Steve's Seaside Life

Author: Steve Richards

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The business case for portable computers

Just recently I read a blog post (which I can no longer find) that cast doubt on the business case for portable computers.  The basic argument went like this:

  • Portable users worked for 14% more hours
  • Portable users produced 13% more work
  • Therefore portable users were 1% less efficient

Assuming I remember this correctly it seems a pretty strange analysis, so here is my counter analysis.  First the case for portables and productivity:

  • Portable users do more hours when they have a portable device because it allows them to work when they would otherwise be undertaking some leisure activity, depending on the portable device in questions, these times are most often, whilst waiting in airports, travelling by train, sitting in front of the TV etc.
  • Portable users do more hours because its easier to “just spend an hour” working at the weekend, than it is to drive to work and do it there
  • Portable users spend more time with access to time critical information sources, email, IM etc and so respond faster reducing lead-times, and improving decision making
  • Portable users make better use of their time in the office, processing email, expenses and other low low importance high volume tasks tend to …

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Paperless, the enduring dream of computing

I remember writing my first “paper reduction” based business case about 15 years ago, and using the “paperless office” phrase in a business case for the first time about a decade ago, it’s interesting to see how much “progress” we have made.  It seems that the average office worker in the USA now consumes over 12,000 sheets of paper per year!  In cost terms that’s probably well in excess of $500 a year. 

Last year I had the opportunity question my own usage of paper and was staggered by the extent to which I depended on it.  I also came across an interesting article that discussed why no one seems interested in solving the problem which I discussed in my blog last year. 

However I am now able to say that I live an almost paper free life, and briefly here are the things that have made it possible:

  • I use a Tablet PC for all reading and reviewing
  • I use a 3 screen environment at home which means I have plenty of screen real estate available to have multiple documents open at the same time
  • I have a great scanner, and the even better PaperPort Pro which lets me scan every …

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Why I love working in the end-user and work-group computing field!

I have worked in this area for most of my working life and it continues to amaze me that it is still an area of IT that has the – untapped – potential to transform peoples lives.  Most of the customers I work with are struggling to deal with all the information they have to cope with in their work and home life (which are becoming more integrated).  They live high-bandwidth lifestyles!  Its with great interest therefore that I read the following results from the Information Work Productivity Council (IWPC) which is an independent group of companies and academics that have joined together to study the issue of information work productivity. The goal of the Council is to build a model that measures productivity in today’s information-centric business environment. 

They recently published the results of a survey into how the average user spends their time at work.  According to the study, the average user:

  • Spends 3 hours and 14 minutes a day using technologies to process work-related information—just over 40% of an 8-hour work day
  • Devotes 1.58 hours/day to e-mail (49% of the information processing time, and 20% of an 8 hour day
  • Spends 47 minutes, or 24% of IP time on telephone and voice mail
  • Receives …

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Microsoft doing it right …

These two great video (one and two) interviews with Scott Guthrie on IIS7 and ASP.NET show off Microsoft at its best, you might even go so far as saying a new Microsoft.  The IIS Team and the Indigo team seem to have learned some key lessons about standards compliance and compatibility (not always the same thing).  Of course it’s a key requirement of their market segment, and they don’t dominate it,  but its still nice to see the focus in these areas.  Two other things stand out for me in the interviews:

  • The continued focus on making IIS a great platform upon which people can build additional infrastructure richness and of course great applications. This is achieved by modularising the platform and documenting the APIs of the standard modules and allowing new modules to be easily created.
  • The second is that with IIS a raft of the most common open source applications are going to be provided, and integrated,  from forums to blogs, another really great move.

I just wish they had given him advanced notice of one of the key questions, how do you differentiate yourself against apache (which is didn’t really now how to answer) and asked …

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What is Product Management?

I just came across an interesting article that discusses the Product Management role.  As you can see from this post it’s quite topical, so I have commented on some extracts below.

What is Product Management?

Most people accept that “product management” is a term used to describe the sum of diverse activities performed in the interest of delivering a particular product to market. Such a broad definition, used by many companies today, is the root of much grief because it dilutes the professional focus necessary to achieve successful results and allows virtually any product-related task to be assigned to the product manager.

I agree that this definition is too broad,  I believe we address it in my company by assigning project managers to do the delivery management and focusing on ensuring that the lifecycle management activities can be achieved effectively, rather than trying to do them all ourselves! 

The overall perceived obstacle that the typical product manager encounters is the pervasive lack of professional focus. One can be adequate at many things, but it is difficult to excel at many. Many product managers therefore view themselves as trapped in a never-ending juggling routine. Having too many tasks to juggle eventually …

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Options

I am currently considering my career options.  After a year working part time I believe I have a very sound understanding of the opportunities and constraints associated with Adult Onset Still Disease and its affect on work. 

Very briefly the good:

  • I have a lot of time for learning and maintaining my expertise (in addition to my formal working day) and for thinking and reviewing
  • This equips me well for advisory and planning roles
  • I work an extended day from home
  • I need to do a lot of low intensity exercise, which also allows me to make phone calls and listen to technical briefings/conferences etc

and just as briefly the bad:

  • I need to work mainly from home
  • I only work between 4 and 6 hours a day
  • I am most suited to longer term work, because of the day to day variability of the conditions
  • I am better working in a supporting rather than leadership role

I have three main options that I am considering with my company:

  • Working within a Product Management team, which is primarily concerned with managing the products and services we provide to customers through their lifecycle.  This means making sure that we correctly …

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Service-oriented Architecture: A Field Guide to Integrating XML and Web Services

Not a particularly challenging book on this subject.  It starts with the basics and never really gets to the guts of developing SOA applications.  However it does a good job of explaining the basics of the standards and key concepts, although it does over use very simple diagrams.  I know a picture tells a thousand words, but in this case some of the pictures could be explained in 10 words without too much difficulty. 

That said I found it very useful and particularly liked the concept maps, that showed how all of the various standards/services related to each other.

If you want a more ambitious book then Enterprise Service Bus by David Chappel, looks promising:

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Holes

A very easy and light weight read, its got some interesting elements that keep you guessing and a hint of mystery.  I liked the book it made a rotten day bearable.  I would recomments it if you want to kill some time and don’t want any challenges.  The basic storyline is detailed below:

Stanley Yelnats is sentenced to dig holes at Camp Green Lake detention centre for stealing a pair of trainers. Stanley’s quest to discover what he is digging for leads to danger and adventure and to a confrontation with his family’s past. 

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Bill Gates has invested nearly $1B in US schools and wants to make every dollar count

Bill has just given a very interesting speech on the state of the US High School system which he describes as obsolete:

By obsolete, I don’t just mean that our high schools are broken, flawed, and under-funded – though a case could be made for every one of those points. By obsolete, I mean that our high schools – even when they’re working exactly as designed – cannot teach our kids what they need to know today. 

Training the workforce of tomorrow with the high schools of today is like trying to teach kids about today’s computers on a 50-year-old mainframe. It’s the wrong tool for the times. Our high schools were designed fifty years ago to meet the needs of another age.  Until we design them to meet the needs of the 21st century, we will keep limiting – even ruining – the lives of millions of Americans every year.

He has a considerable interest in this failing as he explains here:

Our philanthropy is driven by the belief that every human being has equal worth.  We are constantly asking ourselves where a dollar of funding and an hour of effort can make the biggest impact for equality. We look for strategic …