March 2013 - mrc's Cup of Joe Blog

Weekly recap: 5 ways devops can help companies, tablets outsell PCs, and more…

By Joe Stangarone / Application Development, Mobile, Shadow IT

Every week, I share the most interesting and useful tech articles that I’ve found over the past week. This week’s top articles focus on how devops can help companies create applications faster, why “Shadow IT” must be embraced, and more. I hope you find them useful:

Shadow IT: Once hidden, often hated, but well worth embracing
The concept of “Shadow IT” is becoming more and more prevalent. Tired of waiting around for the IT department, end users are now buying and using SaaS services without the IT department’s knowledge or approval. IT departments are scrambling to adjust, driven by the fear of being bypassed altogether. The solution: Give users a development platform that meets their needs, while giving the IT department control over data and user access. …

Weekly recap: 5 ways devops can help companies, tablets outsell PCs, and more…Read More »

4 steps to create a more agile IT department

By Joe Stangarone / Application Architecture, Shadow IT

Many IT departments have developed a reputation of being slow and difficult. They make users jump through hoops and then take months to deliver requested solutions. The business users often feel like IT stands in their way, or even holds them back.

The problem is, business users now have other options. Many are bypassing IT altogether and using unsanctioned SaaS options to accomplish their goals. If IT can’t (or won’t) deliver solutions in a timely manner, they find another way.

IT departments have no choice: They must become more agile and responsive to the business user’s needs, or risk being bypassed.

The question is…how? How can a slow IT department become more agile and responsive?

We posed that question to a few industry experts, who delivered some excellent advice. You can read their tips below, as well as some of my own. I hope you find them useful: …

4 steps to create a more agile IT departmentRead More »

Think your outdated ERP keeps you from mobile apps? Think again…

By Joe Stangarone / ERP Systems, Mobile apps

“We’d love to build mobile apps, but we can’t because our business runs on an ancient ERP system.” I’ve heard that phrase (or variations of the phrase) with increasing frequency recently. Many people think that mobile apps (or modern apps in general) aren’t even an option because their business still runs on an outdated enterprise system.

If you’re in that boat, I have some good news: You can still build mobile apps even if you’re tied to an old system. Better yet, you can even integrate these modern apps directly with your enterprise system…all without any modifications to the underlying code. To learn more, check out this video:

7 development mistakes that make you look bad

By Joe Stangarone / Web Development

Have you ever used a web application that made you ask, “What was the developer thinking?!” Maybe it had a confusing interface or didn’t work right in your browser. Maybe it just didn’t work as expected.

Over the years, I’ve seen all types of application development mistakes, ranging from confusing to downright annoying. I’d even classify some as “dangerous.” Some mistakes hurt the user experience, and others even harm the business. However, they all have one thing in common: They make the developer look bad.

If you develop web applications for your company, how can you avoid embarrassing mistakes like these? To help you avoid making the same errors, I’ve outlined some of the most common web application development mistakes below. If you can think of anything that I left out, feel free to add it in the comments: …

7 development mistakes that make you look badRead More »

What to look for in a good Business Intelligence solution

By Joe Stangarone / Business Intelligence

Business Intelligence (BI) solutions come in all shapes and sizes. Some emphasize architecture while others tout their flashy interface. Some cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, while others cost hundreds.

With all of these options, how do you separate the good from the bad?

We just released a BI Guide aimed at helping you do just that. It outlines which essential features and capabilities make a good BI solution, and even separates each feature into 4 different categories:

High-level features

Security features

Must-have applications

Advanced features

The guide is free and you can download it right here: Essential features to look for in a good Business Intelligence solution. I hope you find it useful.

Application architecture: Ignore at your own risk

By Joe Stangarone / Application Architecture

I’ve noticed a disturbing trend in the world of business web applications. It seems that emphasis is shifting away from application architecture and shifting towards application design. These days, flashy interfaces beat out well-built web applications.

Why is this happening? I recently read an article over on techrepublic.com that highlights a major factor driving this trend: End user’s expectations are rising. They expect enterprise applications to be as well-designed and easy to use as the apps and tools they use every day. After all, if their enterprise applications don’t meet their expectations, there are plenty of other web services they can use.

Now, I get it. I understand the problems this creates for businesses. But, in the rush to please the end users with well-designed interfaces, let’s not forget about the most important aspect of business applications: Architecture.

For business web applications, architecture is infinitely more important than design. While application architecture might be invisible to the business users, the effects of application architecture are clear as day.

Let me try to highlight a few tangible benefits of good architecture, and help you understand why ignoring it might be the worst mistake your business can make. To help drive this home, I solicited feedback from a few experts in the field of application architecture. You can find their responses below, along with 5 big reasons why application architecture is so important. …

Application architecture: Ignore at your own riskRead More »

Stuck with an outdated application? Here’s a solution.

By Joe Stangarone / enterpri, ERP Systems

Many companies face this issue: They’re stuck to an outdated enterprise system (like an ERP). The reasons vary. It might be the
– cost to upgrade,
– the high degree to which they’ve customized the package, or
– the fact that their application vendor is out of business.

But the problem remains. These companies are locked into their current software.

Meanwhile the world is changing at an ever increasing rate. Their applications are looking and feeling dated, and the company is falling behind their competition.

Is your company facing this problem? If so, here’s a new guide that might help: 21 ways m-Power will improve your enterprise systems. It outlines and explains m-Power’s unique approach to enterprise system integration, what types of modern features it lets you add to your existing system.

Month: March 2013