Experienced Technologist For Hire (Specialty – Nonprofits)

Once again, I’ve left a steady paycheck and I’m open for consulting and fractional CIO work. I am officially available to help out organizations with technology management and strategy. As always, my preference is to work with organizations that help people and/or the planet. Here are some of the ways that I can do that: Act as a CIO: serve as your Chief Technologist  on a part-time and/or interim basis. This can be helpful for an org that is either just setting out to implement technology strategy and/or infrastructure, or needs to reassess what they have in place, but doesn’t want to commit to hiring… Read More »Experienced Technologist For Hire (Specialty – Nonprofits)

Data Ethics And Security

I had the pleasure of participating on a panel with this topic for the Data Analysts for Social Good/Good Tech Fest, put together by my friend Andrew Means. The panel included Joshua Pesky, of Roundtable Technology; Kelly Misata of Sightline Security; Andy Abrams of the United Way; and moderator Laura Quinn, currently of Laura S. Quinn Consulting, formerly of Idealware (now Techimpact), and a long-time friend and collaborator of mine. Our goal was to present a grounded conversation for nonprofits, dealing less with some of the more philosophical questions about AI and facial recognition and more with the concerns that nonprofits have about working with… Read More »Data Ethics And Security

Information Security Governance in Times of Pandemic

On the heels of my webinar on Technology Best Practices in During a Pandemic, I presented with my colleague Jeffrey Bernstein, Director of Marcum Technology’s Cybersecurity practice, on the companion topic – Information Security Governance in Times of Pandemic. As is mentioned in the earlier slides, the disruption we’re facing comes with new information security risks. Fore many of the nonprofits that I work with and speak to, the top priority in March and April was getting people working remotely, and that understandably took priority. But now that the technical hurdles have presumably become more manageable, it’s time to think about the increased risks. The… Read More »Information Security Governance in Times of Pandemic

Best Technology Practices During a Pandemic

I’ve been neglectful of my blog, and it seems like a good time to report on what I’ve been up to. So here are some things that I’ve been working on that might be useful, both for dealing with the current catastrophe and managing technology in general.: First, I’m presenting a webinar today (4/21/2020) on Technology Best Practices in Pandemic Times for the Greater New Orleans Foundation. If you’re reading this before 3:00 PM EDT, you can register here. My audience, I’m told, will be 100-150 employees of New Orleans Nonprofits. My assumption is that half of these orgs are already in the cloud, so… Read More »Best Technology Practices During a Pandemic

Basecamp Is Off-Base On Internal Communications

One of the more interesting things to land in my feed this week was Basecamp‘s new Guide To Internal Communications. As early proponents of agile project management, I have a lot of respect for the company, but I’m was not a happy camper when I read this. In short, the 30 principles of internal communication listed seem somewhat antagonistic toward interpersonal communication. Take principle 3: “Internal communication based on long-form writing, rather than a verbal tradition of meetings, speaking, and chatting, leads to a welcomed reduction in meetings, video conferences, calls, or other real-time opportunities to interrupt and be interrupted.” and principle 5: ” Meetings… Read More »Basecamp Is Off-Base On Internal Communications

New Gig, Same Job

Career update! I’ve moved my CIO services and tech consulting practice to a new home. As of February 4th, 2019 I’m the CIO for Hire at Raffa, Marcum’s Social Sector and Nonprofit Group. This doesn’t change what I do for a living, it just gives me a team to work with and a steadier paycheck. As always, my focus is on helping nonprofits use technology to further their missions, not frustrate them, and I believe that one way to do that is to keep technology expertise at the table, even if you can’t afford to hire it in full-time. You can find me at Raffa,… Read More »New Gig, Same Job

Knowledge Management Toolkit is Available

Last winter, I took on a project for the Michigan Advocacy Program (MAP) and Idealware  developing a toolkit for implementing knowledge management at your organization. This project was funded by a Technology grant by Legal Services Corporation, my erstwhile employer. While geared somewhat for legal aid programs, the toolkit is fully usable for all sorts of nonprofits and businesses. It focuses primarily on document management, but includes advice on email, social media, and even non-technical information management practices. The goal of the toolkit is to help orgs capture and easily manage not only the work product that they create, but also the thought processes behind… Read More »Knowledge Management Toolkit is Available

Peter Does Not Approve

Last week, at the Nonprofit Technology Conference, I co-led a session on “Leading in Uncertain Times” with my friend Dahna Goldstein. At one point, while discussing layoffs, an attendee asked a question that I heard as “Aren’t layoffs a good opportunity to lose the organizational dead weight?” and before I had time to edit my reaction, I just blurted out “I don’t approve!”, getting quite a laugh from the room – a good feat when one is discussing layoffs. On Monday, my nptech doppelganger, Steve Heye, blogged about the conference and included the meme to your left, leaving me to conclude that there is no… Read More »Peter Does Not Approve

My 17NTC Report

Photo: NTEN I’m back from NTEN’s annual conference, the biggest one ever with 2300 attendees here in DC. NTEN’s signature NPTech event continues to pull off the hat trick of continual growth, consistent high quality content, and a level of intimacy that is surprising for an event this large. It’s a big, packed tech conference, but it’s also a few days with our welcoming, engaging community. Here’s my recap.  I attended three quality sessions on Thursday: I learned much about the challenges in offering shared IT services to nonprofits, with an in-depth look at the work of the Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation, who offer discounted, centralized IT… Read More »My 17NTC Report

Where I’ll be at the 2017 NTC

I’ve been doing these “where I’ll be at the NTC” posts for many years, but this year I’m lagging behind the pack. Steve Heye and Cindy Leonard have beat me to it! But I’m excited to be back at NTC after a rare skip year. This will be my 11th ride on the NTC train and it is always a great one. First up on Wednesday will be #ntcbeer! This year we’re back at the Black Squirrel, the place we filled to capacity three years ago, but larger options weren’t really available. Booking the Squirrel was a bit last minute, and it supersedes a plan to… Read More »Where I’ll be at the 2017 NTC