Shelfware, Deadlines, Trials and the Pursuit of Better Coding – Part 2

  My first blog on this topic (read it here), where a CIO wanted the team to use better tooling but received pushback,  generated some very spirited discussion.   Of course, what some people posted in public forums pales by comparison to some of the emails I received, but that’s a story for another day… Obviously …

Shelfware, Deadlines, Trials and the Pursuit of Better Coding

“Why can’t my developers just download the trial RDi, learn it and use it during the evaluation period?”  This is a question I am often asked at conferences by IT managers.   I hear their frustration.  In the spirit of fair play, I have also listened to developers on this same topic.   Here is a fictitious …

Another Successful Wisconsin Midrange Computer Professional Association Conference!

Getting to the event and enjoying local color We all know how one gets discombobulated, having to remove many items from carry on bags, taking off shoes, belts and jackets and occasionally being randomly picked out for a complete body search.   Well, at least the TSA folks in Milwaukee have a great sense of humor. …

Reflections of London, Brussels and COMMON Europe Congress 2017

All work and no play? With the wonderful opportunity of speaking again at COMMON Europe  (www.comeur.org), Larry Bolhuis, Richard Dolewski, his wife Maria and I decided to include a two-day pre-conference stop in London.  Larry and I timed our flights to land at London Heathrow within ninety minutes of each other but with his delays …

An all-day hands-on RDi workshop at QUSER

Twin Cities, MN, May 2017 www.quser.org  For this workshop, we supply a sample source library for each attendee, which is used during the activities.  The event was promoted with a short video that was tweeted out to the QUSER membership. One of my favorite things to do is to create are the promotion videos. Getting There As always, …

A Celebration of the COMMON Man (and Women)

I’m so fortunate for the privilege to present at many conferences each year. No question though who the granddaddy is – COMMON U.S.  Over 1000 people attend so there are LOTS of conversations to be had.  This is a celebration of seeing them and enjoying their company.   If you’ve never attended COMMON or at …

Are you ready for the new year? I am, and you can quote me.

“It must be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage than a new system. For the initiator has the enmity of all who would profit by the preservation of the old institution and merely lukewarm defenders in those who gain by the new ones.” …

Reflections of COMMON Europe 2016

Stockholm, Sweden,  June I find it fascinating how I feel after each conference. Generally, each one follows a basic template, where there are pre-conference sessions, an opening session, vendor expo and general sessions. Yet, after each one I feel a broad spectrum of emotions, including optimism for the future of the IBM i platform and …