Palms Up or Palms Down

So, I was attending a yoga class at a local studio; the class was intended for stress management. In preparation for the last meditation, the instructor told us to lie on our backs, place our arms on the floor at a slight angle from our bodies, and then rest our hands either palms up or palms down.

Palms up or palms down . . . Palms down felt right to me.

At the conclusion of the class, I was chatting with one of the other instructors. She asked which position my hands “went to.” What I didn’t realize was that this can be an indicator of one’s inner state. What are you looking for? What do you need?

It’s been a busy week.

One project we’re assisting with is a divestiture that was originally five distinct business units of a larger company being spun off to form a new entity. The organizations involved support the aerospace sector. The parent company is a mature, high-security environment with everything locked down tightly. The new company is a greenfield, maturing quickly.

Adding to the scenario, there are lots of pieces in motion concurrently – an Exchange migration, Active Directory migrations, and a networking infrastructure cutover complete with a Re-IP effort to name a few. The good times seem endless, but that’s not the case. Coexistence is on a countdown to Armageddon.

Although our client has had time available for planning and execution of this effort, their original partner failed to deliver significant results. Engaged via a Microsoft business partner chain, Convergent Technologies has been assisting with this project since early April by providing Quest Migration Manager (QMM) for Exchange skillsets. Our focus has been designing and standing-up the QMM environment—then ensuring that identity and email synchronizations are performed as quickly as possible.

Due to the other concurrent workstreams, the client’s IT environment undergoes changes. There is no formal change control process in place today. Despite the fact that we have many regular meetings with the client, some changes have unexpected impact.

On top of this, the timeline keeps getting compressed. What should be a six-nine-month project has been compressed into about four weeks for delivery. Apparently, both organizations must be separated by the end of June. In preparation for this, we’re positioning them for what I would term a “hard cutover.” It’s going to be bloody. Flip a switch, what’s goes goes, and what doesn’t go will require a more high-touch approach.

Luckily, there’s a HelpDesk in place to provide triage and first line support. I’m sure we’ll need to craft some guidance to help them remediate whatever becomes a “common issue” for this engagement. I’d also expect a fair amount of IT presence at each site. Again, high-touch.

It’s very “seat of the pants” . . . Stressful.

So, back to the question, “Palms up or palms down?” Which would you lean toward?

My understanding from the conversation was “palms down” indicates a desire for earth—grounding. I think that sounds right.

Sometimes, couldn’t we all use a little anchoring in a fast-paced, ever-changing world? 🙂

We here at Convergent Technologies would love to be your partner in change. We’ve assisted many organizations with Microsoft Active Directory projects including assessments, segmentation, consolidation, as well as other forms of migration. We’ll help you keep your palms down.

How may we help you?