Even Data Needs a Green Mentality

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I just watched an interview with Kate Parson, a Senior Director at EMC.  She was talking about Project Propel, which replaced their two decade-old ERP solution with a nice, shiny new SAP solution.  The part that really caught my attention was her statement that, early in 2012, they had to start deleting tables in their database, because they ran into “an integer limit.”  They had accumulated so many records that even Oracle couldn’t handle them.  Yes, you read that correctly: EMC, provider of massive storage solutions, couldn’t handle the sheer volume of data records they had accumulated.

I make my living moving customers off of old HR, payroll, and benefits administration solutions and onto a nice, shiny new one in the Cloud.  Naturally, a big chunk of every project is moving records from the old solution to the new one.  We always recommend that customers only move “current” records, rather than attempt to load history.  While you need to retain history records for some period of time, they don’t need to be kept commingled with current records, in the system of record.  They can be stored in off-line databases, with restricted access, or as reports, on paper or in PDF format, or any number of other approaches.  But whatever approach you use, at some point those records will need to be destroyed, in accordance with your organization’s record retention policy for that sort of data.  You guys have a record retention policy, right?

We need to adopt a “Green” mentality for data records.  We need to make proper disposal of old records that have come to the end of their useful lives as much a part of system design and maintenance as disaster recovery.  Ensure that you have a plan to move records from on-line to secure off-line storage at some well-defined point.  Ensure you have the ability to later purge them from off-line storage.  Ensure these activities are scheduled as part of the annual operations calendar.

Of course, some records may need to be retained past their normal lives because of a court order, as part of a legal dispute.  And some types of records may be subject to summary analysis as a class or group, rather than a simple look-up (think Lilly Ledbetter or other sorts of class action lawsuits).  This is why your legal counsel should review your record retention policy, to ensure you keep records as long as required, and no longer.  So the selection of the proper storage tool set for history records has to take into account the potential need for these contingencies.  Be sure you understand all possible uses (and customers) for history records before you settle on a storage medium.

The bottom line here is that proper stewardship of the organization’s data records requires a life cycle mentality.  Just as you have a plan to destroy old hard drives (you do, right?), you should have a plan to manage destruction of old data records.  At some point, all of that data quits being an asset, and becomes a liability; legal, technical, or administrative.  Recognize the risks, and treat them as such.

New PM Articles for the Week of April 29 – May 5

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New project management articles published on the web during the week of April 29 – May 5.  Dave and Sandra read all of this stuff so you don’t have to!  Recommended:

  • Avinoam Nowogrodski sees us entering a new era in project management – social, personalized, and empowering – reflecting the future of work.
  • Speaking of the future of work, Chess Media is conducting a survey on how social media, BYOB, and flexible work arrangements are being adopted, today.
  • Elizabeth Harrin summarizes Pernille Eskerod and Anna Lund Jepsen’s book, Project Stakeholder Management.
  • Andy Jordan notes that one of the most surprising failures of governance seems to happen in the project management office.
  • Jeff Furman poses an ethics case study, from real life.
  • Paul Culmsee demonstrates dialog mapping, using Compendium, and introduces the concept of powerful questions.  Fifteen minutes, safe for work.
  • Ted Hardy says that if your stakeholders won’t give you an answer, offer a really bad suggestion.  Like lunch at McDonald’s.
  • Donna Reed shares a recorded presentation by Vicky Haney, “Emotional Intelligence for Project Managers and Business Analysts.”  One hour, safe for work.
  • Roz Baker explains the difference between a project management framework and a software development life cycle model.  And potatoes and tomatoes.
  • Chuck Morton continues his series on project change management, with the observation that change cuts across all PMBOK knowledge areas.
  • Glen Alleman offers “hard” definitions and principles of risk management, his favorite risk management process diagram, and sources of failure.
  • Patrick Richard shares his comments on a post by Glen Alleman on cost and schedule estimating, with an observation about story points.
  • Samad Aidane warns that a project manager should never, EVER agree to be the project sponsor and project manager at the same time.
  • Abid Mustafa shares his perspective as an IT executive on the best way to utilize an executive as a project sponsor.
  • Lou Adler, recruiter extraordinaire, says there are only four jobs – thinkers, builders, improvers, and producers.
  • Penelope Trunk offers her take on why Jason Collins should be a positive career example for everyone.
  • Will Kelly explains how MS Project 2013 integrates with the SaaS solution called Mavelink to form a comprehensive project team solution.
  • Jerry Manas extracts the key takeaways from the recent “Resource Management and Capacity Planning Benchmark Study.”

Enjoy!

New PM Articles for the Week of April 22 –28

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New project management articles published on the web during the week of April 22 – 28.  Dave and Sandra read all of this stuff so you don’t have to!  Recommended:

  • Tom Hammell applies some of Daniel Kahneman’s work on thinking fast and slow to project management decisions.
  • Elizabeth Harrin concludes her interview with Dr. Wilhelm Kross, on risk communication.
  • Kyle Roozen explains the four-step approach his Scrum team uses to estimate timelines.
  • Donna Reed shares a recording of a presentation by Star Dargin, “Coaching Skills for Project Managers.”
  • Samad Aidane answers a common question, “How do I motivate my team?”  His uncommon answer, “Don’t try.  You don’t need to.”
  • Kailash Awati presents a noir satire of the PMO as the methodology police.
  • Patti Gilchrist takes a look at how the PMO is evolving from process policeman to innovation advocate.
  • Andy Jordan notes that, just as every project needs an issues log, so does every PMO.
  • Bruce Benson figures that a manager who insists on a “personal commitment” to achieve a deadline is probably working with an unrealistic schedule.
  • Brad Egeland suggests that we listen to our team members carefully, rather than uncritically.
  • Margaret Meloni wants you to bring your inner child to work.  Why?  Well, because children ask, “Why?”
  • Cyndee Miller reports from the PMI Global Congress 2013 in Istanbul, where keynote speaker Avinash Chandarana noted, “Culture eats process for lunch.”
  • Robert Bell offers a few more reasons to pull team members from around the globe.
  • Glen Alleman responds to a post on TechWell on Agile and the federal government.
  • Chuck Morton begins a new series on project change management (as opposed to organizational change management, or systems change management).
  • Mike Griffiths has a story of fragmented, part-time teams taking an Agile approach, and succeeding.
  • Soma Bhattacharya has some suggestions about making the transition to Agile methods.
  • Kelsey van Haaster learned a lot about making the transition from non-agile to Agile, by visiting a website devoted to mastering housework.
  • Todd Wilms shares a slide deck with ten leadership lessons he wishes he had learned in his twenties.
  • Patrick Gray looks at the recent controversy (and firings) that grew out of the tweeting of tasteless remarks at a Python developer’s conference.
  • Penelope Trunk has been coaching her husband, the farmer.  Big insight: your approach to dealing with mistakes defines your success.

Enjoy!