November 1, 2017

Salesforce Winter 2018 Reporting Enhancements

in: Business, Data, Developers, Programming, Software Tagged: Dashboards, Lightning Experience, New Features, Reporting tag, salesforce, Salesforce development, softwares, solution design

It’s a funny thing about Salesforce developers. Many of us really dislike change, even when we know very well it’s necessary and worthwhile. Why? Too often, changing an application is like re-routing plumbing after the house is built: making a change that looks small can take a whole lot of effort with a whole lot […]

September 27, 2017

Software Automation Isn’t A Job Killer

in: Business, Developers, Programming, Software Tagged: automation, business productivity, custom software development, softwares

Can software replace my job? It’s a concern with roots going back centuries to the arrival of the first automated power looms in 18th-century England, continuing into more modern times with the large claw-like robots that build automobiles. Today it seems there are hundreds of websites making their living pushing clickbait headlines describing the perils […]

September 18, 2017

User Support Isn’t Always a PICNIC

in: Developers, Programming, Software Tagged: Developers, software development, softwares, tech support, technical support, testing, user support

It’s easy to assume that someone needing user support is not using the application correctly. What if there really is a bug? We’ve all seen the acronyms from user support techs: ID-10-T errors, PICNIC, PEBKAC, and so on. On the one hand, they’re pretty mean-spirited (but kinda funny). On the other hand, who can blame user […]

September 5, 2017

Keep Asking Why

in: Business, Developers, Programming, Software Tagged: business analysis, consulting, custom software development, solution design

DISCLAIMER – this article applies to mainly to Organizations without business analysts and programmers on staff. A few years ago, we were asked to quote a small automation for an existing, repeat client. They wanted help streamlining a spreadsheet-based process that took about 1/2 day of a high-level employee’s time each week. Client: Can you help […]

August 4, 2017

How to QA for a Consulting Firm

in: Business, Developers, Programming, Software Tagged: QA, quality assurance, software development, testing

ONE:  Don’t just “break the system” I remember my very first QA task when I started here three years ago.  I was testing a client’s internal employee management system.  I had never tested anything before, so I asked my project manager, “How should I QA the software?  What does that mean?”  He answered simply: “Do […]