“Bob”.

And Bob worked on their solution.  He was always there to add functionality or resolve issues. But then Bob died suddenly of a stroke or heart attack or cancer or being hit by a bus.  Or, to put a more positive spin on it, won the billion dollar PowerBall lottery and moved to Tahiti where he is now sipping frothy rum drinks out of a coconut.  Even in the case of the gentleman who had cancer, he thought he had 6-9 months and was gone within 3 months.  Far too ill to worry about the software support.  He truly did the best he could, but it wasn’t enough.

These poor fellows left a complete mess with their clients. Unintentional but a crisis nonetheless; causing these companies to call us in a panic. “Can you help us?” Of course, the answer in all things technical was “Maybe. It depends.”

Turns out, we could, and did, help these companies, ultimately writing an entire custom business solution for each of them. But there were several painful lessons.

1. Going with the proverbial one-person-show – While there are wonderful, well-intentioned developers out there who do a great job, the danger is always that something horrible may happen to them, as in the case of our clients. Or maybe something wonderful like a winning Powerball lottery ticket. Although in the case of the latter, one would hope that there would be some time for a hand-off of information and processes. Regardless, your business likely cannot run efficiently or even at all without your computer systems. You wouldn’t have the operations of your entire company held solely in the palm of one person, so please don’t put your information systems in such a precarious position.
2. Maybe not bleeding edge, but at least in the current decade – It’s extremely difficult and time consuming to stay on top of the most recent technologies. This is especially true when you are the only one doing all of the work, leaving little time for research or attending classes, etc. In a team environment, people do research and share it with their colleagues and often have lively “debates” (well, sometimes actual arguments) around the topics. Regardless, it opens up everyone to new ideas and methodologies. Working alone, and I am speaking from first-hand experience, is a very lonely time and doesn’t leave you much opportunity to gain exposure to new ideas and techniques which benefits your client in improved systems and streamlined methodologies.
3. You are NOT stuck with the situation – Often when we’re called in, the company says they felt “stuck” because the one person knew so much about the systems and they felt that they needed to retain the relationship, if only to show loyalty. That is a fallacy. There is no system that can’t be figured out although it may be an expensive undertaking. We have had multiple situations where we’ve not had any help on the system functionality and code and we’ve managed to work our way through it. Sometimes there is “documentation” comprised of some old dusty notebook printed on green-bar paper (remember that?) that hasn’t been updated in 20 years. Be aware that your company isn’t ever “stuck”. If you are working with a company or person that you’re not happy with, you can always change the situation. Find someone to work with that you like and trust.

So, don’t let your company get into a situation with one person holding the keys to your information systems. This can happen in companies of almost any size.  No one is irreplaceable and, if they are, you likely aren’t paying them enough. Get someone else brought up to speed, whether it’s internally cross-training the team or bringing in a consulting group like InTune to help. It doesn’t have to be perceived as a threat to “Bob” and, who knows, he may live longer if he’s not under so much stress.

Long live Bob…. And let’s hope your company survives it.

The post Alas, Poor Bob – The Weakest Link appeared first on InTune.

But based on my own experience, I know that data organization and management—good or bad—can mean the difference between success and failure.

My professional history isn’t in custom software, it’s in political campaigns. And even though there are complex strategies, in-depth communications plans, and numerous laws regulating campaigns, it’s best to think of them as data collection and utilization efforts for this exercise. Campaigns at the highest levels utilize and generate massive amounts of data, but even small campaigns can run into trouble if they don’t properly manage their data.

To explore the importance of data in both campaigns and business, we’ll look at the three stages of data in a fictional political race and the distinct database management solutions that accompany each of them. This week’s blog will focus on pre-campaign data gathering, though you could just as easily tell the same story about a business expanding into a new market.

The Campaign

Jane Smith has decided to run for City Council. She’s a long-time member of her community, the president of her neighborhood association, and a passionate advocate for her city’s parks. Jane has a great personal network of friends who have promised to donate and volunteer on her campaign. She’s also been lucky enough to be endorsed by two sitting council members, and they’ve each agreed to share their donor and volunteer lists with Jane’s campaign.

In addition to these private data sources, Jane has requested the list of voters who signed petitions for a recent ballot initiative to increase funding for the City’s parks. She rightly assumes that these voters will be supportive of her pro-parks message and hopes to ask for their votes, their donations, and their service as volunteers.

The Database

Knowing that campaigns move quickly, Jane decides to centralize all of her data in a single database. The basis for her system will be the publicly-available list of voters in her community from her local Supervisor of Elections, but Jane plans to customize the pre-existing data with the other public and private data sets she’s gathered.

When done manually, the process of integrating different data sets can be very time consuming. Thankfully, custom software solutions like the ones designed by Octopus Technologies , Inc. can expedite the process. Either way, combining your disparate data sets using a unique key—in this case a voter ID number—will reduce confusion once you begin utilizing your database.

Ready to Run

With her database ready to go, Jane begins planning for her campaign kickoff speech and rally. In the business world, this would be the equivalent of a grand opening celebration: the moment where the rubber hits the road.

In the coming months, Jane and her campaign will be tested in many ways. Some of the obstacles they’ll encounter can’t be predicted, but others are not only predictable, they’re avoidable. Data management mishaps fall into that final category. I hope you’ll come back next week as we explore how effective database management can contribute to happier volunteers, more effective fund raising, and more efficient voter contact operations.

Why Does this Matter to Me?

At this point, you’re probably asking yourself how this applies to you and your business. Great question.

Any business that’s looking to expand to a new market, grow in its current location, or run more efficiently can benefit from the lessons of Jane’s pre-campaign organizing. While you may not have access to a publicly-available list of your likely clients, diligent research can help identify potential new competitors, illuminate an area’s demographics, or streamline an existing sales system. Even existing businesses can benefit from stepping back, reorganizing their data, and re-launching a more efficient system.

Elevate your business with strategic data management! Just as in political campaigns, effective data organization is crucial for success. Explore custom database management solutions with Octopus Technologies to boost efficiency and achieve your business goals. Consult us today!

Guest contributor:  Garrett Garner

The post Database Solutions: A Campaign Perspective (Part 1) appeared first on InTune.

Jane will use her voter database throughout her campaign, but we’ll explore a few specific examples below so you can see exactly how smart database management solutions can make life easier in a fast-paced environment.

The Goal

The goal of any political campaign is simple: winning. And while there are many variations on what it takes to win—think George W. Bush winning the Electoral College while losing the popular vote in 2000, or Bill Clinton being elected with just 43% of the vote—in this case we’ll assume that Jane needs to exceed 50% of the vote in a two way race to claim victory.

Based on past turnout, Jane has calculated that she’ll need 1,000 votes from the voters in her city to be elected. Utilizing her custom database, Jane will work to identify her supporters and opponents, persuade undecided voters, and turn her supporters out on Election Day in order to secure the 1,000 votes she needs.

The Kickoff

Since parks will be a central focus of her campaign, Jane decides to hold her campaign kickoff in a park near her home. Wanting an early show of support in the local news, Jane calls through a list of her friends and neighbors to tell them about her campaign, ask for their support, and (if they’re supportive) ask them to attend her campaign kickoff.

This is an important moment in Jane’s campaign because it has the chance to set the tone for how she will manage her data. Jane probably jotted down her call list from memory and with a little help from her phone’s contact list. But the information Jane gathers during her calls should be entered into the custom database she built before launching her campaign.

Custom databases can be powerful tools, but only if they are correctly maintained.

The Race

Throughout her campaign, Jane will add and utilize many different data sets to her preexisting database. I’ve outlined just a few of them below:

• After her announcement, Jane received calls and emails of support from many of her friends. In answering these friends’ calls and emails, Jane wisely added their names to her list of supporters in her custom database.

• Often, the same friends who are willing to donate money to your campaign are the same ones who are willing to volunteer. Jane would be smart to make both asks during her call time and track the answers she receives in her voter database.

• As Jane’s campaign gains momentum, the types of phone calls being made and the people making them will increase.  In an ideal world, a candidate would talk to every voter in his or her district before Election Day, and—given the size of her community—Jane may be able to accomplish this feat. But it is very likely that volunteers will join Jane’s effort in making calls to determine who a voter is supporting, to ask supporters for money, and to recruit additional volunteers. With so many different types of calls in the field at once, it would be very easy for a voter to receive multiple calls for different purposes in the course of a single week. Thankfully, well-maintained database management solutions can help avoid this problem.

The Final Step

So what’s the point of all this data? Getting your voters to the polls!

The run-up to Election Day (including Early Voting) is known as Get out the Vote, or “GOTV” for short. It’s not C-SPAN’s younger, lesser-known brother. It’s how you win elections. I hope you’ll come back next week as we explore ways to leverage the data you gather throughout a campaign to increase your chances of victory.

Why does this matter to my business?

Just like Jane, businesses receive—or have the opportunity to receive—massive amounts of data on a daily basis.  But gathering data is only half the battle. The two most important questions to ask about data are “Is it relevant?” and “Can I integrate this information with what I already know in order to make smarter business decisions?” Thankfully, InTune, Inc. has experience working with businesses from many different backgrounds to answer these questions and design custom database management solutions to fit your needs.

Guest contributor:  Garrett Garner

The post Database Solutions: A Campaign Perspective (Part 2) appeared first on InTune.

This week we’ll take a look at how everything comes together during the Get out the Vote (GOTV) phase of a campaign. Elections are unique in that they are generally winner-take-all contests, but businesses can learn many lessons from the strategies at the heart of any good GOTV plan.

Trusting Your Data

Your GOTV plan is only as good as the data it’s built on. I learned this lesson the hard way during a race I worked a few years back.

A third party group had made voter identification calls in support of the candidate I was working for, and the data we got back from the calls looked great at first glance. Unfortunately, their coding system conflicted with ours, and when we combined the two data sets and began using the new data points in the field, problems quickly became apparent.

All of a sudden, our team was contacting voters who were unlikely to support our candidate. These voters were coded as “Strong Supporters” in our system, but were from an opposing ideological stance on the political spectrum. The calls and conversations at these voters’ doors did not go well.

What Happened?

So how did we get ourselves into this mess? Simple: the code we used to denote strong supporters was the same code this third-party group used to identify voters who either a.) refused to talk to the person making the phone call, or b.) were supporting our candidate’s opponent.

Once we identified the problem that created issues in our data, we simply back tracked to the last time our list was clean, re-coded the third party’s data, and re-combined the lists. But even though the problem was easy to fix, we’d lost precious time during the final days of the campaign.

So what’s the lesson here? Always, always, always be careful with your data.

Back to Jane

This story isn’t about me, though. It’s about Jane.

Thankfully, Jane and her campaign made it through the identification phase of her campaign without any data coding errors. As Election Day approaches, from her database she pulls a list of voters who are identified supporters of her campaign, but unlikely to vote based on their past voting history. These are the voters the can make the difference between victory and defeat, and they will be receiving the bulk of Jane’s attention heading into Election Day.

Election Day

As Election Day dawns, Jane feels confident. She knows that she’s done everything she can to be assured of victory, including meticulously collecting the data from her conversations in her custom database management.

Jane spends the day calling voters who are unlikely to vote to encourage them to vote and offer them rides to the polls. The results sound promising. Even though she can’t convince all of them to get out to the polls, many of them tell Jane that they’ve already gone and voted for her, or that they have a plan to do so later that day. Jane is cautiously optimistic.

At the end of the day, Jane is exhausted but hopeful. As results begin to roll in, it becomes obvious: she won!

Why does this matter to my business?

As I said before, campaigns and business differ in many ways, but there are lessons they can learn from each other.

If you’re about to launch a new product, open a new location, or host a major retail sale, the behind-the-scene mechanics used to increase your chances of success are very similar to a campaign’s GOTV process. Gathering reputable data and storing it with the help of a custom database (like the ones Octopus Technologies , Inc. has decades of experience building) can mean the difference between successfully communicating with likely customers, and wasting your money talking to people who don’t want or need your product.

Elevate your business with strategic database management! Just as in political campaigns, effective data organization is crucial for success. Explore custom database management solutions with Octopus Technologies to boost efficiency and achieve your business goals. Consult us today!

In the end, it’s all about trusting your data, and trust—in this case—is built on strong custom database solutions.

Guest contributor:  Garrett Garner

The post Database Solutions: A Campaign Perspective (Part 3) appeared first on InTune.

In both business and politics, understanding why a certain outcome occurred is a critical part of ensuring that you can replicate that outcome (or avoid replicating that outcome) in the future. Did your big sale of the year bring in the new customers you wanted? Did a new branch of your company fail? Digging into your data can often help you figure out why.

A Local Example

A friend of mine is an elected official who ran (and won) two data-intensive campaigns for public office. During his first campaign, he knocked on every door in his district and had direct conversations with the voters who lived there. He did this not once or twice, but three times over the course of his campaign. Smartly, he captured the data from these conversations in a custom database management solution.

My friend’s database also included information from his donors. Between the general election and runoff election, donors were able to contribute up to $500 to his campaign, and many people did.

After a victory that was attributed to my friend’s hard work at the doors in his district (and the way he managed his data from those conversations), my newly-elected friend decided to look through the publicly-available data from the supervisor of elections to see exactly how he had achieved his victory.

What he found was startling.

Identified supporters – some of whom had donated the maximum amount to my friend’s campaign – had neglected to vote. Simply knowing this fact allowed my friend to engage with these people throughout his next three years in office to ensure that they voted in his re-election campaign.

Sometimes, even when things go well, your data can point the way to a more efficient future.

A National Example

Former President George H.W. Bush was renowned as a sender of holiday cards. The President’s list began when he and Barbara were first married, but grew quickly as Bush traveled the country in his various jobs. By the time Bush was elected Vice President, the list had grown to the point of requiring a special line item in the Republican National Committee’s budget. By 1983, it had been cross-indexed into an early IBM database management solution.

According to Richard Ben Cramer’s epic recounting of the 1988 Presidential race in What it Takes, the then-Vice President’s wife and staff would begin addressing cards by hand in May to ensure that they were completed in time to be sent out for the holidays. This was a big task, since by 1986 there were over 30,000 names and addresses on the list.

For President Bush, his holiday card list was a chance to keep in touch with friends from years past and ensure that future possible supporters felt a personal connection to him. The strategy worked, and in 1988, Bush secured the Republican nomination and, eventually, the Presidency. A failed attempt to become President in 1980 had laid the foundation for Bush’s later success, and custom database management played an important role in transforming failure into success.

Jane’s Last Hurrah

Thanks to her custom database, Jane was well-positioned for victory. By starting early and tracking her data relentlessly, Jane increased turnout in her own neighborhood and secured a lion’s share of the vote.

In other areas, Jane didn’t do as well as she had expected. With this fact in mind, she plans to target her constituent-service efforts in the areas where she needs to improve her standing. As an elected official, she’ll have plenty of time to convince the voters throughout the city that she’s working hard on their behalf!

How does this apply to my business?

Smart business decisions are rooted in experience and good data. The same is true of campaigns. Both are complex systems, but can be broken down into a series of individual decisions. The effects of those decisions can then be tracked in a custom database and future strategies can be altered based on the data you gather.

Explore custom database management solutions with Octopus Technologies to boost efficiency and achieve your business goals. Consult us today!

Guest contributor:  Garrett Garner

The post Database Solutions: A Campaign Perspective (Part 4) appeared first on InTune.

Use these 6 questions to help identify to make it easy to spot the right software vendor and keep your project out of the custom software development hall of shame.

1. How will you personalize your service for my project?  You deserve customized service, so if the vendor looks surprised by the question, your interview is over.  The vendor should ask you things like, “How often do you want to get status updates?”  Depending on your project size, you may want weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly updates.  Another good question to hear from your vendor is, “How do you want us to communicate with team members?”  You may want emails, but your technical team members may prefer an instant message.
2. What are your standard processes?  A software development firm should have an established methodology for requirements, coding, testing, and project management, and they should beexible enough to fit their standards to your business needs.
3. How have other companies used your services to improve the way their business works?  With this question, you’re determining whether the vendor understands that software is a business tool.  If your prospective vendor talks more about technology than about business, tell them goodbye.
4. How long have you been in business, and how long have your employees been with your company?  You’re making an investment in a software partnership; ideally, you’ll be talking to the same people next year when you want system enhancements.  It’s important to know that you’ll be dealing with employees of the firm, not short-term contractors.  If the company was founded last month, and it uses only contract employees – keep looking.
5. What skills do you offer?  The answer to this question should include a lot more than a list of the languages in which the firm writes code.  Your vendor should talk about the skill sets required for a software project, including:  requirements definition; system architecture; maintenance programming and report writing; testing; and project management.  One big advantage of teaming with an experienced software partner is that you don’t have to hire someone to provide each skill set a software project requires.  If your vendor can’t provide someone for each set of skills, they’re not likely to be a viable long-term partner for your business.
6. What went wrong in previous projects, and what went right?  If the vendor tells you that all previous projects were perfect, they’re likely to be careless in their handling of the truth.  Everyone has at least one failed project, and they should be able to tell you why it failed and explain the lessons learned.  Each vendor should also have a few outstanding successes to share.  Look for quantifiable, detailed information, and if the success story is a reference account, call them.

Spend time choosing the right custom software vendor.  When you pick the right one, you can expect a long-lasting and mutually profitable relationship. Ready to start your journey with a trusted software partner? Contact Teximus for expert guidance and ensure a successful and enduring partnership.

The post 6 Questions to Dodge Bad Software Collaborations appeared first on InTune.

The post 1 Person Can’t Wear 6 Hats in a Successful Software Project appeared first on InTune.

How can you make your software project successful?

YOU – the executive responsible for the process the software is supposed to fix or enhance – are the most critical element of a software project’s success.

This sounds like a huge responsibility (and it is).  But here are 10 simple steps you can take to dramatically improve your software project’s probability of success.

1. Understand that you – the executive or manager responsible for the process – play the biggest role in your project’s success.   Make the project one of your high priorities.
2. Use words and pictures to explain how your business process works.  Your goal is to create a shared understanding between you and your software team.  Suggestion:  a process map, a simple and easy to understand graphical representation of each department’s steps in the process, is a great way to do this. Read more about Process Improvement Projects
3. Describe the business problem(s) the software needs to fix or the new business opportunity it will create.  Be specific about want you want the software to fix or achieve.
4. Define project success, including what it looks like and how you’ll measure it.
   1. Cost.   Track planned and actual cost.   Decide how the cost for work that is outside the original scope will be identified and approved or rejected.
   2. Time.  If you have a hard and fast deadline for the project, make it clear to everyone up front.  Set interim deadlines and create rewards for meeting them (and penalties for not meeting them).
   3. Functionality.   Describe the work the system needs to accomplish.  Review screen mockups, read text requirements, and provide feedback and clarification.  This can be an iterative, time-consuming process, but if you short-cut it, you drastically decrease the probability of project success.
   4. Test.  Decide how you’ll quantifiably know the system is working as designed.  Some companies create test plans that define every “use case” (a specific series of steps somebody might take – on purpose or by accident – on a screen), and other companies test against a requirements document.
   5. Big Projects.  Take a phased approach to big projects.  If the requirements, coding, testing, and delivery can’t be completed in 30-45 days, break it into smaller pieces.It’s reasonable to expect some functioning code 45 days after beginning a project.
5. Identify “wrong colored rocks.”   If you have already rejected some possible solutions to your business problem, let the team know.  For example, you may not be willing to hire additional employees to enter information into your new system.
6. Identify the right team members.  Who are your subject matter experts?  Who will approve the design?  Who has authorization to approve additions and changes to the design/requirements?  Who will test?  Who can answer the technical team’s questions?  Be sure everyone knows who is filling each project role.
7. Make team members available for the project.  Having knowledgeable people who are never available to answer questions creates delays and frustration.   Offload as much daily work as necessary to free team members to focus on the software project.
8. Decide how you want to stay informed. Agree on how you will be kept up to date on the project and the level of detail you’d like.  For small projects, some teams prefer a short daily standup meeting, but for large projects, you may want bi-weekly written updates that you review in a team meeting.
9. Make the project a priority. Review project reports and ask questions.  Attend status meetings.  Use the new system yourself, and get additional feedback from the people who are testing it.
10. Celebrate interim successes.  Look for reasons to celebrate throughout the project.  Small things such as buying lunch, bringing in a cake, or giving a coffee gift card go a long way towards keeping your team motivated and improving the probability that your software project will exceed your expectations.

Instead of going back to college for a computer engineering degree, take ownership of your software project.  Use these 10 keys to ensure your system meets your business needs and comes in on time and within budget. Ready to get started? Contact us for expert guidance and solutions tailored to your unique requirements.

The post 10 Ways to Avoid Software Project Failure appeared first on InTune.

Your CFO is yelling, “This has to stop!”

Your COO says, “We have to get this new functionality in place.”

Here are five questions to help you decide whether to pull the plug on the project or keep going.

1.       Does the software work so far?

If your project manager is telling you that the system is 50% finished, but you’re still waiting for the first opportunity to test the system, stop the project now.

With the tools available today, you should have the ability to test the first screen or module of your new system shortly after the design phase is complete.  If it’s late in the project and you still haven’t had the opportunity to test working code, there’s a very low chance that you’ll end up with a working system at the end.

2.       Will the finished software address the business goal?

Based on what you’ve seen so far, will the finished product work as planned to solve the business problem?   If the software is late, can you still take advantage of the business opportunity as planned?  If not, cancel the project now.  If the product doesn’t look like it’s going to meet your needs when it’s 50% complete, it’s not likely to meet your needs at 100%.

3.       Are there good reasons for the project to exceed planned time and cost?

Did requirements change?  Were new requirements added?  If so, it’s reasonable to change the original time and cost estimate.

If the requirements didn’t change, did your software development project manager explain the time and cost overruns and provide you with an updated estimate of the time and cost to complete?   Can the additional time and cost be justified?  If so, consider continuing the project.

4.       Can the team deliver a sound final product?

Software – even software development packages with 1000’s of users – always has bugs.  When you find bugs, are they tracked and fixed?  Are you able to test the corrected code in a reasonable time?

If what you’ve tested so far works reliably after the developers fix your bugs, it’s likely that the final product will work reliably, too.

5.       What does your gut tell you to do?

Do you trust the project manager and the team to deliver?  Do you feel optimistic about the final outcome of the project?  Something inside is telling you whether to proceed or stop, and you need to factor that into your decision.

It’s not easy to decide whether to pull the plug on a project into which you’ve invested time and money.  If you answered NO to question 1 or 2, you have tangible reasons to stop your project now, but if you answered YES to questions 1 through 4, you’re going to have to rely on question 5 – and input from trusted peers and those involved in the project – to make a decision.

Ultimately your business software should be a valuable corporate asset that helps you achieve your business objectives.  Anything less isn’t worth your investment.

If you’d like more information about turning your software into a key business asset, contact Teximus for a free consultation.

The post When to pull the plug on a software project appeared first on InTune.

1. Hire a qualified developer:   Ask questions and check references to be sure the person has the qualifications you need.  When fighting for a job, people can be careless with their handling of the truth.
2. Hire more than one developer:  Instead of hiring one programmer, hire two.  If you can afford to hire only one person, invest in an external consultant who will become familiar with your code by working with your employee on specific tasks.
3. Contract with an experienced services firm:  If you hire a software development firm, be sure the company has qualified developers who’ll work on your project.  Also confirm that they cross-train and/or will assign more than one person to each of your projects.
4. Control the source:  Even if you have only one developer, use a source control tool to manage changes to your system.
5. Keep your versions organized:  Keep a set of code for the production version of your system separate from the source code that is being changed to address new and modified business requirements.
6. Keep your working version clean:  Have your team “build” each time changes are checked into source control.  A build compiles all the code andags programs that are incomplete, so your working version will actually work.
7. Manage tasks:   Even if you can’t afford the sophisticated tools big companies use to associate business requirements with code changes, you can create a spreadsheet to track tasks.  Start with your planned tasks, and have developers update the list at least weekly, though daily is better, to show status (planned, completed, and in process).

Follow the guidelines above and create an environment where you’ll always have someone who’s qualified to update a very important business asset – your software.

Need an outside check to be sure you have solid business software systems that follow industry standards?  ContactOctopus Technologies today!

The post 7 Ways to Avoid Business Software Failure appeared first on InTune.