James Dobson MIAP, who is Systems/Project Accountant for the East Thames Housing Group, contacted us recently with a query that we couldn’t answer directly. But, as the AA used to say, we know a man (or, more properly, some people) who can. I’ll let him take up the story…
I am writing to thank you and especially David Deeks and Allen Woods who replied to my cries for help. I had been a hitherto silent member of the IAP when my searches for a CASE Tool that would give SSADM type validation to Data Flow Diagrams were reaching a dead end. I could find plenty of information about these products but not the sources themselves. If I can’t find anything, I thought, perhaps somebody at the IAP may know, or be able to give me a steer in the right direction. You kindly sent me a list of members who might have knowledge in that area and I emailed them with my dilemma. Thanks to the information provided I am now trialling ASCENT and Select SSADM but as yet BAE Systems have proved impregnable as regards trying to source their CASE Tool ‘Principia’.
I had enjoyed David’s articles on Process Improvement for Strategic Objectives (PISO) in VSJ a couple of years ago as it is similar to the way I like to work, so I have also bought his latest book and am persuading my current organisation to adopt it as a methodology. Asking the IAP for help has been a very rewarding experience. I have found the information I needed, was introduced to interesting areas not previously considered, and enjoyed a professional correspondence at a level that, as a lone practitioner, is all too infrequent.
[Something you’d like to get off your chest? Email me (Robin Jones) at eo@iap.org.uk.]
