James dimas it infrastructure approach
- 1. James Dimas IT Infrastructure Approach - Converged Infrastructure: have worked with various companies throughout my career addressing the problem of silod architectures and IT sprawl by pooling and sharing there IT resources. I have worked with various O&G players in the Calgary market that focused on the pooling of virtualized server, storage and networking capacities that is shared by multiple applications and lines of business. In particular, I have had strategy sessions with Suncor and TCPL based on their focus to reduce the amount of on premise infrastructure and increase Security efforts based on Cloud. - Microsoft Technologies: I have worked with various MS technologies i.e. MS Axapta (AX) ERP, MS Lync, Sharepoint - MS Windows 7 experience and have strong partner alignments within the MS community - Collaboration: one of my forte’s based on my experience working part in parcel and competing against Cisco Unified Communications and worked closely with Citrix Online with their Unified Collaboration efforts focused on online meetings, webinars, IT remote support for attended and unattended sessions – service desk, ticketing and monitoring - Data Center: – despite them being your competition, most recently had conversations with CGI, (and have strong history with them) surrounding the use of their Data Center capabilities across Western Canada and especially the use of Data Centers located in Calgary and the BC Interior - Virtualization: exposed and experience with Citrix and VM Ware based on Desktop virtualization used in conjunction with application virtualization and (Windows) providing a comprehensive desktop environments for example: a). Citrix - Xendesktop, XenApp, Xenclient, Netscalers b). VM Ware – Horizon Enterprise, View, and Mirage. - Networking: I have exposure to Cisco networking based on DeviceExpert and have worked for Telus back in the late 90’s focused on Telecom infrastructure. - Storage: exposure to Cloud based solutions i.e. DropBox, Citrix Sharefile – SaaS, IaaS, PaaS, methodologies and best practices. - Project Management Office: PM is one of my strongest suits next to Sales and Management and currently working on my PMP designation. Here are some examples of my approach towards Project Management.
- 2. Directing a Project Directing a Project runs from the start-up of the project until its closure. This process is aimed at the Project Board. The Project Board manages and monitors via reports and controls through a number of decision points. The key processes for the Project Board break into four main areas: Initiation (starting the project off on the right foot) Stage boundaries (commitment of more resources after checking results so far) Ad hoc direction (monitoring progress, providing advice and guidance, reacting to exception situations) Project closure (confirming the project outcome and controlled close). This process does not cover the day-to-day activities of the Project Manager. Starting up a Project This is the first process in PRINCE2. It is a pre-project process, designed to ensure that the pre-requisites for initiating the project are in place. The process expects the existence of a Project Mandate, which defines in high-level terms the reason for the project and what outcome is sought. Starting up a Project should be very short. The work of the process is built around the production of three elements: Ensuring that the information required for the project team is available Designing and appointing the Project Management Team Creating the Initiation Stage Plan. Initiating a Project The objectives of Initiating a Project are to: Agree whether or not there is sufficient justification to proceed with the project Establish a stable management basis on which to proceed Document and confirm that an acceptable Business Case exists for the project Ensure a firm and accepted Foundation to the project prior to commencement of the work Agree to the commitment of resources for the first stage of the project Enable and encourage the Project Board to take ownership of the project
- 3. Provide the baseline for the decision-making processes required during the project's life Ensure that the investment of time and effort required by the project is made wisely, taking account of the risks to the project. Managing Stage Boundaries This process provides the Project Board with key decision points on whether to continue with the project or not. The objectives of the process are to: Assure the Project Board that all deliverables planned in the current Stage Plan have been completed as defined Provide the information needed for the Project Board to assess the continuing viability of the project Provide the Project Board with information needed to approve the current stage's completion and authorize the start of the next stage, together with its delegated tolerance level Record any measurements or lessons, which can help later stages of this project and/or other projects. Controlling a Stage This process describes the monitoring and control activities of the Project Manager involved in ensuring that a stage stays on course and reacts to unexpected events. The process forms the core of the Project Manager's effort on the project, being the process, which handles day-to-day management of the project. Throughout a stage there will be a cycle consisting of: Authorizing work to be done Gathering progress information about that work Watching for changes Reviewing the situation Reporting Taking any necessary corrective action. This process covers these activities, together with the on-going work of risk management and change control.
- 4. Managing Product Delivery The objective of this process is to ensure that planned products are created and delivered by: Making certain that work on products allocated to the team is effectively authorized and agreed accepting and checking Work Packages Ensuring that work conforms to the requirements of interfaces identified in the Work Package Ensuring that the work is done Assessing work progress and forecasts regularly Ensuring that completed products meet quality criteria Obtaining approval for the completed products. Closing a Project The purpose of this process is to execute a controlled close to the project. The process covers the Project Manager's work to wrap up the project either at its end or at premature close. Most of the work is to prepare input to the Project Board to obtain its confirmation that the project may close. The objectives of closing a Project are therefore to: Check the extent to which the objectives or aims set out in the Project Initiation Document (PID) have been met Confirm the extent of the fulfilment of the Project Initiation Document (PID) and the Customer's satisfaction with the deliverables Obtain formal acceptance of the deliverables Ensure to what extent all expected products have been handed over and accepted by the Customer Confirm that maintenance and operation arrangements are in place (where appropriate) Make any recommendations for follow-on actions Capture lessons resulting from the project and complete the Lessons Learned Report Prepare an End Project Report Notify the host organisation of the intention to disband the project organisation and resources.
- 5. Planning PRINCE2 recommends three levels of plan to reflect the needs of the different management levels involved in the project, stage and team. Planning is a repeatable process and its activities are included within the seven main PRINCE2 processes, as appropriate. Information about plans and how to plan can be found in the Plans Theme section of the PRINCE2 Manual. The activities of planning are: - Design the plan Define and analyse the products Identify the activities and dependencies Prepare estimates Prepare the schedule Analyse the risks Document the plan PRINCE2 uses a technique known as ‘Product based planning’, which requires four activities: - Write the Project Product Description Create the product breakdown structure Write the product descriptions Create the product flow diagram
- 6. Employer I worked for - Essential Software Solutions Year: 2004 - 2008 Project – Optima Manufacturing ERP Software / Implementation Project Design / Develop – SCRUM Process focused on Agile approaches I wrote up training documentation and support based on these principles: Focus on Customer to be happy due to rapid development Welcome changing requirements, even late in development Working software is delivered frequently (weeks rather than months) Working software - principal measure of progress Sustainable development, able to maintain a constant pace Close, daily collaboration between business people and developers Face-to-face conversation is the best form of communication (co-location) I focused on Projects built around motivated individuals, who should be trusted Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design Maximizing the amount of work not done—is essential Self-organizing teams Regular adaptation to changing circumstances This is the diagram I laid out for team: