Someone asked: What are your thoughts on MPLS?

"This appears to be the next generation of communications. There are numerous applications that can take advantage of this latest technology in being able to prioritize data packets by assigning labels to them. Of course, it's early days, so what are your thoughts?"

My reply:I would say that MPLS is the 'Now' (not the Next) Generation of backbone technology. In Europe and AsiaPAC it is already the technology of choice for most new WAN implementations and the number one service offering from most Global telco's, not to mention the main focus of Vendors.
I have been involved in MPLS WAN rollouts for 5 years now in the UK and Europe.
My only caution would be to not forget to compare the business cases for MPLS and competing legacy technologies when considering a change. Often the Service Providers push customers into MPLS because it is fashionable and the margins are better for them as they can bundle multiple services with it (Data and VOIP plus enhanced network monitoring tools etc). Whether MPLS 'costs in' for a customer will depend on (a) existing and future bandwidth requirements; (b) the need to flex bandwidth on demand; (c) geographical spread of WAN (distance from the exchange and regulatory restrictions).
I have had clients who have been halfway through the rollout of an MPLS WAN only to realise that they are going to spend more (not less) on a technology that they won't really benefit from. Also clients have ditched MPLS when they realised that they could double their existing ATM bandwidth cheaper and faster in some locations, rather than deploy MPLS.
Overall though, with (a) the refresh of network infrastructure now better built into operating budgets and (b) the realisation that things like VOIP and convergence of legacy and current data networks are no longer a leap of faith, as well as (c) the removal of premiums for MPLS services - it is truly becoming the default technology for todays Wide Area Networks.
British Telecom as well as all the other UK, European and US Telcos I can think of, all deploy MPLS as their carrier backbone technology. It is highly likely that if you buy ATM in some locations today it will be encapsulated over MPLS anyway!

Aligning enterprise PM skills with Capability Maturity Model (CMM)

In the ongoing endeavour to raise the standard in PM Practitioner capability across Professional Services, we hit upon the concept of using the Capability Maturity Model from Application Process Design to define project management capabilities at the Enterprise level:

[Some abbreviations: PS - Professional Services, SME - Subject Matter Expert, TPG - Technical Project Group, TPT - Technical Project Type; Many TPT's could be managed under a TPG of PM's]

1. Level 1 - Initial Limited knowledge of PM experience versus technical project type. Mainly anecdotal, local, unqualified knowledge. No organisational knowledge repository.
2. Level 2 - Repeatable Initial limited lists created for active TPG's only, based on TPG lead knowledge and assessment of PS database. Likely number of trusted practitioners ~20 per TPG. Limited information on the size and nature of projects managed, or the PM's track record/success. Data mainly used to create initial practitioner network to promote knowledge sharing, and identify a few potential SMEs.
3. Level 3 – Defined Individual consultation and increase in practitioner numbers. Data now being used to align staff to projects based on technical capability (smart resourcing).Still aligned to TPGs only.
4. Level 4 – Managed Assessment of individuals plus broadening to other non-TPG TPTs. Ability for staff to maintain own experience data - implies PS-wide database/web site.
5. Level 5 - Optimised Mature data with all TPTs covered. Project success/reference data included. Data used routinely in staff assignments, career planning and development, recruitment planning. Steady State.

What's with all the flying terminology?

If you have read my previous posts on the new niche allocation of project management skills, you would have already heard me talk about "Take-off" and "Landing" Pilots, as well as "Inflight Attendants".
Well having just returned from two weeks vacation in (not so) sunny Brittany, I have coined myself another aeronautical term...

I'm having an "Off The Radar" day.

I knew that there would be an inevitable backlog of 'Things' waiting for me to read and action or delete upon my return; an unfortunate product of the Information Age (see four hour work week). I also knew that when I got back, for a day at least, I could stay incognito as people would be thinking I was managing someone else's project. I even went to Lifehacker and had a look at some of their tips for time management and increasing your productivity.
So I decided to stay Off The Radar (OTR) for a day or so and catch up on all this 'stuff'.
How liberating!
I actually sat down and read all those emails that had been skimmed over and sorted out (a) what was really important, (b) which ones were time sensitive and no longer relevant [were they actually relevant in the first place?], and (c) which ones looked good in my trash can. By 3pm I had 250 emails in my trash can, with about 12 emails that actually needed my time. By the time I logged off, I had a couple I was actually looking forward to completing the next day.
I even looked at my professional development and training programme and put a few webinars in my diary that I was always letting pass me by.

I seriously recommend the merits of an OTR day to allow yourself time to catch up on all that personal admin that always takes second place to project work.

So nows it off to fly my next sortie... umm I mean project.

Tally Ho!

Affluenza and the four hour work week

Following on from what I had seen about Affluenza, a book talking about the lack of satisfaction we get from modern have-it-all lifestyles, I have come across an interview with Tim Ferriss, the author of 'the Four hour Work Week'.

His book talks around two significant concepts:
(a) If big corporates can outsource their low end tasks to the sub-continent, why can't we do that on a personal level? He mentioned some of the companies that offer remote PA services - Your Man in India, Brickwork and Get Friday are a few examples; and
(b) What does your ideal lifestyle actually cost you? Tim Ferriss has a number of calculators that enable you to tally up what that perfect lifestyle would cost you and then break that down to a daily cost. It turns out that your ideal lifestyle may not cost as much as you think and you don't have to wait until your retirement to realise your dreams.

Having just experienced a week of being bombarded by emails, I really see where Tim Ferriss is coming from. I liked his Out of Office auto-reply:
"Due to my high workload at the moment, I am only checking emails twice a day. I will get to your email eventually, but if it is urgent then please call me on my mobile 07xxxxxxxxxx"

The fact was that few people wanted to send him emails he wasn't going to instantly read and even fewer actually thought their issue was urgent enough to bother calling him on his mobile. As you can imagine he is not a big fan of Blackberries, and upon due consideration, neither am I.