18 April 2013 9:44 am

Effective project collaboration means taking all measures to protect the information shared

As we increasingly become more dependent on the internet to access information and conduct our daily activities, security needs to become an central element to our collaboration strategy.  Recently, cyber attacks have become more far reaching especially with recent  DDoS (distributed denial of service) attacks that flood sites with insane levels of traffic grinding their service to a halt.  With this new level of attack, I’ve recently read an article that discusses the potential of these cyber attacks to actually cripple the internet as a whole.  The conclusion was that it would be practically impossible due to the security measures  

Written by Neil Stolovitsky
on 18 April 2013 9:44 am

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12 October 2012 11:00 am

Managing Bottlenecks. Good Project Management is a lot like avoiding traffic

Living in one of Canada’s largest metropolitan areas, Montreal is infamous for its traffic jams caused by never ending construction and growing population.  In a recent report it confirmed that the typical Montrealer that has a 30 minute commute loses 92 hours a year to traffic. The reality of this loss is astronomical impacting businesses, the environment and in some cases health issues that result from increased stressed levels and the broadened carbon footprint.  Although strategies to mitigate traffic issues  exist, similar to the project management world, it only takes one unexpected change of event to occur and you will  

Written by Neil Stolovitsky
on 12 October 2012 11:00 am

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30 July 2012 4:17 pm

The Eiffel Tower Project: With Great Risk Comes Great Reward

Many would agree that the Eiffel Tower can be labelled one of the greatest architectural achievements of all time.  However, the journey to great projects are typically riddled with many bumps, obstacles and controversy.  The fact is the Eiffel Tower project was no less immune to this reality.  From the time of its conception to act as the symbol (and as the archway entrance) to France’s World Fair in 1889 to its transformation as a critical communication tower during the First World War and its iconic design attracting millions of tourists a year, the Eiffel Tower has proven that the  

Written by Neil Stolovitsky
on 30 July 2012 4:17 pm

Posted in Famous Projects  |  1 Comment
15 June 2012 2:48 pm

41% of Projects Still Fail: Good project managers always plan for failure

Recently, Kickstarter an internet platform developed to assist entrepreneurs fund their projects by recruiting investors online, has confirmed the reality that after 17 years since the first Chaos Report was published, the knowledge of failure has done little to change the grim statistics associated with project success.  According to a recent article, 41% of projects on Kickstarter fail.  So if projects are likely to fail, why bother planning for success in the first place?  Seasoned project leaders understand that project planning is more than developing a detailed Gantt Chart with accurate timelines and reasonable workloads.  Good project planning is as  

Written by Neil Stolovitsky
on 15 June 2012 2:48 pm

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30 April 2012 12:50 pm

Inventing the Steamboat: Why people matter in NPD projects

More often than one would expect, when we look at the original inventors of many of history’s great inventions they are marginalized in their association to their inventions.  Have you ever heard of Ferdinand Verbiest or Otto Lilienthal? Does Karl Benz and the Wright Brothers sound more familiar?  Although the first two people mentioned are the original inventors of the automobile and airplane respectively, the latter tend to be attributed to these inventions due to their ability to move beyond the inventions themselves and connect to the people who would popularize their use.

Written by Neil Stolovitsky
on 30 April 2012 12:50 pm

Posted in Famous Projects, PM Best Practices  |  No Comments
19 October 2011 12:41 pm

The Power of the Plan: Why 1% of the Population Controls 40% of the Wealth

The recent news of the “Occupy Wall Street” grassroots movement in which demonstrators are congregating around the world expressing their defiance against the financial establishment and its impact on the “Average Joe” has brought to light the age old reality that money and power lies in the hands of a few who understand the power of the plan that keeps this inequality afloat.  Throughout history kings and monarchs have exploited the majority by creating meticulously planned structures of power, wealth and governments to ensure their positions.  Although the Occupy Wall Street movement is a modern phenomenon, similar strategies employed centuries  

Written by Neil Stolovitsky
on 19 October 2011 12:41 pm

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11 April 2011 10:08 am

Is Agile right for you? Top 5 considerations when implementing Agile Methodology

We often hear in software development circles how Agile development is taking hold of the industry.  Created as a grassroots framework by developers for developers, the origins of Agile methodology began 10 years ago with a group of progressive software developers at a Utah ski lodge that established the Agile Manifesto aimed to establish a more inclusive, democratic and efficient system for running software development projects.  As result, multiple Agile methodologies emerged including Crystal Clear, Scrum and Extreme Programming all designed to establish self-governing project teams that place equal accountability on all members that touch the project.
As this is  

Written by Neil Stolovitsky
on 11 April 2011 10:08 am

Posted in Information Technology, PM Best Practices  |  No Comments
18 March 2011 12:54 pm

Natural Disaster Recovery Projects: How serious do we take risk?

Probably the biggest wild card in any project is a project leader’s continuous handling of unforeseen events that can derail the project’s trajectory towards its goal.   Although the unplanned is common to most projects, how often is there a risk management strategy in place to prepare for potentially damaging events?  Depending on the nature of a project, the level of seriousness of risk will vary.  In the most extreme cases, natural disaster recovery projects top the list.  The inherent nature of these projects is to plan for the unplanned.  A risk management strategy is the driving force behind the ability  

Written by Neil Stolovitsky
on 18 March 2011 12:54 pm

Posted in PM Best Practices  |  No Comments