How can you add value to the client while performing the day to day opertaional task?

a clients worth is determined by the information you hold about them. This is why CRM is not really worth the effort unless you implement a system which requires your employees to enter the information ascertained in correspondence and some form of reward for them as they enter the information.   This may be a financial benefit or some other reward. 

What are the biggest mistakes startups make when it comes to software development?

I see the major issues SMEs make not in software development its self. The biggest issue they always run into is in the traditional growth phase. When they find out that the data they have ascertained over the years is not compliant to any other system out there but they are forced to move to another platform for one of a kazillion unforseen reasons.  Be it accounting, CRM, content management on their CMS for external communication or whatever. Migration of data (because someone thought it might be a good idea to use a custom solution) always kicks in the back, leaving a big hole in the purse. 

What are the biggest information security concerns for a law firm?

Endpoint security is definitly a risk I would determine high priority. Even if all employees are loyal, screened etc. they will always be open to blackmail/extortion (everyone has a weak point) and may in that way be forced to take data on a USB device with him/her. And the reconstruction on that from an analytical point of view is damn hard. 
Email is a security issue as well – of course – but I guess the organization will have some way of documenting and loggin which employee sends which email at what time and monitors correspondence for security reasons. 
The WiFi topic is something I will complete leave out here at this point, agreed?  
Let’s come to the most critical point: the LAN and WAN and find a short solution… DO NOT! have the server that has the confidential/classified info connected to the WAN. It will be accessible from the local network ONLY. And even if you have it on a VM. 

Is portal technology worth the hassle? Will CMS / ECM systems become strong enough to fulfill the Enterprise needs for integration, personalization and federation?

QUESTION

Portal technology, according to specs like JSR 168 and 286, is difficult and needs a lot of overhead to develop web applications. The arguments to chose the technology often include the words integration, SOA, personalization, federation and scalability. But are these reasons strong enough to overcome the development hurdles? Or should we just accept that serious portal frameworks from IBM / BEA / Oracle are just meant for the big Enterprises who have a strategy that will allow them to invest millions each year in portal development?

ANSWER

Yet the MOST important question when it comes to CMSs is: “What IF the system we utilize is stomped in?” This is the most tricky question out there because migration and data mining efforts to move 1000s of pages of content can quickly go into the 100ks and lead to a system the company will stick to for several years, improvising the living hell out of the thing, making it vulnerable and totally exposed. Same applies for intranet and knowledge management solutions.

But to go back to your question… Yes, it most definitly is. Not only is the rights management of the publishers worth it. But also considder the fact that creating a new page means a bigger hassle in standard programming. Furthermore, you face issues like SEO, accessibility, etc. etc. that you have to review on every single page while a CMS takes care of that for you through the framework.If you need more help please feel free to call me. I have pointed out my international phone numbers in the bottom. 

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Web 2.0 and your business’ reputation

While about 10 years ago the only way for your customer to touch your reputation was to spread the word locally, web 2.0 offers a wide variety of possibilities to share their experience with your business worldwide in only moments.

And while the first phases of web 2.0 were not as tremendously dangerous because this phenomenon was rather limited to the web geeks, today millions of people share their ideas and thoughts, perceptions and experiences across a constantly growing amount of platforms.

An example of how you can benefit from negative customer experiences distributed on the web and how you can determine the current reputation of your company from the positive ones:

Buying your next car online?

In some places on this planet geography plays a major role and distances represent – unlike in Germany where I live and you can cross the country in about 8 hours – a major issue.

My friend Jim Ziegler has just produced his latest ingenious product which totally concurs with Deutsche Webdesign’s Web 4.0 philosophy… Making the internet a good place to shop and not only granting the customer a memorable experience on the website its self, but also providing customer service. Online and off-.

Aside from that, the Ziegler Video Sales System touches environmental issues. Read more >>

The value of enterprise collaboration

Like mentioned throughout my websites, I’m a true believer in mass-collaboration. And am regularly fascinated on how the general public devotes time to outstanding products like Joomla!, Typo3, The Apache Foundation, and alike… thus creating some of the world’s most valuable products on the market and ensuring that they remain free to create a better world.

The problem which corporations are facing is how to implement this breath of fresh and revitalizing air into their dusty ways of working to improve the value, not only to their companies in general.

The core question of the critics seems to be:“HOW do we achieve that without placing our intellectual property at stake?”

But that is the thinking of the weak. The real question is: How do we install it in the first place! Read more >>

Banks and Insurances: Don’t you thing that selling your products online is a bit irresponsible?

Even I, as someone with a degree in the financial sector (insurance – specialist for corporate and industrial risks), have a hard time finding my way around the wide variety of insurance and financial products out there. And all that is above my little cloud of limited knowledge (even after 3 years of intensive training I don’t consider myself a pro) are things I’d entrust a professional with. And that upon the trust one of your talented sales people has ascertained!

Read more >>

Journalism, your business, and RSS? Journalism, your business, and RSS!

There is no doubt about it… RSS (real simple syndication) is today’s way to keep yourself up to date on current issues. While the subscribers of newsletters are dropping dramatically by the hour, millions of people are discovering the power of this “stay-alert-magic-box”. And I use this ingenious invention myself to keep up to date about several blogs and news sources I’m subscribed to!

But what makes this technology so powerful? Especially in context of the symbiosis between the press and businesses?

Read more >>