The Future Requirements of Corporate IT Strategy

Summary

Whilst the world suffers from the largest economic slowdown in history, and we all vilify the bankers for their role in creating the mess, a silent revolution is occurring. We are, quite literally, slipping into the future of work, and most of us do not realise it is happening.

Create An Ipad App

A few months ago Steve Jobs announced the launch of the iPad. The great and the good got on their blogs, and wrote about how this was an enlarged iPhone and how they couldn't see the reason for the device. I must admit to being quite cautious in my own opinions of the device, whilst at the same time acknowledging in my waters that something fundamental was afoot. I couldn't do anything to assuage my feeling, as I quite simply couldn't get hold of the device to find out.

However, I now possess an iPad, and having had the opportunity to interact with the device for over a month, have had time to think about what it means. Far from being critical of the device, I find myself in the position of understanding just what Steve Jobs has done on a technological level. He has quite simply created the future of work. In the following article I will attempt to explain what I mean and, hopefully, to persuade you, the reader, to share my point of view.

Explanation

In itself, the iPad is really a screen with a large battery and an antennae. We can get all caught up in the beauty of the thing, the technical advance of the touch screen interface and the format of the device, but that would be sidelining the discussion, and isn't really pertinent to the points I am about to make.

Firstly, the device is portable (highly portable). This is something to do with its size, but also to do with the lack of keyboard; both features enabled by the technological innovations. But these innovations aside, this is one of its greatest assets.

Secondly, like the Psions of old, you can use this device intermittently for days without the need to recharge. This is also a technological advance, but more importantly it supports and enables the portability aspect of the device.

Thirdly, it is designed to interact. This is its crowning glory. Simple interaction. As users, we do not need to be world class IT experts to work this device and to interact with the web; all of that is taken care of by the software and the apps. This is where the device becomes the future of work. All of the major app software developers are now creating API's into each others' apps. This is great, as it means that if I love using Omnifocus to manage my life, but my work colleague likes to use Taska, I will soon be able to interface through a 3rd party like Toodledo. I only use these three Applications as examples, as they are not all yet interacting as described. But this is the direction in which much of the software Development is going.

You then need to ask yourself the question, what does this mean going forward? For example, if I am employed by a company which has a Microsoft centric operating system, why would I chose to use Microsoft, when I could choose to use another product which better suited my needs? If I am forced to use Outlook at work, but I hate the program and the hardware restrictions imposed upon me, I might forward the email to my Gmail account and work on the iPad instead. Why should I use the Outlook calendar system when I prefer iCal, which allows me to integrate my working life with my social life. Perhaps I don't want to use Microsoft Project at work, because it's too complicated. Instead I may want to set up a quick little collaborative project time line and forum on line. The firewall at work prevents me from doing this, but my iPad allows me to do it, and the apps allow me to be up and running and sharing in minutes.

Take for example a fictitious working family who need to manage their accounts and expenses. The husband uses MYOB, but he is required to have a separate expenses program for work, which may or may not interact with his online banking. His wife has a separate expenses system for her work and a different personal banking arrangement. Their accountant who does their tax return uses SAGE. At the moment all parties interacting in this technological soup are required to use separate proprietary systems. As a result, no one is able to manage all accounts under one roof and all are required to learn and interact with a number of different systems. This is highly inefficient.

What is becoming clear at just this basic level, is that the role of central IT must change dramatically over the coming years in order to enable this sort of networked, interactive computing model. The question central IT need to ask is "how do we enable this sort of behaviour within a secure environment?" How can we control the digital presentation of a meeting from Livescribe, whilst allowing it to be shared freely with the people who are allowed to access it? The answer must refrain from limiting participants choices; rather it must enable choice. If it can do this effectively, then the future of work will be a much more productive environment, and the role of technology as an enabler will become much more pronounced.

On the Apple iPad website there are a few examples of companies which have embraced the new technologies. It is interesting that there are a range of different reasons given for doing so, but predominantly it is one of efficiency. Efficiency is constantly used as a justification, and in these case studies it is easy to see that efficiency could indeed be improved. However, efficiency savings go deeper than the obvious ones, and this is certain to be true going forward. Currently there is a young generation of workers who are required to separate their entire technological and online social/collaborative lives from work due to the restrictive IT practices of the past. These restrictions prevent employees from working efficiently, and from collaborating and sharing, whilst at the same time restrict the choice of Applications which they can use to get the job done.

Conclusion

The message is simple: we are entering an era where technology will become part of every aspect of our life, and we shall interact seamlessly on multiple fronts using an array of Applications and devices. Businesses need to alter their internal IT processes and procedures to allow this to happen. Success will be recognised by our ability to 'do at work' what we 'do socially' with our technology, and failure will be defined by our inability to accomplish a task that would otherwise be achievable outside the workplace.

The Future Requirements of Corporate IT Strategy

Distance and Online Learning - Basic Computing Requirements for the Distance Learner

The Distance Learner generally is the ready learner that is in the quest of seeking knowledge either to satisfy an information needs ranging from career pursuit or upgrade, it may even be for personal enlightenment or personal Development. As the Chinese proverbs says "when the student is ready, the teacher appears". This axiom explains the surge and proliferation of distance and online institutions that abound on the internet today. You will definitely find your spam mails full of these institutions both accredited and 'diploma mills' outfits that are purely scammers.

Here are some basic computing skills that a fresher in online or elearning should take as Skills Checklist for Distance Learning. I will list the skills set and the recommended packages you need to learn to acquire the knowledge and practice. For instance you should be able to know the basic computer hardware education you need for learning online.

Application Development

Equally important is the knowledge of the basic operating and Application software. The Operating System which is most commonly called Windows. There is also software for almost anything you want to do with your computer which is refer to Application software for picture editing, movie making, music production, watching movies or TV, and more. Below are the checklist of skill sets needed before you as a distance learner can be ready for online education. the fresh distance learner must learn

Identification of mobile storage devices for files and other forms of data e.g Flash drives, DVD, CD, MP3 etc How to create folders and navigate a directory to locate files on these devices. How to create cut and paste, delete, modify, and save a word processing document. How to create cut and paste, delete, modify, and save a spreadsheet document. How to connect to the internet using a modem How to set up an e-mail account and also book mark your favorite sites on the Internet How to you create an e-mail group list in an e-mail address book How to log and connect to the Internet using Google, Yahoo, AOL, MSN, or other online search directory How to download and install browser plug-ins for readers, media players image viewer etc

If you are proficient in the above skill sets then you are ready for online education through the internet and other electronic cost effective formats that abound in this new mode of education contents delivery system.

A fresh distance learner and an advanced elearner will find these tools very useful in computer training and online learning. With this product you need No books or software needed - Just a windows PC with Internet Explorer/Firefox. Print certificates of completion, with your name on them - great for resumes. Learn what you need to know to pass certification exams. Company managers can view progress reports for employees. 100% 7 day money back guarantee. Pay one time. No hidden fees!

Distance and Online Learning - Basic Computing Requirements for the Distance Learner

Kindle Formatting: Requirements for the Kindle Book Cover Image

You have prepared your manuscript and are ready to e-publish. Now you need to know how to prepare your book images and upload your Kindle book cover to the Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing system. There are two covers you will need: the Product Cover and the Internal eBook Cover. The best file format is JPG, which is acceptable for publishing both the product and internal cover image.

NOTE: I will be talking about the Product display and internal cover only. (not book covers for print)

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Formatting Images Inside Your Kindle Book

Kindle Direct Publishing will convert your images and text for upload to the Amazon Kindle Store as well as display on Kindles and other supported devices. Kindle Direct Publishing can process your book covers in the following formats:
GIF (or.gif) PNG (or.png) BMP (or.bmp) JPEG (or.jpeg)

NOTE: Images will appear in color ONLY on the Kindle Fire device. All other Kindle devices will display black and white.

Internal Book Cover

The best formats to use for the internal Kindle e-book cover is a JPG or GIF image, 127 KB* size at 300 dpi. This will provide enough clarity for images, particularly for large images, or content with gradient patterns. But you also don't want the e-book file size to become too large.

*Amazon recommends a 127K size for book covers. "The largest element of almost any Kindle book will be the image content. Inside your book file, the Kindle book format supports JPEG and GIF images up to 127KB in size. Images that are in other formats supported for upload to KDP (such as BMP or PNG), or that exceed this file size requirement, will be automatically recompressed as JPEG files during the conversion process. Optimizing your images to fit these requirements before uploading to KDP will help decrease the size of your uploaded file. It will also reduce the chance of encountering difficulties in conversion due to large file size." HOWEVER once the reader has purchased your e-book, the Internal ebook cover is a moot point -- they may go and look at your e-book cover, but most do not.

Image Processing

If you choose to upload your Word (.doc) file, and you have embedded images in your content, Kindle Direct Publishing automatically extracts images from the content and replaces them with an HTML img tag. This process converts each image to a separate image file, which becomes a part of your content's publication package (MOBI)

Note: Images do not display accurately when you preview an uploaded file. For instance, larger images may resize or rotate when previewed. If your book has a lot of images, it can be viewed in color by the Kindle Fire or by readers using our free Kindle apps for PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone, Android, and Windows 7 devices. Otherwise, remember that images on Kindle (with the exception of the Fire) are displayed in 16 shades of gray for great contrast and clarity.

The Product Display Book Cover

The product display cover is the image that resides on the virtual bookshelf in the Amazon Kindle Store. It must be 72 dpi and I recommend a JPG file. I commonly create the product cover from the 600 x 800 Internal book cover. The product image needs to be crisp, sharp, and does not need to be any larger the 127K, however, Kindle Direct Publishing accepts two types of files for product display cover images:
JPEG, or.jpeg TIFF, or.tif(f)

KDP applies additional compression to images when displaying them on its website. For best results, images should be uploaded with minimal compression.

Dimensions

I have found the best size to create your cover is 600 x 800 pixels. This is slightly more square than an 6 x 9 inch book cover. In addition, the product cover is displayed on the Web, so the resolution only needs to be 72 dpi for optimal viewing.

Requirements for the size of your cover art:
Image dimensions of at least 500 by 800 pixels -- 600 x 800 pixels produces a full screen cover image. Do not make your image any larger than 2000 pixels on the longest side. Save at 72 dots per inch (dpi) for optimal viewing on the web.

Use Color

Color attracts attention so use color images whenever possible and relevant. The Kindle Fire offer exceptional color clarity, so use color images in your e-book. Although the other Kindle reading devices have a black and white screen, Amazon has Kindle apps for other devices, such as iPhone or PC, which takes advantage of color fonts and images. All images on the Web display using RGB (red, green, blue) color mode, which is the color mode native to the Web and many color screen displays. Combinations of these three colors at varying levels of intensity create over 16 million colors.

Borders for White Cover Art

Cover art with white or very light backgrounds will disappear against the Amazon Kindle Store white background. Adding a very narrow (3-4 pixel) border in medium gray to the Product Book cover Image will define the boundaries of the cover.

Uploading Your Cover to Amazon KDP

To publish on Amazon, you need a Kindle Direct Publishing account.
Log in to your KDP account at http://kdp.amazon.com/. Select the checkbox next to the book you want to edit Select the "Actions" drop-down menu under your book list and choose "Edit book details." Scroll down to the heading labeled "Product Image." Click on the button named "Browse for Image..." A pop-up window will appear. Click the button named "Browse." Locate your cover image file on your computer, click "Open." Click the "Upload Image" button. Uploaded Successfully! will appear along with the preview image. When you have entered all other information scroll to the bottom of page and click "Save and Continue."

Rights and Pricing

You are almost done. On this page you will need to reconfirm Content Rights, and click "Save and Publish" at the bottom of the screen. Changes will take effect on the web site within 24 hours. NOTE: The previewed image serves only as a placeholder while your book completes the publishing process. The publishing process can take about 24 hours (longer if they are backed up). So be patient.

When to Publish

Planning ahead is best, so if you want your book to be live and ready for purchasing by a certain date, then pre-prepare your book publishing information long before you plan to publish. The book sits in "Draft" mode until you publish. Just make sure you change the date on the publication before you publish. If you started the process in March 2011, and finally publish in July, the March date will be used. When working on your ebook, if you don't have a product image Kindle will add a placeholder image to the Amazon detail page for your eBook. DO NOT LEAVE IT THAT WAY! Although the Kindle placeholder contains the title of your book and the first contributor name you entered, it is a generic book cover. While ANY cover produces a better customer experience than displaying a message that an image is not available, nothing can beat a well designed and enticing book cover.

Download sample covers here

Kindle Formatting: Requirements for the Kindle Book Cover Image

How To Ensure Your Business iPad App Meets Your Needs And Requirements?

Businesses are waking up to the realization that an iPad app can help boost their operational performance and also their marketability. For this to happen, they need an app that is perfectly aligned with the needs and requirements of their business. A well-designed and developed app that keeps the business's core goals in mind contributes in a big way towards improving business profitability.

Here are some steps that can help businesses ensure their iPad app perfectly meets their business objectives and goals.

Create An Ipad App

Step 1: Clear Definition of Purpose

You need to have a clear and detailed idea in your mind about the purpose of the app. There are some apps for business that are purely promotion oriented while there are others that ensure better coordination between various departments and there are still others that improve the inherent functionality of a particular business process. Also, each app needs a clearly defined set of objectives and functionality. As a business, it's your prerogative to ensure that you have a comprehensive definition of the business app, whether it's an iPhone app or an iPad app.

Basically a business needs to know, what it wants to achieve with the app.

Step 2: Choosing the right mobile app Development company

Now, that you have a clear idea in your mind about the kind of apps that you want, the next step is to get in touch with a company that is an expert in mobile apps, especially business apps for the iPad. You need to choose such a company with care and consider all the factors that are going to help guarantee that the app developer that you choose is the best in business.

Step 3: Briefing and Keeping Track

Once you pick the company of your choice, you will need to convey your detailed brief to its design and Development team. Make sure that you don't leave anything out. The brief must comprehensively detail your requirements, special features, usability, accessibility, scalability, and the expected date of project delivery. But your role in project development doesn't end there. You will need to ensure that the project is on track and meets your expectations every step of the way. By keeping track of the project, you know where it's heading and whether the process of development is keeping your needs and requirements into consideration at every step of the way. By being aware of the project's development, you will also know whether it will be able to meet the deadline that you have set for its delivery.

These are three steps that help ensure the iPad business app is all that you wanted it to be. As can be seen from these steps, it's of paramount importance that you are as much a part of the development process as the team that is actually developing the app for you. After all, you are going to invest a fair bit of money into app development; it makes sense for you to know where and how your money is being used.

How To Ensure Your Business iPad App Meets Your Needs And Requirements?