mrc's Cup of Joe Blog

Join us in exploring the world of modern development, evolving technologies, and the art of future-proof software

Author name: Joe Stangarone

Joe Stangarone is a 40+ year veteran of the IT industry and president of mrc—the software company behind the award winning development platform, m-Power. Joe shares his leadership and technology insights through the Cup of Joe Blog, focusing primarily on ways businesses can save time, money, and increase productivity using technology.

4 essential questions to ask before building a mobile business app (part 1)

EducationSummary: As businesses rush to build mobile apps, they often dive into the project without proper planning, or without an adequate understanding of their mobile app options. As you might imagine, this causes problems. It produces the wrong type of mobile app, or mobile apps that the company doesn’t really need–wasting time and money in the process. Learn the questions you should ask to avoid these problems.

Learn how one company improved data access across their entire organization

EducationSummary: Businesses collect more data than ever before. The problem is, many cannot easily access the data stored in their systems. By the time reports are created, the information is already outdated. Learn how one company dealt with this problem, and how you can do the same.

5 Huge Benefits of Digital Transformation

EducationSummary: Digital transformation–the reinvention of an organization through the use of digital technology to improve performance–is a priority for many businesses these days. Why is it so important to the modern business? In this article, we answer that question and explain a few benefits that digital transformation can offer to your business.

How can web apps improve the voting process?

EducationSummary: The next presidential election is just around the corner. Soon, voters will file through polling locations–waiting in long lines for their chance to cast their vote. But, what if there were a way to simplify the process? What if there was a way to streamline the voting process, and reduce the inefficiencies? Learn how one county government accomplished this very task–simplifying the voter check-in process and eliminating long wait times.

Citizen Development: 5 keys to success

EducationSummary: As defined by Gartner, “A citizen developer is a user who creates new business applications for consumption by others using development and runtime environments sanctioned by corporate IT.” A growing trend, citizen development has become a key tool in the fight against Shadow IT. With citizen development tools, businesses can now give users the ability to create solutions on their own, without the need to bypass the IT department. In this article, we explore a few steps your business must take if you hope to capitalize on this trend.

The danger of departmental silos (and one way to fix it)

EducationSummary: More than ever, data plays a critical role in the success of your business. Your ability to turn your data into meaningful management information and make it easily accessible across your organization can easily be a competitive advantage. The problem is, data still lives in silos across many businesses. Learn more about this problem, and one way to address it.

Webinar Replay: Create custom reporting over your enterprise system

EducationSummary: Enterprise systems (like ERPs) pose something of a “Catch-22.” If you don’t customize the system, it won’t perfectly fit your needs. If you do customize it, you’re locked into that system. If you’re facing this challenge, check out this webinar replay and learn how one company delivered custom reporting over their ERP system–without altering the system at all.