WorkXpress Blog

Innovation — it takes a village

In my 10 years of building a platform as a service, I've learned innovation doesn't take place in a vacuum, or in a basement or garage.

Innovation occurs not just because of a vendor that might be in a garage, but also because of a customer who supports the vendor. It also takes a community of individuals who advise, finance, open doors and talk up the vendor. If you don't have all three of those things, you don't have innovation.

Managing a development effort, part 5: Creating a culture for success

Read part 4: Managing a development effort, part 4: Hire the right developers

By Treff LaPlante

The last thing you want for any software development effort is to have the developers stop caring about the quality of the results. If that happens, you are probably going to fail.

Managing a development effort, part 2: The customer is always right

Read part 1: Managing a development effort, part 1: It takes two types

By Treff LaPlante

Developers need to focus on the details to deliver their code on time and budget.

But despite all your best planning, there always will be functionality that developers will have to address on the fly, including aspects of interface, navigation and language – all things critical to your project’s ultimate success.

Managing a development effort, part 1: It takes two types

Last week, I spoke with a company that was busy hiring 10 developers to build, from scratch, a mission-critical business application.

I’ve been managing development efforts on and off for almost two decades. My first reaction to hearing what this company wanted to do: shock and fear.

IPad: changing the future of computing

By Treff LaPlante

On paper, there is nothing particularly special about the Apple iPad, which is scheduled to arrive in retail stores Saturday.

Its performance and size are good but not revolutionary. By Apple’s own admission, it’s similar to a netbook — a downsized laptop whose purpose is to run browser-based or other light applications.

Because it’s Apple, the iPad will be more compact, user friendly, stylish and come with a salty price tag.

Open-source software: what is it and when to use it

For small and mid-sized businesses, there often is a question about whether to stick with tried and true software providers such as Microsoft for your servers, e-mail and business applications or consider adoption of open-source products such as Linux.

I've witnessed in this region some hesitation toward adoption of open-source products. I believe it's important to be able to make a rational evaluation of the two paths so you can make the best decisions.

First, what is open-source software?

Using tech, other channels to market your message

A budding entrepreneur recently asked me, "How much time and money do you spend marketing?"

As I thought about ways we're taking WorkXpress to market, I realized most of them were invented within the past decade.

When to automate the billing process - Part 5 (final)

Most businesses have an accounting system that makes sense for them. However, an accounting system by itself is far from an efficiently automated billing process. Because the accounting system usually is a silo that is wholly separate from other operational activities of the company, keeping its information current often creates the need for multiple redundant entries of the same data, inefficiencies and sources of error.

When to automate the fulfillment process - Part 4 in a series

Businesses provide many different types of fulfillment. Some fulfill by keeping shelves properly stocked, and then delivering from that stock. Some businesses go a step further and manufacture or assemble those products. Others provide professional services such as engineering, case management, analysis or legal services.

The fundamental problem of fulfillment can vary in complexity, but the premise is always the same: The business has to organize and deliver resources of some kind to their customers. It's the age-old adage of providing supply to meet demand.