mrc's Cup of Joe Blog

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

Weekly recap: 6 uncomfortable questions IT teams should ask, HTML mistakes to avoid, and more…

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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 HTML mistakes, data visualization, and more. I hope you find them useful:

HTML tag mistakes you should really avoid
If you ever edit your web application’s presentation layer at the source level, you should read this article. It describes a few common HTML mistakes that can cause problems if not corrected.

6 uncomfortable questions IT teams should ask
Would you describe your IT staff as “innovative”? This article takes a look at some highly innovative IT departments, as well as some hard questions that IT staffs must ask themselves if they want to be on that level. While the questions are good, I’d say that most of them boil down to this: How quickly can your IT department meet your user’s needs? …

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5 common Business Intelligence mistakes to avoid

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EducationDid you know that most Business Intelligence (BI) projects fail? While the various surveys on the subject can’t seem to agree on the exact percentage, somewhere between 50% – 80% of BI projects end in failure.

Where do these projects go wrong? What could they have done differently?

While the reasons vary by company and situation, there are a few common mistakes that can lead to BI failure. What are they? While I’m sure there are more, here are 5 mistakes to avoid when implementing Business Intelligence: …

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Weekly recap: Top CIO challenges, teaching your ERP system new tricks, and more…

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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 CIO challenges, CSS tips, and more. I hope you find them useful:

Could a cloud PET teach your old ERP system new tricks?
Many businesses have invested so much money and time in their current ERP system, they’re not going to replace it with a cloud-based solution any time soon. But, that doesn’t mean that they can’t take advantage of the latest technology. Analysts predict that traditional ERP systems will be enhanced with bolt-on web applications to lets them address modern business needs. …

Weekly recap: Top CIO challenges, teaching your ERP system new tricks, and more…Read More »

This mobile strategy might inspire you

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Save Time“But…how can we use it in our business?”

That’s the biggest question surrounding every major tech trend. How can it help my company? Smart companies know that while big tech trends may get a lot of press, that doesn’t make them useful. They must understand the business value before jumping on board.

Rather than try to explain how certain tech trends can help your business, I prefer to take a look at real-life examples. Today, let’s check out a company that’s using a major tech trend (mobile) to save time and money.

What are they doing? They’re using off-the-shelf gadgets (instead of expensive business equipment) combined with simple mobile web apps to dramatically reduce the time it takes to log inventory. If you’d like to read the whole story, you can find it over on ibmsystemsmag.com. …

This mobile strategy might inspire youRead More »

What is NFC, and how can it help your business?

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EducationThe topic of Near Field Communication (NFC) came up again this week with reports that the new iPhone will contain NFC chips. While I don’t care to speculate about the new iPhone, I do believe NFC is about to become very important for businesses in the next few years.

Why is NFC so important? How will it impact your business? Today, I’d like to answer those questions. In this article, we’ll take a look at the basics of NFC and how it can help your business.

What is NFC?

NFC is a technology standard that is used to transfer data between two devices at close range (usually within 4 inches of one another). For example, two NFC-equipped smartphones could transfer a data file simply by touching the devices together.

However, NFC goes far beyond transferring data from one smartphone to another. The real power of NFC comes in the form of tags. NFC tags are essentially paper-thin circuits that store data which can then be read by (or even overwritten) by an NFC-equipped device, like a smartphone. NFC tags can be placed almost anywhere, and can store all types of data. For instance, NFC tags could be placed on walls, embedded in paper, built into products, and much more.

How is this useful?

So, how is NFC useful to your business? The answer: All sorts of ways. Rather than try to explain every possible way, let me share a few examples of different ways businesses could (and probably will) use NFC in the near future: …

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2 ways “socialization” can improve business applications

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Save MoneyHere’s a question for you: Is social media good for business or bad for business? From the surveys I see, companies are fairly split on the issue. Some companies ban the use of social sites, while others allow it.

Regardless of your stance, don’t be so quick to dismiss the social revolution altogether. Whether or not your company chooses to ban social sites, the concepts behind social media hold some valuable benefits to your business applications.

How so? I see two ways that business’s applications can vastly improve with a little “socialization”: …

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How to build a mobile extranet

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EducationYou may remember the term “extranet” from back in the early 2000s. While the term may have lost traction since then, extranets are still widely used in many businesses. Today, they’re commonly known as customer-only sections, employee portals, or partner portals. It’s safe to say that most businesses probably use some sort of extranet on a daily basis.

If your business currently uses an extranet, here’s a question for you: Have you considered making it mobile?

The fact is, with the rise of mobile, extranets have the opportunity to become more useful than ever. What if you could make your employee portal, customer sections, or partner portals available as mobile web apps? Do you think your customers and partners would enjoy the added accessibility? Of course!

The best part: It’s really easy. This video explains how to create a secure extranet in just one day (with m-Power). Now, you might notice that the video doesn’t mention mobile. Here’s why: It’s automatic! m-Power automatically generates smartphone and tablet versions every time it creates a web app. So, if you follow the process outlined in that video, m-Power will create smartphone and tablet versions of your extranet automatically!

Weekly recap: 10 BYOD concerns, design tips, and more…

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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 BYOD concerns, application design tips, and more. I hope you find them useful:

iPad: Shiny new object, or new enterprise computing platform?
How does your business view tablets? Like it or not, tablets are making their way into the business world, with many experts predicting that tablets will even replace the PC. That means it’s time to start adapting your current apps for use on a touch-based interface. How can you do that? …

Weekly recap: 10 BYOD concerns, design tips, and more…Read More »

What’s really causing Shadow IT?

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ProductivityIt’s funny, really. We hear all of this talk about “Shadow IT”, like it’s some big new problem. The fact is, “Shadow IT” is not a new trend. It’s an old problem with a new name.

“Shadow IT” is nothing more than employees finding ways around the IT department. This usually happens when the IT department isn’t meeting the user’s needs in a timely manner.

In the past, it involved spreadsheets. If the IT department couldn’t meet the users needs fast enough, they turned to spreadsheets. Users found all sorts of uses for spreadsheets, creating forms, reports, analytical applications, and more. The fact is, spreadsheets were the original “Shadow IT”.

But, if “Shadow IT” isn’t new, why is it such a big problem all of a sudden? The way I see it, there are two reasons: …

What’s really causing Shadow IT?Read More »

Here’s a new way to save time on development (and more)

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Save TimeWhat if you could save time on development, gain more control over your applications, and make your users happier…all at the same time? Sound interesting? Let’s learn how you can make this happen.

I’m going to tell you about a relatively new feature called “user rights and privileges”. It might sound technical (and a little boring), but it’s insanely useful. What is it? Here’s a basic definition: It lets you assign custom variables to any user, and then use those variables in any application.

Does that sound too technical? Here’s another way to look at it: Think of it like a data table or a spreadsheet that contains a list of user names. You can create and assign any variable to any user, and then access those variables anywhere. For example, take a look at the image below: …

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