mrc's Cup of Joe Blog

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Weekly recap: 10 productivity tips for developers, how enterprise IT gets creative, and more…

EducationEvery 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 productivity tips for developers, how enterprise IT gets creative, and more. I hope you find them useful:

If You Can’t Sell to Me on My iPhone, Best Buy, You Can’t Sell to Me at All
I noticed two key points in this article that businesses can’t ignore: First, the author expects to receive a mobile-optimized experience when viewing a site on his smartphone. Second, he purchased an item from Amazon, using his smartphone, while standing in a Staples store. This ties in perfectly with the article from last week: 3 new trends created by mobile (that you can’t ignore).

Weekly recap: 5 trends that will drive the future of tech, don’t be fooled by false metrics, and more…

EducationEvery 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 tech trends, false metrics, and more. I hope you find them useful:

Don’t be fooled by false metrics
As one of the points made in this recent article on reporting, false metrics are a common problem in the world of reporting and BI. While we certainly have no shortage of data, choosing the right data is often the biggest hurdle faced when building reports or BI apps.

Weekly recap: How developers can stand out at work, bad mobile apps, and more…

EducationEvery 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 helping developers stand out at work, social BI, and more. I hope you find them useful:

Social Intelligence: The new frontier for BI
As I’ve mentioned in previous articles, Business Intelligence is moving beyond your database. Social sites, forums, and blogs often contain a wealth of information about your company. The next big push in BI will involve harvesting this social data.

Weekly recap: A strategy to improve application development, web accessibility, and more…

EducationEvery 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 improving application development, web accessibility, and more. I hope you find them useful:

Most data isn’t “big,” and businesses are wasting money pretending it is
It’s all over the tech sites. You’ve heard the hype. “Big Data” is the next big thing. Quick! Buy expensive software to manage all of your big data! Of course, I’m joking. The fact is, most companies don’t actually have “big data.” Unless you’re dealing with absolutely massive amounts of data, you don’t need “big data” software. You need BI software that will let you quickly analyze your data and run reports. If you’re looking for good BI software, here’s a handy guide that will help you choose the best option.

Weekly recap: 7 traits of effective programmers, most common mobile development trap, and more…

EducationEvery 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 traits of effective programmers, the most common mobile development trap, and more. I hope you find them useful:

The most common mobile development trap
Are you considering creating mobile versions of your apps or site for your users? That’s a good idea. But, be careful: This article explains one such solution that often seems like the easiest approach…but it’s actually the worst option.

Weekly recap: 10 critical ERP upgrade mistakes, evolution of enterprise software, and more…

EducationEvery 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 critical ERP upgrade mistakes, the evolution of enterprise software, and more. I hope you find them useful:

Evolution of enterprise software
Enterprise applications are changing. Giant, confusing enterprise apps are being replaced with simple, web-based applications. Companies who still use outdated enterprise apps must figure out a way to transition to modern web apps without disrupting business.

Weekly recap: 6 traits of successful CIOs, how IT departments waste time, and more…

EducationEvery 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 traits of successful CIOs, how IT departments waste time, and more. I hope you find them useful:

PHP is the right tool for the job (for all the wrong reasons)
This “Pro-PHP” post highlights the big reason why PHP is so popular: It works, out of the box, for people who don’t know what they’re doing. While I understand how that would attract a large user base, it sure doesn’t sound like a language I want to build a business on.

Weekly recap: 2013 IT salary survey, tech trends for developers, and more…

EducationEvery 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 the 2013 salary survey, tech trends for developers, and more. I hope you find them useful:

Long term tech trends developers need to know
I particularly liked the author’s take on the mobile market in this article: “The mobile market is a merciless meat grinder, a never-ending battle for vendors, consumers, and developers.” He makes a great point. With all of the turnover in the mobile market, we can’t possibly know which platform or device will be popular in even two years time. Kind of makes native app development seem a little risky from a business standpoint…

Weekly recap: 15 most coveted programming skills, why IT projects fail, and more…

EducationEvery 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 coveted programming skills, why IT projects fail, and more. I hope you find them useful:

Why tech projects fail: 5 unspoken reasons
Why do tech projects fail? While I recently covered this topic from a development standpoint, this article provides some additional insight for IT projects in general from the viewpoint of a longtime IT executive. It’s well worth a read.

Weekly recap: 10 development predictions, the need for adaptable ERPs, and more…

EducationEvery 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 application development predictions, why ERP systems must adapt to business changes, and more. I hope you find them useful:

SMEs must be able to adapt their ERP to business change
A recent study by Aberdeen Group highlights the importance of being able to react quickly/inexpensively to business change without major disruptions. In a growing organization, change is inevitable, and companies stuck with inflexible ERP systems will ultimately suffer. If your company is stuck with an outdated ERP system, this guide outlines one way to fix that problem.