Application Tip: Fun with SQL

Our Web 2.0 templates now allow you to modify the servlet data base work (SQL statement) through m-Painter.

This quick tip shows you how and when you might want to do so.

Love your legacy code...it's okay. We did and do!

This article from Computerworld covers a topic near and dear to many of our hearts: legacy code, with its wonderful merits and problematic future.

It is also worth noting that there are ways to retain its power while safely moving forward. m-Power users incorporate their own time-tested legacy code such as that written in COBOL or RPG, and integrate it into their new Java applications seamlessly.

And, because the code is time-tested, your new applications are faster, easier for users, and more flexible. We know because we had to do it ourselves. Here's what we had to do (PDF)»

10 best practices for IT-business alignment that you can adopt today.

With all of the constant chatter about how IT is becoming more of a commodity, and how CIOs need to become better business analysts, one area that is often left to our imaginations are actionable ways to accomplish this feat.

Here are 10 best practices that you can address to begin gaining notice on the business end of IT.

New Web feature: Submit your applications to our live tour

You may have noticed our new demo section featuring m-Power'd Web sites. In this new section, we are trying to showcase various application types built with m-Power.

If you've created a Web application with m-Power that you are particularly proud of, we might want to help showcase your work.

In some cases, these sites are live and can actually accept orders.

This can not only serve as a great way to promote you and your company, but it can increase sales and exposure. (Might want to forward this on to sales or marketing.) If you'd like to find out more, just drop us a line, so we can consider you in our demo tour right away!

And remember to check back regularly as we begin to add more sites to our demo area.

Road to CIO Tip: How to Foster Teamwork Between Insulated Groups

The importance of building and managing strong teams in IT, and business in general, is often considered essential to success. But, sometimes this can backfire. Particularly when teams are asked to collaborate on projects. But, collaboration is essential to success as well.

So, how can you get two strong teams to work together without facing an "us vs. them" mentality that can reduce your project to a squabbling mess?

Here are some great tips from CIO magazine on balancing that tightrope.

For good BI (Business Intelligence), IT needs to get out of the middle.

In a recent survey respondents predicted that within two years over 50% of their company's employees will use business intelligence software...even though less than 10% do now.

Why the lag? One reason is that many BI products still require a great deal of IT intervention. As one Gartner analyst says, "If you're going to roll out BI throughout the company, you've got to get IT out of the middle."

It takes empowering both end-users and developers to create BI solutions, and you need tools such as m-Power have to be both intuitive and comprehensive. If you have a few minutes now, you can test drive m-Power right now (via your Web browser) to get a better idea of what we mean.

How to Spot a Failing Project So You Can Save It.

Often, spotting critical early warning signs that a project is in trouble can make all the difference between success and failure. Here are a few ways to identify the symptoms.

Tip: Customize enterprise applications without blowing up your TCO (total cost of ownership.)

I just read this article in CIO magazine about how modifying new enterprise applications is not a good idea, and increases your TCO or Total Cost of Ownership.

Each of the author's concerns are true...but only when done incorrectly. This article addresses each of these concerns...and gives you some viable options for customizing your business applications

4 Ways your technology direction can Impact the Bottom Line

This report from Gartner outlines the four crucial areas where you can start developing projects and ideas to generate new revenue streams for the business.

2007 Trends--How do they fit you so far?

At the beginning of the year, Intelligent Enterprise released their predictions for the 7 top Trends of 2007 and ran the gamut from adopting Web 2.0 (now dubbed Enterprise 2.0) applications to creating better information flow for manufacturers, to full-scale integration in industries such as healthcare.

How do these match up with your concerns so far this year?

The 4-hour workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich (and other summer must-reads for IT)

It's that time of year, time to pack your beach bag full of SPF 50 and that hot new beach book, and hit the sand and surf.

But along with that spy thriller, you may want to tuck a few of these picks into your tote. Here are the top summer reading recommendations for Tech Professionals from eWeek's editorial staff. Check them out»

Web Design Tip: Wrapping text around an image

This quick and simple tip, can really come in handy when you are creating a Web page and an image and it's corresponding surrounding text is not fitting the way you need it to fit.

Here's how to wrap text around an image»

Enterprise 2.0: Why you should champion Web 2.0 technology, and how.

One essential promise for Enterprise 2.0, or Web 2.0 for the enterprise, is making important information available to the people who need it, in large part by using blogs and wikis to capture and store institutional knowledge.

Here are a few insights as to why you should be championing these causes in your organization, and how to get heard.

Simplifying travel - for you and your co-workers

With summer here, and travel imminent, your laptop may start racking up the miles alongside you.

Of course, creating a system of wireless applications with m-Power that allow you to do work through your cell phone, means you won't need that bulky bag. Alan Batchelor, at Emhart Glass, did just that by creating a wireless application with m-Power that allows him to send commands from his cell phone even when he's poolside. Learn what else he built»

But, grudgingly, I will admit that laptops themselves can come in handy on your trip--even if you're just trying to find the latest attractions--and that means lugging them around. So, what's the best one? Here's what one writer says is the "perfect" laptop bag»

Web Design Tip: How to avoid Email Spiders

There are very few cons to having a Web presence, but today we're going to talk about one...and how you can avoid it: email spiders.

Email spiders or spammer spiders, unlike search engine spiders, are out there for malevolent purposes. They are sent out to crawl the Web and scan Web sites for email addresses that the owner can either use themselves, or sell to other spammers...often both.

Here's how to avoid them while still remaining reachable!

How secure are mid-market companies? Where does your company fit?

It's a fact that small companies may report fewer intrusions simply because they often lack the means to detect them, and often are at greater risk because they lack security measures.

SMBs are responding by increasing the level of security spending from last year, but if these IT executives really want to sleep better at night, they should also focus on the tough task of changing the behavior of their employees.

Here are three findings about the state of security in the small-to-midsize business marketplace»

3 things you should always fake

This is an interesting column on three areas (email, phone and search engine) that you might want to fake.

Here's why»

IT Innovation. What top CIOs recommend - and how it can help you.

What's in store for IT, and where are we going? Sometimes the best way to gauge that commitment is to take a look at what other innovative people and companies are doing.

Here's what 5 of the most innovative CIOs are saying about IT innovation and where your focus needs to be»

Web design tip: A guide to color associations and how they help your web site

The colors you choose when designing your Web applications can make a difference between whether someone can read the text easily, whether it's a printable screen, even whether it puts them in a good mood.

Colors affect us in all sorts of ways, and the choices you make can be crucial to the success of your project.

Here is a basic guide to color associations that may help you when selecting a palette for your site.

Don't let large data files stymie your staff.

Large data files don't have to hurt performance or stymie your staff as one company discovered recently.

In trying to bring improved Business Intelligence to its end users they faced many challenges, not the least of which was the fact that their POS system was running outside their JD Edwards system, and the data wouldn't be combined until it hit general ledger. Additionally, they didn't have any developers on staff.

How could they bring Web reporting to their users, and do it effectively, when their datafiles were growing at 600,000 records a day? Here's how they did it»

5 Strategies you can use to have a world-class IT organization

After analyzing benchmark data from more than 2,100 companies including all but one of the 30 Dow Jones Industrials, a research group found that world-class IT organizations-those that achieve peak efficiency and effectiveness-spend 7 % more per end-user on IT operations than typical companies, but on average, earn that amount back fivefold in lower operational costs.

Here are 5 key IT strategies to allow you to gain that maximum impact»

Application Tip: Create powerful Web application from desktop spreadsheet

What company doesn't have users working on desktop spreadsheet programs? They help make users more self-sufficient and productive, which is great, and they take the pressure off of IT. It's a win-win.

But, when it becomes impossible to secure data or to know if the spreadsheet information you are viewing is as accurate and up-to-date as your neighbor's, it loses its luster.

But, now there's a new way end-users be self-sufficient and share information while doing away with security issues. Here's a quick presentation on how to give your people an easy way to turn that spreadsheet data into a powerful Web app.

Best Practices: The right way to secure wireless applications.

In a recent interview on wireless in the enterprise, a number of CIOs said securing the data on these devices was their biggest challenge. "Nothing can get on [wireless devices] unless we put it on," said one executive. "We lock it all down and keep it inside the enterprise and decide what goes out."

Of course, this puts a limit on the whole notion of the freedom wireless provides. And what happens if you lose the device with all that crucial data on it? Or it's stolen?

Emhart Glass's Alan Batchelor has a better solution.

The Top 10 dead (or dying) computer skills...

This Computerworld article has compiled the top 10 dead (or dying) computer skills. Where are you in the mix?

What if the most effective way to harness your current skills means achieving the end result without the painful means?

CIO magazine lists top drivers for innovation

Contrary to popular belief, innovation doesn’t have to result in complete business transformation or enormous expense.

Recently CIO Magazine turned to the CIO Executive Council to see what they had to say about modern solutions and IT innovations, and surprisingly it's not about technology...it's about making innovation a subtle, manageable and core part of your organization.

Here are 10 tips on how to do it»

Web Design Tip: Make your shopping cart sticky for better sales

One of the biggest threats to online transactions is that your users will become frustrated, or distracted, and abandon their shopping carts before they have followed through the entire shopping experience from selection to final payment.

Here are some design best practices to help you not only prevent the abandonment, but also to improve sales while they are there.

MySQL gains popularity in both System i and Google.

Many heard the recent announcement by IBM that they are supporting the MySQL database on the System i (formerly AS/400), but the support is flowing in. Google has unveiled new enhancements, and while Google doesn't use MySQL in its search, it uses it in its vast YouTube network...and that is a powerful, data-heavy, file-heavy site.

My SQL, which started as a read-only database, caught on because of its ability to speedily serve Web pages. While MySQL hasn't displaced DB2 or Oracle as the two leading databases in production settings, among developers, a recent survey by Evans Data indicates the developer's database of choice for 40% of their responders. Read more here»

5 Best Practices for IT Cost Containment

With the recent emphasis on crossover between business acumen and IT, it's a good idea to keep an eye on your budget, and do what you can to keep your IT costs down. One good reason? With these ever-blurring lines, now, more than ever, IT has its best shot at re-investing those savings.

5 Best Practices for IT Cost Containment»

App Tip: Customize error messages in your Web applications

One of the most important benefits of m-Power is the ease with which you can create customized Web applications.

And that includes the wording of error messages, whether across the board, or for individual apps. (These are the messages your user sees if they enter data in the wrong field, or don't enter information in mandatory fields). See how easy it is»

The Business-Savvy Smartphone Review: Going wireless

Many articles on smartphones cover the ins and outs of wireless devices for the average consumer, but here's an article that focuses on four of the top smartphones for business purposes, and why.


Here's a short case study about one manufacturer's wireless applications to give you some ideas.

£50,000 for a custom app vs £250,000 for a canned one.

Recently, a UK manufacturer in the market for an online shopping cart went to their packaged software vendor for what they hoped would be a "plug and play" solution. It certainly seemed like that would make the most sense. But, they found that with software, implementation, and training they would be spending £250,000, or around $440,000 US.

This staggering cost had them looking for alternative options. And, what they found was even more surprising. They could (and did) create a customized shopping cart like this one in much less time, for much less money.

The total price tag for all of their needs? £50,000. Just 1/5 the cost quoted for the canned solution.

Success: How one company faced down massive datamart challenge with Web-based BI

With 15 companies, representing 8 separate industries, flexible Web reporting was not only key, but crucial to keeping Bosselman Energy Company's employees informed, and able to do their jobs at top levels.

And, with more than 15 million records in their datamart and more than 600,000 records being added each month, Bosselman had an even bigger challenge on their hands. See how they rose to meet it»

Web design Tip: Exploring the Hidden workings of m-Painter

When m-Power introduced its m-Painter features, we talked about the advantages it gives developers to create the look of their Web apps on the fly, and handed you the top 5 reasons to use it.

But...we may not have given you a breakdown of some of the features at your fingertips. Here's a quick overview of the toolbar features.

Many IT shops are playing it too safe. Is yours?

According to this Information Week article, it's time to get back to innovation that drives business: "The numbers indicate that tech leaders need to snap their associates out of their comfort zones." They call it the ROI effect: "At times, companies put the kibosh on experimentation because they don't see the return on investment in it."

But, it's that type of experimentation that can often lead to greater payoffs, and even greater solutions. Take the case of this IT innovator»

SOA: Hype versus reality

Is 2007 the year of SOA? Apart from the sheer technical complexity, full-scale deployment of SOA requires deep interdepartmental shifts. No wonder it’s slow going.

“The IT side has to understand the business side – finally. They need to understand what the requirements are so that the IT department can create these applications and services to really support the business.” Read more»>

Of course, it also helps when the technical complexity gets simplified. Let us know how m-Power can help your SOA project.

BI tools to integrate existing apps and ease-of-use

According to a recent Information Week survey, nearly 80% of respondents are interested in the ability to integrate BI offerings with existing applications. And, it's not only possible...but click your heels and, well...see below.

This company created a powerful custom Business Intelligence Web dashboard that works with their existing systems...and they were able to create it in-house in a matter of days. Here's how»

Four steps to CIO relevance

Here's an interesting (and short) article from InformationWeek outlining the four steps to staying relevant as a CIO: Streamline, Offload, Reinvest, Innovate.

Get the steps»

Application Tip: How to go wireless with your Web applications

Wireless applications continue to make their case for improving employee productivity and saving gobs of money.

So...what if you could create them almost instantly and offer them to your business leaders at no additional cost and could single-handedly save your company big money?

The only thing you need to do to deploy your m-Powered applications as wireless, is to tweak the presentation layers of your application differently to make it useful to the wireless user. Here's how»

Earth Day 2007: 10 steps to a green Data Center

As most CIOs know, data centers often require a ton of electricity to maintain, and some vendors are starting to feel the CIOs' pain, marketing their servers and processors as energy efficient and eco-friendly.

So, recently, CIO Insight sat down with Dave Douglas, the vice president of eco-responsibility at Sun Microsystems, to craft some ways to cut energy costs from the data center and do the earth a favor in the meantime.

In honor of Earth Day (April 22), here are 10 steps to a green data center»

2 powerful IT conferences march into April and May education events

We're on the move this month to some powerful new educational seminars. If any of these are in your neck of the woods, come by and see us!

COMMON is just around the corner April 29-May 2, hosted in Anaheim, CA (Booth 401). And we'll be hosting a hands-on lab.

We'll also be at the Friedman User Group Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada May 14-16, and we'll be presenting on building successful Web initiatives in the B2B market space.

Check out more information on these events here»

Web Design Tip: Take your users where you want them to go.

There are many reasons you may want to create a Web page that redirects your users to a different part of your site. It could be a cumbersome URL, a Web page that was removed, or reserving the right to make changes to an application's URL.

Here's a quick how-to article to that tells you...well, how to create an HTML redirect or jump page.

Six Tips to Make IT projects and new ideas Succeed

Helping your ideas gain traction in the boardroom (and in practice) can be a tricky business. A new book offers CIOs some best practices. Here's an excerpt»

Forget the Chart, Check the Cell Phone

Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania is betting you'll want your health data, especially if you're getting emergency treatment while traveling.

Starting at the end of March, they are providing 100,000 of its members with electronic access to their and their dependents' personal health records. Members will be able to access their information from cell phones as well as PDAs and PCs.

Read how this will work»

If you're interested in creating a similar application, to run on a wireless phone, you can learn more about m-Power's wireless capabilities here.

Developers: Expect a new language in the next five years

According to software experts attending the The ServerSide Java Symposium, IT should expect an entirely new language in the next five years, and an ongoing adaptation of current languages such as XML and Java. Read more about it here»

But, m-Power users don't have to worry about that because m-Power insulates users from the constant changes in languages, and gives them the ability to constantly adapt to the changing times. It lets you focus on what you want to build, not HOW to build it. Test your skills here»

It just takes 15 minutes to create one applications, and thirty minutes for two.

Three major factors failing RFID

There are three major factors that are causing RFID programs to fail according to Sara Lee CIO, which one is most harmful to your program?

Integration as Cure: the future of Medical Records

Electronic Medical Records or EMRs faces its fair share of challenges, but the demand for them is growing. Electronic health records could improve care, reduce errors and eventually lower healthcare costs, but obstacles abound.

One of the biggest? Most hospitals and doctor's offices use noninteroperable software and databases. And, there are some other obstacles such as privacy and cost.

Here are some ideas on ways around these»

Dear Marcy, Why would anyone want to copy and paste Excel data?

Dear Marcy,
I get weekly sales data sent to me via csv files, and then I use pivot tables in Excel to analyze the information and create reports based on that information, and e-mail it to my colleagues. That way I don’t have to get IT involved, and they don’t have me messing around on the database.

I saw last week that Joe was talking about Excel spreadsheets on his blog, and how end-users could copy and paste data from Excel into m-Power, but I went through the presentation, and I don’t really understand why a company would want to do this?

Here's what Marcy had to say»

IT Productivity: Measuring the Immeasurable

Raw productivity gains, according to this article, aren't sufficient to compete successfully in the 21st century. "What you want is agile productivity," he maintains. "You want to be able to repurpose the assets of your business as efficiently as possible to stay current with the market."

Agility, of course, is but another way to describe a kind of perpetual state of innovation, of moving fast enough—through product and process development, and into and out of markets as opportunity dictates—to compete.

Poolside business apps and other (better) ways to do business.

When Emhart Glass's Application Development Manager, Alan Batchelor, had to interrupt his vacation and go into the office because one of his servers was not started, he was pretty annoyed. And rightly so.

Necessity is the mother of invention, though.

Alan solved the problem, quite ingeniously, by creating a wireless application with m-Power that allows him to send commands from his cell phone even when he's poolside. And that was just he beginning. Learn what else he built»

New Coalition Giving U.S. Doctors Free E-Prescribing Software Services

It's estimated that 3.2 billion prescriptions are written each year by U.S. doctors, and currently less than 20% of American doctors use e-prescribing, says Dr. Nancy Dickey, currently president of the Health Science Center and vice chancellor for Health Affairs at the Texas A&M University System and formerly president of the American Medical Association.

It's also estimated that between 7,000-9,000 American patients die -- and 1.5 million are injured -- each year by preventable medication errors, according to a July 2006 report by the Institute of Medicine.

Read all about it»

Study: Leading retail sites slow to adopt AJAX

According to a recent survey less than 20 percent of retail shopping sites are using AJAX to build out their sites, and only 6 percent are using advanced AJAX techniques.

"AJAX is arguably the best rich Internet application available to developers right now, but its complexity and the disruption to traditional development processes (seem) to be hindering the widespread adoption predicted by many experts," says one of the study administrators.

Particularly in companies where product information can be called up (like retail) or manufacturing, distribution, so users can immediately get all of the information they need instantly. Of course, this isn't as big of an issue when AJAX is built right in.

Cool new technology: Think cows with tattoos

Just when you thought you've heard of everything...picture cows with tattoos. A new technology has been developed: a safe, invisible, RFID ink that can be detected up to four feet away.

While the jury is still out on the big brother implications of this breakthrough, the possible uses of this ink seem boundless. The FDA and CDC will be able to track food from beginning to end to quickly track down such problems as e.coli outbreaks and animal diseases.

Stolen goods can be quickly ID'd and returned. And in the supply chain community, this may mean an even more seamless method of tracking goods and packages from creation to sale, and everything in between. Learn more here»

Trend to watch: How IT Is Revitalizing Staff Skills

This ComputerWorld article offers insight as to where IT is leading, and keeping staffers focused on the best ways of applying technology to business, rather than focusing on technology skills in and of themselves.

“You can go on the street and find a good Java programmer or those types of skills,” says William Ulrich, president of Tactical Strategy Group Inc. in Soquel, Calif. “It is much more difficult to go outside the company and find someone who understands the in-depth nature of your business.”

Here's what skills are being valued»

Web 2.0 transcends hype for business

You may not be ready to embrace concepts like "social computing" or "participative computing" in your organization, but the benefits of Web 2.0 can no longer be ignored. In fact, Web 2.0 figures prominently in Gartner's latest list of key actions IT leaders should take over the next three years to demonstrate value to their organizations. This article from 1105 Media gives you the 411. Read more»

Trend to watch: Manufacturing Job One: Improve information flow.

In a recent article published by Intelligent Enterprise on the Top Seven Trends to watch, one to focus on is found in Manufacturing's inherent need to improve information flow.

Manufacturing executives realize that if they can solve the problem of gathering information from their company's portfolio of data sources in the plant or value chain--and build that capability into a linked enterprise process--they will have a considerable competitive advantage. Here are some examples of what we mean»

Magically turn Excel pivot tables into Web reports.

Every day end-users across the globe spend a large amount of time pulling data into spreadsheet programs like Excel, and then using pivot tables and the like to analyze data. This wastes a lot of time, is insecure, inefficient, and often inaccurate.

But, there's a new way you can help your end-users save time, do away with security issues, AND create their own Web reports. Here's a short presentation on how»

What SaaS (Software as a Service) means for you

What is SaaS? Here's the simplest way to think of it: "The Web has become a solid application delivery platform, transforming the way we can deploy enterprise software." This CIO Magazine article gives you a better picture, AND names it as one of the top 5 major IT changes that you need to consider.

Whatever you choose to call it, it all amounts to becoming more flexible and nimble and saving money by not having to write code from the ground up for each application. Here's one manufacturer's story on how they created an enterprise-level executive dashboard tied to their enterprise software package...without having to write it from scratch.

Calling all System i Innovators

Individuals and organizations that have discovered innovative ways to utilize their System i platform are in luck.

Now is the time to nominate someone—perhaps yourself--perhaps your favorite Tool Vendor (hint, hint)—for one of the IBM System i Innovation Awards. The nomination deadline for the 2007 awards is end of day on Wednesday, February 28, 2007.

You've worked hard on your system designs, and development. Start reaping the rewards!

Check out the details here»

Dear Marcy, What's the deal with AJAX?

Dear Marcy,

I keep hearing about AJAX, but I don't really have a grasp on what it's all about, or why it would be helpful for a company like mine? (We're strictly B2B.) Could you give me a basic understanding in a nutshell, of why I should be interested in it?

--Curious in Canada

Here's her response»

Trend to watch: Business Analysts Step Up and Design for Agility

There are new factors changing not only Business/IT alignment, but also the role of the business analyst. This shift puts the business analyst in the role of application planning, and design in many cases--without any specific IT implementation required of them.

This renewed focus on "What is Needed" rather than "How it is built" is a paradigm shift similar to the IT equivalent of what manufacturers did to enable themselves to construct product simulations before ever cutting a single piece of material.

Here's a quick article that takes a look at the ins and outs of the Business Analysts changing role.

Curious about how PHP stacks up to Java?

You've probably been hearing a lot about PHP of late, but what's not so clear is how it stacks up against other languages like Java, and when it is best used.

This article (sign in as ID/password marcy/marcy) says this: "So how does PHP fare against Java? It depends on the application. If it's an enterprise application that requires integration with multiple applications, languages, and databases, Java or .NET beat out PHP."

PHP is easy to learn, and easy to use to create basic dynamic Web applications, but the article offers this caveat: "But the more sophisticated your PHP applications become, the more it makes sense to use Java."

(The nice thing is, using m-Power to develop those complex Java apps is even faster than using and executing simple PHP.) Try it out here»

Dear Marcy, Your competitors tell me they access multiple databases too, so what is the big deal?

Dear Marcy,
I’ve been looking at application development tools that can access multiple databases (I need to access SQL Server and Oracle 10g along with DB2). mrc is always talking about how m-Power can access any database, but I’ve been talking to two of your competitors and they both say their products do the same thing.

I don’t see why this is the topic of so much discussion if it’s something everyone else does too. --Comparing Apples to Apples?

Here's her response»

Web Design Tip: Use an HTML checker

When your site has HTML errors, missing links, spelling mistakes and browser-compatibility problems, your site is losing its effectiveness.
Luckily, there are tools out there to let you double-check your work and rid yourself of some of these common problems.

This short article tells you about one tool that offers a free trial that works so great...well, we'll let you decide.

Trend to watch: Improving on processor speed.

This article, from Intelligent Enterprise magazine, in the section titled, "Computing at a Crossroads" talks about how despite rapid performance growth between 1986 and 2002, nearly doubling performance and power almost every 18 months, microprocessor companies in 2004 hit a "Power Wall," and what it will mean to programmers going forward. The ball is now in their court.

Programmers will need to learn to architect applications that most advantageously take advantage of these processors using techniques such as "paralleling" and multi-threading, in order to gain the best performance from their applications, to improve performance per watt, or performance per dollar within the peak performance of the microprocessor.

With the advent of mrc's new Web 2.X templates, these considerations are already built in, creating systems of multi-threading for the best scalability and to use the processor most efficiently.

Smartphones and you: Running BI from your mobile device.

With the new introduction of Apple's iPhone, SmartPhones are in the spotlight once again.

Here's a great side-by-side comparison of what to look for from your SmartPhone operating systems.

And remember, while you can offer Linux-based applications on the phone itself, providing browser-based applications may be faster and more secure. After all, if everything is through a browser, if you lose your phone, the only thing you lose...is the phone.

Portals and Portlets: What they are, and what they do.

Portals and portlets are terms often bantered about and can be very powerful business tools, but what do you need to do to create them, and what makes them different from other Web applications?

Here is a new straightforward overview of portals and portlets and what they can mean for your business.

Web Design Tip: Hex colors and how to use them.

When designing a Web page in HTML, colors are defined using a 6-figure coding system called hexadecimal(or hex) colors .

For example, if you wanted to make some text red, you could type: <font color="#FF0000">This is a hexadecimal code for red</font> into your HTML, and your Web page would show this: This is a hexadecimal code for red.

But where do these 6-figure codes come from, and how can you determine which colors will work for your site?

Here's a quick article to give you the background along with some tools you can use to make color selection easier.

Dear Marcy, I can't tell if shopping cart is tied to a larger system, or if it's just a demo application.

Dear Marcy,
We are in the process of researching how to develop a shopping cart/order entry system for our customers. We've run across a variety of options in the process. One way requires us to copy data over from our backend system to an MS-based server (to provide an extra layer of security), and have the MS guys create the application from there. But, I've been arguing with management that this is inefficient, and also dangerous in its own right because of data inaccuracies.

The other option we've been looking at is a plug-in module manufactured by our MRP vendor.

I know crazybikes has a shopping cart. But, I can't figure out from your site whether it's tied to a larger complex backend system, or if it's just a stand-alone demo application that was hand-coded. What is it written over and/or is it possible to write it over my MRP (we use Movex)? If so, how much would something like that cost? Would we need a consultant? --Exploring Options

See her response here»

Attend the Omni User Group Conference for DB2/400 users in Chicago

It will include a brand new mrc hands-on lab (with new Web 2.X features) and industry experts speaking on various modern business and IT solutions. For more information, visit our events page.

Or, if you would like to try our original hands-on lab online instead, you can do that right now if you like! Just sign up here. (It takes less than 1/2 an hour to develop 2 Java applications!)

Study: Most managers' info searches are useless

A newly released study from Accenture says most managers' info searches are useless, and that more than half the data they find has no value to them.

Here are a few interesting statistics:

• Only 16% store valuable data in a collaborative workspace like a portal.
  
• Over 42% said they accidentally use the wrong information at least once a week.
  
• 57% said having to go to numerous sources to collect data makes managing it difficult. On average, the managers said they go to three different sources to find certain types of information.

Creating a portal like this one (Sign in as 10DKS10 as both user and password to view it) solves many of these problems and can be accomplished very quickly and cost-effectively.

Web Design Tip: Including Icon in URL

You may have noticed that often next to the URL in your browser, or in your favorites folder, companies have placed their logo or a corporate icon of some kind.

For example:


If you would like to do the same for your Web site, it's easy. We've posted an easy how-to article on the User Development Forum. You can find it here»

Dear Marcy: How can I convince management that the platform I know is the platform to keep?

Welcome to our latest forum feature: "Dear Marcy" where you can write in anonymously and ask our resident expert business and IT questions that you might like some creative solutions to.

Here's the first published letter:

Dear Marcy,

My company just got acquired by a larger company, and they are running their business applications on SQL Server. We run ours on DB2 served off an iSeries.

This concerns me because I’ve got expertise associated with the AS/400 or iSeries platform and don’t want to be downsized.

How can I try to convince management that the iSeries is the one to keep?

Sincerely,
Acquired in Alabama

Read her response here»

Or, you can listen to this podcast response, if you'd rather not join the forum.

Web 2.0 capability: AJAX in action

Here's one example of AJAX in action that makes it faster and easier for your users to get to the critical information they need.

To try it out: Go to this application and look for the “Customer Name” column.

You'll notice there's a field to enter information. The dropdown next to it is marked CT. (CT stands for Contains, so when you select CT from the drop down, you are looking for Customer Names that "contain" the letter, word or number you are searching for.)

To use it, let's say you are using this application to look for customers with the word “bikes” contained in their names. To use mrc Prompt, type the word “bikes” one letter at a time. As each letter is entered, a drop down will appear showing you only those options that contain the word bikes. You can then click on your selection and hit enter to bring up your record of choice.

Give it a try in each of these fields. It's an amazing way to drill down to filter information on the fly.

Web Design Tip #15: Creating ordered lists

As a follow up to last week's article on creating Web content through use of bulleted lists, there are also some built in list building features which allow you to create ordered lists.

Ordered lists can come in handy in a number of ways on Web sites, or Web applications, but probably find their most common use when developing a series of ordered steps or instructions.

This article tells you how.

Personalize your Google Page..with Cup of Joe!

If you have already personalized your Google search page, you can add this blog feed to it and see our latest posts as they are updated! Just click the "Add to Google" button on the top of the right hand column of this page.

If you haven't personalized your Google search page yet, here's how to do it:
1) Create a Google Account.

2) Once your google account is completed and you're signed in, go to http://www.google.com and either click on the "Personalized Home" link in the upper-right corner of the page, or you are already at your personalized home page.

3) Now, come back to this blog, and look at the right column, and click on the brand new button we've added right above the search window that reads, "Add to Google!" Then, click "Add to Google Homepage" button.

Web Design Tip #14: Creating bulleted lists for better organization

Real estate on Web sites is limited, so it often comes in handy to give users easier ways to find and break down information more quickly.

One of the simplest solutions is to create simple lists using bullets.

Here's how you can create your own»

Another great idea to steal

Information Week recently compiled a list of the top 20 IT business ideas (that you might want to steal.)

Inventory Master
E.&J. Gallo Winery developed a warehouse management & logistics system, giving managers inventory and supply chain visibility in distribution centers worldwide.

The system uses RFID with automated vehicles inside Gallo warehouses. That, with data integration among planning, sales, and delivery systems resulted in: 35% improvement in demand forecast accuracy, 98.5% inventory accuracy. The order-to-ship cycle is half what it was--and all while the winery's brand portfolio doubled.

This kind of integrated information sharing and forecast accuracy can be even more challenging when there are many systems and databases involved. Here's one manufacturer who had to track production on products that were being created in four worldwide plants...and had "made do" with an e-mailed Excel spreadsheet for a little too long.

Happy Holidays from all of us at mrc!

Click on the image below and build your own snowman!

This is not your father’s report-writer! (The Remix)

The Web world has not only given new life to business intelligence, but to everyday report-writing.

Web reports can contain links and graphics to product and customer information and let you drill around your data, resulting in more information at your fingertips, and in a much more readable format. And...it's all done in an instant.

Try it! This one lets your user request a report via the internet, run it and distribute it automatically via email, or run it on the fly. It also lets you determine the data and formats...PDF, XML, CSV, HTML, whatever you like.

Older IT Workers: The survival guide

The ever-changing nature of tech means there’s a kind of ageism built into the industry itself. Previous experience is devalued because previous technology moves toward irrelevance.

Couple this built-in ageism with an employers concern about job longevity, and veteran IT staffers can face a real challenge: how can I stay employed after the first few gray hairs?

This article has some hints»

Executive Dashboards...not just for executives anymore?

One of the longest-running complaints of BI is that companies have the capabilities to analyze the data, but often there is so much of it that pertinent critical data gets overlooked, or is outdated by the time it gets into the hands of the people who need it.

Not true if the BI application is done right. Take advantage of the Web and smart technologies in a dashboard like this one to give your people the best chance to make the information work for you.

First of twenty great business ideas you should steal...

Information Week recently compiled a list of the top 20 business ideas (that you might want to steal for your very own.)

Here's the first:
"Construction company Emcor Group put voice, e-mail, and specialized applications on a handheld device that fits in a shirt pocket. That's providing a practical way to keep the people closest to the customer up to date.

Field technicians are now more productive, using a wireless dispatching system tied to Emcor's customer support center. The same device used by the technicians for this service application is also their cell phone. The approach has improved time to invoice, invoice accuracy, and overall customer satisfaction by more closely integrating the field to the office."

You can create an application just like this»

iSeries Devcon recap: 8:30 am in Vegas is simply unnatural

For those of you that attended our lab at iSeries Devcon, thank you! It was great to get your perspective on the tools, and we really enjoyed meeting all of you. Remember, if you have any questions, don't hesitate to let us know!

If you weren't at Devcon, or you just felt that 8:30 am in Vegas was a cruel cruel joke...we feel for you.

That's why we've decided to offer the hands-on Web development seminar you missed at Devcon in this handy online lab! (You'll build two Java Web apps in half an hour!)

Sci-Fi Cool Gadgets-- Closer to fact than fiction

Science fiction writers, have in the past acted as "technology seers" and have predicted such breakthroughs as flight, cyberspace and computer viruses among other changes.

Here's a few future-gadgets on the horizon that might interest CIOs in particular.

Biz App Tip#4: Watch out for outmoded meta-languages

As technology behind business applications and BI has evolved...there has been a rebirth of big-picture thinking, giving companies reason to re-evaluate their BI software choices and application development tools.

One of the biggest changes has been a calculated move away from outmoded meta-languages. But, unfortunately, many tools out there still incorporate them.

Here's what we mean by meta-languages, and why should do your best to avoid them»

The Great Mashed Potato Experiment of 2006

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, mrc's Marketing Director talks about her lifelong love of mashed potatoes, and offers the results of her great Mashed Potato Experiment of 2006...and what she learned.

Learn what she learned, and get her mashed potato recipe here»

Top 10 project problems to avoid

Take these cautionary tales to heart, so that you can sidestep these pitfalls in your own business.

Business lessons: Take four steps toward data security

We don't talk a lot about data security in this blog usually, unless we are touting our own security features (of which there are many).

However, there are definitely areas of improvement that every company can examine to ensure that private information is secure, corporate secrets are guarded, and internal applications find the the right balance between protection and accessibility.

Here are four steps you can begin to take to improve data security at your company.

Smartphones: What to look for, and what you can do with them

What's a smartphone? Well, where BlackBerry made its mark by providing email to the road warrior, this new generation shoots for not having to carry a laptop at all.

This great InformationWeek article gives you a side by side comparison of what the best SmartPhones to bet on are.

And this new quick case scenario from Emhart Glass gives you a good example of some of the cool applications you can build for them.

Business App Tip #3: Use an Easy Dashboard Speedometer

With the rise in popularity of both executive dashboards and portals, and the demand for instant BI, one of the easiest to read tools you can use is the dashboard "speedometer."

With one quick glance, a manager can grasp what is really going on in her business, be warned of new problems and react quickly.

We use our speedometer capabilities in our internal dashboard to track how our help desk is doing, whether we are answering our customer needs quickly enough. If you'd like to use this metric monitor in your dashboard, this short article tells you how.

3 minute learning: AJAX

This week's 2 minute mPowerPod sheds light on AJAX...which is why it's actually more like 3 minutes this time around.

Find out what all this talk of AJAX is, where it can benefit you, and how you can use it in this short and sweet 3 minute podcast.

(You don't have to have an iPod to take advantage of these mPowerPods.)

Top 12 Tech Metrics to Gauge Business Impact

This Information Week article, talks about the challenge CIOs face in measuring the value of IT with traditional ROI or TCO (total cost of ownership) metrics.

Instead, they are being asked to track specific business needs. Here's what they say are the Top 12 tech metrics you need to keep your eye on.

Boo! Happy Halloween: 25 IT Horror Stories

In the spirit of Halloween, here's an article from CIO magazine on their top 25 IT horror stories, and if it doesn't serve to frighten, it might serve to offer some cautionary tales...

(oh...and you might want to turn on your speakers...)

CIO Magazine: 25 IT Horror Stories

Business App Tip #2: Incorporate outside technologies to strengthen your apps

We're always talking about the importance of flexibility, but we're usually talking about platform or database flexibility and how you can access any database or create apps to run on any operating system (or systems) you choose.

But another area that you should pay attention to is also an "internal flexibility" or the ability to pull in outside technologies and resources to further extend your application capabilities with the latest and greatest capabilities.

Here's a quick article on some of the benefits.

Penny for your thoughts? How about a Harvard white paper?

We really appreciate your thoughts and insights. It help us keep our blog posts, articles, and newlsetters relevant to you. So, we'd really appreciate your help once again, and we're not above bribery...ahem...I mean, incentives.

If you fill out this quick survey, we'll forward you this helpful white paper from the Harvard Business School: Why IT matters in mid-size companies, exploring how IT capability is the key to profitable business growth.

Are Enterprise Apps on the way out?

Apparently, at least according to this article from CIO Magazine, IT execs feel that most business functions can benefit from automation, but data integration problems must first be solved. That means stepping toward SOA and Web services—and away from suites like CRM and ERP.

However, that task needn't be daunting, or all at once..

You can integrate data from disparate sources by either creating custom applications that access multiple databases, or by copying data from one database to another, and when they are built with the right architecture, moving them over to SOA and Web services is a simple next step, rather than an enterprise-wide ordeal.

2 minute power learning: mPowerPod meets Open Template Technology

This week's 2 minute mPowerPod sheds light on Open Template Technology.

Find out what Open Template Technology is, where it can benefit you, and where to find it in this short and sweet two-minute podcast.

Introducing 2 minutes of power learning...the m-Powerpod.

What is the m-PowerPod, you ask?

Well, it's a podcast designed to provide fact-filled tidbits on technology, web applications, special features, and business benefits...all in under two minutes.

This first mPowerPod is the definitive mPowerPod intro of who we are and what we do...and also gives you an idea of how quick these mPowerPod's really are!

10 commandments of project management

Project management is always a challenge in one way or another, but there are ways to smooth your path.

By following these 10 commandments from ComputerWorld, you will have a much better chance of being successful in the long term.

Web Tip #9: How cascading style sheets work

Not totally familiar with cascading style sheets? Here are the basics...

Cascading style sheets are the best way to get (and retain) a professional look for your Web site, and also the easiest way to apply and maintain that look on the pages throughout your site.

Here's a quick look at the elements involved.