Consilium Business Solutions

What’s safer, your hard drive or the cloud?

This CBC new article written by Emily Chung, explores the good and bad of each and highlites some very interesting things about this new emerging data storage method.

Did you know?

Google Docs — “which allows people to create documents such as letters, spreadsheets and presentations with its web-based software and then store them online — accidentally shared a tiny fraction of users’ documents with other users, without the document owners’ consent or knowledge.”

Yea, that right. Google with all its power and money and resources had a security breach. To their credit , they were up-front about it and let everyone know, but still…. If it can happen at Google , I guess it could happen anywhere.

“Every System has some level of risk”

Click Here for the entire article

Elon Musk has had great success in business as an entrepreneur, Zip2 - X.com - Paypal….. Today, his company SpaceX, is the first to put a privately developed rocket into orbit!

click here to watch!

An Introduction to Linux.

Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations

Clay Shirky discussed his new book, Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations.

Click on Video to watch

A picture is worth a thousand words and in some cases a thousand pieces of data.

Data Visualization is a method of taking raw data and using images, diagrams, and animations to represent it graphically. Forget rows and columns, think flows and colors! This technique can help give meaning and structure to plain numbers and letters.

Recently read a great article with some very fine examples of the art.

Here is a list of the best tools for data visualization.

Taken from a recent IBM Article written by Elliotte Harold.

“Several dreams are coming true this year. Sun’s dream of network deployed applications is happening now, although shockingly the language of choice for these applications is JavaScript™, not Java™. This is a missed opportunity of the first order: Sun could have delivered this 10 years ago, but sadly it never had the experience, vision, or interest in the client to make it happen; now Sun is playing a desperate (and doomed) game of catch-up.

Netscape’s dream of replacing the operating system with a browser is also coming true this year. Netscape had the vision to see this coming. Unfortunately, it didn’t have the business savvy or artistic taste necessary to pull it off. Nonetheless, Firefox and the Mozilla Foundation, both direct descendants of Netscape, are key players in bringing about this bold new world.

For Microsoft®, the nightmare of a younger, nimbler competitor overtaking them is also coming true. The company was so distracted by Sun and Netscape that it failed to notice Google sneaking up on Office and Windows. GMail, Google Docs, and similar applications from a variety of sources are rapidly rendering the underlying operating system irrelevant.

Sure, you still need an operating system to run a browser, but increasingly no one will care which operating system it is, any more than anyone in the last decade cared who manufactured their PC, as long as it ran Microsoft Windows®. Now no one will care who manufactures their operating system as long as it runs Google. Operating systems are being commodified, just as PCs were. The Windows monarch hasn’t been defeated so much as abandoned, leaving Microsoft guarding the gates to an empty castle.”

Read more…….. 

Business Process Management is gaining adoption, but just what is BPM and how do BPM systems work? This article clears up some of the confusion and helps you choose the right product with a six-step guide to selecting a BPM suite.

Read Article

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/202

Is your project floundering, stalled or just plain not going anywhere?

The key could be in how you are going about things.

Various Methodologies
There are many different methodologies and tools to help with creating value and achieving your project objectives. They might not all have the same steps but do all share in the same approach. Virtually all successful project management methodologies outline a set of sequential and coordinated steps, and within each step a set of specific guidelines and tools. Of course other ingredients for success include a good project management, dedicated staff and executive support but we will just look at the methodology for now.

PMI - PMBOK
Probably the best and most widely used methodology is that contained in the PMBOK, or Project Management Book of Knowledge. More info available at the Project Management Institute. ( http://www.pmi.org/ ). The PMBOK provides the standards (internationally recognized) for how to manage projects and is broken out into 5 process groups and 9 knowledge areas that covers almost all types of projects.

The five basic process groups are:

1. Initiating
2. Planning
3. Executing
4. Controlling and Monitoring
5. Closing

Along with publishing standards and updates to the PMBOK, PMI also administers various internationally recognized certifications and designations in Project Management. As of 2006, PMI reported over 200, 000 members in 175 countries.

Other Methodologies

Another methodology presented by John Schwechel at RPE (Retail Process Engineering) - (http://www.rpesolutions.com/ ) presents the following 10 keys for Project Success.

• Define the project
• Create the project plan
• Gain Executive Support
• Manage the project team execution
• Risk Management
• Scope Management
• Quality Assurance
• Communicate Early and Often
• Change Management
• Measure Project Success

Conclusion
Whether your using the PMBOK guide or another method, the thing to keep in mind is that as long as you follow a structured approach and have a good qualified project manager, anything is possible.

On May 17, 2007, Prime Minister Stephen Harper released the Government of Canada’s Science and Technology (S&T) Strategy. The Strategy is focused on creating a more competitive and sustainable Canadian economy with the help of science and technology. The end result of a new and more strategic government focus on science and technology is a better life for Canadian families and communities.

I first heard this term many years ago from a friend who was an avid woodworker and had the most organized shop I have ever seen. Tools were neatly arranged on a massive pegboard and all had an outline so they could be put back to the exact spot from whence they came. 

Some years later as I began to learn more about Quality I came across the same term but used in the context of a program called 5S.

What  is 5S?  

The term 5S refers to five Japanese words starting with the letter S, these have been translated and adopted typically as, Sort, Straighten, Shine, Systemise and Sustain”  Some organizations apply a 6th and very critical “S” , “Safety”.

There are many other acronyms out there but they all have a similar goal. To provide a framework for organizing and maintaining a workplace and its interactive processes.

Further definition and more detail can be found here.

The term Business Process Management (or BPM) refers to activities performed by organizations to manage and, if necessary, to improve their business processes.

See the full description in here

• Consilium Business Solutions helps customers optimize their business processes by aligning people , processes and IT applications.

What keeps you up at night?

Productivity suffering due to process issues or lack of training?
Don’t feel like you have a good handle on your application systems?

Too many projects need to be done and not enough time to do them?

Not sure how you’re going to replace that leadership role with a competent person who can get up to speed quickly?

Let us help!

With over 20 years of experience in Logistics, Distribution and Customer Service, we can provide the right help at the right time.

Process Management and Improvement.

• We lead and help facilitate the entire improvement cycle including;
• Process goals and team definition
• Facilitation of as-is process
• Documentation of process
• Data gathering and validation
• Process analysis and improvement
• Control plans to ensure your fix stays fixed

All engagements facilitated by a Certified Six Sigma Black Belt

Training

• Let us design a targeted training program based on your needs and requirements.
• A good training program has many benefits including improvements to your product and service quality. Proven results include major savings in costs due to increased productivity and elimination of waste and errors.

Project Management

• Successful client projects completed include:
• Warehouse and Facilities moves / setups.
• WMS - ERP systems sourcing and implementation
• Web and ecommerce setup and maintenance
• Training initiatives in Six Sigma and Project Management.
• Increased customer satisfaction with reduction in errors and decreased cycle time.
• Creation of cycle count program eliminating need for yearly physical counts.

Interim Leadership Coverage

• Experienced and customer focused, we get up to speed quickly and deliver results!