What happens when you combine m-Power's new ranking report template with m-Painter's new import facility? Click the question mark to find out. (Hint: The link will lead to a page that looks very similar to the ranking report. Select your filtering criteria, click the "run report" button, and you will see the answer to the riddle).
Smart-phones are revolutionizing the way we travel. Are you lost? Just pull up a map on your phone. Bored on the plane? Chances are there’s something on your phone to keep you occupied. Need to find a restaurant in a new city? Again, check your phone.
If you plan on traveling during the remainder of this summer, there are a few applications that might really come in handy. Here’s a nice list on CIO.com of 20 Blackberry and iPhone apps for summer travel.
Be warned: The more we depend on our phones, the more costly losing one can become, especially in business. Check out this week's blog post entitled, "The next big security problem", for a way around those risks.
I just read an interesting article in Infoworld.com, entitled, “Slow IT: Do Less with Less.” It was a very good read, but the title is a bit misleading.
The article is not really focused on doing less so much as it’s focused on working smarter. Sometimes working smarter involves doing less of the menial tasks and more of the business sensitive tasks. It involves finding ways to cut out those things which waste your time, while finding new ways to save time.
Here's a very common example: Many IT departments waste countless hours running ad hoc reports. I’ve known IT professionals who hated their jobs because they were just running ad hoc reports all the time. The solution: Let your users run their own reports and everyone will be happy.
If you’re not quite sure how to let your users run their own reports, or think it would be a long process, we can help. We will show you how to quickly set up reporting solutions for end users like the kind of reports you can find here (or here). Just fill out this short form for more information.
We have recently released a new update which adds Google map integration into m-Power. This enhancement applies to all web application templates in m-Power.
How will this help? There are really many, many ways to use an integrated map in your web apps, but here are a couple that come to mind:
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: If you are in the IT industry, you must make an effort to keep your skills up to date - or risk unemployment. I know it’s not easy, but a current skill set will drastically improve your chances of employment when times get tough. Even in the worst economic conditions, there are always certain skill sets that are still in demand.
Want to know what they are right now? Check out this list on CIOinsight.com that lists 9 IT jobs that are currently in high demand.
The one IT job this list is missing is m-Power developer - the job that lets you take advantage of and keep current on changing technologies as they are happening.
Did you see the news article last week about the NYPD and their new typewriters? Basically, New York is shelling out nearly $1 million to buy new typewriters for their police force. Stories like this only illustrate just how hard it is to change, especially in IT.
Why is change so hard in IT? Besides the whole issue of time and money, I believe the biggest roadblocks to change in IT are the people themselves. “The old way works just fine”, is the refrain I’m sure many an IT professional has heard in their career. Unfortunately, the old way is usually the more expensive way.
I believe that change is necessary, and can be easy if done right. In fact, if anyone from the NYPD is reading this, we can create web applications for you in one month that will completely eliminate the need for typewriters. Give us a call and we’ll get started.
If your company is hanging onto old technology, I would like to show you just how easy change can be. Just fill out this short form and let us know what old technology your company is holding onto.
As I promised in a post a couple of weeks ago, the new ranking report template is now available to m-Power customers. Just log into the customer portal and download the latest update.
This new ranking report template allows you to run reports with variable rankings while specifying selection criteria at run-time. Check out the live demo area to learn more about its functionality.
You may be surprised to hear that the demo area you just viewed was created in under 5 minutes. Don’t believe me? I’ve written up a step-by-step walkthrough of the build process complete with screenshots, which can be found in our forums.
I heard an unintentionally hilarious commercial on the radio the other day. I won’t try to quote it word for word, but it went something like this: Tired of poor job security and low pay? Take our 6 month training class and you will become a Microsoft certified IT professional. You will be an indispensible employee with great job security and a high salary.
I had to laugh. In 6 months I could have great job security and a high salary? Sign me up! That certainly sounds great, but I’m afraid it’s far from accurate. In fact, this Techrepublic.com article entitled, “10 dirty little secrets you should know about working in IT” probably describes the industry a little better.
What do you think? Who described the IT industry better: The commercial or the article?
There is no excuse for inefficiency in the enterprise these days. Never before have we had so many tools at our disposable aimed at making us more efficient. And it will only become more important in the coming years.
According to this article in Forbes.com, efficiency will be the theme of the next decade. IT departments will be tasked with making all aspects of the enterprise more efficient in the next few years, but it won't be easy. According to the author, they will run into a few distinct problems ranging from old data to inefficient application development.
If you want to develop applications more efficiently, m-Power will help. Just fill out this short form and let us know what you have on your plate, and we’ll show you how m-Power will make you more efficient.
We have some great new m-Power features coming in the near future that I’m really excited about. I can’t contain my excitement any longer for one in particular: m-Power is getting a new interface!
The new UI will not only look better, but will make it even easier to create web applications. We’ve improved the navigation in a few different ways, upgraded search-ability, added links to resources, and much more.
While I don’t have a demo area to show you, I do have a screenshot if you want to see the future user interface for m-Power. I’ve added the descriptions and the arrows, so don’t think that they are part of the interface. You can see the screenshot here.>>
If you want to see just the screenshot with no descriptions, click here.>>
About 8 months ago, our communication company’s central box went down and much of the area (us included) lost internet service for a couple days. It was difficult to work and made me realize just how much we (and businesses as a whole) rely on the internet.
I was reminded of that story as I was reading an article on techradar.com entitled, “Celebrating 20 years of the world wide web.” The article takes a look back from the beginning of the world wide web until now, and covers the steps taken to get where we are today.
It’s funny to think how just 20 years ago the internet had no place in the business, and now you probably couldn’t even function without it. It kind of makes me wonder what we’ll be remembering fondly 20 years from now.
I've noticed many companies acting like turtles recently. What do I mean by that? When a turtle is scared, they retract into their shells. They shut themselves off to the outside world in hopes that the threat will go away.
It seems as though many companies are doing the same thing. They are hiding and waiting for the economy to get better. While that may be a good strategy for a turtle, it’s not for a business.
This is no time to hide and wait. This is the time to move ahead while everyone else is waiting. Look outside your comfort zone for new ways to help your business. Identify your key weaknesses and try to turn them into advantages. Sure, it might cost a little up front, but you’ll be far better off in the long run.
Take this company for example. Instead of hiding and waiting, they used new technology to turn a big weakness into an area of strength. Not only are they a stronger company because of it, but they opened up a new revenue stream as well.
I’d like to give you a quick preview of a new template we have coming for m-Power that I’m pretty excited about. Basically, this new template lets you write ranking reports - on steroids.
You will be able to create a report that does variable rankings, across multiple dimensions, while specifying whatever selection criteria you want at run-time. That sounds like a mouthful, but it all makes sense when you check it out here.
Imagine the possibilities! In mere seconds, you can run a report detailing your best (or worst) selling products, salespeople, regions, etc… It’s instant information available to end users in an easy to use format.
The best part: It’s really easy to make. In fact, we made the demo in about 5 minutes. If you don’t believe that, we’ll be happy to walk you through the process.
This new feature will be available in the very near future, so stay tuned!
Do you remember back in the dark ages when cell phones were used only for phone calls? We couldn't check our email or even send text messages. How did we ever survive?
It’s funny to think how far cell phone technology has progressed over the last 10 years. Cell phones have gone from being a luxury to a necessity, in both personal and business life. Can you imagine what you would do if you couldn’t check your email or view vital business data from your smartphone these days?
While it’s interesting to look back, I like to look forward to where mobile technology is going and how it might affect the business world. Here’s an article in Computerworld that examines this very topic and details 13 future mobile technologies that will be important.
We’ve recently rolled out some new enhancements to m-Power, and I’m pretty excited about them.
For instance, applications can now be imported directly into one another through m-Painter. What does that mean to you? Well, applications that contain other applications are much easier to develop. For example, creating an executive dashboard is easier than ever!
But that's not all. There are a few more new enhancements to m-Power that you should know about. Check out our latest press release to learn more about them!
Throughout my years in this industry, I have seen countless examples of inefficiencies and waste in IT. While the causes may vary, wasted money is often the direct result of a failed attempt to save money.
For example, many companies decide to outsource development projects without realizing there are always hidden fees and expenses that aren't initially obvious. Unfortunately, the true cost is often discovered only when it’s too late to change directions.
Also, many managers are “Penny wise, pound foolish.” For example, pretend you owned a construction company, and in order to save money you didn’t buy any power tools for your workers. Your attempt to “save money” would produce the opposite effect. In the same way, many companies try to “save money” and not purchase tools to help their developers work more efficiently.
These are just a couple of points made in this Techrepublic.com article entitled, “10 ways IT wastes money on development.” It’s a great read and I highly recommend it for anyone involved in development. It's important to regularly analyze your development process and eliminate any waste, especially in a bad economy.
A few weeks back, I posted a link to an article listing the best places to work if you’re in the IT industry. I recently ran across an article on CIO.com that lists the exact opposite: “The worst U.S. cities to work in IT.”
I don’t think it’s as bad as they (or their depressing picture selection) make it out to be, but I’m curious to hear your thoughts. Do you work in one of these cities, and if so, what do you think of it?
Should we modernize or stick with what we’ve got until the economy recovers? I know that question has been asked by many companies these days. What are the advantages and disadvantages of both?
I recently read a study by Aberdeen which examines the modernization methods used by best-in-class organizations. According to the study, companies that take the right approach to modernization see substantial cost savings and performance improvements over companies that stick with the status quo.
What is the best approach to legacy modernization? The study finds that a tools-based approach to modernization combined with well planned processes leads to the greatest success.
Those findings certainly fall in line with what I’ve seen over the years. Take this company for example. Their tools-based approach to modernization resulted in 6-figure savings.
I’ve been following the latest CSS3 developments for a while now, and must say that I’m pretty excited about what it can do for web applications. CSS3 adds much more functionality while including many time-saving features.
In case you haven’t heard about all the great new features of CSS3 yet, I just read an article in smashingmagazine.com that lists and describes 13 of the best features. You can find the entire article here.>>
In a bad economy, top IT talent is more important than ever. The good news (at least for companies) is that there is plenty of great IT talent available right now. So, if your company has trouble attracting great talent, you need to ask: “Why?”
How do you attract the best talent? Take a lesson from these companies: Computerworld recently published their “100 best places to work in IT 2009.” Not only do they explain why each company made the list, but they list a few ways your company can attract and retain highly skilled IT workers.
Creating powerful enterprise-level Web applications doesn't have to be complicated.
Here, you can create a custom, live, lightning-fast, portable and flexible database-driven Web application in just a few minutes with your current skill set.
Enter our Build-A-Web-App Workshop»
Have you ever noticed how images on some websites flicker when you hover over them? It’s like the image disappears for a split second before the hover image is displayed. That happens because the hover state of the image isn’t loaded into the browser cache until you hover over it.
You can fix this problem when you use CSS sprites in place of the typical methods for creating rollover buttons. We’ve written up a brief tutorial on CSS sprites which can be found in our forums.
The good people at CIO.com have posted another list of Blackberry apps, but this time they’re aimed at the IT professional. Unfortunately, not all of the apps in this list are free.
However, there are some pretty useful apps in there, so I’d recommend you check it out if you’re a Blackberry owner and an IT professional. Click here to see the list>>.
If you asked me and my wife to describe the same event, our descriptions would be so different you might not be able to tell we were even talking about the same thing. It’s not that either of us is dishonest, we just notice different things.
The same thing can happen with business data and reports. If two people are asked to create reports on similar data, the results may be anything but similar. They might emphasize different points, or even use different formats in their reports.
Here’s a company that was dealing with this exact problem, only multiplied by 9. They had 9 separate plants, running on 9 separate databases, with 9 separate managers, who had 9 separate ways of doing things. Comparing business data across the plants was like comparing apples to…mangos.
They managed to fix their problems by creating a web-based executive dashboard, even though no one on staff had experience with web application development. Find out what they did>>.
What is the future of computing? According to Google, it’s web-based applications. At their recent I/O convention, Google showed off a few new features of HTML 5, and explained how web applications will be able to take advantage of these features.
Personally, I think Google is spot on. Web-based apps offer multiple advantages over standalone apps, but I think it all comes down to instant information. Web-based apps can be accessed from anywhere at anytime, allowing businesses to operate faster and more efficiently than ever before.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Companies that operate at anything less than real-time are at an extreme disadvantage in this day and age.
When you look back at the history of computer applications, what stands out to you? Which applications truly affected the way you worked, or even lived?
Once you’ve thought of a few, check out this article on itnews.com, which lists the top 10 industry-changing computer applications. It’s an interesting read, and I think they did a good job overall—most everything on that list is in fact, industry-changing.
I’m sure many may disagree with the list, and I’m curious to hear why. What would you change about this list, and why?
When it comes to failure, there are two types of people in this world: People who learn from their failures and people who won’t admit they have failed. Everybody fails at one point or another, but only some learn from their mistakes. Here’s a great article in CIO.com details real stories of IT failure, and the lessons learned from them.
This reminds me of a manufacturing company we worked with in the past. They had poured over a million dollars into creating a web-based order entry system, only to find the project half done after 2 years. They realized that they needed to do something different, and soon hired an m-Power consultant. Ten weeks later, the project was finished.
This situation turned out well, but can you imagine what would have happened if they had stubbornly pushed forward on that project? It would’ve been a disaster.
Are you stuck in a project that is taking longer and costing more than expected? Maybe we can help. Let us know a little about the lemons you have on your plate, and we’ll show you how to turn them into lemonade.
Anyone considering modernization must decide which programming language to modernize with. I've heard arguments for nearly every language, but I still believe Java is the most powerful and best suited for enterprise application development.
To learn more, including the advantages of modernizing with Java, I encourage you to check out this short presentation.
I’m very intrigued by the announcement of Google Wave. Specifically, I’m intrigued by new applications that can increase productivity and save time (and integrate with m-Power). From the looks of things, Google Wave does all of the above.
If you want to know more, check out this informative article on Mashable.com entitled, “The Top 6 Game-Changing Features of Google Wave.”
Amid all the budget cutting and economic turmoil, it’s important to still plan for when the economy turns around. In other words, if you must cut back, do so in such a way that you will be in good position for an increase in business when the economy recovers.
Need some ideas? This article in Computerworld.com looks at a few different ways that IT can cut-back while simultaneously prepping for future growth. Or, maybe you can learn something from this company, who used new technology to both fight the current economic problems and prepare for the future.
Could you use some additional ways to save money? Check out our short presentation entitled, “7 ways to save money with web applications”.
This white paper details 5 steps you should take when modernizing your legacy applications. It even takes a practical look at the steps we took to modernize the character-based mrc-Productivity Series into the Java-based m-Power, why we chose Java over .Net, and a few tips to help you modernize quickly.
You can read the white paper here.>>
I think the IT industry is a great one to be in. There’s always something new and interesting to learn that can help you in your career. Better yet, despite the economy, the need for IT professionals is still high in many areas.
The good folks at CIO.com have put together a list of the 10 cities with the most available IT jobs. They’ve even included salary information and a few ways each city is unique.
I know that many are being asked to do more with less these days, but before you get overwhelmed, just think about Boise Cascade. Their IT department was instructed to develop a sophisticated web reporting system that could interface with multiple host systems. The kicker: They had to do it in 3 weeks, despite being short a developer.
Sound impossible? It sure did to them, but despite the general lack of resources and time, they still managed to meet their deadline. Find out how.>>
If you've built many web apps with m-Power, you already know how to validate data entered into a form the traditional way. When the user presses the accept button, the server validates the entries and either returns with error messages or posts the update,
But this forum post will show you how to make your web apps validate the data in the form as the user is entering it. On the right app, it can be almost magical!
One the great aspects of owning a smart-phone these days are all the external applications you can download and run. The best part: Many of these applications are free! In fact, I just ran across a top 10 list of free Blackberry applications that you might want to check out. Make sure you read the comments too, as many readers have listed their favorite free applications as well.
Of course, when using your smart-phone for business purposes, please take extra security precautions. I can’t stress this enough. A lost smart-phone can be deadly to a company if it contains sensitive information.
The best way to avoid a smart-phone security breach? Create web applications that can be accessed via smart-phone. It’s the best of both worlds: You get access to information from anywhere, and don’t run the risk of a security breach should your phone get lost or stolen. Here’s an example of one such application.>>
Here’s a great article on mashable.com that asks the question, “Is real-time the future of the web?” My opinion: Without a doubt, but not just when it comes to news and information. I’ll take it one step further into the business realm. These days, if your business is operating at anything less than real-time, you are at a great disadvantage.
Let me ask you a few questions:
You’ve no doubt noticed that when you do a search in Google, you see a list of suggestions immediately after typing the first letter. You also probably know that this functionality is all thanks to Asynchronous Javascript And Xml (AJAX).
What you might not know is how easy it is to add this functionality into your m-Power built applications. If you'd like to learn how, we’ve written up a tutorial and placed it in our forum.
To learn how to add AJAX functionality to your m-Power web applications, click here.
Here are the latest IT salary statistics from Janco Associates. They analyzed salary levels by position from 2004-2009, and the results are interesting…and a little strange.
Assuming the data is accurate, the IT industry has the most unpredictable average salary levels I’ve ever seen. According to the data, some positions could see average yearly salary fluctuations of $18k or higher. However, it’s not all that bad: IT salary levels are still the highest of any industry.
You can read the entire article on Datamation.com.
I recently read an article in PCWorld.com entitled “10 Technologies that survive budget cuts”. It summarizes the findings from a recent Robert Half survey which polled 1,400 CIOs to learn which technologies they plan to invest in.
While the results are interesting to read, I do have one fear. I fear some people read these surveys, hear about the hot new technologies that others are implementing, and convince themselves that their company needs it too.
In reality, the only technologies that should ever survive budget cuts are those which generate or save more money than they cost to obtain. Don’t invest in technology simply because it’s popular today. Figure out what will benefit your company the most, and then do it.
Here’s the right way to do it: This company analyzed 9 different products before making a decision, and it really paid off.
Sometimes the web applications you build with m-Power contain so much information, it’s a bit difficult to focus on one area at a time. For applications like this, you need a way to hide or unhide data so you can focus on a specific area at a time without being overwhelmed.
Now, there are a few different ways to do this. One method lets you toggle more or less information for the entire document, allowing you to hide many rows at once. You can find instructions for this method here.>>
The other method involves placing toggle buttons on certain rows, usually on the subtotal rows. This allows the user to view more or less information for a specific area of the application. You can find instructions for this method in our forums.
Does it really pay to live in a large city? Sure, the salaries are generally higher, but so is cost of living. Then again, you could move out to the suburbs and commute, but many don’t want spend all that time traveling. These are all important factors to consider when figuring out which city is best for a job.
Here’s a recent article that lists the top 25 best cities for tech jobs. They consider factors such as average salary, cost of living, average commute, and a few more. You can read the entire study at insidetech.com. I was a little surprised at the cities that made the list.
I’m curious about you. What city do you live in, and how would you rank it when it comes to great cities for tech jobs?
I’ve found that if I have high expectations for a movie before I watch it, I’m usually disappointed. Even if it was a good movie, I'm disappointed because it didn’t live up to the unattainable expectations I had set in my mind.
I tell you this because I just read an interesting study in PCWorld.com which suggests that many companies do the exact same thing with regards to outsourcing. They set unrealistic expectations as to the quality and savings they will receive through outsourcing, but are sorely disappointed when they aren’t met.
Knowing your options and what to expect is extremely important if you’re thinking about outsourcing. If you would like insights or questions into outsourcing application development, like knowing what questions to ask or where to start, let us know what you have on your plate. You may be unaware of some of the choices available to you.
One of the most frustrating aspects of CSS, besides Internet Explorer, is horizontal centering. If you’ve ever had to center elements in your web applications, you may have run into problems, especially if they were dynamic-width elements.
Centering with CSS really doesn’t have to be difficult, although I’m sure it seems like it sometimes. We’ve written up a handy little guide which explains in detail how to center both fixed-width and dynamic-width elements in CSS. You can read about it in our forums.>>
InformationWeek.com recently released their annual IT salary survey, and some of the results are rather interesting. For example, I’ve never seen such a disparity in salaries/raises across different industries and regions.
Also, I found another bit of information really interesting. According to the survey, the IT industry is one of the best industries to be in right now, but IT professionals are feeling increasingly unsure in their choice of a career path. I’m curious to hear what you think. How do you feel about your choice of IT as a career?
I know that companies everywhere need to cut down on costs these days, which in many cases leads to outsourcing. When it comes to web application development, however, outsourcing isn’t the cheapest option.
Last week, we announced the beginning of our “Outsource to America” offer. The offer is a simple one: We’ll beat any outsourcing quote for web application development. Tell us your project, show us your quote, and we’ll beat it. Pretty simple, huh?
Click here for more information.>>
Are you going to COMMON next week? If so, make sure you stop by our booth (#418) and take our short survey for your chance to win a new netbook!
Not going to COMMON this year? No worries. If you currently receive the Cup of Joe emails, you are eligible to participate in the netbook drawing. Just complete this short survey for your chance to win!
Only subscribers to the Cup of Joe emails are eligible to participate in the drawing. If you are not currently a subscriber, you can sign up here.>>
What is the cost of a major IT failure? As companies grow increasingly reliant on technology, the cost could be astronomical. A major IT failure could drive away customers or even shut down a business in extreme cases.
I recently read a piece in CIOinsight.com that takes a close look at 12 major IT disasters, including how and why they happened, as well as the resulting fallout. It’s a startling reminder of just how bad things can get when problems are not caught and fixed early on.
You can find the article here.>>
When times get tough, I notice that many companies go straight to cutback mode. They focus so much on surviving, they often miss new opportunities to succeed.
Here’s a company that took a different approach. Instead of cutting back, they invested in new technology. As a result, they opened up a new 24/7 revenue stream, become far more efficient, and better positioned themselves for the future.
You can read the whole story here.>>
Friendly reminder: If you are a current mrc-Productivity Series user on maintenance and warranty, our offer for a free m-Power upgrade will expire this year.
You should have received a letter late last year 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, or at +44-20-8322-7720 in the UK.
One very important difference between m-Power and the mrc-Productivity Series is transport-ability. While the mrc-Productivity Series was confined to the AS400, m-Power will work over any database or platform, meaning your investment in applications built with our software is safe should you ever switch to a different database or hardware platform.
While the economy certainly provides reason for job worries, it’s not the only factor that could effect your employment. There are many factors within your control, which can either help you or hurt you.
This cautionary article on Computerworld.com details 5 real life examples of behaviors that are not only bad for a career, but can get you fired. While the article focuses on CIOs, I think it really applies to just about anyone.
You can read the entire article here.>>
It’s a good time to be a mobile application developer. With the recent launch of Blackberry App World, and Microsoft's upcoming app store, mobile application developers will have 4 different app stores to develop for.
However, did you know that you don’t have to be a developer to create business web applications for a smart-phone? m-Power allows you to create an endless variety of custom business applications that can be accessed via your Blackberry, PDA, or smart-phone.
Although you don’t have to be a developer, it does help to understand a few important rules when creating mobile apps. Check out our forum for a few pointers and some best practices to follow.
Can you guess what these words have in common?
As a developer, what are you focusing on: Skills you need to know now or skills you will need to know in the future? Sometimes, it’s good to take a look into the future (with your own crystal ball), and try to determine the skill(s) that will be most useful to you a few years down the road.
For those who don’t have a crystal ball, check out this article in techrepublic.com entitled, “10 skills developers will need in the next 5 years.” I think the author makes some great points.
Want to kill 3 birds with one stone? Using m-Power will take care of #1, #3, and #10 all by itself, and it’s easy to learn too. Check it out for yourself with our free online lab.
Is it just me, or has ROI lost its meaning? When I see an advertisement touting the great ROI of a product, I’m not impressed in the least. Don’t get me wrong, I want a good ROI…everyone does. If a product will generate more money than it cost to obtain, I would be foolish not to buy it.
The problem is this: ROI has become a grossly overused marketing term that doesn’t hold much value anymore. With everyone advertising ROI, how do you separate fact from fiction?
While I can’t answer that question for other products, we like to answer it for m-Power with real live proof. Just tell us what you need, and we will build you a free web application using your own files. Better yet, we’ll even show you how we did it, and the web application is yours to keep.
Just fill out this short form to get started.
. . . that when you build a servlet (report, inquiry, or maintenance web application) with m-Power, you are also building a portlet that works from virtually any portal available today.
Portals come in all shapes and sizes. Popular examples include the hosted free variety (like iGoogle), the open source variety (like LifeRay), and the paid proprietary variety (like MS SharePoint).
Your out of the box m-Power web applications work with any of these with no special compiles or programming changes. In fact, the same web application can be called from all of them, with no variations. Here are some examples in pictures. Here you will find a working example. And here is how easy it is to try.
Our aim is to deliver well architected web applications that empower you to be more productive in your business life.
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?
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.
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.>>
Ever wish you had an m-Power expert in-house, but can’t afford to hire a new employee? Our new staff consulting service might be just what you need.
Our staff consulting service lets you bring one of our m-Power experts into your office as often and for as long as you need them. This on-site expert will handle all things m-Power, from answering questions mini training sessions to developing new web applications.
To learn more, please visit our staff consulting page.
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 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.
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.>>
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.
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»
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?
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:
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.
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.
Creating powerful enterprise-level Web applications doesn't have to be complicated.
Here, you can create a custom, live, lightning-fast, portable and flexible database-driven Web application in just a few minutes with your current skill set.
Enter our Build-A-Web-App Workshop»
Many times, web applications created with m-Power need to be accessible via a mobile browser. For instance, maybe your salespeople want to check current stock levels or receive daily sales reports while on the road.
Because mobile browsers differ so greatly from regular browsers, you should really create separate presentation layers for use on a mobile browser. While these are easy to create with m-Power, it helps to understand a few important rules when designing applications for mobile browsers.
We have written an article in our forum entitled, “Creating apps for mobile browsers”. It lists a few pointers and some best practices you should follow when creating mobile apps.
I just read a CIO.com article entitled, “7 Tech Innovations That Changed the World”, and it got me thinking: What separates a great product from an innovative product?
To me, an innovative product is one that changes the way you do things. It is something that you think about and wonder, “How did I ever function before this?” Although the term “innovative” is used so frequently, I believe that there are very few truly innovative tech products.
What do you think? What current tech products are truly innovative?
For Northwestern University’s athletics department, scheduling their facilities for changing game and practice times wasn’t easy, thanks to their outdated paper-based system. So, they ditched the old system and fixed their problems with a centralized web-based scheduling system where:
Web applications created with m-Power often must be customized with your corporate look and colors. While this is an easy process with m-Power, it’s not always easy to track down the exact hexadecimal corporate colors.
Here are a couple free tools that I’ve used to quickly look up hex colors when creating web apps with m-Power:
According to this eWeek article, we can expect to see 5 cost-saving trends in IT this year. While I expect some belt-tightening in 2009, I want to give one warning: It is not the time to curl up in a ball and wait for the economic problems to go away.
Successful companies actively find ways to improve, especially in the bad times. They realize that it often takes money to make money, and seek out solutions with a provable ROI. As a result, these companies will find themselves in better shape when the current problems subside.
If you've got some ideas, but you need help clarifying, cost justifying, or just thinking them through to fruition, give us a call. We specialize in ROI.
This article on Forbes.com asks a great question: Why are business processes seen as being handed down from on high? We hear so much about the process and not enough about how the process was created.
What is the process for creating a process? First, you have to figure out what works the best. Before building the full system, you should create the smallest possible system, test it, and learn from it. Take advantage of "The triumph of incrementalism".
This process can easily be applied to web applications. If you need web applications of any kind, we will build a free working prototype for you with m-Power. You can test it, figure out what you like or dislike about it, and then build a full scale system.
It’s easy to get started. Just fill out this short form and let us know what you want.
One of our product consultants recently wrote a review of a free, third party product that can make you more productive.
If you find yourself using SQL for any reason when working with m-Power, you'll want to read it here.
These days, everyone is looking for new ways to boost sales and save money. I just read an article in PCWorld.com that lists 6 ways to help your company boost sales, but I can personally think of quite a few more ways that they didn't mention.
For example, one of our customers just used m-Power to create a new B2B site so their customers can buy their products at any time. They went from only selling during business hours, to selling 24 by 7. Better yet, the new site was created in under 2 weeks.
We have a presentation that lists a few more ways that companies can boost sales and save money. You can check it out here.>>
mrc is now a 3rd party members of the Movex User Association (MUA). The MUA is an independent non-profit organization established to benefit users of the Movex ERP software.
The MUA has very stringent acceptance criteria for 3rd party members, and required that a number of Movex users both use and recommend m-Power. We are very happy to be 3rd party members, and are very grateful to the m-Power users who lobbied on our behalf.
Click here to learn how one company used m-Power to improve Movex, without any modifications to Movex.
When creating web applications with m-Power, I know that you sometimes may need to find and/or edit images for the presentation layer. If you don’t have a good image editor, this may prove to be a difficult task, especially if you try to use MS Paint.
There are many online image editors, but most of them are geared only towards photo editing. However, within the last year or so, a few free online image editors have emerged which perform very well when used to edit images for the web.
We found 3 such online image editors, tried each one, and reviewed them in our forum. Feel free to stop by and check it out.
How is the economy affecting the IT industry? Here’s an example of something that’s happening right now: In difficult times, companies often place higher value on certain IT skills and less value on others.
It helps to know which skills are declining and which are rising. Foote Partners recently released a list of IT skills and certifications that have changed in value during the final quarter of 2008. You can find the research results on CIO.com.
Regardless of how the Satyam scandal plays out, one thing is certain: Concerns about outsourcing have risen as a result. According to this survey, confidence in outsourcing is down and pessimism is up.
This presents a problem for those companies planning to outsource in 2009. Do the cost savings of outsourcing outweigh the potential problems? According to the survey, common problems include:
I just read an article in Informationweek.com entitled, “Tech Buyers Vent about Vendor Satisfaction”. According to the article, many tech vendors overpromise, underdeliver, and flat-out lie about their products. For some unsurprising reason, customers don’t like this.
In my opinion, tech vendors that make false promises not only hurt themselves, but other tech vendors. Companies are less likely to believe honest claims if they’ve been burned by similar false claims in the past.
But how do you know what to believe?
My software-buying advice, which the article also touches on, is this. Before you buy software, test it in your own environment. Verify the vendor claims first, and you will eliminate many headaches.
Techrepublic.com recently reported the results of an IT survey conducted by Dice.com. The results aren’t exactly good, but they’re not all bad either.
Rather than focus on the bad economy, I like to focus on the possibilities. For example, this is the best time to step up and prove your value to the company. Work a little harder. Come up with ideas to help the company. Make yourself indispensible.
One more thing: If any of your ideas to help the company involve web applications, we’ll build a working prototype for you, free of charge. An idea with an example is far better than one without.
mrc is currently looking for Application Support Consultants who would like to join our growing team! Are you a motivated and talented individual who enjoys interacting with others? Then we want to hear from you.
Please visit our careers page for a job description and application instructions.
If I talked to 100 people, I’ll bet I would get 90 different opinions about what their company could/should do differently. I’ll even bet that a large portion of those would be good, solid ideas that would help their company.
The problem is this: For whatever reason, most of these ideas will never go anywhere.
We want to help your ideas get recognized. If you have an idea for your company that involves web applications, we will build it for you, absolutely free and without obligation.
Imagine walking into the boss’ office with not only a great idea, but a working prototype that you didn't waste your time on or even pay for. Now imagine that your company used your idea as a result. Now there's a good way to get recognized at work.
Ready to see your ideas in action? Fill out this short form to get started.
In the sea of “doom and gloom” articles on the economy, it’s good to run across a positive one. Instead of focusing on how bad everything is, this CIOInsight.com article focuses on how 2009 can be a great year for IT.
You know what? They’re right. 2009 isn’t the year to curl up in a ball and wait for the problems to pass. No, it’s time for IT to step outside the box. It’s time for IT to find news ways to demonstrate its value for the business.
Sure, it may take a little more thought and creativity, but 2009 can be a great year for IT.
I regularly receive calls from salespeople who inform me that their product will provide a great return on investment (ROI) for my company. Instantly, I’m skeptical. Why?
- Because they don’t know my company.Anyone can promise ROI, but not everyone can prove it. Here's my two cents: If they’re confident in their product, they’ll prove it to you. If they’re really confident, they’ll prove it free of charge. That’s how you separate the facts from the claims.
- Because everyone promises ROI
- Because too few actually deliver.
- Because talk is cheap.
If you’re still running character-based or Excel-based reports, I have one question for you: Why? Web-based reporting is:
faster,Those are benefits any company can appreciate.
more accurate,
more secure, and
more convenient.
The economy is in turmoil right now, and uncertainty surrounds many jobs and companies. While the status of many positions is largely dependent on the industry or company, there are still ways to protect yourself in these difficult times.
Specifically, make yourself a necessary asset to the company. In the IT world, one of the best ways to do that is by expanding your skill set. Computerworld.com recently published an article entitled, “The 9 hottest skills for ‘09”. If you’re looking to broaden your skills in 2009, this is a great place to start.
While recently visiting two well known store chains (who shall remain nameless), I noticed something rather surprising about both of them: They still use character based applications.
Why is that a problem? It makes them look out-dated and behind the times to their customers. When potential customers see your business applications, modern applications become a necessity.
Modernization is usually a complex and expensive process, but it doesn’t have to be. Take the 24-hour challenge to find out. We will build a fully functional web application with m-Power in 24 hours using your own data. Click here to learn more.
Over the years, I’ve run across many people in the IT industry who hold a negative opinion towards code generators. Often, these people had used a code generator and were unhappy with it for one of three reasons:
A. code was inefficient,We came up with one solution to solve all these problems. We call it our Open Template Technology (OTT). OTT allows you to teach m-Power to write code the way you want it to. To learn more about Open Template Technology, click here.>>
B. code was unreadable and un-maintainable,
C. code was not to their standards.
Happy New Year! 2009 is finally upon us, and with every new year comes…predictions! TechRepublic.com has just published a list of IT predictions for 2009, and I think it’s worth a read.
I agree that companies will look to their IT departments to drive efficiency and cost savings. To go one step further, I believe that many companies will hold off on big ticket purchases, such as ERPs, but will rather look for cheaper alternatives that offer a quick ROI.
Do you have any predictions for 2009? I’m curious to hear them. Feel free to comment to this post with your thoughts.
Everyone wants to save money these days. I understand that. I just don't like the way they are trying to save. For example, I read about layoffs at least once a week. I just read an article in Computerworld which predicts that 1 in 4 IT jobs will be outsourced by 2010, which will no doubt lead to more layoffs.
Let's think about this. Jobs are moved offshore to save money, meaning there are fewer jobs here. If there are fewer jobs here, the economy suffers. If the economy suffers, companies look for ways to save money. It's a vicious circle.
Here's an alternative: Some of our clients have used m-Power in place of outsourcing. It allows them to keep their development in-house and complete projects faster and cheaper than they could with outsourcing.
Try our online lab to learn why m-Power is a practical alternative to outsourcing. It only takes 45 minutes and could save your company a bundle.
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