development

Blog Post: Integration, Integration, Integration

My developer friends either just threw up in their mouths or rolled their eyes at that title. For those uninitiated, the integration part of developing software is for most the most challenging and rewarding part.

According to the survey in this article, 60 percent (think about that for a few minutes) of small businesses are having an issue integrating their data across multiple networks. Meaning, businesses that store their sales, finance and marketing data in multiple sources. That should worry us all right?

Wrong, it provides an opportunity.

New platforms are launching every day. Sure, they start out as decent apps. What separates them from a culture-altering platform is users. That’s how Salesforce, Quickbooks and other amazing platforms became household names. As much as we would like to think the software small business owners purchase are going to work as smoothly with their other programs and platforms, data shows differently.

This is leverage we as entreprenuers can use to make better platforms that can actually personify the word “seamless”. Of course, this requires people with the insight and architecture to handle all of this information. Partnerships are needed; deals to be struck. For all of the so called “partners” that companies like Salesforce has in tow, people still struggle to integrate with platforms such as theirs on a daily basis. 

There are times I get frustrated on my team during the integration stage of a sprint. Nothing like the action of weaving new code into your framework to point out the flaws in your design. Of course, I’m not the one doing the work so I trust them to sort their own side out. To further integrate all of these wonderful ways of accumulating data in the modern business world, we must strive to integrate better.

I can think of a few friends of mine running said small businesses that would be appreciative.

Blog Post: Integration, Integration, Integration

Advertisement
Read more "Blog Post: Integration, Integration, Integration"

Blog Post: This Is How We Innovate?

So let me get this straight: when you and your biggest competitor are working on updates to the same product, the idea is to wait until they release and then try to beat it? Not only did Sony CEO Kazuo Hirai decide this would be the approach for his company’s pending release of the PS4, he announced it for all to hear!

Granted, I work on product development of smaller pieces in the grand scheme of the technology industry. After the longevity the Play Station has demonstrated in the gaming industry, it’s hard to look at what you are doing in terms of a minimum viable product (I dare you to find a product manager who doesn’t know what MVP stands for). I still find it hard to believe that this is in any way a smart decision in terms of product development.

I can only imagine that blogs and tech journalists are going to lambaste Hirai for publicly admitting this, as will some rationalize the statement. Regardless, this is a statement made from a position of weakness instead of power.

So many people aren’t willing to stick their necks out there when it comes to big decision making. Smaller, safer decisions don’t get you fired by themselves. As a result, we go with the safer call. It happens if you are building a product, a company, even a professional sports team. 

Don’t let yourself make decisions from a place of weakness. Do your homework, inform your decisions, then put it out there.

Blog Post: This Is How We Innovate?

Read more "Blog Post: This Is How We Innovate?"

We are all users

I love what I do. It didn’t take much for me to become passionate about mobile devices, even before the advent of the iPhone. During my television days, I used a Palm PDA to keep track of contacts and appointments. The addiction to my smartphone started way before Apple with my black Treo. Of course, […]

Read more "We are all users"