About

I began working with enterprise systems in 1994 after graduating from college. After grad school, I started a new career in corporate human resources. That wasn’t the best fit for me. I quickly gravitated to more technical work. In 1998, I took my first system implementation job, traveling extensively to Latin America on a global PeopleSoft project for a Fortune 50 company. I started full-time consulting in 2000 and decided to become my own boss in 2002.

My goal as an independent consultant is–and always has been–to optimize organizations’ use of technology. I like to think that I’ve been reasonably successful, having cultivated more than 40 clients from a wide variety of industries, including health care, manufacturing, retail, education, telecommunications, and the public sector. I have worked with many different organizations that use technology in many different ways–some better than others.

After many years of seeing what organizations did well (and not so well), I decided to write a book. (Note for aspiring authors: Typing fast, lacking moderation, having way too many opinions, and not sleeping helps.) I started in earnest in August of 2008 and, four and half months later, had a book. In February of 2009, I published the first edition of Why New Systems Fail. In February of 2010, Cengage published the second edition of the book. In March of 2010, John Wiley & Sons will be publishing my second, The Next Wave of Technologies.

I am a graduate of the Cornell University (Master’s of Industrial and Labor Relations) and Carnegie Mellon University (B.S., Policy and Management). I reside in Northern New Jersey, USA.

When not fiddling with computers, hosting podcasts, putting myself in comics, and writing, I enjoy English Bulldogs, tennis, golf, movies that hurt the brain, fantasy football, and progressive rock. I am a particularly zealous fan of Rush, Porcupine Tree, and Dream Theater. Anyone who reads my blog or books will catch many references to these bands.

Enjoy the site. If you like it (and how can you not?), tell your friends and colleagues about it.

Phil