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Education

What is n-Tier architecture, and how does it help you?

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EducationHave you ever wondered why your business applications don’t integrate well with other systems or applications? Have you ever wondered why your applications don’t adapt to changing technology? Have you wondered why it takes so long to add new features to your applications?

Chances are, the problem lies in your application architecture.

While often ignored, architecture is the most important aspect of business applications. Applications built on bad architecture will have all sorts of problems. They won’t grow with your company. They’re less secure. They’re difficult to maintain. I could go on, but you can read more about the benefits of good architecture in this article.

So, what makes good application architecture? How can you build applications on architecture that will grow with your business and adapt to future technology? While you have multiple application architecture options, we prefer the n-Tier approach. Rather than list every reason right here, we’ve created a short video that explains n-Tier architecture and how it helps your business.

7 common mobile mistakes that drive users crazy

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EducationAs more and more businesses venture into the mobile app world, there’s bound to be some growing pains. That happens with every new trend. Do you remember how bad websites looked when the internet was gaining popularity? Yikes!

Mobile applications provide an amazing opportunity for business, but also represent uncharted waters. How do you build mobile apps that help your business? How can you avoid the mistakes that alienate your users? If your business is building, or considering mobile apps, I’d like to help you avoid these mistakes.

Now, before I elaborate on the most common mobile mistakes, I’d like to quickly clarify the term “mobile app.” Many associate that term with native apps, when in reality, mobile apps can refer to any of three different app types: Native apps, hybrid apps, or mobile web apps (Here’s a table that explains the differences). When I say “mobile app”, I’m referring to mobile apps in general, not simply native apps.

Okay, let’s get into it. If you’re building mobile apps, here’s a list of the most common mistakes that will drive your users absolutely crazy. Am I missing anything? If so, please share in the comments. …

7 common mobile mistakes that drive users crazyRead More »

6 strategic development questions that many overlook

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EducationI’ve noticed a lack of long-term, strategic thinking in the business application development world. Many businesses build applications for current needs, but ignore the future.

It usually goes something like this: A manager says, “I need an application that does X, Y, and Z. When can we have it?” The developers rush through the project, deliver the application, and everyone’s happy.

Or, at least they’re happy for a year or so. Then the business changes, technology advances, and new trends roll around. Now, the application must also support A, B, and C. But it can’t. It wasn’t built for change. It wasn’t built for the future.

Now what happens? They need new apps. All of the previous work is now wasted because they didn’t build the initial app with the future in mind.

That leads to the obvious question: “How do you build applications for the future?” How do you build applications that adapt to change?

The answer: It starts with asking the right questions from the get-go. Ask strategic, long-term questions before you build your applications. To give you an idea of what to ask, I’ve come up with a short list of strategic questions to consider before building a business web application. While I’m sure there are others, these are all key questions which will help you build applications that last: …

6 strategic development questions that many overlookRead More »

7 major web development trends of the next 5 years

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EducationDriven largely by the rise of mobile computing, web development has evolved dramatically over the last 5 years. Just think: Five short years ago, we developed web applications for use on a PC. Now, we develop applications for multiple devices.

While I could list many more ways web development has changed in the last few years, I’d like to instead focus on the future. How is web application development changing? What big trends will shape web development over the next 5 years?

I’ve compiled a list of trends that I believe will shape web application development in the coming years, which includes both my own predictions and predictions from others. While I don’t consider this a comprehensive list, I do believe that each of these trends will affect web development in the coming years.

One more thing: As this is a business-focused blog, the trends below are geared primarily at business application development…though most of them apply to development in general. Of course, if you think I forgot any major trends, please feel free to add them in the comments. …

7 major web development trends of the next 5 yearsRead More »

3 reasons to move your spreadsheets to the web (and how to do it)

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EducationEveryday, thousands of employees put their companies at risk through spreadsheet misuse. For example, some use spreadsheets to maintain critical business data. Others go even further, and distribute those spreadsheets to multiple users across different departments. Others go further still, and even base business decisions off of these spreadsheets.

If that’s happening in your company, here are two articles you’ll want to read: This article references a study that uncovered a shocking statistic on spreadsheet errors. This website highlights real-life business problems caused by spreadsheet errors.

So, what can you do about spreadsheet misuse? What’s the alternative to spreadsheets? The answer: Put that data in a database, and build web applications over the database. Here are three reasons why that approach is better than spreadsheets: …

3 reasons to move your spreadsheets to the web (and how to do it)Read More »

4 great examples of mobile apps improving business

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EducationYou’ve probably heard all of the mobile statistics by now. Mobile is the fastest growing trend in history. Tablets will outsell PCs/laptops this year. Smartphone and tablets accounted for 70% of total devices sold in 2012. The statistics paint a pretty clear picture.

But, you already know that mobile is the next big thing. You know that mobile apps are quickly becoming essential to the business world. Recognizing the trend is the easy part. So, what’s the problem? If you’re like many companies, the problem is understanding how mobile can improve your business. What type of mobile app should your company build?

If you’re asking yourself those questions, I’d like to help spark some ideas. This article highlights four innovative ways other companies are using mobile apps to improve business. Along with explaining each app, I’ve also explained how you might possibly apply each example to your business. Hopefully, the examples will spark some mobile app ideas for your company: …

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Considering mobile apps? Read this first…

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EducationI’ve noticed some confusion surrounding the term, “Mobile app.” People typically associate the term “Mobile app” with apps that are built for a single platform and downloaded from an app store. In reality, those types of apps are native apps, and they’re only one of three mobile app types.

This is where many businesses get confused. They see the popularity of native apps among consumers, and assume it’s the best approach for business. However, while native apps work great for the consumer market, they’re often the worst of the three mobile app options for business.

Why? We’ve outlined the reasons for you in a free white paper entitled, “Native Mobile Apps: The wrong choice for business?” The paper also explains each development option from a business perspective, along with the pros and cons of each.

So, how should businesses approach mobile apps? The video below outlines one method of building mobile apps that’s specifically designed for businesses:

Think your outdated ERP keeps you from mobile apps? Think again…

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Education“We’d love to build mobile apps, but we can’t because our business runs on an ancient ERP system.” I’ve heard that phrase (or variations of the phrase) with increasing frequency recently. Many people think that mobile apps (or modern apps in general) aren’t even an option because their business still runs on an outdated enterprise system.

If you’re in that boat, I have some good news: You can still build mobile apps even if you’re tied to an old system. Better yet, you can even integrate these modern apps directly with your enterprise system…all without any modifications to the underlying code. To learn more, check out this video:

What to look for in a good Business Intelligence solution

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EducationBusiness Intelligence (BI) solutions come in all shapes and sizes. Some emphasize architecture while others tout their flashy interface. Some cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, while others cost hundreds.

With all of these options, how do you separate the good from the bad?

We just released a BI Guide aimed at helping you do just that. It outlines which essential features and capabilities make a good BI solution, and even separates each feature into 4 different categories:

  • High-level features
  • Security features
  • Must-have applications
  • Advanced features

The guide is free and you can download it right here: Essential features to look for in a good Business Intelligence solution. I hope you find it useful.

Application architecture: Ignore at your own risk

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EducationI’ve noticed a disturbing trend in the world of business web applications. It seems that emphasis is shifting away from application architecture and shifting towards application design. These days, flashy interfaces beat out well-built web applications.

Why is this happening? I recently read an article over on techrepublic.com that highlights a major factor driving this trend: End user’s expectations are rising. They expect enterprise applications to be as well-designed and easy to use as the apps and tools they use every day. After all, if their enterprise applications don’t meet their expectations, there are plenty of other web services they can use.

Now, I get it. I understand the problems this creates for businesses. But, in the rush to please the end users with well-designed interfaces, let’s not forget about the most important aspect of business applications: Architecture.

For business web applications, architecture is infinitely more important than design. While application architecture might be invisible to the business users, the effects of application architecture are clear as day.

Let me try to highlight a few tangible benefits of good architecture, and help you understand why ignoring it might be the worst mistake your business can make. To help drive this home, I solicited feedback from a few experts in the field of application architecture. You can find their responses below, along with 5 big reasons why application architecture is so important. …

Application architecture: Ignore at your own riskRead More »

5 uncommon reporting features that will impress your boss

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EducationWhen your boss (or any other executive in your company) asks for a web report, what do you create? Do you create a standard web report that displays the necessary data, includes some interactive charts and graphs, and lets the user drill down to more details?

Those are all nice features, but they’re fairly standard. What can you do to make that report really stand out? What can you do to make your boss say, “Wow!”?

I have some ideas that might help you. If you want to create reports that really stand out, they should… …

5 uncommon reporting features that will impress your bossRead More »

More questions to ask before building a mobile business app (Part 2)

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EducationA few weeks ago, I started a two-part article for businesses who are considering building their own mobile apps. As mentioned in that article, smartphones and tablets are spreading faster than any other technology in history. As businesses rush to take advantage of this trend, they often dive into mobile without a proper understanding of their options.

In part one, we focused on 4 essential questions to ask before building a mobile business app. Today, I’d like to finish up this two-part article with 4 more questions your business should ask before building mobile apps, which you can find below: …

More questions to ask before building a mobile business app (Part 2)Read More »

7 key security features of business-class development software

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EducationWorking in the business software industry for over 30 years, I’ve seen my fair share of pretenders–amateur software posing as professional business software.

The problem is, this “amateur software” is often hard to detect. It looks great in the demo. Unfortunately, its limitations become apparent after you’ve already purchased the software…when it’s too late to go back.

Today, I’d like to share some tips that will help you separate business-focused application development software from the “amateur” software. I’m focusing on web application development software because that’s our area of expertise (we’ve been doing this for quite a while), but I’m sure these tips apply to most any business software.

So, what separates the pretenders from the legitimate, built-for-business software? Architecture and security. The cheap amateur software focuses mainly on the look and feel, but skimps on the architecture and security. Application development software that’s truly designed for business will include flexible architecture and business-class security features.

What types of security features should good application development software include? I’ve compiled a list of 7 security features that are absolutely essential in professional business application development software: …

7 key security features of business-class development softwareRead More »

How to control BYOD without going insane

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EducationThe shift from company-controlled devices to employee-controlled devices is one of the biggest IT trends in recent history. According to a study from Logicalis, 57.1% of employees already use their own devices for work-related tasks in some form or another. Another survey puts that number at 80%.

Can IT ignore BYOD?

What are IT departments doing about this Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) trend? The study listed above answers that question with some interesting statistics: 46.1% of employees who use their devices for work claim their IT departments are either unaware of or ignore BYOD. Is this a viable approach? Not at all. Let me give you two reasons why your IT department needs a BYOD strategy: …

How to control BYOD without going insaneRead More »

Native apps: The wrong choice for business?

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EducationNative mobile applications are popular among consumers, but how do their advantages translate to the business world? Not as well as you might think.

If you’re considering mobile apps for your business, here’s a new white paper that you’ll want to read. It explores each mobile app option, and explains why businesses should think twice before taking the native approach. You can access the white paper right here.

What happens when you combine machine translation with human translation?

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EducationIf your company operates in multiple countries and currently translates your web sites and/or apps into multiple languages, let me ask you a question: What if you could combine the speed of machine translation with the accuracy of human translation?

If that sounds intriguing, here’s a video you’ll want to watch. It outlines the growing need for translation, and explains a unique translation method that nearly automates web application translation. I hope you find it informative.

Top 8 tech stories of 2012 for IT pros and developers

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EducationWhen you look back at 2012, what stands out in your mind? As an IT professional, what are you going to remember the most about the past year? As I think back on 2012, several stories and events really stand out as shaping the year (and possibly beyond) from a business technology perspective.

While there are too many stories to list, I looked back over the past year and pulled out the news, stories, and events that were of significant importance to IT pros and developers in 2012. Feel free to add anything I missed in the comments, but here’s my list of the top IT stories of 2012: …

Top 8 tech stories of 2012 for IT pros and developersRead More »

HTML5 is finished: What would you like to see?

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EducationBig 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.

3 new realities IT must learn to accept

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EducationHow 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

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EducationThink 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 »