In Part 1 of this blog, I talked about two main development processes that software developers use, waterfall and agile. In this post, I’d like to examine how those processes are relevant in business process, not just in software development.

I have the privilege of working closely with a number of our software vendors to help them improve their products both for our use and for their entire client base. As I have worked with them, I’ve discovered that there are some amazing correlations between software development processes and business development processes. Those similarities have changed the way I look at development, in many areas.

Back in July, I wrote a 2 part series on Demystifying the Cloud. You can find Part 1 HERE and Part 2 HERE. In parts 1 and 2, I talked through the different kinds of clouds, pros and cons and considerations for evaluating the cloud. While I definitely posted some opinion, I intentionally didn’t present a lot of opinion or speculation there. I have had some people asking for my take on the cloud, if it is right for them and where I see things going. So, back by popular demand, this is Part 3 of Demystifying the Cloud, where I’ll walk through my thoughts on the cloud.

In our last blog, we defined IoT and talked a bit about its history. In this post, we will tie that together and talk about the pros and cons of using IoT along with some of the risks and concerns to be aware of when evaluating and/or using IoT in your business.

Everywhere you turn, it seems like everything has the potential to connect to everything. This, often, gets referred to as the Internet of Things (IoT) but that title just seems to confuse many. So, what is IoT, what is the big deal about it and does it matter to you? This blog is the first part of a two part blog where we dig into these questions.

In the last blog, we defined the cloud and talked about what it was and wasn’t, various types of the cloud and so on. In this blog, let’s build on that and talk about the kinds of metrics and considerations you should make when considering whether or not to go into the cloud.

There has been quite a bit of talk and hype around a concept called the cloud that, I have found, really leaves people more confused than informed. The promise of low cost, rapid scalability, no CapEx costs, and no liability to maintain a system are very promising indeed. The question to ask is how much of this is hype and how much is actually real…I believe the reality is that there is a healthy blend of both.

As the capacity of technology is rapidly advancing, it is easy to get caught up in the allure of the possible. Technology, and especially the emergence of cloud computing, opens many new worlds of possibility and opportunity. With all of this capacity, it is imperative that we ask the question, “just because we can, does that mean we should?”

The whole emergence of cloud computing is a very interesting phenomenon. It is most definitely driven by consumers demanding more and more mobile solutions but it is also driven by something else…money. The thing that’s been interesting is that much of the cloud computing world has been rapidly dropping prices. Consequently, this is hurting their revenue…at least in the short-term. So, how does this all work and where is it going…good questions. I don’t know that I’m smart enough to answer every possible question but here are a few of my thoughts and observations.