Alphacourt: March 2008 Archives
I've just come back from a successful two days at the Project Challenge Conference and Exhibition, at the NEC Birmingham. Alphacourt had a stand in the Process Performance Zone and my feet can attest to the fact that we were busy for just about the whole time. Aside from the normal quota of freebie thieves, there were a large number of project and process professionals asking the same old questions:
- How can I manage all my projects effectively?
- How can I get my users to give me the right requirements?
- Can I have a job please?
Obviously we provided some great answers: Project Portfolio Management, Process Modelling, and No, respectively. I'll discuss PPM in the next blog.
My main disappointment was the variable quality of presenters speaking in the conference seminars. They covered the whole spectrum, from nervous techies mumbling from a script with their heads down, to brash salesmen pumping the features of their new vapourware solution. Having been guilty of both these styles in the past, I'd like to think my presentation avoided these pitfalls and gave a practical insight into "Gathering the Real User Requirements using Process Modelling". You can find a copy of this presentation here.
Another highlight was Mark McGregor's interactive lecture about "Mapping and Modelling for the 21st Century". Insightful and leading edge as ever - I was amazed how he smoothly incorporated the Beijing Olympics, giving up smoking and globalisation into the talk and brought it all together at the end with a clear focus on people and process.
The BPM vendors are now desperately trying to avoid the 'me too' tag and are coming up with more arcane positioning statements to make themselves stand out from the crowds. This to me signals that the market is maturing and that the features of the products have effectively converged and the only differentiator is how you use the tools. So the message for Process Professionals now is to skill up in the methods and techniques of process improvement. The tools all have four wheels now and a steering wheel - you just have to learn to drive and work out whether you are Lewis Hamilton or Mr Bean ...
John Moe
