It seems like every online service these days is advertising 'beta' status by stamping it in capital letters right by its logo. Why do these companies feel the need to put their beta logo in the same exact place that Google choose to place it in GMail?
Look at your existing infrastructure, hold discussions with stakeholders with the objective being to discover any areas which need improving. (e.g. perhaps the timesheet system needs a complete overhaul because staff are spending longer than they should need to to fill it out - if this is the case then seek to quantify the current cost of having the non-optimal system)
Next, look at use of IT in the same commercial sector as yours, are there any aspects you might want to adopt? extend? do something 'similar' but 'better' i.e. innovate upon? If so, write down the work necessary.
Finally, agree with stakeholders what you want your IT systems to achieve. Don't be vague, be specific - you need to work out 'what' you want at this stage but not 'how' you want it done.
Armed with this information, you should have a clear direction for your IT department. You should have a list of requirements and desirables.
Email your requirements to some IT consultancies that can implement your needs. Most reputable companies will talk to you and give you ballpark figures without you having to buy their services.
The goal here is to get the biggest return for your investment in IT. Sometimes the cost of doing nothing will be far less than the cost of upgrading or replacing a system, in which case you hold off on modifications in that area.
Other times, the cost of doing nothing will be more expensive the cost of implementing a change, in these instances recommend these changes.
Finally, you should hand to your boss something that tells them the amount they ought to spend and what benefits you expect.
PS: Don't forget, some benefits don't have direct financial benefits but may make customers more likely to use/recommend you, staff happier to work for you, etc.. Mention these benefits.
PPS: If your company culture is technophobic then bear in mind the cost of change can be high (retraining, errors using the new systems, etc).
It amazes me how some Slashdot users are, complaining that Microsoft has ripped off Firefox/Mozilla.
When will you people realise that Firefox 'borrowed' many ideas from Opera and other browsers? To say that a lot of the features of Firefox are original would be giving it far too much credit, while there are innovative features there are also features that are just evolutions of existing implementations elsewhere and also features that are just exact copies.
Just because Microsoft have finally caught up does not mean they've copied Firefox inside out. Yea, they may look the same now but no one was complaining 'Firefox/Mozilla copied Opera when they added tabbed browsing'
Please try to understand that software development is about continuous improvement and new products are often just evolutions of old ones. Without this process we wouldn't have any innovative features.
Another example is Linux itself, Linus made a clone of Unix but no one screamed he was ripping off or copying. Today, because of this clone we have an Operating System that is evolving and taking on concepts from embedded hardware, real-time operating systems, etc.. Few of these are *original* in their own right but the benefit to users is still there.
I agree that this feature will not help you, or most other/. readers since most will have BT clients.
However, it does make BT more accessible. Consider FTP, how many average Internet users have an FTP client? The only reason most have for getting an FTP client is if they have webspace somewhere they want to upload to.
Opera essentially brings BT to such people. It makes BT a commodity protocol like FTP or HTTP, not requiring any special software to use it.
I think Opera should be commended for their effort and I really hope they continue to find the money (and yes, that is what it often takes to fund the development of ideas) to come up with ideas like this.
Opera is a commercial company and with their relatively modest research and development budget they've come up with a fairly neat idea to incorporate BitTorrent into a web-browser.
Now granted, it doesn't take a genuius to be able to put 2+2 together, afterall, one might see it as a simple extension of what web-browsers already provide.
What slightly annoys me is comments like 'some enterprising firefox/mozilla will have this feature in a couple of weeks' - couple that with statements such as 'open source drives innovativation'.
While I don't doubt either statement, this example is one where open source hasn't driven the innovation. It has helped (BitTorrent is open-source, without it Opera would have nothing). But then, if an Open Source browser developer just 'copies' this feature - where is the innovation?
If open source really drove innovation, why didn't some bright OSS developer have the idea for such a feature sooner?
Government: "You the people put us in a position of trust, leadership and power and now you must trust that we know what's best for you... you're all too stupid to vote and think for yourselves so we'll do it for you"
In the US there was/is a scare of a recession from the current downturn in the economy and there is a great fear that any recession could find itself into other areas of the globe, especially Europe. Coupled with the uncertainty created by the 9/11 attacks and the current situation in the Middle East the economy is taking a cautious pause.
Many companies are reporting losses or are announcing that they may not reach expectations - *sarcasm* I suppose that is all because of Internet file swapping too?
Give me a break, I think all things considered a 10% decrease in sales wasn't as bad as should have been expected from the signs in the economy.
Also, if Internet file swapping does have such a negative effect on CD sales then why are record companies creating their own online distribution mechanisms? Presumably to cut out the middle men, in this case the CD retailers. I think the COO at Best Buy may need to take a step back and consider the full implications of his comments!
OK, I really have no idea about the implications of this, or whether it is legal: Why not put a clause in your legal contract that says the larger company will have to pay any legal costs on your part should you decide to even pursue them in the courts for a possible violation... It should serve as a stark warning to them should they decide to do wrong by you - and before anyone suggests its not fair, just think about the risk you're about to take;) you have to cover your own back.
Slashdot Mirror
IDL have been doing this for years - http://www.investor-dynamics.com/
It seems like every online service these days is advertising 'beta' status by stamping it in capital letters right by its logo. Why do these companies feel the need to put their beta logo in the same exact place that Google choose to place it in GMail?
Next, look at use of IT in the same commercial sector as yours, are there any aspects you might want to adopt? extend? do something 'similar' but 'better' i.e. innovate upon? If so, write down the work necessary.
Finally, agree with stakeholders what you want your IT systems to achieve. Don't be vague, be specific - you need to work out 'what' you want at this stage but not 'how' you want it done.
Armed with this information, you should have a clear direction for your IT department. You should have a list of requirements and desirables.
Email your requirements to some IT consultancies that can implement your needs. Most reputable companies will talk to you and give you ballpark figures without you having to buy their services.
The goal here is to get the biggest return for your investment in IT. Sometimes the cost of doing nothing will be far less than the cost of upgrading or replacing a system, in which case you hold off on modifications in that area.
Other times, the cost of doing nothing will be more expensive the cost of implementing a change, in these instances recommend these changes.
Finally, you should hand to your boss something that tells them the amount they ought to spend and what benefits you expect.
PS: Don't forget, some benefits don't have direct financial benefits but may make customers more likely to use/recommend you, staff happier to work for you, etc.. Mention these benefits.
PPS: If your company culture is technophobic then bear in mind the cost of change can be high (retraining, errors using the new systems, etc).
Good luck :-)
It amazes me how some Slashdot users are, complaining that Microsoft has ripped off Firefox/Mozilla.
When will you people realise that Firefox 'borrowed' many ideas from Opera and other browsers? To say that a lot of the features of Firefox are original would be giving it far too much credit, while there are innovative features there are also features that are just evolutions of existing implementations elsewhere and also features that are just exact copies.
Just because Microsoft have finally caught up does not mean they've copied Firefox inside out. Yea, they may look the same now but no one was complaining 'Firefox/Mozilla copied Opera when they added tabbed browsing'
Please try to understand that software development is about continuous improvement and new products are often just evolutions of old ones. Without this process we wouldn't have any innovative features.
Another example is Linux itself, Linus made a clone of Unix but no one screamed he was ripping off or copying. Today, because of this clone we have an Operating System that is evolving and taking on concepts from embedded hardware, real-time operating systems, etc.. Few of these are *original* in their own right but the benefit to users is still there.
However, it does make BT more accessible. Consider FTP, how many average Internet users have an FTP client? The only reason most have for getting an FTP client is if they have webspace somewhere they want to upload to.
Opera essentially brings BT to such people. It makes BT a commodity protocol like FTP or HTTP, not requiring any special software to use it.
I think Opera should be commended for their effort and I really hope they continue to find the money (and yes, that is what it often takes to fund the development of ideas) to come up with ideas like this.
Opera is a commercial company and with their relatively modest research and development budget they've come up with a fairly neat idea to incorporate BitTorrent into a web-browser. Now granted, it doesn't take a genuius to be able to put 2+2 together, afterall, one might see it as a simple extension of what web-browsers already provide. What slightly annoys me is comments like 'some enterprising firefox/mozilla will have this feature in a couple of weeks' - couple that with statements such as 'open source drives innovativation'. While I don't doubt either statement, this example is one where open source hasn't driven the innovation. It has helped (BitTorrent is open-source, without it Opera would have nothing). But then, if an Open Source browser developer just 'copies' this feature - where is the innovation? If open source really drove innovation, why didn't some bright OSS developer have the idea for such a feature sooner?
Government: "You the people put us in a position of trust, leadership and power and now you must trust that we know what's best for you... you're all too stupid to vote and think for yourselves so we'll do it for you"
Many companies are reporting losses or are announcing that they may not reach expectations - *sarcasm* I suppose that is all because of Internet file swapping too?
Give me a break, I think all things considered a 10% decrease in sales wasn't as bad as should have been expected from the signs in the economy.
Also, if Internet file swapping does have such a negative effect on CD sales then why are record companies creating their own online distribution mechanisms? Presumably to cut out the middle men, in this case the CD retailers. I think the COO at Best Buy may need to take a step back and consider the full implications of his comments!
OK, I really have no idea about the implications of this, or whether it is legal: Why not put a clause in your legal contract that says the larger company will have to pay any legal costs on your part should you decide to even pursue them in the courts for a possible violation... It should serve as a stark warning to them should they decide to do wrong by you - and before anyone suggests its not fair, just think about the risk you're about to take ;) you have to cover your own back.