Events Calendar

In-Person Event at D.H. Lescombes Winery, 901 Rio Grande Blvd NW B100 Albuquerque, NM 87104

Things I Learned the Hard Way (IT Project Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them)

Presenter:  Pete Shelkin, PMP

Over the course of the past 35 years, Pete Shelkin has been involved with countless projects, including a number of projects that ran into trouble. In most cases, “trouble” simply meant that budgets or schedules were at risk, or perhaps that deliverables were somehow falling short of meeting requirements. However, in a small handful of cases, “trouble” meant spectacular failure.

Using this interactive presentation, Pete will examine some of the most dramatic project failures that he has had the “pleasure” to be involved with. He will also share what lessons he learned from working through the relevant issues in order to ultimately achieve an acceptable outcome – and avoid seeing the same mistakes repeated on future projects.

To help guide the conversation, the PMI Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) Seventh Edition will serve as a reference during many of the discussion points. However, the presentation will be geared toward all project participants whether they are project managers, project sponsors/stakeholders, or project team resources – the intention is that anyone involved with a project can apply the relevant principles. After all, everyone wants to avoid costly project failures, not just the project managers!

Presentation Objectives 

1. This presentation will make use of real-life examples to provide the audience with insights that they can use to recognize, and manage, serious risks that could materialize during complex technical projects.

2. Audience members will understand the PMBOK Project Performance Domains that apply to managing those risks, leaving them better equipped to successfully manage projects and deliver the expected results.

Pete Shelkin has over 35 years’ experience serving in senior IT leadership roles for healthcare organizations. His experience includes providing leadership for health plans, hospital systems, academic research centers, and other clinical care groups in CIO, CTO, and consulting roles. He has been responsible for defining and delivering the technology vision and strategy that these organizations needed in order to succeed in a technologically dynamic arena.

In these various capacities, Pete served in many project stakeholder roles including project sponsor, project manager, IT manager, and system user. While he has had the benefit of sponsoring projects that were well planned and managed, he has also had the experience of being asked on several occasions to step in and take over key strategic projects that were failing.

Today, Pete Shelkin has retired from full-time work, although he occasionally serves as a consultant providing strategic advisory and project management services. In these roles, he works with organizations to help them design successful governance models, PMO structures, and processes that allow them to maximize their ability to bring all projects to a successful completion.