The First Recorded IT Professional

Father-Son Time

My father and grandfather are both in town for a visit! This is their first trip to Oregon and we have had a slow paced visit. As I have gotten older, visits with my father (whether at his house or mine) have consisted of several trips to the toy stores. No, not "Toys R Us", the "grown-up toy stores" like Home Depot or Best Buy.

On our way home from picking them up at the airport, one of the first questions out of my dad's mouth was, "Do you guys have a Home Depot where you live? Or Lowe's? Or Best Buy? Or anything like them?" Clearly, already trying to plan our visit.

Along with providing hours of Father-Son bonding time, these places have also been a point of reference when giving directions...."go up the road until you see Home Depot then take a right....etc..." This long running joke comes from a couple of projects he helped me with at our house in Florida. The most memorable was building an office in our garage. This required sectioning off the garage into office space with, what ended up being, a "Hurricane" proof wall. This wall was just supposed to divide the garage in half, but due to a mathematical error, ended up being glued and screwed to the walls with studs every 14", with R30 insulation and blue board on the outside. I'm convinced, a Category 5 hurricane will come through and tear down the entire house, and that wall be the only thing in the area left standng. :)

Our first trip to the toy store (this visit) was just a short one to look at some difference ideas for projects around our house. No major purchases, only a moose that sings "Fly Me To The Moon" and light-up reindeer antlers for each of the kids, courtesy of Papa, of course. We did discuss possible projects and had a good time catching up! I have come to enjoy and look forward to these trips, as I learn a little more each time and enjoy the time to reconnect with my dad.

The Bike Ride

My dad decided he needed to run to the store to get some more "cancer sticks" but we were without a car at the time. So Jay suggested that he and Papa should take a quick ride down to the store on bikes. I fully expected my dad to pass on this idea but he decided to take Jay up on his suggestion. (Mistake #1). So off they went to the closest store which happens to be Walgreens, about a 1.5 mile bike ride. On the way back, Jay says "Hey Papa, I know a shortcut" to which my Dad trustingly says "Lead on, I will follow you." (Mistake #2)

So instead of coming back 198th, Jay decided to take him back up 209th to our house. This resulted in their return trip being being more like 2.2 miles with steeper hills. When they got back here, my dad reported that his legs felt like jelly, which does not surprise me as he was riding my bike, which needs a little work to say the least.

According to Jay, the trip was a success and he has since been on cloud nine! My dad (who is no Spring chicken) is still feeling it...especially on the stairs. Jay has offered to take several longer bike rides with my dad down to Tek (about 5 miles) and has even offered to race my dad, Jay on the bike and Dad in the car.

Despite Jay's enthusiasm, I don't think my dad will get on the bike again this trip :)

Still here

I know many have been worried that I have dropped of the face of the planet! I'm happy to report that I'm still here ...just need to make time to post :) I'm going for two post this month!

GREAT WEEKEND

I had a great weekend with the kids at Awana Honor Camp. This was Jay's first year there and he had a great time. The highlights I keep hearing replayed were the water balloons and the late nights, and the capture the flag games! He enjoyed the night version as he was able to "sneak over the line" and get the girls' flag several times.

This was Luke's second year at camp, but the first time as a T&T clubber. He enjoyed the second day's events including the boat race down the creek and skit time. He did not stop going the whole time, but by Sunday morning he was dancing a little slower during music time.

I think this weekend wore both of them out. They were very quiet on the way home.

I was tired after this weekend too. I spent time running after kids in capture the flag and being part of the water balloon catipult. The kids loved shooting the balloons several hundred feet.

CRM success relies on managing a project post-implementation
By Barney Beal, News Director03 Jan 2007 SearchCRM.com

Getting a CRM system installed and running isn't the end of a project, not by a long shot -- yet many organizations don't have an established plan in place post-implementation -- and CRM success relies on it.
CRM was haunted early on by well-publicized incidents of failure. Ensuring a successful CRM project requires following through and adjusting.
"The pitfall a lot of organizations have faced after implementing CRM is assuming CRM can be operationalized," said Isher Kaila, CRM research director with Stamford, Conn.-based Gartner Inc. "Just as customer needs are evolving, a CRM solution needs to be as well."
According to Kaila, companies that have the most CRM success assign a CRM manager to steer the project. Those responsibilities don't end with the completion of the project either; rather the managers continue to oversee CRM, conducting similar work to what they did during the implementation. In a recent research note, Kaila defines a CRM manager's role as falling into four categories: functional management, operational management, change management and strategic management.
Additionally, organizations may have more than one CRM manager and draw from the IT or business side of the organization depending on the company or the project.
For more on CRM success
Get expert advice on measuring CRM ROI after three yearsSee why Gartner says enterprise CRM is returning
"They are usually experts from some process area with an idea of end-to-end business processes like quote-to-cash or hire-to-retire," Kaila said. "Depending on the scale of the program, some organizations will have multiple experts in a domain. Generally speaking, the rule of thumb is for every 15 to 20 resources you've leveraged, you're looking at one to two subject matter experts for CRM. For some, a CRM program involves four people; for others it can involve 200 people."
In the functional management area, CRM managers should have visibility into all systems that interact with the CRM application and allow them to see how customers interact with the organization through various channels, business units or transactions. From the business side, this should be business process managers, and IT would involve a CRM technology manager.
Operationally, managers should monitor service-level agreements, maintenance and modifications to the application, how data comes into the software and how it effects applications that take information from the CRM system.
On the change management side, CRM managers must oversee enhancement requests and ideas for improving the customer experience and prioritize changes. Kaila advises organizations to create a template for change requests.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, a CRM manager should align CRM stakeholders, such as sales, finance and marketing, so that all get benefits from the system. Where each group needs customization, the CRM manager should be responsible for assessing, coordinating and implementing that work. Additionally, the CRM manager should be responsible for calculating ROI.
The market is poised for growth according to Forrester CRM projections as well as AMR. Part of that spending will be going toward consultants and systems integrators, but Kaila recommends organizations look inside when possible.
"The best practice is to promote from within," he said. "There are a lot of independent CRM practitioners and boutique firms, but CRM comes from within the organization. It is evolving. Good CRM, or rather effective CRM strategies, have to involve folks within the organization."
Gartner suggests establishing a center of excellence to not only launch CRM projects but stay involved afterwards and look for the right partners in the market for help.
"CRM is a core capability but in launching CRM programs, it's vital enterprises understand that a lot of the value and effort begins on the day following an implementation," Kaila said.

Work in Progress

After several comments...okay, six months of comments...about my blog not being updated, I am FINALLY working on a "new look".

So, check back soon...