Posts Tagged ‘center of excellence’

Here are several general considerations for testing functional areas of a new release of IBM Cognos TM1; (keep in mind that it is not intended to be an exhaustive or “end to end” testing plan. It also does not intend to offer remediation options should testing uncover issues). Functional areas of emphasis covered are: Server […]

  “Either positive or negative comments are good because it shows I am still relevant” – Justin Guarini In all of my years of coding and testing TurboIntegrator scripts, my biggest pet peeve has to be opening a TI script and seeing lines and lines of unstructured, un-commented code. I’ve heard all the excuses: “self-documenting”, […]

Every Center of Excellence team must develop the ability to measure and report on the performance of all areas and efforts of the CoE as well as related specific efforts of the organization or practice it supports. Measuring performance allows the CoE to set expectations for current and new work- providing answers to certain key […]

Center of Excellence Any self-respecting Center of Excellence will practice solution assurance by conducting timely solution reviews and assessments as part of their teams design, development and deployment processes.  These assessments will of course require formal “deep dives” into the solutions program code, but at a high level, the following are 5 fundamental questions to […]

TM1 Models will all consist of 4 functional components. These will be Absorb, Configure, Calculate/Consolidate and Consume. Remember: Each component must be kept distinct! Components are purpose based not technology based! Focus on which components add value to the business not ones that are generic to any business!  Now let’s have a look at each […]

On the agenda of every Practice Center of Excellence must be:  “Implement and formalize IP identification and development”. The first step in establishing a program of this type is to clearly understand the concept of “practice intellectual property” – keeping in mind that the “traditional” concept of IP is mostly outdated. Practice leadership must understand […]

The most effective approach to establishing a center of excellence within an organization is to start on a smaller scale, with very specific and very realistic goals defined. A famous saying can be applied here “it is not a destination, but rather a journey…” This will be true of every successful CoE imitative. Mistakes and […]

    An organizations center of excellence may begin as an “informal body” comprised of experienced and knowledgeable personnel from the practice, but over time, the COE should get additional powers on the basis of noted contributions to successful projects and receive additional funding to expand the scope of its operations. The following are the […]

If your organization has implemented a center of excellence initiative, that’s great! But what should you expect from it?   Here are 5 basic CoE objectives: Sharing Your Center of Excellence should continually strive to identify “practical assets” revealed during project work that could simplify or improve the efforts of the practice it supports. These […]

While watching my daughter’s field hockey team compete last weekend, I came to realize that a project manager might learn a lot from a goalkeeper. To be a successful goalie, you need to approach goal tending just as a project manager might manage a project – as a leader, and with a practiced process. Let […]

 Vision To build a CoE, it is absolutely essential to have a clearly defined vision. History proves that this grand, overall vision (or    plan) is critical to developing dominance in a specialty area. Once you establish a plan, specific strategies can then be developed based upon this plan. If strategies are not utilized in connection […]

I recently spent some time in Hilton Head, SC with my family recharging and refocusing. Although the company and the scenery were more than inspiring enough to me, I came across the following article “6 Steps to Become Amazingly Inspirational” by Mr. Simon Stapleton, July 18, 2012 and would like to share its message. In his […]