Big Data and Project Management

Today, organizations are taking strategic risks to add business value through innovative big data initiatives. Big data is a blanket term for any collection of data sets so large and complex that it becomes difficult to process using available data management tools or conventional data processing applications. Tom Davenport, author of “Big Data at Work” has worked with many companies and he’s uncovered key principles around five key areas to be successful at big data projects. He discusses these principles in his article in Harvard Business Review.

These five key areas represent a combination of internal organizational resources, standards, processes, methodologies and/or best practices:

1. Technology
2. Good change management
3. Clear business objectives
4. People
5. Good Project Management

These five key areas represent the foundation of most information technology projects. It may surprise some people that Davenport suggests that out of the five; Project Management done well may give your organization an edge if you have the agility to implement and be successful at these high risk big data projects.

This year ProjectWorld & World Congress for Business Analysts has three top speakers discussing big data:

>  Benchmarking Risk Management: What Good Looks Like Dr. Alicia Aitken, Managing Director, Asia Pacific, Human Systems International
>  Cyber Security Silvanus Moses David, Program Manager, SITA South Africa
>  Project Scheduling Lab Lou Russell, CEO, Learning Facilitator, Russell Martin & Associates

Want to learn more about this topic and network with PM and BA professionals like yourself? Don’t miss ProjectWorld and World Congress for Business Analysts 2014 in Seattle this fall. For more information about this event, click here: http://www.iirusa.com/projectworld/pricing-info.xml

Project Managers Get Lost with Apple Maps

As of late, Apple has delivered significant updates across virtually every facet of the company. In fact, the tech giant has released 4,000 new APIs to developers; a more aggressive push in cloud services; and changes across its mobile and desktop operating systems.

But, one area of Apple’s business that is seriously lacking in function and updates is Apple Maps. Maps are important to Apple because, just as search has been at the heart of how people find their way around the Internet, maps are the key to how many people use their smartphones.

According to Apple, there is a feature in iOS 8 that will give venue owners the ability to add more indoor positioning data. But from what we understand this was far from what Apple had intended. A source told Apple Insider, “There were multiple improvements that didn’t make it into iOS8,” a source tells us.

After two years of parting ways with Google, Apple is still working on its Maps app. Some key changes included enhanced, more reliable data; more points of interest and better labels to make certain locations like airports, highways and parks easier to find; a cleaner maps interface; and public transit directions.

Further ahead, the report noted plans to integrate augmented reality features to give people images of what was nearby. So, why didn’t they appear?

One source said, “Many developers left the company, no map improvements planned for iOS 8 release were finished in time. Mostly it was failure of project managers and engineering project managers, tasks were very badly planned, developers had to switch multiple times from project to project. I would say that planning, project management and internal politics issues were a much more significant contributor to the failure to complete projects than developers leaving the group.”

Over the years, Maps have been a sensitive area in Apple’s business. It was at the 2012 WWDC that Apple unveiled a new version of its Maps app, but it turned out to be a disastrous move for the company. Unreliable data produced random renderings and bewildered users, and even prompted an apology from CEO Tim Cook with the promise that things would get better.

Apple appears to be taking similar steps to bring search closer to its core business, so there will be two areas to watch to see how the company evolves.

Related articles

• Apple Maps Are Still Lost (techcrunch.com)