mrc's Cup of Joe Blog

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

Year: 2014

7 principles of modern web development

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EducationWhat makes a “productive developer?”

That question came up in a recent article, and I think it’s worth exploring. Generally speaking, productivity correlates directly with speed. With developers, however, it’s different. Speed doesn’t necessarily equal productivity.

photo credit: Dmitry Baranovskiy via photopin cc
photo credit: Dmitry Baranovskiy via photopin cc

For instance, suppose a developer completes a project in half the time expected. Is that developer productive? It depends. Does the application meet the specs? Is it usable? Is it secure? Will it scale up with the company? Will it adapt to future needs? I could go on.

As you see, the term “productive developer” isn’t clear cut. A “fast” developer that creates complex, unmaintainable applications isn’t productive. Quite the opposite, in fact. I’d argue that a “productive developer” is one who builds applications the right way, in the most efficient manner possible. In other words, productivity = speed + quality.

The next logical question: What makes a “quality” application? Is it one that delivers on the specifications? I believe it goes far beyond that. A quality application is one that’s built for both the present and the future. It adapts to changing technology, solves the user’s long-term needs, grows with the business, and is easily maintainable.

So, how can developers build quality applications? It starts with an understanding of modern web development principles. These principles will help developers create successful applications–those that meet their user’s present and future needs, and adapt to the ever-changing tech trends. While this isn’t a comprehensive list by any means, here are 7 important principles of modern web application development:
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What is a ranking report (or “top N” report)?

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EducationToday, let’s explain an important type of web report that could be a useful addition to any company’s reporting repertoire: the ranking report (also known as “the top N report”). What is it, why is it important, and how does it help your company? Let me explain.

The ranking (or top N) report creates variable rankings, across multiple dimensions, while specifying various selection criteria at run-time. In short, it lets you rank any aspect of your data from best to worst, or vice-versa. It lets users choose from a number of different criteria at run-time, and then instantly run a top/bottom ranking report complete with a graph.
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Weekly Recap: 5 people in your organization who grow legacy code, mobile’s next great leap, 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 people in your organization who grow legacy code, mobile’s next great leap, and more. I hope you find them useful:

App-pocalypse now
Companies keep asking “how can we get people to find and install our amazing app” instead of the one question they really should have asked. “Why are we building an app in the first place?” With the proliferation of mobile apps, building a native mobile app for the sake of building an app is a waste. No one will find it among the hundreds of thousands of apps already in the app store. Instead, focus your attention on making your current applications mobile-ready.
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9 huge enterprise mobile trends of 2014

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EducationOver the past couple of years, we’ve seen the business world slowly adapt to the rise of mobile devices. Some businesses have jumped in with both feet, while others have moved more cautiously. I believe we’ll see the pace quicken dramatically this year, as more businesses rush to jump on board.

Why will 2014 be a big year for mobile in the business world? We’ve reached a point where businesses can’t afford to ignore the trend any longer. What do I mean? Here are a few examples:

  • Mobile browser usage share recently hit 20%. That means one out of every 5 customers, employees, or prospects that visit a site does so on a mobile browser.
  • The percentage of employees using their own devices for work-related tasks has grown exponentially. I’ve seen studies that put this number anywhere from 50-70%, but I’d wager the actual numbers far exceed those estimations.
  • Mobile is becoming the foundation for new technological advances. For instance, the rise of trends like the “internet of things” and wearable technology revolve around mobile devices.

I believe this will be an exciting and eventful year for mobile in the business world. We’ll see mobile do everything from improve business efficiency to completely revolutionize industries. So, where is mobile headed this year from a business perspective? Here are 9 of the biggest enterprise mobile trends to watch in 2014:
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What are multi-tenant applications?

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EducationToday, let’s explain an important term in the world of application development: multi-tenancy. What is it, why is it important, and how does it help your company? Let me explain.

The concept of multi-tenancy revolves around a single instance of a software application that serves different users/customers (also called “tenants”). In a multi-tenant application, different users access the same application, but see different data.
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Weekly Recap: The new CIO mandate, how to screw up your mobile app, 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 the new CIO mandate, how to screw up your enterprise mobile app, and more. I hope you find them useful:

Saving the dry lifeless soul of enterprise software
Although enterprise software is pervasive in business, the products and industry tend to be flat, boring, and too often devoid of human expression. The problem is, consumers now expect more. They expect the same level of usability they find in consumer apps. IT departments face a new reality: Create software that users want to use…or risk being bypassed.
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5 money-saving strategies for IT Leaders and CIOs

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EducationAs technology plays an increasingly important role in the business, IT departments are evolving. They’re moving from a back-office function that supports the business to a true business driver.

The problem is, many of these CIOs and IT leaders are still stuck working with limited budgets. IT budgets took a beating in the recession a few years back, and many still haven’t recovered. In fact, according to Computerworld’s yearly report, 64% of IT leaders report either a flat or smaller budget this year over last.

The question is, how can CIOs and IT leaders make the most out of their budgets? While being called upon to play a larger role in the business, many must do so with limited resources. How can they succeed?

Today, I’d like to answer that question and explore a few ways CIOs and IT leaders can save money. Now, when I say “save money,” I’m referring to long-term savings. I’m not interested in short-term cut-backs with long-term consequences. I’m interested in money-saving methods that will not only reduce costs, but prepare your company for future success.

These tips aren’t easy, but will produce significant savings if followed. All that being said, here you go: Five money-saving tips for CIOs and IT leaders:
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New charting now available in m-Power

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AnnouncementI’m happy to announce that m-Power’s reporting and Business Intelligence (BI) capabilities just received a major boost! We just released an update that includes much improved graphing and charting capabilities, and I think you’ll love it.

Now, you’ll still find all of the charting features you’ve come to expect out of m-Power, like chart drill-downs, tooltips, mobile charting capabilities, etc… We didn’t remove any existing features. We did, however, add some new capabilities that will help you create better web applications with m-Power. For instance, m-Power users can now:
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Weekly Recap: 11 ways to improve IT productivity, lessons for CIOs in the age of the cloud, 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 ways to improve IT productivity, lessons for CIOs in the age of the cloud, and more. I hope you find them useful:

5 lessons for CIOs in the age of the cloud
The CIO of Chiquita Brands recently shared insight on how his company operates in the age of the cloud. I especially agree with the second and third points: Avoid any technology that ties you to a single vendor, and flexible architecture will prepare you for whatever the future holds.
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7 critical security tips for modern web development

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EducationModern developers are caught between a rock and a hard place. On one hand, businesses are requiring faster application delivery from their development staff. As software plays an increasingly important role in the modern business, developers regularly face impossible deadlines.

On the other hand, web application development is becoming more complex. For instance, as outlined in this article, modern developers must create applications that adapt to any device, port to any platform, integrate with other services, and withstand increasingly sophisticated attacks. Whew!

The big problem: With these changing requirements and growing demands for faster development, developers struggle to keep up. Certain development aspects are bound to fall through the cracks.

As it turns out, that is exactly what’s happening…with security. Despite the growing importance of proper security, many developers aren’t following basic security principles. How bad is it? According to this study from last year, 99% of applications have one or more serious vulnerabilities.

Today, let’s examine this problem. While I know we can’t address every security mistake developers make, we can highlight the most important principles. What basic security guidelines should every modern web developer follow? How can you protect your web applications from being easy targets for an attack? While the list could be much larger, I’ve rounded up 7 of the most important security tips every developer must follow, and listed them below:
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Weekly Recap: Build vs. buy, the enterprise IT infrastructure agenda for 2014, 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 the “Build vs. Buy” myth, BYOD, and more. I hope you find them useful:

It’s Not Whether To BYOD or Not to BYOD, It’s How To
With the workforce becoming increasingly mobile, businesses must find a way to balance productivity, affordability and security to meet current and future workforce demands. To read more about one secure way to handle BYOD, check out this article.
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9 most common Business Intelligence misconceptions

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EducationGartner recently predicted that Business Intelligence (BI) and Analytics will remain a top focus for CIOs through 2017. As the benefits of a data-driven decision-making process become more evident, we’ll see most businesses adopt a BI strategy in one form or another over the next few years.

The only problem: Many businesses still don’t quite understand BI. They have a general idea, but the concept remains clouded in misconceptions. These misconceptions keep many businesses from adopting BI, or from taking full advantage of its potential.

Today, I’d like to address these misconceptions, and explain why they’re false. So, what are the biggest areas of confusion surrounding BI? While the list could be much larger, here are 9 of the most common BI misconceptions:
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Whatever the future holds, we’re ready for it. Here’s why…

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EducationWhat’s the next big tech trend? How will the web change in 5 years? Who knows? Sure, people like to speculate and make bold predictions. But, they don’t know what the future holds. I don’t know what the future holds. Neither do you.

One thing I do know: Whatever the future holds, we’re ready for it.

How am I so sure?
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Whatever the future holds, we’re ready for it. Here’s why…Read More »

Weekly Recap: Worst practices of cloud computing, state of the CIO, 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 the worst practices of cloud computing, the state of the CIO, and more. I hope you find them useful:

State of the CIO slideshow
In the annual “State of the CIO” research findings, nearly 50% of all CIOs admit that their IT departments aren’t considered a peer to the business. They aren’t looked upon as innovators, but cost centers. How can IT break free from this perception?
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7 habits of highly productive web developers

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EducationA recent Forrester study highlights a major shift in the business landscape: More and more, software development plays an increasingly important role in a company’s competitive edge. According to the study, “Companies that are able to innovate quickly with software will outcompete traditional market leaders.”

There’s just one problem: As the study points out, software development is still a problem for the majority of companies. Most are not able to deliver software solutions as fast as the business leaders want them.

photo credit: Nathan E Photography via photopin cc
photo credit: Nathan E Photography via photopin cc

The fact is, as business moves to the web, software development speed plays a crucial role in a company’s success. The old software development methodologies–in which development projects required months (or even years) to complete–will no longer work. Businesses must permanently shift their development cycle into the “days and weeks” range.

How can businesses improve their development speed so drastically? While the answer to that question varies by company, today I’d like to focus on one area that’s relevant to most businesses: improving developer productivity.

What separates the productive developer from the unproductive? What do the productive developers do differently? How can developers become more productive? We posed those questions to a few experts in the area, and have compiled their advice below. Here are 7 habits of highly productive developers:
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21 ways m-Power will improve your enterprise systems

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EducationAccording to Forrester, “approximately half of ERP customers are currently on releases that are two versions behind the current release, which may be four years old or more.” For these companies, upgrading to a new ERP version or package is often too difficult or expensive. Past customizations or enhancements have virtually locked these companies into their current ERP versions. An upgrade represents countless dollars and months of extra work—a project that most companies can’t afford to undertake.

The sad reality: These companies are locked into their enterprise system. Many feel tied to the old features and capabilities of their outdated systems.
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Weekly Recap: 5 hybrid IT roles you need in 2014, how to control Shadow IT, 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 hybrid IT roles you’ll need in 2014, how to control Shadow IT, and more. I hope you find them useful:

5 Ways to Decide If Your Business Needs a Mobile App
Can your company still capitalize on mobile devices without creating mobile apps? Of course! Very few companies actually require native mobile apps. Chances are, creating web apps that automatically adapt to mobile devices is all most companies need.
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7 secrets of effective IT departments

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EducationWhat’s the difference between effective and ineffective IT departments? Some operate efficiently, while others race around fighting fires, barely keeping their head above water. Some drive the business forward, while others simply keep the lights on…but not much else. Why?

More than ever, this is an especially important question for modern IT departments. As technology plays a larger role in the business, more pressure will fall on IT departments. As more pressure is placed on the IT department, the need for highly efficient IT departments becomes greater than ever.

This brings us to the original question: What separates the effective IT department from the ineffective? What do efficient IT departments do that slow IT departments don’t do? We’ve posed those questions to a few experts in the area, and have compiled their advice below. While I realize that we can’t possibly touch on every reason, here are 7 important traits of effective IT departments.
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3 examples of wildly productive IT departments

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ProductivityOn our 2013 survey, we asked this question: “What problems keep you from accomplishing your goals?” In other words, what stops your company from addressing all of those pressing needs on your to-do list?

Can you guess the most common answer? For the third year in a row, the winner was…time! No one has enough time.

Now, I get it. Many IT staffs are overworked and understaffed. They have too much on their plate. There’s just not enough time in the day to tackle all of their “urgent” projects.

But, then I read stories like the ones below, and wonder if the issue isn’t a “lack of time” so much as it is an “inefficient use of time.” For instance, here are 3 great examples of IT departments completing big projects in impossible time frames:
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Weekly Recap: Hot IT Job Skills in 2014, BI Trends, 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 the hot IT job skills for 2014, top BI trends, and more. I hope you find them useful:

Top BI trends for 2014
Where is Business Intelligence heading in the next year? Besides the popular choices like cloud and mobile BI, I believe we’ll see more companies adopt self-service BI options. These solutions will let end users create their own BI apps, freeing the IT department up for more important tasks.
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