Professional Skills

Why IT Pros Need Soft Skills to Compete in 2016

April 26, 2016 Ed Tittel Cisco, Cloudera, Featured, Professional Development, Project Management, Routing & Switching, Technology, Training in Business

IT professionals are always in something of a balancing act in the workplace. On the one hand, they need to foster and cultivate skills in tools, technologies and platforms that let them do their jobs. On the other hand, they need to be able to communicate with others, both verbally and in writing, about what they’re doing. They might even need to be able to package and present their ideas or plans in presentation form, to convince management or backers to invest in their vision. They must also be able to organize their work assignments, juggle priorities, understand or work with budgets, and see their abilities and IT’s capabilities in light of what their organization seeks to accomplish.

Building the Next Generation of Cyber Professionals

October 30, 2015 James Michael Stewart Cisco, Cloudera, Featured, Professional Development, Project Management, Routing & Switching, Technology, Training in Business

New technologies lead to new products, which lead to a need for more cybersecurity professionals. It’s an ongoing cycle. Future security professionals will need to focus on some key concepts in order to be knowledgeable and equipped to handle the stability and security issues of tomorrow’s technology.

So Many Projects, So Little Coordination: The Value of a PMO

October 8, 2015 Dan Stober Cisco, Cloudera, Featured, Professional Development, Project Management, project management training, Routing & Switching, Technology, Training in Business

I talked with a project manager the other day who told me that she had more than 100 active projects that she was responsible for planning, monitoring and controlling. Interestingly, she had absolutely zero input during the initiating phase. Across her organization, people were submitting projects without regard to capacity, budget, resources, or any real review process. The projects she ends up with have been approved by a functional manager who has no visibility into organizational work capacity.

A Step-by-Step Approach to Developing Leaders

September 10, 2015 Michelle Moore Cisco, Cloudera, Featured, Professional Development, Project Management, Routing & Switching, Technology, Training in Business

There is no question that leadership development remains a top priority for many organizations. As we continue to prepare for the retirement of baby boomers, learning and development (L&D) professionals continue to focus on identifying and growing tomorrow’s leaders. Organizations rank developing leaders as one of their most critical issues, according to Deloitte’s Global Human Capital Trends 2015 report. Eighty-six percent of all surveyed HR and business leaders cite leadership as one of their most important challenges and feel they are actually falling behind in this important activity.

The Art and Science of Consulting

September 3, 2015 Michelle Moore Cisco, Cloudera, Featured, Professional Development, Project Management, Routing & Switching, Technology, Training in Business

There is no question that client expectations and needs are changing. Internal and external clients are demanding more customized solutions that deliver more business value. They also expect projects to be executed more quickly than ever before. As a consultant required to recommend client solutions, you must be able to properly understand the client’s needs, which may be poorly defined – especially where innovation is involved. You must also be able to assess the client’s situation and recommend a solution that meets increasingly demanding expectations.