Category Archives: IT Manager Institute

My 5th trip to Dubai

Posted on March 4, 2012 | Leave a comment

This week I’m in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) for my 5th visit to teach another IT Manager Institute, , , it is my 48th program since 2003.

The trip started off well with an open seat next to me on the airplane. The flight was free by using points from my frequent flyer account and being able to stretch out a bit on the 14-hour flight from Atlanta made it even more better.

I’ve worked in IT most of my career so I take a few precautions when flying on such long trips.

  • First, I take an earlier flight from Nashville to Atlanta. It causes me to have a longer layover, but I have a backup plan with later flights to Atlanta if mine is delayed or something happens to cancel the flight. Sure don’t want to miss my connection as it would mean I have to fly through Paris, , , and I avoid that airport at all costs.
  • Second, I arrive in Dubai a day ahead of time. This gives me a whole day to rest before class and also provides a backup plan in case something happens to delay or cancel the flight. I had to use this backup alternative on one of my previous flights so I know it can happen.

Getting here a day early allows me to rest up like I said and to get my body adjusted to the local time.

Class started yesterday and we have a great group, , , 7 managers from UAE, Nigeria, and Saudi Arabia. The week will go by fast because I can already tell this group is going to be fun to work with, , , they started “jabbing” a bit on the first day, , , a very good sign!!

I plan to see some new things on this trip plus I have already had an amazing experience that I’ll share in my next post.

Cheers.

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IT Manager Store web site announcement

Posted on January 26, 2012 | Leave a comment

Last week we announced the IT Manager Store web site to our newsletter subscribers, , , one location where you will find some of the best and most practical IT manager resources in the industry.

To “jumpstart” the site and offer our newsletter subscribers an opportunity, we announced a 20% across the board discount for items purchased on the IT Manager Store site through January 31, 2012.

Books
Tools and templates
Training

You can take advantage of this limited time special. Simply use the coupon code “jumpstart” and the site’s shopping cart will reduce your price automatically.

Go to
www.itmanagerstore.com
and check it out

Offer good through January 31, 2012

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Big plans for 2012

Posted on January 26, 2012 | Leave a comment

As you look at your own IT management situation, new optimism occurs with the beginning of each new year. The holidays are over and a new year has begun.

Have you developed your 2012 plans, , , do you know what you want to accomplish in this new year?

We have big plans for 2012 at MDE Enterprises, Inc. and have been working very hard to get positioned for 2012. Let me outline the key components for you:

A.  IT Manager Institute training – our flagship IT Manager Institute training program will expand in 2012 with webinar training and we will add many more IT managers to the ITBMC certification list. Our goal is to make this exceptional training value available to every IT manager in the world by making it accessible and affordable. There are now 3 options to attend the IT Manager Institute and gain your ITBMC status.
–  Classroom  –  Five classes scheduled so far with trips to Dubai and Atlanta.
–  Webinar  –  IT Manager Institute webinar class will be delivered each quarter.
–  Self Study  –   IT Manager Institute SELF STUDY program is the most affordable and one of the best values we have.

B. WEBINAR Training Series – We plan to deliver 1-hour webinar classes to expand our reach considerably in 2012, to make our training more affordable for many, and to be able to offer a variety of IT manager training topics.
–  2 webinar classes delivered each month and recorded for future access. Our first webinar classes include:

  • Feb 6 – Boost Your Career With a Professional Development Plan
  • Feb 13 – Communicate IT Success With an IT Initiatives Portfolio
  • Mar 12 – Turn Difficult Clients Into Opportunities
  • Mar 26 – Dealing With Problem Employees
  • Apr 9 – Triple Threat to IT Success
  • Apr 16 – IT Assessment: the key to success

–  Quarterly IT Manager Institute webinar programs

  • Monday-Friday, February 20-24
  • Monday-Friday, April 23-27
  • Monday-Friday, July 23-27
  • Monday-Friday, November 12-16

C. 20 Minute IT Manager Series – Tom Mochal and I are developing new 20 Minute IT Manager sessions and will start delivering two per month. Here is the list of topics for the first six months:

  • Jan – Value-Add PMO (TM)
  • Jan – Simple Client Survey Tells You a Lot (MS)
  • Feb – Successfully Market Your PMO (TM)
  • Feb – Effective IT Staff Meetings (MS)
  • Mar – Managing Outsourced Projects (TM)
  • Mar – 10 Ways To Improve Client Service (MS)
  • Apr – Five Keys to Project Success (TM)
  • Apr – Prioritizing IT Projects (MS)
  • May – Applying Project Governance (TM)
  • May – IT Self Evaluation Checklist (MS)
  • Jun – Optimizing Project Resources (TM)
  • Jun – Create an IT Manager Dashboard (MS)

D. IT Due Diligence and Assimilation Program – Join me in a 2-day training program to learn what you need to know about IT due diligence and assimilation when acquiring another company. The process and tools are based upon my due diligence and transition experience in over 40 company acquisitions.

  • March 27-28, 2012 – Columbia, TN

E.  Books and tools – You probably know I devoted considerable time in 2011 to rewrite my first 10 books. They are completed and now called Mike Sisco’s Practical IT Manager GOLD Series. This series includes an updated IT Manager ToolKit and has been our top seller for 10 years, , , and it just got a whole lot better. CLICK HERE for info.

New book titles + new tools will be released in 2012. Stay tuned.

F.  New products – We have been hard at work to bring two new services to our IT manager community. The first is a Membership Program that allows you to access tools, training and products from our huge inventory of IT manager resources. There will be 3 levels – FREE, Silver, and Gold. Become a Premium Member and save. Active GOLD Members will receive new products and training we deliver.

The second product gives you the ability to earn commissions by creating awareness of our IT manager products. Affiliate status is available to a very select group, , , you have to be an IT Manager Institute graduate or a current GOLD Member of our membership program to participate. We are testing this system now and plan to roll it out in January to our Institute graduates first.

2012 is going to be a super year full of new experiences and great new projects to work on as we continue our mission of, “helping IT managers of the world achieve more success”.

I wish you the best of success as you enter this new year’s challenges and opportunities.

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MDE.net has moved to ITManagerInstitute.com

Posted on January 11, 2012 | Leave a comment

Well, it is finally completed, , , our web sites have been completely overhauled using a WordPress foundation. The mde.net web site will be phased out over time and we have moved to itmanagerinstitute.com.

WHY?

Pretty simple, , , the old web site certainly needed a facelift plus the tools we were using were not very search engine friendly although we rank pretty good in some keyword instances.

I also felt we needed to brand “IT Manager Institute” more with a .com domain.

In addition, we have many new products (some in place already and a few being developed) and wanted to replace our order process, shopping cart, and fulfillment tools, , , so everything really needed to be rebuilt from the ground up.

Lastly, maintaining a web site with WordPress tools is so easy I couldn’t resist making the move to this environment. Creating the ITLever Blog opened my eyes to how much more fun and productive it can be.

The heavy lifting is completed. I’m sure we will find things that need “tweaking” but the new site is up and running and we are selling books, tools, and training from it already. We are pleased with the conversion. mde.net will stay up for a few months because of some of the page rankings in the search engines.

Hope you like our new itmanagerinstitute.com web site.

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Update – completed three new 20MITM sessions

Posted on January 10, 2012 | Leave a comment

In my last post I talked about the preparation work it took to rebuild my e-learning production environment after upgrading my system a couple of months ago.

It was a challenging few days but all is good now, , , plus I completed three new 20 Minute IT Manager sessions this weekend. Tom Mochal and I plan to announce the availability of two new e-learning sessions each month, , , one authored by each of us.

My first three new titles are:

  • Simple Client Survey Can Tell You a Lot
  • Effective IT Staff Meetings
  • 10 Ways to Improve Client Service

Feels good to complete this project and know that my production center is working so well after the upgrades we have gone through in the past 3 months.

I’m liking my setup more every day.

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New web site is completed – itmanagerinstitute.com

Posted on December 21, 2011 | Leave a comment

Wow, you forget how much content you have developed over the years until you have to develop new web sites to showcase it. We have a tremendous amount of “how to” training material for the IT manager and it has to be one of the most comprehensive libraries of IT manager resources in the industry.

The itmanagerinstitute.com web site is officially launched! Check it out.

This new website and domain becomes the foundation of our ongoing brand, , , the IT Manager Institute, , , something we have been developing for many years. The key pieces are in place, but we still have several more items to add to the list of products plus there will be new announcements shortly.

Our mde.net web site will be history in just a few months although you will still be able to use it as a path to get to our company resources, , , you may like the shorter url. 🙂  I will continue to use mde.net as a corporate domain and for email.

We have other domains that will be put to use in the near future to compliment the IT Manager Institute brand and to promote specific products or services.

The two sites you want to watch are:

  1. http://itmanagerinstitute.com – our IT manager products and services site
  2. http://itlever.com – our IT manager BLOG

We will make new announcements on the ITLever.com site as well as in our monthly newsletter, Practical IT Manager Tips. Subscribe to our newsletter and receive a free copy of IT Management-101 at http://itmanagerinstitute.com/free-ebook

I chose WordPress as the development foundation primarily because of:

  • Ease of use
  • Search engine optimization
  • Flexibility and functionality access with plugin options
  • Key functionality features that are key to our future, , , you will hear more about these in the near future

Our infrastructure migration is nearing completion. We have been working on the new web sites and other projects you are yet to see for months, , , all to position our company with the ability to deliver better IT manager resources that are both accessible and affordable to the IT managers of the world.

I’m very excited about 2012 and the future and believe we are well positioned.

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IT Manager Institute #47 and our first via webinar

Posted on December 2, 2011 | 4 comments

This week I have been delivering an IT Manager Institute to managers in Croatia and Slovenia, , , all from my home office via webinar. The class is hosted by Housing Co., a Slovenia based company who has hosted three of our past IT Manager Institute classes.

I’ve been thinking of doing this for some time but was always concerned about the length of time students have to sit in front of their PC to receive the considerable amount of material I cover in the 5-day IT Manager Institute.

We have met for 5 to 6 hours each day this week and will complete the program on Friday. From my side, it is much easier because I don’t have to stand up all day. I’m interested in seeing the survey results to see how they match up with past students who have participated in the classroom version.

A webinar is more of a “one-sided” experience with less interaction, and I can tell there is not nearly the same energy level as I experience in the classroom. It is simply harder to get to know your students in this format. This is the biggest downside I think.

My sense is that webinars are better when they are no more than 1 to 2 hours in length, but our students expressed a desire to work through the program in one week rather than spreading it out over several weeks.

The upside is that we can deliver the class at a lower cost, , , requires no travel for students or myself, , , no airfare, hotel or food expenses, , , and it is less wear and tear on one’s body when you eliminate long plane trips.

Some of the students are working most of the day and attending the class in the evening, , , they are 7 hours ahead of me so when we start at 8:00am my time it is 3:00pm their time. This may be an additional benefit for students I haven’t thought about, , , or maybe not. 🙂

In 2012, I have plans to deliver a whole series of webinar classes on specific topics to help IT managers achieve more success. If the survey results are positive for this class we may add IT Manager Institutes to our webinar plans.

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IT Manager Institute – Webinar Series

Posted on November 20, 2011 | Leave a comment

The week of November 28 – December 2, 2011 I will deliver a 5-day IT Manager Institute via webinar so anyone in the world can gain access to a “live” presentation of our highly successful program.

Date:  Monday, November 28th through Friday, December 2nd, 2011
Time:  8:00am to 2:00pm each day (US Central Timezone, , , GMT -6) each day with breaks.
Where:  From your PC or laptop connection to the Internet

Seats are limited
and the price for this first webinar class
is reduced by 30%.

In 2012, I will deliver quite a bit of training via webinar including the IT Manager Institute. You will hear more about this training series in the weeks to come, , , I have been quite busy preparing for a major launch of new IT manager products and services in January 2012.

The IT Manager Institute webinar to be held next week includes 5 days of instruction and the ability to take the ITBMC exam upon completing the course. All you need is a good internet connection and time to sit in on the class. Registration fee is $1,950.00, , , 30% discount from my classroom format and will include the same instructional information, class materials and BONUS items you receive in a class, , , plus the ability to take the ITBMC exam to obtain your IT Business Manager Certification.

This will be my 47th IT Manager Institute class but the first one delivered by webinar. Take advantage of the discounted price while you can.

Spend five days with me and learn practical processes that will help you achieve more success and receive over 100 IT management tools to make it happen.

Program details are at www.mde.net/institute

Register now

$ 1,950.00
5 days of online training with Mike Sisco

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Practical IT Manager GOLD Series – Pre-launch offer

Posted on October 25, 2011 | Leave a comment

We are in major transition mode here at MDE Enterprises, so I thought it would be the perfect time to announce a new product to my Practical IT Manager Newsletter and ITLever readers, , , 

, , , and make you a very special offer, , , never offered before and never again.

Yes, we are upgrading our entire MDE infrastructure:

  • New web sites
  • New IT Manager Store
  • New products
  • New training services

WHY?

I just completed a major rewrite of my first ten books and we have needed to update our web sites for a while. So, , , we are taking the opportunity to completely renovate our web sites, shopping cart, and order fulfillment infrastructure using a WordPress foundation.

We will also be adding entirely new products and services soon.

I took most of 2011 off to focus on the “books rewrite project” and to do some things that will position our company for new product offerings and a renewed training focus for 2012 that will allow us to reach many more IT managers around the world.

Very soon you will start seeing announcements for new books, tools, training, , , and more like you have never seen from our company.

Here is the first offer and it is a significant one, , , and only available to our Practical IT Manager Newsletter subscribers and ITLever readers for a very limited time.

SPECIAL “pre-launch” offer

 Practical IT Manager GOLD Series

My first ten eBooks completely rewritten plus the IT Manager ToolKit containing over 100 updated IT manager tools and templates.

It took me over a year to rewrite my first 10 books, , , and they are completely rewritten, not just a few cosmetic changes I initially thought I could do. The IT Manager ToolKit tools are also updated.

UNPRECEDENTED Pre-Launch OFFER

1 week only thru Oct. 31, 2011

This bundle has a retail value of $474.50 purchased separately and
will sell bundled for $279.00 on our new web sites.

See our progress at www.itmanagerinstitute

Sorry, our pre-launch offer ended October 31, 2011

Current price
279.00


Here is what you will receive:

A.  Ten new ebooks (all have been completely rewritten):
–  IT Management-101: fundamentals to achieve more
–  IT Due Diligence: merger and acquisition discovery process
–  IT Strategy: align your IT vision for business value
–  IT Organization: right-size your organization for success
–  IT Staff Motivation and Development: build a world class team
–  IT Budgeting: operational and capital budgeting made easy
–  IT Project Management: a practical approach
–  IT Asset Management: tracking technology assets
–  IT Assimilation: consolidating redundant technologies
–  What To Look For in a CIO: get more value from your IT investment

B.  IT Manager ToolKit (revised and updated):
102 tools and templates to help you in virtually every aspect of managing technology resources. Tools come with instruction and samples. Tools may be used “as is” or customized to meet your specific needs.

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New announcement coming

Posted on October 21, 2011 | Leave a comment

I’ve been working hard to introduce more training for IT managers around the world, and I’m almost positioned to do so. I’ve had a few major projects underway for most of this year, , , especially in the last 3 months and it is why you have seen a little less of me on ITLever recently.

We are about to make several new announcements in regards to products and services in the IT management space. 2012 is going to be our very best year and I’ve been hard at work developing the pieces required to help us achieve it.

There is something for everyone interested in improving IT management skills and achieving more success.

Stay tuned for major announcements in a few weeks and look for even more from us in 2012.

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