Month: August 2014

For a developer, there is nothing more exciting than getting a new project to work on. There is probably a common misunderstanding that being a software developer is a routine, monotonous job where you perform the same activities day to day. My personal view on being a developer is more like being an artist; it requires inspiration and the experience is never the same. We start a project from just an idea, we like to work in solitude, we often get upset about what we create as it is never perfect and we need a muse that drives us and makes us deliver that final piece of software. I cherish that first stage when we put so much thought into the design and the technologies we can use. There is always an opportunity for us to learn something new, not only on technology but also domain wise. Working for a consulting company has given me the opportunity to learn a lot about different businesses, companies and corporate cultures. You see, a developer is like a chameleon; we need to adapt and understand the business, the needs, and the expectations of the final user so that this will carry over to the software we are building. We have to study and adapt to the requirements, as the only thing that truly matters is the customer satisfaction. These first days of a new project are the most exciting and full of inspiration as to what can be achieved. This idea of a software is now growing and forming. There is nothing that can stop us now, we are on a roll and we will deliver!

I have been a consultant for over 27 years now and I hear the same thing year after year, “Why did the end product take longer and cost more than we originally thought it would take?”

Sometimes this is due to an unforeseen requirement that surfaced during the project; sometimes it’s an unexpected technology challenge that came up; but the majority of the time, it’s due to the requirement or the request not being as detailed, as it should have been.

Is your organization still using QuickBooks or another entry-level accounting software? 

Has your organization grown from where it first started? If it has, congratulations.  However, is it now starting to reach a tipping point where the very tools that supported the initial growth have begun to hinder the ability to act with agility and insight? Is your entry-level accounting software holding your people and your business back? If this sounds like your situation or your not quite sure; you are not alone. The following article will help to determine if it is time to consider a change.

When you look up to the sky, what do you see? Blue sky, birds, clouds? I see a cloud and instantly think millions and millions of bytes of data.  There is data all around us.

I was laying in my hammock the other weekend just admiring the world around me. Listening to the birds chirping, the bees buzzing, my koi pond waterfall flowing, and I found myself staring at the sky.  Next thing I know, the tech geek came out of me and I started thinking about “the cloud” and all the bytes of data we have up in the cloud: pictures, documents, music, movies, etc.  Think about this for a minute: We transfer data wirelessly from device to device with minimal interruption (for the most part I know).  Data is passing around us all the time and we are oblivious to it because you cannot see it nor feel it. We don’t care where it is stored or how it gets to us, but what we do care about is that it is there when we need to pull it up from our devices.