Archivo de la categoría: Internet Technology

Accountability, Area of responsibility, Chief information officer, Cloud & IT Management, Cloud computing, Collaboration, Internet Technology, Project management, Project management software, Start Up

Six Steps for Choosing a Software Vendor for your Start-Up

You’ve decided to take the plunge. Your dream business is on its way to make it big and you’re scaling up rapidly. As a startup entrepreneur you’re conscious of your costs – bottom-line matters the most to you and outsourcing is the answer.

For your business, every decision that you take not only affects you immediately but can have rippling effects. It is important then that these decisions are taken after carefully considering the impact, yet you may not enjoy the luxury of time in this competitive business landscape.

As a budding business house, there are a few challenges that you will face – tight budgets, short turnaround times, robust software support, right skills and people resources, high focus on business development and competitive pricing norms. Most of these challenges will remain, but when it comes to choosing your software vendors, here are six steps that can ease your decision:

Understand your requirements
An in-depth analysis of how software is going to support your business is most critical. You not only need to understand your current requirements, but as a start-up your growth curve is exponential. You would need to have a sense of direction of where the business is headed and how your requirements will change. This will then be helpful for you to match your needs with the offerings of the vendors you screen.

Is the vendor flexible enough?
Sometimes you will have to choose between an extremely well-known name that provides you with a standard set of software offerings or an isv that is more willing to tweak systems as per your requirements. This will probably give you much more flexibility as you grow, enhance or modify your software requirements in a dynamic business environment.

How open are communication channels?
One of the biggest challenges you may face with vendors is the lack of open channels that can help cater to fast moving changes in your systems. Transparent communication channels, no language barriers and 24 by 7 customer support should be top of your list when selecting vendors.

Do they have the right people?
Do they have the right skills and people resources? Are they able to retain these people? Are their teams able to provide expert counsel to you in matters of software, emerging technologies and project management?

Confidentiality and security?
Does your software vendor provide you with a sense of peace when it comes to managing your data? Look at testimonials from other users and conduct a proper survey on how vendors manage their own security, confidentiality and look at legal agreements carefully before signing on.

Expansion capabilities and hidden costs?
Will the software vendor be able to support rapid expansion, do they have open architectures that facilitate growth and revisions? Look at all hidden costs clearly; articulate as much as is possible at the outset. But also do a professional ethics check to see that the vendor adheres to corporate norms when unwritten requirements crop up.

To know more about software vendors please click here.

Cloud & IT Management, Consulting, Internet Technology, IT Contracting, IT Skills

What skills do you need to succeed in IT contracting?

Making the move into IT contracting is a big step. Whether it is a making an initial move into the field either as a recent graduate, a career change or as the result of a move from permanent to self-employment drawn by the promise of greater financial reward and enhanced flexibility, there are a number of important issues that must be taken into consideration. Perhaps most importantly is ensuring that one has the skills required to be successful and continue to win new work in this increasingly competitive field.

Essential skills

In the current market, it is essential for any IT contractor to be able to demonstrate Cloud skills. These are some of the skills IT contractors will be expected to have.

  • Technical skills – at the very core of any IT contractor’s skill-set should be a fundamental understanding of Cloud technology
  • Project management – technical knowledge alone is not enough; contractors must be aware of how it can be applied in a practical way in order to help an organization streamline its IT resources.
  • Data analysis – data is invariably one of the biggest assets of any organization and IT professionals must be able to provide advice on how that data can be most effectively managed through the application of Cloud technology.

Ongoing professional development

Continuing personal and professional development is essential in this field, perhaps more so than any other. IT is based on technology and the pace at which it is developing is truly dramatic. It is crucial therefore for IT professionals who wish to present themselves in the most impressive way to ensure they can talk with credibility about and demonstrate a sound knowledge of the latest innovations.

A dedication to, and passion for, ongoing training and education should therefore be a priority for anyone in this field. IT professionals should be aware of the most relevant qualifications according to their specialism and be able to demonstrate a dedication to achieving them. Professional institutions and trade bodies are among the best places to start researching this area, while enlisting specialist support with regard to  IT contractor services can help free up the time required to undertake such training.

Typical roles

Some of the most common IT contracting roles are project based and involve being employed by organizations for set periods of time in order to help manage the implementation of new IT technology or the evolution of existing systems. IT contractors require the ability to quickly grasp a client’s values and priorities, as well as technical expertise.

Such roles have a number of key advantages. The most common being the potential for more competitive financial rewards and the flexibility to manage one’s time and devote attention to the projects of greatest interest. The opportunity to enjoy these benefits is within the reach of most people and IT professionals in particular whose skills lend themselves so well to working in this way.

With all this in mind, applying time and effort to ensuring the necessary skills are gained and continually honed is absolutely essential to ensuring success as an IT contractor.

Consulting, Internet Technology, Software development process, System Development Life Cycle, Tatvasoft

Effective Software Development – Best Practices

A software development company should always be on the lookout for methods to develop software in the most effective manner. This is because as the competition grows, a software service provider could fall behind in the race, if it does not stay updated with current trends, technologies and best practices. An effective software solutions firm is curious, inquisitive and pragmatic. It should have the willingness to learn and even unlearn different process flows, required to provide high quality services for its clients. It should also be able to choose the right tools, technologies, techniques and methods.

It is recommended that a developer should put into practice – a set of proven and effective guidelines to ensure project success. When carrying out project work, the first step is adopting a comprehensive but practical approach that will maximize chances of a successful end result.

System maintenance is a significant requirement. A software system undergoes various changes once it is delivered to a client, thus your programs should be flexible enough to inculcate the necessary changes required swiftly.

One of the hallmarks of a great IT workforce is that, it should be curious, inquisitive and pragmatic. Curiosity – for learning new technologies, an eagerness to grasp efficient techniques is paramount. Inquisitive refers to investigating and questioning every insight that the team comes across, during various stages of a software development cycle. Pragmatism involves choosing the best fit technologies, tools, techniques and methods.

Every company has its own phases of development. The typical phases of developing software includes analysis of software needs, design, identification of the software required, programming, detailed specs of the exact requirements, testing and maintenance. Developers should keep in mind that this kind of development is nothing like producing cars. When a car is ready, the one who buys it does not go back to the manufacturer and ask to add another wheel or to put engine somewhere else. Building expensive projects is not the same as simple web app building with two pages. Hardware has a specification that one has to code against.

For any project done by the company, it is necessary to have in place and practice a set of proven and effective guidelines to ascertain the success of the work and delivery of expected results. The in-house manager has a vital role in making certain that each phase of the project, is executed, as planned. The project manager has the responsibility to consider the possible risks that is involved and ways to resolve or avoid them as well as establishing and maintaining momentum all throughout the project. Although the life cycle could have a lot of versions, each version carries its own advantages and disadvantages, and all of them have the same steps needed to be more effective. It undergoes a feasibility check before being given the go-ahead. If this proceeds, a proper plan is prepared, along with budget estimates for all the development stages. After the project’s feasibility is tested, system requirements are gathered. Business analysts do a complete analysis and study of business requirements of a company and the trends in the market. Starting from interface to data design, every program is discussed to keep the software in a high level design. The requirement analysis and design phase is considered the most vital part of the SDLC. Any flaw during this phase could prove very costly for further life cycle stages.

The code generation and implementation phase in software building involves the code translation of a well-thought design. Programs desired are built using a conventional programming language and with the aid of programming tools such as Interpreters, Compilers and Debuggers. The code is generated with the use of different high level programming languages that include Pascal, C++, C, Java and more. Besides the requirement analysis, testing is another important stage of SDLC that will decide the functionality and effectiveness of the product. This stage reveals errors and bugs of the system. System testing includes integrating testing to check if the interfaces between modules are in proper working condition. Software system maintenance is an unavoidable need. This development must be flexible in order to inculcate the changes needed with time and the changing business requirements.

Summary

 Software development is a highly qualitative and business critical aspect of any project that business enterprises handle. There are various stages through a development cycle that design, test and validate the effectiveness of a software application in business processes. This article is published by Tatvasoft, a leading software development firm in the UK that specializes in designing variety of software and web applications for a wide variety of clients.

Cloud & IT Management, Content Management, Customer Relationship Management, Gartner, HCL Technologies, Information technology management, Internet Technology, Tools

4 Reasons to Improve Your Infrastructure Management On-The-Cloud

Infrastructure-as-a-service or IaaS is slowly yet steadily improving as the longest solutions towards successful integration of services and its management. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Customer Relationship Management systems are perhaps the quickest systems to adapt to legacy systems particularly on the cloud. Companies have not left any stone unturned when it came to adopting to the cloud, particularly towards adopting legacy systems. Not only have companies upgraded their spending potential for adapting to the cloud but it has also seen the adoption of cloud-based platforms as the leading trend with towards profit maximization and corporate sustainability.

Are companies inclined to spend more in IaaS?

According to a recent Gartner study, public cloud services are likely improve over the years which indirectly means that the global spending in infrastructure management is likely to grow. The growth rate or the CAGR will sustain at 17.7% over the years till the year 2016. Here’s what they predict about the investments in IaaS or infrastructure-as-a-service.

cloud-spending

At a sustained CAGR of 41.3% till 2016, the investments in IaaS is likely to be the fastest growing segments in the world. As companies want to reach to a wider audience, there is no doubt that companies want to achieve a competitive advantage before their competitors. 

Geographically too, companies across the world are increasing their IT spending towards cloud computing to enhance their company’s performance.

cloud-spending-2

Essentially, companies in Northern America, and Western Europe are the most eager or have already captured the benefits of cloud computing with an integrated infrastructure management. 

So, what is the direct advantage of having a cloud computing for integrated infrastructure management? Let’s take a look at the 4 critical advantages of having an integrated infrastructure management on the cloud:

  1. The lower your TCO, the better: When it comes to facilitating lower total cost of operations or achieving the best of cost savings, one of the critical ways of achieving either of these objectives is by going on the cloud. Not only have companies reduced their costs towards IT management services but they have avoided costs involved in severe challenges for managing various IT environments, while adapting to the cloud.
  2. Ability to concentrate on core businesses: Freeing up your time for core businesses is another critical way to facilitate enhanced business strategies. By implementing infrastructure management on the cloud, your strategic IT resources can concentrate on core IT strategies that facilitate business growth.
  3. Respond better to business needs: Enhance your flexibility and further your responsiveness to indulge into what your customers and niche clients want. Enhance your IT infrastructure with the availability of reliable and easily available services on the cloud.
  4. Improve the standards of service levels: Increase the level of security, stability, and IT infrastructure availability. With greater synergy between existing and newer technologies for infrastructure management, there are chances that one can make the entire IT infrastructure more accountable.

In other words, by implementing the best of IT integrated infrastructure strategies, one is virtually capable of indulging in cost savings, heightened competitive advantage, and greater accountability.

To know more about infrastructure management please visit HCL Technologies

BitTorrent Sync, DropBox, File synchronization, Internet Technology, Linux, Storage

BitTorrent Sync Aims to Replace Cloud With Peer-to-Peer for File Synchronization

The folks responsible for peer-to-peer downloads of (mostly) appropriated music and videos are in pre-alpha with BitTorrent Sync, which aims straight at Dropbox and its ilk for multi-device file synchronization. They are looking for early testers and promise native clients for Windows, OS X and Linux, with hints of smartphone support.

Today, BitTorrent Sync is in a pre-Alpha stage. And we’re hoping that users like you can help us build something sick. If you’re comfortable using early, incomplete software, and if you’re committed to helping us figure out a better way to sync, we want to hear from you.

If you are interested, sign up here.

 

Ben Evans, Garbage Collection, Internet Technology, Java, Java Virtual Machine, Tools

jClarity Launches Java Optimization Tool

Java startup jClarity just  unveiled their first analysis tool, jClarity Censum, designed to assist developers with Java issues.

Founded in 2012, jClarity is a London-based tech start-up that creates intelligent products to optimize Java.  The company is headed up by Java technologists and regular conference speakers Ben Evans, Martijn Verburg and Kirk Pepperdine.

jClarity Censum is the team’s initial product, offering analytics and insight as opposed to solely supplying raw data. The program defines Garbage Collection (GC) performance problems in plain English and advises how to fix them. GC is a difficult, specialized area that can be very frustrating for busy developers, devops and operations teams. Easy to install and use, jClarity Censum delivers the parsing, number crunching and statistical analysis in order to solve GC performance issues and provides solid recommendations to act upon.

“Through jClarity, we want to build products and services that truly bring change to the Java / JVM landscape and Cloud performance space” says CEO Ben Evans. “Censum advises developers what to do when Java falls over in an easily comprehensive manner, removing the need for a PhD in Computer Science.”

jClarity is backed by Aimar Capital, a technology-based venture capital fund based in London and New York.

jClarity Censum is available to download at www.jclarity.com for £595 per user per year.

Internet Protocol Address Management, Internet Technology, IP address, Networking

6Connect Launches Cloud-Based Network Automation Suite for Next-Gen IP Networks

6connect, Inc. today announced at Interop in New York City, their new automated, cloud control suite architected from the ground-up for a new era of IPv6 migration, rampant device and IP address proliferation, and widespread adoption of virtualization and cloud computing.

Delivered locally or through the cloud, the 6connect ProVision™ Suite offers Service Providers and Enterprises a future-ready, unified SaaS platform for provisioning and managing networks in today’s integrated IPv4 and IPv6 world. ProVision provides dramatic time and cost efficiencies over old spreadsheet-dependent and costly appliance solutions for IPAM, DNS, DHCP and asset management. The Service Provider Edition also incorporates peering management and SWIP automation.

“With the number of connected devices and virtual machines growing exponentially and regional internet registries for Europe and Asia already out of IPv4 space, network architectures are undergoing fundamental change,” said Bill Bien, CEO of 6connect.  “Legacy DDI and automation solutions are no longer efficient. We’ve designed ProVision as a disruptive, next-generation platform for automated management control of complex IP address zones, virtual machines, mobile devices, and all types of corporate assets.”

The ProVision Suite comes with RESTful APIs that integrate through connector apps with existing business software, such as CRM, ERP and BPM.  It provides easy access to portals and templates that provide better control and faster access to fully automated tools.

6connect’s cloud-based provisioning software is already used by leading service providers and enterprises around the world. With the launch of ProVision, 6connect now provides a single, integrated and vendor neutral platform for network discovery, planning, provisioning and management of IP resources and devices.

“6connect has helped us become much more efficient,” said Alex Latzko, Senior Architect, Lightower Fiber Networks. “We no longer use multiple incompatible systems, it’s unified now.”

With the Internet running out of IPv4 space, service providers and enterprise network operators need to manage the remaining inventory more closely than ever before, while they migrate to IPv6. 6connect makes managing these changes easy, scalable, and secure. With ProVision Suite, RIR (regional internet registry) and LIR (local internet registry) resource allocations are also integrated with the platform.


Azure, Internet Technology, Microsoft Windows, Quest, Tools, Windows Azure

Quest Software Foglight for Windows Azure Monitors Application Performance.

Quest Software today introduced Foglight for Windows Azure Applications, an application performance monitoring (APM) solution available via software-as-a-service (SaaS). Available immediately as a beta, the newest addition to the industry-leading Foglight APM portfolio enables IT administrators to monitor performance and understand what end users are experiencing with Windows Azure-based application.

Foglight for Windows Azure Applications enables enterprises to leverage cloud-based performance monitoring technology for applications built on the Windows Azure platform, and allows IT administrators to gain critical insight as to how end users interact with these applications.


Android, Google, Google Chrome OS, Google Compute Engine, Google Drive, High Performance Computing, Internet Technology, Kansas City Missouri, Mobile, Motorola, Networking, Telecommunications Industry, Television, Video

Google Fiber Has Far-reaching Implications

Image representing Google as depicted in Crunc...

Reading this post on Google’s low-cost, super-fast fiber-to-the-home initiative (makes me sort of wish I lived in Kansas City) brought to mind all the other Google products and initiatives that might be empowered by it. Go read it, then come back here and consider:

Chrome OS: it takes a long time to make a new operating system and it looks trivial today, but with widely available gigabit internet at the household and small business level it begins to look like a realistic “the network is the computer” future.

Mobile OS: Google already has that covered with Android.

Add Google Drive: Ubiquitous very high speed connectivity at a low price makes Drive viable for more than backup, sharing and synch. Actually synch becomes easier if the only copy is on a server.

Add Google Compute Engine: A thin-client netbook running Chrome OS, or Android on tablets and handsets, become more appealing if you  can quickly access network-based computing resources for high-performance computing tasks like video transcoding.

Add Google Voice: consider all those hypothetical hotspots. Combine with Android and Voice. Can a Google competitor to cell phone providers be far behind, one that leverages the coming Google network? All it would take is a couple extra capabilities in the fiber/WiFi box that seems inevitable. And don’t forget they now own Motorola, a top-notch mobile phone company.

YouTube/Google TV: Already dipping its toe into original programming, and fast fiber means TV will change dramatically.

Living In the cloud would become a real option for everyday consumers. What about effects on professionals and small businesses?

And what about those other seemingly sci-fi projects, self driving cars and Glass? Hey, if the car drives itself my brain then has the bandwidth for augmented reality. How might they benefit from the ability to hop from fiber-connected WiFi hotspot to hotspot?

All this based on a good search engine algorithm, and then ads next to search results? Who’d a thunk it?