Posts by Mike

Did you know you can use Gmail to manage all your email accounts? Maybe you’ve got a personal Gmail email address and you’re using Outlook for your separate work email address. You can, if you want, manage everything through Gmail - ideal if you prefer Gmail’s browser interface and its iOS and Android mail client apps.

Why not hire a software consultancy in 2016? Maybe you’ve got an idea for a new software solution or you want advice about upgrading existing systems or perhaps you need help with an IT project that’s in trouble?

Do you want to find a new software consultancy to pick up the support of an existing bespoke system? Making the switch to a new supplier will be easier if you start thinking now about some of the issues the new supplier will face:

Do you want to create e-learning content from a traditional face-to-face or paper based course? Here are 5 ways to improve your e-learning content - they’re worth keeping in mind when you’re about to commission a supplier to create your content.

Are you using a learning management system to deliver courses online? Do you want to increase your online enrolments? Here are some Facebook and LinkedIn ideas that might make a difference. Both social networks have well documented application programming interfaces (APIs), with tools and support materials that make them relatively easy to integrate with third party web applications and apps. With a bit of effort you can get some quick wins that will boost your enrolments and seriously raise the profile of your brand and courses.

Do you want to make money selling Software as a Service? SaaS makes it easy to connect users with software but there are pitfalls along the way that can make it hard to turn a profit. If you’ve got an idea for a SaaS business then this short overview of three basic SaaS business models might help.

Could you use a bespoke tablet app instead of paper forms to collect data? The latest mobile app development platforms and the availability of low price tablets make it easier to build, deploy and support bespoke enterprise mobile solutions. A bespoke tablet app that syncs data back to a central web based application can be a cost effective solution for any organisation looking for faster data entry, improved data accuracy and better management information reporting.

Sheffield software development company SkillsLogic and Musgrave Analytics are to develop ground-breaking new software that from September 2015 will be used to collect workforce information from the Further Education sector.

It can make sense to build a bespoke software solution. If you’re looking for an online solution that goes across different departments, or you’ve got some unique business requirements or you want capture data from large numbers of external users then you might find that a bespoke web application is more cost effective than an off-the-shelf system. Here are 5 things to consider:

Some of my recent consultancy work has got me thinking about the important things that clients need to do when they start to work with a software development company. The advice below is largely common sense but I think that for the non-technical client in particular, the process of commissioning and implementing complex bespoke software is challenging and it is often easy to overlook the obvious.