Author: Joel Stephens

If you want to be a web developer in Columbus please follow these simple tips

How to be a great web application developer in Columbus, OH

Why did I include Columbus in this blog?  Because Columbus is different then a lot of other cities for developers.  If you live in Silicon Valley you need to sleep in your car, work at an IT startup, be willing to learn the latest and greatest technology.  I’m referring to stuff that is even newer then Angular.JS or React or even some of newest database tools like Hadoop or NoSQL.  Columbus is a great tech town.  We love to work with new technologies but again, if you are looking for a job here you need to understand that most jobs are in more practical application development.  Yup, that means knowing Java, ASP.Net (Webforms and MVC), PHP and Ruby on Rails are all great.  You will find a ton of companies looking for those core skill sets.  I can’t tell you how many developers have been pulled into the newest technology stack(I once interviewed a developer who said CoffeeScript was going to take over the world) because they read a blog that said that it was great.  If you want a job learn a solid language.

Spend time mastering a core language and then build out.  We love hiring web developers who are solid in one of our core development languages but who have also become proficient in Angular.JS or native iOS development or even who have learned to write solid SQL queries.  At the end of the day what companies in Columbus and even suburbs like Dublin and New Albany want are core software developers, not people who know some micro niche language.

 

What if I want to do bleeding edge development?

Columbus has awesome jobs for you.  Please just realize that just because you love a brand new untested programming language doesn’t mean there is a job opening for it.  Columbus is awesome for tech but my experience has been most companies want to use new technologies but not the stuff that just got released last week.  We have tons of jobs for augmented reality, GIS data visulization, etc. but most companies primary development language is something tested.

 

What Web Development Language is Most Popular?

I found a great chart here so instead of trying to tell you I’ll simply embed the link.  This is a list of how often different programming languages are used in 2017.  Ruby, Java, and .Net all rank really high.

 

Should I send a boring resume to the HR department?

No.  That is what morons do.  Sorry, just being honest.  If you want to stand out build your own website, show so cool stuff, link to your GitHub account, or do something that shows us employers that you are not some random unemployed developer that is just like everyone else.  Do something.  Anything.  But show us that you actually know how to build a website.  I can’t tell you the number of resumes we get where someone claims they know how to setup a web server but they haven’t even built a page on GoDaddy.  Please show us what you can do instead of putting it in text.

 

What Else?

 

Web and Mobile Application Developers are getting tons of job offerings right now.  Why should I waste my time doing this?

True.  If you want to work in a cubicle for the rest of your life, get minimal raises, work on projects that are totally unfulfilling, and get placed on projects by years of experience instead of how good you actually are then by all means, don’t waste your time trying to find a good job and impress people.  🙂  Seriously, if you want a unique job you need to be unique.  If you want to make money being a software developer you will get lots of job offers.  Our advice there is don’t get comfortable.  Keep looking for your dream job.  If you want to work for the best development company in Columbus, Ohio apply today.

Sitecore Web Application Developers in Columbus, OH

Sitecore CMS Development

 

A few years ago all we were asked to do was WordPress CMS development.  Then we started doing Sitefinity and DotNetNuke CMS systems.  Today it seems we are getting a lot of requests for Sitecore CMS web application development.  While I’m sure a new trend in web development, especially for CMS systems will happen in the next few years we are happy to ride the current trend.

 

Where do I find Sitecore Web Developers?

The answer to that is simple… right here at Switchbox.  Seriously, we have a Sitecore certified developer on staff as well as several other developers who are very proficient with Sitecore CMS as well.  Just give us a call or shoot us an email.

 

Who uses Sitecore CMS in Columbus, Ohio

We get asked this question fairly often and it seems that more and more companies are using it.  Sitecore is a pretty heavy, meaning enterprise grade, CMS system.  It requires a fairly high initial cost as well as annual cost for licensing and you need a pretty strong web development team to get it up and running but we are finding more and more Columbus based companies are using it.  In particular we are seeing membership organizations, local and state government agencies, and larger corporations (think Inc 50 and above).

 

Why should I use Sitecore instead of WordPress?

This question came up in a web development meeting in Dublin a few weeks ago.  So a brief summary is probably needed.  WordPress is a cheap easy to use CMS system.  There are lots of large companies using it as their core CMS system but it is not built for heavy use.  It also has a huge number of security issues as it has become a favorite target for hackers.  Sitecore is built for Enterprise clients and therefore is not cheap but generally speaking you get what you pay for.  If you need a good stable CMS system WordPress is fine.  If you need something to run your corporate web presence on and it needs an extremely solid framework.  Consider using Sitecore.

How to evaluate a legacy software application for purchase

Buying a software business can be tricky because you can’t actually see software.  The web application might look good, might function as expected but be so poorly built that it is likely to fall apart right after you take over.  Buying a software based business, especially a SaaS, requires an inspection, just like buying a house.  Below are a few thoughts that we passed along to me from my friend at Dive Create (A Columbus, Ohio based UI/UX firm).

 

Information Technology
·         Census of backoffice systems including current contracts, spend and term for accounting, support, marketing, sales, R&D, etc.
·         High level overview of all application software – provide description and key functionality area
·         Inventory of technical infrastructure – Hardware, Software, Databases, Network / Communications Equipment
·         Network diagrams – Internal & SaaS systems
·         Disaster recovery plans
·         IT organization chart – with roles & responsibilities
·         Policies and procedures documentation
·         Systems data backup policy and process (Frequency, format, rotation, storage, testing)
·         Key IT vendor contracts
 
Application Development
·         High level architectural diagram
·         Database documentation (database names, purposes, and schema)
·         Full technology stack used (.net/java, sql server/oracle, knockout/angular, etc.)
·         Description of any external system interfaces
·         Operations manuals
·         User manuals
·         Development methodology documentation
·         Testing methodology
·         Current issues log
·         Application enhancement roadmap
·         3rd party tools/systems used along with current contracts/agreements for them
·         Open source software used

Columbus CCS LEDE Certified Development Partner

 

We are extremely excited to announce that Switchbox, Inc. is a Columbus City Schools LEDE Certified Vendor.  Switchbox has called Dublin, Ohio and Worthington, Ohio home at our two previous office locations but now that our office is located with Columbus, Ohio we are excited to be a part of the Columbus City Schools LEDE program.  

Thanks to everyone at Columbus City Schools who worked with us while we were becoming a certified vendor.  Our first project is expected to be a GIS mapping project that we will be assisting the IT Department with.

How companies can decrease monthly costs with custom web applications

Why Custom Applications are often cheaper then SaaS Applications

“Our project just cost us $250,000. That’s a lot of money to spend on software development this year!”  That is a quote from a VP of logistics that I recently meet with.  What she didn’t realize was that her company was spending $115,000 per year to license their existing software that their new application was going to replace.  The new application had not licensing cost and about $5,000 per year in new cost from web hosting on Amazon’s EC2 platform.  With those numbers along their new site was going to pay for itself in about a year.  What she didn’t realize was that they were making another company (their SaaS vendor) rich by paying them each year.

 

There are a number of different way’s investing in a custom software project can save you money.  Even though the initial cost is almost always higher then an off the shelf solution or a year of licensing a SaaS Application Development application .  Below are a few of them.

 

You don’t waste time dealing with someone else’s process

One of the key frustrations and money wasters our clients express with their off the shelf system is this one.  The problem is based on the fact that an off the shelf system is built for many different clients, not just you.  This often means that clients who use these solutions have to complete extra steps that are not relevant for their company but that were built in for someone else.  For instance, we have a client right now who completes 12 million deliveries every year.  They asked us to be their web application development company because of our experience with their company.  In our early meetings we discovered that their employees where having to log into three separate application every time they needed to complete a part of their process.  There was no reason for this, it’s “just the way the application works.”  The approximate time it took to do this was about 45 seconds.  Multiply 45 seconds by 12 million and you get more then 17 years of time wasted each year.  17 years their employee’s spent clicking buttons they didn’t need to.  Our final web and mobile application will save them that much time just because we didn’t make them click a bunch of stupid buttons.

 

You own the asset

It might seem small but if you are going to sell your business and the buyer sees that you are spending $X per year on a software license they are going to pay you less for your business based on that cost.  However, if they see that not only do you not have that expense but you own a valuable software application that could be resold to someone else you now have something extra to leverage.  Don’t believe me?  One of our clients did that exactly. 

 

You are in control

Another reason to find a web application development company like Switchbox is that when you build your own application you get to make the changes you want.  Another one of our clients had an online software package for showing custom data sets.  All they needed was a slightly different way to show and search data online.  Their online vendor said the feature was coming… in 6 months.  They had us rebuild everything in approximately 3 weeks.  What does a delay in getting new features cost you?

 

Building a custom web application is not always the right solution.  But if you are in Columbus, OH and are looking for a web application development company give us a call.

Dangers of Building Company Websites on WordPress

Dangers of Using WordPress for your Corporate Website

Before we start let us say that Switchbox has built a ton of websites on top of the WordPress CMS system over the last few years.  We are not trying to claim that WordPress is bad at all but we always take time to advise our clients here in Columbus, OH.  WordPress can be a good platform is you hire a reputable developer to build your site and to install it on a secure web host but most people don’t.  That takes us to our first point.

Do not have a junior developer (or an untrusted developer) build a WordPress site for you

Most amateur developers build WordPress sites by installing a bunch of plugins.  The problem is that these plugins are built by other developers so by installing them you are letting an unknown developer into your websites.  The main way hackers break your site is through bad plugins.  Use an actual website developer who knows what they are doing.

 

Do not host your WordPress site on any web host

WordPress is almost an entire web ecosystem to itself.  We have a few very good and reputable hosts that specifically host WordPress sites and keep their hardware and operating systems up to date against WordPress hacks.  You should only host with one of these.

 

Do not modify the core of WordPress

We have taken over WordPress sites that have been hacked only to find that the problem was that the original actual website developer modified the WordPress core which prevented it from being updated.  FYI: “updated” means security patches applied.  If you hire a developer who wants to modify the core instead of writing software correctly find another developer.

 

 

Differences between a mobile app and a web app

Primary differences between Web Apps and Mobile Apps

A “web app” (short for web application) is any piece of software that runs through your web browser.  Typically these are websites that provide some type of functionality.  For instance SalesForce.com is a web app that lets you manage your various sales data tracking and reporting.  Or you might open up your web browser to play a game online.  These are web apps.  Web apps are different then a website in the sense that a website is usually just information.  For instance the site you are visiting right now (Switchbox’s Website) is really just a website because it doesn’t “do something.”

A “mobile app” (short for mobile application) is basically the same thing but it runs on your phone or tablet and doesn’t run through your mobile devices web browser.  For instance, if you install SalesForce.com mobile application on your device you would click the icon and the application would open.  If you opened up your web browser on your device and went to http://salesforce.com you would be accessing their web application, not their mobile application.

 

So who cares about web vs. mobile applications?

Generally speaking you want to build a mobile app if you need very specific device functionality.  For security reasons web apps are not allowed to access you contacts or other specific device information.  Mobile application can do so with your permission.  Mobile applications also allow the application to use more features like your camera, microphone, accelerator, etc.  Some web applications can be built to use your camera or microphone but these tend to be clunky.  Generally speaking a mobile application will have better more robust functionality then a web application.  Building a Native Web Application requires you to build a separate version for each device O/S (Android, Apple, Microsoft) but gives you the power to do more.  Web applications are a bit more generic since they need to work across all device types.

So if mobile applications are better then web applications why doesn’t everyone have one instead of a web app?

Mobile applications require more time to build and test.  They also require you to submit your app to Apple, Android, Microsoft, Amazon or whomever you want to deploy your app to.  Your users must also download your app which they typically won’t do unless the functionality is there for them to do so.  Mobile applications are also harder to maintain over the long term because each new device requires new testing and sometimes redevelopment.  A web application is built to work with all devices (yes there are some issues across devices but these are small compared to mobile applications).

Example Mobile Application Built for a Columbus Ohio Company

Mobile Application Example

 

Web Application Example

 

 

Java Development In Columbus still Going Strong

2017 was a great year for Switchbox but it was also a year of seeing a lot of trends and changes in the development industry.  I’ve been asked “What language do most companies in Columbus use?” a lot so I thought I’d give a really basic overview.

Startup and Entrepreneurs tend to prefer open source technologies.  We have been requested to do a ton in Ruby on Rails (RoR) and a little in PHP.  ASP.Net seems to be relatively strong here as well.  I believe this is due to the fact that these technologies are cheaper to deploy and tend to attract a more entrepreneurial developer base to them as they are built for Agile and rapid development.

Government tends to be mostly ASP.Net.  At least from what we’ve seen.  We know departments like ODJFS use a lot of Java as well but we haven’t been seeing as many contracts and bids for Java projects.  Maybe those are being handled by extremely large development shops or maybe they are being handled internally.  Switchbox has seen most Columbus and Ohio based agencies ask for .Net.

Small Businesses have been almost exclusively ASP.Net and Ruby on Rails this year.  We’ve done a decent amount of PHP but almost all of that was keeping legacy systems running or WordPress development.  Ruby on Rails has certainly reduced in requests for new projects (we used to see a lot of “Ruby Only” requests) but it is still going strong in Ohio. Large corporations are using mostly Java and a decent amount of ASP.Net.  We have had zero requests for any open source technologies like Ruby on Rails or PHP this year.

Anyway, I hope that helps answer the question.  I’d love to know your thoughts on what you are seeing in Columbus or if you are in another city let me know if your city is using something different.

5 Changes Cryptocurrency Brings for E-commerce Sites

The development team at Switchbox just crossed a significant milestone: our first e-commerce site with cryptocurrency as the only currency. When our client first brought this idea to us we were excited but admittedly were not sure how cryptocurrency would change the standard e-commerce model . If anyone else is considering doing this I hope this article gives you a few ideas and makes your implementation a little smoother.

Change 1: No Fear of Fraud Chargebacks

A lot of our e-commerce clients don’t realize that when someone uses their credit card to purchase something the money isn’t guaranteed to the seller immediately. For instance, I use my Visa to buy a shirt online. The seller mails it to me. I call my credit card company a week later and report my card was stolen. The seller get’s a charge back (i.e. the money is pulled back from their account) but the shirt was still shipped. The seller has not money and no shirt. With cryptocurrency this is impossible. Once our client get’s money sent to them the purchaser can do absolutely nothing to pull it back..

Change 2: No Reoccurring Charges

For a long time credit cards have provided a mechanism to setup reoccurring billing and many of our clients depend on this mechanism. With cryptocurrency there is no way to ask someone’s bank to send you money. I assume digital wallets will make a way to setup reoccurring payments but for now that is not standard. This forces users to remember to send payment monthly and I’m sure will result in lots of accidentally missed payments and canceled accounts. Effectively setting up a care free monthly billing is not possible at this time.

Change 3: No Bank Confirmation as Address/Age Confirmation

A lot of our e-commerce clients make an assumption that if you have been able to obtain a credit card then it is reasonable to send a product to you. For instance if you sell basic chemicals (bleach, ammonia, etc.) that are legal to ship to anyone but you as a business don’t want to ship them to a minor how do you reasonably validate age? Typically, you assume that if someone has a credit card then they must be old enough to purchase your products. (FYI: This is a very bad business practice but it is commonly used). With cryptocurrency there is absolutely not banking required. Anyone of any age in any country can obtain a digital wallet.

Change 4: No Preauthorization or Fund Holds

Another feature e-commerce sites have taken for granted is the preauthorization or fund hold feature that credit card companies allow. If you don’t know what these are a preauthorization is a way to ask the credit card company if the card is valid and if the user has enough credit to authorize a payment. A fund hold is the essentially the same but the credit card company actually prevents the user from spending the money until the hold is released.

Why does this matter? Imagine you make custom t-shirts and a user places an order for $500 worth of shirts. You are not supposed to bill the user until the shirts are actually made (I’m not an attorney but we’ve had this issue come up several times and I believe it is a law). You have a problem, if it takes you 5 days to make the shirts and then you bill the card but the person has maxed out their account you now have $500 worth of shirts you need to throw away. Credit cards have solved that problem, cryptocurrency has not.

Change 5: Volatility

The rising and falling price of various cryptocurrencies has been in the news lately. Unlike traditional currently you have no idea what a Bitcoin will actually be worth tomorrow. This brings up two issues. The first is how do you price your products? Today an item might be 5 Ethereum and tomorrow it might be 10 Ethereum. You can solve that with real time pricing based on an exchange you trust but what about refunds? Do you refund based on the original purchase price or based on today’s value of the purchase price?

Summary

If you are starting up a new e-commerce site I would strongly recommend sticking with the well used and proven model, i.e. credit cards, for now. Cryptocurrency is not for the faint of heart but as with all things new in technology there is a lot of money to be made for the early adopters. If you don’t believe me just remember that in 1995 Newsweek published an article “Hype alert: Why cyberspace isn’t, and will never be, nirvana” which made fun of the idea that we would ever buy books or newspapers over the internet. Good thing Amazon.com didn’t listen to that advice. 🙂

About the Author: Joel Stephens is a co-founder of Switchbox, Inc. a custom web application development company.

Custom Medical Product Configurator

Custom Online Product Configuration

One of our clients asked us to help them out with a custom product tool for their new website.  Their problem was that despite the large variety of e-commerce platforms that are available online (Magento, Shopify, etc.) none of those platforms could handle the extremely complex nature of their products.  The solution we built speaks for itself.  You can checkout their custom medical product web application and see the final results for yourself.

What Features Does the Custom Online Product Configurator Offer?

First of all it dynamically ties into their SKUs so their sales team knows exactly what the customer ordered.  It also offers dynamic image previews based on what the customer chooses.  It also integrates with their CRM system so that any online web order goes straight into their sales tool.  Lastly it has a custom print view.  Typically we would have built an application like this in Ruby on Rails or ASP.Net but our client had a specific need to build it in PHP.  Since the front end was built with standard HTML and Javascript that wasn’t a problem for our open source development team.  The whole project was done in about a month.

If you are interested in more custom online product configuration tools call our web application team or check out our other blog post “Custom Product Configurations and Javascript”

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