Final Week and Final Presentation (June 10 - 16)

For the final week, we were able to finalize all the solutions for IE.  We presented the detailed information to them directly and they loved all that we provided to them.  We then had a final presentation where all the 5 IBM CSC teams presented to each other and all the clients.  Overall, all the projects were a huge success and everybody was able to deliver everything that was on the SOW to their respective clients. 

CSC Final Presentation

Sharon, Etsuko, and I with Larissa and Adson from IE

Client and IBM Final Presentation Group Picture

It was really hard leaving Brazil!  Absolutely the best work experience ever!  I sure will be back here sometime soon!  Thanks to everybody that made this an amazing time for me!

CSC Week 3 (June4-10)

This week, we had 2 major things to accomplish.  One was to provide additional and comprehensive training to the IE members for the short term solution and simultaneously continue to build the long term solution. 

For the short term solution, we created detailed training documents for the IE employees.  We had several conference meetings (since some were in other cities around Brazil), and they loved the new way of doing their student/company data management.  It was a great feeling when they thanked us very much for saving them so much of their valuable time.  They could now use that time saved to work on much more important items revolving around the student programs. 

For the long term solution, we made good head way in creating the high level architecture of the online database website.  Since the solution had to be low cost, we had to think about what would be open source and free software.  We ended up deciding that PHP and mySQL were the best options for database management websites, since they are free.  The other item was to decide on a web hosting site that could meet the design needs and also be low cost.  We suggested justhost.com as the best option for them.  We will need to finalize the over all high level design by early next week to have enough time to prepare for all the final presentations.

For the weekend, we decided to go back to Porto de Galinhas.  Again, this was a blast.  The highlight of the weekend was going on an all day buggy ride with our driver, Leo.  We had meet him briefly the first weekend we were in Porto.  He took us on an excursion to private beaches where there was no other soul in sight, to a local island called Barra de Sirinhaém (Where we had the best home cooked meal ever!), and also went to see a giant African Balboa tree at the top of a hill for sunset!

Boat taken from Mainland to Island Barra de Sirinhaém

 

Gorazd (Slovakia), Sonya (Canada), and me on the buggy ride

At our own private beach called "Lago Azul" or "Blue Lake"

Playing futbol at Island Barra de Sirinhaém

Buggy couldn't make it up the steep hill toward the Balboa Tree

By the African Balboa tree at hill top

Halfway Through: Week 2 Recap

Project wise, we were already able to provide and implement a short term solution for IE.  They were very pleased with the results. Our main focus now is on the sustainable long term solution.  We are making good progress on it, and should be good to complete it in the last two weeks of the assignment. 

Outside of work, we were able to go to Porto de Galinhas (one of the best beaches in Brazil) over the first weekend.  That was just an absolutely wonderful time the team had there! 

Porto De Galinhas with Fresh Pina Colada

Maracaipe (Surfer Beach)

Heading out with Jangadeiros

We took our first Samba class and also went to a local restaurant/bar and danced Forro (northeastern Brazilian dance). 

At Samba Class

I couldn't have asked for a better CSC experience!!  Can't wait to see what the next 2 weeks are going to bring!

Work Week One Complete!

What a wonderful first week we had here in Recife!  We ended off the week with great progress on our project and closed out the SOW.  I have had a great experience with my immediate team and also with the rest of the extended IBM Brazil 12 CSC team! 

Day 2 and 3 with Client

The last couple of days we have been working very closely with Marisa, Adson, and Igor from Instituto Empreender.  We have come to a conclusion on what their highest needs are relating the data management of their students and employers.  We proposed to have a short and long term solution to them and they agreed. 

Left to Right at Instituto Empreeder: Igor, Sharon, Etsuko, Adson, Marisa, me

Last night we had our first IBM CSC team meeting, where all the 5 teams discussed their progress, issues, SOW, client interaction, etc.  This was a good meeting because we got to understand what each team is doing and share knowledge/suggestions between the teams if needed.  We will have a team meeting every Tuesday night until end of assignment.

Today we had a three way meeting between Instituto Empreender, CDS, and the IBM team.  The focus was to make sure that we were off to a good start and the client was satisfied with our plan of action. After the meeting we went to have lunch in the nearby city of Olinda.  Olinda is an old city built on a hill that was first colonized by the Portuguese back in the 1530's.  Very beautiful views.  See below.

Overview from Olinda with Recife in the Background

Lot of Catholic Churches in Olinda

View of Recife

Rodrigo from CDS (Washington DC) and Joyce from IBM Rio de Janeiro will be heading back to their home cities tomorrow, so we decided to have a dinner with them before they left.  We went to a crepe place and it was absolutely amazing! 

Left to Right at Crepe Dinner: Rodrigo, me, Joyce, Kenichi (Japan), Yvonne (UK)

Client Kick-off Meeting

After much anticipation, we met with all 5 NGO (non-governmental organizations) at the kick-off meeting.  The NGO's are Casa da Crianca, NECTAR, Instituto Empreender, Porto Digital, and Observatorio do Recife .  My immediate sub-team will be working with Instituto Empreender.  

Kick-off Client Meeting

 In the meeting, all NGO's gave a presentation describing their mission, goals, and problems they would like the IBM CSC teams to help them with. 

After the meeting, all 5 groups went to their respective client's office to officially start the CSC assignment! 

At the Instituto Empreender's office, we meet with Marisa, Adson, and Igor to discuss in more detail their organization and the issues they are facing.  It was like many people say "Drinking out of a fire hose".  We were just bombarded with information.  Now we just have to digest it and figure out exactly what our official statement of work (SOW) we are going to agree to complete by the end of our 1 month assignment.

1st Couple of Days in Recife, Brazil!

So after an excruciating  22 hours of travel (Austin - Charlotte - Rio de Janeiro - Recife), I was able to get to my hotel in Recife.  I got here on Saturday May 19th.  As soon as I looked out the balcony window of my hotel room, I knew this was going to be a great experience!  Look at the view I saw below. 

That evening, I was able to get to finally meet (in person) most of the 15 team members that made up our CSC Brazil 12 team plus our CSC coordinators, Rodrigo and Vanessa, from CDS.  We went for dinner and had some great Brazilian food and drinks to socialize and get to know each other a little more.  Picture of part of our team below. 

Today we had a exciting full day of activities with the whole team.  We were able to tour the area around our hotel to familiarize ourselves with the primary basic services (supermarkets, bakeries, shops, transportation, etc).  We did walk for a couple of hours but the beach breeze definitely helped with the heat :) .  Below is the picture of all 15 that make our Brazil 12 team!

We also had a great team building exercise with our team in the afternoon.  Acely from IBM Sao Paulo and Joyce from Rio de Janeiro joined us at the exercise.  It was an awesome bonding experience and we are off to a amazing start! 

Tomorrow we have our official kick-off meeting with the clients starting the day at 8a.m.  Can't wait!