2012 – mrc's Cup of Joe Blog

HTML5 is finished: What would you like to see?

Big news this week: The Worldwide Web Consortium (W3C) announced that the specifications for HTML5 are finally complete! While it doesn’t technically become the standard until 2014, all of the HTML5 features are finalized.

Wait…what is HTML5?

Let me quickly explain HTML5 for those unclear on the topic. HTML5 is the next iteration of HTML, the markup language used for structuring web pages. While it does bring some new features, HTML5 is simply an improved version of the HTML standard that we already know and love.

What do we need to know about HTML5?

HTML5 brings a bunch of new features, like offline storage, native audio and video, improved semantic markup, and more. If you’d like to learn more about HTML5, here’s a great resource for you. We’ve also written up some tutorials over on the techblog.

Your turn: What would you like to see in m-Power?

While we’ve already added some HTML5 features into m-Power (and plan on adding more), I’d like to get your thoughts. What HTML5 features and capabilities would you like to see added to m-Power in the next year? Which new features would most improve your web (or mobile web) applications?

I’d really love to hear your thoughts. Feel free to add your suggestions in the comments section on this post.

Weekly recap: 6 ways IT still fails the business, HTML5, and more…

By Joe Stangarone / BYOD, HTML5, Strategy

Every 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 HTML5, monetizing data, and more. I hope you find them useful:

Monetizing data to drive a competitive advantage
As companies gather more and more data, they must answer one big question: What are we doing with this data? If your company isn’t using your customer data as a competitive advantage, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity. …

Weekly recap: 6 ways IT still fails the business, HTML5, and more…Read More »

3 new realities IT must learn to accept

By Joe Stangarone / Tech trends

How would you describe your IT department? Are they innovators, laggards, or somewhere in between? In case you’re unfamiliar with those terms, they come from the technology adoption lifecycle concept–a sociological model developed in the 50’s that describes the adoption or acceptance to new products or innovations.

While that concept is generally applied to consumers, I believe it just as easily applies to IT departments.

Every major technological shift comes with varying levels of acceptance among IT departments. Some drive new trends (innovators). Some welcome new trends with open arms (early adopters). Others sit back and wait to see what everyone else is going to do (majority). Still others are reluctant to change, with some even actively fighting it (laggards).

That being said, some trends are out of your control. These trends are driven by consumers. It doesn’t matter which category your IT department falls under–you must adapt. In fact, you could refer to these as more than just trends. They’re realities. In other words, they’re not up for debate. You can’t sit back and wait to see what others will do. You can’t refuse to change.

What are these realities? While I’m sure there are more, I’ve put together a short list of 3 realities that your IT department must learn to accept: …

3 new realities IT must learn to acceptRead More »

Top 6 strategic IT priorities for 2013

By Joe Stangarone / Strategy

Think back just 10 years ago. Smartphones and tablets (as we know them today) didn’t even exist yet. Social media was a new concept. Mentioning the term “Big Data” would just bring you awkward stares.

My, how the times have changed.

Fast forward to today. Businesses are currently experiencing some of the most rapid technological changes since the rise of the web. Smartphone and tablet adoption have exploded. PC usage is on the decline. Cloud computing is on the rise.

With all of these changes, which areas should your IT department focus on in the next few years?

I’m curious to hear your opinions. What do you think are the biggest strategic issues facing IT departments going into next year? While I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments, I’ve created my own list of 6 issues that every IT strategy must include going into 2013: …

Top 6 strategic IT priorities for 2013Read More »

Weekly recap: 4 trends revitalizing BI, useful jQuery snippets, and more…

By Joe Stangarone / Business Intelligence

Every 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 BI trends, useful jQuery snippets, and more. I hope you find them useful:

14 handy jquery code snippets for developers
If you do any web development, here’s a page you’ll want to bookmark. It provides some of the most commonly used jQuery snippets all in one place, for easy copy-and-pasting during web development. …

Weekly recap: 4 trends revitalizing BI, useful jQuery snippets, and more…Read More »

3 ways IT causes Shadow IT (and how to fix it)

By Joe Stangarone / Shadow IT

Suppose your car’s “check engine” light turned on. What do you do? Do you take it to the mechanic and ask him to find the problem? Or do you ask him to remove the light?

Of course, you fix the problem. Everybody knows the light isn’t the problem–it’s a sign of a larger problem.

I mention this example because it ties in nicely to the growing “Shadow IT” problem. For those unfamiliar with the issue, Shadow IT is the term used to describe IT systems and solutions built within an organization without the IT department’s knowledge or approval. The IT department cannot control these systems, which creates all types of data security problems.

CIOs and IT managers around the world are asking the same question: How can we stop Shadow IT? I’ve seen some companies try threats. Others try to limit procurement budgets. Unfortunately, these types of approaches rarely work.

Why? As it turns out, they’re asking the wrong question. Asking “How can we stop Shadow IT” is the equivalent of asking a mechanic to remove your “check engine” light.

Why? Shadow IT is not the problem. Like a “check engine” light, Shadow IT is a sign of much larger problems. When business users aren’t satisfied with the services and support they receive from IT, they look for other solutions. Users aren’t maliciously trying to harm the company. They just aren’t getting what they need from the IT department.

So, if you want to fix the problem, you must first identify what’s causing the problem. Rather than asking “How can we stop Shadow IT?”, perhaps IT departments should be asking, “How are we causing Shadow IT?” Why would end users want to bypass the IT department in the first place? To help identify the problem, I’ve created a short list of the most common ways IT departments unwittingly create Shadow IT: …

3 ways IT causes Shadow IT (and how to fix it)Read More »

Spreadsheet misuse: Why it happens and how to stop it

By Joe Stangarone / Spreadsheets

Do you know why end users still use spreadsheet programs (like Excel) so frequently, despite all of the security concerns? The answer is simple: Spreadsheets are easy.

Sure, maybe they’ve sat through training classes on how to use your enterprise software. Maybe they already learned about the dangers of spreadsheet misuse. Maybe you’ve even given them a safer alternative to spreadsheets. But, here’s the problem: If the process isn’t as easy (or easier) than Excel, they probably won’t use it.

The solution: Give users simple, secure web applications that replace the most common Excel uses. In what ways is Excel most commonly used? When you boil it down, end users typically use Excel in three ways:

They enter data
They manipulate (edit, sort, and filter) data
They analyze data

If you want to eliminate spreadsheet misuse, give users a better, safer way to accomplish the three tasks listed above. The best way to accomplish this: Give them web applications! Don’t know where to start? Here are some great web applications that replace the most common uses of Excel. …

Spreadsheet misuse: Why it happens and how to stop itRead More »

Weekly recap: 5 ways to prepare IT to drive productivity, BYOD risks, and more…

By Joe Stangarone / BYOD, Web Development

Every 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 IT productivity, things you need to know about javascript, and more. I hope you find them useful:

10 things you need to know about Javascript
If you do any type of web development, you’ll likely need to understand Javascript. This article lists some of the most important aspects of Javascript that any developer must understand. …

Weekly recap: 5 ways to prepare IT to drive productivity, BYOD risks, and more…Read More »

Thanksgiving Football: Fun facts and mobile apps!

By Joe Stangarone / Happy Holidays, Mobile apps

In honor of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, we decided to celebrate in true m-Power fashion: We made a mobile app! But not just any mobile app. This mobile app is all about the long-standing tradition of Thanksgiving football! It answers the big questions like:

What is my team’s record on Thanksgiving Day?
When was the first Thanksgiving day NFL game played?
Who won last year (or any year, for that matter)?

Sounds exciting, right? The application works on all devices (PC/Tablet/Smartphone), and you can find the it right here.

One thing to note: The application adapts to the device on which it is viewed. So, if you access it on a PC, it will look like a PC app. But, if you access it on a smartphone or tablet, it will look like a smartphone or tablet app. Go ahead and try it to see for yourself. If all of that sounds confusing, this page explains m-Power’s approach to mobile in greater detail.

But wait…there’s more!

While we were building the mobile app, we ran across some great facts about the Thanksgiving Day football games. So, we’ve pulled some of the more interesting “fun facts” and listed them below. Enjoy! …

Thanksgiving Football: Fun facts and mobile apps!Read More »

Help us stop Copyright trolls: Sign the petition

By Joe Stangarone

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing”
Edmund Burke

We are asking for your help to end the predatory practices of Copyright trolls.

Copyright trolls are companies who misuse copyright laws as a way to make money through litigation. They prey on ignorance and misuse the law for their own personal gain. In fact, many of these Copyright trolls use litigation as their primary business model.

Why should you care?

1. It’s morally wrong: These Copyright trolls are misusing the law to attack individuals and companies who unwittingly infringe on copyrights. They make it easy for their victims to unknowingly infringe on their copyrights, and then spring into legal action once their victim falls for the bait. While technically legal, this practice is morally wrong.

2. It hurts the economy: These Copyright trolls are attacking small businesses, claiming damages up to $150,000 per infringement. Any money paid to copyright trolls is money that can’t be used creating new jobs, or purchasing products/services from other companies.

3. It could affect you: Have you created a web site or web application? Have you ever published anything online? If so, have you ever used an image that you didn’t pay for? Maybe you just grabbed an image from Google images for use in a blog post. Maybe you used a seemingly free image that came bundled with your design software. If so, you can expect a letter demanding a hefty settlement for copyright infringement. Here’s a real-life story of one blogger’s experience.

We want to put an end to this predatory practice, but we need your help. What can you do?

Here are two ways to help

1. Sign the petition: We’ve created a petition with the government to reform Copyright law. I would greatly appreciate it if you took the time to sign this petition.

2. Tell your friends: Make others aware of this growing problem. Tell them about this article and the petition. Spread the word. We need to fix this problem before it spirals even farther out of hand than it already has.

That’s it. If you could do those two small things, you would help make America a better place. Also, I would be eternally grateful.

Thanks!

The big tech trend that you can’t ignore

By Joe Stangarone / Application Architecture, Tech trends

What’s the most important tech trend going into 2013? Some say mobile. Others say cloud computing. There’s also lots of buzz surrounding areas like BYOD, consumerization, shadow IT, and business analytics.

They’re all wrong. There’s one trend that’s more important than all of those trends combined, yet is widely ignored. It’s a trend that determines a company’s ability to take advantage of many of those new “hot trends” (mobile, cloud computing. etc…) that everyone is talking about.

What is that trend? This important, yet widely ignored trend is the shift towards modern application architecture. Yes, I know it sounds boring. Who wants to talk about architecture when they can talk about exciting trends like mobile apps, cloud computing, and analytics? You might…once you see what good architecture lets you accomplish.

What’s driving this trend? Companies are slowly realizing that their outdated application architecture is holding them back. They’re realizing that without modern architecture, they’re not even ready to think about the other new trends of the day.

So, the big questions are: How does outdated architecture hold you back from new trends? How does modern application architecture help your company adapt to current trends? To answer these questions, let’s take a look at the impact application architecture has on a few of the current tech trends. …

The big tech trend that you can’t ignoreRead More »

Weekly recap: 4 possible futures for IT, HTML5 is growing, and more…

By Joe Stangarone / Business Dashboards, BYOD, HTML5, Mobile apps

Every 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 four possible futures for IT, HTML5, and more. I hope you find them useful:

HTML5 use is real: Majority of developers find it important for their job in next 12 months
If your company is considering mobile apps, you’ll face one big question: Should we build mobile web apps or native apps? While native has been popular among consumer recently, a recent survey indicates that developers think that HTML5 importance (particularly with mobile web apps) is growing. …

Weekly recap: 4 possible futures for IT, HTML5 is growing, and more…Read More »

Top 7 mobile app mistakes to avoid

By Joe Stangarone / Mobile, Mobile apps

What do television, personal computers, the radio, electricity, and the internet have in common? A couple of things actually: First, each one represents a major technology shift. Second, each one was adopted at a slower pace than smartphones have been adopted in the U.S.

That’s right. According to these statistics, smartphone adoption is faster than any other major technology shift in the U.S.

Now you see what all the mobile app fuss is about.

Businesses aren’t just rushing towards the latest trend, they’re rushing to take advantage of the fastest growing technology shift in history. But, be careful. Mobile app development isn’t something you should approach blindly. Understand your options and the pros and cons of each approach before you begin, and you’ll avoid a heap of problems.

What kind of problems? Mobile app mistakes could leave you with expensive maintenance, security breaches, user adoption issues, and more. How can you avoid these problems? If your company is considering mobile apps, here are 7 big mistakes to avoid: …

Top 7 mobile app mistakes to avoidRead More »

5 most common IT money-wasters

By Joe Stangarone / Development Tools, Spreadsheets, Tech Advice, Web Development

Tell me, is your IT department wasting your company’s money? That’s a tricky question to answer. Nobody wants to waste money, yet despite best efforts to the contrary, many IT departments unwittingly waste money every day.

How so? While I couldn’t possibly cover every way in one blog post, I’ve put together a list of some of the most common ways that IT departments waste money. If you’re looking for ways your company can save money, start by investigating these 5 areas: …

5 most common IT money-wastersRead More »

Getty Images Demands Big Money from Website Owners

By Joe Stangarone / Web Applications

** This guest post was written by Ryan Healy. Learn more about Ryan in the author bio at the end of this post. **

Have you ever used a picture on your web applications or website? And if so, have you taken the time to verify that you have the proper copyright to use that image?

If not, you could soon be the unhappy recipient of a settlement demand letter (AKA “extortion letter”) that asks for a large sum of money to pay for “damages.”

In recent years, companies like Getty Images, iStockphoto, Masterfile, Corbis, Jupiter Images, and others have become aggressive in pursuing people who infringe on an image’s copyright.

It doesn’t matter whether you use an unlicensed image accidentally or intentionally — the consequences are the same. …

Getty Images Demands Big Money from Website OwnersRead More »

Weekly recap: Top 10 strategic technologies for 2013, eCommerce mistakes, and more…

By Joe Stangarone / Business Intelligence, eCommerce, Tech trends

Every 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 strategic technologies for 2013, Business Intelligence, and more. I hope you find them useful:

Business intelligence and why you need it
Business intelligence is a hot topic right now, but why is it so important? Why does your business need “business intelligence” all of a sudden. Here’s an article that will help you answer those questions. …

Weekly recap: Top 10 strategic technologies for 2013, eCommerce mistakes, and more…Read More »

How mobile will revolutionize inventory tracking

By Joe Stangarone / Mobile, Mobile apps

Mobile is about to change inventory tracking as you know it. Before I show you how, let’s take a quick look at current inventory tracking methods. Right now, inventory is typically tracked in one of two ways:

1. Manually: This involves employees manually logging inventory on paper, and then entering that information into their system. This is the cheapest option, but also the most time consuming.

2. Barcode scanners and software: This involves employees scanning inventory with barcode scanners, which automatically update the system. This is certainly much faster than tracking inventory by hand, but purchasing all of the scanning equipment and software can get expensive.

How will mobile change this? Mobile provides an inexpensive, yet efficient method to track inventory that can easily replace expensive barcode scanners.

Here’s a great story that illustrates this point: A medical supply distributor needed a better way to track incoming inventory. Rather than purchase expensive scanning equipment, they used mobile apps running on standard smartphones that automatically update inventory levels in their system. The result: They nearly automated inventory logging while using inexpensive, off-the-shelf parts. That’s just a quick summary, but you can read the whole story right here.

Year: 2012

Wait…what is HTML5?

What do we need to know about HTML5?

Your turn: What would you like to see in m-Power?

But wait…there’s more!

Here are two ways to help