idhra is a technology consultancy created to provide clear tangible business value through the development of advanced technological solutions. Our consultants are distinguished by their deep technology expertise, broad implementation skills and high EQ. It's this marriage of tech prowess and high EQ which allows us to work effectively with your team. We call it the Power of i-Squared because it results in an exponential increase in value for your business.
idhra helps clients identify and assess business improvement opportunities and assists in managing change initiatives to effectively "operationalize" business strategy through process and technology solutions. We are a provider of operational improvement, risk management and business-technology integration consulting. And we focus on implementing solutions designed to fit your needs today - with an eye towards what tomorrow will bring.
Founded in 2003, idhra has delivered business-critical engagements for Fortune 500 and emerging companies alike, in industries ranging from Energy to Financial Services, High-Tech to Manufacturing.
Our expertise includes E-commerce, Mobile Technologies, Saas Integration and Cloud Computing, Enterprise Application Integration, Application Development, and more...
Let us help you acquire the Power of i-Squared for your next IT project.
If You Have to Build It
Despite our prejudice against native apps, the success of local apps over web pages continues to raise new questions in how to build optimum mobile apps. Depending on your perspective, local, rich client, native apps are a new development in the industry, but they really can be thought of as a resurgence of the truly distributed computing model. There are several emerging guidelines that developers are following when bui... [continued]
You Are Being Left Behind
Technology is constantly reshaping the business landscape - it’s leaving you and the traditional business world behind. The pace of innovation, the divergent path of the consumer world from enterprise IT, and the bottleneck of top-down management are all slowing you down.
There’s a rapidly expanding gap between developing technology and what the enterprise can deliver. If you're paying attention, you might think this ... [continued]
Not On My Watch!
If you think that rogue development is not happening in your company, think again. Most business units have some complaint or another about the IT department, and usually it includes some perception of "incompetence," nation building and outright claims of torture and sadism. And they may be partially right! Here's a little homework for you if you want to uncover who is perhaps stealthly playing in your sandbox (and more impo... [continued]
It's Only 5 or 6 Percent
We all understand that information is the raw material of new products and services, smarter decisions, competitive advantage and greater growth and productivity. Okay, so maybe some missed that memo, but the evidence of a “data payoff” is found in new research from the Sloan School of Management at MIT. It found that those companies that adopted “data-driven decision making” achieved productivity that was 5 to 6 perce... [continued]
Aren't IT buzzwords great! The latest seems to be "Social CRM" (as apposed to "anti-social" CRM?). But the point is that social media has really gained momentum in the realm of customer service infrastructure and CRM software components such that it now has its own nickname.
We mentioned the importance of social media previously at The Four Biggest Opportunities For Enterprise IT Strategy and suggested you consider expanding your use of it thi... [continued]
Forrester Predicts Mobile Apps Will Drive Tech Industry
The explosion of app development that started with the iPhone and has since spread to Blackberry, Android, Windows and even your bicycle's navigation system, seems to continue unabated despite promises that computing will move from the consumer device to the cloud (wasn't Google working on this?). Forrester of course predicts that app development will "drive tech industry innovation and hav... [continued]
Now that R&D and, god forbid, "innovation" are no longer a dirty word in your budget, we have some suggestions around where to focus your resources to get the biggest bang for your buck (and maybe even some "wow factor").
Nothing New Here (or There)
The concept of location awareness has been around so long that (stop yawning!) some of us have forgotten its importance. While we all have discussed the possibilities to within an inch of extinguis... [continued]
SaaS is "Spunky"
Hard to believe, but SaaS is often cast as the spunky new alternative to on-premises software. You know, Salesforce.com vs. Oracle, Google vs. Microsoft, and so on. But SaaS is not a new concept - not by anyone's standards...
While these companies sometimes compete against one another, the reality is far more complex. For your company, which buys and consumes software, it’s far more important that all applications live in harm... [continued]
Mobile technologies continue to evolve significantly in ways that will impact short-term mobile strategies and policies into 2011 and beyond. Obviously, investments in mobile applications and technologies will increase through 2011 as we emerge from the recession.
Significant numbers of customers and/or employees simply expect you to address their particular mobile demands. What mobile technologies are important for your corporate strategies?
Can Android Win Over the Enterprise Market?
For all organizations, especially large ones, the cost advantages of switching from the Blackberry may outweigh the marginal benefits of the current preference for Blackberry Enterprise Server. Competing platforms such as Google Android offer more flexibility with a wider assortment of applications that will increase productivity, especially as the platform matures.
To compound Blackberry's problems, ... [continued]
The benefits of enterprise analytics requires big goals by company executives and very specific directives for company management. Based on a study by IBM and MIT, Sloan School of Management, it requires:
IDC estimates that each year, more than 1.2 million x86 servers are shipped for database deployments, equivalent to more than 15% of the total of x86 servers sold. The large number of SQL Server instances puts a huge burden on IT organizations, but you already know this. Single instance configuration also hugely inflate IT costs and administration requirements for the entire company:
Server sprawl. Most SQL Server instances barely utilize 6%... [continued]
We needed to install Redmine on Heroku using Amazon S3 for file storage. Here is how we did it. Our development server is Ubuntu 10.4.
Setup Local Environment
Dependencies
sudo gem install rails --version 2.3.5 sudo gem install rack --version 1.0.1
Install Redmine
mkdir redmine-working-directory cd redmine-working-directory git init git remote add redmine git://github.com/edavis10/redmine.git git fetch redmine # confirm that redmine/1.0-stable ... [continued]
Joomla is a powerful, easy to use Content Management System. It is used to build well structured websites that are easy to edit and maintain. Joomla's system atchitecture makes it easy for developers to add new functionality. This has lead to the growth of a large developer community around the project.
Python is a relatively new, but extremely robust language that spans both the web and the server backend. As one of Google's premier languages it has a bright future and thriving community.
We use Python for projects that cross the traditional boundaries between web application and web server. Due to its lightning speed, we also use it where performance is the utmost consideration.
PHP has become a ubiquitous widely distributed standard scripting language used in millions of web sites around the world. Due to its ease of use, PHP is the language of choice for quite a few Open Source projects. Examples of highly
successful projects include Drupal, Moodle, SugarCRM, and MediaWiki.
Aside
from extending Open Source projects written in PHP, we use PHP for web-based projects that must be developed very quickly and are ultimately scalable.
The iPhone is the world's leading multi-media smart phone. By creating a direct to the consumer marketplace, Apple has turned a revolution in user-interface design into a whole new multi-million dollar industry.
We have built numerous iPhone apps both for customers and business. We have indepth knowledge of Apple's development process and
the in's and out's of iPhone advertising and product monetization.
Android is an open platform designed from the ground up for the creation of compelling mobile applications. Android gives applications direct access to all aspects of a handset, facilitating developer innovation and rapid technology evolution.
We have built numerous Android apps both for our customers. We
have indepth knowledge of the Android development process as well as the in's and out's of Android advertising and product monetization.
OpenID allows users to keep a centralized identity and to use the same username and password on multiple sites, often with a single click. This simplifies the sign up process and makes long registration forms a thing of the past. Many large networks are using the OpenID standard, including Google, Yahoo!, Facebook, MySpace, Flickr and Wordpress.
We were an early adopter of OpenID and have used it on several projects,.
Facebook has changed the way that users interact with each other online. It has become a popular development platform for organizations that seek a social engagement with their audience.
We are deeply familiar with Facebook and can help you build applications and widgets.
In addition to search and advertising, Google has made a name for itself as a primary innovator of applications on the web. Suites such as Google Docs, Google Maps, Google Earth and Blogger set the pace with which all major web development companies must keep up.
We pay close attention to Google and its products. We are familiar with the common
programming interfaces used across Google products and can easily integrate Google products into your web applications.
Drupal is one of the leading Content Management Systems. It is used to build simple websites that are easy to edit and maintain. Drupal has a modular architecture that allows for the creation of new functional components. This has lead to the growth of a large developer
community around the project.
We have built numerous sites using Drupal and are familiar with the most common modules, and can create new ones, if needed.
Java is one of the premier server-side languages of the Internet. Invented by Sun Microsystems in 1995, it has acquired an unparalleled reputation for scalability and utility. The large number of useful frameworks and libraries created for Java and a thriving developer community make it a favorite language for enterprise programmers.
We use Java in our largest projects - those that must be able to handle millions of concurrent users across an array of servers and databases in an enterprise environment.
One of the world's largest companies, the Oracle Corporation is best known for its flagship database product, Oracle. The company also has a major presence in the enterprise resource planning (ERP).
We of course have lots of experience with the Oracle database and have exprience in Oracle enterprise application integration.
Flash is the most widely used animation system on the internet. With a market penetration of 98%, Flash is the technology of choice for businesses that want to interact with users in ways that extend beyond the capabilities of a traditional web page.
We have extensive experience with Flash and the Actionscript programming language. We can build everything from simple banner
advertisements to Rich Internet Applications using Flash user interfaces that connect to data driven server side systems.
Salesforce is the world's leading sales management application. The Salesforce CRM manages customers for millions of leading businesses around the world.
We provide consulting around Salesforce services and have integrated
the Salesforce CRM into several e-commerce websites.
SugarCRM is one of the premier CRM solutions on the Internet today with a user base of over 4 million businesses. Open Source, and written in PHP, the SugarCRM project is growing rapidly and has an active developer community.
We provide SugarCRM development services.
Open Source is an approach to the design and development of software. By making source code publicly available, Open Source fosters peer-based collaboration which in turn results in effective, large scale projects without the need for significant investment - and therefore ownership - by any one party.
We are a strong believer in the philosophy of Open Source and makee wide use of Open Source projects to offer
significant savings to our customers. Where possible, we also contribute code back to the community to improve the software for everyone.
Ruby on Rails is a breakthrough in lowering the barriers of entry to programming. Powerful web applications that formerly might have taken weeks or months to develop can be produced in a matter of days.
We have extensive experience in Ruby on Rails and have built many applicaitons in the framework. We can get your application from idea to profitable in an amazingly short period of time.
The .NET Framework allows us to rapidly build great applications for the web, mobile pone, services and more.
We have extensive experience in the .NET framework in both Visual Basic and C#.
Spree capitalizes on the dynamic nature of the Ruby progamming language and Rails framework to provide the most flexible commerce platform available. Spree has been designed from the ground up to be as open and extensible as possible. You no longer have to be frustrated with the limited set of choices provided by most platforms.
Magento is a feature-rich eCommerce platform built on open-source technology that provides online merchants with unprecedented flexibility and control over the look, content and functionality of their eCommerce store. Magento's intuitive administration interface features powerful marketing, search engine optimization and catalog-management tools to give merchants the power to create sites that are tailored to their unique business needs. Magento also comes with a much more powerful Enterprise version.
Twitter is a social networking and microblogging service. Although Twitter was originally intended for communication among individuals, a number of organizations have begun to actively participate on the platform. Based on Garnter's research, there are four basic ways in which companies are using Twitter: direct, indirect, internal, and signaling. We can show you how to use it properly and integrate Twitter's API into your electronic service offering.
idhra is focused on helping organizations achieve high performance by effectively leveraging Microsoft technologies. Our long-standing alliance with Microsoft enables idhra to deliver better overall business value for its clients: more effective and efficient technology that is delivered at a lower cost.
Enterprise integration software provides a common framework for integrating and synchronizing incompatible and distributed systems, making it faster and easier to tie together applications and web services so you can integrate them into business processes that span your organization.
TIBCO's business integration software has been deployed by over 1,000 companies worldwide and is the foundation for several of the largest mission critical service-oriented business applications in production today. It reduces costs by enabling developers and administrators to build and change applications with little or no coding.
BusinessWare is Vitria's proven Integration-centric BPM platform for business process integration and business-to-business integration (B2Bi). BusinessWare combines Enterprise Service Bus functionality with capabilities for business process management and event-driven integration, all in the same unified modeling and execution environment. BusinessWare runs Vitria's industry-specific business process applications delivering customers proven solutions that directly meet their needs.
BusinessWare is Vitria's integration platform for complex business processes such as order fulfillment, supply chain interactions, insurance claims processing, and financial transactions. In addition, BusinessWare is the platform for Vitria's specialized process applications for the telecommunications and healthcare sectors.
IBM's core WebSphere Solutions includes support for application Infrastructure, application integration and business process management. Websphere allows you to build, deploy and run applications in a proven, secure and flexible environment. It also allows you to links applications and services for operational efficiency and cost savings and ss process management optimize business performance by documenting, deploying and continuously improving end-to-end business processes.
Oracle has acquired BEA Systems, Inc., a leading provider of enterprise application infrastructure solutions. BEA provides a complementary best-in-class middleware portfolio that spans Java Application Servers, transaction processing monitors, SOA and business process management, user interaction and Web 2.0, identity management, business intelligence, enterprise content management and vertical-specific technologies.
BizTalk Server is Microsoft's Integration and connectivity server solution. BizTalk Server provides a solution that allows organizations to more easily connect disparate systems. Including over 25 multi-platform adapters and a robust messaging infrastructure, BizTalk Server provides connectivity between core systems both inside and outside your organization. In addition to integration functionality, BizTalk also provides strong durable messaging, a rules engine, EDI connectivity, Business Activity Monitoring (BAM), RFID capabilities and IBM Host/Mainframe connectivity.
VMware provides an automated datacenter built on a production-proven virtualization platform that lets you respond to market dynamics faster and more efficiently than ever before. VMware vSphere delivers resources, applications - even servers - when and where they're needed. VMware customers typically save 50-70% on overall IT costs by consolidating their resource pools and delivering highly available machines with VMware vSphere.
The BlackBerry is the world's leading multi-media smart phone for the Enterprise. By creating a secure and remotely supportable platform, BlackBerry has captured almost the entire market.
We have built numerous BlackBerry apps and we have indepth knowledge of the BlackBerry's development process.
If there's one thing that's clear after the official debut of Microsoft's Windows Phone 7, it's that the new operating system is all in the family - the corporate family. It's clearly the foundation for your enterprise mobile strategy if your infrastructure is already Microsoft.
Microsoft offers the tools and applicaitons to share ideas and collaborate in a way that increases your productivity. More businesses rely on the Microsoft platform, applications and development environment. And our expertise in MS means you get a knowledgable team ready to hit the ground running. We've done it for companies big and small, and we're ready to help you.
The Rails framework allows for rapid, enterprise development without sacrificing durability or scaleability. Our expertise in Rails means you get a solid application in record time. We've built applications from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies, and we can do it for you.
The Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE), defines the standard for developing multitier enterprise applications. The J2EE platform simplifies enterprise applications by basing them on standardized, modular components, by providing a complete set of services to those components, and by handling many details of application behavior automatically, without complex programming. Java is in our blood. Call us about your next project.
iPhone, Blackberry or Android - we can develop Multi-Platform Applications simultaneously to give you greater market coverage for your application and faster time to market. Let us work with your in-house staff, training them on best practices as we build your application.
For assistance, please call Paul Zupan at (415) 944-3001 or send an email to info@idhra.com.