In the year after I left Microsoft, I spent time vacillating as to whether a freelance way of working or a traditional full-time role was my better option. As the work failed to come in during that first year, I veered towards the latter and got to the final two for a CTO role. I … Continue reading Shifting gears
Category: Management
On Friday, for the first time in over six years, I will be walking through the doors of an organisation as an employee. At the end of this week, I become Richmond Housing Partnership's Head of Technology and Transformation. Over the past few years, I've become increasingly interested in how homes are provided in the … Continue reading A new direction
I was a part of a fascinating thread of conversation on Twitter last night about the challenges of delivering technology within organisations, particularly those with legacy and those that are big and/or organisationally complex. https://twitter.com/thommeread/status/1178614943895228416 Tom is in charge of the technology at the Ministry of Justice, and so has legacy, size and complexity in … Continue reading “The Basics”
A couple of weeks ago I did a bit of an experiment at the 2019 Tech Leaders Summit. Here's the transcript... Matt Ballantine When I was asked by the organisers to convene a panel on the subjects of innovation, there were a couple of things that were going through my mind first, This was … Continue reading Diversity & Innovation
The technology that surrounds us is but a logical and physical manifestation of the underlying social organisations in which we work and live. To complete many relatively simple tasks we need to draw on services provided, albeit digitally, from multiple providers. Aggregation services are popular because they provide some sort of integration layer above the … Continue reading The Internet of Siloed Things
https://twitter.com/ballantine70/status/1171378948325793793 It's funny the things that pick up on Twitter. I can't even remember what it was that spurred the above tweet, but it certainly has sparked interest. What was in my head? Well, first of all, that I really worry about when metaphors are used that I think confuse rather than help. A roadmap … Continue reading What do we want? Technology roadmaps! When do we want them? Now!
We are a mixed-platform household. We have Windows PCs and an iPad, Android Phones and tablets, and a family Chromebook. To manage the devices the kids use, however, I've focused down on ChromeOS and Android and use the Google Family Link service that enables us to keep an eye on the amount of time the … Continue reading Unintended consequences
There is an interesting phenomenon that I'm noticing with many groups with whom I work at the moment. If you ask people what it is that their "customers" (the people to whom they provide a product or service) need their services for, they will (more often than not) reply with a description of their service, … Continue reading The value, not the thing
I love a good metaphor. Equally, I despise a bad one. I've been doing some work recently for a client on what they should have where once stood an Enterprise Architecture team. If you are not familiar with what an Enterprise Architect does, think about what an Architect does. Yeah, it's nothing like that. And … Continue reading The IT Planning and Building Controls Department
My younger son can get overly focused on things. A couple of days ago it was the Eight Queens Puzzle. The puzzle is relatively simple to explain. You need to place eight chess queens onto a chessboard in such a way that no piece can take another piece. There are millions of permutations of how … Continue reading Reframing problems
