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Posts Tagged ‘humor’

Granular permissions or simply over protective.

February 14th, 2010

Recently there are many discussions among our existing clients and partners about possibility extending granularity of the permission in Document’s folder within Claromentis.

permission

This is our current standard permission where having “Edit” rights to a folder means you simply have rights to add and edit both documents and sub folders.

Some of our clients think that current “edit” permission is not flexible enough, they would like to split simple “edit” into sub-folders and documents.

After digging into our enhancement request database, I discovered that this is just one of the many request around the same subject.
Some says that having permission to view content of the folder should be different from permission to view folder’s properties and audit of the folder (usage statistics).

Others want to have flexibility where not all users with edit permission can run workflow on the same folder.

For a second I thought, “Hey this is getting ridiculous!”  Let’s mock-it up and see what happen if we accommodate all of them:

permission2

Can you see something is definitely not right, usability has been compromised to accommodate more granular permission, causing complexity to perform simple task which in most cases we just want simple “Edit”.

This issue raise a philosophical question, “Are we all so stupid so everything has to be over protective?” What’s wrong with a low-tech solution called “discipline”.

My niece is going to celebrate her 1 years old birthday next week. She starts cruising, walking short distances from object to object, she falls often and has many bumps and bruises, but she learns very quickly.

Aren’t we always told that allowing one or two bumps is a good thing?

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Intranet for everyone

September 23rd, 2009

Deploying an intranet within organisation can be a complex project. The fact is that a single system has to be created to cater for requirements from individuals with different needs and objectives.

During the Intranet project implementation we often have brainstorming session with representatives from each department and we ask them what is an ideal intranet according to them if they can ignore others and only focus on what they want to see and get from the system.

Here are some interesting examples of intranet design according to their brief.

Executives

executive

Business performance and KPI is something that Directors and executives have inside their head all the time. This type of busy folks don’t have enough time to drill down the detail, they simply want to see everything at glance without hassle.

Designer/Marketing

designer

The look and feel is something that this type of audience cares the most. Sometime they are a bit too creative for their own sake, ignoring the main purpose of the site.

Legal & HR

legal
Distributing information efficiently, securely and compliant is more important than everything else. This is an example of intranet design according to them.

FootNote:

Claromentis supports multiple visual interfaces, enabling the creation of completely different intranet experiences according to the type of user. In most cases we always ended up with a compromise, not the extremes like the examples above.

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Choosing a name for an Intranet

July 3rd, 2009

Intranet Name

Choosing the right name for your intranet is probably one of the most exciting tasks for the Intranet Development Team. (By the time I am writing this I am still struggling to choose name for my baby, perhaps it’s not quite the same :)

I am seeing there are few interesting patterns based on what our clients decide at the end, here is some example:

1. Greek mythology

Intranet system named after a Greek gods and goddesses, or Greek influence  is definitely the most popular.
Athena - from the Greek goddess of wisdom, the arts, industry, justice and skill, It is the name of Intranet system at Nominet UK.
Atlas -  Atlas was made to bear the weight of the heavens, or was it the earth, this is what will become our own Intranet, and perhaps we’re hoping atlas can help us bear the weight of daily project work and pressure from clients.
Odyssey – An ancient Greek epic poem attributed to Homer. Is the name of intranet for Prometheus Real Estate Company, keep it in-line with Greek theme.
Eureka – (I have found it) exclamation used by ancient Greek scholar Archimedes, appropriate name for Care UK intranet, it certainly has scholar and research flavour to it. Care UK  is hoping their intranet will become  the source of finding information for the entire organisation where every member of staff can say ‘eureka!’.

2. Net-isation

Putting ‘net’ at the end of a choosen word seems quite popular, it’s a hint to network, transmission, exchange information.  Here is some popular example  Infonet, datanet, skynet.

Or you can simply attach the company name with ‘net’ such as intranet for Hanover housing is called the h-net.

3. Synonyms & Popular Culture

Intranet is a virtual place where information is stored; recently many companies are pushing collaboration and application through their intranet. Given this nature these are of popular word to represent the Intranet itself:

he Matrix - Albany Group named their Intranet “The Matrix”  apart from influence from popular sci-fi movie, in cyber culture matrix also means the Internet and other networks that flow into it are altogether.

Nexus - One of the most popular name for the Intranet adopted by many clients. It comes from the Latin “nectere” meaning “to bind.”. The Intranet is a collaboration hub.

Dimensions - Babcock Infrastructure Services named their intranet “Dimensions” Perhaps their vision is to make a multi-dimensional working space.

Basecamp – is the name of The North Face intranet where they visualise their intranet is the a basecamp of outdoor lifes.

4. “My”

Adding “my” in front of company name emphasise on the sense of belonging and ownership. There are several companies who named their intranet with MY+Company name, such as  MySunPower  or  MyGFI.

5. Play with words & accronyms

Tiggle – is a clever acronym from “Tussauds Intranet Global Gateway Linking Everyone” – an Intranet name for Tussauds Group.

Inflo – Interesting play on word. It sounded like “Info”, Inflo is the name of the Intranet/Extranet system of Prefered Brands where they do flooring franchise business.

I am hoping this post will inspire many companies who are thinking about choosing name of the Intranet, why not run a naming competition to find out who comes up with the best idea within your company.

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Claromentis - What’s in the name??

April 1st, 2009

Claromentis Logo

Despite having what seems like 30 different search engines running on my local PC, and having manually searched endless drives and folders for a file I still can’t find, I did come across a document that I created during the first few weeks at Claromentis.

It’s titled “The meaning of CLAROMENTIS”

And surprisingly enough, it actually contains some content.

I managed to find two translations of the word…

Latin Version:
Claro
claro : to make bright or clear, make clear in the mind.
clarus : clear, bright / renowned, famous, illustrious

Mentis
mens mentis : mind, thought, intention, intellect.

Thus: Claromentis = “Clear Mind” or  “Clear Intentions” or “Clear Thinking”

English version…..

Claro : A mild tobacco cigar
Mentis : Intellectual

Thus: Claromentis = “The Intellectual Mild Cigar”

However I interpret it, I always end up with a relaxed phrase or meaning.

Whilst the word “Claromentis” itself has no true meaning, I know it means a great deal to a collection of people around the world.

I’d really like to hear interpretations, view and opinions from other people about our company name, so please get commenting on this.

This isn’t market research, we won’t be changing our name any time soon, and there are no prizes for the best comment… but it should be fun.

Anthony

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Dealing with requests

March 4th, 2009

people

Recently we were discussing about development of  an Intranet system for a large organisation and capture how it seen from different roles involved in the projects:

My classic problem is how you translate this requests into software:

Exec, “I want my company collaborate more efficiently and effectively which lead into more productivity and increase revenue.”

Marketing, “My laptop drives me mad and I have to wait for ages before someone put a new press release on the web.  I want a quick non techie way to communicate ideas and it has to be super user friendly.”

IT,“ We’re barely cope dealing with IT problems here, is this another let’s try a cool new software kind a thing ?”

HR,“So we’re going to share all users detail on the system through web, It’s OK but my HR stuff is still private right ?

Finance, “Is this secure? Does it work with my payroll system? Can it automate some of my excel nightmares?”

Average staff, “Intranet project? Sounds cool, do I get a pay rise ? I hope we’re going to have lavish launch party.”

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What to do when your CVS stops working

September 30th, 2008

Take it to the CVS Pharmacy of course!!!

They stock everything you need to get the CVS back on track

They stock everything you need to get the CVS back on track

CVS = Concurrent Versions System - it’s the platform that we manage our core developement on ;)

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Sometime it’s too cheap, sometime it’s too expensive

September 3rd, 2008
Car

Car

A software solution can cost from virtually free to millions of pounds. How do you find the right product with this immense price-range?

Let’s use an example other than software… say a car. These days you can buy a second hand car from £50 or a Bugatti Veyron for £1million.

A friend of mine asked if I could recommend him a car. Applying a typical IT consultancy to car selling, I asked him if he has budget in mind and what he is going to use it for.

He came up with these two simple requirements:

“Weekly shopping, travel to work, As cheapest possible!”

“Oh well, on that case £50 car will do just fine mate! I can find a good £50 car that does the job”,

After a few days, he said to me, “it’s noisy and uncomfortable”. Bottom line he doesn’t like it at all. Using typical IT consultant defence I said, “Well you didn’t say that before, it wasn’t on the specification.”

He asked me to get him a better car and it has to be quiet and comfortable.

I came up with another second hand car with £800 price-tag which isn’t too bad in my opinion.

A few weeks had gone past with no complain, but then he said to me “it’s ok, but it’s ugly, and it has no AC”.

“I have a new girlfriend and I want a nice looking car”.

“How about this cool looking second hand 4×4 at £5000”

“I take it!”

He is happy for a while now but after a few months he is start complaining “It’s cost a fortune on petrol and I hate taking it for MOT!” can you find me a brand new one?

“OK on that case, How about this, a brand new car for £10,000? It’s quiet, economical, comfortable, stylish and you don’t have to worry about MOT for 3 years!”.

He is thinking for a while and said this to me.

“Every time I am complaining, you always came up with a better car with higher price. Can you just get me the most expensive car I can possibly get? My dad said money is no object and he will buy me any car! I am sick and tired of this process.”

OK here it is a £1million car!

You know what, the car is noisy, uncomfortable and cost a fortune on petrol, but he is never complaining to me. He doesn’t even want to discuss it with anyone knowing he had spent lots of money on it. When people ask how’s the car? He always said “It is the best car in the world!”.

Does it sound familiar?

Software alone cheap or expensive is not going to solve the problem; It never be a simple formula, you need the right software, for the right problem, with the right people behind it.

“It’s not about the car or software, it’s about intricate network of people with talent and skills that matter.”

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