Lately, I have been buried up to my neck in a large consulting engagement to automatically convert Crystal Reports applications to use a modern web-based BI product.
Large software rationalization and modernization projects typically cost millions of dollars and take years to complete, but we are working hard on this one to automate most of the manual effort.
By the time I get back to the hotel room each night, I have little energy to write blog entries. At a minimum, I have tried to do some quick tweets from my Apple iPad.
If you do not follow me on Twitter, here are some of the things you may have missed:
Notre Dame evaluating iPads as textbook replacements.
See: http://lnkd.in/Xw98wr
MicroStrategy COO tells why tablets are here to stay.
See: http://lnkd.in/7-FuB9
Ohio bans government IT offshoring.
See: http://lnkd.in/vg9Af9
One of top IT skills in 2011? BI.
See: http://lnkd.in/KupuY8
SAS eyes BI growth in India.
See: http://lnkd.in/dKWAhJ
The Tablet War.
See: http://lnkd.in/jFx3X9
MicroStrategy BI vendor switches to iPads.
See: http://lnkd.in/zVPZ9c
American workers: be high-skilled or be left behind.
See: http://lnkd.in/HQKRcG
Free Audiobook of classic book on Christian Leadership.
See: http://lnkd.in/c5qFTQ
Salary Benchmarking led to crazy Executive Compensations.
See: http://lnkd.in/xNuUaX
CSC report examines Health IT Worker Shortage.
See: http://lnkd.in/ePF69E
Will iPad take Apple into the corporate arena?
See: http://lnkd.in/dWfm7v
Will e-Readers lose to Tablets?
See: http://lnkd.in/cUdukm
When we stop buying physical books, what will book stores sell?
See: http://lnkd.in/8ueWqt
Could a 1950s retro makeover help our USPS?
See: http://lnkd.in/QhqAKM
iPhones driving surge in Apple Mac enterprise sales?
See: http://lnkd.in/7sXGsM
Dresner ready to release Mobile BI Study results.
See: http://lnkd.in/GHh6Rm
Merv Adrian explains IDC BI market numbers.
See: http://lnkd.in/DsWSxn
Decline of American Television.
See: http://lnkd.in/4xBD_a
Come over to my Pad.
See: http://lnkd.in/f_dppD
Showing posts with label Rant and Rave. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rant and Rave. Show all posts
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Friday, August 13, 2010
Are You in the Steven Slater Fan Club?
Depending on your point of view, Steven Slater is either a hero, a jerk, or a criminal.
So which is it? Are you in the "Steven Slater Fan Club?"
Since a blog should contain personal opinions, here is mine. Every day, each of us plays a societal role. We are each a professional in a chosen profession. Steven Slater professes he loves the airline industry and this is the role he has chosen to play. He just decided to stop playing that role on that particular flight.
In the excellent book "The Reflective Practitioner," Donald Schön wrote:
In the traditional professional-client contract, the professional acts as though he agreed to deliver his services to the client to the limits of his special competence, to respect the confidences granted him, and not to misuse for his own benefit the special powers given him within the boundaries of the relationship. The client acts as though he agreed, in turn, to accept the professional’s authority in his special field, to submit to the professional’s ministrations, and to pay for services rendered. In a familiar psychological extension of the informal contract, the client agrees to show deference to the professional. He agrees not to challenge the professional’s judgment or to demand explanations beyond the professional’s willingness to give them. In short, he agrees to behave as though he respected the professional’s autonomy as an expert.
Here is a summary of Schön's points. As a professional, each of us is expected to deliver our services in an agreed-upon way, respect the confidences given to us by the client, and not misuse our power. In exchange, we expect clients to render some type of compensation for our services, respect our authority, and follow the advice that we give.
The jetBlue story is still being sorted out, but initial indications pointed to an unruly foul-mouthed passenger who disrespected Steven's professional role. Responding in a likewise unprofessional fashion, Steven called it quits in a way that will be recorded forever in Internet History.
There was misuse of professional power; by deploying the emergency chute, Slater basically grounded the plane until everything was put back to normal (reports say three hours minimum). Because of this, he probably delayed jetBlue passengers on several flights.
We might find that story erroneous and discover that Steven created the mess with no assistance (if so, he should have waited until Friday the 13th for more impact!).
Personally, I see an issue in our American culture where we have pushed the concept of individualism to a point where we have lost our personal humility (and I am speaking as an expert in lifelong humility issues).
It is one thing to have individual freedom, but quite another to go to an extreme where we become totally self-centered and lose compassion for other individuals. At that point, we lose sight of our personal role in society and behave inappropriately. We demand respect while dishing out disrespect on everybody else around us.
Lots of people might join the "Steven Slater Fan Club," but in the "I'm the Only Important Person Fan Club," there is room for just one member.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
U.S. Taxpayers Fund IT Offshoring in Sri Lanka
When your August 9th issue of the InformationWeek magazine comes in the mail, be sure to turn to page 18 and read the short article on IT Outsourcing. If you do not have a subscription, here is what Paul McDougall wrote:
I wonder who convinced the U.S. government to chose Sri Lanka as a new source of cheap IT workers (perhaps programmers in Tamil Nadu are getting too pricey)? Evidently, the $60 billion offshoring industry could always use some assistance from American taxpayers.
A key phrase in the article might be "U.S. companies looking to take advantage of…"
We have come to accept the business fact that U.S. companies do not want to hire American workers because we are too expensive. Instead, highly-paid executives at those firms make a financial case for their wise decision to pay a fraction of U.S. salaries to individuals on the other side of the planet.
Unless things change, American workers will have to wait for the cycle to come full circle. At some point, U.S. companies will no longer pay any American citizens -- all wages will go to workers in other countries. Then, we citizens will be unable to buy products from U.S. companies who will then need to sell to their own non-American employees.
To afford U.S. products, those offshore employees will then need higher wages and, at some point, the U.S. executives will make a wise decision to give those demanding workers the boot. Once Americans have experienced a good economic depression, those U.S. executives can hire back U.S. citizens for a mere pittance.
Perhaps here is a good place for President Obama to introduce some of his Change. For example, why not send some federal IT training money to low-wage workers in Jonesboro, Arkansas or Van Wert, Ohio?
It's an idea that many Americans are pushing. If you have not heard of "rural outsourcing," and how Arkansas might be able to compete with India, see the 2010 July CNNMoney article.
The U.S. Agency for International Development will contribute $10 million to $36 million to train workers, including 3,000 IT specialists, in Sri Lanka.
The federal agency will partner with private outsourcers in that country to teach workers advanced IT skills such as Enterprise Java programming, business process outsourcing, and call center support. USAID will also help the trainees brush up on their English.
Following their training, the workers will be placed with outsourcing vendors in the region that provide offshore IT services to U.S. companies looking to take advantage of the Asian subcontinent's low labor costs.
The outsourcing program is part of a larger effort to create 10,000 jobs in Sri Lanka in IT, construction, and the garment industry. But it's the outsourcing program that's drawing fire from critics. President Obama has pledged to retain more high-tech jobs in the U.S. in IT, biological sciences, and green energy.
I wonder who convinced the U.S. government to chose Sri Lanka as a new source of cheap IT workers (perhaps programmers in Tamil Nadu are getting too pricey)? Evidently, the $60 billion offshoring industry could always use some assistance from American taxpayers.
A key phrase in the article might be "U.S. companies looking to take advantage of…"
We have come to accept the business fact that U.S. companies do not want to hire American workers because we are too expensive. Instead, highly-paid executives at those firms make a financial case for their wise decision to pay a fraction of U.S. salaries to individuals on the other side of the planet.
Unless things change, American workers will have to wait for the cycle to come full circle. At some point, U.S. companies will no longer pay any American citizens -- all wages will go to workers in other countries. Then, we citizens will be unable to buy products from U.S. companies who will then need to sell to their own non-American employees.
To afford U.S. products, those offshore employees will then need higher wages and, at some point, the U.S. executives will make a wise decision to give those demanding workers the boot. Once Americans have experienced a good economic depression, those U.S. executives can hire back U.S. citizens for a mere pittance.
Perhaps here is a good place for President Obama to introduce some of his Change. For example, why not send some federal IT training money to low-wage workers in Jonesboro, Arkansas or Van Wert, Ohio?
It's an idea that many Americans are pushing. If you have not heard of "rural outsourcing," and how Arkansas might be able to compete with India, see the 2010 July CNNMoney article.
