Months Later

How did a year and a half go by since my last post? I chalk it up to a slew of developments at work, and to being pretty well out of business school. However, after months of tumult (I would say, tumultuous doldrums, ie hurry up and wait), I figure it's time to re-start this blog to talk about some of he business problems I'm confronted with these days.

First, to set the scene: In 2012, my employer opted to outsource nearly all of its IT engineering and operations. About 90% of my colleagues were given (and took) the option to continue in their roles under the outsource provider; a smaller number of us were retained within the new IT organizations within the companies.

Second, the Education division was going to be divested from the larger company, either on its own or sold to another party. Ultimately, McGraw Hill Education (MHE) was sold to a private equity firm in 2013, and it is with MHE that I now ply my trade.

Most of 2013 and 2014 have been and continue to be filled with divestiture and re-organization: spinning work off to the new provider, and separating our infrastructure from the former parent company. I've led efforts in both tracks for endpoint computing, which is essentially all workstations, mobile devices, and the services to support them. It's plumbing, but vital plumbing.

So what are this year's challenges:

Create an an IT support organization that provides forward guidance on emerging technologies as well as support for existing technologies.

Finish the creation and migration of endpoint services for a global enterprise of 6000+ employees and contractors, without disrupting existing services.

That's it. these are broad buckets, and the details will follow - to list them all now would beggar anyone's attention span. Some details I'll have to be coy about, but the larger processes I expect will be lessons applicable anywhere.

Bring Your Own Device

This article breaks down a lot of the issues with BYOD - Bring Your own Device.

If you haven't heard of this, you will. It's the policy of allowing (or requiring) employees to bring their own computing or messaging device for use at work. Whether it's an iPhone, or  Mabook Air, or their Dell laptop from home, it's a bit of a craze, one that attempts to capitalize on the consumerization of IT.

It's not a bad idea, and one I generally favor, but there are a lot of non-technology caveats. Who is responsible for the device, or the data on it? For securing it? Does BYOD mean your employees are always on the clock? How does it affect collective bargaining agreements?

For more on this topic, read the article at JD Supra.


 http://www.jdsupra.com/post/documentViewer.aspx?fid=b270f08b-f0e7-4458-89e3-72d6aef750bb&utm_source=JFB&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=businesslaw

A Year

Crikey. It's been a year since I graduated, and still no MBA-class job.

It's disappointing. It's mildly surprising. I'm glad I have a job, but even that is one that I need to get away from. My company is splitting in half, and while there is a lot of talk about opportunities ahead and each side of the split, it's such a prolonged process that it's not really worth counting on.

I did interview with some consulting firms last fall, but didn't make the cut. One in particular, I thought I had in the bag. Well, actually I didn't think that. I was afraid to think that, but five interviews in seven weeks made me think I had a shot.

Since then, I've fallen back to pursuing technical jobs. BA roles, PM roles, even pure engineering roles. I can't complain, but it's telling that there is a stronger market for computer engineers than, say, bond or equity valuations.

Later

Three months on, and where am I at?

We continue to consolidate changes where I work. That translates into multiple openings in my group and at the segment level. A couple of them I even have a shot at.

I've been networking as well. As people leave and come in, hopefully I get some new opportunities.

Meantime, the recent Market "correction" (really? seems a bit more) has been fascinating to watch in the wake of S&P's downgrade of the US credit rating. What's maddening is to watch the market's movements as a direct response to the downgrade, when in fact most of it is being driven by the Eurozone's inability to adequately restructure Greece and other distressed sovereign debts. Furthermore, the downgrade isn't based on Congress having increased the debt ceiling; far from it, the downgrade is based on the fact that an influential group of congressional leaders openly stated that default on our debts was an option they were willing to accede to rather than come to an agreement over spending.

When you tell people upfront that you're willing to not pay your debts, they will lower your credit rating. it's that simple.

Globalization

I was on the train early this morning with a friend from out of town. She was here for my convocation ceremony, and we got to talking about the frequent mention of globalization. There was a lot of talk about being a global school, preparing for global leaders in a global community fully globalized global global global. I was surprised when she expressed wariness.

I asked her what her concerns were, and as she described them, along with anecdotes about people she knows, it became clear that she equates globalization with offshoring - jobs leaving the country. She isn't ignorant, but she didn't mention new markets, growing a market, or expanding wealth through trade.

We talked some more, and exchanged ideas. I tend to focus on markets due to my degree, and in particular, the idea that overall job growth can be achieved through trade. She has her doubts. "What about factory workers, in their fifties, really, how retrainable are they?"

To that point, I said it was the role of education to prepare people to continue learning. It does know good to learn a trade and just work that trade for life. People have to know how to learn. Either their trades will change so much that they are unrecognizable, or they will switch trades.

For me, it was a glimpse of the fears so many people have. I've generally always supported globalization. I haven't understood fully why people fear it. Yes, it is disruptive, but it is for the greater good. I believe so, anyway.

Done

Well, Commencement and Convocation have come and gone. I don't have my degree in hand (or on the wall), but I am officially graduated. Julie McCoy, B.A, M.B.A.

While it's been a long road, in retrospect the time went quickly. Because I attended part time, I have had two parallel tracks: professional and academic. It is true that I've been able to bring real world examples into the classroom, and turn classroom lessons into tools for understanding my workplace.

That said, turning those tools into actions and accomplishments is a separate endeavor.

Regardless, I now have an MBA. This may sound like Kool-Aid talk, but I do feel like I have a much stronger grasp of business fundamentals, especially financial analysis and strategy. I have what I sought; a formalized framework in which to apply what I have already known about business.

So yay. Yay Me! I did it. Now I need to decide what I'll do next.

The End is Nigh

I wish I had more time to write here. In retrospect, I wish I'd had more time to more thoroughly document my MBA experience. Coming in to the final weeks, it does indeed seem like a blur, like I started just last fall, or maybe the year before.

It's been three academic years - just 2.5 calendar years. In the that time I've met and befriended completely new people, learned WAY more about finance than I ever imagined possible, hobbed with the nobs, revised my resume countless times and gone to any number of career fairs, interviews, and networking events, and soon . . .the real world.

It's challenging, making a career change. Have I done enough? Have I done the right things? Should I settle in to my field and simply apply towards management in that area? It's hard to say.

What' clear though is that school changed me for the better - and I had to change before that just to get in. I was an OK student before. I had to become much more organized before I could even imagine applying to Stern, and when I was accepted - it's been a log ride. Now, we're approaching the splash.