• Business Technology Consulting Graduate Blog
• Consulting Blog

What’s in it for me?

---

An open sky for graduates to fly in…..

As a graduate from university starts to look for the best fit in tough economic times, the very first question one asks oneself when looking at the potential job market is “How is one company different from the others?” It is the only question that, if answered correctly, determines your path.

Before joining Capgemini as a graduate, I often used to wonder what Capgemini offers that no other organisation does and then I realised that the answer to this question was very simple: Capgemini opens up an ocean of opportunities for graduates.

On my first day at Capgemini I still was not sure of what exactly I would be doing over the following weeks, but at the end of my one week induction, I was informed that I was going to be working in an accelerated delivery centre, Capgemini’s heart of technology advancements. I was amazed when I first came to see what my project area looked like!!!  Sofas, relaxing arm chairs, white boards, a few flat screens and what more, a playing area filled with soft toys. I have got to admit that not all project areas look the same, so don’t be surprised, but that exactly is my point.

Most organisations describe their graduate schemes as varied but at Capgemini, one can easily see the difference. No two days at work are the same. One day you might be troubleshooting an existing problem, whereas the next you could be inventing future technology.

At Capgemini, I seem to have discovered a totally different world of opportunities. I joined the business technology consultancy programme a few months ago realising that it offered a rich combination of both technology and consulting. Graduates here at Capgemini get to work with the latest technology such as cloud computing, web 2.0, virtual desktop integration and many more!

In one word my decision to join Capgemini’s graduate scheme can be described as one of the “BEST” decisions I have ever made in my life so far.

Comments (0) | Print | Send | del.icio.us | Digg It! | Linking Blogs

A thrilling start to life at Capgemini..

---

As a new recruit to the Business Technology Consulting (BTC) graduate programme at Capgemini one often wonders what to expect as one would do with any new job.  It has already been quite a ride! From starting just over two months ago, I feel as if I have always been here in such a humble, exciting, ever-changing and challenging environment.  After all, there are not many people who can say they have actively been involved in a company allowing you to swim in a pond.

Sounds random? I know.  But it really isn’t! Such has been my experience: I have been inspired, motivated and challenged on every level possible.  Obviously, I haven’t been fully tested yet but the months I have been through have definitely shown that more exciting times are to come.

So, to begin with the first month of nerves, anticipation, excitement and questioning flew by.  Working on my first project in the lovely sunny city of Bath, I enjoyed embarking upon different challenges, meeting new people and embracing a new role.  Working on a content management project was a vastly new experience but was something I enjoyed and will always remember as my first in the company.

Moving on from that, I am currently working at Capgemini’s head office in Woking, enjoying the challenges of project management and support.  This by far is my biggest test yet, everyday brings a new challenge.  So far, working strongly in the finance sector of the project has opened my knowledge to many horizons spreading from the simplicity of business to the architure and art of financial perfection.  But Capgemini isn’t all about work, already in two months at the company, I’ve been challenged with creating a business idea worthy of Dragons’ Den and equally been thrown into a pond of 30 months pollution!

Now, you must be thinkig – what is he on about?  Well, let’s begin with the BTC Challenge.  The BTC Challenge asks the graduates of the present to design, initiate and create a worthy business idea which can be presented to the ‘Dragons’ of Capgemini.  Teams of graduates have been given three months to build a business model worthy of worlwide recognition.  The rewards are obvious: you get exposure to the senior management of the company, the chance to escalate your “home-grown” ideas and the sum of £500 to the best team!  Challenges are ongoing and are in prepartion ready for the dreaded meeting in the Capgemini Den on 11 October.  I’ll be sure to keep you updated!

From the intellectual world of intelligent thinking to the down-right nitty gritty: the BTC Raleigh Weekend.  Every year, the BTC teams up with Raleigh International to send graduates on a mission of exploration, dedication, focus and success.  This year’s weekend brought us to Woodrow High House in Buckinghamshire. This community school has been serving children for years, helping them mature and grow in skills through the most important learning years of their life.  Our job was to keep this consistency going by providing them with a safe environment.

The challenges set by Raleigh were to clear a pond filled with 30 months of pollution, build a shelter for children to use and clear the children play areas of any danger. A weekend of sweaty, devoted hard labour will probably be remembered as one of the best weekends I’ve ever had at Capgemini.  A brilliant captivating weekend working as a team to build your strengths around teamwork, along with fascinating results – this weekend has to be one not to be missed for anyone!  It was a brilliant experience and one I throughly enjoyed to the core.

So, that’s a hectic two months summarised very quickly.  I could have blogged for many more pages to come but I will save the excitement to fill you in on further developments, challenges, desires and experiences to blog in the very near future.  For now, i’ll leave you with the assurance that these first two months have been absolutely mind-blowing!

Comments (2) | Print | Send | del.icio.us | Digg It! | Linking Blogs

Raleigh 10A Expedition Complete

---

I have always been a firm believer that it is great for personal development for one to be pushed well outside of their comfort zone on a regular basis, and so have resolutely defended my life motto, 'the deep end is the quickest place to learn', on many occasions.  Having returned to Borneo as a Project Manager two years under the minimum age limit and being asked to spearhead a brand new trek location, the challenge has been interminable, the personal development ubiquitous and the memories timeless.

 

Although on the surface the new skills and experience gained and honed in the jungle may seem irrelevant to everyday working life, it couldn't be further from the truth, quite the opposite in fact as the more diverse and challenging the environment you learn these new skills in, the easier it is to traverse them to other environments.  Raleigh has pushed me, both mentally and physically, placing a huge amount of responsibility on my head in the process and as such has developed the following skills exponentially:

 

Motivation - to keep a team motivated, you need every member of that team to back the project.  From the first moment after allocations, the project needs to be convincingly sold by the PM, and as problems occur throughout, which they often do, this message needs to be strengthened and reiterated.  As a PM, having passion and pride about pioneering a new trek was infectious and made selling the project elementary

Enthusiasm - the easiest way to keep a team enthused is to remain enthusiastic yourself.  Although this may sound simple, remaining enthusiastic after living in the wet rainforest for three months, overcoming all of the unforeseen problems that arise on a daily basis requires intense willpower and mental rigour

Solidarity – not just promoting solidarity within a group, but initiating it, fostering and developing it, and maintaining it once it is present

Integrity – once a team questions the integrity of a PM, their authority over the team is void, meaning you cannot falter or make a dishonest decision once during the entire 10 week expedition

Health and safety - venturers will always push back on health and safety rules, so having to constantly risk assess everything and enforce the appropriate action requires an exceptionally strong venturer-PM relationship, where mutual respect is paramount

Cultural awareness – being culturally aware of ones actions, teaching this to others and promoting the exercising of these good manners is very important whilst in country

Team management and development – developing a group through team bonding activities can be great fun but requires exceptional energy and enthusiasm

One to one management and development – this is definitely one of the more acute soft skills I have exercised whilst on Raleigh. Developing individuals, unlike the team as a whole, requires excellent perception, self-awareness, focus and commitment; the rewards however are entirely proportional to the time invested and as such this activity was, for me, immensely satisfying

Professionalism – A combination of all of the above, 100% of the time.  Additionally, as a PM you need to be exceptionally clear of the PM-venturer relationship and the boundaries this imposes, and never deviate from these constraints

Consistency – it is all very well listing all of the things you should be and do, but acting in this manner all of the time without a single break for 10 weeks requires real strength of mind and willpower

 

So, after seven months of Raleigh expeditions, I guess the questions I need to ask myself are; have I been pushed to my mental, physical and emotional limits? Has my comfort zone not been seen for so long it is now a distant memory?  Has the experience developed me as an individual? Am I ready to employ these newly developed skills when I return to work to face new challenges?  The answer to all of these, I can safely say, is a resounding ‘yes’, so, the final question that needs to be answered is, ‘was it all really worth it?’

 

I’ll leave you to decide…

 

Comments (0) | Print | Send | del.icio.us | Digg It! | Linking Blogs

Strategy Realisation

---

Comments (0) | Print | Send | del.icio.us | Digg It! | Linking Blogs

Why Technology Consulting?

---

I am nearly close to my destination after a 2 hours journey on a typical Monday morning, and I remembered once more why I chose to be a technology consultant. The main reason is the variety of roles and as a result, the absence of routine.

Comments (1) | Print | Send | del.icio.us | Digg It! | Linking Blogs

Raleigh 10A Phase 1 - Kiulu Valley and Crocker Ridge Trek:

---

Post-expedition blues: a common medical ailment affecting those who have recently completed a Raleigh expedition...

Fortunately for me I have not had the opportunity to experience post-expedition blues as, upon completing the 09K expedition as a venturer, the 10A expedition was upon me and promised to be a huge challenge in comparison.  Following ten weeks of intense work in Borneo completing three project phases (Adventure, Community and Environmental), I have returned to Sabah as a Project Manager to lead trekking teams of up to fifteen 17-24 year-olds through one of the toughest environments in the world; the infamous 100% humidity primary jungle. 

As a venturer in 2009 I had several Project Managers each with substantially contrasting management styles from which I picked up many golden nuggets of advice, such that by the end of the expedition I had a very clear hypothesis in my mind of how I wanted to lead a group in a manner that would be most beneficial to them:

- To earn the team's trust through being socially involved
- To earn the team's respect through leading by example
- To empower the individual, fostering creativity, innovation  and self-belief as a leader - to me this is by far the most important point as being a Project Manager on Raleigh one of your primary goals should be to develop the individual.

This was and still is just a hypothesis that needs to be tested to the point of exhaustion before becoming a solid foundation for me to build upon and develop as a management style.  Every Project Manager needs to find his or her own method of management that feels right, complimenting their own strengths and weaknesses.  Furthermore, the best lessons learned in life often come through the painful process of trial and error, meaning this hypothesis was going to be put to the test in a live and therefore relatively high risk environment and would more than likely need to be drastically adapted on the fly.

The Kiulu Valley and Crocker Ridge trek, to which I was chosen to lead, is a new venture for Raleigh and as such is an honour to be a part of (even if it did involve more paperwork).  The first section of the trek in the Kiulu Valley region is an ideal training ground in the foothills of Mt. Kinabalu, providing exceptionally breathtaking and inspiring views as well as physically and mentally challenging hikes in the heat.  Upon finishing the first part of the trek the team will be shipped off to Mamutik to complete the PADI Open Water course before returning to the dense jungle to traverse a ridge on the aptly named Orangutan Trail in the Crocker Range national park, climbing 500m vertically in an extremely challenging A-to-B style trek over a period of eight days.

Having now completed Phase 1 and received the feedback from the team I can comfortably say that as a foundation my proposed management framework is a relatively stable base on which to build.  Whilst on phase I chose to trial a few additional methods of encouragement, the most effective of which being pride; giving the team a sense of confidence to achieve something great, spurring them on to conquer a huge mental and physical challenge.  Pride has been especially useful this phase in helping the team overcome the several unforeseen problems that the Crocker ridge has thrown at us, including a distinct lack of drinking water, a near miss with a clouded leapord and a formidable nine hour trek.  This method of motivation however is still in its infancy as it has only been trialled once in a the jungle - I will touch on it again in the next blog post at the end of Phase 2 once I have put it into practice with a new group so until then...
 

Comments (0) | Print | Send | del.icio.us | Digg It! | Linking Blogs

Technology Predictions for 2010

---

There were only a few people who could have predicted the almost catastrophic failure of the world’s economy in 2009; and while leading global financial institutions and governments pulled together to bailout failing companies, it was the humble tax-paying workforce that had to push through the difficulties of a recession, employment cutbacks, high inflation, and low interests rates.

In difficult times, the companies that survive are those that innovate.  They evolve and adapt to new ways of working, and those new ways of working inadvertently become the norm. And I’m not the only one who thinks that, ask Steve Ballmer. An executive email published by the Microsoft CEO, entitled The New Efficiency, describes how difficult times result in new ways of working. Cloud computing has long been used to define the future of business enterprise, and describing cloud based-computing often conjures up images of 3D worlds, impossibly thin net-book computers, and completely wire-free working (including powerless power transmission).

As the global workforce begins to collaborate on a larger scale, we’ll see the wider adoption and gradual proliferation of web-based tools,  based on open APIs  (ie sets of technologies that enable websites to interact with each other by using SOAP, Javascript and other web technologies) to aid this mode of working. We’ll find that companies will shift from a static, closed-off, intranet to an interactive, more intuitive, web-based intranet with a greater level of immersion.  And this will spawn from the empowerment of information to the user.  Users will have the knowledge, and understanding, of information at their fingertips and this will allow them to do more with the information available to them. This will be driven by rapid developments in business intelligence techniques, greater transparency in communication across corporate divisions, and advanced levels of data analytics.

Corporate social networking will become the standard platform for communicating within the workplace, and consequently we’ll see a range of mobile device applications which will deliver user centric information direct to a user in real-time. And this information will be synchronised across the myriad of guises that form the user’s corporate identity, in applications such as Microsoft Outlook, instant messaging tools, and knowledge management platforms. We’ll find, by the close of 2010, that web-applications will have the same richness and usability as desktop applications, and that users will gravitate towards online working as the transition between the two platforms becomes almost evolutionary.

A greater emphasis will be placed on home-working, and the ability to work remotely. And this will, in turn, drive developments in wireless telecommunications and advance developments in online collaboration via shared web-based applications. We’ll find that wireless hotspots will have greater coverage with a more reliable (and stable) connection and laptops will downsize as users become part of a more mobile workforce.

No doubt we can already see the benefits, and changes, flash memory is bringing. And as the capacity of flash memory increases so will the versatility of its use. We’ll reduce the need to store files on a desktop or laptop computer and will instead carry the essential files we need with us, and this will be driven by rapid advancements in mobile device technology.

Solid state technology isn’t new, and it’s most famous association is with hard disks. However, this will change in 2010 as solid state memory is introduced. This introduction will result in improved performance and processing power. A few years from now, as quantum computing advances, we’ll see the introduction of solid state processors – and by that time we’ll see the cost of solid state technology reduce to levels of actual disk-based hard disks presently available.

Imagine looking through the lens of your mobile phone camera, and seeing the world as you would normally but with an overlay of user-specific data. Augmented reality will deliver just that. For users this will mean using the device – pointing it at a specific location or landmark whilst walking around – and seeing synchronised data and website links relating to whatever they’re looking at.

There are a myriad of other technologies that will evolve over the course of 2010, technologies that will fight for our attention, and technologies that will assist us daily – I’d be fascinated to hear your thoughts on this…

Comments (3) | Print | Send | del.icio.us | Digg It! | Linking Blogs

Noughties gadgets and goodbye

---

Over the last decade there have been many technological advances. Here are just a few of them:

Mp3 players: who would have thought that the music industry would be revolutionised by mp3s, downloading music rather than buying CDs? But the iPod and the related iTunes must have an iconic place in the music industry for changing the way that people listen to music.

Mobile phones have advanced getting smaller, having a longer life and becoming multifunctional devices. Most phones that you can buy today have internet access, built in cameras and mp3 players. You can build or buy applications for your phone to personalise what you use your phone for.

The internet although established before the noughties decade has involved with faster broadband speeds, wireless access and mobile broadband. TV programmes are increasingly being streamed over the internet, with application such as the iPlayer leading the way of 'catching up' on missed TV broadcasts.

Devices are becoming smaller with larger memories. Faster and easier to use perhaps? If we have advanced this much in the last 10 years how much will we do so in the next 10? I would love to see teleportation devices developed (as suggested by T3 in their Top 10 Tech Wishes for 2010). This would make travel/commuting much quicker and easier. So as I sign off from my last post I say 'Beam me up Scottie'.

 

Comments (0) | Print | Send | del.icio.us | Digg It! | Linking Blogs

Raleigh 09K Phase 3 and End of Expedition:

---

Having previously completed the trek and community phases, the final three weeks of my Raleigh 09K expedition was spent working with the Borneo Sun Bear Conservation Center (BSBCC) preparing the perimeter of the new enclosure before the bears are released in March. Located near the popular Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Center, the BSBCC will house up to 20 bears, teaching them the necessary skills needed to survive before releasing them back into the wild.

Sun bears are the world's smallest bear species and spend most of their solitary life in the high trees of the rainforest. As more and more primary jungle is being cultivated to meet the strong demand for palm oil and rosewood, the home of the sun bear is fast diminishing. To make matters worse, illegal pet trade has left many cubs orphaned and living in small cages with no access to the rainforest.

As well as providing a center for rescued bears to be rehabilitated before being released back into the wild, the BSBCC also aims to raise awareness of this unique and threatened animal. Over a period of three weeks, our team (Alpha 4) worked on the external and internal fences of the center, driving 3ft iron rods into the ground to prevent the bears digging under the perimeter and escaping. I personally felt that this was the most rewarding project as it is such a great cause, making the often repetitive work meaningful and spurring the group on to complete the challenging milestones set.

Now that phase three has finished, Raleigh expedition 09K has come to an end meaning the next adventure to New Zealand begins. In one month I will return to Sabah, Borneo, for the 10A expedition as a Project Manager, employing all the new skills I have picked up over the past ten weeks to empower individuals who step up as day leaders – hopefully they won't mind getting very muddy...
 

Comments (1) | Print | Send | del.icio.us | Digg It! | Linking Blogs

Raleigh 09K Phase 2 - Gravity Water Feed

---

Changeover is upon the Raleigh 09K venturers once again and the usual struggle to access the hotel's only computer and landline has commenced. The past three weeks has seen Alpha 2, of which I am a proud member, pushed to their physical, mental and emotional limits in a challenging and exhausting sprint to complete the gravity water feed for Tampasak village.

A gravity water feed, as the name suggests, uses gravity to push water from one end of a pipe to the other, allowing the creators to re-route water from nearby rivers directly to the village. Our gravity water feed was to travel 4.7km from a soon-to-be created damn (110m above sea level), down through the jungle and over a ridge to the village where it would fill six 1,600 litre barrels whose water level was controlled by a float valve. From here a further five 1,600 litre barrels spread around Tampasak village would be connected giving the locals direct access to over 17,000 litres of drinking water, helping them through the dry season which had previously proved challenging.

Moving 4.7km of heavy pipe through the dense Borneo jungle is a pretty tall order, and without the sterling effort and commitment shown by the Sabah Forestry Department, the local villagers and the Alpha 2 teams, the project would never have been completed. Even with so many volunteers, the project suffered continuous unforeseen setbacks and required every ounce of energy, adaptability and motivation to prevent the ever-splitting pipes defeating us.

Having just completed a full phase consisting of 5:45 wake-up calls without a single day off I can safely say that we as a team left Tampasak proud in the knowledge that the infrastructure for fresh drinking water was in place. Raleigh and the Sabah Forestry Department are currently in the process of procuring a pump to siphon the water over the highest ridge and we expect the barrels to be full within the next few days.

To keep up to date on the great work Raleigh is doing in Borneo visit the website here.

Until next time...

Comments (0) | Print | Send | del.icio.us | Digg It! | Linking Blogs

More Entries