Archive for 2009
Can I ask you a question?
October 20th, 2009 | 
Author: Its really quite simple.
With the economy now starting to show some strong and (so far) consistant signs of recovery, I’m keen to know people’s priorities at the moment.
There’s no hidden agenda’s I am just keen to know your opinion
The question is this
“If you were looking for a new technology partner, what would top your list in terms of buying criteria?”
To answer, visit the link. It’s just two clicks and your opinion is important to me.
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A short guide to understanding geek speak
There are enough TLA’(three letter acronyms) and jargon floating around and its one of my pet hates. It seems the IT industry thinks they can get a sale by alianating customers with geek speak.
Personally, I think that you shouldn’t have to learn a new language to enjoy and use technology. I try not to use jargon where possible, but in case some of your other supplier don’t agree, you can find some answers to your questions below with my geek speak translator
ADSL
Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line is a technology for providing high transmission Internet to businesses over ordinary copper telephone wire. This is the most common Internet connection and provides bandwidth well in excess of 10 times a modem speed. Typical ADSL speed is 1.5mb download and 512kb upload
Broadband
A high bandwidth network (carrying voice audio and data simultaneously) allowing for high-speed Internet access. This term is mostly used for ADSL and cable Internet connections.
Cache
A small, fast, temporary memory store for regularly accessed or recently used data.
Cookie
A coded file sent to a web server to record visits, also used to identify users and customise information based on previous visits. Cookies are stored on your computer.
Data Encryption
Encrypted data is encoded for the purposes of making secure communications or financial transactions.
Domain Name System
DNS – themissinglink.com.au is a domain name. Every Internet address must be unique and is assigned a number. The Missing Link’s Home page is located at 203.36.209.36 this is called our IP address. When you use our domain name (www.themissinglink.com.au) you are in fact accessing this IP address, this is called the Domain Name System.
Download
Transfer of data from a server or web site to your computer’s hard disk.
Encryption
The coding or scrambling of information in a file so that it can only be decoded and read by someone who has the correct decoding key.
FTP
File Transfer Protocol is a common method of moving data or software between Internet sites and Internet users. Usually a username and password is required but many sites have public FTP areas which can be accessed with the account name “anonymous”.
Gateway
Either hardware or software that acts as a bridge between two applications or networks so that data can be transferred between a number of computers.
Host
Server machine that allows public access for the purposes of sharing data.
IP
Internet Protocol is the general standard used to enable a diverse range of computers and networks to communicate all over the world.
IP Address
Unique address of a network device. It’s like the location’s telephone number but is usually substituted with a Domain Name.
ISDN
Integrated Services Digital Network. ISDN is used to connect computers over the telephone network – much like an ordinary modem. ISDN is faster and more expensive than a normal modem. ISDN is typically used in situations where reliability is highest priority.
ISP
Internet Service Provider is an organisation or business which provides access to the Internet.
LAN
Local Area Network is a network of computers which serves a local or geographically limited area such as a University or office building.
Network
Two or more computers connected together to enable them to send and receive data and share resources.
OS
Operating System is the program which manages a computer’s resources and serves as a software bridge to all other programs running on the machine.
OEM
Original Equipment Manufacturing.
Phishing
In computing, phishing is the act of attempting to fraudulently acquire sensitive information, such as passwords and credit card details, by masquerading as a trustworthy person or business with a real need for such information in a seemingly official electronic notification or message (most often an email, or an instant message). It is a form of social engineering attack.
PING
Packet Internet Gopher is a method of testing an Internet connection. A number of packets are sent and if they return correctly then the communication was successful.
POP
A Point Of Presence is any dial in location of your ISP.
POP3
Post Office Protocol 3. A protocol that provides a simple, standardized way for users to access mailboxes and download messages to their computers.
Processor, CPU, Microprocessor, Chip
A processor is the integrated circuitry on a tiny piece of silicon that processes the instructions to make a computer work. If the processor is in a personal computer or a handheld device, it’s called a microprocessor. Processors contain thousands, or even millions, of interconnected transistors, which work together to store and manipulate data. The functions a microprocessor, or chip, performs are determined by software.
Protocol
Defined procedures and rules which determine the way computers communicate with each other.
PSTN
Public Switched Telephone Network – is the currently used analogue telephone network, the largest electronic network.
RAM
Random Access Memory is the memory that can be used by applications to perform necessary tasks while the computer is on.
Router
A router is a computer network device that routes traffic between networks. When a packet travels from your computer to a computer in the United States say, it must pass through a number of routers. Each router in the process reads the packet’s destination and determines the best path to forward packet onto in order to reach its destination.
Server
A high end computer with specific software that allows other computers to use its facilities for connection to data drives, email, printers, Internet or other service.
SMTP
Simple Mail Transfer Protocol is the protocol used by servers for the transmission of email.
SNMP
Simple Network Management Protocol is a standard for gathering statistical data about network traffic and the behavior of network components; SNMP uses Management Information Bases (MIBs), which define what information is available from any manageable network device
Spam
Unsolicited e-mail, often of a commercial nature, sent indiscriminately to multiple mailing lists, individuals, or newsgroups; junk e-mail.
Spyware
Software that covertly gathers user information through the user’s Internet connection without his or her knowledge, usually for advertising purposes. Spyware applications are typically bundled as a hidden component of freeware or shareware programs that can be downloaded from the Internet.
SSID
Service Set Identifier specifies which 802.11b network you are joining. Some systems allow you to specify ANY SSID as an option so you can join any network.
Topology Diagram
A diagram displaying the logical devices in a computer network. Topology diagrams are essential for gaining an understanding of how a computer network is constructed. Topology diagrams also contain IP addressing information, location, and other critical information.
TCP/IP
Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol – is the standard communications protocol used to connect computers across the Internet.
UPS
Uninterruptible Power Supply. A UPS is used to regulate power to a critical network device such as a server or switch. A UPS can provide enough power to a server to allow users to logoff; it will also automatically shut the server down in a specified time frame usually 5-10 minutes
VOIP
Voice-Over Internet Protocol, also called Internet telephony, is the two-way transmission of phone conversations over an IP network, allowing audio to travel over the Internet, intranets, or private LANs (local area networks) and WANs (wide area networks).
VPN
Virtual Private Network. A VPN is a way to provide remote access to an organization’s network via the Internet. VPN’s are also used to connect two offices together to create a wide area network. VPNs send data over the public Internet through encrypted secure “tunnels.”
WAN
Wide Area Network – is a network of linked computers covering a multi site, national or even global area.
WEP
Wired Equivalent Privacy is the standard for encrypting data over an 802.11x wireless network. WEP 40 or 128 bit encryption has been shown to be insecure. So the current recommendation is to use a VPN to secure corporate data.
Got questions is there jargin here that’s not included? Don’t be a stranger, drop me a line….
Can you guess Microsoft’s biggest earner?
Microsoft's cashcow
Well can you guess what the biggest earner is for Microsoft right now? I think most people could guess that its wouldn’t be Vista, but I’m guessing a lot of people would have their money on Office. Well wrong! The biggest earner for Redmond right now is Microsoft Office Sharepoint Server 2007. If that’s a bit of a mouthful then you will be glad to know that most people refer to its as MOSS. Now you know what a money spinner it is for Microsoft, lets take a moment to find out what it does and what all the fuss is all about…
Sharepoint as its name implies is a collaboration technology where people get together and work on common tasks or projects. It is installed either locally or can be accessed via the web but its real smarts are in the flexibility of the platform.
Your company can no doubt be broken down into teams, for us we have delivery, sales, marketing, commercial services, support customer service and so on. Some of these groups can be be broken down into subgroups and a member of one group may have membership of another group.
Each group can be quickly given its own Sharepoint site and the components of that site can be tailored to the needs to the group. For example, an engineering group may store documentation or project management plans in their site. A sales team will be more focused on reports. Some teams may want to use shared Calenders or book resources such as meeting rooms. Your HR department may wish to have leave requests or workflow entered through Sharepoint.
Practically anything that is possible in custom software can be achieved to some degree with Sharepoint. Sure, it may need some additional tweaking and tailoring to fit but sharepoint has done away with a large amount of the coding that would be done with out it. This makes sharepoint an accelerator for custom software projects which is why we have been using it with some of our clients to deliver software faster and more cost effectively.
Take a look at some of the further reading or contact me to find out more about MOSS
Further reading on Sharepoint
WordPress Attack Underway: WordPress Users Must Upgrade [ALERT]
WordPress Attack Underway: WordPress Users Must Upgrade [ALERT].
Thanks to Pete Cashmore for bring a vulnerability in wordpress to our attention.
If your running an older version of WordPress the advise is to check to see if you are infected and if not, upgrade as soon as possible.(details of how to check are in Petes post above) For WordPress there is an excellent plugin that you can use that will guide you through the process of upgrading. I just dind four upgrades in 20 minutes!
From your plugins page, click install new plugins and enter 
“wordpress automatic upgrade”
Make sure you back up your files and database along the way.
If you can’t find the plugin in you can install it the old fashioned way at
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wordpress-automatic-upgrade/
It’s important to keep all versions of your opensource software current to avoid these sorts of attacks. It’s a small downside to having freely available cutting edge technology.
If you are struggling to update your Joomla!, SugarCRM, or WordPress installation to the latest version, please submit a ticket.
Do you like my new look / utility belt?
Visitors to my blog over the last few days will have noticed a brand new look for the site. Not only was it time for a change but it co-insides with the launch of my new website and my new way of working.
As a software sales guy it can sometimes feel like you’re trying to make a square peg fit a round hole. There’s nothing wrong with the peg. In fact it’s a bloody good peg. It’s just not that suited to the scenario to which it is being applied. In software not only does the technology need to fit the problem, the environment and the budget, you also have the dimension of timing to deal with too. Which makes selling a particularly challenging activity.
I thought it was about time I stopped thinking about me selling and concentrate more on the customer buying.
I meet a lot of people on my travels. Sometimes the best thing for the customer is a customised solution, sometimes it’s off the shelf, sometimes money is no object and sometimes they need to squeeze as much as they can from a small budget. The ‘right’ solution for each of these customers is different in every case. That’s why as a salesman, a wide portfolio of solutions is vital and it’s important not to be wedded to just one.
Essentially now I represent three companies. Each has their own area of specialism.
- Solentive Software – Custom software, Project Management, System Integration, Software maintenance and support. Complex websites Technologies, Business Rules and Business Process Automation. Typical Customers are mid to large size companies, government agencies. Technologies strength in .NET and Java. www.solentivesoftware.com.au
- Synoptic Consulting – Boutique management consultancy specialising in Business Process Mapping and improvement including the transactional business process, technology and Management Operating Systems. Synoptic can not only build a working knowledge base showing the relationship between your people, process and technology but they can do it in a fraction of the time. www.synopticconsulting.com.au
- Bircko Business Solutions. This is my business – Web development for simple websites, Joomla Hosting, SugarCRM, WordPress Hosting, Ecommerce, Technology Strength in LAMP, PHP, Domain services and and adwords optimisation. www.bircko.com
With all this technology and expertise at my disposal I feel like I need a bigger utility belt. How many sales people can fall back on such a wide variety of solutions in order to add value to a client? And that’s what it’s all about, Value. You know you are doing something right in sales when your customers keep coming back to you. Contrary to what some people tell you, people don’t buy from people, they buy from people that can guarantee value for their investment.
A coffee and a chat with Tim Ayling, founder of Aussie start-up, Platform 46.
Dave Birchall: Tim, you’ve recently gone to market with your social networking solution for the business environment. What exactly does that mean?
Tim Ayling: We don’t really like the term social networking, as it’s more associated with time-wasting. We’ve called it Social Business Integration – it’s more about getting value from those enterprise applications that companies have spent so much on… like CRM, ERP, document management and more. We just see the Twitter-like interface as the best to encourage people to use them. So people receive “tweets” from these applications, such as “Dave Birchall has closed a deal with ABC Corp for $500,000″ or “Tim Ayling has closed a Severity 1 support call with XYZ Ltd”… in essence we want to be the pulse of our customers. When their employees want a quick snapshot of what’s happening in the company, they can go to their homepage and see who is doing what. There’s huge value in that – recognising performance, generating internal competition, and creating heroes in a company
DB: Why Platform 46? Is there a Platform 47 out soon?
TA: You have no idea how many times I’ve been asked what the 46 is! We wanted the word Platform in our name as we wanted to express a place where people meet other people, like a railway platform. I was reading an article about the history of IT and discovered the first computer was finished in 1946. The CEO of our first customer called me a geek when I told him that. I like being a geek!
DB: Many people in the industry dream of running with their own venture. What got you here?
TA: Great question. I think there are a few things. Firstly, I had an idea. I don’t actually think an original idea is necessary, as long as you do it well. But that’s how I started. Secondly, I took that idea to people I respect, who validated it. One of those is my co-founder and CTO, Rich Atkinson. Thirdly, we took it to customers and partners and we haven’t had many knock-backs so far. I read somewhere that there are three things you need to start a company… a market, good people and a good product. On that basis, I think we’re off to an excellent start
DB: What social networks do you belong to?
TA: Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. I’m on Plaxo too, but never use it. I used to favour Facebook but since moving to a Mac and downloading “Tweetie”, I’m hooked.
DB: How many tweets a day is too many?
TA: Depends what’s going on really. I can go a week without tweeting. But then have a good day and I’ll do three or four. I’ve passed the Platform 46 tweeting responsibility to Rich. I think giving him the password secretly made him happy!
DB: You’re a fellow ‘Pommie’. What do you make of the software technology scene over here?
TA: I’ve got two passports now actually, and proud to be an Aussie. I still support England in the cricket though! I like the scene here – it’s much more of an underground movement here than in the UK. I didn’t realise the entrepreneurship spirit in Sydney until we started Platform 46, but it’s huge when you look for it. In the UK it’s much more obvious.
DB: What challenges have you faced that you didn’t expect to have to deal with?
TA: Two things have surprised me. Firstly, it was a challenge leaving full-time work to start at Platform 46. It’s a big step that you have to make, especially with a young family that I have. Secondly, I find the speed of going to market a challenge, as we have so many ideas and I want to do it all now. I’m not a developer, and Rich is. He keeps my feet on the floor and sets the realistic timeframes.
DB: How do you see social software evolving in the next ten years?
TA: There’s obviously a big push for consumer-based networks like Facebook to be integrated into the workplace… SocialCRM is the next “big thing” we’re told. But I’m not sure companies are ready for that. I blogged on the Platform 46 website recently that companies aren’t seeing value from standard CRM yet, so they can’t be ready to socialise it. That’s part of the value that we’re offering – a lightweight social network (in the absence of better terminology) that is all about adding value to existing apps. We think CRMs will be key to the success of our company.
One thing people forget is that social networks have been around for longer than Facebook. I was a member of Friends Reunited back in ‘97… So who knows what the next social network will be.
More info on Platform 46 can be found here
10 Cool New Online Tools at Inman Connect | My CEO Life
At the Inman Connect Conference in San Francisco Brian Boreo told the 1,500 strong crowd his top 10 cool new online tools to help any business.
Simon Baker has the low down
Why you don’t need to be a technologist to start a technology company.
The Innovation Triangle
I’m not going to claim that this is my idea or my concept, that belongs to my good friend and collegue Brett Raven. He has been talking about the innovation triangle for some time now. Its such an easy way for clients to get their head around the partnership needed in order to be successful on any project. It forms a large part of our conversations with clients so I guess its worth sharing via the blog.
This is largely common sense but it’s worth really giving this some thought if your evaluating relationships and capabilities around software engineering (internally or externally). I’ll explain this firstly by going through and discussing the three elements, then I’ll talk about what happens when people get this wrong. That’s the really interesting bit.
- Finance - Software projects take time and time usually means money. Unless your in the position where you can develop the software yourself of course. Its not just the development that bleeds your bank balance dry however. The new solution to be marketed even if its an internal project (its then called education). The project needs to be thought through from conception to implementation and adoption and you need to put realistic figures around what that will cost. Do try and get value for money but don’t try and boot strap the development, it just never works and you lose in the long run.
- Domain Expertise – You can have all the money in the world and you might have won ‘king coder of the month’ for the last three months running, but unless you know enough about the domain that the solution is intended for, you’re the equivelant of a ship without a rudder. Your sailing in no particular direction but hoping you will hit land. This, I believe is the most important element of the triangle because the other two piece of the puzzle can be acquired from else where. To be a domain expert, you need to have an indepth knowledge of the problem you are trying to solve and business goals and drivers you need to meet.
- Software Engineering Expertise – Okay so your building a software solution so you need to bring some expertise to the table in the form of dedicated software engineers. No surprises here I am guessing for most people. Why is it then that people get this wrong so often? Successful software projects involve so much more than writing code. Think about it. If the only barrier to entry for every wannabe facebook owner would be to buy a copy of PHP for dummies then there woul be alot more millionairres out there right now. In the real world, there are a multitude of factors to consider – What methodology is to used. What project management skills does the team have? Do you have the set up and infrastructure such as continuous integration to be able be efficient in the build?
So hopefully by now you are starting to get an idea of the team that you need to put together in order to be successful. I have never met an individual that possesses all of the attributes to be able to cover all of these success factors. I have however a great deal of respect for the entrepeneurs that I have met who understand their limitations and bring in the neccesary expertise to get the job done. Often they are commercially savy domain experts who understand how to engage a software development team.
Why would you rather be?
Imagine you wanted to start a new web based technology business and you were looking to build a team. Who would you rather be?
1) Lots of capital, no domain expertise, no software engineering talent: While this is a nice problem to have (of the three) , its not sustainable. You can fund a development, your software team will gladly help you spend it but what result can you get without good domain knowledge
2) Software engineering, no finance or commercial awareness and no domain expertise: We meet these people all the time. The open source world is full of them. Back bedroom coding experts who spend so much time thinging about the solution that the business never gets a look in. The best we can hope for here is that they partner with someone who can level them out and stop them writing code for codes sake and also find a domain expert who can tell them honestly what is in scope and what’s not.
3) Domain expert, no finance, no technical expertise: The domain expert can bring in a third party for commercial direction and capital raising. Money is easy to find if you know where to look. They can also engage the services of a professional software development team who can systematically extract the requirements of the solution from your knowledge of the domain.
Its about team spirit
Don’t get me wrong I love clients who have money to burn, but thats only part of what we need to get a successful project over the line. If you also want to be a happy customer, you need get involvedwith your team and often. If you’re the domain expert then we need to get the requirements from your head and let the technology experts do their job.
Hands up!
Hands up? Who reading this owns a software programming business? My guess is not a lot of you right? Now hands up if your a business owner or director of a company that isn’t a software engineering business but you hire developers. Yeh you not so keen to admit it now are you but I know your out there. I talk to you every day…
Okay I’ll get off my judgemental high horse for a second or two. I’m not saying that every company should outsource their IT but I am saying that you should really have a think about why you want to do it. It costs money to own a software engineering department so why not share that cost with someone else?
Outsourcing has come a long way in the last few years. If you can have a team that is outsourced on paper but feels in every respect like they are part of the company, then why wouldn’t you do it?
Just Found: Startup Company Lawyer
Thought I would share this with the group. A great resource for the start up community and even has a term sheet generator (see tab on left column)
How to Run Dynamics CRM in Firefox…
Being a bit of a self confessed nerd, I get very particular about the way my PC is set up and I hate having to change. I spend most of my working day in a browser and my preferred browser is Firefox. Unfortunately our preferred CRM favours IE which means that I have had to to use IE. That is until now.
There’s a nifty little add in for firefox called IE tab. It allows you to use MS technologies en firefox. Just don’t forget to add the URL of your application once you’ve installed it.
How…
From the top… tools>addon> search IE tab and follow the prompts
After the restart … tools > IE tab options > enter the URL of your application (for the root folder) followed by asterisk eg http://mycrmserver/theinstallationfolder/*
Tada!!
Enjoy, now you can enjoy accessing all you Microsoft technologies from Firefox!
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