Happy New Year 2011

Benefits of a PMP Certification

Benefits of a PMP Certification

Ø   PMP is one of the best professional credential in the field of Project Management. PMP certification has grown in prominence over the last decade and has become a sought-after credential, according to the Project Management Institute or PMI.

 

Ø  The Project Management Guidelines, Methodologies, tools and techniques, and the entire framework of 9 knowledge areas, 5 process groups, and the entire 42 processes provide you with a more holistic view of project management, enriching your knowledge.

 

Ø  Just by attending a PMP Exam Prep coaching seminar and studying for the exam will make you a better project manager – as you will learn beyond what you need for your day to day project management.

 

Ø  Increased Earnings: The average salary for project management professionals in the USA is $101,505, according to the PMI Project Management Salary Survey-Fourth Edition. Managers who hold the PMP certification also often make more money than non-certified project managers. This is true for over 23 countries I have visited… for conducting PMP Exam Preparation workshops.

 

Ø  Growth in Career Prospects: The PMP certification program maintains ISO 9001 and other accreditations like the 17024 accreditation. This internationally recognized accreditation is recognized by the global business community and often leads to better career opportunities to someone who is PMP certified.

 

Ø  Attain your PMP certification, and add value to your CV.  You can show to prospective employers how serious you are for your career.

 

Ø  Enhance Your Marketability: The PMP certification enhances your professional marketability in the field of Project Management. Future employers will often choose individuals with a PMP certification over other non-qualified project managers, because of the reduced risk the PMP certification affords the employers.

 

Ø  The PMP certification also helps to bolster resumes by legitimatizing the included experiences of a project manager.

 

Ø  Improved Project Management Skills: You must undergo rigorous preparation to get your PMP Certification.  This process includes a significant amount of coursework ( 35 hours minimum) and study to qualify for and pass the PMP exam. Project managers often experience improved skills and knowledge while preparing to sit for the PMP exam based on the hours of coursework and study.

 

Ø  Apart from being a credential, while studying for the exam, you learn that there are other, better ways to managing projects, which are different than what you practice in your day to day project management.

 

Ø  Professional Validation of Your Experience & Competence: The PMP certification offers validation for professional accomplishments. PMI certifies that an individual has achieved the necessary years of experience and knowledge in order to be granted PMP status.

 

Ø  Thus, having the certification is a quick way to enter new countries, new markets, and new industries, because you’re basic qualifications, and your expertise and competence in the field of project management is established already.

 

Ø  The benefits of PMP Certification are immense! Not only will you become a more complete person, you will become a better project manager. Do not delay! Go ahead and get your PMP Certification quickly.

 

 

 

Missing Childhood!

मेरे बचपन कहाँ है

सब मैं देख जीने का दर्द है

मैं भी स्कूल जाना चाहता हूँ

अब तक मैं जिम्मेदारियों के लिए कंधे के लिए है

नहीं करने के लिए पालना या रोने का समय

और न ही वहाँ है किसी भी समय खेलने के लिए

मेरे बचपन के जीवन के लिए खोज में खो जाता है

जब मैं इस दर्द से राहत मिली होगी

जब करेंगे मेरी एक नई सुबह के लिए जाग राष्ट्र

भारत एक गरीब देश नहीं है

लेकिन सत्तारूढ़ सरकारों दिल में गरीब हैं

भारत एक गरीब लोगों से भरे देश के रूप में बनी हुई है

जागो भारत ने, इस तरह से परिवर्तन

हमें पता चलता है आज, अगर वहाँ एक बेहतर कल क्या है?

Da Rain, Da Heart! Poetry Chain continues.....



Oranges on the tree outside my window!

Lingering in the fresh showers of Rain,

I do not know how it disappeared all my pain!

Now sitting at this window pane

I watch the Oranges glowing on the tree

Lost in my world of thoughts in vain

Wondering about the birds being free

The smell of the Earth with the showers of Rain,
Touch my heart with all its rejoicing train

As the kids watch from the opposite window
wanting to get out and get drenched

The kid in me awakes to a new streams of joy
letting the adult pride die in and life to enjoy

Da Rain, Da Heart, in abundance
The winds blossoming in the tennace

The shrill cries of the ambulances on freeway
hints me someone in danger and pain

I look at the rain, with fervent thought
to take with it the needed help and care caught

There again, the silences adore me
letting me just to listen to the sounds of rain

The little droplets that I hold in my hand
I know they are sending me shivers as magical wand

Some moments they look like sky's blessings
other moments, they are heavy like a girl's tears

Yet, my heart, do not want to calibrate to pains
as my carnival of rejoice, with the rain, regains

As the noon slowly slips into the dust of twilight
Its nice to see the neighbours Christmas lights

With the sparkling droplets of unending rain
I know I have thoughts to cherish and live in pride

......Its a rainy day ...a Saturday afternoon,...I was in midst of my Telugu Vemana Poems translation, when this poem popped up in my brain.... I know, my heart cannot control the words...I have to scribble it somewhere before they disappear....so my blog became my refuge camp today.....

Why Self-Appraisals are conducted in Organizations?

Every December is a time when every employee expects to be recognized, appreciated, duly rewarded both monetarily and emotionally as part of the team, corporate, organization, workplace and lot more.  The swing between job hopping and loyalty is there in any organization and industry.  Some matured Performance Appraisal Processes include the first step as Self-Appraisal.

Now the question arises on, Is Self-Appraisals necessary?  Because no individual will ever portray themselves as Not Competent, or Not Professional enough for recognition.

The second major questions is, Do the Self-Appraised Information really taken into consideration during the final evaluation of the performance by the Manager/ HR and the Organization?   90% of the answers would an implicit NO, though 90% would not dare to acknowledge it explicitly.  Then why this process?

I as a professional see top 4 reasons why Self-Appraisal becomes important and vital in one's evaluation cycle/ process/ progress or what ever you may call

1.  It is a process to have "Supporting DATA".   Statistics on how many hours I worked, how many project hours I executed, how many successes or failures on Variances in terms of Cost, Scope and Time have I achieved, how many blue flags/ appreciations I have received from clients?   , How many Red flags or Escalations I was reason for., How many people I mentored, how many trainings I attended, How much did I do my tasks successfully on a day to day basis and what impact did I have on the teams I worked. What value additions did I bring in to the Company.   This is one way of tracking the whole year of work.  Keeping data accurately, if subjected to Audit, will have references either in personal repository or a share point.
Valid information in terms of accurate data makes not just employees life easy, but those of Managers too.

2. Accountability:   You are accountable for the tasks entrusted to you...How much ever trivial they may be to the Organization, they would still be a large portion of your individual performance. 

3. Yardstick ..This may show as similar to Supporting Data...But one big difference is in the first one you have a the required statistics to support your judgement of your performance.   In this factor, your manager will have required information to support your growth in comparison to your colleagues in the most competitive and logistically controlled environment.   Here the yardstick, is how was your were important and unique when compared to others... The proof of a point that you deserve the best have to stand out.

4. Self Understanding, Satisfaction and Sustainability....I am very much fond of this point no 4.  To me where I stand in my own terms of assessment is more important than what my managers assess me.  Basically, this gives me required motivations, a inner satisfaction of job well done, fruitfully balanced my time between professional aspirations and personal commitments,  and this motivates me to train myself more on the areas I identify as growth possible, and share expertise in the areas where I proved extraordinary.   To me this is within the line of control.....irrespective of the ratings/bonus/appraisals made within the 'Out of Control' parameters which are influenced by lot of other factors than my own performance.   My manager's limitations, Organizations overall profits and budget allocations,  peer pressure, competition, customer feedback and so many 360 degree views are surely not in my control...but my performance is well within my boundaries and I can make it 100%.  

So to me Self-Appraisal is the most important aspect of career, to revisit where I stand in my Corporate Ladder and how fast can I reach my next steps and what I need to do to achieve them.  These describe my goals as a Professional irrespective of any influential factors that I have limited control. 

If every employee realises this fact in his or her best interest, I am sure Organizations will never fail in its collective objectives.

So, please do not blame your managers if something goes wrong, try to be balanced, and look at the flip side of the process to identify where you need to improve.  If all goes well, then, Go ahead and Celebrate!!!  I wish the second one to one and all!

10 Tips on Information Security- As a Responsibility



 

Information Security Is Everyone's Responsibility

Today we are living in a world, where everything we do; it is an information to someone else. This information have a set of protocols which include characteristics of Sharable, Confidential, Internal, External, Reliable, Authorized and Unauthorized. Forget about Nations’ struggling with the unauthorized usage of wrongly attained information in the name of Open Journalism; Corporate’ and Individuals also have a strong responsibility to protect the privacy, confidentiality and integrity of the Organizations as well as of all Stakeholders involved in the business which includes our valuable customers. These tips are common to every user who has access to electronic data.

1. Employee authorized properties that include Access to a Business facility – both physical like Access Cards and Badges, and also digital assets like Remote Access keys, Active Keys, Smart Pins etc should be duly secured. No tailgating or proxy usage of assets.

2. Printers /Scanners and Conference boards are one area that is widely forgotten. We leave behind wrongly printed papers without throwing them in the shredder and discarding properly. Leaving behind confidential data on the Smart Boards/ Conference rooms, without closing them properly is a risk. This information can be misused. Hence a word of caution

3. Our workspaces which includes computers and laptops have to be password protected and screen locked every time we step out

4. Usage of Authorized Software and only permissible Internet sites access is to be followed if instructed to do so, to safeguard the best interests of business.

5. Do not forward any emails or information that had been marked as Internal or Confidential. Sources of information to the open world are large and you don’t need to contribute to your own chaos

6. Updated Anti-Virus Software have to be in all the systems that you access. Especially in client network, it would be embarrassing to spread viruses from your system

7. Important for all employees to have an understanding of the Security Awareness initiated by the Organization. Completing of appropriate courses and trainings to this effect becomes important. Please be aware of any customer Non Disclosure Agreements that you would have to sign as part of your job responsibility. Be sure to understand the contents.

8. Be aware of the Incident Reporting Process and be proactive to inform any security lapses., both physical and digital to the concerned people immediately.

9. Periodical backups of data, preserving data using encryption passwords will save our face value at times of loss of laptops, or data getting stolen. Server backups and maintenance logs will help trace out any unnecessary activities happening in the Organization with the help of Security Administrators. So tighten this process.

10. Last but never the least, Individual Integrity is the top most important aspect. If you decide to cheat, or break a trust, it’s up to the individual…but remember no one is going to protect the unwarranted activity and one day the truth is the only thing that will be lived.

It takes several years to build a reputation and just seconds to break it…..Same applies to Organizations, Entrepreneurs, Professionals, Individuals and in our personal lives too!

Both Knowledge and Information is Power….as long as it is rightly put to use!

Opening Meandering .....Written for Dr.Rudhran

As I was reading through Dr.Rudhran's post in his blog on the same title of this post, I could not stop from adding a comment, reflecting his thoughts in my words as a Poet.... I thought it deserves a place in my blog too.... as I admire the artist in the psychiatrist who is difficult to understand by ordinary intellect....

Dear Friend, here are few lines for you!

A writer's mind is a clear slate

Like the child who began to write

The painter's brush is a little mouse

That runs as it finds its ruins unknown

We stumble upon our past and ponder about future

Disdain in one's preludes of the present

In the depths of silence, we find our words

In the midst of grumbling crowds, we find intimate silence

Only an artist in you can discover the fathoms

The fathoms of the inner oceans that divulge

Towards an incessant thoughts and unwinding tears

The tear is not of sadness in mind

But of the heart that runs behind

The past, that is never on my own task

Yet, I know I can run behind years of my life

In solitude and grace that I admire of myself

As thoughtscapes find no new mantles of peace

The landscapes around look like nothing but deserts

The deserts of sand flown in life of thoughts

The feelings of inner self that never found

Yet, in the rejoicing of being a nurturing mind

There is an essence of having being born

Just like the little child out of mother's womb

You write your memoir just for yourself

And not for the worlds to debate on

For it’s the passionate web of your life's events

That rekindles the fantasies of your inner self

Moments that soar from nowhere to all around

That makes you feel elated and regret all

Yet it is just between you and your past

That the gamble of lives travelling again in thoughts

There is no prerogative that drives to rest

For in it, you discover yourself in a quest

The quest is to find the meaning of life

Just yours, by all means, just your thoughts!!!

An Evening with Salman Rushdie in LA discussing his new book..Luka and the Fire of Life

An evening with Salman Rushdie in LA ( Japanese American Theatre)….in Conversation with Reza Aslan-   On his latest book : Luka and the Fire of Life

Salman Rushdie signing my copy

We were first among few to be in the theatre, and as the time got close to 8 pm on 30 Nov 2010, at the American Japanese Theatre in Los Angeles, I could see the admiration for an Indian born-British writer, Salman Rushdie. At 8 pm, the auditorium was full, and at the stoke of 8, the introduction began. After which Rushdie began reading few lines from his book, Luka and Fire of Life. Rushdie smiles and acknowledges that ‘Nobodaddy’ is not his own invention but had been stolen from a poem..and gives credit to the Poet…

Uma with Reza Aslan

Later, Reza Aslan, Iranian-American writer, and creative writing professor of University of California, joined him on the stage for the conversation of the evening. As Reza welcomed him back to LA, and asked him the thing he noticed in LA, Rushdie commented that in LA, people get back home at 9, but that’s when people go out in New York, that’s the major difference in these two cities.

As the discussion began, Reza kept his questions and dialogue in such a passionate way that Rushdie kept answering them with ease and the audience roared in laughter at the humor, the wit and the spontaneity of two great writers on the stage. Rushdie went on to explain… and also as part of the Q&A session from the audience….

Quotes from Salman Rushdie:

The best of Quotes from last evening with Salman Rushdie, I could not stop admiring the wit, the humor and the intelligence of a man who is the centre of controversies as a writer…..”Don’t mess up with Novelists” he smiled. ”Pen is mightier than Sword”., “Double standards is diplomacy, for you act one way in public and other in private”…..he smiled answering a question on wikileaks. He repeated twice that the ‘Man is born to burn the books’.

His current Project- His Memoir:

Taking about his current project, writing his Memoir, he said Memoir is tough like any other fiction, for they have to have these life characters woven in the story… Spicy and juicy events make it more reader interesting, but there are private lives involved and the boundaries of exposure have to be maintained respecting their privacy while writing autobiographies. He says that he is vary about talking more on his work in progress. Asked if he is finding it embarrassing to write about his own life, its most troubled incidents and moments, he said at least while writing it, he knows the story unlike in real fiction where creativity gives scope for newness. And he would answer to on the embarrassing part after 2 years when the work is completed. He said that it involves all the people involved in his life, including him and hence he had to exercise caution of to what extent he can reveal things of other’s lives. He called Mark Twain a smart guy, for he arranged to release his autobiography after several years of his passing away, so that he don’t need to take the controversies involved while telling the truth and hurt the sentiments of religions, governments, people etc and he is not there any longer to see the consequences of his writings and thoughts. But am sure, Salman Rushdie can never be a man of running away from controversies…

Children’s book?

He kept telling, ‘Man is born to be burning with books’ and Intelligence of storytelling differentiates man and animals. Asked if Luka and Fire for life is a Children’s book, he responded staying that there is nothing called Adult books and Children’s books. Most adults read children’s books. Children read adult books but interpret differently. Books have to represent literature, naturalism in fiction, fundamental intelligence and creativity with giving more emphasis on literature. Technically correct and grammatically strong books have larger reach, unlike the Twilight- teen love fictions which just don’t follow any of these rules…He made fun of the Twilight author stating that she doesn’t know to write …his pun intended…. Same time he appreciated so much of J.K.Rowling and other authors that the books give a chance for getting it within the system and injecting the essence into readers as they absorb the content of the good books. He mentioned that it is very difficult to please children., so children books are lot more challenging to write, for kids will not complete the books they don’t like…so writing a book that they would finish reading is important as a writer.

He went to say, that Life was difficult for his son, between 9-19, as his enemies threatened his life, but the strange thing is that they have a point and he hate to acknowledge it. He dismisses the claims that Luka and Fire of Life is a children’s book…He clarifies that when children read, they read that as a fiction filled with video games that they play every day….delighted, but when the same child reads the book as an adult, identifies the fact that life is filled with difficulties to overcome and not hurdles in the game…

Rushdie recommends that we read this book both as a child and an adult, for there is a child in each one of us that would have to unwind the imaginative and enjoy the creativity of a writer par excellence. He describes how the ‘NoBoDaddy’ looks divine, serene and beautiful …the reality that most of the people while dead look pleasant and peaceful than in life…worth a while to ponder. The fear of a child that his father may never return, is there is every child having an aged parent….No child can imagine the parents gone and they believe that they are there forever. He giggled and said that he too wished the same.

They way, he describes what happens you take two steps to your left and find yourself in a completely different world….Everything looks the same and real, but it is not the same and real….including Luka’s daddy…to me it represented a tactful way of letting us know that if we take even a step …there could be a different world altogether, may be for good or bad…may be for right or wrong…it emphasis the fact how important is a decision making to take that one step

Magical Fiction and Reality

Talking about magical fiction, he states that, Magic Realism was never interpreted correctly…people understand magic and forget Realism. Talking about death and Luka, the combination of reality and magical illusion of a world different from reality, Luka surrounds around the death as the central character. Yama is the god of death in Hindu mythology and Nobodaddy in the book is a reflection of the similar thing…death in its beauty and as the ultimate truth… The book gives a way to tell the reality of death to a child in the most easiest way possible for it is the reality. Luka and the Fire of Life has all the magical characters that a human mind can imagine, dragons, beasts, bears and dogs.. creativity running at its freedom best.

Children should understand that the video games have multiple lives, multiple replays, multiple points for saving a life etc.. but a reality is lot different. There are no multiple savings or multiple lives, so distinguishing reality from virtual world the children of today are living should be identified .

Story telling is an art and it needs to have a targeting audience. Huron was written for his first son Zafar and Luka was written for his second son Milan…so when something targeted at particular person, the passion of doing it is more and when it is done rightly becomes universal.

Magical journey into a enchanted world of Luka’s father..Rashid’s imagination…you see a reflection of Rushdie and his excellent skills of story weaving. The various cameos represented from different cultures show his ability to not only have great knowledge on the subject but also to use it at the right time and literary references that make us smile. He tells that though in his book, the video games are exclaimed as excellent and delighting ..in reality he tells that it limits one’s imagination. Reality gives more scope for creativity and imagination than the virtual world that the children of today are thinking as real.. Battle against time in the book, takes us to a different reminiscent wonderland where we find mythological creatures and surreal characters.

Referencing diety stories and the fact that the God not worshipped loses their power and disappears is a certain reality, especially where there thousands of gods in this world interwoven with the faiths….Rushdie sounds like a rational to whom every faith is a equal and it is the ultimate human intelligence that will win over the world and not the difference amongst

He talks about mention of the time travelers in his book… and he says that having Peter Pan, Mark Twain, Terminator and others was to the fact that they were great time travelers…So Luka had to travel along with the rest of the great time travelers….Children’s books amass audiences and interest readers with these great stories filled with time travelling. Dog, called the Bear, and the Bear called the Dog are Luka’s friends in the book.

On Wikileaks and Freedom of Expression:

On Wikileaks…he stated that he is excited that hypocrisy getting exposed and is a good thing….same time the life of the witnesses and sources are at danger…for the sources will not be just punished, or slapped on the face, they would be killed.  Freedom of expression is important provided it has its own set rules… Hate books don’t go great with people for they speak the truth….Freedom of expression and open journalism is appreciated as long as the perceptions and interpretations are clear and concrete.

On Fire of Life

Fire is represented as life, a passion, an energy and survival factor. Fire is represented in every culture of the world, be in Greeks, Native American, Russian, Turkish or any culture… Same is with the sky-god, there is a sky god in every culture of this world from Persian, Greeks, Romans and so on..for that matter any culture. The fire in actual life is the fire for survival, fire of passion, enthusiasm, fire for knowledge and wisdom, fire of intelligence and human excellence

The contemporary style of Novel writing filled with humorous puns and wonderful language makes it a package of Rushdie’s product and nothing less.

Dedication of Luka and Fire of Life to Milan, his second son:

As a poet myself, I cannot stop from being a great admirer of the words Rushdie writes as part of his dedication of the book to his second son Milan (Luka is his middle name)... See the First letters of each sentence that forms MILAN..

Magic lands lie all around

Inside, outside, underground.

Looking-glass worlds still abound

All their tales this truth reveal

Naught but love makes magic real.

There is a depth of love, for he mentioned in his discussion, that Milan was born when he was almost nearing 50’s and its an elder dad’s anxieties towards his little son, to whom he planned to write a book for from the time he was born. He cleared the speculation that the book was possibly written to tell his son that his dad is in 60’s and expect the unexpected….and preparing one to the only reality of any human being- death. Death is inevitable and will happen to everyone and it can never be predicted…but planning emotionally to handle such a torment in life is natural for elderly parents..There was a sincerity of a father in those words..

His wishes….

He wished all of us there, that we enjoy the book, more than the way he enjoyed writing it… for to him writing it was a passionate experience. I have read so many books, and also attended many poetry reading and book reading functions, but the reason why this stands out is simply because it was read by the greatest Author of our times…and that’s the difference.

It was a great pleasure to watch the great scholar and writer, sitting in the first row watching him and Reza with awe and delighted to have got his book signed after the conversation and met him in person…It was wonderful, beautiful and most enthralling experience…. With the air filled with knowledge, truth, freedom , language at its best, humor at its radiance and a great respect to a great scholar.

Long live Rushdie…for you are the icon of freedom of expression and reinstated the fact the pen is mightier than sword… The controversial writer definitely have a human side and there could be less intentional controversies he created. Probably it all depends on how you interpret a writer’s mind. If you read something with a predetermined notions, I am sure you will find hundred reasons to raise a controversy…. If you can look into the truth with a sense of humor and practical reality, I guess it makes things better. As a Indian-British writer, Rushdie proclaimed that he supports the law that punishes any kind of racial discrimination. We are living in a world, a world of global outreach and yet, the levels of tolerance are limited, given the wide geographical and historical divide of the borders of various continents. And hence open journalism and open artists still struggle to survive..

I was amazed to the kind of applause he received from the western audience…and as expectedly, there were less than 1% of Indians…which was evident that we are more careful that we don’t end up appreciating or participating in anything that have a bit of controversy…and especially Salman Rushdie being not just a bit but with a whole lot of controversial cases around him… Yet, how can one stop from admiring the intelligence, creativity, boundless imagination, love for language and literature, knack of words and prose and poetry mixing up in his every line. Same time, I could not stop from thinking that the fact, that his controversies are his popularity…and had it not been for them, I guess there wouldn’t have been so much a wider fan following…..especially an Indian brain being admired, received, applauded, followed and closely watched by the western world.