In the world of online, interactive design, it’s not always clear when the business/interaction designing ends and the IT development begins – or for that matter, how much development is really needed. Even though the project plan might be very clear, governance requirements of the Enterprise IT environment can drive a chicken-or-egg scenario. While you can’t really finalize the detailed IT design and specifications until the visual design, functional requirements and information architecture are complete…these elements do need to be informed very early and often by some concrete IT direction and constraints in order to be realistic and actually capable of meeting the business requirements. IT investments to support your project also need to be confirmed as early as possible (for example if a new CMS platform is needed), since the lead time for approving, paying, installing, configuring and training activities associated with the new HW/SW may take as long as the entire project was ori...

A few times recently I've been asked to very plainly explain Internet Marketing/Interactive Marketing, why it's so much better than buying magazine ads, and whether it's really helpful. Here are the basic talking points: Internet Marketing means promoting and advertising your business through all the Internet channels your customers might use, like your website, other websites, email and social media (i.e. Facebook and Twitter). Most businesses have an Internet website, really nice ones, but that’s not enough - it should also be highlighted appropriately, for customers to discover…a beautiful storefront in a dark alley attracts no customers. One way to highlight your website and business is by placing references or advertisements (i.e. “banner ads”, “articles”, “backlinks”, “coupons”, “infomercials”, etc.) on other websites – but only on websites that will most likely send valuable customers to you. There are many choices to consider, both free and paid, and the links or ...

Very recently I've changed gears a bit to focus much more, on a daily basis, on the "Front End" of the Business Information Management lifecycle - at DC's Navigation Arts , "Architects of the User Experience". In all digital interactive implementations (i.e. websites and digital applications), a great deal of artistry and intellectual insight is required to fully understand and create a compelling interactive design (both the creative components and information architecture, or navigation) that satisfies both users and investors. As well, a significant amount of communication and translation is needed to successfully implement the design across the required media channels and on top of the supporting IT infrastructure - compliant with business and IT investment constraints. Many times this translation, between users/designers and the IT "back end" ecosystem (including vendors and 3rd-party service providers) is not much more than a "toss over ...

The concept and use of the Program Management Office (PMO) in Government Information Technology (IT) procurements is both time-tested and well-known. A PMO is typically comprised of experience program and project management personnel, who help the government (i.e. the “client”) monitor and evaluate the performance of significant IT investments – for example building a new computer system, reorganizing and automating business processes, or implementing new IT capabilities within an existing environment. The PMO ensures that program-level risks are mitigated, standards and methods regarding system engineering lifecycle activities are followed, quality management procedures are implemented and all resource utilization is effectively tracked, managed and reported. The PMO also (and perhaps most importantly) helps make sure that individual procurement and project managers, together contributing to an overall program’s success, are effectively communicating and sharing information and reusab...

Seeking Full-Time Roles for US Federal Government positions right now, with a very healthy and well-respected IT Consulting firm in DC - contact me at tedmclaughlan AT gmail DOT com. : Sr. JAVA/SOA Architect - 7 years experience (contact me for more details; general background consistent with SETA role below) Development Manager (contact me for more details; general background consistent with SETA role below) Sr. Technical Advisor (SETA) - 7 years experience This is a very unique, interesting, fulfilling and critical role - send me questions, your resume and I can help you understand more... - Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) in an engineering or science discipline with a minimum of 10 years experience in government consulting. - Active DoD Secret Clearance Required. - Must successfully complete a stringent Background Investigation and obtain the required Government Security (Active DHS clearance is a plus - U.S. Citizenship is a requirement). - Previous experience in a Systems En...

Having managed delivery of eGovernment services over the Internet for the past 15 years, I’ve lived through the rise of the “Intentions-Based Portal” in programs including IRS.gov, NYC.gov, USAF.gov, USPS.gov, Maryland.gov, Delaware.gov and USDA.gov. The multi-subject, user customized characteristics of these Internet Portals reflected commercial success in community portals like Yahoo, Compuserve and AOL, but were fundamentally budgeted to provide strategic cost-savings via improved government efficiency – by delivering government information and highly-transactional services to constituents. While Yahoo was all about creating a Portal for users’ entertainment, directory assistance, shopping, and social networking, serving both subscribers and advertisers, NYC.gov and other eGovernment Portals were all about more rapid, effective and comprehensive delivery of citizen services – serving both the public and agency employees. Different missions, but similar and overlapping audiences focu...

Just a quick comment noting the increasing availability and demand for TIBCO engineers, developers, architects and other TIBCO job offerings, as TIBCO establishes its strong presence across the Federal Government and Homeland Security IT marketing with its SOA/ESB and BPM offerings, including ActiveMatrix, Silver Spotfire Cloud Business Intelligence and Analytics with Infrastructure Demand Prediction, and all other products and related systems development tools and programming languages. Average salaries range from $80K - $150K for senior architects; it's an employee demand market, so very competitive offerings are available. The TIBCO job market appears to have recovered from its downslide in 2008, and is headed sharply upwards since mid-2009 through now in 2010. Check TIBCO-jobs .com for more info...Specific TIBCO skills being sought at median salaries of $100K and rising include: Software Design/Development, TIBCO Architect, C, HTML, SQL, Java Script, TIBCO BusinessWorks 2.x/5....

As an employee, it can be really invigorating to discover that your employer is a trend-setting (or following) participant in Web 2.0 practices. Your employer may actually market this, its "Web 2.0 expertise". This seems to suggest your employer is current, relevant, amenable to open standards generated by a global community of open source evangelists, engaged in online social discussion, promoting its brand (and your good work) around the Internet and basically joining the fun. But is it really? The "2.0" in phrases preceded by labels including "Web", "Enterprise", "Government" basically indicates the use of web-enabled technologies that foster online community dialogue (vs. a one-way information "push"), the use and support of network-discoverable data sharing tools created with entirely open standards, and the actual participation in online dialogue and information-sharing. In other words: 1) Find and install a tool that al...

This group of Loudoun Blogs represents a wonderful and unique cross-section of the life and business of Loudoun County, VA, and is a very straightforward means for residents and business owners to participate in local community dialogue through “social media”. Like other communities, there are also lots of other Loudoun-centric online forums out there – on individual blogs, bulletin boards , on Facebook and LinkedIn , in Twitter streams and Wikis; thousands of Loudouners discussing topics from pizza to economic development. It’s growing consensus that identifying yourself (vs. anonymity) is much more helpful in achieving respect and social prominence on the web – but revealing your “personally identifiable information” (PII) is a two-edged sword. Hopefully, most of us using social media (or any other communication method on the Internet) understand how and why PII should be protected. The spammers, criminal elements and virus distributors don’t need much of it to make your life mis...

Looking for a Northern Virginia Agile/Scrum Master and Jdevelopers for 2-year local gig...ask at http://www.bstonetech.com/ContactCRM.asp For a very high-profile Education-related effort, upgrade of a significant JEE/Oracle-based data collection/ingest/analysis/OLAP/reporting effort.

Last week’s “Meeting the Open Government Directive ” (OGD) conference hosted by GovDelivery (new owners of the popular GovLoop.com public/private social media forum) showcased a number of very important, relevant initiatives and ideas to help Federal Agencies comply with this important White House mandate. The directive comes from a memorandum signed by President Obama on his very first day in office, to all federal agencies directing them to break down barriers to transparency, participation, and collaboration between the federal government and the people it is to serve. Most agencies have already started their compliance initiatives, creating “Open Government” pages (for example at DHS ) to highlight shared data sources and programs, and all agencies are required to present their holistic strategies (i.e. their “Open Government Plan”) by April 7th of this year. Ideas from the public regarding how agencies should approach their Open Government Plans are currently being accepted throu...

Looking for 2010's most promising high-tech (social media included!) ideas and venture capital investing opportunities? In this Southeast US, Washington DC and Northern Virginia region? 2010 is shaping up to be a huge year for investing potential, especially in new media technologies, and the Northern Virginia/Washington DC area is a hotspot for this facet of regional economic development... The upcoming 2010 Southeast Venture Conference will host some of the most dynamic high-growth companies in the Southeast US, Feb 24-25, 2010 at the Ritz Carlton in Tysons Corner, Northern Virginia . The 2010 (4th annual) Southeast Venture Conference SEVC will feature 60 high growth companies presenting their new ideas and opportunities for investment, representing the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic US regions. The expected audience of 700+ VCs, PE Investors, Ibankers, high growth executives and entrepreneurs will make for unparalleled networking among the region’s top technology and investment le...

I’ve been asked from time to time by businesses about how to educate employees on using Social Media – from two perspectives. One perspective is simply as part of a broader Internet use policy, to help employees stay safe and protect information assets. Another perspective is to encourage employees to support their business in their daily online activities, should they choose to do so. This is essentially giving employees as “social media enthusiasts” the tools and guidance they should get, to help them positively contribute to the overall online marketing efforts of their employer. Following is some template guidance that can be used and shared with employees. Let us know how this can be improved or updated. Additional consulting regarding planning and implementing social media programs for businesses and organizations is available via KME Internet Marketing in DC . Use of Personal Social Media to Support ABC (Employer) This non-legal memo contains straightforward, general advice rega...

It remains true that the most valuable aspect of the Business Process Management ( BPM ) discipline is its ability to help an organization govern rather than just manage, but this ability requires a comprehensive view of the technologies and methods that truly make up enterprise class BPM. It also requires real time, collaborative information sharing from both the governance and participant perspectives. Executing to such a view can help deliver IT Governance Process Integration benefits, in real time. Read more here about this Blackstone Technology Group Enterprise BPM Consulting Services Point of View - by Clay Almy , Directory of Enterprise Integration, Blackstone Technology Group.