An administrative note before my post – I noticed in my last post that two additional words had hyperlinks, and they were ads. I apologize for WordPress. I try to use hyperlinks judiciously and provide links to relevant, supporting content – NOT ADVERTISING. Apparently, WordPress has decided to use a new revenue source and I have no control over it. Since I use their resources for free, I will continue but be aware not all hyperlinks are mine. I always include a label, so hover over the hyperlink and mine will give a description.
I took my own advice and have been busy learning. It is fun as I have explored new solutions and tried out new functionality, but I feel like I am just getting started. And lo, the CTP of SQL 2014 made its debut to the community. Will I ever catch up? Are the changes really that compelling? And I still have SharePoint 2013 to incorporate into by tool bag.
The development cycle for a new version of SQL Server (et al) has been significantly shortened. Are we headed towards annual updates now? If so, then the feature set included in each release must be limited. This could backfire on Microsoft, as companies large and small decide not to upgrade to the latest version of software, because they are still adopting the previous version, or they have too many solutions built, too many third party product integrations, too many customizations, etc. We are seeing that reticence now with upgrading to SharePoint 2013. The change management effort and total cost of ownership play large in the decision making to move an organization to a new version. Resource costs and the dip in productivity while new software adoption is occurring is significant.
As a practitioner, keeping up with the new versions is important, because available features will impact solution design. Re-imagining an existing solution in a new version of software is intriguing, and timing seems to be essential to success. The software environment of most organizations is complex, requiring a dedicated level of change management. Software product vendors must have that imagining time built into their product development cycle. And with the push towards “Apps”, innovative young entrepreneurs with a knack for software development are jumping into App development, changing the landscape completely and disrupting the marketplace.
I noticed that my Office 2013 Outlook client comes with an App that finds meetings and action items. I get a tremendous amount of information with each message now. More rich metadata, and the “Apps” are smart – they use keywords and context to discover importance, and highlight those areas of the message. As we incorporate these features into our way of working, our business processes, we can become more productive.
Change management is one of those things that must be incorporated into every aspect of business. It is a major component of governance, project management, risk management, decision making, etc. I am helping to design an app to help productivity in this area. As more details are firmed up, I will reveal it here! Until next time, keep thinking good BI thoughts.
Tricia Wilcox Almas 