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7 Tips for Creating a Training Program for an IT Project

June 29, 2010/0 Comments/in Dallas IT/by admin

Planning and executing a scalable end-user training strategy is a key element to software deployment planning and, ultimately, to the success of an IT project. Without an effective training plan, the end-users will most likely need to rely heavily on the project support team. This can be costly to your project with increase in the need for support resources, as well as a possible decrease in actual support for your project delivery.

Here are some tips to consider when developing a training strategy:

1. Don’t Make Assumptions about the technical skill level of the software end-users, especially when you’re rolling out software to an entire organization. Remember the adage, “When you assume, you make an ass out of you and me.” Since the technical skill level of the end-users can vary greatly, it is important that the training instructions are useful for technical novices, as well as experts. Create the instructions for the lowest technical-level end-user first and then you can create a summary set of instructions for the more advanced users. I find it helpful to think of my parents as the end-users when I write training instructions for the basic level. This helps me to remember to be extremely specific in my instructions. For example, when I help my mother navigate a website that is new to her, I coach her through every click of the mouse.

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My EVO is Corrupting My Outlook Data on my PC

June 28, 2010/0 Comments/in Technology/by admin

I bought my EVO June 4 and synced it with my Outlook and it appeared to work just fine. However, after a week or two (not sure at this point) the phone started overwriting my PC Outlook contacts with truncated data. The EVO then began to NOT recognized the sync software on my PC and asked me to install it. I uninstalled then reinstalled the sync software. My phone still did not recognize the software on my PC. Took it to the Sprint repair store and they did not have a clue what to do. I came home and plugged the EVO in to charge and behold it started syncing. It started adding duplicates to my Outlook contacts, 896 of them!!! I stopped the sync once I noticed and was able to delete the duplicates using advanced find to search on the "modified" date.

I had to take the EVO back to Sprint for a hard reset to get rid of all the duplicate contacts and start over. The EVO is syncing now, however, it is truncating all the notes data in the contacts. Was on the phone with HTC for one hour and they have no clue what to do and said maybe a fix would be out soon.

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Integrity in Recruiting
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Soft Skills for IT Managers

June 28, 2010/0 Comments/in Dallas IT Managers/by admin

Many people believe their value is based on what they know—and they don’t want to give that up.

Most of us have, at one time or another, worked with a colleague who hoarded information as if it were gold. And let’s not forget the manager who passed on company information only on a need-to-know basis (kind of like working for the CIA).

This approach to information is frustrating and counterproductive, but understandable. Many people believe their value to the company is based on what they know—and they don’t want to give up that perceived edge. Their theory is that if they share that knowledge with their co-workers, that will increase the co-workers’ value and diminish their own.

This is a battle that business has been fighting for decades, but it’s heated up during the past few years of ongoing layoffs, when employees are more interested in surviving than collaborating. Ironically, this is happening at a time when knowledge management and collaboration technologies are getting a lot of attention from business leaders, who understand how these technologies can benefit their organizations.

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Job Tips and Job News – Tips for Discouraged Job Seekers

June 28, 2010/0 Comments/in Information Technology, IT Workers, Job Seekers, Job Tips/by admin

Tired, discouraged, feeling like you’ll never find a job? Need a job, but nothing you do seems to be working?

When you’re having a tough time finding a job, or even finding jobs to apply for, it’s important to expand your job search. Don’t limit yourself to applying for the jobs you find posted online.

Companies may be hiring that don’t post job listings other than on their company web site – or not all. Expanding your job search will help you find unadvertised openings and enable you to proactively seek employment at companies of interest.

Make a Target List of Companies

If you don’t have a target list of companies yet – a short list of employers you would be thrilled to work for, it’s worthwhile taking the time to research company information and create a list of companies to target in your job search. All the information you need is available on the web, and it’s easy to find detailed information about potential employers online.

Once you have a list, the next step is outreaching to contacts at the company. Use LinkedIn’s companies section as a tool to find company information. You’ll be able see your contacts at the company, new hires, jobs posted, and company statistics. Check the company web site and Google the company to find more contacts at the employer who could be potentially be interested in hiring you.

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Retaining IT Workers – 8 Ways to Keep Your Best Workers on Board

June 25, 2010/0 Comments/in Dallas IT Contractors, Dallas IT Managers, Dallas IT Staff Augmentation, Dallas IT Staffing, IT, IT Budgets, IT Workers/by admin

The organizations honored as Best Places to Work are vastly different in many ways, but they tend to share an ability to keep their most productive people on board. While there’s never a good time to neglect retention, doing so now may prove to be especially costly. With economic conditions beginning to improve, some organizations are looking to increase staffing levels. And as job opportunities proliferate, IT professionals will be more likely to consider moving to a new employer. Businesses that don’t address this looming challenge will find themselves at a competitive disadvantage.

Computerworld — The organizations honored as Best Places to Work are vastly different in many ways, but they tend to share an ability to keep their most productive people on board. While there’s never a good time to neglect retention, doing so now may prove to be especially costly. With economic conditions beginning to improve, some organizations are looking to increase staffing levels. And as job opportunities proliferate, IT professionals will be more likely to consider moving to a new employer. Businesses that don’t address this looming challenge will find themselves at a competitive disadvantage.

Effective retention strategies may be based on unchanging core concepts such as providing recognition and helping employees with their career development. But that doesn’t mean an approach that worked prior to the downturn will be equally successful this year — or next. Here are eight ways to keep your best employees in the current environment:

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IT Job News – Slow Growth For IT Salaries

June 24, 2010/0 Comments/in Information Technology, IT, IT Budgets, IT Professionals, IT Spending, Uncategorized/by admin

As the recovery struggles to take wing, IT salaries in 2010 are rising just slightly over last year’s. At the same time, a number of benefits are on the decline. Some benefits, though, such as flex-work schedules, are increasing in popularity as employers attempt to keep valuable IT staffers, according to a new survey from Janco.

Go here to see the slideshow at Baseline

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D-FW is country’s fastest-growing region

June 23, 2010/0 Comments/in dallas/for worth, dfw, dfw metroplex/by admin

Of all major markets in the country, Dallas-Fort Worth showed the most growth in recent years, adding 1.3 million people between April 1, 2000 and July 1, 2009, according to a report from the Census Bureau and CNNMoney.com.

D-FW now has a population of 6.5 million people, growing 25 percent during the period measured. Atlanta and Houston also experienced significant growth.

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IT Job News – No. 1 Place to Work in IT: USAA

June 22, 2010/0 Comments/in Information Technology, IT, IT Candidates, IT Jobs, IT Workers, Technology/by admin

In February, Michael Lonigro, an IT technical manager at USAA, received a record-breaking performance bonus equal to 18.8% of his annual salary. So did every other USAA employee, thanks to the San Antonio-based financial services company’s stellar 2009 performance. The big payout came less than 90 days after USAA staffers received their regular holiday bonuses, which have been awarded to every worker every year since 1930 and equalled two weeks’ base pay.

All 2,087 IT workers — and every other full-time employee — also receive a generous benefits package that includes health insurance subsidized at the rate of 87.5% and an additional $3,000 per year for out-of-pocket medical expenses. On top of that, USAA offers a variety of free health screenings, free access to three on-campus gyms, 24 days of vacation after a year on the job, and a tuition reimbursement benefit of $10,000 annually. Yes, that’s $10,000 with a ten and three zeroes. Little wonder USAA hit the No. 1 spot on Computerworld’s Best Places to Work in IT list, after making the list for 11 consecutive years.

"The benefits are just wonderful. The health care plan is outstanding. We are very, very well taken care of," says Lonigro.

All told, USAA spends more than $400 million annually on employee benefits programs. Other perks include subsidized child care, a $5-an-hour errand service, and dollar-for-dollar matches of employees’ 401(k) contributions up to 8%, plus an additional retirement contribution of up to 9% of an employee’s pay.

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Tags: IT Jobs, IT Technical Manager, IT Workers

IT News – HP says IT pros need own social network

June 21, 2010/0 Comments/in Information Technology, IT, IT Professionals, IT Workers, Technology/by admin

HP’s near-beta social network, dubbed 48Upper, is about solving tech issues, not dating

Computerworld – WASHINGTON — Despite the flood of existing social networking tools, Hewlett-Packard Co. will soon introduce its own social network, albeit specifically aimed at IT professionals.

It’s called 48Upper and it comes with its own "manifesto," which says this about IT pros: "We have lived with the stereotype of being introverted, pessimistic loners for too long."

There’s also video that shows IT workers laughing, smiling and working in cubicles with stuffed animals.

This anti-Dilbert version of IT aside, 48Upper (which gets its name from an HP building in Cupertino, Calif.), incorporates familiar social networking tools, collaborative, friend-based, knowledge sharing, but is clearly aimed at users of HP system management tools.

The product is being readied for beta testing, and HP officials discussed some aspects of it at its software conference here.

There are a number of elements that make 48Upper different from the mainstream social networks.

Ever since e-mail, IT pros have networked with people outside their companies and institutions for help. The designers of 48Upper still expect users to seek out help from external IT folk, but this tool will have a few steps to help them filter out information that might reveal what a company might otherwise want to keep quiet.

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