New Job, New Computer

New Job Well, It’s been 2+ weeks now at my new job with Siemens. For those of you who don’t know, I am responsible for Business Continuity Planning for Siemens China - a small organization of about ~70 companies and 20,000 employees. What is Business Continuity Planning (BCP), you ask? Well, my first answer is to read the link I just provided in the previous sentence. (Hey, if you can’t read that link because it is blocked in China, go here) My second answer is, well, I’m new at it, so I only have an idea of what it is - but a big part of it is learning how to do it specific to the organization - as there isn’t a cookie cutter approach you can take from organization to organization. So, I will be developing the BCP strategy/plan for Siemens China over the next several months, implement it across the organization, monitor, and improve. Sounds like I’m BS’ing, right? You could be right…. The nice thing about this new job is I will be able to focus on a single (large) project as opposed to many projects in my previous company - not to mention, I won’t be having anything to do with IT implementation. A nice changed of pace! I am quite excited about this change for a number of reasons:

1. As I mentioned above, I get to build something pretty much from scratch (at least from Siemens China’s prospective), implement it, monitor it, improve it, etc.
2. I have worked for a small(er) company for the past 4 years. I have been wanting to move into a larger organization for a while now; I am well aware that a large organization brings another breed of challenges; internal politics for one. But, that’s part of the fun, right? But let me tell you, a large corporation vs a small company: a world of difference. Both pros and cons.
3. This marks a 95% (or so) shift in career focus for me. No more IT implementation. Yes, BCP has an IT aspect (though it’s not only IT). Implementing an IT component of a Continuity Plan isn’t my job - its the service provider’s (i.e. internal IT organization) job. I suppose you could say this is bordering a governance role, although, that’s more of a CIO organization’s responsibility. I just make recommendations, and let them take care of it.

Well, I don’t want to bore you with more details. Besides, I’m still new and learning. New Computer Yesterday, I got my new computer. I bought a Dell Dimension 9200. The specs are:

• Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 2.4GHz
• 2 GB Ram (667 MHz, DDR2)
• 320GB Hard Disk
• Standard GeForce 7300 LE Graphics card (will upgrade that puppy in about 6 months)
• A 20inch Wide screen Dell Ultra Sharp flat panel LCD monitor - this thing rocks!
• Microsoft Vista Home Premium - Can you say “Early Adopter”? It is a little on the painful side, but I think I can get through it….

OK, yeah, so, That’s it. That’s what has been going on the last couple of weeks.