Incoming

Another ERP Nonevent
I don't normally respond to articles I read, but I just had to write in response to ["Phase One Ends, and the Team Makes the Leap," ERP Journey, July 2006 issue]. I am the project director for our ERP implementation at East Carolina University, and I had a similar experience. After two years of preparing and testing and everything else that goes along with a new financial system implementation, the morning of go-live was a nonevent for IT.

I warned our executive steering committee members that there would undoubtedly be fires to put out, that we would have certainly missed something during the conversion, and I tried to prepare them for the worst.

But as it turned out, there was none of that. Sure, our accountants were doing the same thing as those at North Coast Electric: My IT staff was on hand and on call, but nothing materialized. It was the smoothest implementation I've ever experienced.

Don Sweet
Associate CIO
East Carolina University
Greenville, N.C.

Simplifying Six Sigma
I enjoyed ["Simplifying the Six Sigma Principle," Business Mentor, July issue]. I agree with your assessment of the benefits of using Six Sigma basics. I have seen many organizations become burdened by overengineering their tools and would like to find ways to simplify the process.

Jamie Hartman
Senior Solution Analyst
Touchbase
San Francisco

I hold a Yellow Belt in Six Sigma, and I think you got to the meat of the methodology in ["Simplifying the Six Sigma Principle," Business Mentor, July issue]. I commend your simplicity. When I see a process that can be improved, I use an approach I call "Just Do It Mini-PIP."

It's not a "major" PIP, or process improvement project, with process diagrams and collections of data variations. If I find something can be done faster and better, I just do it, then implement, and write up a couple of paragraphs to describe the process later on.

Your column says a lot more than a classroom environment would about using these principles.

Charlie Akula
Via email

The Talent Talks Back
I read ["Let Talented Staff Take Flight," Business Mentor, May issue] and nearly rolled over with laughter. We have a similar scenario in our workplace, with a senior executive who doesn't cultivate the talent of staff. We'd love to learn how to reach out and break through to him on this issue.

Chris Anoruo
Via email

Kudos
I wanted to thank you for inviting me to the June CIO Decisions conference. I am an avid reader of your magazine and loved the conference; I learned a lot about what it takes to be a CIO.

A few years back, an executive for a company where I did occasional IT consulting suggested that I would make a good CIO. I hadn't thought that far into my future, but she planted a seed that day. Since then, I have been reading magazines geared toward CIOs, taking a more executive-like approach to my daily tasks and rounding out my education. So the conference was extremely useful for aspiring CIOs like me.

Mitch Cullins
Wintel Lead
Cardinal Health
San Diego, Calif.

Thank you for the tremendous job you're doing of publishing CIO Decisions. I believe the magazine is one of the best resources for CIOs in the midmarket space -- a sector in need of such focus. Your magazine does a good job of addressing the issues that executives like me face on a daily basis.

Lawrence Bonfante
CIO
United States Tennis Association
White Plains, N.Y.

We Want to Hear From You:
CIO Decisions welcomes letters to the editor. Write to us at editor@ciodecisions.com and please include your name, title, company, city/state, and a daytime phone number for verification. We may edit letters for clarity and length.

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