Chris van Zadel professional blog

“Mad men” : how to fire a client

metalpro2008 — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 14:23:31 +0000

Another adaptation from a popular series : this time the award winning series : mad men. I have put the clip into a different, IT/software development context by providing alternative subtitles. Sorry Dutch only for now:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7CEnlUoQEs

“Force 10 from Navarone” has similar communication issues during projectplan meeting

metalpro2008 — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 14:20:30 +0000

I could not resist creating a video with alternative subtitles from a major feature film. This time a Christmas viewing of the movie “Force 10 from navarone” on TV inspired me to convert a scene into a software development context. For now , Dutch subtitles only.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eALeA4w4cs

Schedule it! has released its first productoffering

metalpro2008 — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 16:26:09 +0000

The first product release of my partially owned company Schedule it! has now been finalized : www.rijbewijsinfo.nl .
This portal will provide all information concerning the drivinglicense and related subjects. This portal will be targetted to Dutch consumers only and is part on a broader productoffering to drivinginstructors and drivingschools. My role in the development of the webportal is making sure this portal will be part of future productreleases offered to drivinginstructors and drivingschools to help increase the professional profile and company process. A lot will be going on at the schedule it! company , so watch this space. (or look at the corporate website of schedule it! at www.scheduleit.nl )

Enterprise architecture for dummies

metalpro2008 — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 23:13:39 +0000

Consumer television series (kassa) in The Netherlands is covering, without knowing it, a nice topic which underlines the need for Enterprise Architecture and integration frameworks and governance. A nice touch is to hear the politicians and their ‘solutions’. (18:30) And not to forget the graphics at 21:30.

Sorry program is in Dutch and published on my personal weblog to add embedded video:

http://weblog.vanzadel.nl/PermaLink.aspx?guid=618fe867-be98-4f82-a7e9-bd7902ec7e35

GSM en 3G hacked !

metalpro2008 — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 21:53:43 +0000

Why does not this get the news -attention it deserves in The Netherlands? Soon everyone will be having the CPU power to listen in on conversations by using their own mobile phone to decrypt ! (some) Governments are already taking precautionary measures ! (http://www.lammersonline.nl/ct.ashx?id=ee4b3a1a-3185-4ec2-9b9a-f595a3614ef1&url=http%3a%2f%2fwww.govcert.nl%2fdownload.html%3ff%3d154)

http://bx.businessweek.com/leadership/cell-phone-tapping-gsm-encryption-hacked/8062509301854929886-0ae92aca8e84c3f6d17bf9c1d3e6c3d7/
http://eprint.iacr.org/2010/013.pdf

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8429233.stm

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/29/technology/29hack.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&ref=technology

Prive bron: http://www.lammersonline.nl/2009/12/30/GSMEncryptieGekraakt.aspx

Mark Loizeaux op Pinc.

metalpro2008 — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 20:26:21 +0000

As seen on Dutch television broadcaster ‘het gesprek’. Inspiring talk by demolition expert Mark Loizeaux. Same professional attitude as (enterprise) architects SHOULD have. Inspiring…

Because I can not embed video on wordpress , a link to my personal blog hosted by myself
http://weblog.vanzadel.nl/PermaLink.aspx?guid=a9693878-c92d-41ca-b211-31d989460b64

Source:
http://www.hetgesprek.nl/archief/3127/

Alternative for scrummaster to enforce policies.

metalpro2008 — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 21:57:32 +0000

Found on scrummaster website :

For all IT professional needing to define their job description and expectations

metalpro2008 — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 12:05:49 +0000

Do you recognize these scenarios?
Looking for a job or assignment you read the requirements and wonder if all these requirements will fit into one job. You know the expectations of one area of expertise conflicts with another one and should be split into another job. But how do you convince the HR manager or business manager that this is the case?

Or, you accept a job, assignment or IT work and agree on a certain set of competencies and responsibilities. All expectations are clear and met in the early stages of employment. Because it is impossible to describe all duties in the field of IT, these expectations slide over time. You are aware of this but your employer will not see the conflict in activities and expects the conflicting work to be executed. You know this will affect your ability to be successful, but cannot do anything about it.

I for one do recognize this. There might be help !

The CEN (European Committee for Standardization) is an organization which deals with designing and maintaining standards in the EU. As things go in the EU an expert working group has been established and published a document containing different roles in IT described in a way that both IT professionals and HR managers understand it.
And I must say, I like the way the document has been set up. They have grouped the competencies in plan, build, run, enable and manage. In this way you can determine if you are expected to do development work (enable) , maintenance work (run) , architectural work (plan) or managerial work (manage) and which level of seniority is expected (e-CF levels).
So next time you are expected to do a ‘hybrid’ job with totally different task/job expectations you can show this document in support of your case.

Hunkemoller wins ING retail award for category ‘best bricks and clicks’

metalpro2008 — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 11:09:22 +0000

Hunkemoller has won the award from ING retail this year for the best on-line fulfillment. This price has been awarded by a panel of experts, instead of online votes by the users, and Hunkemoller is very proud to have won it.
Personally I take a bit of pride because I have designed and maintained the solution architecture which allows them to be successful.

Source:

ING retail price 2009 (Dutch)
Twinkle (Dutch)

Thank you Fred for mentioning it to me

Software development is all about communication

metalpro2008 — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 09:46:31 +0000

The other day I came across a nice posting about the expectations of software solutions. The focus of this article is not the actual solution itself, but the perception of the people involved with it. It reminds me of most of the discussions I have/had with customers as well as developers alike !

http://www.bridging-the-gap.com/how-do-your-stakeholders-see-your-beer-can-softwaresolutions/