The Implementation of Advanced Project Management Software

Traditionally, the spreadsheet has been the key realm of the project manager, with over 45% using them near exclusively, and in 2012 – the sustainability of this practice in light of new technologies, capabilities and maturity, is declining rapidly. Once difficult and prohibitively expensive, software has reached the stage where it is cheap, easily accessible and is becoming an accepted approach to improve resource utilisation and portfolio optimisation. In fact, over 60% of PMO’s are looking to deploy advanced project portfolio management (PPM) and project management software in their organisations within the next 2 years. Something that is crucial for PMO services to have, is ITIL training, ensuring advanced IT knowledge.

Despite the potential benefits, there is risk involved in this implementation; poorly planned implementation can result in cost overruns and reputational damage for the PMO. The key question here remains; are organisations mature enough to take on new tools? Implementing Advanced Project Management system is more of organisational change project than that of technical projects. Software vendors continue to demonstrate capabilities that are not aligned with those of their clients, and the promise that the tool will solve all their problems. Automating poor business practices can only result in greater failure.

The Implementation of Advanced Project Management Software

Traditionally, the spreadsheet has been the key realm of the project manager, with over 45% using them near exclusively, and in 2012 – the sustainability of this practice in light of new technologies, capabilities and maturity, is declining rapidly. Once difficult and prohibitively expensive, software has reached the stage where it is cheap, easily accessible and is becoming an accepted approach to improve resource utilisation and portfolio optimisation. In fact, over 60% of PMO’s are looking to deploy advanced project portfolio management (PPM) and project management software in their organisations within the next 2 years. Something that is crucial for PMO services to have, is ITIL training, ensuring advanced IT knowledge.

Despite the potential benefits, there is risk involved in this implementation; poorly planned implementation can result in cost overruns and reputational damage for the PMO. The key question here remains; are organisations mature enough to take on new tools? Implementing Advanced Project Management system is more of organisational change project than that of technical projects. Software vendors continue to demonstrate capabilities that are not aligned with those of their clients, and the promise that the tool will solve all their problems. Automating poor business practices can only result in greater failure.

The Long Term Effectiveness of Project Management Offices

Normal 0 false false false EN-AU JA X-NONE

Due to the reason that the PMO is a service that aims to improve so many aspects of a business, such as professional communication practices and organizational culture, the time that they can take to establish within a business can be greatly variable depending on several factors. Fundamentally, the PMO Services should be dedicated to constant improvement and optimization of service, and this is reflected in statistics, with less that 10% of organisations claiming that there had been little or no development of the PMO in the past 12 months. This can be due to many reasons, however most commonly it can mean that they are reporting to the wrong people, or the PMO has not achieved its tasks effectively.

To gauge efficiency, a maturity rating can be employed, with 1 being the initial proves, and 5 being the final optimization of processes. In general, a PMO is considered in the early establishment phase for between one to three years before progressing to the next stage, and progressing to a higher level takes 12 months at minimum. Age doesn’t necessarily indicate maturity though, however, 70% of PMO’s operating less than 5 years achieve Level 2, which is considered a low rating.  To get optimal return on investment (ROI), in general Levels 3 and onwards are ideal.  Over 86% of PMO’s that have been established for 10 or more years are still focused on continuous improvement. Project management training and certification is a wise investment for continued success, such as the PM-Partners  PMI Course or PMP Certification.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Early Problem Detection

Normal 0 false false false EN-AU X-NONE X-NONE

In the field of project management, it is a well established fact that early problem detection is a crucial aspect of effective project management. The benefits of early problem detection for a business include a reduction of rework and sunk costs; the later into the project in which problems are discovered, the more costly and time consuming the problems will be to fix.  An effectively implemented Project Management Office can have a very large impact on the overall project success, with some of the key services of having PMO certification including assessment and reporting, health checks and project assurance – this constant process of review and optimization of risks and gaps, meaning that problems can be discovered and dealt with as early as possible.

In the past 2 years, surveyed businesses using PMO services revealed a 51% improvement in early problem management, a clear indicator of how effective use of the services provided by PMO’s can benefit project management and overall business.

Untitled

Normal 0 false false false EN-AU JA X-NONE

Project Management Communities of Practice 

Effective project management involves organization wide collaboration, discussion, strategy and idea sharing. There is a trend in the industry to formalise this practice,  and over 60% of PMO’s establish what is known as a Community of Practice (CoP), which can assist in establishing or further developing a PMO Service , as well as improving overall collaboration and knowledge sharing. There are three key fields in which CoP’s are being utilized by PMO’s: 

1.     Project Management

2.     Business Analysis Training

3.     Change Management

Effective communication practices and channels are important features in a successful organization, and establishment of these sharing groups can offer positive organisatonal cultural changes to the business. With effective communication practices, the organization begins to become more self reliant, increasing corporate capability of individuals and business units within their own projects. These groups are also an effective method employed by PMO’s to add value for the project community, leading to more effective long term project management training and lessons being learned along the way.

 

The Effectiveness of the Project Management Office

The increasing number of Project Management Offices (PMOs) represents a growing trend for traditional project management that aims to improve project delivery and offer a fresh and innovative way to improve both business and the enterprise’s project effectiveness. Using a wide array of methods that are specifically aligned to each unique business and project, when effectively implemented the PMO can offer greatly increased project efficiency, cost savings and overall benefit to business. Project delivery is just one side of a PMO, with deeply business-integrated services such as portfolio management, the strategy of choosing the right projects for your business – not the other way around – being a key feature of the service.

In a recent survey by PM-Partners, a leading project management training company offering project management certifications such as prince2 training in Australia, businesses spanning the finance, IT, marketing, telecommunications, government, infrastructure and various other industries that had implemented PMO services, the degree to which the PMO can benefit an organisation was reinforced. The survey revealed a 41% improvement in overall project successes over the past 2 years, with more than 80% of this increase being attributed to effective PMO’s. This statistic alone shows the positive benefit of the PMO, and with their growing focus in business, this is likely to be proven further in coming years.

PMO’s and Project Portfolio Management

Normal 0 false false false EN-AU JA X-NONE

Project Portfolio Management (PPM) of an organization can be one of the most challenging aspects of project management, often this is because the skills a PMO uses to improve process and capability may differ to those needed to work with the senior executive. One of the most valuable PMO Services is Project Portfolio Management. This can be one of the most challenging undertakings of a PMO, mainly because of the belief that success can only be achieved when senior executives buy in and adopt these practices. For this, PMO This means that projects are chosen not based on individual business unit needs, but prioritized based on the value that they will deliver to the organizational strategy. It is this level of wide, whole business planning that separates the successful businesses during a time of limited resources and increased pressures to change.

 In regards to this, surveyed businesses reported issues with three major aspects of project portfolio management:

• 1.    Business support for project prioritization
• 2.     Business unit focus instead of enterprise focus
• 3.     Organizational culture

It can be seen through the results of this survey that businesses have a very common problem, organizational culture preventing effective prioritisation of their projects and execution of strategy. This is the result of executives either intentionally or passively the portfolio initiative, as they are often assessed on achievement of pre-defined goals as opposed to improving the business as a whole. Advanced training for PMO Services such as PMI Certification is available at PM-Partners.

 

 

OnTrack Data Recovery – Care with Your Mac

Today, the traditional personal computer is slowly being replaced by new platforms, and at the forefront of this technology, is Apple with their Macs. Television, mobile phones, and most importantly, computers are all part of Apple’s product offering. Despite revolutionary new designs and form factors, much of the core technology remains the same. The hard drive is one of these technologies, and whilst seemingly simple, they have one of the highest failure rates for any hardware in Mac computers such as the Macbook Pro, Macbook Air, Mac Mini or regular Mac desktops.

According to the IDC Digital World Study, in 2011 alone, over 1.8 zettabytes (1.8 trillion gigabytes) of data were created, and this is expected to grow by 75x in the next decade. This is exciting, but also raises many questions – hard drives are mechanical and certainly don’t have a long life span, accidents happen, and data loss and the subsequent hard drive data recovery or hard drive repairs are something that almost everyone has had to deal with in the past. The difficult part is how do you avoid this, and what happens if it happens to you?

Not many people realise the value of backing up their computers, assuming that retrieval can be simple. This is rarely the case, and professional data retrieval from a failed hard drive can cost upwards of $1000. Often, data loss can be avoided by observing some simple signs, and if files are lost, they can sometimes be found by using simple crashed hard drive data recovery tools. To start at the basics, a hard drive is the storage of the computer – on it is contained the operating system, such as Apple OS X, as well as any music, videos, documents, and applications you may own. Whilst most modern operating systems are quite reliable, data corruption, in which unintended errors occur when writing a file to the disk, is common, and often it means that the file will be inaccessible.

If you don’t have a backup of this file, then you may not be able to use it again, meaning that you have lost your data. There are many ways you can lose data, however one of the most common along with corruption, is simply accidental deletion. Both of these can be fixed or recovered through the use of crashed hard drive recovery tools. Kroll Ontrack Easy Recovery Pro, which enables the user to both repair files and recover files that have been deleted in the past – a lifesaver if you ever lose important files.

The other, admittedly more complex side of data loss, is when the hard drive fails, either due to mechanical fault or by being damaged, and this means that a hard drive recovery tool couldn’t be used. Hard drives do not last forever – largely because they contain moving parts, spinning at over 7200 RPM which in turn generates heat.

Whilst they are often seen as very reliable, these problems still occur very commonly on Apple computers. To keep up with demand, Apple uses several manufacturers including Hitachi, Western Digital and Seagate to supply their hard drives, meaning that there can be inconsistencies in quality. There are many signs that can mean your hard drive is failing, with the most obvious usually being it making strange sounds such as grinding or screeching. This usually means that the head has crashed, or the motor has stopped working, and as a worst-case scenario, this could mean that one of the platters has slipped, and it is literally being ground to dust. If you ever hear these noises, it is a good idea to quickly back up your files to either an external hard drive, USB, or cloud service.

If all else fails, it can then be taken for hard drive repairs, such as those offered by Ontrack Data Recovery. Hard drive repairs can generally retrieve your important data, but there is always a chance that the loss may be permanent. It is recommended strongly to backup any important files. 

Crashed HDD Data Recovery

Normal 0 false false false EN-AU X-NONE X-NONE

It is inevitable that if you have lived in the modern world for any amount of time, you have used and own a computer. The advent of this technology has seen the last two decades offer new and revolutionary technology that has forever changed the way humans work and communicate. However, as with almost technology, as things become more advanced, the more there is to go wrong. At the core of most of these technologies is a component known as a hard disk drive (HDD). This acts as the storage centre of the computer or device; housing all its files and most importantly, operating system such as Windows 7 or Mac OS. This makes is one of the most crucial parts of a computer, and they are also found in iPods, tablet computers and even cars.

Hard drives operate by reading and writing data to a very fast spinning disk, known as a ‘platter.’ When a hard drive fails, it can be a huge problem, because essentially, everything that has ever been saved on it is lost. It can happen at any time, and most people don’t understand if and how it’s possible to recover their data when this happens. Data recovery is not a simple task, and can often end up costing thousands of dollars, depending on the amount of data that needs to be retrieved. There are many providers that can do this, such as Kroll Ontrack Australia, which provides expert hard drive recovery tool.

Due to the fact it is usually the only moving part in a device, it is much more prone that other parts to fail. Having a crashed hard drive is far more common that total failure, however crashed hard drive data recovery can also be difficult. Accidental deletion is also a very common problem, and for both of these, there is software easily available that can help recover lost files. The hard drive data recovery tool Kroll Ontrack Easy Recovery Pro is an example of this, as it is a sophisticated industry tool that can potentially recover files that have been accidentally lost or deleted as the result of a crashed hard drive.

The best method of recovering hard drives – is quite simply preventative action, which means back up your data. There are countless ways to do this, such as buying an external hard drive, or online backup services such as Dropbox or Microsoft Skydrive, which offer free and effective backup. Investing a small amount of time and money can save thousands, as well as untold stress and frustration over losing data and needing hard drive data recovery. There are also several signs that a hard disk drive is going to fail, such as slow performance on the computer, and the computer making strange whirring and grinding sounds. If this happens, it is important to back up your data as quickly as possible and take it for repairs or replacement.

Wholesale bedroom furniture supplier - Cafe Lighting

Cafe Lighting is a proudly Australian company that sells wholesale furniture online. This business model allows the development of strong relationships between the businesses, with a large focus on customer service. The company is based in Sydney, and specialises in all types of furniture, including bedding, lighting, and decorative pieces.

Cafe Lighting is dedicated to offering the latest trends, brands, fashions and designs in the global interior decorations, and has wholesale products that can be sold to both domestic and commercial customers and a very wide range of price points.  As a leading seller of online wholesale furniture, Cafe Lighting offers and unparalleled and simple buying and ordering process with a very high standard of service to our customers.

Cafe Lighting offers many mainstream styles of furniture, but also products at the forefront of design and utility. Some of our most popular items include our range of wholesale chairs such as the Crompton Black Velvet chair, an example of a beautiful and functional take on an absolute classic piece of luxury furniture. There is also much in the range of desks and tables, such as the multifunctional Sutton desk and dresser, a perfect and minimalist addition to bedroom and studies. The Avril is a stunning modernist design, a coffee table that will stand out as a feature in any living room.

Also staying true to the Cafe Lighting name, the company has an enormous offering of wholesale lights, lamps, as well as wholesale home lights and wholesale chandeliers, desk lamps and floor lights. The Alicia chandelier represents a beautiful combination of new, modern materials, with a retro-classic design, and would feature well in the living room of a sophisticated urban home. For a more unique appeal, the Abigail Pendant is an example of progressive New York style industrial lighting, a funky and unique addition to a well designed kitchen.

How to maintain your garage door

Normal 0 false false false EN-AU X-NONE X-NONE

For somebody who owns a garage, one of the frequently asked questions is ‘’what do I need to do to keep my garage door and the opener working?’ Well, here are some tips for your garage door care:

1. Cleaning is a simple and effective method for the almost any mechanical maintenance. Since the most commonly seen materials of garage door are steel and timber, the right cleaning procedure is quite important for the longevity of your garage door. All you need is a broom, a bucket, mild detergent and some sponge and cloth. First close the garage door and brush the surface with a stiff brush or a broom, then wash it with a hose. Fill the bucket with warm water and household detergent, use the sponge or cloth and gently scrub the garage door thoroughly. Wash it again by using the hose again. Finally, wipe and dust debris from the tracks. You can always apply car wax to the surface on metal doors once you have cleaned it thoroughly.

2. Check to operate the door manually every once and a while. Since the springs would lose the strength after years of use. It may cause the door to be harder and harder to lift. For those who have a garage door opener, we recommend you to disconnect the door from the opener and lift it by hands. If the door becomes a bit too heavy then you need to get the spring adjusted, as the heavy door will eventually damage the opener.

3. Keep it lubricated. Lubrication and regular cleaning are the two most important maintenance procedures of any kind of garage doors. Because garage doors are generally a moving walls and it has a lot of parts. It is important to keep these parts oiled and it’s simple to do so. And be careful with the selection of the lubricant. Only use light-weight lubricants, otherwise it will gradually catch enough dirt to “gunk” up and cause problems of moving parts. It is recommending doing this at least once every three months.

Following the above simple steps will greatly increase the longevity of your door and your door opener. And if you confront a very messy situation of your garage door, simply find a garage door service company and do the entire professional work for you.

How to choose the material for garage doors

Normal 0 false false false EN-AU X-NONE X-NONE

Normal 0 false false false EN-AU X-NONE X-NONE

Garage doors can elevate the appeal and value of your home and also increase your feeling of security. When purchasing garage doors, you’d find several different materials, each of which has pros and cons and you may not know how to choose the right material to satisfy your situation. This article is a quick guide to what each material offers, with the comparison of all the materials.

Aluminium

Aluminium doors are lighter than steel doors. But they are easier to dent. Although aluminium is considered a more expensive material, the aluminium garage doors are not.

Fibreglass

Fibreglass, sometimes called GRP, as we know, is a very light, expensive but durable material. It has the advantage of better resistant to weather and saltwater corrosion than other commonly seen garage door materials, which could really make your life a bit easier when living at coastal areas.

Steel

Steel garage doors are the most popular with reasonably prices, and most importantly it has any styles as you can imagine, the roller door, sliding and many other kinds of styles. They won’t warp, crack or fall apart because of weather. Though cheap and suitable for many garages, it is very difficult to repair if they dent. Normally the less expensive doors are made of thinner steel and without insulation. It is better to choose 24 gauge steel instead of the 28 gauge steel. The material itself is a poor insulator, insulated doors are a good pick for the sake of energy saving.

Wood

Wood is a traditional material for garage doors as well as the houses. It offers very low cost option. It provides better insulation rate than the other three materials above. One thing that people should be notified before purchasing a timber garage door is that the regular maintenance is required.

Wood Composite

This material is made with recycled wood fibre. So it has much better strength

Conclusions

Each material has its own pros and cons: Steel doors are popular and great for money; wood doors are insulated and good looking; fibreglass doors offer a timber like effect with low maintenance fee. You should definitely get a better understand of your situation before picking the material for your garage.