Jul17The Global State of the PMO (Survey)Posted at 08:53 in Dubai, Leadership, My Work, Project Management, Risk Management

In March 2011, ESI International conducted a Global PMO Survey: The Global State of the PMO: Its Value, Effectiveness and Role as the Hub of Training. Some of the key findings of this survey were highlighted in a recent seminar I attended in Dubai (Risk Management Practices for Establishing and/or Sustaining a Project Management Office by Raed Hadddad):

• There is a paradigm shift from PMO Maturity to PMO Value and benefits realization
• There is a general struggle in measuring the PMO effectiveness, and in defining the appropriate metrics for this measurement
• The PMO sometimes acts as a hub of project management training, but does not measure the impact of this training in effective performance
• Most of the PMOs operate more at a tactical level and are not involved in portfolio management or benefits realization

All those topics and more will be covered during PMI's 2011 PMO Symposium in Orlando in November. If you are interested in getting more out of your PMO, make sure you do join.

Mar19PMI UAE Chapter is underwayPosted at 06:05 in Dubai, Networking, Project Management

PMI has officially announced the launch of a potential United Arab Emirates Chapter (as a spin off from the Arabian Gulf Chapter, who's serving the community for nearly two decades). This new Chapter will focus on enhancing the member experience and on supporting practitioners entering and advancing in the profession within the UAE. Beginning today, you may join the potential PMI UAE Chapter at no additional cost, and be a part of this adventure from the beginning.

This is an important milestone for the profession in the region, especially after 2007's rejection from PMI. I have witnessed the establishment of a potential Chapter in Czech Republic, and I'm glad to see this happening while I'm based here in the UAE.

Feb08Datacenter technologies & virtualizationPosted at 07:54 in Dubai, Web/Tech

Last week, I attended the SNIA (Storage & Network Industry Association) Storage Academy focused this year on Datacenter technologies, Green & virtualization.

I was absolutely stunned by the first presentation from Dr. Evangelos S Eleftheriou (IBM Fellow & Manager Storage Technologies, IBM Research) on the trends for storage. Although the intellectual level was extremely high (electrons density and such), the delivery was perfect and he made it accessible to all of us, regardless of our backgrounds.

The second presentation from Juergen Arnold (SNIA chair) on Green Storage was also very interesting, and to say the least, a wake-up call. Datacenters use a lot of energy, and there are ways to reduce that footprint by implementing best practices (lower cost) or implementing green technologies (higher cost). The SNIA features 117 best practice in their GSI (Green Storage Initiative), that any datacenter operator should read. We all have a role to play in making this a better place, and reducing the energy consumption in datacenters will have a dramatic impact, given the skyrocketing needs for storage and bandwidth (youtube, emails, file sharing, etc).

The rest of the day was a bit more casual, but I enjoyed the Madinat Jumeirah a lot (it was actually my first time there) and its seaview.

Jan12Trip to KalbaPosted at 17:05 in Dubai, Mustang

On Friday, the Emirates Mustang Club organized a trip to visit the mountains of Kalba. We gathered 29 Mustangs (including 3 Shelbys) for an extraordinary ride on a great road (Hatta Road, through Sharjah, up in the mountains, almost to the coast of Fujairah, and back). Our photographer posted a couple of very nice pictures on Picasa. Most of the guys then joined the Dubai Autodrome to watch the Toyo 24h race, where the belgium team VDS Racing invited them on the pit to watch their Mustang FR 500S.

Nov20New speed cameras in DubaiPosted at 14:59 in Dubai

There is a new road tracking system on Dubai Roads. These are not just nicer looking radar cameras - they are a lot more lethal, so be careful. First thing is that these cameras do NOT flash. They can take photos in complete darkness through ultra-light sensors, so even if it does not flash, it could have caught you. They also automatically read your number plate from the picture taken.

Now, comes the thing that catches most people. These cameras are continuous High-resolution digital photo-taking cameras and they will take your photo regardless if you have been speeding or not. Then the next camera in 3-5 kms again does the same. Now, instead of checking your speed through advanced radars, these cameras are very simple and all they do is calculate how fast you traveled between the 2 cameras. If you arrived at the next camera faster than 120 km/h (or whatever the speed limit is) then you get fined.

It means that you can stop speeding up between cameras and slowing down as it does not matter anymore. If you are speeding in between 2 cameras you will get fined. Furthermore, don't be fooled by no flash flashing that the camera is not working. Anyone not knowing this, should check out their fines and see if they got anything lately. You can check it here: www.dubaipolice.gov.ae.

Nov11No TitlePosted at 09:47 in Dubai

Nov05One more landmark in DubaiPosted at 14:50 in Dubai, My Work

There is a new landmark in Dubai, as you can tell if you drive on Al Ain Road, just before the Outlet Mall.

Oct20IBM CIO Conference 2008Posted at 16:25 in Dubai, Project Management

Yesterday, I attended the CIO Conference 2008 from IBM at the Atlantis Hotel on the Palm Jumeirah. Key Senior Executives of IBM and other Senior Industry Leaders from Banking, Telecommunications and Public Sector presented on the trends for tomorrow's enterprise. IBM is conducting every two years a CEO Study shedding light on what the future may hold. Through interviews with 1'130 business and public sector leaders worldwide in 45 countries, they provide new and compelling perspectives on strategic issues. The tagline of this conference was "Design for people, Build for change" and the content of it was as great as the venue.

Sep30Eid MubarakPosted at 09:31 in Dubai

The Eid ul Fitr marks the end of Ramadaan, and so symbolizes the breaking of the fasting period. Eid Mubarak to all my muslim colleagues and friends.

Sep01Ramadan KareemPosted at 10:42 in Dubai

The Holy Month of Ramadan unites all Muslims in fasting, worship and prayer. It is a time for contemplation, spirituality and brotherhood, and I wish all my Muslim colleagues and friends Ramadan Kareem !