Michael Trup's blog

Outsourcing Design work

Michael Trup — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 16:28:10 +0000

The key lesson is 'Know what you want.' My company has been outsourcing some web design and maintenance for over five years. The first few years it was mostly done with UK companies but two years ago we decided to cut our costs dramatically by outsourcing abroad. We decided to start with a couple of new, non-mission crictial projects especially around the customisation of open source software. I am one of those people who believe that to learn something you have to put your toe in the water but try and make sure you don't get your foot bitten off in the process.

The communication challenges were interesting to say the least and timeframes stretched. Part of it was our fault and part of it lay with our partners. The real root of the problem is that having worked with a UK company with whom you could just explain the broad business objective, we learnt over time that you have to be very clear in knowing exactly what it is that you want when working with an overseas company. If your guidelines are broad there are lots of opportunities for misunderstandings. If there is an opportunity for misunderstanding the chances are it will happen! Of course, you cannot expect someone else to know what you want if you are unclear in your own mind so try and layout your ideas on paper, plot the broad functionalities that you need and then encourage a dialogue both with the overseas project manager and the programmer who is working on it.This process should allow you both to be clear in what it is you want done.

Some Cool Free or Open Source Software

Michael Trup — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 15:31:40 +0000

During the last year I have read a number of tips of places where one can legitmately access free or open source software applications, with some restrictions. Obviously, there are tens of thousands of apps and I am familiar with Sourceforge etc. I have been pleasantly surprised at the number of useful little programs that one can access free. Typically, if you want the full features you have to subscribe or pay for a customisation service, which is fair enough. Here are a few sites I think are cool, useful:

Gliffy - great little online flow charting program

Any recommendations for Wiki software?

Michael Trup — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 09:08:33 +0000

We are looking to install a Wiki internally to act as an online manual/handbook for staff. It needs to be hosted internally on a network for 50 people or so. We want permissioning so that managers can edit/authorise individual contributions, but everyone can contribute. It also needs to be printer friendly. It can be hosted on a Novell Suse Linux or Microsoft 2003 server.

Anyone have any recommendations for software that is easy to use and not too dificult to setup?

The Appliance of Science

Michael Trup — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 16:47:36 +0000

One way for linux to make an impact on the SME marketplace is by using it pre-installed on an appliance. Collax offers a Groupware solution that has all the benefits of stability, security and scalability of linux with an easy to user, Windows like user interface. It is a great alternative to Microsoft Exchange. You can arrange to borrow an evaluation unit from Interactive if you want to have a play around or show it to clients.

Well worth having a go!

What enterprise type Open Source applications do you use?

Michael Trup — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 11:39:33 +0000

Have you used any of these:

Drupal
CentricCRM
SugarCRM
Alfresco
Jaspersoft
OpenExchange

any others? Which do you rate and why?

Any feedback would be appreciated.

Six thousand visitors

Michael Trup — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 16:27:32 +0000

This site has now grown to an average of 6,000 unique visitors a day. It is here for you to publish to news, views and questions on Linux and Open Source whether you are a professional or just a user. Normally you would have to pay to achieve that kind of exposure but in the best traditions of Open Source this site is FREE, so post away!

The Heat is On!

Michael Trup — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 10:12:42 +0000

Novell and Microsoft have just announced a deep level technical collaboration alliance to work on interoperability issues between SuSE Linux and Microsoft! It is a product of recognition that most customers are working in a mixed IT environment. Key issues will revolve around Virtualisation, eDirectory and Active Directory compatibility and Open Office/Microsoft Office document compatibility. Full announcement is available here.

What do you think? Where do we go from here?

Do what I say, not what I do!

Michael Trup — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 10:48:23 +0000

I say you should change your passwords regularly, but I am like the rest of you lot and change them very, very rarely. How about these for some stats:

52% of users NEVER change their passwords
17% of users change them annually
14% of users change them every six months

So no matter how secure your network is from technical threats like viruses, emails and spyware if you are not using some dynamic password technology you are leaving the front door unlocked!

Pay for Linux? Are you mad?

Michael Trup — Tue, 17 Oct 2006 08:55:46 +0000

'But it's free!' is the reaction of a large number of people when offered a commercially-backed version of Linux. 'Why would I want to pay for it?' The truth is that the subscription business model offered by most companies who base their business on servicing open source software is badly understood. Customers and solution providers often do not really appreciate the difference between these fees and a license fee for proprietary software.

Companies like Redhat and Novell need to do a much better job in explaining the value they bring to the table because there is a value, it is just poorly understood. The primary area they add value is providing the resources to manage the incredibly fast rate of change that many open source projects have built in.

What a bunch of losers we all are

Michael Trup — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 08:56:55 +0000

We spend a fortune on anti-virus, firewalls, anti-spam and loads of other internet security devices, yet look at this research for the passwords we use:

21%	Nicknames
15%	Birthdays and anniversaries
15%	Pet names
14%	Family members' name
7%	Memorable dates (such as the Battle of Hastings and England's World Cup victory)
3%	Cash machine (ATM) PIN read more