Crossing Over from IT to BusinessOriented Project Management

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Crossing Over from IT to Business-Oriented
Project Management

• Alex S. Brown, PMP
• Strategic Planning Office Manager
• Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Group, USA
• alexbrown_at_msigusa.com
• alexsbrown_at_alexsbrown.com

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The IT Gold Rush is Over!

• Thank Steve McConnell for giving us a preview

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Former Internet CEO
Where Ian Lives Now
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(No Transcript)
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Overview of Todays Presentation

• Debunk the Myth that IT EMPLOYMENT Growth is
  Inevitable
• What to do in the face of declining employment?
• One Choice Become a true IT Professional
• Second Choice Business-Oriented PM
• How to thrive either way

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Employment Trends in IT

• Incredible year-over-year growth
• A slowdown has meant SLOWER GROWTH
• Exponential growth in the number of computers
• Exponential growth in computing power

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Debunking the Myth

• THE MYTH
• More powerful technology will require more and
  more people to manage it
• THE FACTS
• Growth of power, quantity, and unit sales of
  computers does NOT mean automatic employment
  growth for IT

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Typical Computer Industry Growth Chart

• Exponential growth
• Declining cost
• Increasing revenue
• No limits, or limits in the far, far future
• Focus on hardware
• The future is bright!!

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US Computer Economy
Data from US Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor
Statistics ITU 2003 Yearbook of Statistics and
Jeremy Reimer PC Market Share Study
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US Telecom Economy
Data from US Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor
Statistics and ITU 2003 Yearbook of Statistics
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Common Ground with IT and Telecom

• Both industries technology-driven,
  information-based
• Growth in computing power has revolutionized both
  industries
• What was extra cost has become standard year
  after year
• Lower costs lead to an unending spiral of
  ruthless competition, eliminating profit

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Why Telecom May Show the Future

• Telecom was already pervasive in the 1970s, much
  like computers are now
• How much of the total non-farm employment can
  possibly go to information-based services?
• Automation allows fewer people to manage more
  telephone lines AND more computers

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Impact of Offshore Outsourcing

• How high would US employment be without offshore
  outsourcing?
• "The best-known report, by Forrester Research, a
  consultancy, guesses that 3.3m American
  service-industry jobs will have gone overseas by
  2015barely noticeable when you think about the
  7m-8m lost every quarter through job-churning.
• --The Economist, The Great Hollowing-Out Myth,
  Feb 19, 2004
• Impact is perhaps 100,000 to 200,000 per year on
  ALL US service industry employment, vs. over 2MM
  total US Comp Services employment and over 130MM
  non-farm US jobs total

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Some Words of Warning

• "After 25 years of strong growth, the PC industry
  has reached maturity and its future growth will
  be determined by economic conditions. Future PC
  unit sales growth will remain below 10 and
  economic recessions will produce PC sales
  contractions as we saw in 2001.
• --Computer Industry Almanac Press Release,
  Future PC Sales Up and Down, Aug 27, 2002
  http//www.c-i-a.com/pr0802.htm

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Lessons from a Mature Economy

• Employment growth is not guaranteed
• Not from technical breakthroughs
• Not from subscriber or user growth
• Not from increasing power or capabilities
• Product growth is possible in the face of
  STAGNANT or DECLINING employment

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Drivers of IT Employment Growth

• Punch cards in the 1940s
• Electronic computing in the 1950s
• Personal Computers and DOS in the 1980s
• Graphical User Environments and Windows in the
  1990s
• Enterprise Management Software and the Internet
  since the mid 1990s

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An Uncertain Outlook

• What is the next great breakthrough?
• The Internet quickly gave up its breakthrough
  momentumWill it pick up steam or slow down?
• Has IT had its last great gold rush?
• Will future employment level off or even decline,
  like telecommunications?
• Will declining prices wipe out profit?

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Choices for the IT Project Manager

• Embrace IT and become a true IT professional
• Explore new industries, spreading project
  management beyond IT
• Choose now, before the marketplace decides for
  you

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Drive to Professionalism in IT

• Why the Internet boom hurt professionalism
• Certification, degrees and professional societies
• Reasons to be EXCITED about the end of the IT
  Gold Rush

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Why the Internet Boom Hurt Professionalism

• Internet boom caused instant demand for
  programmers
• Premium paid for knowing the latest fad
• Salary differential between experienced,
  highly-trained staff and newcomers narrowed
• I got into IT because it pays well.

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You Can Set a New Standard

• Professional Society Memberships
• Certification
• PMP for project management
• Seek out certification for technical fields
• Degree-granting programs
• Masters in IT Management
• Masters or Doctorate in a technical specialty

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Get EXCITED About The End of The Gold Rush

• Sloppy, unskilled coworkers will leave
• Increased premium for experience
• Large-scale, long-term projects possible
• Good business cases can beat hot technology
• Paid in cash instead of often-worthless stock
  options

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Why Business-Oriented PM?

• Capitalize on strong management skills
• Move to an industry you LOVE
• Avoid the upcoming changes in IT
• Bring project management to new industries and
  departments

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Bridges to a New World

• Reputation for logic and structure
• Value of controls and security
• Sarbanes-Oxley requirements
• Business transformation and reengineering
• IT is everywhere, opening doors

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Making the Change

• Define your skills
• Translate PM and IT jargon
• Focus on highest-level, cross-over skills
• Pursue opportunities
• What industries underutilize PM?
• Where does an IT background enhance your
  reputation?
• Who knows my target industries?

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Adjusting to a Non-IT PM Role

• Am I still a Project Manager?
• What skills do I need to keep?
• What preconceptions do I need to give up?
• What do I need to learn?

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Am I Still A Project Manager?

• Project managers use and need skills in
• Operations management
• Financial management
• General management
• Leadership
• Even if your title is no longer Project Manager
  you can still do the job
• Embrace the change

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Keep Core Skills and Discipline

• Go back to the Standards
• PM Body of Knowledge (PMBOK)
• Work Breakdown Structure
• Organizational PM Maturity
• Study areas you used rarely in IT

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Work Breakdown Structures

• Can no longer rely on familiar patterns for WBS
• Non-IT projects have their own life cycle
• Experiment with new life-cycles
• Do not force business projects into IT templates

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Travel Light Discard Extra Baggage

• Avoid IT jargon use it appropriately
• Question the need for essential tools
• Do not assume basic PM knowledge in coworkers
  be ready to educate them
• Cultivate business contacts and allies, not just
  IT ones

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What to Learn?

• Become a professional in your industry
• Professional societies
• Certification
• Degree programs
• How to sell PM to management
• Newest research on PMO and OPM3
• Keep IT expertise it will help you

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Be Ready for Anything!

• because you never know what is around the corner

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End of The IT Gold Rush

• but possibly the start of a new era for you and
  for project management

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Crossing Over from IT to Business-Oriented
Project Management

• Alex S. Brown, PMP
• Strategic Planning Office Manager
• Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Group, USA
• alexbrown_at_msigusa.com
• alexsbrown_at_alexsbrown.com