Journyx Project Management Blog

Compliance burdens posed by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act are proving to be costly for many IT departments, according to Gartner Inc. But companies may be better equipped to meet any new federal regulations thanks to the processes they have developed for complying with the law, IT executives said here last week.

Gartner estimates that the government’s Sarbanes-Oxley mandates have led to an average increase of 3.3% in corporate IT costs. The financial reporting law has spurred increased spending in areas such as records management and security, as well as purchases of new tools needed to ensure the accuracy of financial data, the firm says.

Read more at:
http://www.computerworld.com/managementtopics/management/project/story/0,10801,105636,00.html

Consider the rumors confirmed. Journyx is moving offices this week, November 28th through December 2nd. And while we promise not to let the gold-plated fixtures in the swanky new restrooms go to our heads, we did think our readers should know that the moving process might cause a few minor delays in our response times for this week only.

So if you’re trying to get in touch with our highly-trained support ninjas or our ace sales team and they’re not back to you in the lightning fast manner to which you have become accustomed, fear not. Journyx still loves you and we’ll get back to you just as soon as we set our boxes down.

We’re confident that things will be completely back to normal by Monday, December 5th at the latest. Oh, and you ASP customers can rest easy - this move will not result in any interruptions in your hosted Timesheet installations.

Thanks for your patience and understanding.

Whether you’re currently using Timesheet or are still thinking about investing in Journyx, seeing how we’ve been able to help other customers can inspire you to look at your business in new ways. “But how can I see what Journyx has done for other customers?” you ask. Simple, my friend. It’s as easy as falling off of a log. Or clicking a link, which is the new falling off of a log. So, without further ado, let us introduce you to the Journyx Case Study Archive. Here you’ll find an ever-growing number of case studies that give you invaluable insight into the magic that Journyx can work.

Browse the case study archive at: http://journyx.com/rss/press/index.html#cases

No, I’m not a “flower child.” This is not a “blast from the past.” While I did grow up in the ’70s and wore flowers in my hair, I am not suggesting we go back there. What I am suggesting, however, is that we, as leaders of corporate America, recognize the power of our most valuable asset: our people.

We are living in a knowledge economy. A paradigm shift has occurred. The majority of our workers have moved from concrete tasks of “making things” to more abstract work based on “thinking problems through and designing solutions.” The “make and sell” model of the industrial age has turned into an “information and service age model.” This model emphasizes relationships and intellectual assets rather than the so-called “hard” assets of the Industrial Age.

More for your consideration at: http://www.journyx.com/rss/redir/cpo-power2people.html

When the Internet burst upon the scene in the early 1990’s, the concept of software as a service (SAAS) seemed an idea whose time had come. It got hyped along with everything else about the internet and reached a massive peak of inflated expectations in early 2000 as venture capitalists funded dozens of nearly identical companies that provided various SAAS solutions. As venture funding dried up in mid 2000, the cracks in the SAAS model began to appear. The business plans assumed zero customer attrition, an uncompetitive landscape and IPO’s in the absence of revenue. Disillusionment set in and 99 percent of those companies are no longer around. However, the strong did survive, and now, due to the success of companies like Salesforce.com and Rightnow.com, SAAS is back.

Analysts claim that by 2010, 30 percent of new software will be delivered via an SAAS model.

Variously termed “on-demand software”, the “ASP” model, or “hosted software”, SAAS is where you rent web-based software hosted at the provider’s site. For many companies large and small, SAAS is the best way to rollout new technology. SAAS has now proven itself and is here to stay.

At your service at: http://www.journyx.com/0511nl/rss/wpn-saas.html

The Standish Group, which has been surveying the IT project landscape since 1994, reported in 2004 that “only 28% of IT projects succeed these days, down from 34% a year or two ago.” They went on to say that complete failures - IT projects cancelled before completion - are up to 18% from 15%. And the remaining 51% of IT projects are “challenged”: seriously late, over budget, and lacking expected features.

How is your organization doing on the project management front? Use this questionnaire, developed by Kepner Tregoe, to rate its performance in each of the following 10 key project management areas…

Make the grade at: http://www.journyx.com/rss/redir/ptimes-pmiq.html

• How can I create a new user or project using a template or another user’s/project’s settings?
• What options does Timesheet offer for making prior period corrections to approved sheets?

Get these great tips and more at: http://www.journyx.com/rss/support/tips/

A proud, pinstriped and preening executive strides into the conference room for a project manager’s status report. The executive feels a deep suspicion of PMs and their methods from half-remembered status reports in the past, but shrugs it off and enters the meeting. Twenty minutes later, a shrunken, wrinkled dimwit emerges from the status meeting and wanders the halls in search of his/her office. What’s happened to this dynamic project executive?

Download the PDF and find out at: http://www.4pm.com/articles/pmtalk5-15-00.pdf

A study released in mid September found that organizations with a process for aligning projects with strategy and leveraging program management offices (PMOs) experience greater success in projects coming in on time and on budget. These findings are results of a survey conducted by Robbins-Gioia, a program management services provider. A survey of 100 senior IT executives revealed an additional importance in executive interaction among chief information officers (CIOs), chief financial officers (CFOs), and chief operating officers (COOs) in project and business management success.

According to the study, CIO, CFO, and COO interaction at organizations leads to increased project success. Of those respondents who indicated that their senior-level executives interact on a daily basis, 62 percent felt that their projects always or often come in on time and on budget. Of those people who identified with managing projects successfully in their organizations, 63 percent had a PMO in place and a process for aligning projects with strategy.

Read more at: http://www.chiefprojectofficer.com/article/149

The International Association of Outsourcing Professionals (IAOP) has released a code of ethics and a set of business-practice standards that are designed to help companies improve their processes for awarding and managing outsourcing contracts.

The standards apply to IT deals as well as other forms of outsourcing. One of the people involved in the effort was Cynthia Kearney, vice president of global pharmaceutical R&D sourcing and supplier management at Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development LLC in Raritan, N.J. Kearney said the guidelines, which were issued Sept. 26, will give the parties in an outsourcing agreement a common business framework.

Read more at:
http://www.computerworld.com/managementtopics/management/project/story/0,10801,105415,00.html