"Everything feels like its on the precipice of some major transformation, whether we like it or not." Sean Lennon. OSS transformation tends to focus on the activities required to take the OSS from current state to a desired future state (naturally). An OSS Transformation is generally planned around the introduction of new tools, processes and/or functionality. It is the future state where a majority of intellectual…
Read More »“Kiss me, and you will see how important I am.” Sylvia Plath. Sylvia Plath's quote elicits a smile. Many an OSS integrator has not "kissed" the network inventory data in their managed network, so they have never had the chance to see how important it is. The raw data coming from the network shows how the network really works, how the customers utilise the network resources…
Read More »"I love when things are transparent, free and clear of all inhibition and judgement." Pharrell Williams. Free fields are often your get out of jail free cards when modelling data in an OSS. They allow you to create the linking keys between domains that would not otherwise exist, where relationships could otherwise not exist. For example, say you have multiple different vendor sub-networks within your network.…
Read More »"We all live every day in virtual environments, defined by our ideas." Michael Crichton Network inventory has always been a fundamental building block of a full-service OSS. Many of today's OSS were designed at a time when inventory was physical, whereby network devices were tangible, physical objects. This made object hierarchies relatively simple - one rack could house multiple devices, each device/chassis could hold multiple cards…
Read More »"A confused mind always says no." If you are seeking to persuade someone, it is essential for your message to be clear and fully understood. If your audience doesn't understand or is uncertain, they are likely to say no rather than being seen to make a mistake. The complexities of OSS implementations make it very easy to confuse your audience - different terminologies/jargon, different domains of…
Read More »"It’s better to be at the bottom of the ladder you want to climb than the top of the one you don’t." Stephen Kellogg. Not sure what's at the top of my ladder exactly, but I do love helping others with their OSS projects and sharing stories about wrestling OctopOSS with other experienced OSS implementers. What's at the top of your ladder?
Read More »"Did you know that 62 percent of employees believe their productivity increases when they work remotely—away from typical office distractions? Yet, only 15 percent say their companies support remote working arrangements" From Microsoft's Work Without Walls whitepaper. Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson of 37signals and co-authors of one of my favourite books, Rework, are currently working on a new book Remote: Office Not Required. I…
Read More »"Employers need to start rethinking their recruiting process, notably in using sophisticated social network search tools to go spear-fishing for high potential talent, rather than waiting for applications to come across the transom. And, managers need to look for the skills that really matter today in high potential young talent, attributes like cognitive load capacity, adaptability and social media skills. That one kid with the high…
Read More »"If you think it's expensive to hire a professional, wait until you hire an amateur" Red Adair It conservatively takes six months for a Telco or IT expert to become valuable* as an OSS implementer (as opposed to an OSS operator). If you're considering implementation of a new OSS and don't have anyone on your team who has significant OSS implementation experience, it is highly recommended…
Read More »"We can change skill levels through training, but we can’t change attitude." Herb Kelleher. Dan Schwabel on Forbes.com asks "Are technical and soft skills less important than attitude?" When it comes to OSS, technical skills are important because there are so many technology elements involved. Technical geniuses are essential for delivering remarkable products and solutions. However, OSS technologies are constantly evolving and each new project is…
Read More »"You must be honest about what you want at a core level and decide to go after it." Martha Beck Every CSP has a vastly different set of requirements from their OSS. Some have non-negotiable requirements that are not relevant to all others. When you're a vendor that services top-end telcos, there aren't many customers available. This leaves you with a dilemma when one of those…
Read More »"To create cool ideas you have to hang around cool people. Magicians and madmen inspire creative thought not pencil-pushers and bean-counters." Don The Idea Guy Snyder in his 100 Whats of Creativity My first OSS project had more "characters" (Magicians and Madmen perhaps?) than all other projects in my 15+ year career combined. Reunions with team members from that project always bring a torrent of weird…
Read More »"Decades of research have consistently shown that brainstorming groups think of far fewer ideas than the same number of people who work alone and later pool their ideas." Keith Sawyer Without realising the statistics/quote above, taken from this page on NewYorker.com, I've always preferred to build a plan for all variants of OSS projects using WBS techniques alone before then brainstorming ideas with others. OSS projects…
Read More »"I am convinced that there are only two types of companies: those that have been hacked and those that will be. And even they are converging into one category: companies that have been hacked and will be hacked again." Robert S. Mueller, Director of The Federal Bureau of Investigation. OSS the world over hold highly privileged information that needs heavily fortified information security. Moreover, these OSS…
Read More »"Understanding what people really want to know—and how that differs from what you want to tell them—is a fundamental tenet of sales" Jason Fried. In the same post on INC.com, Jason also explains "I made the discovery that people's reasons for buying things often don't match up with the company's reason for selling them... They thought they were arming us with facts that would impress the…
Read More »"Integrity is not a conditional word. It doesn't blow in the wind or change with the weather." John D. MacDonald. So you have found the holy grail of the OSS world and delivered the perfect OSS product. Hats off to you! But you can't stop there can you? Is the data in your OSS perfect? If it is, that's holy grail number two. But you're still…
Read More »"Desire is the starting point of all achievement, not a hope, not a wish, but a keen pulsating desire which transcends everything." Napoleon Hill No matter what OSS project, or any project you start, capturing the requirements is the first place to start. The requirements help to identify the guiding vision for what you need to achieve. A project without clear requirements is like a boat…
Read More »"I can cite numerous sponsors at different places in my career that made a huge difference for me just in terms of pulling me aside and giving me a tip or some coaching." Denise Morrison. In many organisations, a project sponsor is simply the person who has the budget to approve a new project. When working on a sizeable OSS project, they need to be so…
Read More »"Reporting is not Communicating. Reporting and communicating are not the same! Sending out information has very little to do with effective communication" Lynda Bourne on Project Accelerator News Communication is a fundamental part of delivering (or operating) an OSS because so many people are impacted. Status reports can be a useful repository of information during project delivery. It should be clearly noted that they are a…
Read More »"The shorter way to do many things is to do only one thing at a time." Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart In his book, Developing the Leader Within You, John C Maxwell tells the story of a young and talented concert pianist as follows: "She was asked the secret to her success. She replied, “Planned neglect.” Then she explained, “When I was in music school, there were many…
Read More »"There are two kinds of learning: experience, which is gained from your own mistakes, and wisdom, which is learned from the mistakes of others" John C. Maxwell When working on any OSS project, there are plenty of experiences to be gained. ;) But where does your wisdom come from? In what forums do you learn from others? Who do you learn from? I try to have…
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