PMO : Maturity is everything

Implementing a PMO is not a panacea to an organization’s project woes. Instead, it is the maturity of the PMO that makes the difference, according to a new study. As a PMO matures and assumes more responsibility in areas such as portfolio and people management, organizational success metrics improve, elevating the PMO’s value to the organization.

Organizations are increasingly implementing enterprise-wide project/program management offices (PMOs), but at the same time, they are wrestling with newfound challenges, according to a new research report by PM Solutions’ Center for Business Practices (CBP). The State of the PMO 2007-2008 found that 54 percent of respondents said that they have an enterprise-wide PMO in place, up significantly from 35 percent in 2006. In 2000, only 47 percent of respondents had implemented any kind of PMO at all. “The spread and growth of PMOs is a strong indicator that organizations recognize the critical value of successful project management,” said Jim Pennypacker, director of the CBP. “Our research shows, though, that simply implementing a PMO is not enough.

PMOs, like all organisms, need to be nurtured and supported to become effective. A PMO’s value lies in its maturity.”

“As PMOs become more mature, organizational success metrics improve”, he added.

Facts Revealed:

· PMOs have been in place 29 percent longer in high-performing organizations (4.5 years) than in low-performing organizations (3.5 years). High-performing organizations are 30 percent more likely to have steering committees (65 percent) than low-performing organizations (52 percent).

· PMO functions performed significantly more by high-performing organizations include strategy formulation, portfolio risk management, benefits realization analysis, contract preparation, outsourcing, project opportunity process development, resource assignment process development, management of a staff of project planners/controllers and business relationship managers, and resource identification and optimization.

· There is no correlation between project managers reporting to the PMO (as opposed to them just being supported by the PMO) and organizational performance. High-performing organizations have larger PMOs (30 percent more staff) and rely on more specialized roles (they have more staff performing those roles), including mentors (136 % increase), team leads (467 % increase), planners (147 % increase), controllers (116 % increase) and relationship managers (698 % increase).

· PMOs at high-performing organizations are 66 percent more mature than at low performing organizations (average level of maturity is 2.9 vs. 1.7).

In addition to these, we also found that

· Organizations average (median) 31 projects per year. Organizations with a PMO work on more projects per year. PMO budgets range from 0 to $50 million a year (with a median average of $600,000).

· The PMO budget is on average, 1.7 percent of the organization’s budget (median).

· Governance issues top the list of PMO challenges: companies lack the compliance structure to make project management processes consistent throughout the organization, and project leaders still labor under conditions where responsibility and authority are not allied. But as PMOs age and mature, they have fewer challenges and are significantly better at meeting all challenges.

For more information on Research Reports, visit: The Ultimate Renaissance

India Auto Expo 2008

AIMK Zooming Ahead >>> Pt. 2

Every year, Army Institute of Management Kolkata, celebrates it's annual B-School Meet in the form of an event called Inferno. It comprises of not one, not two, but a whole lot of exhilarating, spine-tingling, nail-biting episodes, games and contests. To win prizes there is not an easy task. One needs to display his creative instincts, his vigor, his liveliness, his passion for participating and winning a fortune at INFERNO! In a thriller of a quest, one locks horns with the best students from around the region for conquest of the booty – bags full of exciting prizes.

This absolute event took place this year on 23^rd February at Volleyball ground of AIMK. The various events that were organized include:

• LaunchPad: The team has to launch a new product. The launch must cover all the aspects of a real life launch. Basically, sell your idea.

• Counter Strike: Just Win by defeating your opponents in the world-famous PC game.

• HR Arthashastra: Case Studies.

• Quiz Wiz: Show your knowledge.

• Dress Your Thoughts: Advertisement Special.

• Wealth Guru: How well can you solve your financial issues?

• Trade Master: The virtual(on line) stock trading game.

• Fashion Furore: How fashion-forward are you? (This is the first time such an event has been organized @ Inferno)

Following are some of the colleges which had participated in this Mega Event:

• IIM Calcutta

• NIT Durgapur

• Calcutta University

• IISWBM

• Heritage

• Globsyn Business School

• Techno India

• Indian School of Business

• Bhawanipur College

• IIFT

• IAM

• EIILM

• EIM

Also, this year has seen a whole lot of sponsors, pitching in to have a chance at providing support to the 3^rd Best B-School of Eastern India. The Times of India had been given exclusive coverage rights.

Following are some of the sponsors for the event:

• The Times of India

• Aditya Birla Nuvo

• Red FM

• Lakme

• Loreal

• Amway

• INOX

• Veeyu

• C3

• Kaya Skin Clinic

• ADA

• Trendz

Above are a few snaps of the event. I personally congratulate all the participants, prize winners, and, of course, the brains and the brawns behind this Mega Successful Event.

The Sleeping Beauty

Fallen for this cruel trick
Asleep by the spindle's prick
Here in the candle lit lair
Lies a maiden snow white fair

Curling strands of raven curls
Like a newly black bud unfurls
Every night the rising moon
Knows that she will die soon

No one has a memory to keep
The whole land's fallen asleep
Through the years the castle is worn
Covered by sharp black rose thorns

But beauty, look love showed through
Ur prince charming is coming for u
But look at how pitifully he bleeds
Pain on his flesh it feeds

But then steps in cruel fate
As soon as he reaches the Gate
Attacked by huge ravens and crows
They tear his flesh from his bones

All that's left are bloody lakes
But alas! No one ever wakes
For broken love no one cries
Even when true love dies

Pieces can't be put together
Sleep beauty, sleep forever....

Into the Darkness.............

I'm wandering into the darkness of the night
Wondering about my life, what’s wrong & what’s right
My mind is playing wicked games with me
Am blinded by evil thoughts & so I fail to see
The goodness that was once a part of me

No heaven no hell for me as long as I am in my dream
Coz this reality is the biggest nightmare that I can ever dream
My heart bleeds & my flesh burns in my skin
My pain never dies but it continues to live deep within

I close my eyes but I fail to pray
I can see myself slowly fading away
The sun has set a long time ago
I have gone as far as I had to go

The lightning strikes with ever increasing might
I am still clueless about the strangeness of this night
Wandering in the darkness of night, I am all alone
Am still on the lookout for that something unknown

This darkness will take me away with itself
That’s the only way I can redeem myself
And so I still continue to wander into the darkness of the night
Having now realized that two wrongs can never make a right....

I'm Trapped

Welcome to this world of mine
Welcome to this place where the sun doesn't shine
I'm locked in this cage
I'm fighting my own rage

Slowly and slowly I'm losing my pace
To the world beyond, I am a disgrace
Trapped between these walls
I keep looking at my scars

No gain in this pain
Only the wind and the rain
I wish I could erase myself
Look into my eyes & u will see urself

The pain I carry in me
The blame that's been put on me
What did I do to deserve this life
What did I not do to get this life

There's no day in sight
All that is there is this unending night
I crawl deep into the darkness
Trying to remind me of my lost goodness

Beyond the dark walls is there some hope?
This is something that I will only know
When will I be able to get away from this dark hole!!!
I'm trapped...

AIMK Rockkking and Zoooming Ahead.............

This goes out to all my fellow AIMKians. The time when I joined the college in the MBA-9 Batch, the college didn't have too much of a respectable image among great names like IIMC, XIMB and IISWBM. Then, with the help of many of our seniors, we did a lot of changes. We carried out State-wide events, participated in All-India level Management contests, won prizes in almost all the activities in which we participated.

Those 2 years were the time when we genuinely wanted our college to come to the forefront in line with great institutes like IIM Calcutta, XIM Bhubaneshwar and IISWBM. In other words, we just wanted to make a mark in the Eastern India, if not on the whole India. Thanks to our Students' Council members who had made a mountain look like a pebble. And, the results are quite handsome.

Perhaps none of us had expected such a result in just 2 years of handwork. Kudos to the present batches.

Today, we rank ahead of most of the colleges in Eastern India. Below is an analysis of a recently concluded survey by PTI:

• In terms of Living experience of the students: In this section, AIMK ranks 17^th in the All India level, and is behind only IIMC (Rank: 2^nd) in Eastern India. XIMB ranks 26^th, IISWBM ranks 57^th , and ICFAI Kolkata ranks 71^st.

• In terms of Learning experience of the students: In this section, AIMK ranks 55^th in the All India level. The other colleges in Eastern India rank as follows: ICFAI Kolkata ranks 28^th, IIMC ranks 29^th and IISWBM ranks 54^th.

• In terms of Placement experience: Here, AIMK ranks 64^th in the All-India level, and is behind IIMC (1^st), and IISWBM (24^th); but still beating ICFAI Kolkata, which is at 66^th.

• In terms of Return-On-Investment: AIMK ranks 45^th in the Top 100 B-Schools in India. In this section, IIMC ranks 20^th, IISWBM ranks 54^th , and ICFAI Kolkata, a distant 77^th.

• Overall Rankings: And here comes the ultimate rankings for the year 2008. AIMK ranks 44^th in the Top 100. Some of the other colleges in the Eastern Region in the Top 100 are: IIMC (2^nd), XIM Bhubaneshwar (14^th), and IISWBM (34^th).

But, don't lose heart, guys. At least, we have entered the Top 100 in this survey, and even the Top 50, Top 20 and even Top 15 in certain other surveys. Other colleges in Eastern Region have jumped ahead of AIMK only due to their high number of Foreign Placements. Now, it is the right time to tell the world: "Get out of the way - We are here to stay". HOWZ THE JOSH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Grasp of Death

I was racing ahead to meet life
When death stepped in to take me aside
In journey mid, I made a switch
On death I tried to hike a hitch

I asked no questions, I looked for no answers
Death is no mystery for me, we are lovers
I have sought hard for its cold embrace
Yet, when it arrives, it brings no grace

Stare away into an incandescent light
The sight leads to a darkness that's bright
On the mind's cornea, it leaves a blemish
A thin, obscure, dull, sepia finish.

I felt the dense, dark blackness encircle me
The blood tasted iron as it rushed away from me
Putrefying, rotting, beastly, brutal stink
That's how the smell of fear and death link

I do not know if this is what I wanted
It left me weak, helpless down to the count
Fear, Death ethereal so primal
My soul, surreal refused to die like an animal

Shrieking silently, rumbling deeply it erupts
From the far reaches of my mind, death it disrupts
Death clammy squeeze to love's warm clasp
Battered, bruised my soul, pushes me away from death's grasp

Breath scrambles and rushes in a gush
Bright red colors explode, my mind espy in a rush
I have broken the spell of death in its maze
I know, 'have repelled this with my life's love and grace.......

Top 7 Bikes of the Millenium

7. Aprillia RSV 1000R Mille

Engine : 998 cc, Power : 143 bhp, Max Speed : 281 kmph

6. Yamaha YZF R1

Engine : 1000 cc, Max Speed : 283 kmph

5. Honda CBR 1100XX Super Black Bird

Max Speed : 286 kmph

4. MV Augusta F4 1000R

Engine : 1000cc, Power : 174 bhp, Max Speed : 299 kmph

3. Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14

0-100 kmph in 2.4 secs, Max Speed : 302 kmph

2. Suzuki Hayabusa GSX 1300R

Engine : 1299cc, Power : 175 bhp, Max Speed : 305 kmph

And here comes the BEST OF THE LOT :::::::::::::

1. MTT Turbine Superbike Y2K

Power : 320 bhp, Max Speed : 365 kmph, Price : $150,000

Data Storage : The Next Generation

All data storage in modern times are done on disc, be it a computer hard drive or a CD-R disc. Blu-ray and HD-DVD have upped the ante when it comes to the amount of data that you can hold on a disc, but at some time they will eventually become obsolete. Right now our data storage needs are currently met, but as the amount of data available continues to rise, storage technology must evolve with it. The next generation of storage technology is going to be Holographic Data Storage.

What is holographic storage?

With CD-R and DVD-R technology, data is stored on the surface of the disc as distinct magnetic or optical changes. With holographic data storage, an entire page of information is stored at once as an optical interference pattern within a thick, photosensitive optical material.

How do they do this?

This is done by intersecting two coherent laser beams, the object and reference beams, within the storage material. The object beam contains all the information needing to be stored, while the reference beam is designed to be simple to produce. The resulting interference between the beams causes chemical and/or physical changes in the photosensitive medium that the data is being stored on. Basically “burning” the information to the storage medium, this mark is called the grating. When the grating is illuminated by one of the two waves that were used to record the information, the light is refracted in a way that the other wave is reconstructed. These gratings can be stacked or superimposed in the same thick piece of media, as long as there is a distinguishing spacing or direction, allowing the stacked bits of data to be accessed independently. In addition to larger storage capabilities, holographic storage also boasts to accelerate data transfer rates to about one billion bits per second and reduce access times to just tens of microseconds.

The benefits:

1. Larger storage capacity – Some companies are developing a technology that enables the storage of between 100GB and 1TB of data. Compare this to Blu-ray and HD-DVD, which max out at 50GB. Amazing leap in the amount of data you can store on one piece of media.

2. Accelerated data transfer – The holographic data storage medium in the works boasts data transmission speeds of 100Mbps to 1Gbps. The new HD-DVD and Blu-ray discs clock in at 36.55Mbps, which is only a fraction of the holographic data storage transfer rate.

Well, if you’re like me, you learned quite a bit about a new technology from this short article. This new technology is quite a ways off from being accessible to the common consumer, but some companies are in the process of developing holographic data storage for the corporate sector. Technology is a strange beast, always changing, always mutating. The sky is the limit, and only time will tell where we’ll be headed after the rise and fall of this yet-to-be-seen data technology.

Unsolicited Thoughts

Muted by the mind,
Numbed by the heart,
Frozen by the body,
I breathe in the warmth of your love.

Silenced by thoughts,
Distanced by sealed lips.
Melted by the flow of tears,
Salt is now tasting sweet,
Thanx for wiping away my fears.

In silent moments, at times together,
Or just moments to feel each other.
I know u r not gone, but neither are u here,
These principles of silence and estrangement, we defer.

For how long, how far, shall we adhere?
I don't ask anymore, knowing u r with me,
I know I've lost you, whenever I take your name,
I know things and I have changed, and it's just not the same.

The Memories Remain

Remembering my classmates after a few years,
My eyes were filled with tears.
Everyone now is busy a lot,
No one escaped destiny's plot.

Saw the girl, whom once I thought was my best friend,
Oops! Today she's someone else's girlfriend.
After all these years,
Remembered her for a while.
Heard she is happy,
That made me smile.

Project reviews to campus interviews,
Nicknames to last-bench games,
Cultural rehearsals to love proposals,
Short-term crushes to classroom blushes,
Everything is fresh in our mind.
Hope time could just rewind.
Let's laugh, play and rejoice
Once again become college guys.

Chatting and laughing, we all were in elation
Till the painful, moment of separation.
When it was the time to part,
We all returned with a heavy heart.

Today, life is full of commitments
And too many worries,
But those cherished moments
Will live forever in our memories!!!

Me without You

This poem is dedicated to a very dear friend of mine, who had passed away 9 years ago on this very day.

My Life changed, the very moment I found out
That you had passed away.
I couldn't stop it; there was nothing I could say.
You've touched my life so deeply to a point you will never know,
I try to think about you when I feel down and low.

Sometimes when my day gets hard
I think about your beautiful smile
and if I listen hard enough, I hear your voice after a while.

It's you who give me a reason to go on with my day,
and now if I want to see you, I'll bow my head and pray.

I catch myself looking for you still, in the halls and at your front door,
but when I call out your name I cant find no reply anymore!
I never thought a day would come where we would be apart,
God has you in his keeping, and, I have you, in my heart..

Life will go on, but will never be the same,
u r gone, but ur smile will always remain.
You're my angel from up above.
You'll always be missed, but most importantly... loved.

Just one more minute, God, is all I ask- why can't you give her back;
It seems to me like it's such a simple task.
I guess people are right when they say God only takes the best,
I know it now that you're peacefully at rest.

I'm always thinking about that short time we had to spend,
You'll always be with me; you'll always be my LOVE!
No time would be long enough to spend with you,
And what am I gonna do without u here....... I got no clue

I know you're gone now, but will never be left out;
I will never forget you - in that there is no doubt.
Although you're in a new place

I'll always remember you,

And remember your grace.

There are times I swear I know you're here;
I can feel you so near, yet, you're so far away!
I can't wait until that one sweet day
Where I can talk to you in our own way!

You had brightened my day with a little wave and a smile!
There is so much more I can say,
But right now I will say, "See you in the afterlife
Wherein the heaven, we will finally play.”

In dreams and hope, I will see you again,
I know right now you're looking down on me
With a tear in your eyes thinking about that horrible day
When you were forced to say good-bye.

The Final Moment

I remember a time, when I took part in a race
When I got nervous, seeing the audience, face to face

I had practised a lot, and it was not a fake
But my fear-inflicted heart asked, what if others overtake

Then the moment came, and the race was about to start
I cud feel my nerves and the beats of my heart

The shot was fired, and I leaped towards the rope
I gave it all I had, and I was full of hope

The power that I pushed in, and the pain I had had
Soon proved out to be useless, and I became sad

In the final 2 meters, 3 runners overtook me
Failure was everywhere, as far as I could see

I was disappointed, I got no medal, no fame
And then I realized,
It doesn't matter whether you win or lose
What matters is, that you played the GAME.

It's all coming back to me

Its all coming back to me
The way it was before
This pain is so intense
You can't feel it anymore

It becomes your second nature
It becomes a part of life
There no longer seem to exist
The meaning of suffering and strife

You know that they use you
You suffer each night and day
For the shoulder you always needed
The price you agreed to pay

It tears you from the inside
It cuts you down and deep
Buried under heaps of sorrow
You're denied of a peaceful sleep

Life's full of wasted old feelings
Put into prose and verse
But when the doomsday comes
Please get me a new hearse.

5 Stages of Drunkenness

Stage #1 -- Smart

This is when you suddenly become an expert on every subject. You know all and greatly wish to express this knowledge to anyone who will listen. At this stage you are also always right. And of course the person you are talking with is very wrong. You will talk for hours trying to convince someone that you are right. This makes for an interesting argument when both parties are "smart".

Stage #2 -- Handsome/Pretty

This is when you are convinced that you are the best looking person in the entire room and everyone is looking at you. You begin to wink at perfect strangers and ask them to dance because of course they had been admiring you the whole evening. You are the center of attention, and all eyes are directed at you because you are the most beautiful thing on the face of the earth.

Stage #3 -- Rich

This is when you suddenly become the richest person in the world. You can buy drinks for the entire bar and put it on your bill because you surely have an armored truck full of your money parked behind the bar. You can also make bets in this stage. Now of course you still know all, so you will always win all your bets.

Stage #4 -- Bulletproof

You can now pick fights with the people you have been betting money with because you cannot be hurt by anything. At this point you would go up to the boyfriend of the woman who had been admiring your beautiful self all evening and challenge him to a battle of wits for money.

Stage #5 -- Invisible

This is the final stage of drunkenness. At this point you can do absolutely anything because no one can see you. You can get up and dance on a table; you can strip down to your underwear, to impress the people who have been admiring you all evening, because the rest of the peoplein the room cannot see you. All your social inhibitions are gone. You can do anything, because no one will know.And you certainly won't remember !

I await you still.......

Blushing in the gay weather,
The flowers await the bee still.

Dressed in red and ready to go,
The girl awaits the boy still.

Thinking about him and cooking,
The mother awaits her child still.

Calling me again and again,
The success awaits me still.

There are even friends awaiting me,
And awaiting me is passion and thrill.

But I’ll let them waiting for ever,
Because in my heart I await you still.

Mr. Fixer

Nilesh Ganjwala isn’t a ‘fixer’ in a conventional sense. He doesn’t fix corporate deals, or cricket matches. And no, he doesn’t fix damaged water pipes or power lines either. His business card says he is CEO of Innergise Solutions, a business consulting company in the Worli sea face area of Mumbai. So, he fixes error-laden accounts books, tax problems, etc. Right?

Wrong. Ganjwala, a chartered accountant, actually fixes falling SMEs (small and medium enterprises), and brings them back from the brink of extinction. “Large companies have a smooth pattern with their numbers, which are never a challenge,” he says. “It is wonderful to work with small companies.”

BSVL ran up losses of Rs 9 crore in 1994. Thanks to Ganjwala, it was soon back in the black. In 2005-06, it notched up a net profit of Rs 6.47 crore. Ganjwala starts off by scrutinising a company’s financial statements. Once he detects some leaks, he makes factory visits to pin down their exact nature. Then follows the first big milestone. He says, “The first step to victory is to get the conservative entrepreneur to agree that he has gone wrong.” That isn’t easy. Typically, owners of small companies get emotional about changes, and take a lot of convincing. But the soft-spoken and reticent Ganjwala, who is extremely popular on the SME circuit, can be quite a toughie. “He doesn’t bluff,” says BSVL’s Daftary. Once the owner is convinced, Ganjwala channels resources (cash, loans, people) in the right direction.

As a 16-year-old, though, Ganjwala wanted to be a “financial expert who helped large firms go global”. But with time, he realised that he was “drawn to entrepreneurs with interesting ideas”. While he’s a numbers whiz, Ganjwala has shown the ability to go beyond numbers as well, to the extent of even providing strategic inputs. In 1984, Zenith, which made tin sheets and cans, was hit by a crippling labour strike. Then, “the larger OEMs moved into plastic cans for products such as paints, chocolates, oils and medicines,” says Alihussain S. Barodawala, director, Zenith Tins, in Mumbai. Within a year, the company ran up losses of Rs 35 crore. Ganjwala reduced Zenith’s workforce from 2,700 to 500 through a voluntary retirement scheme. After 15 years, it now makes a steady profit of Rs 6 crore-7 crore. In a way, his first challenge probably was the toughest. “It took them 20 years to come back. But I am glad I was with them all through,” he says.

Of course, he also has a life beyond reviving dying SMEs. Every four months, he takes off for 10 days either to England or Goa with his wife Rupa and daughter Niti. Even today, large corporates offer him global positions, but he is not interested. “It is the best time to be in the SME segment. Large firms are not growing more than 30 per cent, but SMEs are,” he says.

Now I am leaving it all behind............

Eyes are numb…
With tears dried…
Shows the way…
I must have howled and cried…
So now am leaving it all behind…

Trusted you…
Loved you…
Even after all this…
Waited for you…
But now am leaving it all behind…

All the memories…
All the pain…
I’ve lost everything…
Nothing to gain…
So now am leaving it all behind…

All you gave me was smiles…
Tears were very few…
But now I will have to go…
Won’t be able to live without you…
But now am leaving it all behind…

Your care…
your concern…
Your possessiveness…
your aggression…
Your hugs…
your kisses…
Your love & your memories…

Now am leaving it all behind…

What If.............

What if I say
That I love you,
Will you smile to me,
Like you always do…….?

What if I tell you,
That I didn’t sleep last night.
Will you take me in your arms
And hug me tight?

What if I say it,
While looking into your eyes
Will you believe me then?
Or would you consider them lies?

What if I tell you,
Your smile is like moonshine.
For you I shall bring down the stars,
If only, you could be mine……….

What if I tell you,
I miss you more than ever.
Will you believe in me
And wait for me forever!!!!