By Karen Lopez on Monday, November 26, 2007 5:29 PM

CIO magazine has interesting article on how to better recruit females for enterprise IT jobs.

 

Business technology needs broad-thinking candidates from a broad range of undergraduate and graduate curricula who want to learn how companies—not computers—work; who can work with a global project team, rather than with programming languages; and who can see business process linkages, rather than map out electronic connections.

Meanwhile, the collection of jobs that saddled business technology with its geeky image—network and data center administration, code maintenance, programming and help desk—may soon be centralized, automated or offloaded to outsourcers. The stereotypically inarticulate men with pocket protectors who hold these jobs—and who defined the image of the profession way back in the '70s—will soon retire en masse (taking with them their pocket protectors).

Now you need business analysts, program managers, vendor managers, relationship managers, information architects or process analysts. These jobs (any of which can lead to CIO) demand employees with excellent communication skills that many of the women you know have: the ability to speak, negotiate, influence others, write, analyze, manage projects or programs, and lead cultural change. These jobs are not about writing operating systems or learning programming languages. They are about helping companies change the way they work. "Driving changes that help the business generate more revenue, lower cost or improve customer service—cracking these business problems—that's fun!" says June Drewry, CIO of the Chubb Group of Insurance Companies.

 

Some good points in that article.  Having spent a few years as the Canadian Information Processing Society's national spokes person on this gender issue, I agree with a few points and disagree with others.  Let's start with the agreement part:

IT does a terrible job recruiting for IT careers. 

I'm not sure whether this is due to the fact that the marketers are mostly men and therefore us marketing messages that they'd want to hear or that all of IT is terrible at all marketing.  These recruiting errors start early, in the marketing literature of computing-related educational programs at colleges and universities.  If you visit some of the most prestigious computing programs you'll see bland descriptions of computing science and information systems programs -- all focused on things like "learn C++", "algorithms", and "good careers as programmers".   If the website is maintained by the computer science department you might even be wowed with some nifty flashing HTML or scrolling techniques from The Information Super Highway(tm). 

Visit a website of other professional-preparation programs like law or engineering and you'll see photographs of people actually talking to other people, smiles on their faces as the solve some intriguing societal problem.  At worst, you may find a link describing finite element analysis or even algorithms, but it won't be the focus of their recruiting pages.

You'll find the same scenario on the careers page of your local newspaper.  IT jobs will display some long list of foreign sounding terms  about computers (PeopleSoft, Microsoft, etc.) or even worse, a set of acronyms that sound as if the successful candidate will also suffer from food poisoning (SAP, ERP, CRUD, C#, CRM, etc.) .  Postings for IT jobs rarely focus to any degree on solving people problems.  In fact, they tend to describe jobs that require one to sit alone in a basement, staring at a monitor everyday.

We need to stop trying to drag techies up the Zachman Framework, against their will

I cringe every time I read a recruitment add for an enterprise architect or other strategic position that demands several years of hands on technical skills in very specific areas.  Sure, enterprise architects, data architects, and process architects need to have a thorough understanding of the technologies that help run the business, but they don't have to have done that job in order to understand the architectural role.  We don't demand that lawyers be police officers for 5 years before they can be legal experts.  We don't require that professional engineers be construction trades people or draftspeople before they can be engineers.  Why must all IT jobs start with 5-10 years of programming?  The reason why that may have been true10-20 years ago was that there used to be only a couple of routes to get into IT at all.  This was due to the fact that people didn't have 6 mainframes in their basement to get hands on experience with technology.  That left formal education and training as the primary route to a career in computers.  But those days are gone. 

Most DBAs I know are excellent technical professionals.  I think they'd do a wonderful job of data modeling or data architecture.  For many though, I think they'd hate it.   These guys (and most of them are men) love understanding, working with, and managing detailed technical nuances of their jobs.  They think I'm crazy for wanting to spend days and days with business users, working on process or data models.  As for me, I'd go crazy spending much time on indexing strategies or tuning someone else's SQL code day in and day out.   Whether it is differing Meyers Brigg profiles, DNA, or brain make up, people tend to be drawn to certain jobs.   When I see those job postings that are looking for the ideal candidate who will spend an equal time working in Row One and Row Five of the Data Column, I know that most likely the organization will spend a great deal of time talking to people who are very experienced at one end of column over the other end.  And with all the inherent risks associated with gender stereotyping, I'd say that women tend to be drawn to jobs that have more interaction with the business.  Not all women, just most.

If you are recruiting candidates for multiple roles (and who isn't), I'd recommend you recruit along the same rows but perhaps multiple columns.  Think Business and Data Analyst, not DBA Modeler.  Look for Programmer DBAs, not Programmer BPM architects.   Let people who are "good at what they do" do what they are good at.

 

 

By Karen Lopez on Thursday, November 22, 2007 7:06 PM

From a recent Embarcadero Press Release:

Embarcadero Announces New Versions of DBArtisan and Rapid SQL

Rapid SQL 7.5 and DBArtisan 8.5 Provide Enhanced Productivity and Support for the Latest RDBMS Features

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Embarcadero Technologies announced today the general availability of DBArtisan 8.5 and Rapid SQL 7.5, the newest releases of its market-leading, cross-platform database tools. Both tools feature a redesigned user interface, a new query engine, and deeper support for Oracle, SQL Server, DB2 and Sybase.

A key feature of DBArtisan 8.5, a cross-platform database administration tool, is a new highly scalable engine that helps DBAs better manage large, complex datasets and produce faster queries. DBArtisan 8.5 also enables DBAs to exploit more features available in Oracle 11g, Sybase 15, SQL Server 2005 and DB2 v9. Also new to DBArtisan 8.5 is a set of user interfaces designed to increase user productivity by simplifying the standardized workflow across platforms. The interfaces enable the product to dramatically decrease the time to market for updates required to support features of existing or future RDBMSs.

If you'd like help evaluating DBArtisan or Rapid SQL For your projects, please contact us.

 

By Karen Lopez on Thursday, November 22, 2007 7:04 PM

We've all dealt with the risks associated with the proliferation of user-developed spreadsheets and desktop databases.  I've even heard that more business functions are run from data copied out of corporate databases than in the databases themselves...and I don't doubt that one bit.

I know why users want to copy and control locally their own copy of data (and I don't blame them for wanting to do this), but the problems I come across when gleaning requirements from users is often related to the whole "I'll just do it in a spreadsheet or MS Access" attitude.  Sure, it's a get-er-done attitude, but it often suffers from quality assurance and peer review steps that we typically see in enterprise-class application development projects.  At least we give the appearance of testing, right?

The staff at ITBusiness.ca have pulled together a very scary list of examples of spreadsheet errors, gaffs, and flaws that cost companies billions of dollars:

• Kodak spokesman Gerard Meuchner said the hefty $11 million severance error was traced to a faulty spreadsheet.
  
• Details of the $2.818 billion record profit result for the 12 months to September 30...were embedded in a template of last year's results and were accessible with minor manipulation of the spreadsheet. (Some news reports indicated an employee had thought that a black cell background fill would hide black text.)
  
• Fannie Mae, which finances home mortgages, stated in a news release of third-quarter financials that it had discovered a $1.136 billion error in total shareholder equity
  
• Shares of RedEnvelope Inc. lost more than a quarter of their value Tuesday after the company warned of a fourth-quarter loss due to weak Valentine's Day sales and a budgeting error that resulted in an overestimation of gross margins.
  
• A simple spreadsheet error cost a firm a whopping $24 million. The mistake led to TransAlta, a big Canadian power generator, buying more US power transmission hedging contracts in May at higher prices than it should have.

 

Think there are enough scary stories in the article to help you on your next quest to get enterprise data under enterprise quality control?  There's a website by the European Spreadsheet Risks Interest Group (EuSpRIG) that collects media stories of spreadsheet errors that have put companies at risk.  They currently have almost 100 stories.

I wonder what we'd find with a similar effort to track MS Access errors?

 

By Karen Lopez on Thursday, November 22, 2007 1:52 PM

As a reminder, we won't be approving messages today or tomorrow as this is a major US holiday weekend.

We do this to stem the flow of "out of office" messages the moderators have to deal with.

Here in Toronto it's not a holiday (our Thanksgiving was in October), but it is snowing and it sure feels like a holiday.

Speaking of Moderators and Thanksgiving, I'd like to thank each of our community moderators. These individuals donate time to keep our community active and the messages on topic. Every message posted to our groups is cleared prior to releasing it to your inbox.

Gracious thanks go to:

• Rick Davis
• Scot Fearnside
• Garry Gramm
• Jeremey Janzen
• Carol Lehn
• Ray McGlew
• Brett Medalen
• Frank Palmeri
• Karel Vetrovsky

I'd also like to thank each of you who has taken the time to respond to questions, gripes, and tips posted to our boards. The DM profession is a "small world" type community of like-minded individuals each with different needs but often common goals. These communities allow us to get our jobs done faster and easier with your help.

Happy Tofurky Day to all of you in the US.

Karen

By Karen Lopez on Tuesday, October 02, 2007 5:20 PM

We've added a new discussion group board for users of ISybase PowerDesigner  As with our other boards, this group is moderated.  You can participate via the Web, Mailing Lists, RSS, or Newsgroups.

Join the PowerDesigner User Discussion Group

If you currently have a discussion group account for one of our other boards, that same account will work with the new PowerDesigner group.

As this is a brand new group, any assistance you can give us in letting PowerDesigner users that a new community has been established would be greatly appreciated.  We also invite Sybase staff who work with PowerDesigner to join our group.

If you are helping to recruite members, you probably want to share with them that:

1. All posts are moderated, so there's no spam or junk
2. We allow you to choose your participation format -- Web, E-mail, RSS, IM, Chat or Newsgroup
3. We welcome vendor paricipation
4. We have been hosting these boards for more than a decade, so our communities are experienced and helpful
5. All levels of users are welcome
6. It's Free!

As a reminder, group policies and a group FAQ are available.

 

By Karen Lopez on Wednesday, September 19, 2007 2:07 PM

We've added a new discussion group board for users of IBM's Rational Data Architect.  As with our other boards, this group is moderated.  You can participate via the Web, Mailing Lists, RSS, or Newsgroups.

Join the Rational Data Architect User Discussion Group

If you currently have a discussion group account for one of our other boards, that same account will work with the new RDA group.

As this is a brand new group, any assistance you can give us in letting RDA users that a new community has been established would be greatly appreciated.  We also invite IBM staff who work with RDA to join our group.

 

As a reminder, group policies and a group FAQ are available.

 

By Karen Lopez on Friday, August 31, 2007 5:16 PM

Karen will be leading this Tuesday's CA Summer Webcast on Starting with more than a Blank Page: Modeling with Industry Standard Data Models.  NEW - Watch a RECORDING of the webcast.

21 August 2007, 1 PM to 2 PM Eastern

 

If you've ever been asked to evaluate, use, or review third party data models, you'll want to attend this one hour event.

She will talk about the costs, benefits, and risks of working with these specialized type of pattern models, as well as 10 myths associated with using them.  Finally she will highlight the steps you should take if you are working with industry models.

Registration is required, but the session is free of charge.

A question and answer session will be offered at the end of the presentation.  InfoAdvisors subscribers are especially welcome to ask questions and debate - just as you do on our discussion groups.

By Karen Lopez on Tuesday, August 21, 2007 1:26 PM

Thank you for attending the CA Summer Webcast on Starting with More than a Blank Page.  At InfoAdvisors.com you'll find articles and videos about ERwin Data Modeler as well as tool-independent content.

You can sign up for our user discussion groups and create a member profile, if you'd like.

 

By Karen Lopez on Thursday, August 02, 2007 8:17 AM

I was helping a friend check out job listings at Amazon.com when I came across this listing for a Business Analyst:

Qualifications

 

 

The successful candidate must demonstrate the following:

• Outstanding attention to detail, problem solving, and analytical skills  - Check
• Excellent written and spoken communication  - Check
• Excellent communication skills at all levels with the ability to present information in a professional and mature manner - Check
• Ability to work effectively to tight deadlines in a fast-paced environment - Check
• Understanding of Linux or Unix operations systems desired. - Check
• 3-5 years of demonstrable experience in at least one of the following financial processing areas:  procurement, asset management, accounting, accounts payable, and/or lease management. - Check
• Knowledge of Information Technology, including computing, storage and networking equipment. - Check
• Strong skills in Microsoft Office Suite (i.e. Excel, Word, and Outlook) are required. - Check Experience working with ERP software systems (i.e. Oracle/Remedy) is a plus, as is the ability to mine data and maintain essential metrics using these applications. - Check
• Track record of success in a fast-paced environment. - Check
• Ability to lift and move up to 75 lbs and assist team members as needed in the receipt, transfer and disposal of assets, with accommodation. - Uh....No

I'm not sure my friend could lift and move up to 75 pounds, unassisted.  I'm hoping this is an error...or is that that BAs at Amazon are expected to pitch in and help move skids of books around on their down time?  I can see some recruiter busy screening candidates against that last one, rejecting all kinds of excellent candidates because they don't look strong enough.

 

I've laughed at insane requirements in job postings -- you've all seen them - "5 to 10 years deploying Windows Vista in corporate environments", "5 years hands-on experience with EA/Studio", etc.  But what's the weirdest/most outlandish requirement you've seen?

By Karen Lopez on Friday, July 27, 2007 8:35 AM

Do you count the time reading this blog as a break?  Wasting time?  Professional Development? If you boss came up to you right now as you are reading this, would you be tempted to minimize the window or to share it with her?

I know situations vary, but as "hired labour", I tend not to do a lot of professional development while at client sites, at least not during regular office hours, as many believe that consultants should be 100% nose-to-the-grindstone busy during all hours on site.  I agree, somewhat.  I do usually take some time first thing in the morning to catch up on overnight e-mails (off shoring has a huge impact on my e-mail schedule) and evenings to take care of less direct client work, if allowed and supported by my clients.  I'm usually working on projects that require travel away from home, so taking advantage of a more secure Internet connection is good, but the usual reason is that I'd much rather work at a real desk with a real desk chair than spend hours on a tiny hotel "desk" trying to get work done.

I came across this story by Information Week on work habits, focusing especially on work habits of younger versus older workers:

Hardly Working? Survey Exposes The Mind Of A Time Waster

Are you working hard or hardly working? A new report out Wednesday may shed some light on why employees waste 20% of their workdays and why that may not be such a bad thing.

Salary.com's 2007 Wasting Time Survey showed the average employee spends 1.7 hours of a typical 8.5-hour workday on activities unrelated to the job. Almost 35% of respondents said they spend time on the Internet for personal reasons, 20.3 said they socialize with co-workers, and 17% conduct personal business. Respondents also said they make personal calls and take long breaks to run errands. The third annual review was conducted with 2,000 employees across all job levels through America Online and Salary.com users in June and July.

The average worker wastes less time this year than last, but companies still pay billions for nothing in return.

It's a bit of a head scratch-er for me...I remember it was only 10 or 12 years ago when IT professionals actually went on breaks - coffee breaks, often for 30-40 minutes at a time.  We got up, went to a cafeteria or outside park bench, and sat and talked about anything but work.  Sometimes work topics we raised and either we extended the break, or someone was smart enough to get the conversation deferred until we were back in side.  To make matters even more complex, we did this again at lunch and in the afternoon.  Good consultants didn't bill for this time, but employees expected this to be treated as part of their work day.  They didn't punch in, but this break time was considered part of their work environment.  It wasn't sneaky and it wasn't hidden.  Typically the breaks were 20-30 minutes and lunch was 30-60 minutes, depending on the organizations policies.

I have not worked in an IT shop for a long time that practiced such formal break times.  Most breaks these days are less formal, in smaller groups, and just managed by a supervisor.  Some supervisors frown on any break time for any reason (you've worked for those guys, I'm sure), while others take breaks with their staff to discourage burn out and increase creativity.

What intrigued me most was this point about generational differences:

More than 63% of respondents admitted to wasting time at work, and younger workers waste more time than older ones. Employees between the ages of 20 and 29 waste about 2.1 hours a day. The average for employees ages 30 to 39 drops to 1.9 hours, while people between the ages of 40 and 49 waste just 1.4 hours daily.

Nearly 18% of employees say they waste time because they "don't have enough work to do." Almost 14% said their hours are too long. About 12% say they're underpaid and 11.1% say their work is not challenging and that is why they waste work time.

I wonder if the wasted time is in addition to any sort of formal breaks, or hidden time spent e-mailing jokes and reading up on some starlet's newest rehab revolving door?  I wonder if it is checking out InfoAdvisors.com or posting to our discussion groups?  I also wonder if the time wasting activity differs based on generation.  Is a Baby Boomer's paying of a gas bill counted as 5 minutes of wasted time, or would a Boomer likely treat that just part of the balance of work and life?  Is the 5 minutes a Gen Mer spends forwarding an e-mail of a You Tube video link to a friend counted towards waste or is that part of her work life balance?

If a Gen Yer reads an article on the costs and benefits of using a surrogate key, does he treat it as wasted time, training, or work?  How about a Boomer?

Certainly some managers feel that anything not directly applicable to the day's task at hand is a waste of time, but do you?