Dilemma

I just looked up that word here and here. Both define the word as primarily a choice between two equally unfavourable options. But I might have to choose between two equally favourable options. Let me explain.

Having had three separate meetings today on the subject of Project Condor, it appears as if it's gathering momentum fast. There is not only a huge desire among senior management for this, but it has now also been given a candidate slot for May 2007 implementation. You heard it here first. The fact that I don't believe we can deliver as early as May remains to be believed among those that count. There is a workshop on Tuesday afternoon to start discussing the candidate projects for the May release, and I am invited to discuss Condor. Excellent.

In the meantime, my name was mentioned by my good friend R, with whom I have been closely working on Condor, to a programme manager who apparently has a piece of work that he a) is finding hard to accurately define, and b) needs someone to pick up and run with. R thought I could help him out.

So on Tuesday, I met with him (let's call him A) to discuss this piece of work. It turns out to be the rollout of a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) across the organisation. The scope has not yet been defined and it has thus far been seen as phase 2 of the SOA adoption project, which delivers the framework, standards and development toolset for a service-oriented architecture.

Now, as we all know, a project has a definite start and end and a clear objective, and therefore cannot be ongoing by definition.

He concluded the meeting by asking about my availability, making it clear that the job was mine if I wanted it.

Hell, yes! You see, it would entail forming a more-or-less permanent team (something I have wanted for years), to become a 'centre of excellence' for web services and service-oriented architecture. It would require more man-management, but a lot less of the administrative cr*p that goes with pure project management. An ideal mix of all the best parts of IT management with very few of the worst parts. Fantastic.

And therein lies the dilemma (or whatever is the choice between two equally favourable options). Do I stick with Condor and deliver the IT components of a new Brand with national exposure (it's like being able to say I managed the project to developed Amazon.com), or do I take on the SOA adoption piece?

I almost certainly cannot do both (although that would be ideal, because of the need to run both pieces of work more or less simultaneously.

Please let me know what you would do and why.