EZINE - mde.net - August 2002

MDE's Practical Technology Tips & Techniques Newsletter
You have received this monthly edition of my Practical Technology Tips & Techniques Newsletter by subscribing to it or selecting the free tools sample while visiting my web site.
For reference to all past issues, go to www.mde.net/ezine.

This month's articles include:

MDE News ------------------------------------ MDE receives excellent review on Amazon.com for the
                                                             IT Management-101 paperback
I.   IT Manager Tips ------------------------- Budget Time  - Tips to build an achievable plan
II.  Web Development Tips --------------- Vertical Marquee
III. Product and Service Review -------- Make Your Knowledge Sell
IV. Entrepreneur Thoughts --------------- Affiliate yourself with winners
V.  Special Offer of the month ---------  IT Due Diligence special extended through 9/6/02

The month of August almost got away from me. It was a very busy month and we reached many new milestones in the growth of our company. My consulting business kept me busy and I contributed many new articles to TechRepublic.com in August. It was an excellent month.

Last week, I conducted an onsite IT assessment review for a small manufacturing company in Iowa. This week, I spend most of the time in analyzing the information gathered and write the assessment report for the two senior managers of the company. Because I was in "heads down" assessment mode, I wasn't able to send out a reminder of the special offer for the IT Due Diligence book. I'm going to extend the discounted offer of this book for four more days. You can purchase IT Due Diligence for $24.00 and receive all the tools that are used in the book if you order by 9/6/02. This book and the offer made in mid-August has been very popular. I have referred to it several times in preparing for this IT assessment consulting engagement. The content can help any level manager conduct an effective assessment for almost any technology situation.

To order or to take a look at a list of the tools included with this special offer, click here.

MDE News
MDE receives excellent review on Amazon.com for IT Management-101

MDE (Mike Sisco) published its first paperback book of the IT Manager Development Series in July.
IT Management-101 has received consistently positive feedback from readers and just received an excellent review on Amazon.com this month from Mike Tarrani. Mike is a Top 50 book reviewer for Amazon.com and has reviewed more than 400 technology books. A few of his "5-Star" comments include:

"Covers a topic about which few books exist - excellent!, August 11, 2002
The entire series is designed to provide IT managers of all levels of experience and scope of responsibility a consistent approach to managing IT based on the author's extensive background and experience. This book in particular is the foundation of the entire series and gives the new IT manager a compass for professional performance and career growth.

. . . this book shows how to lead and manage using team building and delivering business support as the focal points. Each chapter contains insets that impart advice from the author's personal experience, which reinforces each topic, and also has checklists, questionnaires and illustrations that make the book readable and useful. What I like is you can immediately begin using the information in each chapter, which allows you to systematically improve your workgroup in small, easy-to-implement doses. More importantly, if you follow this book's advice you'll also start employing refined leadership skills in addition to effective management."

Mike Tarrani

Click here to read the entire review.

IT Management-101: Fundamentals to Achieve More is available in paperback or in Adobe PDF format.
Click here for additional information.

I. IT Manager Tips
Budget Time  -  Tips to build an achievable plan

It's getting that time of year again  -  budget preparation for next year's business plan. Nothing "bugs" a company CEO or CFO more than having a manager on the team that does not know how to build an aggressive plan that can be accomplished. After all, both of these two executives are measured more on the financial performance of the company than anything else.

As a manager of IT, you are charged with many facets of managing the technology resources of the company. One of the most important responsibilities is fiscal management. Your CEO and CFO have every right to expect you to be able to build a plan that is construed to be aggressive but one that you can achieve.  This article will include a few tricks to help you in this area.

I've seen two types of "budgeting managers". One is what I call the "Exact Budgeter". The second is the "Reliable Budgeter". The "Exact Budgeter" does all that he can to produce a precise budget that is as accurate as he/she can be. This manager believes that he excels and is considered a strong manager by being as precise as he can be so he builds a very tight plan that if everything goes according to plan will be an outstanding budgeting effort.

BIG PROBLEM - things don't always go according to plan, especially in Information Technology.

The "Reliable Budgeter" intentionally builds buffer into the plan because he knows that things change over time and that surprises can and do happen. By building in buffer elements, this manager has room for mistakes and unusual occurrences that might happen. The "Reliable Budgeter" almost always completes his actual year within his budgeted plan. The "Exact Budgeter" almost never does although when he delivers his budget plan at the end of the budget preparation phase, he is certainly proud of such a great job he did.

Your CEO and CFO need you to sign up for a plan that you can achieve. They always prefer to have an IT Manager or CIO that delivers what he/she says can and will be done and that knows how to anticipate the obstacles that occur in all companies.

Here are a few tips on how to build in operating expense budget buffer that will help you achieve more success in managing your fiscal responsibility.

    1.    Build in new staff hires in the month you think you will hire them. Budget earlier, not later in the year if you
           aren't sure. Invariably, you will actually hire later than you plan and you will have expense buffer built into your
           plan as a result. In some cases, you may not hire certain positions.
    2.    Include recruiting fees of 15-20% for all new hires. I prefer to hire from referrals and to avoid recruiting fees but
           by having your plan built in this manner, you will have added expense buffer.
    3.    Estimate your training and education expenses by using a flat fee per year for every employee. You won't
           need to spend the same amount in education for all employees but you have it planned if you need the money.
    4.    Take a close look at all projects that you anticipate for the new year. Budget reasonable consulting fees,
            temporary staff, and other technology resources as needed for each project. Your project plans may change
            during the coming year but when you have expenses planned for every project, it usually covers new projects
            that replace projects in your projected business plan.
    5.    Build in planned salary increases, bonuses, and other incentives that you expect to pay.
    6.    Plan conservatively when adding or deleting WAN lines and associated expenses (both timing and costs).
    7.    Anticipate 10% software and hardware maintenance increases and do a thorough job of keeping records of all
            expenses in this category so you have it all covered.
    8.    Take a look at last year's actual monthly expenses and look for "exception expenses". When you discover
            what they are, determine if you need to include a budget expense for things like it in the coming year. Past
            history trends and surprises are excellent tools to help you anticipate the future.
    9.    Estimate conservatively for travel and lodging expenses. Look closely at each employee's travel needs.

These tips will get you started. If you are interested in more insight into budgeting for IT, you may want to take a look at my book, Developing an IT Business Plan. It's all about the process of budgeting for IT and includes several templates and tools to help you budget effectively. Click here for more information on this book.

II. Web Development Tips
Vertical marquee

Step 1: Simply copy the code below into the <body> section of your web page:

<script language="JavaScript1.2">

//Specify the marquee's width (in pixels)
var marqueewidth=150
//Specify the marquee's height
var marqueeheight=150
//Specify the marquee's scroll speed (larger is faster)
var speed=2
//Specify the marquee contents
var marqueecontents='<font face="Arial"><strong><big>Thank you for visiting <a href="http://mde.net/cio">MDE Enterprises.</a> If you find this script useful, please consider linking to us by <a href="http://mde.net">clicking here.</a> Enjoy your stay!</big></strong></font>'

if (document.all)
document.write('<marquee direction="up" scrollAmount='+speed+' style="width:'+marqueewidth+';height:'+marqueeheight+'">'+marqueecontents+'</marquee>')

function regenerate(){
window.location.reload()
}
function regenerate2(){
if (document.layers){
setTimeout("window.onresize=regenerate",450)
intializemarquee()
}
}

function intializemarquee(){
document.cmarquee01.document.cmarquee02.document.write(marqueecontents)
document.cmarquee01.document.cmarquee02.document.close()
thelength=document.cmarquee01.document.cmarquee02.document.height
scrollit()
}

function scrollit(){
if (document.cmarquee01.document.cmarquee02.top>=thelength*(-1)){
document.cmarquee01.document.cmarquee02.top-=speed
setTimeout("scrollit()",100)
}
else{
document.cmarquee01.document.cmarquee02.top=marqueeheight
scrollit()
}
}

window.onload=regenerate2
</script>


<ilayer width=&{marqueewidth}; height=&{marqueeheight}; name="cmarquee01">
<layer name="cmarquee02" width=&{marqueewidth}; height=&{marqueeheight};></layer>
</ilayer>

III. Product and Service Review
Make Your Knowledge Sell

Last month, I discussed a product titled Make Your Site Sell. Ken Evoy, the writer of this excellent book on how to generate traffic to your web site and how to sell from it has written several other books that are of high quality as well. One of them is Make Your Knowledge Sell. This is a book that I bought when I decided to begin writing articles and books for my IT Manager Development Series. It's an excellent tutorial and begins with the premise that there is a book in each and every one of us.

If you have ever thought of writing a pamphlet, a "how to" guide, a reference book, or a report on virtually any topic that you want to sell, you should take a look at this book. It is written in a step by step approach that gives many examples and makes every part of the process very simple. In actuality, most things are simple after you have learned how to do it. Remember learning how to ride a bicycle? I haven't ridden one in twenty years but know that I could very easily. Writing is somewhat similar, especially when you see how Ken breaks it down into simple steps.

I wrote a series of three articles for the IT Consultant Community of TechRepublic a few months ago that made the case for consultants to add additional revenue to their company by developing information they have and selling it via the Internet to a much bigger audience than what they are able to reach by one-on-one consulting projects. If you are interested in these articles, they are accessible from TechRepublic's web site by clicking on the links below:

        Repurpose your knowledge to create a second revenue stream

        Developing an Internet infrastructure for online sales

        Six steps to publishing your own material

I have taken this concept to a significant level by writing ten books and more than 70 articles in the last year. Prior to that time, I had written only one article in the early 1980's and would have never considered myself a writer. I still don't , really.  But the fact is that my work is achieving positive feedback from readers all over the world. The knowledge that I gained and the Internet has helped me reach considerable numbers of IT managers that I would never have been able to reach in my traditional consulting role or as a CIO.

What you know is valuable to others, even if it is how to enjoy camping with your kids. Click here for more information on Make Your Knowledge Sell.

IV. Entrepreneur Thought
Affiliate yourself with winners

Whether you are looking to improve your professional skills or looking to add supplemental income to your home based business, you should always try to affiliate yourself with proven winners. There are a lot of people out there that talk a good game but "when the rubber meets the road", you want to work with those that are professional, have high ethics and achieve consistent success.

All of my management life I have tried to incorporate into my set of skills and traits the things that I saw that were effective for others. I've often told my friends that I have generated very few original ideas but I have always been able to learn from others and to build upon the base of knowledge that was developed during my early years. I have had positive successes in managing IT organizations for many years. More of my success is attributed to what I learned from my mentors and observing others than anything else.

Observe others and look for things that work for them. It may be as simple as remembering people's names or having an ice cream break for your employees that helps them know you appreciate their efforts. If you watch successful managers closely, you will soon have dozens of examples that you can incorporate into your own style of management.  You should also watch for things that fail. Some of the best lessons are discovering what doesn't work. That's how I learned not to be the first to install a new software release. At IBM in the late seventies, the SE that was very aggressive to install all his clients on the latest software release also had a lot of repair work to follow-up with. Initially, I thought he was being very proactive. We both learned that it was being a bit naïve due to experience.

Winners and successful managers get to the destination quicker and with less energy. Because they know how to go about a new initiative, they require less energy and create less stress on the organization to reach new milestones. There are a lot of managers in the world that charge ahead without paying attention to the consequences and the casualties that are required to achieve the objectives to be successful.

Winners are positive thinkers and create positive energy. Surround yourself with those types and you will find yourself being a positive force.  It sure makes a big difference in the quality of your life to be around positive forces.

Mentors and successful managers are valuable to anyone wanting to assume more responsibility. Take advantage of what you can learn quickly by aligning yourself with winners.

V.  August's Special Offer Extended
IT Due Diligence special offer extended through 9/5/02

I have been so busy that I haven't been able to send out a reminder of the special offer that was to end on 8/31/02 for the bundled package of the IT Due Diligence ebook (Adobe PDF format) and the EXCEL and WORD tools that are described in the book. This special offer is extended and available through Friday, September 6th.

IT Due Diligence was written from the process I developed to conduct quick and efficient IT assessments during the early 1990's. The processes and tools described can be used for almost any type of technology assessment and have been a valuable reference tool for me even as late as last week during a technology assessment project.

The ebook normally sells for $29.95. In this special offer, you may purchase the ebook plus receive the tools for $24.00.

For additional information on the offer and to order, click here.

That's it for this month, even if it is a couple of days late. Keep a positive attitude and focus on doing things that you like to do; it can be more rewarding than you can imagine. Until the next time, have a great day.

Mike Sisco
 
Mike Sisco is the author of the IT Manager Development Series and President of MDE Enterprises, an Atlanta based IT management consulting and training company. This newsletter is free and intended to provide a variety of practical technology insights to help you improve your business. All material is copyright protected and is available for your personal use but is not available for distribution or resell purposes unless specifically authorized by Mike Sisco.

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