Posted by Mark Brousseau
Folks arriving this weekend for Fusion 2011 may be surprised to see alligators(!) in the atrium of the Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center in Florida.
Showing posts with label Microsoft. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Microsoft. Show all posts
Friday, May 6, 2011
Alligators at Fusion 2011
Posted by Mark Brousseau
Folks arriving this weekend for Fusion 2011 may be surprised to see alligators(!) in the atrium of the Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center in Florida.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Waiting for the LightSwitch to Go On
By Roy Chomko, President, Adage Technologies
Microsoft’s VSLive2010 event was recently held in Orlando, FL. This yearly developer’s event is all about development in the Visual Studio environment, and one of the big announcements this year was the launch date for Visual Studio LightSwitch. LightSwitch is a Rapid Development environment that will allow technical and somewhat-technical people the ability to create light weight Line of Business applications. While many developers don’t think LightSwitch will be useful for creating apps, we think it can be very beneficial to use in the right circumstances. Here are some reasons why.
Right-Sized vs Enterprise Ready
In recent years there has been a growing philosophy that everything needs to be enterprise ready. The prevailing thought is all solutions need to be scalable, flexible, anything-able. While that is true for anything that really does need to be enterprise ready, there are situations where enterprise ready is TOO much. Imagine you are a small start up. You are not focused on enterprise ready. You are focused on getting through your first year. Alternately, you might be an established organization that is considering getting into a new line of business.
Focusing on getting something up and running to let your employees share information in a cost effective way would ensure you are not risking valuable resources (i.e., capital). In today’s economy capital budgets are limited, and in some companies non-existent.
Best of Both Worlds
Traditionally, we have seen tools such as Access, Excel, and more recently SharePoint act as a useful starting point for a low cost prototype. The best thing that can be said of those initial forays in developing Line of Business applications is that usually all of the necessary data points have been identified and that there is a working prototype. We find that having a working prototype when starting an enterprise application development effort is immeasurably helpful.
While Access and Excel solutions do provide value when moving to the next level of maturation, LightSwitch can provide even more. Since LightSwitch can connect to Microsoft SQL Server or Oracle databases, the application can utilize either of those databases during the initial development. LightSwitch also generates an ADO.Net EntityFramework class structure that can be used in the next iteration of development. Finally, the interface is rendered to a Silverlight application.
Recently, we had a customer request a simple application for generating quotes for customers and tracking them in a web format. Taking this use case, we decided to give LightSwitch a go. We were able to build a working prototype for the need within 4 hours, complete with the database tables, class structure, and Silverlight interface. Normally this would have taken close to 40 hours to get to the same point in a traditional web development environment.
Efficiency vs. Maturation
Some people point out that if this right-Sized application is successful that it will need to be rebuilt, usually from the ground up. While this is mostly true, it’s relevant to restate that having a working prototype does reduce the risk (risk = time + money) in starting a new application.
So would it be more efficient to build the enterprise ready version of the application first? The assumption there is that you are going to get the application right the first time. Or that the application will be used for a period of time to recover its ROI. But aren’t those two very big assumptions?
Furthermore, aren’t those two very expensive assumptions?
Also, it’s relevant to say that enterprise software endeavors are never guaranteed successes. We all know the high rate of failure for traditional development, whether it is done using an agile or waterfall approach. As noted in a recent Gartner report, approximately 50% of all features are either never used or rarely used. Why not develop those features inexpensively first and then decide what needs to be in your final application? These are the types of benefits Microsoft’s LightSwitch can provide, making it something to consider moving forward.
Adage Technologies is a Chicago-based web and software development company. In 2001, Roy co-founded Adage Technologies combining a passion for technology and the desire to build a company focused on driving business value through web technology. As President, Roy's energy and customer centric approach have helped to grow Adage to a well respected web and software development firm.
Roy has over 20 years of experience in technology sales, consulting, and development. Prior to founding Adage, Roy was a principle of a Cisco VAR and a web development firm in the late 1990s. Roy has also held business development positions with Wolfram Research and GE Capital.
Microsoft’s VSLive2010 event was recently held in Orlando, FL. This yearly developer’s event is all about development in the Visual Studio environment, and one of the big announcements this year was the launch date for Visual Studio LightSwitch. LightSwitch is a Rapid Development environment that will allow technical and somewhat-technical people the ability to create light weight Line of Business applications. While many developers don’t think LightSwitch will be useful for creating apps, we think it can be very beneficial to use in the right circumstances. Here are some reasons why.
Right-Sized vs Enterprise Ready
In recent years there has been a growing philosophy that everything needs to be enterprise ready. The prevailing thought is all solutions need to be scalable, flexible, anything-able. While that is true for anything that really does need to be enterprise ready, there are situations where enterprise ready is TOO much. Imagine you are a small start up. You are not focused on enterprise ready. You are focused on getting through your first year. Alternately, you might be an established organization that is considering getting into a new line of business.
Focusing on getting something up and running to let your employees share information in a cost effective way would ensure you are not risking valuable resources (i.e., capital). In today’s economy capital budgets are limited, and in some companies non-existent.
Best of Both Worlds
Traditionally, we have seen tools such as Access, Excel, and more recently SharePoint act as a useful starting point for a low cost prototype. The best thing that can be said of those initial forays in developing Line of Business applications is that usually all of the necessary data points have been identified and that there is a working prototype. We find that having a working prototype when starting an enterprise application development effort is immeasurably helpful.
While Access and Excel solutions do provide value when moving to the next level of maturation, LightSwitch can provide even more. Since LightSwitch can connect to Microsoft SQL Server or Oracle databases, the application can utilize either of those databases during the initial development. LightSwitch also generates an ADO.Net EntityFramework class structure that can be used in the next iteration of development. Finally, the interface is rendered to a Silverlight application.
Recently, we had a customer request a simple application for generating quotes for customers and tracking them in a web format. Taking this use case, we decided to give LightSwitch a go. We were able to build a working prototype for the need within 4 hours, complete with the database tables, class structure, and Silverlight interface. Normally this would have taken close to 40 hours to get to the same point in a traditional web development environment.
Efficiency vs. Maturation
Some people point out that if this right-Sized application is successful that it will need to be rebuilt, usually from the ground up. While this is mostly true, it’s relevant to restate that having a working prototype does reduce the risk (risk = time + money) in starting a new application.
So would it be more efficient to build the enterprise ready version of the application first? The assumption there is that you are going to get the application right the first time. Or that the application will be used for a period of time to recover its ROI. But aren’t those two very big assumptions?
Furthermore, aren’t those two very expensive assumptions?
Also, it’s relevant to say that enterprise software endeavors are never guaranteed successes. We all know the high rate of failure for traditional development, whether it is done using an agile or waterfall approach. As noted in a recent Gartner report, approximately 50% of all features are either never used or rarely used. Why not develop those features inexpensively first and then decide what needs to be in your final application? These are the types of benefits Microsoft’s LightSwitch can provide, making it something to consider moving forward.
Adage Technologies is a Chicago-based web and software development company. In 2001, Roy co-founded Adage Technologies combining a passion for technology and the desire to build a company focused on driving business value through web technology. As President, Roy's energy and customer centric approach have helped to grow Adage to a well respected web and software development firm.
Roy has over 20 years of experience in technology sales, consulting, and development. Prior to founding Adage, Roy was a principle of a Cisco VAR and a web development firm in the late 1990s. Roy has also held business development positions with Wolfram Research and GE Capital.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Capture 2011: From Imaging to Archive
Coming in Early 2011 -- Actionable ideas for improving document-driven business applications!
TAWPI, IAPP and IARP have joined forces to create Capture 2011 – the premier event on complex data capture and transactional content management. This one-of-a-kind event focuses on emerging technologies and best practices for the automation of critical document-driven applications such as: invoice processing, order entry, application processing, loan processing, tax processing, healthcare payments processing, mailroom automation, payments and more!
Through end-user case study presentations, interactive panel discussions, and visionary keynote presentations, attendees will gain actionable strategies for improving business outcomes in document-driven applications. The event also will feature valuable networking opportunities, and an expo hall in which attendees can see data capture and transactional content management technologies and services firsthand.
Topics covered will include:
• Complex data capture
• Content management
• Workflow/decisioning
• Enterprise data capture
• Information archive/storage/delivery
• Data security/privacy/compliance
• SharePoint optimization
Vertical markets covered:
• Banking/financial services
• Insurance
• Government
• Healthcare
• Service bureaus
• Utilities/telcos
• Retail/mail order
• And more!
Capture 2011 will be an unparalleled event for professionals responsible for managing document-driven business applications. Don’t miss it!
For more details, visit www.tawpi.org or www.iappnet.org.
TAWPI, IAPP and IARP have joined forces to create Capture 2011 – the premier event on complex data capture and transactional content management. This one-of-a-kind event focuses on emerging technologies and best practices for the automation of critical document-driven applications such as: invoice processing, order entry, application processing, loan processing, tax processing, healthcare payments processing, mailroom automation, payments and more!
Through end-user case study presentations, interactive panel discussions, and visionary keynote presentations, attendees will gain actionable strategies for improving business outcomes in document-driven applications. The event also will feature valuable networking opportunities, and an expo hall in which attendees can see data capture and transactional content management technologies and services firsthand.
Topics covered will include:
• Complex data capture
• Content management
• Workflow/decisioning
• Enterprise data capture
• Information archive/storage/delivery
• Data security/privacy/compliance
• SharePoint optimization
Vertical markets covered:
• Banking/financial services
• Insurance
• Government
• Healthcare
• Service bureaus
• Utilities/telcos
• Retail/mail order
• And more!
Capture 2011 will be an unparalleled event for professionals responsible for managing document-driven business applications. Don’t miss it!
For more details, visit www.tawpi.org or www.iappnet.org.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Getting the Point!
By Mark Brousseau
More organizations are leveraging Microsoft SharePoint as a common presentation layer for delivering information from disparate enterprise content systems in a highly contextual way.
“Your content and collaboration strategy needs to take into consideration the role of multiple systems serving different needs, but with a strategic vision,” Rob Koplowitz, principal analyst, Forrester Research, Inc. (rkoplowitz@forrester.com), said today during an Information Week WebCast sponsored by ASG Software Solutions.
“Companies see SharePoint as a layer for shared access across systems,” Koplowitz said. “Not only for pulling information from systems, but for presenting the information in a common way. Lots of people are doing lots of interesting things with SharePoint.”
That’s for sure. SharePoint has now surpassed 100 million licenses worldwide, representing more than 17,000 customers with over $1 billion in revenues. What’s more, Microsoft now counts over 3,300 companies as SharePoint partners. “SharePoint is a game-changing platform for Microsoft,” said Adam Morgan, portal, collaboration and search specialist with Microsoft (adam.morgan@microsoft.com).
And SharePoint should continue to move very fast. According to the results of a Forrester survey presented by Koplowitz, 24 percent of organizations said they are ‘immediately’ implementing or upgrading to Microsoft Office SharePoint Server. An additional 41 percent of respondents said they will be implementing or upgrading to the platform within six months, and 22 percent said they would be doing so within the next 12 months. Only 7 percent of organizations responding said they have no plans to use the SharePoint platform.
Underlying this demand for Microsoft SharePoint is a renewed interest in enterprise collaboration and document management, Koplowitz said. “Collaboration and content management are becoming increasingly intertwined,” Koplowitz explained. “A new layer of infrastructure is being developed to access and manage content across multiple systems and processes. Users want simplified access or they won’t participate.”
This is the role Microsoft SharePoint is filling, Koplowitz said.
As evidence of the move toward collaboration and content management, Koplowitz shared the results of a Forrester survey showing that 50 percent of organizations said that implementing enterprise collaboration strategies would be among their major technology initiatives for the next 12 months. Thirty-four percent of respondents said it was a priority and 15 percent of respondents said it was a ‘critical priority.’
What’s more, Koplowitz provided the results of another survey revealing that nearly 75 percent organizations will invest in document management solutions in 2008 – topping content and e-mail archiving (66 percent), document imaging (64 percent), Web content management (62 percent), and enterprise content management (60 percent).
What is your organization’s view of Microsoft SharePoint? Post your comment below.
More organizations are leveraging Microsoft SharePoint as a common presentation layer for delivering information from disparate enterprise content systems in a highly contextual way.
“Your content and collaboration strategy needs to take into consideration the role of multiple systems serving different needs, but with a strategic vision,” Rob Koplowitz, principal analyst, Forrester Research, Inc. (rkoplowitz@forrester.com), said today during an Information Week WebCast sponsored by ASG Software Solutions.
“Companies see SharePoint as a layer for shared access across systems,” Koplowitz said. “Not only for pulling information from systems, but for presenting the information in a common way. Lots of people are doing lots of interesting things with SharePoint.”
That’s for sure. SharePoint has now surpassed 100 million licenses worldwide, representing more than 17,000 customers with over $1 billion in revenues. What’s more, Microsoft now counts over 3,300 companies as SharePoint partners. “SharePoint is a game-changing platform for Microsoft,” said Adam Morgan, portal, collaboration and search specialist with Microsoft (adam.morgan@microsoft.com).
And SharePoint should continue to move very fast. According to the results of a Forrester survey presented by Koplowitz, 24 percent of organizations said they are ‘immediately’ implementing or upgrading to Microsoft Office SharePoint Server. An additional 41 percent of respondents said they will be implementing or upgrading to the platform within six months, and 22 percent said they would be doing so within the next 12 months. Only 7 percent of organizations responding said they have no plans to use the SharePoint platform.
Underlying this demand for Microsoft SharePoint is a renewed interest in enterprise collaboration and document management, Koplowitz said. “Collaboration and content management are becoming increasingly intertwined,” Koplowitz explained. “A new layer of infrastructure is being developed to access and manage content across multiple systems and processes. Users want simplified access or they won’t participate.”
This is the role Microsoft SharePoint is filling, Koplowitz said.
As evidence of the move toward collaboration and content management, Koplowitz shared the results of a Forrester survey showing that 50 percent of organizations said that implementing enterprise collaboration strategies would be among their major technology initiatives for the next 12 months. Thirty-four percent of respondents said it was a priority and 15 percent of respondents said it was a ‘critical priority.’
What’s more, Koplowitz provided the results of another survey revealing that nearly 75 percent organizations will invest in document management solutions in 2008 – topping content and e-mail archiving (66 percent), document imaging (64 percent), Web content management (62 percent), and enterprise content management (60 percent).
What is your organization’s view of Microsoft SharePoint? Post your comment below.
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