Spirited News, Observations & Thoughts IV

[ford91exploder]

It is a well-studied phenomenon that a great number of ICT projects are delivered over budget, past deadline, without realising their goals.

If you pay me $85k, I'll tell you why. (Hints: set clear goals, appoint non-ICT management as the head of the project, set up a seprate project for every goal)

It is not just Disney. They all fall for very predictable - if fiendishly difficult to avoid - trappings:
http://www.infoq.com/news/2011/10/risky-it-projects

Notice the common themes here, Consultants, Buzzword compliance, Executive control of project with no experience in the field. I've spent a career cleaning up messes like these and they are becoming increasingly common as IT functions are outsourced so the business knowledge of WHY something was done in the past has been lost.

I have seen too many companies fail because they took on overambitious IT projects and executives made design decisions that their technical teams told them NOT to do and the project and company failed.

A classic example of this was the Challenger disaster Engineers told NASA leadership NOT to launch but mgmt told the engineers they did not know what they were talking about (tragically turned out they DID know what they were talking about)

Another example of a failed IT upgrade is the IRS new system 5.5 billion down the drain and system was scrapped because it could not be fixed, Once again consultants and buzzword compliance rather than sound engineering ruled the day

 

[Eeyore]

Point blank I think it is obvious there are people with nothing to add and who are looking to distract, derail, and destroy. I think those folks should be warned and then asked to not post in the thread. I am not speaking of anyone who simply disagrees with a point being made. But if they can't argue or debate it in an adult fashion and resort to discussing ME, then I think that should be grounds for their removal from the thread and, possibly, the forum.

These people are not arguing the points, they are arguing my merits as a member of the human species and I kind of have a problem with that.

I don't disagree with you. We need for those types of comments to be reported so they can be dealt with.

 

[willtravel]

Percentage wise, has any Disney project been that much over budget?

I'd be curious to know if all of this blank check is for MM+ only or that and other projects at WDW? Not talking about Disney Springs though.

 

[wdisney9000]

@MattM , may I ask if you have an affiliation with TWDC? I am not trying to be a smart by asking nor am I looking for any personal information. Just trying to understand both sides of the debate a little better.

 

[Tim_4]

@MattM , may I ask if you have an affiliation with TWDC? I am not trying to be a smart by asking nor am I looking for any personal information. Just trying to understand both sides of the debate a little better.

I think you might be thinking about things backwards. People have been throwing accusations around that anyone with anything positive to say about TWDC or TDO or whoever must be affiliated with the company. In my experience, people INSIDE TWDC are among the most cynical, roll-your-eyes, pixie-dust-makes-you-vomit bunch you'll ever encounter.

 

[MattM]

@MattM , may I ask if you have an affiliation with TWDC? I am not trying to be a smart by asking nor am I looking for any personal information. Just trying to understand both sides of the debate a little better.

Happy to answer. I have affiliations with 2 of 3 major theme parks in Orlando, and one just outside. But work for none of them.

 

[wdisney9000]

I think you might be thinking about things backwards. People have been throwing accusations around that anyone with anything positive to say about TWDC or TDO or whoever must be affiliated with the company. In my experience, people INSIDE TWDC are among the most cynical, roll-your-eyes, pixie-dust-makes-you-vomit bunch you'll ever encounter.

So would I be correct in assuming that you are in the fold somehow? Again, just curious.

 

[Tim_4]

So would I be correct in assuming that you are in the fold somehow? Again, just curious.

"In the fold somehow" would be fair. I am not a "low level TDO drone" as some have alleged, however.

 

[Captain Neo]

I think you might be thinking about things backwards. People have been throwing accusations around that anyone with anything positive to say about TWDC or TDO or whoever must be affiliated with the company. In my experience, people INSIDE TWDC are among the most cynical, roll-your-eyes, pixie-dust-makes-you-vomit bunch you'll ever encounter.

That's just not true. Lee Macdonald and Corrus were company men through and through and fought constantly with WDW1974 and tried to make him look like a nut they tried the same with Al Lutz despite the fact that all of his reports ended up happening for the most part and i've known several others including one particular gentleman on this forum who hasn't posted in awhile.

 

[wdwmagic]

Can we please once and for all put a stop to the silly name calling, accusations of posters being plants, accusations of trolls, personal attacks, and generally acting like kids in the playground.

I, and other moderators have made this request on several occasions, and after a brief halt in hostilities it occurs again. I'm frankly sick of dealing with it. Not that it should be necessary, because we are all grown adults here, but how about we lay down some ground rules for this thread.

If ANYONE continues to make accusations of a poster being a troll, plant, they are going to be banned. If you have ANY concerns about a member, contact me with a private conversation or use the Report feature.

If ANYONE continues to make any personal attacks on another member, they are going to be banned.

If ANYONE does not follow the terms of posting (http://forums.wdwmagic.com/help/terms), they are going to be banned.

It is really not difficult to follow some basic rules and make the place better for everyone. If you find yourself not being able to remain civil and follow the rules, STAY OUT OF THE THREAD or leave the forum.

We are here to discuss WDW in a useful way - how about we get back to that?

 

[danlb_2000]

This.

For all its real (and perceived) faults, WalMart has put a significant amount of effort into inventory tracking, supply chain management, and predictive and reactionary sales.

1) I have read repeatedly that WalMart orders inventory on a sell-and-replace basis that automatically places an order when a product is scanned at the register. This allows them to keep the stores full but also to see exactly when items sell - which has to give some pretty amazing analytics. Obvious connection is food/beverage and merch sales. Also would let them tie that turkey leg to the plush bought two days later.

2) On supply chain, I believe that all their shipping containers and boxes are RFID tagged, and all the trucks are GPS enabled (they show that much in TV ads). They apparently have incredible cost efficiency when running trucks and this allows them to run mostly or always loaded semis. They have also done a lot to increase fuel efficiency and reuse of boxes via these systems. Obvious connection is the busses.

3) Finally, WalMart and many other distributers have adapted very flexible supply chain processes that allow them to react to sudden events (hurricanes....changes in crowds) and to better track trends. I think something like real time staffing needs might be incredibly useful or even more accurate vendor orders for perishables, etc.

Just some thoughts.

Walmart was one of the early pioneers in supply chain RFID and learned the hard way how difficult wide spread adoption would be. They had a much harder time getting their suppliers to buy into RFID then they expected. Walmart was also one of the early pioneers in big data analytics, using all the data collected from every item they sell to predict people's buying patterns, sound familiar.

 

[scout68]

hello...

 

[flynnibus]

Percentage wise, has any Disney project been that much over budget?

EPCOT was over 2.3x it's original budget.

DLP was 4-5x it's original budget depending on what numbers you trust.

 

[Tim_4]

That's just not true. Lee Macdonald and Corrus were company men through and through and fought constantly with WDW1974 and tried to make him look like a nut they tried the same with Al Lutz despite the fact that all of his reports ended up happening for the most part and i've known several others including one particular gentleman on this forum who hasn't posted in awhile.

I don't happen to know Lee MacDonald. I was talking about the "TDO drones," on-the-ground ops managers, low level professionals of various types. I was also speaking just from personal experience. I wasn't trying to state a universal truth.

 

[flynnibus]

Oh, so those MAGIC Bands have a use outside WDW? They can be active in people's homes? Is that what you are saying?

Similar to the idea that your credit card's magnetic strip still works anywhere If you volunteer your info... of course it can be collected. The idea used by Infinity is really no different than taking your old KTTW card and swiping it.. it's just with a chip instead of a stripe.

 

[lazyboy97o]

I don't get why the MagicBands working with Disney Infinity is a surprise. It's not nor was it kept secret by Disney. Staggs let that feature be known in the interview he did at All Things Digital. It also means NOTHING in terms of tracking unless you are allowing Disney to instal the readers in your house. If the game used magnetic stripe cards instead of near-field RFID it would still be possible with the old non-RFID Key to the World Cards. This is similar to the first generation of FastPass machines giving out FastPass times for credit cards, non-Disney hotel keys, and almost anything else with a magnetic stripe.

 

[Tim_4]

I don't get why the MagicBands working with Disney Infinity is a surprise. It's not nor was it kept secret by Disney. Staggs let that feature be known in the interview he did at All Things Digital. It also means NOTHING in terms of tracking unless you are allowing Disney to instal the readers in your house. If the game used magnetic stripe cards instead of near-field RFID it would still be possible with the old non-RFID Key to the World Cards. This is similar to the first generation of FastPass machines giving out FastPass times for credit cards, non-Disney hotel keys, and almost anything else with a magnetic stripe.

I don't think it's much of a big deal other than to say "this is the type of thing they're hoping to be able to do with NextGen."

 

[PhotoDave219]

Well..... One of these contractors is bound to leak some documents eventually. Someone will get ed enough.

 

[PhotoDave219]

I don't think it's much of a big deal other than to say "this is the type of thing they're hoping to be able to do with NextGen."

Yes. But. Now your game device is linked to a unique identifier. Will that be able to see what other games you play and hense, targeted advertising to you?

 

[John]

Ok...I have a question I haven't seen thus far......plus a comment.
I absolutely know that someone on here knows the answer to this. @WDW1974 you well may know the answer. If this amount of money ( whatever the number is) has been "spent" how does this work with the budget....ie Profit and losses? How does this amount effect the bottom line? more aptly bonuses? Also spending this amount of money wouldn't we see some kind of blip on wall street? We rabble rouse about how wall street plays apart in what goes on with Disney....investors haven't shown their concern.

I actually have two comments. It puzzles me that Disney hasn't kicked their high octane marketing machine into high gear yet as far as NGE is concerned. If in fact they intend to roll it out...why no public education? ie commercials?

I guess I am on the side of being a "Grumpy Ol' Man..... I think all of you are correct in that the magic handcuff in your home is at most benign. But I am sorry but to me.....its creepy. Go ahead laugh at your screen...its ok...I have been called worse....you see I have an exwife.

edit: I understand bonuses are given by the BOD. My point is with this expense is it....could it be....justified?