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.
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.)
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.
(oh...and you might want to turn on your speakers...)
CIO Magazine: 25 IT Horror Stories
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
Company #1: found a reporting solution that fit all of their criteria, over and above the usual players.
Company #2: created a series of wireless applications to allow their floor workers to quickly gain access to the information they needed from their blackberries.
Company #3: built a custom shopping cart application, like this one that was actually less expensive (and took less time to implement) than the packaged solutions they were considering.
So? What do these three have in common?
With the advent of IT roles focusing more on executing business strategy, managing operations, and exploiting opportunities, there comes some growing pains.
CIOs and COOs often find themselves in overlapping roles, which can be counterproductive.
Here's what you can do to better align the roles»
We don't often cover RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) best practices in this blog, mainly because although many clients use RFID, mrc's tools are more often used to analyze the BI data the method provides.
But, I also enjoy looking at new ways that technology can be used. Here's how one manufacturer used RFID to not only track their product, but also to measure whether it got promoted properly--and what they found out they needed to do.
Drop down menus can be a great way to quickly narrow down the data in your reports to the data sets that you seek, and allow you to provide even more end-user friendly (and flexible) reporting options--freeing up IT time.
And, the newest changest to m-Power, particularly the inclusion of the m-Painter feature, make including dropdowns in reports a breeze.
Here's one how-to article posted in the user forum that gives you some tips on how you can get you started.
Nipping these pitfalls in the bud, and finding a good dialogue in the process, may help you avoid many of these bumps in the road.
SOA. Service Oriented Architecture.
The name says it all. Well...kind of. Hmm...not really. What service? It's an acronym defined by buzzwords.
And it might surprise you to learn that it is related to, but separate from, Web services...which it is sometimes lumped in with.
This article from Datamation breaks it down in plain language. Finally!
If there's one thing technology marketers are really good at, it's complicating matters by coming up with new buzzwords to describe basic concepts...for example: Web 2.0.
What the heck IS that? And why have I never heard of Web 1.0?
In this article, you'll get a good read on how Web 2.0 is defined and how you can begin applying its basic tenets to your business intelligence.
We've all been there at one point or another. A project that started out strong suddenly takes a turn, and you are faced with a decision. Salvage it, or scrap it.
So, when you find yourself in this predicament--what do you do?
This Computerworld article has some great information to help you evaluate and make that call: Sink or Swim?
A few weeks ago we gave you a basic guide to selecting Web colors, specifically hexadecimal colors, and how to use them in your Web designs.
Another consideration for selecting a color scheme for Web pages is by selecting colors that complement the images that you are using. Here's how»
Posts
© Blogger template 'Isolation' by Ourblogtemplates.com 2008
Back to TOP
