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Cheers,

The MapleWorks Technology Team

When I look at the many companies we’ve provided software consulting services to over the years, I see two groups: those who know what they want and know how they want us to do it, and those who know what they want and want us to figure out how to do it. We’re all too happy to help both groups achieve their end goals; however, our engineers really shine when we hand them the latter—they love a good challenge.

We’ve got an office full of talented people. No matter the constraint—whether technological or budget—put the project in front of them, and they’ll leverage their experience to develop an innovative solution.

Here’s a true story. A company built a carrier-grade automatic call distribution (ACD) system on Microsoft Windows, but hadn’t taken failover or high availability into consideration. They arrived at MapleWorks’ doorstep in need of a unique perspective on how to deliver this functionality. We came up with an innovative solution and delivered the functionality required.

Another true story. A company that developed network management software didn’t have the resources to build labs to test the software. They were in need of fresh ideas to accomplish the task. We helped the company “simulate” the environments, which not only saved them millions of dollars in capital expenditures, the innovative solution reduced the time it took to do the required testing.

When you outsource a software development project to MapleWorks, you are getting much more than the end product—you are getting the added value that comes with a team that can leverage combined years of experience to deliver innovative solutions that achieve goals.

At MapleWorks, we have experience developing remote video imaging applications. Because telemedicine applications have stringent performance targets, I’ve based these top 8 technical considerations on this complex technology. Here comes the tech talk…

1. Bandwidth and QoS. Will everyone have the same bandwidth? Consider how to adjust for different bandwidth requirements. Streaming servers such as Wowza Media Server and Adobe Flash Media Server have proven capability to determine available bandwidth. If not available, consider having a mechanism to do so. Also, consider if it’s a managed network—if video can get priority, then your stream will be more reliable.

2. Security. Is the video service public or private? If private, how is authorization going to be done? How will the video stream be secured? Will the authorization be standalone or integrated with an existing system using LDAP, Radius, or another protocol? Is integrated Windows authentication required? If so, can you consider open source like JCIFS NTLM HTTP authentication? Do you need an alternate method? Are there different classes of users?

3. Video Encoder. Check the encoding latency. What encoding format is needed? What resolutions do you need to stream? What are the cost points? Is streaming server support required? Do you need on-board storage?

4. Video Source. What is the video source for the encoder? Live or pre-recorded? Do you need to multicast or is it per user? When do you start/stop/pause video streams? You need to make sure that your video source—encoder/streaming server chain all work together.

5. Video Player. What video player will you select; for example, Off-The-Shelf (OTS) players such as Flash or QuickTime? Or a custom solution to meet particular requirements? Desktop and/or mobile? Each brings different requirements. Do you need to check on system resources to adjust resolution? What equipment are your target users using? Do you need to support interactivity?

6. Platform. Which platform will you use for your remote video services services? Weigh the advantages and disadvantages of the approaches. For example, with a Windows server platform, you could choose end-to-end Windows products. With Linux and Unix, there are other options.

7. Management. Think about the management requirements. How are you going to provision the video sessions? How are you going to monitor the health of the system?

8. Statistics. What do you want in a real-time view versus reports?  If you need to export statistics, what formats do you need to provide the data in? What reports should be available on the system versus an off-board system?  Do you need to schedule automatic report generation?

To read more on this topic, I recommend that you download our white paper, 8 Technical Considerations Ensuring the Development of Flawless Remove Video Imaging Applications from our Video Applications web page.

Business users are becoming more and more comfortable using their Smartphones to access information. Case in point: A study by comScore finds that use of social networking apps on Smartphones grew 240% between the 12-month period April 2009 to April 2010 (source: http://www.emarketer.com/article.aspx?r=1007757).

While the stat on social networking apps is sexy, let’s not forget the many other mobile applications that business professionals are now accessing from their Smartphones: customer relationship management (CRM) apps like Salesforce.com and financial management apps like Quicken. So what does this mean to software product companies?

As a software development consulting firm, here are the top 3 challenges that our customers are asking us to help them solve.

1. How do we ensure our software product delivers a consistent user experience across the multitude of operating systems?
2. How do we create a consistent user experience across the plethora of devices—personal computers, Smartphones, tablets—all of which have different screen sizes and viewing requirements (landscape, portrait)?
3. How do we remove the complexity that IT departments face in managing all of this for their employees?

The software product companies that are asking these questions are on the right path to differentiating themselves in a crowded marketplace.

Interested in reading more on this topic? I recommend that you check out this article entitled, 5 Mobile Megatrends (and How to Prepare).

Cloud computing and Software-as-a-service (Saas) applications have been growing in popularity since the economic downturn, hence, many product development companies turned to us (MapleWorks is a software development outsourcing service provider) to accelerate commercializing their products. Even with the uptick in the economy, I don’t expect to see demand slow because, depending on your end customers’ goals, cloud computing/SaaS can allow them to reduce costs, reduce their IT footprints, and reduce the headaches that come with managing infrastructure.

To achieve the end goals of your customers, here’s the top 10 technical considerations for planning your SaaS development project.

1. Latency. In typical circumstances, SaaS applications work fine. However; as a hypothetical scenario, if two to four seconds of delay are introduced into the connection, and 100 requests are normally handled, will this affect quality or usability? What will be the customer’s threshold for latency?

2. Reliability. The Internet is still not as reliable as circuit-based networks. But it’s still essential to make sure that reliability is high. This is especially important for mission-critical applications. What will be your customers’ requirements for reliability?

3. Redundancy. One of the value propositions for SaaS is proactive maintenance versus reactive maintenance. In the same vein, customers look to SaaS as their disaster recovery plan. Redundancy and recovery is the responsibility of the SaaS vendor. How sophisticated will your redundancy and backup services be?

4. Scalability. Scalability is a key point of moving to the cloud. As an enterprise grows—or shrinks—a cloud hosted SaaS gives them the ability to scale appropriately. Has scalability been designed into your SaaS application?

5. Compatibility/standards. Standards are a challenge. While it’s impossible to future proof the SaaS application that you develop, at least try. Look at trends and think five years in advance.

6. Partitioning. When there are many users sharing the same resource, logical partitioning helps to guarantee security. Can your SaaS application be partitioned?

7. Security. Confidentiality is a consideration in SaaS applications—and typically entails a high degree of complexity. It’s essential to ensure that you offer the appropriate level of security. And, this is especially important for mission-critical applications or sensitive data. What level of security will your customers require of your service?

8. Data migration. Customers don’t want to be handcuffed should they wish to move their data elsewhere. There have been plenty of sad stories on this topic. How will you deal with data portability?

9. Usability. If everyone in the enterprise is to adopt your SaaS application, it must be intuitive and easy to use. Will a usability expert test your SaaS application?

10. Total cost of ownership (TCO). Your customers turn to SaaS to deliver against their expectations for reduced IT infrastructure costs, decreased maintenance costs, on-demand scalability, and utility pricing. Will your SaaS application enable your target customers to lower their TCO?

That’s my top 10. What would you add to this list?

Back in April I blogged about my first impressions of iPad, I’m happy to report that I’m still very satisfied with my iPad. I also like to follow reports of general consumer acceptance of this useful gadget.

On May 5, Apple announced that “consumer purchases of electronics grew 9.7% year-over-year.” And they attribute the growth to the iPad. Furthermore, they sold more than a million iPads in its first 28 days of availability. In the announcement, Apple compares the iPad sales statistics to iPhone’s sales statistics saying it took 74 days to achieve that same milestone when they released the iPhone in 2007.

As a software developer at MapleWorks, I look at these stats with great interest. The last I read, the Apple App Store’s 200,000 mobile applications had been downloaded 4 billion times by consumers for their Smartphones.

Imagine the market opportunity for developers of mobile applications for Tablets.

I just read the results of a survey of CEOs by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). The report, Emerging Canadian Software Companies: The CEO Perspective, found 60% of CEOs expect 25% growth in 2010. The economic upswing is in full swing. Last year, only 38% of CEOs were optimistic for growth.

PwC listed a couple of insightful findings in their May 18, 2010, news release announcing the survey results:

• The number of companies seeking IP protection outside Canada is decreasing (from 56% in 2009 to 39% in 2010).
• 43% of CEOs believe that cloud computing is critical to their model. 46% are already developing cloud computing applications; 8.6% are planning to do so.

The survey is based on responses from 130 CEOs. As the results are transferable to the optimism we see from USA CEOs, the survey is worth your time. PwC has made the report public. Here’s the link: Emerging Canadian Software Companies: The CEO Perspective.

The iPad is here, after a flurry of news media and speculation. There has been a lot of emotion surrounding the release of this technological marvel. Many people are waiting to see if the iPad will create a new category of electronic devices between the cell phone and laptop. The Apple fanboys are touting the iPad as the future of electronic computing, referencing its 10 hour battery life, advanced touch screen and application distribution system. The naysayers, on the other hand, are less impressed with what it has and are focused on what it doesn’t; web camera and cell phone capabilities for starters.

After a week of solid use of the iPad ,  I have  formed my own opinions. First of all, I’m finding the iPad more of an enjoyable experience then using a standard PC or laptop. It’s small and convenient, the battery life seems to last forever and there are a multitude of applications to enjoy. I often find myself reading a book, checking my mail, browsing the web, watching a video, downloading new applications etc , while not noticing the time or  whether I am  in  the living room, basement  or backyard.

The biggest draw I see for the iPad is its ease of use and flexibility. The device reaches all users from the two year old to the ninety year old grandmother. This is very powerful in the electronic consumer space. The wii gaming console demonstrated this in previous years, with its record sales and wide spread adoption, despite its lack luster graphics and previous generation hardware specs. As for flexibility, the iPad has a vast number of applications. So many applications are available, that no matter what your interests are, there is an application that meets your needs.

In conclusion, I see the iPad as the must have device of the year. The demand is growing and it’s going to be hard to get your hands on one in the near future; I know I’m not giving mine up at any price.

Sent from my iPad

Tablets are getting a lot of attention, so the time is ripe for software development companies to deliver Tablet applications to consumers hungry to add value to their Tablet purchases. (Read the report summary on page 2 of “The Rise of the Internet Tablet: The Keys to Success” from In-Stat research (February 2010)). The time is ripe not only because consumer demand is on the rise, but because the market is not yet overcrowded.

Having developed apps for Smartphones, MapleWorks plunged headlong into developing a Tablet app. It’s now available. Called MapleWorks MaplePaint™, it’s a note taking and drawing application for Android-based Tablets. Here are some screen grabs.

If you’re a software development company trying to figure out how to deliver a Tablet app, you’ll find that the challenges are similar to those you faced with developing Smartphone apps; e.g. physical constraints and operating system quirks. Want to learn more about the challenges of developing mobile apps? Read our white paper, Mobile Applications Development: Leveraging Experience to Maximize Gain.

It’s an interesting world we find ourselves in.   The concept of the Tablet has been around for over 20 years, but the supporting infrastructure (security, most notably) was not in place and the mindshare did not exist either.  Indeed, it has taken many years for the straightforward SMS technology to be mostly accepted.

Now, Smartphone technology and application availability is growing at an astounding rate.  Thanks to the Apple store and the Nokia forum, to name a few, developers can post applications and consumers can browse the marketplace easily.

With Google Android and the Series 60 SDK, among others, developers are plugged in to the marketplace quickly and easily.  As we have been working with the various SDKs, we have developed applications for iPhones, Android-based Tablets, Blackberry devices, and others.  Developing software for a variety of mobile devices presents some interesting challenges – there are different screen sizes, different hardware capabilities, and even different operating systems that the same application will need to run on.

We predict that manufacturers, application developers and consumers alike will find 2010 to be an interesting year in the mobile device world.  Rumors promise that Apple will unveil a Tablet in the next week or so.  Does that mean that Tablets are the next “it device” for consumers?

Come back and visit us in successive weeks as we report on the technology developments and our own findings about developing software applications for the new mobile devices.