InSIGHT
Knowledge Sharing Resource for Business and Technology Leaders
Surveying the
"New Normal"
IT Landscape
IT in the new normal
 
In This Issue
Case Study
The "New Normal" IT Landscape
Earned Value Management
Cloud Computing Fitness
Free PDUs for Project Leadership
Case Study:
Balancing Methodologies
Bringing together the best of waterfall and agile turns out to be a winning strategy for a multi-million dollar implementation! 
  
 
Read on. 
 
Contact Info
Software Consortium
877-850-9393
visit our website 
 ____________
 
Business Development 
Baltimore area:
Brian Zernhelt
410-583-9393 x 106 
DC area:
Austin Bachmann
301-273-2126
____________
 
Recruiting Management
Baltimore area:
Nancy Clifford
410-583-9393 x 107
 DC area:
Scott Bolden
301-273-2118
____________
 
Headquarters
100 West Road
Suite 408
Baltimore, MD 21204
 
Join Our List
Join Our Mailing List
Minority Business
Award Winner! 
Software Consortium was recognized in 2008 as one of the Top 100 MBEs in the Mid-Atlantic region.
 
Learn what that means for your firm.
November 2009
web banner
Greetings!

As the country emerges from the "Great Recession," there is enormous pressure on United States business executives to compete globally, as China and India emerge as the new world leaders. 
 
For 18 years, Software Consortium has been a thought leader in the Baltimore-Washington area, advising our clients, IBM, Microsoft, and other technology leaders. We offer software and technology services that are practical and have helped many of our clients make their businesses competitive locally and globally.
 
 
 All the best,
Janet
Janet Amirault,
President & CEO
IT Leadership
Surveying the "New Normal" IT Landscape 
 
As economies emerge from the downturn, a restructuring of the economic order, a "New Normal," is being defined. With persistent uncertainty, tighter credit, lower consumer spending and greater government involvement predicted, what does the New Normal mean for IT leaders?
IT in the new normal
A new McKinsey report predicts CIOs and IT leaders at every level will have to make dramatic adjustments in mind-set, process and performance to compete in this new economic landscape.
TECHnique
Tuning Performance with Earned Value Management
evm graphOne of the tools gaining importance in the IT managers' toolkit is Earned Value Management which creates alignment among the business and technical stakeholders on a project team.
 

Earned Value Management (EVM) helps project managers track project progress while comparing actual costs to the project baseline. By adopting EVM on your projects, you will better control project performance and communicate more effectively with project stakeholders.
 
Strategic Vision
cloud.computingCloud Computing: A Fitting Project for the Cloud?
 
Cloud computing is becoming so widely known that executives and employees who don't even work in IT are starting to ask for it by name.
 
CEOs, CFOs and tech-savvy employees all have heard the advantages: it can reduce the amount of hardware running in the data center, it can slash costs associated with new IT projects, it's cool.

So where do you start and what is the best way to determine if a project is suitable for the cloud?
 
Project Leadership Seminars 
Resonant Leadership: Bringing out the best in yourself and others 
 
Software Consortium's next free seminar, "Resonant Leadership: Bringing out the best in yourself and others" will be held:

Wednesday, December 9, 9 am - 12 noon 
Towson, Maryland
(Easy access from 695 and free parking.)
 
Free 3 PDUs for PMP-certified attendees!
  
Complimentary breakfast at 8:30 am

 
As Charles Darwin said "It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change."

As human beings, our flight or fight response to external threats serves us quite well when our survival is threatened. However, in today's world, it is believed our instinctive response to stress and threats can result in decreased abilities to think new thoughts as our bodies automatically prepare to defend ourselves.

Managers and leaders need their best thinking and fully engaged teams to make their departments effective today and in the future. Join us for this interactive half day seminar and come away with new energy to inspire yourself and your team.
 
The folks at Software Consortium wish you and yours a warm holiday celebration of gratitude for the bounty in our lives.
---------------- 
Software Consortium provides information technology services  specializing in software integration and development, with a focus on providing high value / high impact results to our clients. 
 
Contact us to discuss your technology challenges and how we can help. 
 
Software Consortium, Inc., 877-850-9393. www.SoftwareConsortium.com 
Headquarters: 100 West Rd., Suite 408, Baltimore, MD 21204, 410-583-9393 and
D.C. Metro: 4061 Powder Mill Rd., Suite 700, Calverton, MD 20705, 301-273-2126 
 
 
All Rights Reserved, © Software Consortium, Inc. 2009