MS Project Tech Tool

Hello Mr. Anderson,

After our end of the month meeting, you have enabled the ability to pursue the MS Project for our design team. After approaching me directly about testing for my input, I have done just that and have found some results that my interest you greatly. As you may already know, MS Project can allow us to engage in project management with many features that can contribute efficiency to any of our processes such as developing plans, managing budgets, and tracking project’s process. Since we as project managers need an efficient program that can eliminate any constraints such as the lack of customization, lack of widespread features, and the lack of compatibility, we should intend to pursue MS Project.

We can sure use MS Project because of the integration with the Microsoft programs. Microsoft SharePoint already is in alliance with MS Project. The similarity with all the Microsoft programs allows the ability to learn MSP quicker. The ribbon is similar to the 2010 programs with the File, Task, Resource, Project etc… The very nice feature of the MS Project is the Zoom slider, inserting columns, and the facility of selecting far more commands. MSP runs on Windows’s PC’s and Macs which can benefit since we use both systems.

We use teams for different projects and lately we have not been able to allow a better managing of assigned resources. With MSP, we can allow to view to manage over allocations and different tasks with their assigned resources. The greatness of just dragging and dropping tasks to different teams makes it easier for me as the manager to create faster communication.

We also face the problem of not being able to manage our projects on-time by a couple of days because the lack of scheduling tasks on your own. With MS Project, we would be able to manually insert tasks that have nothing to do with project calendars or tasks relate directed with the project. Since we work with small projects assignments, this option will help tremendously since the greater descriptions and task add-ons will help the project.

The great option of MSP is the Task Inspector feature where it identifies problems and timing issues. The ability to provide me with solutions with these scheduling task problems also helps me in advance without me having to waste time to search. This feature serves as a system review to make sure all my tasks aren’t overlapping or conflicting with each other. Along with this, a timeline view feature has allowed managers to have an overview of a project schedule. You can manipulate the view by picking tasks, milestone tasks, or just any individual tasks and have it depict it on the timeline view.

Factors to keep in mind would be the price to purchase MSP. We can face charges such as $300-$750. There are possibilities that the previous edition can be used but that would defeat the purpose of using MSP to its full potential and new features. Since we are already having difficulties with simple project software, we should add MS Project to our company with the right analysis on the cost for the software.

Thank you,
Jim Lozada
Sr. Project Manager

Resources:

http://blinklist.com/reviews/microsoft-project

Pandora Reflection

Hello Pandora Team,

As I had time to reflect about the presentation by the consulting team on Saturday, I believe that the recommendation that Capgemini Consulting has provided fits well with our current problem. To develop a spread of solutions that contribute to our problem is ideal in order to test the market with our potential solutions and slowly use our capital to spend. As stated, the immediate action would be the change in advertising strategy. This will allow more revenue to come in just by doubling the ad time in between plays. Compared to our competitors on the satellite radio sector, this is still very low ad time and higher music listening time. Another immediate action would be to develop an APP for users to allow immediate access on the go. Many users are always on the go and need to be able have access to music on their phones rather than on the computer. This will enable greater revenue intake from consumers.

What caught my eye was the Open Mic feature where we can allow consumers gain exposure by becoming self-starting stars. As a company that provides service to consumers, we need to be able to provide new innovative features to attract not just the listening segment, but the artist segment as well. This would generate far greater customers for the short-term and spread the word quickly. Allowing those to participate with Pandora, can allow a far more use of our system and our future app.

What needs to be enforced as an idea is the potential of re-branding and globalizing to the extent of greatness. As the consulting group mentioned, the continent of Europe are currently waiting for internet radio to emerge and I believe we can be that company who will take the competitive advantage by being the first to enter their market. Not only can we enter music, but the other features such as comedy and sports’ broadcasting was also an idea worth taking. This again, will allow new customers to be interested in obtaining our service. In the sense of re-branding, we can create the community and social media features that those tech savvy individuals would acknowledge with open arms. This would generate great word and spread across the globe.

All, in all, we should consider all three approaches with time deadlines in order to overcome the problem of  no effectively monetizing our larger user, advertising covering our costs, and the ability to have expenditure offset revenue. With the proposed solutions, we will be able to solve these existing problems and would surely enable the immediate actions first to allow a more faster approach to raise or intake cash flow.

Sincerely,

Jim Lozada

Pandora Senior Executive

Opening Pandora's Box Case Prep

Problem/Issue Statement

What is the problem?

The problem with Pandora is that it doesn't know how to maintain their operating costs. Chief strategist and founder of Pandora, Tim Westergren, is trying to figure out how to balance the interests of the Venture Capitalist investors, while also run his company as he had initially planned. Pandora is facing an increase in their growth rate which at its current rate, the company would drain its cash by the end of the subsequent year.

Pandora lacks financing; and the symptoms are that due to high growth rate it might run out of money to run its business as a desired by higher management. If nothing is done, then the company is facing a possibility to go out of business.

Situation Assessment

The context of the problem is having the company to initiate a positive cash flow. The company would also need to reduce operation costs, negotiation of pricing, mitigation costs, advertisement growth, provide better quality options for consumers, and possibly tie in contracts with other companies such as car manufacturers etc…

List of Plausible Alternatives/ Evaluations

• Advertisement/ Marketing (SEM Full Throttle)- Pandora should focus on advertisement growth. With the help of advertisement and marketing, Pandora can benefit from search engine marketing (SEM) and general marketing spend because of its ability to see what music is trending for which specific users and allow the consumers to enjoy it. This will allow greater revenue by allowing more customers to come in. Another type of advertisement option is by maximizing greater space on their website and applications by advertisements. This will allow a greater cash flow entrance for Pandora and can make up for the loss that they might be facing from consumers.
• SEM Halt- Pandora is currently attracting customers by their marketing techniques such as SEM which allows capturing customers through search tools. You can also attribute segment marketing to SEM. If Pandora currently cannot keep up with their growth, then they should slow or halt the SEM in order to allow the revenue become higher then costs. They can slow it down until Pandora can see that they can manage the growth.
• Initial Public Offer-Pandora is facing money issues and need financing. The answer would be to introduce the market with Pandora and allow money to flow that way. The public and consumers would be in charge of investing in Pandora and allow Pandora to become a better provider with missing options and innovations to customers.
• Stand Down- If Pandora does absolutely nothing, their growing market will become “too big to handle”, and Pandora will be out of the party with no financing to keep up. Pandora will eventually become out of business.

Recommendation

Quality- The quality recommendation would be to allow the investment coming in from the outside public. This would allow the public to invest in Pandora which is in desperate need of it.

Logical- The logical recommendation would be to allow the SEM to slow or stop. The reason why Pandora is not maintaining the cash flow is because it is growing and not enough cash is being pumped in to stable the growing. So if the SEM is stopped, that would let the cash inflow offset the growth.

Presentation- The presentation should elaborate the recommendation as the important factor. Since I believe the quality recommendation should be the optimal one that would bring the most value to Pandora, the cash intake from the IPO should be shown in a graph. The growth and cash inflow should be presented in a graph along with illustrations to show the benefit of solving the problem. Lastly, other investment opportunities should be stressed with the new cash that is coming in.

Thank you,

Jim Lozada

Bombardier Reflection

Good morning,

Unfortunately I was unable to attend the presentation from Dynamic Consulting, but I was able to attend via Skype. First of all, I would like to point out that the group presented perfectly and has opened much to decide on for our company. As an experienced consulting firm, they have acknowledged that we would need to improve on  3 out of the 4 key areas. These are Project Management, Knowledge Transfer, and Adoption. The only area that we have been doing well is the Executive Management so far. To point out each improvement that is needed, below will show exactly what is needed for us to have a successful implementation:

Project Management

·         Dedicated project manager

·         Proper resourcing

·         Structured project plan and management

·         Develop of own measurable success criteria

Knowledge Transfer

·         Prerequisite end user skills education plan

·         Training Staffing Plan

·         Training Delivery Plan

·         Curriculum Matrix

·         Training Budget

Adoption

·         Conduct phased-rollout

·         Change of administrative processes

·         Use of consultant

What the consultants analyzed, was reasonably accurate and I have acknowledged them to be a significant step that we would need to take in order to become the “One Company” vision that we need. With following these suggestions, we will decrease process delays, reduce clerical tasks, become collaborative amongst various departments, visibility of inventory and control costs, and have integration between legacy systems. Since most of the work will need to be in the Knowledge Transfer sector, we need to focus on which tools will be needed to help logistical challenges, fix our technical infrastructure, training system, and delivery mechanisms.  The ROI expectations also help us develop the difference between the previous implementations and will give us the realistic success quantification. I would like to recommend these findings to be what Bombardier next steps to have and become “One Company” and allow the ERP implementation gain the perfect success that we have waited for.

My apologies for not attending the meeting, but here are my thoughts of what I found to be the strong points of this consulting firm’s findings.

Thank you,

Jim Lozada

Bombardier Senior Manager

Bombardier Case Prep (Successfully Navigating the Turbulent Skies of a Large-Scale ERP Implementation)

Problem/Issue Statement

What is the problem?

The problem that Bombardier is facing is the ability to find out how to implement an ERP system that will contribute to the large inherited data and processes from other sectors of the company.  At this point Bombardier is facing compatibility issues with their systems. An answer was needed to enable and establish a better way of communication between systems or establish an alternative to become a better centralized system and find a solution to the lack of integration of their legacy systems.

What is the Scope of the problem?

Bombardier needs to regain momentum after an already failed attempt with the centralized system (ERP) before. Since Bombardier is a large company with many divisions, ERP seemed to be the alternative to try again but with the ability to be fully functional. Tasks such as managing better inventory for mechanical parts, body parts, frames, engine pieces, and also to become a better communicating enterprise, were why an ERP was needed. Management were concerned on problems such as process delays, sequential activities, low inventory turns, price inconsistency, and multiple bills of material.

Situation Assessment

What is the context of the problem/ Decision Criteria

The context sits at the knowledge that the ERP system has to be implemented a second time after a previous failure attempt. In order to have the right decisions made, costs of implementing this new system would need to be made and if all the problems would be solved. The managers would need to establish a way to try to test out the ERP system previous to implementation to see if their problems can truly be fixed.

List of Plausible Alternative Courses of Action with Evaluation

The alternative course of action would be to implement the ERP which would bring Bombardier to their vision of becoming a “One Company” organization where employees would have the ability to share common data across divisions and products while using a single unified system accompanied by a unified process. Making it a business transformation rather than a technology one is where the company should focus on so they will avoid another failure.  Remembering to stay active with the process would be essential by having upper management available at all times during the project.  Employees should also be present when it comes to training before the implementation and after. Lastly, communication should be a priority along with the implementation.

Recommendation

While viewing the quality and logical recommendation, it is right to say that Bombardier should allow the ERP process to take place once more and finish what was once started. With the BMIS team created, training and support would be available to be present during future implementations which would create a positive influence on all the employees who are new to it all. Having training before and after the implementation would allow those who were never working on the same systems integrate and have familiarity working together. During the implementations, the upper management should always be present along with the BMIS team. The presence with upper management influences not only the employees but the consultants also. Also, the divisions would also need support  while the entire company is being implemented because they are also  in the loop . With ERP, Bombardier would allow their vision to become “One Company” and allow all their divisions to share and become centralized as a whole.

Presentation

For presentations, the consultant group should have power points showing the ideal ways to work as a team. A cost matrix should also be set in place to show training costs and the result of the implementation of the ERP. This would show if it would work if thinking of investments. I would also present any real life implementations from other companies or even Bombardier themselves and show proof of any advancements post-implementation.

Ubuntu ....An alternative?

Good morning Mr. Smith,

As I am the consultant for your Ubuntu project, I have personally tried the software and allowed myself to integrate my thoughts for this possible move.  As we know Ubuntu offers free software available on a desktop environment. The word Ubuntu comes from the South African descent which means “humanity towards others”. As we think further combination with the other divisions, sharing a bond with humanity is how Ubuntu can make us grow.

The accessibility of Ubuntu is offered by live cd or live usb which allows the ability to test the operating system before installing the permanent version ( Ubiquity installer). Vendors also have the access to Ubuntu such as manufacturers like Dell which sell their laptops with Ubuntu already installed in countries such as India and China which allows the growing economies a chance to observe this OS to the maximum ability. To point out a strong note, the country of China and their Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. China is allowing Ubuntu to become the official Os of China and abandoned the western systems such as Windows. 

Our company can establish training sessions where Ubuntu and Canonical provide a Canonical Support and Services (CSS) team that consists of engineers that help businesses around the world. They can help with installation, applications and systems administration at any level. The Ubuntu server support provides support for security, networking, remote access; windows network access, tracking issues, updates etc...

They are available during our business hours and have the unlimited time of submitting any support requests. Ubuntu offers Landscape which allows a free 30-day trial. Landscape allows for a management support component to be present while setting your company up with Ubuntu.  With the use of Landscape, according to Ubuntu, our company will save over $200,000 in only three years.

Before thinking about merging with Windows 8, you need to know that Ubuntu:

·  Showing Unity for those on the learning curve by having similarity to windows users, while Windows changed and modernized completely
·  User support cheaper by $70 if Ubuntu would be the choice. Windows ($149) & Ubuntu ($80)
·  Ubuntu upgrades are free every time
·  Ubuntu comes with Linux Security Modules
·  Ubuntu has its own cloud integration
·  Ubuntu requires less Ram storage then Windows demands, which would mean less cost
·  Ubuntu works with command prompt that is what we use for most of our tasks here in the office.

Ubuntu contains Microsoft like products such as word and excel which can allow our monthly stale dated reports to continue with overdue market value assets to be emailed. Also, there would a sharing component always present between clients if they hold Microsoft documents.

Ubuntu also offers security features such Sudo where temporary privileges can be assigned for administrative tasks but at the same time allowing the main account to be locked. This prevents any unsafe changes to the system or any security leaks. With the ability to close its own network with its proper firewalls, it shows the strong capabilities is has to offer.  Another innovation that Ubuntu offers is the ability to have a private or a public cloud. 

My recommendation for the use of Ubuntu is to crucially look into the free trials that Ubuntu offers and establish a relation with the programs that we currently use in order to find out if there are any compatible issues. This will help us determine if there would be any live issues with everyday tasks. But as of costs, it seems that Ubuntu would be a cost saver.

Thank you,

Jim Lozada

References:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2013431/10-reasons-to-choose-ubuntu-12-10-over-windows-8.html

http://www.ubuntu.com/management/return-on-investment

iPads for Success Case

Dear Bill and Tom,

I have done an extensive analysis on the use of iPads for you Vice President Bill and Sales Operation Manager, Tom. As you may notice, iPads are currently being tested with companies across the globes, even across college campuses across the country. Why are iPads so important and necessary, you may ask? Well after interviewing with professionals in our Sales, Marketing, and Finance divisions, I was able to gather important information that may decide our case in order to meet the both functional and technical requirements.

As I found some functional positives that the iPad would bring to the company such as:

v  Strong Battery life (7 + hours)

v  Access by quick movements on apps

v  Ability to use the iPad as a phone to call Drs

v  Convenience because of weight and size

v  Cheaper than some laptops

v  Ability to have virtual sessions

v  Efficient note taking

v  Access to important information on the fly

I also came across a major negative about having the ability to safeguard client information such as no ability to erase memory if found or stolen.  Even though Apple does provide security with its products, we contain sensitive information and we will need higher security just in case if we face lost iPads because of their easy and light weight figure. Also, the inability to show clients videos on certain sites because of no flash player on the Apple products. The lack of Microsoft support will cause a burden on some of our sales team that are use to show presentations on PowerPoint and use programs such as Excel.

I strongly trust our team to be technological capable associates so we would not have an issue with transitioning, but it will take some training and time to get used to the iPad device. I believe that dealing with a new tech device will incur higher motivation to move quicker and more efficient with clients during the day. In the interview, I noticed quite a cost reduction if we moved to the iPad. The iPad ranges in the $700-$750 range, while the laptops surpass the $1000+ range with all the necessary equipment. This is another main reason why our company should move into this integration of new technology.

Thank you,

Business Analyst- Newsbelkis 

 Sr. Analyst- Jim Lozada

http://www.apple.com/ipad/