Aha!
This IT pilot fish is checking the control system for a pharmaceutical company's new packaging assembly line, and the final mechanical tweaks seem to be fine. But why is the line suddenly accelerating?
View ArticleHey, you've had two years, right?
This company resells phone service from a satellite-based telecom system that was designed using non-standard protocols. Result: The reseller can only bill customers a monthly flat fee, because...
View ArticleBehaving normally, redefined
This university teaching hospital has an in-house patient care website for doctors, nurses and others to review patient results and chart new data, served up by ten machines in two different...
View ArticleHow were we supposed to know?
Multinational company is working on the installation of the seventh and final new PBX for one region when this network engineer pilot fish gets a call from the install team: The installation is in...
View ArticleTiming isn't everything, it's the only thing
There's a very tight schedule for this project, and it needs to have a testbed server for a new database connector -- but even if nothing goes wrong with the current plan, there's no way it can arrive...
View ArticleOh, THAT'LL help!
This hospital system spends weeks planning an 'active shooter' drill -- to prepare for an emergency in which someone starts shooting people in a public place. And the drill goes perfectly except for...
View ArticleQuestions, questions, questions
Consultant pilot fish is called in by a big sports venue to be project manager for the opening of the new grandstand. But a critical element is the world-class Wi-Fi system that the CEO has been...
View ArticleLooks like the boss won't stand for this
The data warehousing team at this university's IT department has started using Agile project-management techniques -- and it's taking some adjustment for everyone.
View ArticleProjects, errors, the user experience and planning in 2013
It's February, and many companies are just concluding their financial closing processes for the prior year. It's also a time for stepping back and reviewing the great accomplishments we made in 2012,...
View ArticleYeah, I'd take that bet too
This IT pilot fish is a former member of his company's change team -- the techs who work up server changes and then hand them over to the business-as-usual team. But the change guys have a very...
View ArticleSee? See? It was MUCH closer to 15/22nds
Flashback 20 years to when this pilot fish is a program engineering manager for a big government project -- one with a newly assigned project manager who wants to make a name for himself as quickly as...
View ArticleThe cloud is not the answer to every problem
Let’s all take a big step forward together and admit it, we’re tired of hearing about “The Cloud.” Almost everywhere you look there is an article, interview, product release, or discussion on the...
View ArticleSure, we COULD have asked, but why?
The wireless bridge that links this U.K. school's network with some remote classrooms has stopped working, says a network admin pilot fish working there -- but that's not the really puzzling part.
View ArticleWait, let's try this again...
This pilot fish gets complaints from a few users that they can't access files in a particular network folder. But all employees should be able to read that folder, and fish starts to wonder if this is...
View ArticleNice to know that at least they're consistent
This company uses offshore development when it runs into a problem adding some new printers to an existing system -- and it mostly works OK. Well, until it doesn't.
View ArticleWhy we, um, love HR
This pilot fish gets a visit from a representative from Human Resources -- and fortunately, it's about benefits.
View ArticleEmbracing digital technologies and building an agile infrastructure
Organizations are looking to leverage social media to speed up the sharing of information and enable better and faster decision making. When I ask where their business priorities stand for the coming...
View ArticleThe first casualty is the documented process
It's the kickoff meeting for a military IT project, and this sysadmin pilot fish is trying to keep track of the contradictions as they whiz by.
View ArticleCompeting in the global marketplace
Whether you work for a large company or a small startup, chances are your business is global in nature. And if it’s not there yet, I would expect that it’s part of your organization’s long-term...
View ArticleIs your company still relevant? Will it be tomorrow?
As a CEO, people often ask me how I sleep at night knowing that, especially in the IT industry, the competitive landscape can shift almost instantaneously. I tell them the truth: I sleep like a baby. I...
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