Ted Hardy

What's in Your Blog Reader?

This post originally appeared on BetterProjects.net on March 9, 2010. One of my favorite things about the Internet is how so many random pieces of information can converge upon my life. My web browser is the window through which I view most information that comes my way. I’d

Week 1 lessons from Mr. Tate

Some of you (ok, all 3 of you) who follow my blog have probably been wondering why the heck haven’t I posted anything about having a kid? One of you, who is probably my wife, has thought the same thing during those long hours called ‘nursing’ that have been

Upgrading Your Skills

This article was originally posted on the BetterProjects.net blog on March 1, 2010. One of the things that I really love about most technology is how relatively easy it is to upgrade it. A little searching online for the correct part, loosening a few screws, swapping out a few

One Star Reviews

This post originally appeared on BetterProjects.net on February 24, 2010. One of my favorite writers and all around commentators on life, John Scalzi, just did an interesting thing over at his blog, Whatever. You see, Scalzi has been nominated for two Nebula awards this year, but as he is

Driving in Inclement Project Weather

This article was original posted on BetterProjects.net on February 22, 2010. Some mornings you just wonder why you even get out of bed. A recent morning was no exception as my usual 45 minute commute stretched out to 1:45 minutes due to snow and ice. During those brief

Planning your BA Succession

This post originally appeared on MondernAnalyst.com on January 19, 2010. If you’ve ever been a manager or above in a corporation, you’ve probably been exposed to the concept of Succession Planning. The basic idea is that all managers should have some idea of who is willing and

Project Accounting and Development Methodologies

This post originally appeared on the BetterProjects.net blog on February 15, 2010. While reading one of Craig’s recent posts, I couldn’t help but think about how differently labor has been accounted for on the different projects I’ve been involved with over my career.  Line items such

Filtering your work life

This blog was originally posted to BetterProjects.net on February 5, 2010. The video below has a running time of 26 minutes and is incredibly fascinating. I can normally watch about 2-3 minutes of a video before boredom sets in, yet this one hooked me and held me all the

Observations while Flying

This post was originally written on December 26, 2009 on a late night flight from Atlanta to Cincinnati and was originally posted on my IIBA Community blog on January 30, 2010. Outside my window, the temperature is currently well below freezing, but the sudden drop of 34k feet is what

Google

iPad... who stands to lose the most if Apple wins

I promise this will be nothing like my previous, rambling post about the iPad. In fact, I plan on keeping it short and sweet simply because what just occurred to me should be really obvious to you once I state it. I’ve argued, as have many others, that the

Google

BAs learning from other companies: Google, part 2

This article was originally posted to BetterProjects.net on January 28, 2010. This is the second part in a two part post. Check out part 1 before reading this post. Do a small number of things very well When we think of Google, we think of them as a search

Google

BAs learning from other companies: Google, part 1

This post originally appeared on BetterProjects.net on January 27, 2010.This is the first part of a two part article, focusing on how BAs (and really any person who is involved in a project), could learn from some of the practices of different companies. This is the first in

State of the iUnion Steve-note

(Yes, I’m rambling. I know it. Its occasionally how I get thoughts out. If you’re not ready to chase a few rabbits in this post, probably best you just move along somewhere else.) No, this is not a political debate, not unless you’re ready to see me

Google Wave and the BA, part 2

This article was originally published on BetterProjects.net on January 20, 2010. If you haven’t yet checked out part 1 of this series, please do so now.  We’re in the middle of a discussion about potential Google Wave use cases.  Here’s the second: Collaborative Selling * A sales

Google Wave and the BA, part 1

This blog was originally published on BetterProjects.net on January 19, 2010. This is the first in a two part series on how Google Wave might be of benefit to BAs in the future. This part is an overview of Wave and one scenario on how Wave might be useful

The Business Analyst and Microsoft Project

This blog was originally posted on my IIBA community blog on January 7, 2010. Did no one at Microsoft consult a BA when they were creating the application Project? That sounds like an inflammatory and possibly even sarcastic statement, but if you’re like me, a BA who spends some

Business Analyst tools stink, part 2

This blog was originally posted to the BetterProjects.net blog on January 13, 2010. This is part 2 of a 2 part series on the state of BA tools. Be sure to check out part 1 before reading this entry. Productivity Suite Landscaping The typical office productivity suite has a

Business Analyst tools stink, part 1

This post originally appeared in the BetterProjects.net blog on January 12, 2010. Ted Hardy, MBA, CBAP, is starting his ninth year as a BA and his third as a BA manager. He has worked around the globe for companies and clients in the high tech, finance and service industries.

Google and China, a love... er, frustration story

Unless you’ve been living under one of those proverbial rocks, you’ve probably heard that Google is a bit miffed with the Chinese right now. Well, more specifically, elements within the country, likely covertly employed by the communist government, who have been attempting to hack into Google’s systems.

Social Media and You! (Toastmasters speech 7)

Facebook. Youtube. MySpace. Twitter. Hulu. Digg. Delicio.us. Wikipedia. You’ve probably heard of at least some of the previous websites, even if you don’t really know what each of them does. More than likely you’ve seen them referenced on a news show or on another website. Depending

Its like I'm on the Price is Right...

Yes, I am now the proud owner of a new-to-me car! http://picasaweb.google.com/fomu65/2006HondaCivicHybrid# last tuesday, during all the heavy rain, my camry’s windshield sprung a leak and i still had standing water in my passenger side floorboards a day later. that, added to the fact

Gestures, Toastmaster's Speech 5

This speech is intended to focus on the gestures made by the speaker. Whenever you see something in double-parenthesis, this indicates a hand gesture that I will be making during the speech. I place this caveat here, otherwise the speech will be only amusing and not absolutely hilarious like the

Music for the Road

Back in early May, my house became the gathering place for a very special day. It had been more than 10 years since my good friend, Curtis Brown, passed away. For those of us who knew this incredibly special guy, it was a day of remembrance, laughter and much joy.

I'm not sure what this says...

So, first up, take a look at this video. Now, think about what you just saw and tell me that something just doesn’t look a wee bit out of place in it. Was I the only person to notice that the only white people in the entire clip were

Toastmaster's speech #4 - Magician

Sorcerer. Wizard. Warlock. Enchanter. Mage. Magus. Magician. IT worker. Ok, so at first you’re thinking… “um, did you kind of get that list a little mixed up? Its like you’re playing one of those ‘which one of these is not like the other’ games.” You may be right,