Project Management Institute
Greater Toronto
Information Systems Local Interest Group

November 15, 2001 Presentation

Presentor: Doug Pape PMP, Pape Management Consulting Services Inc.

Doug will present two software tools Project Managers will find useful for communicating, presenting and analyzing their project plans:

WBS Chart Pro and Pert Chart Xpert.

These tools work independently and in concert with MS Project and you never have to enter the data twice!

Tthese tools are  under marketed and supported in Canada. The presentation will show what these packages will do from a Project Manager's perspective. Once you have seen them you may find that you can't do without them in your PM toolkit.

Short Bio
Doug is an experienced project management professional skilled in the processes and tools required to plan and manage projects in today's complex business environment. He has provided project management consulting and training for multi-year, multi-million dollar projects to a wide variety of Fortune 500 organizations. Doug's project experience includes initiatives in telecommunications, information technology, emergency services, customer loyalty, insurance, health care and pharmaceutical sectors. He is certified by the Project Management Institute as a Project Management Professional (PMP) and was the founding president of the Thames Valley District chapter of PMI in London Ontario.

November 15, 2001 Membership Meeting feedback results:

The winner of the Program Evaluation and Feedback draw is Ioan Gavriliuc.
Congratulations Ioan!
Ioan has won free admission to our next Membership Meeting tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, January 9, 2002.

September 6, 2001 Meeting

The winner of the Program Evaluation and Feedback draw is Tomas Levi.
Congratulations Tomas!

Tomas won free admission to our November 15, 2001 Membership Meeting (see below).

September 6, 2001 Presentation

Our thanks to John Luchetti for a very interesting presentation. We are looking forward to have him again in the future.

And thank you all for attending!

The Phantom within: Quality Assurance in IT projects - presentation
The Phantom within: Quality Assurance in IT projects - handout

September 6, 2001 Presentation

The Phantom within: Quality Assurance in IT projects

Information Technology Project Managers will gain a better understanding of risks and issues affecting the quality of projects, as well as techniques enabling further improvement of projects quality processes. This presentation provides practical tips on how to improve quality processes in IT projects, ensuring stakeholders satisfaction and project success. Participants will learn:

1. Why quality is important to project stakeholders.

2. How to manage the quality expectations and needs of clients.

3. How to identify risks in current quality processes.

4. Effective QA techniques and tools to meet quality standards.

5. When and how to develop response parameters for quality standards.

6. The role of users in producing quality outcomes.

Speaker’s Bio – John Luchetti, PMP

John brings over twelve years of change management and management consulting experience enabled through strategic project management, quality assurance and continuous improvement strategies. This experience includes training, mentoring, developing, implementing, and managing project management and system development lifecycles and methodologies. John has been instrumental in the set-up of project offices and as a facilitator for change management forums. He is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP).

As a consultant for Bay3000 Consulting Inc., John is responsible for supporting the development and delivery of consulting services, training programs, methodologies, and customized solutions for our clients. John manages projects for our clients and is one of the primary instructors for our training programs. His area of specialization is leadership development, change management, quality assurance and project communication practices.

July 4, 2001 Presentation

Our thanks to Peter Voldner for a very interesting presentation. We are looking forward to have him again in the future.

Thank you all for attending!

The impact of ISO/IEC 12207 on IT Project Management

July 4, 2001 Membership Meeting feedback results:

The winner of the Program Evaluation and Feedback draw is Bessie Costaridis.
The winner of the Networking Game is J.P. Lamberti.
Congratulations to Bessie and JP!
Bessie and JP have won free admission to our next Membership Meeting tentatively scheduled for Thursday, September 6, 2001.

Wednesday, July 4, 2001
6:00 PM to 8:00 PM
Northern District Public Library, 40 Orchard View Blvd, upper level

The membership meeting agenda will consist of:

- Networking and buffet dinner
- Opening remarks
- Keynote presentation: The impact of ISO 12207, Software Life Cycle Processes, on IT Project Management, Peter Voldner
- Q&A

Mark your calendars. We hope you can all attend.

Registrations ($ 30.00 for PMI members, $ 35.00 for non-members) can be made:
· In advance, using a credit card, by calling 416-381-4058
· At the door, by personal check or cash.

The registration will close 10:00 AM on Tuesday, July 3, 2001. This will provide the catering company adequate food preparation time. While you can register at the door, please make all efforts to pre-register. Thanks!

Note: The Library is located at Yonge and Eglinton, behind the Yonge Eglinton Centre. You can access the Library by subway. If you drive, there is ample Public Parking in the area.

Spread the news to co-workers, fellow Project Managers, associates, friends and others interested in attending these events.

The PMI GT ISLIG thanks our sponsors for their support. Their web sites include services enabling you to grow as a Project Manager. You can reach their web sites from the respective icons on our main web page.

Project Management and the Software Life Cycle

The presentation will provide an introduction to a significant ISO process standard and its impact on the management of information technology projects.

The standard is ISO/IEC 12207, Software Life Cycle Processes, a reference document that defines all of the processes making up the software life cycle from concept, through development, implementation and support activities. ISO/IEC 12207 has been adopted worldwide and is directing the evolution of many IT standards.

The talk will cover some of the unique aspects of IT project management and software projects as dictated by the 12207 defined software and systems development processes.

Projects where acquisition plays a major role will also be covered.

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Biographical Statement - Peter Voldner, P. Eng.

Peter Voldner is president of Peregrine Software Inc., a firm whose goal is to help its client reach higher productivity and quality using the latest in industry best practices.

Tools include software engineering standards from ISO, IEEE, the IT Infrastructure Library, and various software process assessment models reflecting the latest industry best software practices.

Over the past 28 years he has worked on system/software projects in 5 separate companies. He has been involved in all phases of the software life cycle including development, QA, methods development, field support and marketing.

Peter is also an IEEE recognized lecturer in several software engineering courses including life cycle management and systems engineering. He is an executive member of IEEE Software Engineering Standards Committee Professional Practices Committee of the Computer Society. He is the past chairman of the Canadian ISO Committee on software engineering.

Peter received his Bachelor degree in Engineering Physics, and his Master degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Waterloo. He is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) and of the Professional Engineers of Ontario, Canada.

1 - Risk Identification

How are risks identified? What are the major risk categories to be discussed during initial risk meetings? Who is involved in the process (all stakeholders, key stakeholders)? How is a typical risk identification session hosted?

2 – Risk Response

What are the best practices to mitigate specific risk types? How do I decide which risks are worth the effort to manage?

3 – Risk Monitoring

How often should the risks be reviewed?

4 – Project Management

How do I account for risks in my WBS and schedule?

5 – Selling the Benefits of Risk Management

How do I persuade a client who doesn't want to hear about risk management?

6 – Risk Management during the RFP Process

How can a respondent apply risk management during the RFP process? How can I use risk management be used to determine if a project is too risky to consider a response?

7 - Electronic Tools for Risk Management

What electronic tools exist on the market to support risk management?

8 - Integrating Risk Management across the Organization

Is there a need to expand current risk contexts and taxonomies to address a more integrated risk management regime with the rest of the organization? What are the best practices to do this?

9 – E-Business Risk

What are the unique risks an e-business faces? How do these risks affect insurance requirements? Are these e-business risks adequately covered under current policies?

10 - E-Business Risk and Privacy

What are the best practices to manage the residual risk exposure when balancing privacy act requirements and e-commerce solutions?

• PMI is migrating to Internet based balloting
  

  Current e-mail addresses required. As PMI members increase in number and geographical diversity, PMI is migrating to a fully electronic balloting process to provide our global membership a convenient, secure and accurate venue for electing the Board of Directors. Postal mail is not always reliable in some locations of the world. Electronic balloting will enable our global membership the opportunity to cast their vote in a timely manner.
  
  In 2001, eligible members are offered a choice of receiving election materials via the Internet or Postal Service. Submit your preference for either Internet or Postal mail for receipt of election materials by 30 April 2001. Update your preferred e-mail address at www.pmi.org/members. If a preference is not registered, election material will automatically be forwarded electronically. Members who do not cast an electronic vote by 10 August 2001 will be sent the election material via Postal mail.
  Hand delivered ballots will not be collected at PMI's Annual Seminars & Symposium.
  Voting online is convenient, secure and accurate! (admin@pmi.org)

• The Project Management Research Program is partially funding an external research project aimed at quantifying the value of project management. The research project is being conducted by Professor C. William Ibbs in conjunction with Professor Peter Morris and Justin Reginato (a doctoral student). An e-mail will be sent to a random selection of PMI members in senior level business leadership positions to inform them about the research study and to invite them to seek more information about the study and potential participation in it by visiting  http://www.ce.berkeley.edu/pmroi.

  If your own company has an interest in potentially participating in this research project, please inform them about that web site. (r&d@pmi.org)

• PMI is excited to announce the expansion and improvements to the Career Headquarters services. Career Headquarters is PMI’s online career center, dedicated to providing project management employers and job seekers with services to meet their employment needs. The new services continue to feature job postings and the CareerLink Directory of PMI members’ résumés. PMI members continue to benefit from free résumé postings and reduced rates for employer job postings. In addition, the services now offer updated technology and user-friendly enhancements, which help align them with today’s fast-paced business environment. For more information, please visit the new Web location at http://www.pmi.org/CareerHQ. (CareerHQ@pmi.org)

March 14, 2001 Membership Meeting feedback results:

March 14, 2001 Presentation

Synopsis

Managing e-Business Projects
Managing e-Business Projects presents significant challenges for even the most experienced project manages. Based on the authors’ extensive experience in managing e-business projects, the presentation provides an overview of the major distinguishing factors of e-business projects. It also includes details on how to mitigate the most critical risk factors in these projects.

Keynote speakers
AnnJane Hutchinson, PMP, Certified Senior Project Manager. Over 20 years experience in IT. 15 years experience in project management, primarily in complex System Integration/Application Development, Object Oriented and e-Business projects. As part of her current responsibilities she is involved in project management reviews, consulting and mentoring on a wide range of e-Business projects.
Hamid Faridani, PhD, PMP, IBM Certified Senior Project Manager. Hamid has over 14 years of IT experience with IBM, with over 3 years as project manager, managing e-Business projects in Application Development and Systems Integration. His current responsibilities include project management reviews, consulting and mentoring on a wide range of e-Business projects.
Carmen Cutajar, PMP, IBM Certified Senior Project Manager with IBM e-Business Services. She has a total of 16 years of IT experience with IBM, with over 6 years as project manager managing Application Development and System Integration projects primarily in the Finance Industry. As part of her current responsibilities she is involved in Delivery Management and project management consulting on e-Business projects.

• There were almost 9,000 new Project Management Professionals (PMP®) in 2000, bringing the total number of worldwide PMPs to over 27,000.

• PMI members may now edit their personal information online by accessing the PMI Web page at www.pmi.org/members.  

All PMI members have received notification via postal mail of this new feature. The letter contained your membership identification number and password. Both are required to access this secure site.

Members should contact PMI’s Customer Service Department (e-mail pmihq@pmi.org or call 1-610-356-4600 and choose option 8) if you have not received the letter or if you misplaced or forgotten your password. For security reasons, members will be asked to verify specific information, including their membership identification numbers, before new passwords are provided

January 10, 2001 Presentation

Our thanks to Hitesh Seth for a very interesting presentation. We are looking forward to have him again in the future.

We also like to thank the Ontario Power Generation Company and New Horizons for hosting the event.

And thank you, all our members for attending!

Managing IT Delivery Risk.ppt

January 10, 2001 Membership Meeting feedback results:

January 10, 2001

Election slate

Keynote presentation synopsis

Managing IT Delivery Risk

Project Management = Risk Management

What is the difference between building a bridge and implementing an IT system?

Bridge builders do not have

their specifications changed,
their owners changed,
the roads connected to the bridge crossed,

all in the middle of construction.

All projects face delivery risks. It projects have some typical risks areas which require focus for a Project Manager to manage.

Managing risks in an IT project is critical to the success of delivery.

The presentation will share horror stories and enlighten participants of IT project risk areas.

Keynote speaker
Hitesh Seth is a Senior Manager at Cap Gemini Enrst & Young Management Consultants. He has been an IT Project Manager for over 10 years.

His expertise is in the management of the IT business, strategic information systems planning and systems outsourcing. Hitesh has managed projects ranging from 1 person to over 50 people. He is currently directing an IT Applications Group for Ontario Power Generation, overseeing over 20 projects.

Hitesh has a degree in Computer Science and a MBA.

The winner of the Program Evaluation and Feedback draw is Paul Ionescu. Congratulations Paul!
Paul has won free admission to our next Membership meeting scheduled for January 10, 2001.

September 7, 2000 Membership Meeting feedback results:

November 1, 2000 Membership Meeting feedback results:

Abstract - November 1 presentation

Risks are inextricably associated with all IT projects. In traditional software development, even more so in the Internet economy, we have to be able to communicate with sponsors, usually venture capitalists, and relate to them the probabilities of success associated with our estimates.

The primary objective of this presentation is to explain how Monte Carlo simulations work, review the process required to complete a Monte Carlo simulation and the benefits associated with these simulations. We are going to run a live simulation and review it in some detail.

Monte Carlo simulations are based on minimum, likely and maximum estimates related to project activities and tasks. Using these estimates, we are able to calculate the probability to complete a project in a given cost or time range. These ranges allow us to identify risks and opportunities.

Questions are welcome during or after the presentation and live simulation.