May
15

7 reasons why mobile web apps are better for business than native apps

EducationIf your business is planning to build native mobile apps, ask yourself this question: Are you building native mobile apps because you need to, or because you think you have to? While native apps are popular with consumers, they’re quite impractical for most businesses.

To understand why, let’s first look at why native apps are popular with consumers. Native apps do a couple of things very well: They deliver highly graphical interfaces and they’re easy to find and download. While these are important factors for consumers, are they really important to your business?

For most businesses, the answer is a resounding “No”. Unless your business needs highly graphical applications, mobile web apps simply make more business sense. How so? Here are 7 reasons why mobile web apps make more sense from a business standpoint: Read the rest of this entry »

May
14

Even small IT staffs can accomplish big things

ProductivityFill in the blank: “Our company needs to _____________, but our IT staff is too small.” Based on feedback I received from a tech conference we recently attended, this is one of the biggest problems facing IT departments these days. IT professionals know how to help their companies, they just lack the time and resources to do anything about it.

It’s a depressing thought–knowing how to help your company but realizing that you can’t. You feel stuck. But don’t worry…if you’re facing this problem, you’re not alone and you’re definitely not stuck. Here are two stories of small IT staffs that found ways to complete urgent projects despite their limited staff. I hope you find them useful:

1. This 2-person IT staff found a way to quickly modernize their green-screen interface and replace their order entry system without bringing in any outside help.

2. This 3-person IT staff built a brand new, custom extranet, and did it faster than it would’ve taken to deploy an off-the-shelf option.

See? Even small IT staffs can accomplish big things! Read the rest of this entry »

May
11

Weekly recap: 4 more things your IT staff should stop doing, reasons IT pros get a bad rap, 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 why IT pros get a bad rap, tech tools for the iPad, mobile web development, and more. I hope you find them useful:

Mobile web development still has traction
As mobile devices become more powerful and widely used, mobile web development becomes more important. This article highlights the latest advancements in mobile web development, as well as some important features coming in the near future. Read the rest of this entry »

May
08

The 3 most important aspects of a business dashboard

EducationHere’s a question for you: What’s the difference between a worthless business dashboard and a dashboard that makes an impact? To help you understand, take a look at the two dashboards below. Which one is better?

Dashboard #1

Dashboard #2

So, which dashboard is better? Read the rest of this entry »

May
07

New template lets you print custom labels straight from the web

Save TimeIf you, or anyone in your office regularly prints mailing labels, there’s a new m-Power template in the Project Exchange that will make your life a lot easier: The Custom Label Creator Template. Feel free to check out the demo right here.

This new template creates web applications that pull data from your database and automatically organize it in a label-friendly format. How will this template make your life easier? Here are two ways: Read the rest of this entry »

May
04

Weekly recap: 3 ways your smartphone can hurt your career, popular jQuery plugins, 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 how a smartphone can hurt your career, popular jQuery plugins, application logic flaws, and more. I hope you find them useful:

Questions for mobile computing
Do you think your company can hold off on the mobile trend for a little while? Think again: Smartphones and tablets outsold PCs for the first time last year, and mobile computing is advancing at a rate much faster than previous new technology. Read the rest of this entry »

May
01

One way to use CSS3 in your web applications right now

Save TimeIf you’re an application developer, you face quite a dilemma. You must somehow build applications that are functional, attractive, and work across all browsers. As we learned in this recent post, the last part of that sentence is a big problem.

The problem is, while CSS3 brings some great new styles that can improve nearly any application, it’s not supported by every browser. What does that mean? It means your applications may look great in some browsers, but awful in other browsers.

What can you do about this problem? You can ignore the newer styles until the use of older browsers declines, but that probably won’t happen for years. Besides, this leaves you with ugly and outdated applications, which I know you don’t want. Read the rest of this entry »

Apr
30

Are you attending COMMON?

AnnouncementAre you attending the annual COMMON User Group Conference next week? If so, stop by our booth (#319) and say “Hi!”. While you’re there, you can even take a short survey to enter our 2012 Giveaway!

One more thing: If your company is considering mobile apps in the near future, make sure you ask someone at our booth to show you a live mobile app build process. You might be surprised to see that you can build a smartphone AND tablet app in 5 minutes.

If your company is considering mobile apps in the near future, but you’re not attending COMMON, don’t worry.  We’d be glad to show you the mobile app build process. Just fill out this short form and let us know. Of course, if you’re more of a “hands-on” person, you can always build one yourself with the m-Power Test Drive.

Apr
27

Weekly recap: 14 best iPad business apps, mistakes that plague development projects, 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 common development mistakes, the best iPad apps for business, why PHP is bad for development, and more. I hope you find them useful:

PHP: A fractal of bad design
This is the most comprehensive and well-written explanation of why PHP is not a good choice for enterprise application development. I thought that one of the most interesting quotes came from a PHP supporter in the comments section: “PHP is good for what it is. It was never intended to be what it is now (a major web development language)…” That’s a little unsettling for any company that has built (or is building) their apps with PHP. Read the rest of this entry »

Apr
24

Build a web (and mobile) app in 30 minutes without programming

ProductivityIf your company’s current web (or mobile) development is too slow, or if you just want to turn anyone on your staff into a web (or mobile) developer, you should really try the m-Power Test Drive.

The free m-Power Test Drive guides you through the process of creating a web and mobile web application using m-Power. There’s no programming involved and the whole process only takes about 30 minutes. If that sounds like too much of a time commitment, look at it this way: If you could spend 30 minutes testing a tool that regularly reduces development times by 50-80%, why wouldn’t you?

Want to get started? You can try it right here: m-Power Test Drive.

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