Maja Ferle

Predictive analytics

13 October, 20105 December, 2018 by Maja FerleNo Comments

In today's competitive environment businesses want to continue to be profitable. They want to hold on to their existing clients and acquire new ones and they want to do this with the least amount of cost. Predictive analytics can help to achieve all of the above. - Article published in MonitorPro magazine, fall 2010, p. 25....

The value of project management

28 March, 20105 December, 2018 by Maja FerleNo Comments

In 2009 Project Management Institute completed a broad research project that confirmed the value of project management when applied in companies worldwide. Although the results of the research were not a surprise to those of us who are involved with projects on a daily basis, we nevertheless often encounter companies in real life who do not embrace the value of project management and view project management as unnecessary bureaucracy. This article will present two examples of projects that were implemented each in a different environment: one where project management was highly valued and one where project management was rejected as an additional expense. Comparing the success of each of the two projects supports the research finding that project management has value. Using results of the comparison of success of each project we present arguments that may be used when trying to sell the value of project management to executive management. -- International Conference on Organizational Science Development, March 24 – 26, 2010...

Data mining replaces the crystal ball

28 February, 20105 December, 2018 by Maja FerleNo Comments

Business intelligence solutions have matured to the level where we don't have to ask anymore whether they are useful or relevant. It is a given that they supplement other business solutions. Due to increased competition, there is more need than ever to extract even more business value from business intelligence solutions. - Article published in Sistem, February 2010, p. 8-9....

Introducing agile methodologies for project management

3 June, 20097 October, 2016 by Maja FerleNo Comments

In traditional project management we should know the scope, cost and schedule of our projects. But in reality we often don't know all the details about scope, therefore we can't estimate the project cost in schedule. Agile methodologies have been introduced to deliver quick results and allow the project to address the real needs of the stakeholders. -- Paper presented at ZPM Forum June 3 – 5, 2009....

Managing projects in Europe and Africa: What can we learn from each other?

21 May, 20085 December, 2018 by Maja FerleNo Comments

Managing projects made up of international teams presents unique challenges in terms of communication, collaboration and managing stakeholder expectations. Being able to adapt to local custom is key in reaching successful outcomes, however, when a project team is made up of individuals from different parts of the world it is unclear which local custom to favor. -- Paper presented at PMI Global Congress EMEA Malta, 19.5. – 21.5.2008....

Reducing the burden on IT developers

5 September, 200710 October, 2015 by Maja FerleNo Comments

IT developers are often overworked, tired, stressed and required to work long hours. There are always new requirements to be implemented, bugs to be fixed and too many urgent tasks to be completed at the same time. Considering that developers must also take care of their professional development in order to keep up with current IT trends, accomplishing all of the above becomes mission impossible. This article looks at ways organizations can better plan developers' time. -- Article published in Sistem July-August 2007, str. 8-9....

Understanding the success of conversion to Euro projects

30 June, 200710 October, 2015 by Maja FerleNo Comments

Lessons learned from conversion to Euro projects show that they were all successful, were completed on time and they achieved expected results without any major issues. Comparing this to the general perception that IT projects are always late, exceed budgets or run into trouble we have to wonder what was different in conversion to Euro projects to make them so uncharacteristically successful. -- Article published in Sistem June 2007, p. 22-23....

Including the data warehouse in a service oriented architecture

4 December, 200610 October, 2015 by Maja FerleNo Comments

As service oriented architectures are becoming mainstream we should consider how this affects data warehousing. We can expect impacts of service oriented architectures on both ends of data warehousing implementations: in the way we load data as well as in the way we consume it. -- Article published in Sistem November 2006, p. 6-7....

Jan Korevaar Outstanding Paper Award

25 June, 20065 December, 2018 by Maja FerleNo Comments

I was the recipient of the 2006 Jan Korevaar Outstanding Paper Award at the 5th ICEC World Congress, held in Ljubljana, Slovenia in May 2006. The title of my paper was Implementing Earned Value Management on IT Projects. The International Cost Engineering Council initiated the Jan Korevaar Outstanding Paper Award to recognize the paper chosen by Congress delegates through their evaluations as the outstanding paper presented at each International Cost Engineering Congress. The award was created in memory of Jan Korevaar, Executive Director of the Dutch Association of Cost Engineers and Assistant Secretary of ICEC for many years....

Implementing Earned Value Management on IT Projects

28 May, 20065 December, 2018 by Maja FerleNo Comments

Many IT projects do not meet schedule, cost or scope constraints. Trouble is often not recognized due to insufficient procedures and non-existing control mechanisms. According to PMI, Earned Value Management (EVM) is one of the most effective performance measurement and feedback tools for managing projects, enabling the project manager to expose troubles. -- Paper delivered at 1st ICEC & IPMA Global Congress on Project Management, 23.4. – 26.4.2006....