INTERNEER INC. - COMPANY BLOG

The Instant (Gratification) Application Platform

2007-11-27T15:15:00.000-08:00

"You can configure an application in weeks not months or years," we like to say. Nice phrase, huh? Rolls of the tongue. Weeks! (Not months or years). Lofty. Bold. I like bold. It's compelling; intriguing, but is it for real?

My IT friends from job-experiences-past ask how I am and strain to comprehend the technology I describe to them. "Instant what?" And I am left wondering why the platform seems so incomprehensible to them. Am I not explaining something accurately? Or is our patented technology just too implausible to be taken seriously?

Those who are willing to suspend their disbelief tend to ratchet down the capabilities in their imaginations; "Surely, then, it can't be anything too complex or useable on an enterprise level then," they assume. "Nothing, for example, capable of managing a multi-billion dollar project then can it?" But the truth is, it is and it can. It has and it does. But I no longer have to worry about the plausibility because I have just experienced the fact of it. I am now no longer floating around in the world of white papers and theory and am now in that firmly grounded place of learning by doing.

Here's what happened: In the last few weeks, a tiny team of us-- three to be exact - a sales manager, a developer, and a writer (see also: self) - configured an application in a matter of weeks. (Not months or years). In less than 200 hours all-totaled between the three of us, we configured a substantial, feature-rich application. We based it on a conglomeration of requirements by the sales and marketing teams as well as on an application or five, one of which we happen to know took another company approximately three years to build. (That's years. Not weeks or months).

To be honest, I could hardly believe it myself. No wonder my friends think I'm working in fantasy-land. In a word, it was dazzling.

What did we create? The application imports leads from Excel spreadsheets provided by outside sources, sorts those leads by locations and assigns them to custom-defined sales territories, builds account and contact profiles, and generates "to do" items for the sales team based on those leads. And it does all of this with a few mere clicks of the mouse by the end user. The sales team can then use the system to track calls, close deals, generate reports, etc. And now, not only are we going to sell this application, we are using it ourselves.

Why am I so dazzled? A bit of background: After two decades in the software technology industry, I have never seen anything like this. I have lived and breathed software design processes from requirements specifications to installation and implementation. And the fact that our team spent less time from day-one of dreaming it up to deploying it than the typical Fortune 500 company would have spent drawing up the first iteration of a project plan for such a system is simply staggering. And surprisingly gratifying. From design to deployment in weeks. Literally. And now I can say with absolute confidence, "Yes. It's real."

Construction Management, Design Process Management and other applications configured on the IAP

2007-09-14T13:39:00.000-07:00

As promised, here are some more examples of applications we've configured and deployed with our customers using the IAP:

Construction Management System - Deployed for a large construction company, the IAP was used to configure a solution that replaced an off-the-shelf product that was rigid, inflexible and that did not meet the workflow needs as dictated by the organization. The application manages all communications, documents, and workflow related to RFIs (Request for Information in construction speak), proposal management, change requests, submittals etc. The entire application was configured in about 10 weeks and replicated all the processes that were not working in the other system—except with ours, the processes worked. This is amazing, given the fact that the off-the-shelf product it replaced had literally taken years to develop.

Design Process Management System - Configured in collaboration with one of our partners and deployed at energy and utility companies, this application integrates with our partner's design tool, enabling engineering teams to manage the entire design process from beginning to end, step by step, guiding them between engineering tasks, managing schedules and workflow status, and interfacing with legacy systems. One powerful feature here is the ability for our partner to modify the workflow uniquely for each client, very rapidly and easily, to fit their existing business process, and without programming.

Professional Services Management System - Deployed for a large healthcare organization, this suite of applications configured on the IAP manages projects, time, resources, portfolio, documents and schedules. The interesting aspect of this project is that it started out as a need to better track labor time, but once the customer understood the speed and flexibility of the IAP, it quickly expanded to handle a suite of processes that were previously manual and spreadsheet based. In addition, the customer had already in place a project management solution that was being used by IT, but they opted for the IAP since the business group would be able to own it themselves.

"The IAP seems to do everything! What doesn't it do?"

2007-08-30T22:24:00.000-07:00

I often get asked these two questions by our customers. "The IAP seems to do everything! What doesn't it do?" and "What types of applications have been built on the IAP?" Both are excellent questions and I will attempt to answer them in this blog entry. The IAP is extremely powerful and flexible. The number of capabilities and possible solutions that can be deployed on this platform, given the flexibility and breadth of its feature set, is truly infinite. Having said that, there are two parameters that define the answer to the first question:

The IAP has been optimized for certain types of applications more than others: Specifically, it's ideal for applications that automate a process where people interact with data and each other in a workflow (human processes). In other words, the application guides users through a standard process, notifies them of issues that need their attention, and enables them to centralize, retrieve and process information quickly. The platform is therefore ideal for applications that require information to be presented to people to prompt them to make decisions and that require information to be viewed and reported on in a variety of ways. Given this optimization, examples of applications that are ideal to be built on the IAP include but are not limited to sales force automation, issue tracking, project management and expense tracking.

The IAP was designed to be used by non-programmers: Thus the features, user interface, philosophy and approach to configuration have been optimized for non-programmers. This is important since it forces the simplification of the feature set, requires them to be intuitive and reduces what I call the "God factor," where the user can be "God" and build whatever they want on the platform, just like a traditional development tool such as Visual Studio enables one to do. Given this optimization, applications that are graphically intensive like computer aided design or others that require a high level of user interface definition, or applications that focus on primarily back end transaction processing are NOT optimized for the IAP and are better suited for traditional development platforms geared towards actual programmers.

As for the second question, "What types of applications have been built on the IAP?", the best way to answer it is to list just a few of the many example applications that have been configured on the IAP. This list does not include solutions that have been added to our solutions library, such as Sales Force Automation, Project Portfolio Management, Travel Expense Management and others. I will try to post more of these examples over the coming months.

Two common elements should be immediately clear from the list :

They are all human process type applications
They all represent very unique company processes for which no off-the-shelf solution exists today.

Disaster Recovery System - Deployed for a developing country's government agency, this application walks an environmental specialist through all the steps required to be completed, in the right order, with the appropriate documentation, notifications, reminders etc., after a natural disaster strikes. The requirements were defined based on an extensive review and study performed by a consulting firm . The IAP was then used to design, configure and deploy the solution.

Telemarketing Team Scheduling and Management System - Deployed for a telesales company that deploys teams of telemarketers on projects with specific call requirements and complex scheduling rules. The application enables managers to quickly determine how many teams are needed with how many resources in order to complete a particular customer project. What-if scenarios are easily analyzed and an interface was created to their calling system that enables them to track the amount of time spent on a daily basis and how the teams are performing relative to the customer's expectations.

Product Lifecycle Management System - Deployed for a large consumer electronics company, this application replaced a firm's complex set of entangled Excel spreadsheets that defined a specific competitive advantage methodology for them but that had become a chaotic mess with thousands of spreadsheets circulating daily among hundreds of employees. The IAP was the ideal solution enabling them to scale the solution by replacing all the Excel files, automate their workflow (which was defined on paper but never automated), centralize their information, considerably enhance the capabilities and reporting, while also maintaining the flexibility and ease of change that Excel had provided.

As I complete this blog entry, I realize that I have taken a long hiatus from posting on our company blog. A lot of great things have happened at our company over the past year that have kept me busy and without enough time to post, but I am committed to making more time and hope to be able to post at least monthly moving forward.

Until next time.

Expanded Webinar Schedule!

2007-08-16T13:35:00.000-07:00

Join us for a Webinar. We've just expanded our schedule to include weekly U.S. and international event dates.

During this live demonstration we'll configure a custom application in just 30 minutes. Register to see how quickly an application can be tailored to fit your unique business needs and modified in minutes.

Click here to view webinars with available seats.

To Configure, or to Use Off the Shelf Applications... That is the Question.

2007-07-31T15:06:00.000-07:00

Today, standardized applications or "out of the box software," as they are commonly referred to, still play an important role in the software industry. But, what does the future hold for these rigid applications?

At Interneer, we believe the customer demands for more flexibility and control are dramatically altering the market, requiring software vendors to try to keep pace with the constant changes that businesses undergo. This has been a difficult, if not an impossible task, which has been met with expensive customization options, multiple releases or revisions to base software, or by simply throwing bodies at the problem.

Some companies have chosen to extend current off the shelf applications with very low level programming tools or development environments such as Microsoft Visual Studio, or Sun's Java products. These options always require experienced programmers and systems people. Use of these types of tools over time often requires that the applications are replaced due to changes in business practices as well as changes in programming staff.

This has created a huge market for technologies like Interneer's Instant Application Platform and other platform systems. Interneer's concept of providing a platform to configure and deploy web-based applications quickly and easily for the enterprise, without the need for programming, has given companies more control and choices than what has been available in the market, until now.

Companies can purchase basic solution templates with all the "source" configurations enabling them to make changes in-house or bring in third party service providers to make necessary revisions. Unlike "out of the box software" which is difficult or impossible to extend, this approach is one that gives each company a choice on which direction that it wishes to go and how it will continue to derive value out of the applications it creates today and the modifications needed over time.

It remains to be seen how quickly the market will move away from off the shelf applications and which technologies will move there first, but the train has left the station and we plan on being a big part of this movement.

Fasten your seatbelts.

Michael Edell
CEO

The Top 5 New Year's Resolutions for Business.

2007-01-29T17:34:00.000-08:00

Every year millions of individuals declare: "This year will be different. This is the year I will accomplish life-changing goals." These individuals create a list of resolutions along the lines of losing weight, spending more time with family and other noble causes. When truly implemented, resolutions really do make a meaningful, positive impact.

It makes sense to also apply the tradition of making New Year's Resolutions to business. Looking at flaws in business operations and resolving to improve them leads to monumental improvements. Interneer has compiled a list of the top 5 resolutions every business should make for 2007.

5. Develop New Business Contacts/Relationships

4. Acquire and Retain First Class Human Resources

3. Keep Ahead of the Competition

2. Reduce Costs

1. Increase Efficiency

5. Develop New Business Contacts/Relationships

There is no all-encompassing solution to reach all 5 of these goals. Interneer Intellect, however, certainly can make a significant impact.

Take #5 for example. I'm sorry folks, no software program, even the most advanced chat and online meeting solutions rival developing relationships face-to-face. It is often difficult to meet new people. Resolve to visit at least one networking event per month, and to catch up with old business associates you may be loosing touch with. You will be surprised to see how much impact having "connections" really makes. Interneer Intellect can help you store contact information and schedule meetings.

4. Acquire and Retain First Class Human Resources.

As the economy grows, baby boomers retire and college degrees are becoming too pricey for today's youth, acquiring and retaining top-of-the-line individuals is a challenge for even the most respected companies. Resolve to celebrate the success of current employees by offering them not only a magnetizing work environment no one would want to leave, but also the salary to match. Your business depends on retaining high-quality employees. Interneer Intellect's Human Resources Management configuration streamlines recruiting, hiring and managing employees.

3. Keep Ahead of the Competition

Experts agree competition will be fiercer than ever in 2007. Resolve to make your products or services the most enticing available. The first step requires researching the offerings of your competition. Managing all this information can be overwhelming. Interneer Intellect's Competition Information Tracking Template makes the process easy as cake.

2. Reduce Costs

Reducing costs without jeopardizing quality can be a struggle. Automating processes, however, promises financial gains through better asset management. Resolve to tack where your money really is being used. Interneer Intellect's resource management capabilities track every penny, without limiting funds where they are truly needed.

1. Increase Efficiency

Increasing efficiency is 2007's number one business resolution. In today's modern world, collaboration is delayed when not made as simple and convenient as possible. Resolve to create policies allowing employees to save time in co-dependent environments. Waiting for approvals, adhering to corporate policies and confirming task completions become frivolous activities when not followed-up by others. Interneer Intellect automates business processes by allowing end-users to define custom workflows and interlinked project management applications.

Why Do Time Tracking Systems Fail?

2007-01-29T15:15:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately, time tracking system implementations fail often. Very often. Two of the most common reasons for the high failure rate include a disconnect between the user and the beneficiary; and a disconnect between the time tracking system and other systems.

A time tracking system is utilized mainly by upper management, to review time spent as a baseline for future estimates, billing or to understand bottlenecks. The typical end-user, however, tends to look at time tracking systems with fear, assuming they are in place for the sole purpose of acting as a "big brother," monitoring loyalty along with efficiency.

The common process of clocking in, clocking out, and providing explanations for the time spent does not cut it. A complete time tracking system should monitor efficiency and ROI. The best option is to implement a time tracking system that will not put employees on the spot. Instead, it should link tracking time with the execution of related projects. Measuring efficiency is automated and reported by default, rather than summarized by crafty wordsmiths.

For the manager, there is no tangible benefit of receiving exaggerated, self-serving data. Unfortunately, estimates based on historical data, before a time tracking system was implemented, often provide more realistic impressions of what goes on in the organization. However, without the time tracking system there is less data available, and it is poorly organized.

The second point is more technical. Most time tracking systems are not linked to HR systems, project management systems or other internal systems that are part of the concise time tracking process. It is almost impossible to keep a time tracking system up-to-date without thorough, all-encompassing integration. This is especially the case in midsize or large companies, with hundreds of projects and hundreds of users. Project assignments and changes to HR policies cause parts of the typical time tracking system to become out-of-date quickly, or at least make it very expensive to maintain.

Time tracking software implementations should be tightly coupled with the system that is touching time tracking related information. Systems such as Interneer Intellect intuitively integrate time tracking with the related business processes, including project management, HR management and compliance management. Any time tracking system not integrated with the particular processes it is tracking faces a high likelihood of failure. Large and medium size businesses can not afford the loss in efficiency created by these incomplete time tracking solutions.

The Necessary Background Information for Investigating Enterprise Business Applications.

2007-01-02T10:48:00.000-08:00

The process of researching enterprise business applications is overwhelming. Without proper background information it is difficult to know what to even look for. It is important to review the different types of applications available, and their overlaps. From there, it is important to fully understand your enterprise’s needs. This background information may seem straight-forward, but it is common to discover the software you selected lacks features you never even knew you needed. Software companies do not market the features and benefits their solutions lack. Software sales personnel will not understand exactly what your company needs. You must take the time to fully understand both the software industry’s current offerings and the needs of your company before searching for enterprise business applications.

1. What are the Categories of Enterprise Applications?

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP): A business management system that integrates multiple facets of the business, including planning, manufacturing, sales and marketing. As the ERP methodology has become more popular, software applications have emerged to help business managers implement ERP in business activities such as inventory control, order tracking, customer service, finance and human resources. ERPs are also sometimes defined generically as “business management systems.” In reality, ERP applications are not capable of managing all aspects of the business. ERPs are best for managing database-driven operations such as inventory control, orders, etc. (E.g. SAP).

Business Process Management (BPM): A business process that is a complete and dynamically coordinated set of collaborative and transactional activities. BPM software’s main purpose is to deliver value to the end user. BPM applications are built around process and/or workflow management, meaning they usually have the ability to manage or automate activities following a defined method. (E.g. Savion, Ultimus, Handy Soft etc.).

(Enterprise) Project Management (EPM): EPM applications are task-based and manage tasks, resources and cost-related tasks. (E.g MS Project, Primavera, eProject).

Enterprise Platforms: Fully-functional enterprise platforms are only now emerging on the market. These horizontal applications offer intensive configurability so that each enterprise can tailor the application to their exact needs. (E.g. Interneer Intellect).

Others (Document Management, E-mails etc): There are various other enterprise applications that do not fit in the above groups. They are either developed specifically for an industry or certain needs such as document management, e-mails, etc. (E.g. Microsoft Outlook).

2. What Does an Enterprises Need?

If we look at each enterprise’s needs we typically see that every function of ERP, BPM, EPM or other applications is not required. Rather, a combination of functionalities is ideal. If we look at “Company A” in the figure below, we can see that this company’s needs are mostly encompassed by EPM, but they also have needs from BPM, ERP and other areas. The figure demonstrates that:

Each organization has its own unique needs
Organizations do not require all the detailed functionalities of any business management group
Any organization needs more than one area of functionalities.

3. How to choose an application

When it comes time to choose an application it’s tempting to take the easy route -- demo a few products, make a guess, and hope for the best. It is extremely challenging to understand even your own organization’s requirements, and even more challenging to match requirements to functionalities in a software solution.

These two vital steps can consume a lot of time. Identifying your needs as shown in the figures above will provide guidance.

It may be assumed that “Company A” would be best suited by investigating EPM applications, while “Company B” should look into BPM applications. The problem is that these applications will not address all the requirements. To make up for this, organizations tend to use more than one application to satisfy their needs.

This does not mean applications do not exist capable of solving the vast majority of enterprise business process management requirements. A platform application should be the first consideration made by organizations similar to “Company A” or “Company B.” With a platform application you benefit from building and changing your solution as you go, and as your business changes. This is even more helpful if you can not fully predict all future requirements.

Interneer Intellect is the most robust of the enterprise platform applications on the market. It is used by many organizations, ranging in size and industry. The below figures shows how Interneer Intellect could be implemented for “Company A” and “Company B.”

Tired of sending notification emails?

2006-12-21T11:45:00.000-08:00

Tired of sending notification emails? This can become an annoying task, taking away from productivity in other areas. It should not be your responsibility to send constant emails to remind co-workers that you are waiting on them to complete a task. Nevertheless, it is probably one of the most common tedious tasks you endure on a daily basis. For large groups it becomes even more tedious. Finding all respective email addresses, reviewing previous sent messages, waiting for a reply... there is a better way!

Many companies incorporate project and process management technology to reduce the amount of emails required in a workday. Employees are assigned tasks through automated procedures. If deadlines are approaching they receive a reminder automatically. “I didn’t get the email” is no longer a valid excuse. Interneer Intellect is one system that provides this functionality. In fact, Interneer Intellect captures your entire organization’s processes and procedures, virtually eliminating the need for internal emails. Join Interneer in the revolution to capture and automate your company’s processes.

Why are Custom Project Process Management Solutions Important for the Aerospace Industry?

2006-12-18T15:41:00.000-08:00

Some people may wonder why Interneer chose to develop project management templates specifically tailored for the Aerospace Industry. The answer lies both in the importance of project management in the Aerospace Industry and the background of one of Interneer’s co-founders, Jaime Sipila.

The Aerospace Industry is extremely project-intensive; companies spend years on long-term contracts or development projects when introducing a new aircraft or aviation equipment. Because of this, aerospace projects typically have large budgets and extremely complex associated business processes. Therefore, executing all projects as efficiently as possible is crucial. An industry-specific project process management system ensures that projects are carried out in the most cost-effective manner possible.

In addition, Jaime Sipila, Chief Strategy Officer of Interneer, has a strong educational background and prior professional experience in the Aerospace Industry. Jaime worked on engineering projects for companies including Boeing, JPL, Hughes and NASA. The creation of an extremely powerful and flexible web-based software solution especially relevant to the Aerospace Industry was the result of his combined passion for software engineering and the Aerospace Industry.

Interneer Intellect, which is primarily a platform for building custom business applications, is enhanced for the simple creation of custom project process management systems for the Aerospace Industry. Aerospace business professionals are empowered to define custom applications reflecting their unique business processes. This is because Interneer Intellect is available with templates and functionalities specifically relevant to the Aerospace Industry

For more information on Interneer’s Aerospace industry project process management configuration click here.

I don't have time to do this task!

2006-12-13T11:54:00.000-08:00

“I don't have time to do this task!” Does this sound familiar to you? Do you ever hear yourself saying this? It is exactly what I said to myself before writing this article. “Can I really write this blog entry right now? I don’t have time!”

Hopefully, somebody will read this, so at least I don't feel like I wasted my time. This brings up a distinction -- there is not having enough time and then there is not wanting to waste time. I think, more often than not, when we find ourselves complaining that “we don't have enough time,” we really do have the time. Of course, we can’t always do everything we would like to do. However, we can use time more wisely by prioritizing and organizing tasks.

Look back and review what you expected to complete yesterday. After all was said and done, what did you actually get done? Could you have finished more tasks if you were not spending unnecessary time searching for a document, preparing reports, asking for the status of specific projects or reading emails? If you want more time, then you need to identify what you really spend most of your time doing. (I can hear you saying: “...but I don’t have time to do that now.” But please, reserve 10 minutes -- delay all that other stuff). You will realize that most of your time is spent on communication or tediously searching for information. If you want more time, then you need to either delegate some of your more tedious daily tasks to other people or automate them. If you are not in a position to delegate tasks to others, I suggest thinking about automating all the processes that waste time.

Think about how much your life could change if the time-consuming and redundant tasks that plague your workday were automated. The more you automate, the more time you will save. Software is the best way to automate business tasks.

You can find many software systems to satisfy your basic needs. Most promise to save you time. There are only a few systems that fully automate your unique, constantly changing tasks. Interneer Intellect is one of them. By using Interneer Intellect you can generate reports, track the status of on-going projects easily; without the need for communication, searching or calculation. Since it is fully-customizable, it fits your company’s exact processes and needs. It's easy and quick to define your project in Intellect, build your application and start using it. It just takes a few minutes.

Don’t forget, if you need more time; automate as much as you can.

The structure of Information Systems.

2006-12-08T11:34:00.000-08:00

In a perfect world, all Information Systems (IS) would bring the necessary structure to ongoing processes, consequently improving them. Glitches in project and process management would automatically be fixed. The challenge for developers of project and process management software is that business professionals now demand this “perfect world” to become a reality.

Many business professionals receive a fat slap in the face after implementing project process management software. It looked perfect, with its long list of benefits and features -- the mistake was looking only at the diversity of functionalities.

An IS system is there to maximize efficiency and minimize human errors. A good tool is capable of reflecting existing processes rather than imposing processes. Imposed processes are typically theoretical or defined by somebody other than the creator of those processes. The best tools should also be capable of adjusting themselves to updates to processes.

This makes flexible, end-user defined applications the best solutions for project and process management. Yet, not many people look at “user-control” as a requirement that must be included on the list of a solution’s features and benefits. User-controlled systems are flexible enough to reflect the current processes of any organization, as well as to accommodate any future changes. And these changes can be done by the end-user rather than a software development company.

Don’t be fooled by a long list of features and benefits on a flashy website promoting a project and process management solution that is not flexible. A user-customizable platform is a must for any organization wanting to maximize efficiency through project and process management software.

The benefits of SaaS for enterprise businesses

2006-12-04T11:42:00.000-08:00

I recently stumbled across a technical article published on Microsoft's website called "Software as a Service (SaaS): An Enterprise Perspective." Since Interneer uses the SaaS sales model, and enterprise business professionals make up the majority of Interneer Intellect end-users, I thought the article was worthy of further investigation. The article, which includes many visual aids, gives a concise explanation of the many benefits of the SaaS model for the enterprise.

In summary, and in addition to the Microsoft article, I feel that the top benefits for the enterprise business professional to purchase software using the SaaS model include:

1. The vendor is held accountable. If the vendor's software contains bugs, customers will not put up with it for very long. The software company is therefore motivated to fix any problems.

2. The vendor works for the buyer. Customers don't have to rely on their IT department to install applications. Everything is running securely at the vendor's location.

3. Lower Initial Investment. When not following the SaaS sales model, large-scale enterprise business software implementations can cost tens-of-thousands of dollars or more up-front. Instead of investing a large lump sum from the start, customers pay for software monthly - the monetary risk is lower. The SaaS model puts the risk of not only a successful rollout, but also the continued usefulness of the product in the hands of the vendor. Why should the customer take all that risk?

4. Vendors must provide a secure environment for backing up data.

5. Easy upgrades.

Document Management Software with Integrated Compliance Management Tools is Essential for the Enterprise.

2006-11-27T13:29:00.000-08:00

A significantly large proportion of documents owned by enterprises is in digital format and might never be seen in hardcopy. Managing these electronic-based files has become a priority for CIOs and IT professionals in recent years.

Document Management systems provide several benefits to companies attempting to store, archive, retrieve, safeguard and distribute large numbers of electronic documents. The need to implement an integrated electronic document management system is growing by the day. Realizing this opportunity, many global software vendors have launched document management products to facilitate this process.

An indirect requirement for Document Management Systems in the enterprise is storing the documents related to enterprise compliance policies, their updates, amendments, the internal control policies of the company and other documents of a similar nature that help in proving the compliance process at the enterprise. The capability to create workflows automatically creates auditable process paths.

Few document management solutions are equipped to handle both document management and related compliance management functions. Some small businesses require only a simple document management system with no compliance assurance tools. For enterprises, these key features, which ensure compliance with such measures as Sarbanes-Oxley, are imperative.

Interneer Intellect includes tools for compliance management but also replication of company-specific forms for data entry purposes, workflow, web-based access, document reporting, meta data association and company-specific taxonomy.

For more information on Interneer Intellect’s Document Management Solution click here.

Management Consulting with Teeth

2006-11-19T16:46:00.000-08:00

One of our partners and friends, John Thomas, Principal of The Windward Group spoke with me on the phone the other day. To make a point, he instructed me to search the words management consulting criticism on Wikipedia. In particular, John pointed out this exerpt, "A number of highly critical books about management consulting argue that the mismatch between management consulting advice and the ability of business executives to actually create the change suggested results in substantial damages to existing businesses...". "That is what always bothered me about consultants", he said. Most will leave behind slide presentations, documents, and advice which just gathers dust without an automated system to implement it.

This is another illustration what makes Interneer so powerful for consultants, internal or external. With no programming experience they create the workflows, processes, and framework to validate, execute, and track their plans, long after they go. They build the vision and the machine that gets their clients there. This is engaged management consulting with teeth.

If you want more teeth in your consulting, contact us.

Email is NOT a Document Management System Part III: Fallacy 2 - Email Easily Searchable for Docs

2006-11-17T18:11:00.000-08:00

Fallacy 2 – email is great for storing documents because I can easily search for them

How many times have you sought out an important document only to find out that you weren’t cc’d in the email message that it was contained in? Sure, the people that actually received the email can find it, if they know the right key words to search for. But if you’re out of the loop, you’re out. You have to find someone that either sent the email or received it – thus creating a whole new chain of email communications.

But maybe you were cc’d on the email. Ok, great. Now how do you find it? In many cases, the email Subject line is irrelevant to the content, thus preventing a successful search. Even the content of the email can be completely irrelevant. How many times have you sent or received an email talking about some innocuous subject, only at the end to write something like, “Oh, by the way, I attached that document we were talking about earlier today”? Try to find that one…

Microsoft Outlook, for instance, has a decent keyword search engine. But unless you’ve done a great job with the Organize feature and used the folder hierarchy system to its fullest, the emails are basically in a jumbled mess with little or no context. You typically end up scanning through many tens or hundreds of emails around a date you ‘think’ you might have received the email, or you try keyword after keyword looking for what you need. It makes you wonder why there aren’t better technologies for searching. Google Desktop Search has certainly helped in that regard recently, but then you have yet another application to work with.

Regarding context, not only does your document management system need to be centrally located and available to anyone at any time, but it also must store documents in some intelligent manner so that when you do need the information, it is easy to find. How many of us really take the time to organize our email folders properly? Even if you do have a folder for Project A, for example, there are so many different types of communications related to that project that to provide context, you would have to further create subfolders comprising documents, data, requests for change, etc. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. There is simply no way to control the content or structure of what someone will send you in an email.

Lastly, by its very nature, email promotes stranded documents. You don’t have access to Jane’s email, and she doesn’t have access to yours. Any critical document in her email resides, stranded, on her hard drive. A true document management system requires that all documents reside in a centralized location for anyone, with proper access privileges, to access at any time.

Next Week (after the holiday break): Fallacy 3 – email promotes accountability

Technorati Profile

Email is NOT a Document Management System Part II: Fallacy 1 - Email for Collaboration

2006-11-13T15:31:00.000-08:00

Fallacy 1 – email is great for document management because it is a collaborative tool

Yes, email allows for quick and easy communication. In fact it has fundamentally changed the way we do business. However, the critical word in this particular fallacy is “collaborative”. If you ask 20 people what collaboration means to them in reference to software, you’ll get 20 different responses. You’ll hear things like “real time”, “centralized knowledge”, and even “white boards”. Is email a collaborative tool? Sure it is – in the sense that you are able to share pieces of information with many others. It is neither centralized nor real time however.

Centralized and real time imply that users can actively seek out the most current piece of information at any time. From the receiver’s perspective – the user that wants to see the updated information – email is very much a passive tool in the sense that she has to wait for another user to actively send the most current information. There is no central location for her to search across all email accounts. Although the email accounts may reside on one central server, access to each account is available only to an account owner. Furthermore, the user that sends the information (assuming she is sending the correct file) must remember to include every user’s address in the email. Forget a user’s name and that user is out of what could be a critical communication loop.

Adding frustration to an already annoying situation, it is likely that the recipient already had the file in his email in the first place. He may not have searched for it properly. So rather than simply pulling it up on demand, he ends up either recreating the work, or sending out requests to get copies of it – now spreading the inefficiencies to others with multiplicative effects. And if the sender accidentally sends out the wrong version in haste, watch out!! Once again, there are elements of collaboration, but very ineffective collaboration at best. Team members end up with duplicated work, disrupted work flow, and quite often confusion.

One of the most prevalent issues here is a lack of standardized structure. Even if someone sends the email to all who need it, most recipients do not file/sort the information at all. So rather than searching for it when needed, team members waste time writing emails asking for it to be resent. Or, they will spend time searching for, or possibly recreating the information and then sending it out again. During the course of a program (project) this can and will happen multiple times by the various recipients and senders on the very same piece of information!!! This is collaboration all right, but of the most inefficient kind.

Next week: Fallacy 2 - email is great for storing documents because I can easily search for them

Who Should Participate in Interneer's Administrative Training Courses?

2006-11-13T11:28:00.000-08:00

Interneer Intellect allows the average person, with or without knowledge of computer programming, to easily build fully-functional and extremely useful business applications. This is because Intellect features easy-to-understand visual guides and wizards.

Intellect's Instant Application Framework makes it simple to quickly create dynamic forms, interactive tables, workflow diagrams and collaboration tools such as due date notifications and sign-off requests. As a result, administrative users are empowered to configure the system whenever necessary, even if he or she has no knowledge of computer programming.

It is generally true that typical non-administrative end-users can take advantage of Intellect without any formal training. However, administrative users desiring to configure the system and utilize macros are encouraged to take advantage of Interneer’s online administrative user training courses.

There are three online training courses, conducted by ExecuTrain, the world's leading business education company. The first course, the Beginning Administrative level course, instructs participants on how to make simple configurations in Intellect. Those planning on managing an Interneer Intellect system are required to participate in at least this introductory course, and highly advised to continue with the proceeding courses.

For more information on Interneer, Inc.’s beginning level online training course click here.

"Yeah, but what IS it?"

2006-11-12T17:45:00.000-08:00

I used to get that after my financing presentations. That's one of the first things they teach you in Venture Capital School to take the wind out of an entrepreneur's sails. It is a polite way of saying, You speak jibberish, you have a senseless product, and I've been quietly enduring your blather for the last thirty minutes.

Anyway, after trial and error and a ton of feedback I eventually got the product message right for most people with a little technical background and some business experience.

So here it is. Interneer Intellect is a platform that saves money and increases productivity by enabling business people to define software solutions for their company with no programming.

Specifically it combines a configurable data base and templates, drag-and-drop workflow creation, a business rules-engine (to govern the workflow), wizard driven reporting to easily create charts and graphs that tell you what is happening, powerful access control - essentially all the function needed to create enterprise solutions that change with the needs of your business.

I hope that helps clarify what "It" is. I welcome questions or suggestions.

Beware the complex DIY solutions out there!

2006-11-08T20:27:00.000-08:00

As part of my role at Interneer, I spend a lot of time reviewing what's in the software world that may rival our platform or provide promising potential for integration. As I have reported in previous posts, there is definitely a recent emergence of new solutions that are designed to empower the business user to create web applications without programming. What I have noticed, however, is that a lot of these products are very complex for the average user.

Here are some quick rules that I apply to determine whether a solution fits our criteria for simplicity for the end user:

Is the application functionality described using programming concepts, e.g. objects, methods, inheritance etc. (HUH!??) that are unfamiliar to the typical business user?

Does the company expect the business user to know how to create Excel macros (I don't even know how to create one)?

Is "scripting" part of the core capability to create the application? "scripting" = programming

Does the user have to "compile" the application before it can run? This is another code word for complex.

Does the application "generate" code to be deployed? Generating code often means learning programming to understand why it doesn't work when trying to install.

Do you have to create table definitions in a database, or specify relationships between tables, or foreign keys etc.? All buzzwords for complex.

I will keep adding to this list as I uncover more. In the meantime, remember these rules when researching solutions out there.

The Software Behind Huge Multi-Project Environments

2006-11-07T15:53:00.000-08:00

With business software, even the smallest technological advancements lead to savings. The savings are indirect, achieved through increased efficiency. This is especially true for enterprises with huge, multi-project environments. Finding the right software to handle such an environment, however, can be a monumental task.

Many solutions only equipped for small and medium-sized businesses are disguised. Overly-ambitious marketing campaigns and exaggerated product descriptions lump thousands of unequal solutions into a single “enterprise business software” category.

At this high-end level business software must meet a lot of additional requirements. Some features that set true enterprise project management software, for example, apart from the rest include:

-Various means of sharing resources between multiple projects
-Sophisticated risk assessment tools
-Detailed project performance tracking
-Tools for creating a detailed project budget
-Automation when demanded, with the ability to be overridden
-Company-specific processes definitions
-Workflow

"Fun" application development?

2006-11-06T18:18:00.000-08:00

The word "fun" and "application development", don't normally appear in the same sentence - or so I thought.

The other day I spoke with the department head of a major electric utility. He shared that he would leave for home at 5pm, crack open a beer, and pull up to his computer to do some configuration on his department's Interneer Intellect system. I was tickled. He actually sounded excited about that. Good to hear that its not just me...

Our partner from Egal Systems, Craig Merritt's, response was, "yeah, it's fun to control your own software solutions", when I told him.

Adapting solutions to our own problems is thrilling, and it will soon become commonplace with user-defined, user-controlled software. However, at the enterprise level IT departments and specialists will remain more vital than ever to define a cohesive strategy and facilitate its execution.

Email is NOT a Document Management System

2006-11-03T17:12:00.000-08:00

Does this sound familiar? “Does the 10/11/06 email have the most recent requirements document, or was there a later email that I wasn’t copied on?” Or better yet… “Hey, I’ve been working for the last week based on the specifications laid out in the 10/11/06 email. It’s not my fault that I wasn’t cc’d with the latest version. It’s not my responsibility.”

Email is a powerful and critical communications tool in today’s fast-paced Internet economy. It is NOT, however, a document management tool. Too many companies are using it as such, and the purpose of this series of brief articles is to point out some of the fallacies and issues of using email to manage documents, and also to begin to define the attributes of a better system.

For each of the next four weeks the following fallacies will be explored:

Fallacy 1 – email is great for document management because it is a collaborative tool
Fallacy 2 – email is great for storing documents because I can easily search for them
Fallacy 3 – email promotes accountability
Fallacy 4 – email is more efficient

Stay tuned...

Construction Project Process Management

2006-11-03T11:15:00.000-08:00

Interneer has recently added new pages to its website highlighting industry-specific configurations. These new pages, found at www.interneer.com/industries/overview.asp, promote configurations that have long been available, but until know have not been explicitly represented on the website. These new pages present configurations for the healthcare, non-profit and international development and construction industries. The most recent addition is the construction industry targeted page.

Interneer Intellect, tailored specifically for the construction industry, is currently in use by such organizations as Construction Eco Services, PEER Consultants, Yapi-Tek, FCI Management Consultants and the Government of Grenada through a World Bank project. Interneer is excited to expand its presence in this important industry.

Interneer Intellect provides a comprehensive Construction Project and Process Management configuration. This system aids in making even the most complex construction projects a reality. The flexibility offered through a user-controlled work environment makes Intellect stand out against the competition. Click here to view the Construction Project and Process Management product brochure (PDF).

Templates

2006-10-19T17:40:00.000-07:00

For many do-it-yourselfers, it sometimes is easier to get started with an existing template than from scratch. Over the years we have developed many templates for many customers in many industries. This enabled us to collect a lot of best practices and insights and created a large library that we often provide to new and existing customers.

It's interesting how similar the processes from companies in different industries can be. Also, it's surprising how different the processes from companies in the same industry can be.

Here's a list of some of those templates:

Executive project management
Project management
Process Management
Operations management
Team scheduling
Investment management

Loan management
Appraisal management
Software Lifecycle development
Resource Management
Marketing campaign and opportunity tracking
Sales automation
CRM
Portfolio management
Association Management
Meeting Management
Help Desk
Issue tracking
Bug Tracking
Document Management
Construction Management
Task Management
Time Tracking
ISO 9000
Patient Data Management
Quality Management
Marketing Forecasting
Business Data Reporting
Non-Profit Management
Inventory Management
Human Resources Management
Labor Management