In the spirit of the holidays, we have put together a fun little Thanksgiving trivia game. Think you know a lot about the origins of Thanksgiving? Try the Thanksgiving trivia challenge and find out. Who knows, you might actually learn something new.
From all of us here at mrc, we wish you safe travels and a happy Thanksgiving!
Recently, we enhanced m-Power with new User Defined Function (UDF) capabilities. From a technical standpoint, this means m-Power users can take advantage of the power that UDFs offer.
From a practical standpoint, UDFs enhance m-Power with many new capabilities. For an example of some of the ways you might use UDFs, or to simply read more about this exciting enhancement click here.>>
Blackberry smartphones are known for their functionality, and maybe more importantly, the ability to run external applications. Plenty of great, and sometimes free, applications exist for Blackberrys. For example, I recently ran across a great list of 10 free Blackberry apps on Lifehack.org, which can be found here.>>
With the increased use of smartphones, I can’t stress enough the importance of proper security measures. We need to treat our smartphones with the same level of care that we treat our laptops. Things like password protection and remote data wiping are important, but sometimes even those aren’t good enough.
Here’s a great example of a company that took mobile security seriously. They wanted to enable their mobile workforce, but didn’t want to store confidential information on their PDAs. Find out what they did here.>>
Every day, employees across the globe spend a large amount of time pulling essential business data into spreadsheet programs like Excel, then they analyze the data, and then email their results to colleagues. This wastes a lot of time, is insecure, inefficient, and can lead to inaccuracies and multiple document versions that only add to the confusion.
This can create huge problems for a company, but many remain unaware of the potential dangers. This presentation explains the risks associated with this problem, as well as a great way to fix it.
When purchasing software solutions for your business, a little planning will save you from plenty of future problems and expenses. No one can see the future, but there are steps you can take to minimize costs and frustrations down the road.
First and foremost, avoid proprietary software. Proprietary software ties you to one vendor, causing a number of potential problems. What if they go out of business? You're out of luck. What if they decide to drastically raise maintenance fees? You either have to pay or find a different solution. These are just a few important issues to consider before purchasing proprietary software.
My advice: Choose software that uses an open-source language, and you won't even have to worry about these problems. Read this forum post to learn more about the benefits of open-source solutions.
In a difficult economy, it is always important for an IT professional to keep their skills and certifications up to date. However, it’s not always easy to figure out which skills and certifications will help you the most.
Maybe this will help: I ran across an article on insidetech.com that lists the 20 most sought after IT skills today. They also report that while IT skills continue to increase in value, certifications are becoming less important. But don’t worry, it also lists the top certifications most likely to make an impact on your salary.
But having IT skills isn’t good enough these days. Computerworld just published an article stating that IT executives place the most importance on ethics and morals when looking to hire new staff. You can read the entire article here.>>
There was an internet problem last week, which resulted in our website being inaccessible for parts of Tuesday through Thursday. From what we heard, our communications company’s central box went down and we (and many others in the area) lost our T1 service for a couple days. So, if you tried unsuccessfully to access our website last week, that was the problem.
The good news is the problem has been remedied, and we do not expect to see any more such outages in the future. We've left the posts from last week on the blog in case there were any you wanted to visit. Just scroll down the page to find them.
We apologize for any inconvenience this outage may have caused.
Flexibility and re-useability are two cornerstones to a solid web architecture. Take this Business Dashboard example, for instance.
Some users (like me), prefer a minimalist, all business approach like this one. Others prefer more control and a lot more information like this iGoogle example. (To sign on to this iGoogle dashboard, use account demomrc@gmail.com and password mrc-demo.)
With the right web architecture, the same business applications (in this case, servlets) can serve all desires. If you'd like to see how we published our servlets as google gadgets, check out this forum post.
If you'd like more information on how to easily create an executive dashboard custom to your business needs, just fill out this form and we'll show you how we do it. And remember, we don't just supply the software to help you get it done, we supply the training to make you successful, and the manpower to supplement your staff when you need something done quickly.
The Robert Half Technology company recently published the 2009 IT Salary Guide, which estimates the average salary per title and which skills are in highest demand. Overall, the projections for 2009 are encouraging.
I always find it interesting to see which skills are in highest demand these days. Just think: 5-10 years ago, many of these now “in-demand” skills were unheard of. It’s a good reminder how important it is for IT professionals to keep their skills up to date.
You can read the entire study here.>>
When asked about his decision to move from character-based to web-based reporting, one of our clients recently said, “The bottom line is this: The world is going to the web.” He understood the benefits of web-based reporting, and the positive impact it would make on business. What are those benefits? Here are just a few:
Security: Password-protection, and a secure validation process, limits viewing and downloading to only your authorized staff - ensuring privacy and security.
Accuracy: Web-based reports run in real-time. There are no outdated copies of data-bases or spreadsheets floating around, guaranteeing that your reports will be current.
Time savings: Do you have staff that spends countless hours and days formatting, printing, faxing, and mailing daily, weekly, or monthly reports? Web reports allow your staff to focus on more mission-critical tasks.
Convenience: Web-based reports run from anywhere, and at anytime.
Want to see a live example of a web-based report? This example lets you request data for downloading via the Internet, have it run and e-mailed automatically to you. Feel free to test it for yourself.
If you like what you see, just fill out this short form and tell us what your interested in. We'll be happy to build a "proof of concept" web report for you.
Have you ever been quoted a nice low price for a product, only to realize that the price is far higher once all the fees have been added? It’s an unfortunate practice, but many companies try to make a quick buck with these sneaky fees.
How do companies try to sneak fees onto your bill? PCWorld.com recently published an article that lists 7 methods they might try. Besides their list, watch out for things like setup fees, activation fees, convenience fees, etc…
In the software world, be on the look-out for "free" software give-aways, that require an annual maintenance fee, training fees, and often consulting fees.
My advice to you: Ask the vendor/company to write down the final price, with all fees factored in. Make sure you know their pricing structure, and if necessary, what monthly charges to expect. This will help you avoid surprise and/or anger when it’s time to buy.
Just a reminder to all current mrc-Productivity Series users: Make sure you take advantage of your free m-Power upgrade.
If you are a current mrc-Productivity Series user on maintenance and warranty, you should have received a letter detailing this free upgrade and what you need to do. If you did not receive the letter, or if you have any questions about the upgrade, please give us a call at (630) 916-0662.
When economic problems hit, many companies immediately start cutting back on expenses and spending. But what happens when you can’t cut back anymore and you still need to save money?
I remember a couple years back when one of our customers told us how they managed to save a ton of money. They had hundreds of users licensed for their MRP software. As with any ERP/MRP, some employees needed to use it extensively, while others would only use 1 or 2 screens. In their case, they had 200+ employees who only needed a couple screens.
They used m-Power to create web applications which pulled data directly from their database while still tying into their MRP. These web applications had all the information those users would normally access through the MRP, but were now accessible via the web. As a result, they were able to cut 200+ users from their MRP software, and saved hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Does your company pay for licenses for users who only use your ERP/MRP/CRM minimally? Fill out this short form if you would like more information about how you can save money with web applications.
I just read an interesting article on Datamation.com entitled, “Is the Smartphone the next PC Device?” My answer is "yes", I believe that the smartphone will eventually replace the PC for the average computer user. I know we still have a ways to go, but it is happening.
However, before we can embrace the smart-phone as the next PC, a big security problem has to be fixed. Namely, confidential information should not be stored on smartphones. It’s bad enough that computers can be hacked, but losing a phone with confidential information on it could be a disaster. Sure, there are remote wipes and kill switches, but damage can still be done in that short time between losing it and wiping its information.
Rather, companies should use their smartphones to access important information via web apps. That way you won’t put any data at risk if a phone is lost since no data is actually stored on it, and you can add as much security as you like in the web app. It's a better solution all around and one that needs to be adopted if a company is at all serious about security.
Just as an automobile dashboard shows your speed, distance traveled, and fuel used, it also alerts you to vehicle problems in just a glance. An executive dashboard works much the same way.
An executive dashboard is usually a portal or intranet page that brings a variety of metrics together on one screen for a live overview of business operations for key decision-makers. They allow executives to make quick, but well-informed decisions. (Here is one example we built for the imaginary COO of our demonstrative and fictitious online bike distributor site.)
Executive dashboards vary within companies. A CFO's dashboard might monitor current, historical, and forecasted revenue. Or, a CEO might have a "greatest hits" dashboard, tracking applications culled from his top executives' dashboards. The focus is fully customizable to individual executive needs.
If you'd like more information on how to easily create an executive dashboard custom to your business needs, just fill out this form and we'll show you how we do it. And remember, we don't just supply the software to help you get it done, we supply the training to make you successful, and the manpower to supplement your staff when you need something done quickly.
We are attending IBM's Information on Demand (IOD) conference this year! It is one of IBM's biggest events and is billed as the "premier information management global conference." It is being held at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas from Oct. 26th to the 31st. (That's next week!)
This is our first year at IOD, and we very excited to be exhibiting. Are you attending the conference as well? We'll be at booth #17, so please stop by and say hi. You'll get to meet Sal and Brian, and sample one of our delectable m-Power mints! Both Sal and Brian are witty and entertaining and we guarantee our mints will give you fresh breath for upwards of 5 minutes.
What more can you ask for?
Should you build it or buy it? When it comes to software, this can be a difficult question. Should you buy a pre-made solution, or build a custom solution? That is the question being debated in this Techrepublic.com article.
I believe a company is better off with custom-built applications for two big reasons:
It’s hard to believe 2008 is almost over, and it’s time to plan for 2009 already. As technology plays a larger role in just about every aspect of our lives, it’s important to have an idea as to what the most important trends will be next year.
Gartner has just released the list of what they believe will be the top 10 strategic technologies for 2009. I agree with much of the list, especially web-oriented architecture and business intelligence. From my experience with our customers, I believe those will become increasingly important throughout the coming year.
I also think there were a couple of glaring omissions. For example, I can’t believe they didn’t mention mobile computing. With the release of a variety of new smart-phones, mobile computing will become a necessity in the business world. I believe that businesses which are slow to adopt it will suffer as a result.
How about you? What technologies do you think will be most important in the coming year?
The biggest problem affecting business intelligence today isn’t software. It’s people who think BI software is magic. It’s people who think that software is the most important aspect of business intelligence.
In reality, good processes and planning are the most important aspects of business intelligence. Just because you write out a 6 figure check for a BI tool, doesn’t mean it will help your company. Sure, buying the right software is important, but without a proper plan it’s just a waste of time and money.
My advice to managers and leaders: Get involved. Don’t just write it off as an IT job, work with IT to make sure it’s done right. Setting up a business intelligence solution should be a collaborative effort between the technology experts and the business experts.
Poor planning isn’t the only mistake that can be made when implementing a BI solution. For a list of common mistakes to avoid, read this article on Datamation.com entitled, “Business Intelligence: 10 Common Mistakes.”
Looking for powerful, yet affordable business intelligence? Check out our m-Power demonstration site, for examples of BI applications m-Power can create.
The funny thing about technology is how fast it changes. However, one overlooked benefit of changing technology is that the “in-demand” skills are constantly changing as well.
For instance, those who know a lot about BI or CRM tools are in high demand today, whereas they wouldn’t have been in demand 10 years ago. Keeping your skills up to date is more important in the tech industry than anywhere else.
The difficulty lies in determining which new skills to learn. There is an endless supply of “emerging technologies”, not all of which actually stick around. It’s important to learn new skills that will last and be in high demand.
Curious to learn which skills are needed these days? Take a look at this list on CIOInsight.com, to see the top 10 tech skills in high demand today.
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