Social Media - Cloud Tools - blessing or curse for the Quality Field - Quality in Unusual Places

Quality Management needs and Social Media Tools in the Cloud often seem totally unconnected. So is finding a long term quality tool in the social media cloudy universe probably asking too much or not ? I chose this as my theme when ASQ's Paul Borawski asked the ASQ Influential Bloggers to explore finding Quality Tools in Unusual Places as their theme for March 2013.

Both Quality and Social Media share a focus on improvement and innovation. However Quality Management requires procedures with documents and records to be kept for extended periods - whereas the Social Media in the Cloud paradigm is more rooted in ephemera and the ever ephemeral - also seemingly all too trivial to some.

Nearly 5 years ago, as the Global Financial Crisis exploded onto the world stage, I found my Quality Manager role totally shaken up. For the previous two years it had mainly required a "steady hand on the tiller". But as my company wanted to expand its export efforts it faced an ever increasing number of non-tariff barriers aka Technical Barriers to Trade aka TBT's. As Quality Manager I was tasked with working through the maze and getting the certifications in place.

The amount of information I had to sift through to understand the global trade and standards system of each country or region that I was dealing with seemed insurmountable - as various countries fled increasingly into the use of the TBT's to protect their domestic economy. The US Trade Representative's report of 2010 showed how the number of TBT's experienced exponential growth. So a lot of work for me, but when you consider each boatload of steel sent to Europe was worth 15 million Euro's - it became quite compelling to get on top of those evergrowing mountains of information.

Coincidentally in late 2008 I had attended a National Knowledge Management Conference in Canberra Australia where newly emerging social media tools were being enthusiastically shared. Initially hesitant, but by March 2009 I had decided to dive in head first into the social media tools pool to help deal with the TBT information overload :

• storing & sharing favourite websites aka bookmarks - (thenYahoo's) Delicious
• scanning for information - Twitter & Hootsuite microblogging tools plus Google Alerts, groups in LinkedIn and powerpoints in Slideshare
• blogs - although back then the number of Quality related blogs was still quite low - initially I used Google's Blogger but then moved over to Posterous which was a little friendlier to use
• RSS feeds & RSS reader - when great sources of information were located I could feed them into Google Reader where I could read them in one place without doing Google searches or going to individual websites - a great time saver - and the articles could be tagged eg Quality, Records, Audits, TBT's etc. And it was all searchable and shareable. Over the following years I evolved to become one of Google Reader's Power Users.
• and I managed to get them inter-connected and talking to each other - my own beautiful little Quality ecosytem.
• I then shared the information in a Company Sharepoint site via a wiki - a great tool for on-boarding a new team member. And to also minimise a whole lot of people going off and doing the same Google searches over and over again. My new team member soaked up the knowledge and information on that wiki like a sponge.

Togther these tools all made up my electronic Quality Personal Knowledge Management System Toolkit.

My company achieved certifications for several Asian countries and for the European CE Mark Construction Products Directive & Regulation. Using the Social Media tools helped save my sanity back then. And over the following couple of years, more folks in the Quality space began using these tools too, as well as ASQ, ISO, SAI Global etc - so it was all a great resource as my Quality Manager role expanded.

Then a few ripples and ructions.

I was headed to an ISO TC 176 SC2 Working Group meeting in Sydney Australia looking at the future of ISO 9001, when I heard that Yahoo decided to drop Delicious in December 2010. I had so many Quality related websites favourited in Delicious so I was definitely shaken by the news. A few days later I moved to Diigo along with quite a few others. Delicious was subsequently reincarnated - so I decided to use both - a sort of back up plan if either should fall over again.

Twitter bought Posterous Blogging and there were whispers that the end might then be nigh for Posterous - although this was denied - so I started moving copies of my blog articles over to Blogger as a backup just in case. I also began using Wordpress in late 2012 when I set up the social media tools for a local resident community group, but I hesitated to copy all of my own Posterous articles to the Wordpress Blog site - wouldn't copies of the same article in three places have been overkill ?

And then in February 2013, on the day I was heading out to South America for 6 weeks vacation, Posterous's demise was announced by Twitter's CEO - with no access available from May 2013. I was relieved that I would have time on my return to make sure all my article posts had gone to Blogger. And I began to re-think posting them all into Wordpress after all.

Finally in mid March 2013 when I was still vacationing in South America, Google announced it was retiring aka axing Google Reader as part of its "spring clean" - now that had me worried. So much of my Quality related information was in there. Previously I had put aside niggling thoughts of what to do if this ever happened.

By the time I was back home in Australia, possible solutions were emerging - 500,000 people had moved to Feedly - which looked prettier, but didn't have all the functionality of Google Reader although it is promised. Will it make the July 1 2013 deadline ? Who knows ? However it seemed the best of what was on offer.

Two other big guns, Digg and Wordpress have promised to develop solutions - and there is an alphabet soup of other products out there - but many were anchored in Google Reader so how they will go once it is axed - then again, who knows ?

Google advised of a tool to download your stored data from Google Reader, cutely entitled "Takeout" - unfortunately for some of the power users like me, we had to wait for even more tinkering to get our information downloaded.

Various folks began to remonstrate - can you trust Google - can you really trust social media tools in the cloud? Is it wise to develop such a reliance on them ? (Harold Jarche and John T Spencer). Others were like ... just get over it and move on - Beth Kanter - with references to Spencer Churchill's 1988 "Who moved my Cheese?"

Indeed the pace of change in this field of Social Media Tools in the Cloud is so great - such a very short half life. But for some of us, we need a much longer information half life - eg for Quality certification requirements or operation of physical infrastructure like power stations, highways and dams etc. Finally, I read, a couple of days ago, that some folks were beginning to recognize these differing half life paradigms.

I liked the comments on educationalist John T Spencer's blog post  on Google Reader's demise. He ended up agreeing it's worth using these tools - but make sure you have educated the students to understand change - and be sure you have a back up plan in case the plug gets pulled on the tool.

I would still advocate the use of these tools for the finding and sharing of supporting information in the Quality Management field - and definitely agree you need a back up plan to ensure continuity of this information. But for that key information, documents and records needed for Quality Certification, I would contend that they be kept in a place where you control their destiny - and not the boards of companies like Google, Yahoo and Twitter.

Posted via email from kerrieannesfridgemagnets's posterous

ASQ Global Influential Quality Voice from Down Under on Social Responsibility - Safe Foods - Quality Back to Basics - inspired by Paul Borawski

In Down Under Australia, January is usually the post New Year summer holiday season - beaches, long lazy lunches - but this year it's been one of crisis as we find so much of our country under water with the latest La Nina event - perhaps one of the worst in years. Great to see so many now volunteering in the clean-ups as the floods & cyclones (aka Hurricanes) continue. I have been fortunate that my family, friends & our properties have escaped. So I'm a little behind in my ASQ Global Influential Voices blogging (please note I do receive a variety of quality resources as an honorarium in exchange for my commitment. However the thoughts & opinions that I express here in my blog are my own!).

We have this amazing ASQ CEO Paul Borawski who's blogged on CSR - Corporate Social Responsibility, Quality Goals for 2011 and Food Safety. So inspiring to see our leader "being a leader". Especially when I read my daily RSS feeds of ASQ News. At times it's been horrifying to read some of the updates - food safety issues on so many different continents, electronic voting machine fraud. Although I am Engineering/Knowledge Quality Manager, my first job was as a junior casual at a Tourism food outlet, where I learnt about food quality & safety
.
And I am really enjoying reading the thoughts of my fellow ASQ Global Influential Voices for Quality as they blog on key quality related topics - eg from the USA, South America & India. Without this ASQ program I might never have encountered all of these fantastic people's ideas ! See my Blogroll (Left Frame) to read their latest thoughts !

As for my goals, some I've made a good start on already ...

• Back to the basics re-focus on quality - yesterday I pulled together a quick Powerpoint for my Team on what ISO 9001 says about expectations on Product Conformity (quite a lot  actually !) I was inspired by Dr Nigel Croft, Chair of ISO TC 176 SC2, at the Sydney meeting in December 2010 - clearly it's not meant to be about "concrete life jackets & concrete lifeboats" but consistently conforming with customers' product conformity requirements
• Maintaining & gaining new national & international certifications (ISO 9001, CE Mark, ISO 17025, Singapore BC 1, Malaysia SIRIM, Indonesia SNI & new Australian ATIC) to enable my company to win new markets - means using new technologies like social media to stay on top of what's happening eg the EU's upcoming Construction Products Regulation due to replace the Directive with associated CE Marking requirements
• Exploring the different "Managements" in a Quality Paradigm - Knowledge, Risk, Records - and sharing these via Sharepoint wiki pages so the knowledge is not just locked up in my brain and my PKM - Personal Knowledge Management system (across Googlereader RSS, ASQ, UK CQI, Elsmar Cove, Quality Magazine, ISO, Hootsuite, Twitter, Diigo, Blogs, C-Drive & Servers, LinkedIn, Hard Copies, Sharepoint, Documentum)
• eg facilitate cross fertilizing between our Knowledge Management Service Librarians & our Quality Management Systems Auditors on Records Management
• Working with our Learning & Development & Product Stewardship teams on issues of common concern, like reinvigorating our Knowledge Management program, on Corporate Social Responsibility ISO 26000 issues & capturing it in Sharepoint wiki pages
• And, post the "worst of the last 2 years of the Global Financial Crisis" to set up Quality Development & Awareness programs, to create Lessons Learned from the experiences of BP and Toyota, as it would be so easy to succumb if we don't take a strong stand on quality and ethics
• Migrate our site' main controlled document system from an Intranet to a Sharepoint portal connected with anEMC Documentum CMS
• Upgrade our org's Atlassian Confluence - our critical IP system
• Foster use of Web 2.0 tools by my colleagues to achieve cost effective DIY ways of staying current in our professional discipline areas
• Reincarnate our organization's Quality Global Community of Practice
• Help my external network members to understand the records management compliance requirements in a rapidly changing world of social media, mobile web & Cloud computing technologies. Fortunately my significant other is a governance manager in ICT Project Management so we do lots of cross-fertilization !
• Participate in ISO TC 176 SC 2 WG23 as a corresponding member under Tania Marcos and in Australia's ISO TC 176 SC2 mirror committee, QR-008 under Darryl Yanniuck - also its sister committee on Auditing QR-006
• To learn from my fellow Standards Australia committee members, Kevin Foley & Alex Ezrakovich
• Help to capture the amazing knowledge of one of Australia's governance icons, a silver citizen & Web 2.0 Apprentice, Stan Ambrose, in writing a technical note on the performance of steels, in pressure equipment under emergencies like serious fires / explosions - so much great knowledge - too valuable to lose !
• To reflect on the various ideas & concepts I'm encountering, rather than just filing - my new A Maven's Magnets weekly blog
• And to support my Ms 16 year old Teenager as she enters her last year of High School & seeks to gain entry to an Australian University

so much to do ... it's going to be a great ride !

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Postscripts from my Google Reader RSS & Twitter feeds :

“The happy people are those who are producing something; the bored people are those who are consuming much and producing nothing.”

William Ralph Inge (1860 – 1954)

English author, Anglican priest, Professor of Divinity at the University of Cambridge, and Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral

"Open your arms to change, but do not let go of your values"~ Dalai Lama

Posted via email from kerrieannesfridgemagnets's posterous

Cloud Computing - Heads in Sand - Governance Issues

It started as trickle, but like a dripping tap, the flow kept up ... for the last few weeks Cloud Computing keeps dropping into my email inbox ... something to do with Microsoft's Blue Sky Horizon, Windows Azure. Like the dripping tap, I tried to ignore it as just more IT geek jargon. Realisation dawned .. I'd been a fledgling Cloud Computing user for a few years without realising ... as I paid my EBay bills using PayPal, used Amazon Books payment system, Google maps, Blogger, Google Reader for RSS feeds, LinkedIn, Yahoo Groups, Web based email, etc etc.

In the end I found Robin Hastings' (Missouri River Regional Library) slideshare presentation on "Cloud Computing" & the Cloud Computing Glossary the most non-geek friendly.

But like the rest of Web 2.0 applications, rather than head in the sand, avoiding Cloud Computing issues, those with governance roles, need to be asking questions of those with their heads in the clouds, looking to blue sky horizon possibilities. Those questions need to be fully answered, and not treated dismissively.Starting with ... Will Cloud Computing storage providers guarantee access to your information & records for as long as statutory regulations require, regardless of whether done in house or outsourced ... sometimes decades ? Then would Private Clouds & Virtual Private Clouds be better approaches ? Gartner predicts a future in this approach for large organizations. If IT departments were worried about managing security concerns with Web 2.0's Microsoft Sharepoint, they must be agonising over Governance and the full ramifications of Cloud Computing applications, eg Chieftech.blogspot. Perhaps, looking at it from Web 2.0 experiences, if companies & quality management professionals have their heads in the sand, then the horses will bolt.

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Cloud Computing - detail Heads in the Sand on Governance

It started as trickle, but like a dripping tap, the flow kept up ... for the last few weeks Cloud Computing keeps dropping into my email inbox. Probably something to do with Microsoft's Blue Sky Horizon, recently announced, venture into the field, with Windows Azure.

Like the dripping tap, I tried to ignore it as just more IT geek jargon. Finally curious enough, I clicked on one of the email hyperlinks ... a new unintelligible taxonomy aka jargon emerged. It meant turning to Wikipedia, to get a plain English understanding of "Cloud Computing"....and a bit more at "How Stuff Works". Funny how many Orgs frown on using Wikipedia, just like my old uni professor frowned on the Plain English style metallurgy textbook, used at the TAFE across the road, despite its friendlier "Gunning Fog" readibility ranking. In the end I found Robin Hastings' (Missouri River Regional Library) slideshare presentation & the Cloud Computing Glossary the most non-geek friendly.

Realisation dawned .. I'd been a fledgling Cloud Computing user for a few years without realising ... as I paid my EBay bills using PayPal, used Amazon Books payment system, Google maps, Blogger, Google Reader for RSS feeds, LinkedIn, Yahoo Groups, Web based email, etc etc. Many say Cloud Computing is the next disruptive computing technology, just like the IBM Mainframe, Apple 2 computer and internet - Web 1.0/Web 2.0.

And why did I go to Google Reader for RSS feeds ? Probably because my Org didn't seem to provide Readers for RSS feeds, or it was too hard to find out how, or its use was discouraged. Many other employees looked at me blankly when I asked about RSS feed? So it was easier just to go outside the system. If I found anything worthwhile, then I'd just archive it, email it around internally or capture really useful bits onto a Sharepoint Wiki Page.

Another stage for the Microsoft vs Sun Microsystems paradigm debacle, with Microsoft's catch up commercialisation plans in offering a fee per use. "Cloud Computing" seems headed to SME's, so they don't have to outlay the capital for huge IT systems. Some commentators liken it to electricity and water utilities access and usage charging - where you don't need your own generator, windmill or well. Consumers expect reliable and safe supply at rates that are not exorbitant. But what about governance ? After all it was a utility, Enron, that led to the Sarbanes Oxley legislation in the USA.

It was dawning that, like the rest of Web 2.0 applications, rather than head in the sand, avoiding Cloud Computing issues, those with governance roles, need to be asking questions of those with their heads in the clouds, looking to blue sky horizon possibilities. Those questions need to be fully answered, and not treated dismissively.

Starting with ... Will Cloud Computing storage providers guarantee access to your information & records for as long as statutory regulations require, regardless of whether done in house or outsourced ... sometimes decades ? A good question and one being posed on How Stuff Works - Cloud Computing Security Concerns page. Very pertinent in an era of increased regulatory constraints, following the financial global meltdown. But then Key IT decision makers fret about the cost of software licensing and what they may perceive to be excessive and unnecessary data storage, ... forgetting the ramifications of not having data storage. Systems, which businesses need in order to operate, ie QMS, EMS, OHSMS, CRMS, FMS, have requirements to keep records for a very long time. Breach those and it could be a very costly threat to your business's longevity. Some commentators seem to be recognising this concern.

What about production history systems - no matter if managed in-house or via "Cloud Computing" applications ? If your product identity codes are re-used in a "wrap around" situation, it might be tempting to cut costs and not archive the records of each wrap around sequence separately. But how do you know if the data is for item "Awxyz" produced in 2006 or for item "Awxyz" from 2009. 3rd Party quality auditors certifying your Quality Management Systems, and Factory Production Control Systems, could take a dim view of your cost cutting - not good, especially if you plan to export into the EU in Europe.

There's the challenge - in line with James Robertson's view of two uses for a wiki - to ensure governance, "command and control" rules where they're needed - as well as to encourage collaborative environments with enabling support, hints and tips, to capture lessons learned, preventing key knowledge loss (refer egov.vic) . I decided to ask the "significant other", one of the aforementioned IT geeks, about his exposure to Cloud Computing & governance issues, a pause, then he explained how it was being adopted by some organizations, as a Virtual Private Cloud to enable collaboration with external users, and yet maintain security. Gartner predicts a future in Private Clouds/Virtual Private Clouds approaches for large organizations.

If IT departments were worried about managing security concerns with Web 2.0's Microsoft Sharepoint, they must be agonising over Governance and the full ramifications of Cloud Computing applications, eg Chieftech.blogspot. And again, despite all the proclamations, it will be a behavioural issue. Perhaps, looking at it from Web 2.0 experiences, if companies & quality management professionals have their heads in the sand, then the horses will bolt.