5 IT trends to watch in 2009

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.

Stalking And Capturing A Business Process

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.

Making your SQL life more Productive

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.

6 Ways to boost company sales

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.>>

Movex User Association (MUA) welcomes mrc

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.

Review: 3 free online image editors for web design

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.

13 highest paid IT skills during the recession

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.

IT outsourcing worries increase

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:

• Poor communication
• Poor quality in both personnel and results
• Projects take too long

My question is this: Why don't you avoid all these problems and keep your development in-house? m-Power will allow your current staff to complete projects faster and cheaper than you could with outsourcing. Try our online lab to learn why m-Power is a practical alternative to outsourcing.

Tech buyers vent about vendor satisfaction

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.

IT jobs outlook for 2009: The good and the bad

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 hiring!

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.

Bring your ideas to life

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.

How 2009 can be a great year for IT

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.

When it comes to ROI, talk is cheap

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.
- Because everyone promises ROI
- Because too few actually deliver.
- Because talk is cheap.

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.

Want us to prove m-Power’s ROI to you? Just fill out this short form and we’ll build you a web application using your own files, absolutely free and without further obligation. Check out our Crazybikes demo site for a few examples of what you can build with m-Power.

Are you using web-based reports yet?

If you’re still running character-based or Excel-based reports, I have one question for you: Why? Web-based reporting is:

faster,
more accurate,
more secure, and
more convenient.

Those are benefits any company can appreciate.

Okay, so let’s say that you want to move to web-based reporting. How should you go about it? One good way is to do what the successful companies do.

Follow the lead of this company. They knew what they wanted and got just that - and more.

The 9 hottest skills for '09

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.

The Importance of Modernization

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.

Open Template Technology

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,
B. code was unreadable and un-maintainable,
C. code was not to their standards.

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.>>

2009 IT Predictions

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.

1 in 4 IT Jobs Outsourced by 2010?

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.