elKore Blog

No such thing as a fair fixed bid project

Sun, 7 Jun 2009 13:48:34 0000

Let's say you are taking your family to a restaurant, and let’s say that you have been to that restaurant with you family before, and you spent $86 last time you were there.

Let’s say the restaurant is cash-only. Would you be safe leaving your house with $86 in your pocket? May be so, or may be not. It depends.

Agile development or why change is good

Fri, 1 May 2009 13:20:19 0000

For decades the topic of "life being a change" has been a popular one among motivational speakers and self-help book authors.. then why agile software development seems to be such a challenge?

Agile development model implies flexibility, both on the client's end and within the development team. While flexible approach looks like the most effective way to get things done in today's ever-changing world, adapting flexibility in development projects does present a challenge as by nature it interferes with project scope management.

Gathering requirements and IT project failure

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 19:31:31 0000

I came across a couple of great articles on TechRepublic discussing the importance of proper requirements gathering and planning, and how they relate to success of an IT project.

A few facts:

68% of IT projects fail! Poor business requirements analysis is the source of most of these failures.
Companies pay a premium of as much as 60% on time and budget when they use poor requirements practices on their projects..

5 reasons to kill an IT project

Sat, 3 Jan 2009 19:06:19 0000

A survey of IT experts revealed 43 percent of their organizations had recently killed an IT project. The study, conducted by ISACA, an independent IT governance group, highlighted the top 5 reasons these organizations named for terminating projects prior to completion.

How to get the web design you paid for

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 12:21:19 0000

No client goes into a project asking for a mediocre web design. But often, the client creates mediocrity through the way they interact with the design team. The design acceptance process must overcome several hurdles, including stereotypes and "typical" user attitudes, to ensure that the end product is the spectacular web design everyone was hoping for.

Visualizing Exceptions

Tue, 2 Sep 2008 19:15:20 0000

I recently ran into a requirement to save a screenshot of the user's desktop with the error log. This can be surprisingly helpful, showing things like all the applications in the taskbar, all the active windows, and exactly what data has been entered into the current form when the error occurred.

What time is it?

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 13:55:32 0000

Have you ever set the system Time Zone for Windows? Perhaps when you first installed Windows, or by right-clicking the clock on the System Tray and using the Time Zone tab? You can obtain the same list of Time Zones like this...

Top 4 reasons why an open source CMS is not a complete product

Sat, 14 Jun 2008 18:01:04 0000

The main thing that is wrong with open source CMS is not the software itself, but the expectation that an open source CMS is a complete product. While an open source content management system can be packed with features providing a great foundation for your content management solution, there is a long way home from the day an off-the-shelf CMS is downloaded and the day it actually meets the needs of your business, from the branding, usability and functional stand points.

CMS :: open source doesn't mean 'free'

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 12:21:32 0000

There is an event in Dallas called "First Saturday" or "Electronic Sidewalk Sale". Over the years it has amassed into a huge computer flee market, where vendors are selling anything related to computer software and any techie gadget you can imagine. While lately the bargains are mostly limited to outdated computer software and hardware, you can still find a $2,000 computer for $200, if you look hard.

How much does it cost to set up a free blog

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 12:46:32 0000

In the Web 2.0 era the idea of setting up a blog is a very popular one among many SMBs. A blog allows you to publish more relevant content both for your visitors to read and for search engines to parse. A blog adds authority to your site as well as provides an informal communication channel between you and your potential customers.

There are many 3rd party blog options out there, and most are free. The estimated effort to install, setup and customize a 3rd party open source blog solution is often very optimistic: a couple of hours to run the installation files and modify a few templates to insert a few branding elements (colors, logo, etc), right? The reality in this particular case turned out to be a lot more pessimistic.