Integration - The Journey and the Destination
Nature creates nothing without a purpose.Your consultant is proposing some really "cool" hardware. Your IT department is cranking out some really "neat" subroutines. Your marketing department has over promised and pitched your idea to accounts that are now lining up at your door. Meanwhile, accounting reminds you of the bottom line. And you need to deliver.
In a universe of finite resources, when the world of "this is really cool" meets the world of "this is what I actually need", the difference between success and failure is integration. It's not just a matter of getting your mainframe to talk to your PC. It's a matter of getting your resources to fit not only in ways that you'd expect, but more importantly, in ways you never thought of.
Experience - The Difference
Necessity teaches wisdom even to the stupid.I've always been wary of people touting themselves as experts in their field. I get the impression that either the field is too narrow in its scope, or the expert is too narrow in his/her vision. Now, more than ever, successful implementation and support depends not just in the proficiency of a programming language, the installation of a piece of hardware, or the use of a particular piece of software. It depends on an individual's ability to draw from experience, understand the needs of the client, and match resources to the demands of the task at hand.
Moore's law states that the number of transistors that can be placed on an integrated circuit doubles about every two years. Measure that over the past three decades, and that's a lot of processor improvement! What hasn't changed is a company's need to provide the best possible service to its customer. Take the same duration - three decades worth of experience dealing with the information management needs of small businesses and public corporations. It's afforded me a toolbox full of proven techniques and solutions. Holding a hammer is one thing. Wielding it effectively is quite another.
Details, Details
Many drops make up the rain.Early on in my career I was praised for my programming skills, and ribbed for my missing pocket protector. No matter, though. Computer programming taught me the importance of paying attention to details. It's hard not to when a misplaced comma or an errant period can bring a program to a crashing halt. And it's a lesson that's served me well from needs analysis to implementation.
Incompetence has a very short shelf life. Sloppiness, on the other hand, can linger on for quite awhile. It can masquerade as the norm, until inefficiencies become intolerable, and clean up is requested on aisle 20. It can be argued that when it really comes down to it, the devil isn't in the details...experience, knowledge and God are.