wherenecessary. We’vegonea step further and implementeda “beta” team. Beta is tech talk for “this
application isgoing tobreakwhenyou try touse it”. We sendout thebeta teamwith the tablet know-
ing stuff is going tobreak. They feel important because they aredoing something important andwe
get great feedback tomake theprocessbetter.
Thehumornotwithstanding, staff performancehasbeenexceptional. AndKen couldnot beprouder.
We’ve shownour
FieldWorkTrackingandDeskTopReview
PowerPoint tohundreds andhundreds
of people. Andyouknow thebest part…It’snot smokeandmirrors. It’snot embellished. It’sREAL.
Yes itwashard, yes itwas time consuming. It cost someadditionalmoneyon the front endbut you
sometimeshave to spend to save. Time for another aside.
Forme themost annoying continuingexpense
was
the tablets. Youwill shakeyourhead indisbelief at
someof theexcuses staff comesupwith to explainhow the tablet glass got cracked. Donot believe
them - -unless youarebuyingused tablets. Turnsout, someof theearly tabletsdidhave some issues
despiteour staff treating them like they cameout of aPezdispenser.
Right nowwearedown to 12 staffmembers. Andourproduction isoff the charts. And thework is
managed
. Weknowwhereweare,what’sbeingdoneandwhat needs tobedone. Weare in full com-
pliancewith the statutesand looking forward to future tablet implementations. Formore information,
visit
nddownload the full presentationcompletewith screenshots
and statistics (note: thepresentation is 111MBand I’m told ifmore thanoneof you try todownload it
at a time, ourwebsitewill crash).
Finally,wehave someunfinishedbusiness. Truthbe told,wehaven’t totallydiscarded theoldprocess.
Wehaveone fieldperson left that isn’t required touse the tablet…andonhisdesk remains the last
stackof paper field cards. Forposterityand topreserve the link toour storiedpast,weprinted the last
batchout and toldhimhe can’t retireuntil he finishes getting through them. He’s like84and still
workingon them…true story.
Well, I thinkyou’ve likelyhadenoughofmeand changebeing inevitableandall, in themiddleofme
composing thisbest seller I’m told I’mnot a real techguy so they’vemademeChiefDeputy (ohplease
BrerFox,whatever youdo, pleasedon't throwme into thebriarpatch…).
Last t
rue story.
Withmuchappreciation to staff for the fodder ofmyquips and thankyou, theaudience for allowingus
to shareour story.
ArticleContributor: JamesA. Sherron, CFE
ChiefDeputy, fka ITandDataServicesAdmin
(Continued frompage 15)
Spring2014Newsletterof theFCIAAO
16
“Technology isa reallygreat thingbut it is important to “hiregood
peopleandget out of theway”asKen likes to say. ”
