be leading smaller teams from a technology aspect and will have the responsibility to mentor more junior programmers and application developers.

This company will offer and excellent career path to lead projects independently and have staff reporting to them. The career path for this company does not stray away from core technology aspect. As you grow in the company you will always be “hands-on” with the development life-cycle even at a management level. The company offers an excellent salary and compensation package that is based on experience. This is a fulltime job in the New York City office of this company. All clients are based in Manhattan and the job will require very little travel. Projects are long term with continued communication and client engagement.

Notes (+ next steps):
- Send an email with your resume to varunpoddar@poddarco.com
- This is not a job posting to work with PoddarCo; it has been posted on behalf of a recruiting company.  So please save job-related questions for the recruiter. A member of our team will forward your email to the recruiting company that owns the job posting. You will be copied on the email forwarded to the recruiter.
- To ensure the most recent and perhaps active job postings get prompt attention, only responses within 30 days of the posting date will be forwarded.
- This process may change at any time; any changes to the process will be posted on the blog.

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Had updated some previous thoughts on the topic – so reposting this.

Processes should exist as a catalyst for getting work done, not to slow it down. Checks and balances are needed to ensure nothing slips through the cracks, not to cover one team’s tracks so the next in line can be blamed. Documentation is prepared to pave the way for others who follow, not to constrain projects till every excruciating detail is noted.  Dates are necessary for planning, scheduling resources and aligning other work, but need to be kept real.

Some PMs get caught up in demanding these elements from their teams. Releases don’t get scheduled till project codes, install instructions, help guides, dev complete dates, QA completion notices, team-to-team hand off meetings, multi-layered sign-offs and varied support procedures among other things are in place. By then the business (client) needs move on, project demands change, resources shift.

It’s here that a customer focus plays a crucial role.  It doesn’t matter if the clients are internal stakeholders, end-users or external organizations and businesses. A client focus can shed new light on questions like – how can the process minimize redundancy and overhead while maximizing productivity and utilization? Does the process have to be so standardized? One size does not fit all; where can you make the process flexible so work gets done more efficiently, productively and quickly?

My two cents in conclusion: question the rigidity of processes and other must-haves; be alert to these things when they start becoming roadblocks. Also, take a page out of agile project management methodologies as they can really help address some of the concerns highlighted here (more on that in future posts).

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Project Manager, Software Integration Technology, Boston , USA

Role:
- Take a leadership role in the integration of the client’s sophisticated point solutions with their customers’ enterprise applications
-Convert customer business problems and use cases into detailed product requirements in order for software development to build superior products and features.
- Create and deliver technical materials to ensure other company functions are ready for new product releases, including Professional Services, Customer Support Sales and Training.
-Provide secondary support to technical pre-sales consultants and professional services. Develop product demonstrations to be used by the field sales teams

Ideal Candidate Profile:
-5+ years experience implementing software integration projects for a software company or consulting firm
-Strong knowledge of common IT technologies including portals, business intelligence, web services, Enterprise Application Integration, databases and Windows operating systems
-Prefer experience in software and product design, user interface design, storyboarding, focus groups, product requirements documentation, product requirements gathering
-Experience in associated areas such as technical service delivery, technical sales, R&D a plus
-Based in Boston, MA or able to move there at own expense. US citizens or US Permanent Residents only please.

Notes (+ next steps):
- Send an email with your resume to varunpoddar@poddarco.com
- This is not a job posting to work with PoddarCo; it has been posted on behalf of a recruiting company.  So please save job-related questions for the recruiter. A member of our team will forward your email to the recruiting company that owns the job posting. You will be copied on the email forwarded to the recruiter.
- To ensure the most recent and perhaps active job postings get prompt attention, only responses within 30 days of the posting date will be forwarded.
- This process may change at any time; any changes to the process will be posted on the blog.

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Hi everyone -

As I may have hinted on some posts, I enjoy photography.  So thought I’d post a link to some of my photographs.

http://photo.net/photos/poddarco

Feel free to share your thoughts – any feedback / critique is always welcome!  If you want to share some of your photographs, send me the link.  Would be nice to see you through a different “lens”…look forward to hearing from you!

Cheers!
-V

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