Adequate requirements are the foundation of successful software selection
If you don’t know what you want, how will you know when you find it? When selecting new enterprise software, most people completely underestimate the importance of requirements. You often hear things like "Identify your requirements, and focus on the most important ones". How easy to say, but how difficult to do! Like foundations are to a building, requirements are to software selection. If your requirements are defective, anything built on them is at risk.
Recently the US Air Force scrapped a massive ERP project after racking up $1B in costs. When the Senate probe into the failure has been completed, inadequate requirements can almost be guaranteed to have been a major contributor to this software disaster. An appropriate web search shows industry is replete with these software selection failures, but this is only the tip of the iceberg. Most of the time these problems don’t bubble up into the press or lawsuits, rather they simmer in the background, quietly corroding business productivity and sometimes destroying careers.
Google Glass apps I really want to see
Your iPhone/Android is cool -- this we know. But, they wouldn’t be half as cool without apps. Apps are the icing on a smartphone -- minus the calories -- and we have a ravenous appetite for them. But cool apps aren’t isolated to just phones any more, as we’ve seen with new tech products like Google Glass.
Glass already has the usual suspects of apps, but what Glass really needs is to go nuts with apps that sound too good to be true.
Xbox One angers hardcore gamers, gives PS4 a head start
The gaming market isn’t what it used to be. With smartphones and tablets able to play high quality single and multiplayer titles, the casual gamer really has no need for a dedicated gaming console. Both Sony and Microsoft knew this when dreaming up their next generation consoles and took strategic decisions to keep them in the game (pun intended).
After the Xbox One reveal it was clear that Microsoft’s focus is now on casual and non-gamers. The whole presentation was a pitch for an all-in-one entertainment system rather than a traditional gaming console.
We'll always be friends
I was weeding through my Steam friends list the other night, looking to remove some of the people that I never see online or playing games anymore. As I scrolled through, I noticed that there were several folks on my list that hadn't signed on for one-hundred days or more. By default, Steam starts itself upon boot, with the option to automatically log yourself in as well.
It made me wonder why these people that I had played with every day or two hadn't so much as even started up the program in such a long time. After all, I don't just send or accept friend requests on a whim. I've only ever add people that I've played with a multitude of times and have spoken to directly via voice-chat or text in-game on a regular basis.
Microsoft preps Lync-Skype federation
Microsoft continues the trend of expanding the interoperability options of its flagship unified communications product, Lync Server 2013 -- federation with Skype arrives in June.
Microsoft Lync Server 2013 is an already impressive offering with instant messaging, presence, enterprise telephony, conferencing and collaboration features out of the box. The latest version of the Lync client features even tighter integration with Microsoft Office, as well as a robust mobile version for the three major platforms. Lync Server 2013 is also being touted as an enterprise ready PBX replacement with major improvements around high availability and disaster recovery options. Other highlights include support for a hybrid voice topology that integrates with Lync online, and support for virtualizing all workloads including voice. The product continues to make impressive inroads with enterprise customers, already adopted by 70 percent of the Fortune 500.
What mobile developers should learn from Twitter's OAuth keys leak
This week, Twitter’s OAauth keys leaked to Github. So what does that mean? Don’t panic. The consequences of a client application’s key being compromised are not as serious as user credentials being compromised. The risk associated with this breach is that a malicious application tricking you in participating in an OAuth handshake could access the Twitter API on your behalf. Attackers might come up with clever ways to exploit this leak.
In the meantime, avoid using Twitter through any application that you do not trust. If you seem to be redirected to Twitter after clicking a link or through any other means unexpectedly, don’t consent to an application accessing Twitter on your behalf even if this appears to be pointing to an application you trust.
Vintage Camera is not violating any Facebook Platform Principles
Editor's Note: Muted in the noise from Mobile World Congress is an interesting drama between developer Presselite Studio and Facebook. Apparently, the social network, which bought Instagram in April 2012, is blocking Vintage Camera. The scuffle raises questions about Facebook clamping down on competing products, which, if true, should chill every developer. Apple favoring its stuff over partners' products is old news. Is this really where Mark Zuckerberg and company want to go? Perhaps it's all a misunderstanding. We asked Antoine Morcos, Presselite cofounder, to make his case. If screenshots can tell a story...
Facebook has decided to disable and block "Photo Sharing on Facebook" feature in Vintage Camera application available for iPhone and iPad. The reason for the app being denied of uploading photos, according to Facebook, is that it was receiving a "high amount of negative user feedback", which is not true...
Is Outlook.com for businesses, consumers or both?
A week ago, Microsoft formally launched Outlook.com -- its free, web-based email service -- to the public. The service had been in preview since last July.
Microsoft has for too long had a quartet of email offerings, including Hotmail, MSN and the now retired Entourage. Not surprisingly, this portfolio has been a source of confusion and complication for businesses, consumers and Microsoft brand management. By formally launching Outlook.com, Microsoft is now in the final throes of migrating to a single offering that streamlines its marketing spend and brings clarity to customers.
Save big bucks and protect your PC! Hurry! Deals end Feb. 28
We’re now well in to the new year, with the February software offers live through the Downloadcrew Software Store.
You may have picked up a brand new Windows 8 computer during the festive season. If so, the first thing you’ll want to do is pick up a security suite to keep your system secure. The Downloadcrew Software Store is packed full of security offers from Bitdefender, AVG, Kaspersky, Avira and other brands.
Google takes the busywork out of managing mobile ad campaigns
Google today announced big changes to their AdWords money making machine in a bid to dramatically increase mobile advertising adoption and the Cost-Per-Click (CPC) of mobile search ads -- by making their advanced mobile search advertising features work by default, rather than requiring tons of extra effort on the part of the advertiser to make them work, and also by changing the way mobile CPCs are set.
The changes announced today, known as “Enhanced Campaigns”, will become available to customers by the end of February and will be applied automatically to all advertisers by mid-year. In this article, I’ll explain how the coming changes will impact Google’s bottom line.
I can't believe I switched from iPhone 5 to Galaxy Note II
My beloved iPhone 5 recently disappeared -- lost or stolen doesn't matter. Gone is gone. Verizon ticks me off; the warranty is supposed to get me a new one for $100 deductible. But no! VZW wants me to pay full subsidized price again! So, I do what anybody would; I fire Big Red!!!
I go for cost savings and switch to T-Mobile, figuring to buy the top-of-the-line geek Android toy and sell -- or better, trade -- it. I assume the Samsung Galaxy S III is top-geek merchandise but instead T-Mo pushes me towards the Galaxy Note II. What a deal online -- $200. I immediately list it on Craigslist, looking to trade for iPhone 5. To my surprise I get multiple offers. I mean, who as a sane person would want that deal?
Back up unlimited devices anytime, anywhere with Carbonite Business
The popularity of the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) model has raised a lot of questions about security and the cloud, and firms embracing the trend also have to worry about what might happen to important data if a laptop, tablet, or smartphone gets stolen, lost, or broken while an employee is away from work.
It doesn’t matter how careful people are, accidents will always happen. According to a recent study by SquareTrade, over 30 percent of iPhones have been damaged in some way. Deaths by misadventure include being dropped in the toilet (9 percent), put in the washing machine (5 percent), and being left on the roof of a car prior to the driver making a quick getaway (6 percent). In the case of BYOD hardware, the loss of data is usually more worrying that the loss or destruction of the device itself.
10 predictions how cloud computing will transform traditional IT in 2013
Cloud computing -- the new business model for provisioning and consuming information technology -- is enabling new computing capabilities and driving process efficiencies for both businesses and government. But it’s also disrupting the entire IT industry to its core. Although the current hype around cloud computing is around expected cost savings, its true value is in greatly improving business or mission capabilities without a commensurate increase in resources (time, people or money).
Combining off-the-shelf IT components with highly automated controls is what fundamentally enables cloud computing. This combination is also what’s driving the economic model that makes this new technology force so disruptive to the status quo.
I gave up iPad for Microsoft Surface
The original iPad didn't excite me very much. In fact, I was confused what to do with it. Over time, I ended up using the iPad 2, and recently its successor. I’ve also tried the Blackberry PlayBook, the HP TouchPad, and more recently Google Nexus 7.
But, for the first time in a long time, I was very excited to get a tablet -- the new Microsoft Surface. I think Windows RT had a lot to do with it, and the touchscreen aspect.
Save big on these holiday software deals
It’s that time of the year where it’s a great time to pick up a software bargain. Through December and the Christmas holiday season, the Downloadcrew Software Store has various software deals that are worth some consideration. Best of all, the Downloadcrew “Giveaway” site returns this Christmas, with five superb exclusive full software giveaway offers, for everyone.
You may have picked up a brand new Windows 8 computer during the festive season. If so, the first thing you’ll want to do is pick up a security suite to keep your system secure. The Downloadcrew Software Store is packed full of security offers from Bitdefender, AVG, Kaspersky, Avira and other brands.
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