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Education

6 strategic development questions that many overlook

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EducationI’ve noticed a lack of long-term, strategic thinking in the business application development world. Many businesses build applications for current needs, but ignore the future.

It usually goes something like this: A manager says, “I need an application that does X, Y, and Z. When can we have it?” The developers rush through the project, deliver the application, and everyone’s happy.

Or, at least they’re happy for a year or so. Then the business changes, technology advances, and new trends roll around. Now, the application must also support A, B, and C. But it can’t. It wasn’t built for change. It wasn’t built for the future.

Now what happens? They need new apps. All of the previous work is now wasted because they didn’t build the initial app with the future in mind.

That leads to the obvious question: “How do you build applications for the future?” How do you build applications that adapt to change?

The answer: It starts with asking the right questions from the get-go. Ask strategic, long-term questions before you build your applications. To give you an idea of what to ask, I’ve come up with a short list of strategic questions to consider before building a business web application. While I’m sure there are others, these are all key questions which will help you build applications that last: …

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How to create home screen icons for your mobile web apps

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EducationDuring a recent conference, we spoke with one attendee who bemoaned the fact that mobile web apps don’t offer home screen icons (like native apps do). Our response: Of course they do! You just need to create the icon and put it in the correct location. It’s really no different than creating a native app icon. After all…regardless of application type, the developer must still create an icon.

Here’s the best part: Creating home screen icons for your mobile web apps is really easy! If you’d like to learn how, we’ve written up a short tutorial, which you can find right here: How to create home screen (web clip) icons for your mobile web apps.

One more thing: I’ve noticed much confusion surrounding the differences between native apps and mobile web apps. For those of you still unclear about the differences between the two, here’s a white paper you’ll want to read. It outlines the differences between each mobile app option, and explains why the native approach is usually the wrong choice for business.

7 major web development trends of the next 5 years

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EducationDriven largely by the rise of mobile computing, web development has evolved dramatically over the last 5 years. Just think: Five short years ago, we developed web applications for use on a PC. Now, we develop applications for multiple devices.

While I could list many more ways web development has changed in the last few years, I’d like to instead focus on the future. How is web application development changing? What big trends will shape web development over the next 5 years?

I’ve compiled a list of trends that I believe will shape web application development in the coming years, which includes both my own predictions and predictions from others. While I don’t consider this a comprehensive list, I do believe that each of these trends will affect web development in the coming years.

One more thing: As this is a business-focused blog, the trends below are geared primarily at business application development…though most of them apply to development in general. Of course, if you think I forgot any major trends, please feel free to add them in the comments. …

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Workflow application demo

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EducationA couple of months back, we released a powerful new m-Power feature: Event-triggered messaging. In short, it lets your applications deliver email or sms messages on a pre-determined schedule, or based on application events.

Now, you can use this feature in all sorts of ways–from running and emailing reports on a scheduled basis to automatically corresponding with customers and everything in between. Really, you’re only limited by your imagination.

Today, I’d like to show you one very powerful use for event-triggered messaging: Workflow applications! That’s right, this new feature lets you create new workflow applications, or even add workflow elements to your existing applications.

Rather than try to explain it, we’ve put together this short workflow application demo video. Hopefully, it will give you a better idea of what’s possible, and even spark some ideas of your own. Enjoy!

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How to build applications your users will hate

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EducationIT departments are often frustrated by poor application adoption. They spend months building applications for their end users, only to see low adoption rates upon completion. The very users that begged the IT department for the application don’t use it once it’s built.

Why? What causes low user adoption? What makes users dislike an application that they themselves begged the IT department to deliver?

While there’s no single answer, user adoption problems typically stem from several common mistakes. Which mistakes? We posed this question to a few experts and have included their advice (along with some actionable takeaways) below. User adoption problems usually occur when developers…
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3 reasons to move your spreadsheets to the web (and how to do it)

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EducationEveryday, thousands of employees put their companies at risk through spreadsheet misuse. For example, some use spreadsheets to maintain critical business data. Others go even further, and distribute those spreadsheets to multiple users across different departments. Others go further still, and even base business decisions off of these spreadsheets.

If that’s happening in your company, here are two articles you’ll want to read: This article references a study that uncovered a shocking statistic on spreadsheet errors. This website highlights real-life business problems caused by spreadsheet errors.

So, what can you do about spreadsheet misuse? What’s the alternative to spreadsheets? The answer: Put that data in a database, and build web applications over the database. Here are three reasons why that approach is better than spreadsheets: …

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4 great examples of mobile apps improving business

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EducationYou’ve probably heard all of the mobile statistics by now. Mobile is the fastest growing trend in history. Tablets will outsell PCs/laptops this year. Smartphone and tablets accounted for 70% of total devices sold in 2012. The statistics paint a pretty clear picture.

But, you already know that mobile is the next big thing. You know that mobile apps are quickly becoming essential to the business world. Recognizing the trend is the easy part. So, what’s the problem? If you’re like many companies, the problem is understanding how mobile can improve your business. What type of mobile app should your company build?

If you’re asking yourself those questions, I’d like to help spark some ideas. This article highlights four innovative ways other companies are using mobile apps to improve business. Along with explaining each app, I’ve also explained how you might possibly apply each example to your business. Hopefully, the examples will spark some mobile app ideas for your company: …

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Considering mobile apps? Read this first…

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EducationI’ve noticed some confusion surrounding the term, “Mobile app.” People typically associate the term “Mobile app” with apps that are built for a single platform and downloaded from an app store. In reality, those types of apps are native apps, and they’re only one of three mobile app types.

This is where many businesses get confused. They see the popularity of native apps among consumers, and assume it’s the best approach for business. However, while native apps work great for the consumer market, they’re often the worst of the three mobile app options for business.

Why? We’ve outlined the reasons for you in a free white paper entitled, “Native Mobile Apps: The wrong choice for business?” The paper also explains each development option from a business perspective, along with the pros and cons of each.

So, how should businesses approach mobile apps? The video below outlines one method of building mobile apps that’s specifically designed for businesses:

Why development projects fail (and what can IT do about it?)

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EducationDepending on the survey you read, anywhere from 25% – 68% of IT projects fail. These failures often cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, waste months (or years) of time, and usually lead to people losing their jobs.

The big question: Why do projects fail so regularly?

Today, I’d like to examine IT project failure, but focus specifically on development projects. Why do development projects fail? Perhaps a better question: What can your IT department do to make them succeed?

To help shed some light on why development projects fail, we posed the question to a few experts on the subject. I’ve listed their advice below, as well as a short “take-away” from each point that briefly explains how IT can avoid each problem. I hope you find it useful: …

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

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Education“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: