5 ways of thinking that can fell IT leaders

Here’s a great article in techrepublic.com that lays out 5 dangerous ways of thinking and how they can damage IT leaders. While I agree with the author’s points, I can think of many more that I’ve encountered over the years.

Here’s one example: An IT leader needs to know when to scrap a project, even if it was their idea. I’ve seen many a failing project kept alive simply because the manager didn’t want to admit they had made a mistake. This sort of situation costs the company greatly, and is obvious to everyone.

How about you? What dangerous ways of thinking have you encountered?

16 ways IT can do less with less

I’m sure many companies are asking their employees to do more with less these days, but what about doing less with less? That is the question posed in this InfoWorld.com article, “16 ways IT can do less with less.”

I like many of the points made in the article, but some should be taken farther than they were. Take #9 for example: Besides revoking unused licenses, I would take it one step further and find new ways to eliminate seemingly necessary license fees.

For example, one of our customers realized that of all the ERP user licenses they paid for, some users only needed 1 or 2 screens. So, they used m-Power to create web applications that replicated the functionality of the screens those users needed, eliminating the need for many licenses, and saving hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.

Think your company could save money in this way? Fill out this short form and let us know what’s on your plate. We’ll build you a free proof-of-concept web application using your own data in order to prove the cost-savings to you.

Spice up your web applications

Here’s an easy way to spice up web applications containing tables. Making only a few changes to your style sheets and your HTML, you can make an ordinary table more appealing and easier to navigate.

Read about this simple process in our forums.>>

m-Power staff consulting

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3 ways to beat the credit crunch

During a bad economy, I notice certain companies respond differently than others. Some go straight into survival mode, cutting back on everything and waiting for the bad times to pass. On the flip side, other companies proactively search for new ways to make money.

Here are 3 companies that responded to the credit crunch with technology, and not only saved money, but made money. They each used m-Power built web applications in unique ways to generate revenue and strengthen themselves in this bad economy. Find out what they did here.>>

Do you think web applications could help your company during these difficult times? Just fill out this short form and let us know what’s on your plate. We’ll tell you how your company can benefit from web applications, and even build you a free proof-of-concept.

Excel spreadsheets are often a giant waste of money

Excel is probably the most misused program in existence. Due to its ease of use and ubiquity, many companies use it for tasks that it was never meant to handle, such as business intelligence, reporting, and dashboards.

What does the rampant misuse of Excel really cost? Here’s a hint: It’s much more than the cost of MS Office, and could place your company at risk. You can read more about this problem in our forums.

IT job skills currently in demand

As an IT professional in a bad economy, keeping your skills current is one of the most important things you can do. It is good practice, and good for your career, to learn a new skill regularly.

Which IT skills are in demand right now? The Robert Half company recently published its “IT Hiring and Skills Report”, which focuses on important tech skills in Q2 of 2009. EWeek.com published the results, which you can find here.>>

Do in weeks what used to take years

I recently heard from an insurance company that has been working on a project to bring their insurance applications to the web and create a customer portal. After 2 years and hundreds of thousands of dollars spent, they still have nothing to show for it.

Sadly, this isn’t uncommon among large businesses today. For some reason, many executives almost expect projects like these to take a year or two and cost an arm and a leg. The truth is, a project like this should only take a few weeks with the proper tools.

Madness, you say?

We’d like to show you how fast web application development should be, with our 24-hour challenge. We will build you a free web application with m-Power in under 24 hours, using your own data. Just fill out this short form to get started.

Free whitepaper: 8 tips for ERP modernization

This white paper, as you might gather from the title, offers eight ways to modernize the applications you use with your enterprise software packages, and it breaks down the pros and cons to each.

It also includes a handy checklist that you should keep by your side when selecting your solutions. Access the "8 Tips to Modernize Your ERP" white paper here»

10 IT agenda items for the first U.S. CIO

It’s official, we finally have the first U.S. CIO, and I think he has his work cut out for him. For a country that relies so heavily on technology, I’m actually surprised we didn’t have a CIO years ago.

While there’s a lot that needs to be done, I’m curious to see what he deems as the most pressing tech issues. InfoWorld.com has made some suggestions with their article entitled, “10 IT agenda items for the first U.S. CIO.”

I’m also curious to hear what you think. What should Mr. Kundra deal with first?

Economic advantages of good business intelligence

How important is business intelligence (BI) to your business? One of our clients recently put it best when he said, “In good times, you can get away with poor information, but not now. In a bad economy, you have to understand the details of your business.”

It’s true. The details will show what you’re doing wrong, what you’re doing right, and will lead to quick and informed decisions. But what does detailed information look like? Check out these three BI examples we built for a fictitious company:

1. YTD Sales by Item Group / Year
2. YTD Sales by Sales Region / Year
3. Monthly Sales by Year

Notice how easily the information is accessed, and the level of detail available through the numerous drill-downs. If you want to see those kind of details about your business, just let us know. We’ll even build you a free proof of concept application.

Just fill out this short form to get started.

How ASPs can avoid per seat licensing costs

Per-seat licensing. It’s an archaic practice and a huge problem for application service providers (ASPs) in today’s marketplace. It’s expensive, impractical, and unfortunately is a problem that you will find with most reporting tools today.

This article in ITJungle.com explains how one ASP rolled out a new reporting solution to their customers while completely avoiding the prohibitively expensive costs of per-seat licensing.

5 recession survival skills

Here’s a great quote (regarding the economy) that I ran across while reading a recent Computerworld article:

“Remember, more people get medals and promotions in times of war.”

Isn’t that a great way to look at the problems in the economy? This isn’t the time to duck down and hope no one notices you, it’s the time to stand up and show the world what you are capable of.

That’s just one tip found in the recent Computerworld article entitled, “5 Recession Survival Skills.” It’s a good read, and I hope you find it useful.