Author: Joel Stephens

The Advantages of Shadow IT Projects

Shadow IT: What is it?

Shadow IT refers to IT projects that are done outside the standard IT approval process; often without the knowledge of the IT department or the IT team for the company.  At first glance the question is why would you want to do this in the first place?  This entire concept started because internal departments at large companies learned that if they needed to get a web application or a mobile site launched quickly the IT team would probably slow it down or just say “No.”  The reason is simple.  The internal IT team is paid to keep a very complex system running and secure at the same time.  Every project that comes through IT regardless of size or complexity needs to go through a full approval process.  For the IT department the goal is to slow things down, take time to do their due diligence and make sure everything is safe.  For the head of the department trying to complete the web application this is seen as an inappropriate amount of caution.  Who is right?  Like most things in life a balance is needed and for this article we are certainly not recommending leaving your IT department out of the conversation if you have an important web initiative.

 

Regardless of what is right or wrong what has become popular, and in some cases needed, has been to bypass the IT team.   Often this is done by calling an outside vendor who will complete the project completely outside the normal IT process.  The advantage is that the project bypasses all the standard corporate politics and approval processes so it get’s done fast and often cheaper.  The risk though is huge.  As in the case of Target their entire credit card system was hacked because a vendor plugged their laptop into a store to get internet access.  Sometimes small mistakes have huge consequences.  

When is Shadow IT a Good Thing?

Our opinion is that true Shadow IT is never good.  If you are working on a website, a mobile application, even a basic software as a service (SaaS) purchase you need to involve IT and get their approval.  The real trick is to make sure that if you want to bypass the slow process you come to your IT team with a proposal that they will approve and get out of the way.  How do you do this?

How to get your Shadow IT Project Approved

IT departments slow projects down for several reasons

If you need to operate outside your IT department you need to find a vendor who can work without causing these problems.  Often software development companies don’t have the skill set to plan and build applications that don’t need at least one of these requirements.  Or often they make promises that “This project won’t need anything from your IT department so let’s get started.”  The problem is that if you take this approach and find out they are wrong your IT team is naturally going to pull the rug on the project.  The first step is to take time to plan the project in a way that makes your IT team want to say “Yes.”

Step 1: Plan on launching the web application or mobile application on it’s own server that can be hosted outside your IT infrastructure.  

This is not as simple as installing it on Azure or Amazon EC2.  While those hosting platforms are outside your IT infrastructure your application may still need to get into your corporate environment.  For instance you still need to pull data from a server inside your company, authenticate users through your corporate intranet, etc.  Make sure you think about how user accounts will be created, how they will be managed, what data you need to pull from your environment and what you need to publish to the website or application.  Do everything you can to eliminate the need for your new application to “be aware” of anything at your company.

 

Step 2: Find budget to pay for everything outside of your IT teams resource allocation.  If your entire project is good but you need IT to let you have one of their Database Administrators (DBA) for a day to configure something you just created a ton of paperwork for them to deal with.  Spend the extra $1,000 and get a DBA from your vendor.  Don’t ask your IT team to configure their firewall.  Find a way around it entirely.

 

Step 3: Make sure your vendor has a plan to present the full infrastructure to your IT team.  You should have some basic network diagrams, some statement about how you will handle security (better yet if security isn’t an issue), and a hosting or maintenance agreement from an outside vendor.  Your goal is to show them that your web project can exist without any of their help.

Step 4: Setup time to meet with them.  True Shadow IT bypasses all the safeguards your IT department has setup because it doesn’t let them know.  There is no faster way to get your web project killed and yourself fired then to try and cut corners on security.  Let them know you need their time and ask for their opinions.  Everyone wants to have a chance to ask questions and share feedback.  If you try to push a project at them they will naturally feel threatened.  Give them a chance to ask questions.  If you have done your job right with your vendor you will give them the confidence they need to approve the project and get out of your way.

Step 5: Setup a time prior to launching the project when you will meet with them to review everything.  This is critical.  It allows your IT team to get out of your way because you are letting them know you won’t blaze ahead.  They get to say “yes” knowing they get one more chance to check it.  In truth the next meeting will be a formality but if you try to cut them out they will demand weekly updates and bog you down to make sure you are doing your job.  Make it easy for them to say yes by setting up time for them to check in on the project before it goes live.

 

In Summary: Do your homework, hire an experienced vendor, involve IT, make it easy for them to say “yes.”

Web Analytics Dashboard Layout and Design

Corporate Web Dashboard Templates

As more and more companies start to build web enabled dashboards there are an increasing number of websites that are offering design templates for them.  We are also seeing more and more design firms and UI/UX firms entering in the design space which is new territory for them.  Choosing the right template or design depends on the project but we believe there are a few simple things to consider before you choose what your dashboard should look like.  Make sure you consider these simple questions before you start designing the dashboard.

Web Application Dashboard for Bootstrap

What Device will you View the Dashboard On?

If you are building out a intranet dashboard for a manufacturing facility and you need to view it on a 80″ TV on the manufacturing floor you have a much different challenge then a dashboard for sales people that will be viewed on their iPhone.  If you want your dashboard to be shared during company staff meetings and everyone has a tablet you probably want something different then if you are going to print it on paper and pass it out to 200 employees at an annual meeting.  If users have control over the dashboard, meaning it’s displayed on a device they interact with instead of paper or a conference room monitor you need to consider putting information “below the fold” where they can scroll to see it.  

So what to choose?  

Digital Dashboards for Large Rooms

If you are going to display your dashboard in a large area like a manufacturing floor or an auditorium you need to consider a template that has very high contrast and minimal clutter.  Make sure your numbers are big, and choose dark green and bright red because red and green can blend together in high sunlight areas.  Avoid using line charts as they can be very hard to read from a distance when the axis gets small.  About the only thing a user can tell from far away on a line chart is “Did it go up or down?” Instead put pie charts and bar graphs which are easier to see from a distance.  Also choose a few numbers, don’t clutter the dashboard with too much information.  We once had a client that asked to put interactive filter controls on the dashboard but the screen was 10 feet off the ground so no one could change the filter for the chart.  It’s an easy mistake to make if you aren’t thinking in advance.

 

Digital Dashboards for Work Spaces

If you are going to publish your dashboard for use by your staff at their desk or other work location consider that you can put a lot more information on the screen.  Users will be able to view the information longer, investigate smaller numbers and interact with the dashboard with filters, drill down’s and other selections.  This allows you to place high level numbers or trends on the dashboard and then allow users to explore trends and numbers.

 

Small Mobile Dashboards

If your target audience is going to access the dashboard on their phone you need to consider order of information not just what information.  For instance, on a phone you are most likely going to stack all the charts or numbers on top of each other and have a user scroll from the top graph to the bottom.  In this case the numbers need to tell a story and that story needs to be in order.  For instance, you may want to have a chart showing total revenue for this quarter, then below it the expenses for the quarter, and then the profit.  Below that you could show supporting information if the user is interested enough to scroll.  That is a fairly logical progression.  What you don’t want to do is show the number of new customers first, then average price per project, and then profit.  It’s a very odd way to tell the story of your data to your users.

 

If you’re looking for some samples of different interactive dashboards for the web or mobile devices we’ve included a few links below.  We hope these get you thinking of different ways you can present the data.

 

Bootstrap Templates Specifically for Web Enabled Data Dashboards

http://blackrockdigital.github.io/startbootstrap-sb-admin-2/pages/index.html#

https://colorlib.com/wp/free-bootstrap-admin-dashboard-templates/

http://themes.getbootstrap.com/products/dashboard

 

 

Website Security and Penetration Testing

Thanks again to Doug and Grant for taking time to brief us on current web security trends.  A few of our notes are below but check out their site Jacadis Web Security Firm to get all the details.

 

Ultra Basic Web Security Practices

 

More Advanced Strategies for Website Security

 

Thanks again to the team at Jacadis for presenting at our event.

Filemaker Upgrades

Over the last few years we have seen a huge surge in requests for our company to evaluate the viability of upgrading their FileMaker databases.  We have seen this in all industries including medical, retail, government and especially in the manufacturing and logistics industries.  It seems everyone had that one person at their company that knew how to use FileMaker to build out a simply yet effective business management application.  It was a game changer when it was built and now their deca-million dollar organization is running on a piece of software that cost $100 a year to license.  We applaud these companies for taking the initiative they took when the application was built and also feel their pain as they try and move their company to an enterprise level ERP or similiar application.  So… if you are at this point in your business what should you do?

 

Step 1: Accept Reality

We know this can be hard but let’s face it.  The FileMaker database you built 20 years ago is not going to last much longer.  You are probably spending more time working around it then you are saving by using it.  Yes, we know that your entire customer database is in there.  Yes, we know that everyone in the company has used it for years and retraining them will be a challenge.  Yes, we have heard all your other reasons why you can’t change.  One piece of advice is to just accept the fact that you can’t keep working like this.

 

Step 2: Create a High Level Scope

Chances are that you need the FileMaker application to do more then it is doing now but you’ve lived with it so long all those good ideas are now forgotten.  Or maybe you’ve purchased some other software to do things you really wish your main application could do.  It’s fine to dream a little.  Write down a bullet point list of all the things you wish it could do.  This might include reports you have always wanted.  It might be the ability to use it from your phone on the road or maybe to access the application while you are at home.  Whatever it is just start with a bullet pointed list.

 

Step 3: Get a Budget

This isn’t going to be cheap, accept that.  We are not trying to be overly crass here but seriously, you are going to spend a lot.  If you do it right the ROI will be measured in months or maybe a few years.  That is a great return on your investment.  So, don’t be cheap but you also don’t need to hire SAP, IBM and Oracle all at the same time.  Just sit down and decide on what it would be worth to do the upgrade.  When we do this with clients we try and ask questions around how much staff time will be saved if we reduce the manual data entry, or how much money will be saved if you have better real time reporting and you can reduce the amount of inventory you have to carry.  Depending on your business that analysis will be different.  You can be as sophisticated as you want to be on this but don’t over think it.  Just try and come up with a reasonable number.  Last comment: What will it cost your company if this software suddenly fails?  Delta just lost $150 Million dollars for a 5 hour outage of their ERP software.

 

Step 4: Call a few Vendors

We’d love the chance to meet you but even if you call us we still recommend calling a few other software developers.  You need to look beyond price and try to determine if the company you are talking to is a good fit in other areas.  For instance, can they get this done in your time frame.  Do they have developers who understand your software (for instance if you are using Microsoft SQL Server in your office can they work with that)?  Do they ask good questions or do they just tell you they have done this before.  Can they upgrade the software as it is or do they have the experience to build something better.  Will there be a language or timezone barrier if you work with them?  Do they offer maintenance and support on the software they build or do you need to hire a full time developer or database administrator after they are done?

 

Step 5: Take the Plunge

Once you find a good vendor accept the fact they you will never find the “perfect” vendor.  Perfect is the enemy of getting things done.  You won’t find the perfect vendor so don’t try.  Find someone who has done this before, has the team to complete the work and has a good reputation.

 

Step 6: Manage the Vendor

A lot of clients make the mistake of signing the contract and walking away.  Your developer needs your time, your feedback and your expertise on running your business.  The best application developers will ask lots of questions early and throughout the project.  Plan on taking time out of your week to meet with them and help them build the application correctly.

 

We hope this helps give you a good idea of next steps if you are upgrade a legacy FileMaker (or similiar) software application for your business.  

 

US Government Standards for Responsive Web Design

The USA has released standards for responsive web development.  You can check out the new standards at: https://standards.usa.gov/grids/  Overall, it’s stayed true to the original intent and direction of Bootstrap and it’s open source so if you are on a State Term Schedule or GSA you can expect to need to start following these soon.

Verizon’s API for Internet of Things

We just had a meeting with one of the Verizon IoT developers and we have to say we are impressed with what they are doing on enabling mobility devices through their network.  We will follow up in the future with a more detailed blog but you need to check out https://thingspace.verizon.com/developer/ to see their full API calls for all types of internet enabled sensors and devices.  

Who owns your website?

Here is a quick primer on why this basic questions is important.  You probably own the source code, database, and other intellectual property of your website.  Few companies get into disputes about that.  The problem is that while you own it you might not have any actual control over it.  Here is how this works.  You hire a company to build your website, they do a great job and through the magic of the internet your website is available to the entire world.  Things are going great, you can login to the admin panel and make changes, e-commerce orders are coming in, life is good.  Then for whatever reason you stop getting along with your website developer.  Not a problem you think.  I’ll just kick them out of the website and hire a new web master to take the site over.  

But there is a problem.  While you have the admin username and password for your website you don’t actually control the site itself.  All the sudden you realize there is another entity called a web host that actually runs your website.  You call them and explain that abc.com is actually your companies site, and you’ve paid your web developer to build the website, and now you need control.  So what’s the problem?  The web host doesn’t care about you at all.  Your web developer is the one who is paying for the hosting and that has the actual contract with the web host.  So when you call the web host they tell you they can not help you.  All the sudden you realize that 3 years ago when your developer setup the hosting agreement they actually became the owner and manager of your web site.  You accidentally gave them control.  I know a lot of you reading this are thinking, but I pay my web developer and then they pay the host.  Sorry, that doesn’t work either.  Most web hosts like Rackspace.com, or Amazon are hosting literally 100,000 of websites and really don’t care about you.  All they care about is getting paid from someone and keeping the legal nature of the hosting relationship between them and the person paying the bill.  Your desperate pleas for help fall on their deaf ears.

If this isn’t make sense to you think about it this way.  You have a friend that leases a storage garage.  You have a boat that you want to store in this garage.  You pay your friend $1,000 a month to store your boat is his garage.  One day you and your friend have a falling out and are not friends anymore.  You ask for your boat.  Your friend ignores your requests to open the garage and let you take your boat.  You call the landlord and say, I need to get my boat. The landlord explains to you that they don’t know who you are, they have not agreement with you but they do have an agreement with your friend.  Their agreement with your friend says that they will not let anyone but your friend into the garage.  So essentially they are telling you “tough luck.”  That is exactly how it works with web hosts when you don’t own the contact.

What is the final result?  We see a lot of clients and potential client’s calling us because their old developer actually holds the hosting contract and they can not get access to their website.  So after reading this entire article what is the solution to this problem if you are in it?  Call your developer now while your relationship is good, explain that you would like to pay the hosting agreement directly and discuss what needs to happen to get your name on the hosting agreement.  If your developer is a good one they will work with you to do this.  If they refuse you probably need to start the process of hiring an attorney to get control of your site now.

GeoJSON Data Conversion

One of the largest challenges with online data is that there are so many database formats to choose from.  Often this means that the data you are given for your website is in the wrong format.  So you need to convert it.  One of our clients had access to a SHAPE GIS file and needed us to convert it into the new Google Maps Fusion format.  We found a few online tools that might help you.  

Step 1: Download the SHAPE Zip file

  This is the simple part.  Get the SHAPE file from whomever you need it from.  Unfortunately SHAPE files are a bit old and don’t work directly with new Map APIs like Google maps.

Step 2: Upload it to preview that it is correct.

  We found a great website called Map Shaper http://mapshaper.org/ that let’s you drag and drop the file to get a preview.

Step 3: Export the file to a GeoJSON format

  While GeoJSON is not the most modern format, Google is trying to get their FUSION data out of Beta, it does work directly with Google maps.

Step 4: Test import the GeoJSON file

  We found a great link here: https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/javascript/examples/layer-data-dragndrop that lets you drag and drop a GeoJSON file and get an instant preview.

Step 5: Use it.  

  If you are familiar with the Google Maps API you can use the GeoJSON file as an imported file for your website map data source.  

This let’s you view regions on a map.  For an example check out https://developers.google.com/chart/interactive/docs/gallery/geomap

 

What are interactive wireframes?

Interactive wireframes are a simplified website that allows a user to experience how the final website will work.  Interactive wireframes allow a non-technical user to see and experience the overall workflow of their web application before then invest money in the full project.  Static wireframes allow someone to see how a webpage will look but they do not allow the user to explore how the websites works as a whole. 

Switchbox builds out interactive wireframes for our clients so they can start from the login page and more through there new website in a natural way and explore how the site works.  Often these are built with HTML5 and a javascript library like React or Angular.js so that they don’t need a web host to run the application.

Rapid Prototyping for Corporate Innovation

As more and more companies try to create internal innovation teams we are seeing a trend… software project get rejected almost out of habit.  Time and time again we have seen internal projects that relate to training staff, starting new marketing programs or even replacing old machinery get funding instead of web application projects.  At first we didn’t think a lot about it but when we finally stated our observation to an SVP here in Columbus without any hesitation she explained, “That’s because no one is willing to take the risk with a software project.”  What risk?  We decided to dig a little deeper and found that a lot of IT projects or generally speaking, any software development project causes people in executive positions to cringe.  

A big reason for this is that executives that have not worked with software see it as an intangible project that is difficult to manage.  So many web application projects go so far over budget because the original idea was good but no one knew how to get it to the finish line.  However, projects that live in the physical world see to have more acceptance.  Project stakeholders can see them, touch them and ultimately have a better sense of how far along they are.  For instance, imagine the difference between building a house and building a web application.  About half way through the project you walk through the house.  You see walls, electric wires, and boxes of cabinets.  You feel that for the time and money you have spent you you are about half way done.  You leave the house feeling good.  

Now compare that to building a web application for your business.  About halfway through you see a database diagram, a few software developers sit in a room and try to tell you how far along they are with cards on an Agile board.  Maybe you have an early MVP prototype you can see.  The progress is far more difficult to see.

We believe the solution is to give executives something they can see before they approve the web application.  Our team has built a process of creating interactive web application prototypes in just a few days.  It allows clients to see the end of the project and to start to understand where they will be when the project is done.  This allows them to move forward with confidence on what they will get before committing to a project. A few examples of interactive web prototypes we have built are below. 

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