Content Management Evolution

ThoughtsPinaki Mohapatra

What is Content Management System?

A Content Management System is a tool which allows a various & variety of centralized and de-centralized staffing to create, edit, manage and finally publish various types of content such as text, graphics, video, documents etc.

CMS supports or allows the creation, management, distribution, publishing, and discovery of corporate information. It covers the various lifecycle of the pages on your site i.e. from providing simple tools to create/manage the content, tools for publishing the content and finally archiving. It sometimes also provides the ability of managing the structure of the site, the appearance of the published pages, and the navigation provided to the users.

There are a wide variety of business benefits which can be achieved by implementing a CMS. Few examples are;

– Improved & increase site navigation & site flexibility.

– Greater consistency and streamlined authoring process

– Support faster turnaround times for pages

– Increase security and reduce duplication of information

– Integrate with Social Media

– Easy to Monetize & greater capacity for growth and reduce site maintenance cost.

A Small Case study;

Some years ago, a software developer working in a company used to have personal web page space and to add the pages he had to use a tool called “GBuilder”. GBuilder allows anyone to create a web page from a template and put it up on our Web server but it didn’t require any knowledge on HTML and you could build a page quickly and effortlessly.

The same company after this saw that this could be useful within an organization. For example if a Public relation department needs to get a press release up on the Website, often it has to go through numerous steps like; Writing the release and getting it approved followed by   Send the release out on the wire and then Send the release to the Web group. After this the Web group converts the document to HTML and puts it on the Website. Larger companies have some sort of staging server where Web documents sit until they are pushed live and if a press release has sensitive information then it can’t be released to the Web group until it has been sent to the wire but often upper management wants it on the Website immediately

Thus such situation causes a lot of stress for both the Web group and the Public Relation team. It would be a lot easier if the Public relation team could post the release to the Web at the same time that they post it to the wire services. But often they don’t know HTML or don’t have access to the Web site and so this is where a content management system comes into play.

When do we need to use Content Management System (CMS)?

Websites need content management if;

–  There is a lot of content (1,000 pages plus)

–  There is a high velocity of content change (a change a day or more)

–  If the content needs to change quickly (needs to be live in minutes or hours, not days or weeks)

–  If there are a lot of content contributors (20+), or if the company needs to have an archive of previous versions of the site for regulatory or legal reasons

Simple Guidelines on why we choose a perfect CMS:

1. Determine the purpose of the Content Management System and what we expect to gain from it. Choose your CMS based on your site’s primary function for example; if blogging is the main focus of your site then use a blog platform and if images and video are the main focus then choose a CMS that either has great support for media built-in or has great plug-in for enabling those functions. Also if your site is going to focus on an online store then the platform you choose needs to be able to seamlessly integrate that online store without a extra work.

2.Figure out what functionality you require from the CMS i.e. some CMS platforms have limited plug-ins, so the list of typical features of some of the CMS platforms can be Captcha, Tag Clouds, Polls, Ratings, Wysiwyg Editor, Forums and Gallery.

3. It is quite advisable to choose particular CMS that is easy-to-use and highly customizable as per business requirement of online portal market player. On the other hand, the CMS should so perfect that provides complete flexibility which led to great accessibility.

4. A good CMS comes with multiple websites and languages support which a person can easily target different markets without any language issue as most people go for online CMS to create, edit, manage, delete as well as organize web pages.

5. One of the major advantages of choosing a CMS is that it simplifies the updating and management of a website. So the pages it produces should also be simple and shouldn’t be a lot of extra code for unused functionality in the final page code. All that serves to do is slow the load times for the page and increase the likelihood that something will render wrong or throw an error.

6. Select the CMS that best suits you and always check how easy it is to move your website to another host without retaining the ability to edit your own web site. Some CMS products are dependent on you hosting your web site with a specific hosting company, if you ever need to move your web site you may need to have a whole new website design done for you.

7. Try to figure out how your website and CMS content is protected and what happens if there is a problem with the server that hosts your web site. Does the company provide backups and does this backup also cover a full restore of your web site if something goes wrong, or does it just restore the CMS but not your content.

Some common advantages of a CMS:

– Decentralized maintenance i.e. based on a common web browser. Editing anywhere, anytime removes bottlenecks.

– People with average knowledge of word processing can create the content directly. No HTML knowledge needed.

– The Users are assigned some roles and permissions which prevent them from editing content that they are not authorized to change.

– Central storage system which allows the content to be reused in many places on the website and formatted for any device (web browser, mobile phone/WAP, PDA, print).

– Dynamic content encourages faster updates, generates accountability for authored content (logs) and cooperation between authors.

– Content scheduling and content publication can be time-controlled and sometimes hidden for later use or require user login with password.

References;

  1. http://www.noupe.com/php/choosing-cms-tips.html
  2. http://ezinearticles.com/?Tips-to-Choose-Right-Content-Management-System-%28CMS%29-for-Your-Project&id=5130581
  3. http://growthspur.wordpress.com/2010/01/21/tips-for-picking-a-content-management-system-for-your-site/

Thanks,
Pinaki Mohapatra
Mindfire Solutions

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18 things to keep in mind while testing any application

Quality Assurance, Thoughts, , Sudeep Pattnaik

In the world of software QA testing, mastering the best practices is the key to success. This article presents 18 essential tips for QA professionals. From thorough test result analysis to maximum coverage and negative scenario testing, it covers a range of critical aspects. It emphasizes the importance of dividing applications into modules, early test case preparation, and involving testers from the start. The significance of regression testing, performance testing, and thinking beyond requirements is highlighted. Effective communication, prioritization, and continual learning round out the best practices, ensuring QA testers excel in their field and deliver high-quality software products.

1) Thorough Analysis of the Test Results:
As a software QA testing professional, it is crucial to go beyond reporting bugs and provide a comprehensive analysis of the test results. Error logs can reveal valuable insights into the nature and root causes of defects. By including this analysis in the bug report, testers make it easier for developers to understand and address the underlying issues. This not only expedites the bug-fixing process but also fosters effective collaboration between testers and developers, leading to improved software quality. problem.

2) Attain Maximum Coverage:
While achieving 100% test coverage may be impractical, testers should strive to cover as many combinations and scenarios as possible. By employing a systematic and strategic approach, testers can maximize test coverage. This involves identifying key functionalities, critical paths, and representative data sets to ensure that the most critical aspects of the software are thoroughly tested. Additionally, testers can leverage techniques such as equivalence partitioning and boundary value analysis to optimize coverage and prioritize test cases.

3) Divide and Conquer:
To achieve maximum test coverage, it is beneficial to divide the application into smaller modules and write separate test cases for each module. This approach facilitates focused and detailed testing of individual components, ensuring comprehensive coverage across the entire system. By breaking down the testing effort into manageable units, testers can effectively address complexities, identify defects, and maintain a high level of quality throughout the software development lifecycle.

4) Emphasize Negative Scenarios:
In addition to testing positive scenarios, it is crucial to include test cases for negative scenarios or invalid conditions. This ensures that the software behaves correctly when exposed to unexpected inputs or error-prone situations. By deliberately testing edge cases, boundary conditions, and invalid inputs, testers can validate the system’s robustness, error-handling capabilities, and adherence to specifications. Thorough negative testing helps uncover vulnerabilities and ensures that the software remains stable, secure, and user-friendly in all scenarios.

5) The Right Mindset
Approach QA testing with the mindset of discovering defects and identifying areas for improvement. Instead of assuming the software is defect-free, maintain a critical perspective and actively seek out potential bugs. This mindset encourages a thorough examination of the software and motivates testers to conduct comprehensive tests, resulting in higher-quality products. A vigilant and inquisitive approach to testing helps uncover issues that may have otherwise gone unnoticed, promoting a culture of continuous improvement and defect prevention.

6) Early Test Cases preparation :
To optimize the testing process, it is beneficial to start test case preparation during the analysis and design phase. Involving testers early on enables a better understanding of the requirements and facilitates the creation of comprehensive test cases. By actively participating in requirements discussions, testers can gain insights into the system’s intended functionality, identify potential test scenarios, and ensure that test cases align with the expected outcomes. Early test case preparation contributes to improved test coverage and enhances the overall effectiveness of the testing effort.

7) Ready with Test Cases before the completion of development :
Rather than waiting for the completion of development, testers should aim to have test cases ready in advance. Providing developers with test cases during the development process allows them to analyze and validate their work against the expected outcomes. This proactive approach enables early defect detection, smoother collaboration between testers and developers, and reduces rework efforts. It also enhances the overall development process by ensuring that quality considerations are integrated from the outset.

8) Address “Regression” effectively:
Regression testing plays a critical role in ensuring that modifications or enhancements to the software do not introduce new defects or cause regressions in existing functionality. By including regression test steps within test cases, testers can perform quick regression checks during system testing itself. This approach saves time and effort by identifying and addressing regression issues early on, minimizing the risk of functional regression and maintaining the stability of the software.

9) Test the “Performance”:
For applications where response time is crucial, thorough performance testing is essential. Testers should design and execute performance tests to assess the application’s behavior under various load conditions, stress scenarios, and unfavorable environments. By simulating realistic workloads and analyzing performance metrics, such as response times, resource utilization, and scalability, testers can identify performance bottlenecks, optimize system performance, and ensure a seamless user experience.

10) Leave full spectrum Testing to QA:
To maintain objectivity and ensure a fresh perspective, it is generally advisable for testers not to test the code they have developed themselves. When individuals test their own code, there is a higher likelihood of overlooking mistakes or biases due to familiarity. Instead, encourage collaboration among developers and testers, enabling independent verification and validation of the software. This approach promotes rigorous testing and helps identify defects that may have been overlooked by the developer.

11) Think beyond Requirements:
While testing based on specified requirements is essential, testers should also explore scenarios that may not be explicitly mentioned in the documentation. By thinking creatively and applying domain knowledge, testers can identify potential risks, edge cases, and scenarios that may not have been considered during requirements gathering. This broader approach to testing helps uncover hidden defects, enhances software robustness, and contributes to a more comprehensive testing strategy.

12) Leverage Past Experiences and Data:
Learning from past experiences is invaluable in software QA testing. Testers can refer to historical data, statistics, graphs, and previous test results to identify defect-prone areas, determine common patterns, and allocate testing efforts accordingly. By leveraging this knowledge, testers can focus on critical areas, allocate resources effectively, and adapt their testing approach based on past trends and insights. This data-driven approach enhances the efficiency and effectiveness of the testing process.

13) Continuous Learning:
The field of software QA testing is continuously evolving, and testers should actively seek opportunities for learning and skill development. Throughout the testing process, testers encounter new terms, concepts, and technologies. Keeping a record of these learnings and documenting them in a personal knowledge base helps build a repository of valuable insights. These learnings can contribute to the preparation of test closure reports, facilitate knowledge sharing, and ensure continuous improvement in testing practices.

14) Early Involvement of the Testing team:
To achieve optimal results, it is advisable to involve testers from the early stages of the software development lifecycle. Engaging testers during requirements analysis and design phases allows them to gain a deep understanding of the application’s functional and non-functional aspects. This early involvement facilitates proactive test planning, identification of potential testing challenges, and the formulation of effective testing strategies. By participating in requirements discussions and design reviews, testers can contribute their expertise and ensure the development process is aligned with quality goals.

15) Share Best Practices:
To foster a culture of excellence and continuous improvement, testers should share their best practices with other QA testing professionals. By sharing insights, techniques, and lessons learned, testers can contribute to the growth and development of the testing community. This exchange of knowledge promotes collaboration, inspires innovation, and ensures that industry-wide best practices are shared and implemented consistently.

16) Effective Communication and Collaboration:
Testers should actively engage in discussions and maintain effective communication with developers, business analysts, and other stakeholders. Direct interaction helps clarify requirements, resolve conflicts, and ensure that everyone is on the same page regarding the expected behavior of the software. When conflicts or misunderstandings arise, timely face-to-face discussions or written communications (such as emails) should be used to address and resolve them. Effective communication fosters collaboration, reduces misunderstandings, and ensures a shared understanding of quality objectives.

17) Prioritization and Risk Management:
To optimize testing efforts, testers should prioritize their work based on risk analysis and project constraints. By identifying critical functionalities, high-risk areas, and potential showstoppers, testers can allocate their resources effectively. Prioritization ensures that testing efforts are focused on the most critical areas, reduces the risk of major defects slipping through, and facilitates risk-based decision-making throughout the project lifecycle..

18) Effective Bug Reporting:
Writing clear, concise, and detailed bug reports is crucial for effective communication between testers and developers. A well-crafted bug report includes not only the symptoms and steps to reproduce the bug but also provides the impact of the bug on the application. Testers should analyze the bug, include possible causes, and provide any additional information that aids in reproducing and fixing the issue. Well-documented bug reports expedite the debugging process, enable efficient collaboration between testers and developers, and ensure that issues are resolved accurately and promptly.

By implementing these practices, software QA testing professionals can enhance their effectiveness, improve the overall quality of the software, and contribute to the success of projects.

 

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ISQTB Certification

Tips for ISTQB Certification Exam

Software Quality, Thoughts, , , , Sudeep Pattnaik

ISQTB CertificationWhen we think of certifications, most of us think that “Do I really need a certification?”, “Is it worth putting the labour and money(a good amount most of the times) for just a piece of paper from some XYZ organisation?” , “Will it help me at a later stage of my career?” These thoughts flood sometimes our brains so much and leave us so confused that we take a lot of time only to decide that whether we should go for a certification or not, leave the preparation part aside.

All of us during our careers might have surely felt the need of certification in some way or the other. The need may be as simple as gaining more knowledge or as complecated as the determination to become one of the best certified resources available in the field.

Continue reading Tips for ISTQB Certification Exam →

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McCarthy,Steve Jobs, Dennis Ritchie

Tribute: Geekdom Loses Three Greatest Minds In A Single Month.

Thoughts, , , , , , , Danish Ahmed

McCarthy,Steve Jobs, Dennis RitchieI am not sure if it is an unfortunate coincidence or a sadistic prank by fate that three popular figures of the IT industry who died this month were all pioneers in their respective fields. If you don’t know who Steve Jobs is, I may be able to understand but you would have to be living under a rock to not know of his sad demise. While Steve Jobs died, after a long fight with pancreatic cancer, on 5th October 2011, exactly 1 week later a greater legend breathed his last.  Dennis Ritchie the creator of Unix and the C programming language was found dead in his home on 12th October 2011.  As if the loss to the digital world wasn’t devastating enough, 12 days later, on 24th October, John McCarthy, the inventor of LISP and the  concept of Artificial Intelligence, logged out of the world.

Continue reading Tribute: Geekdom Loses Three Greatest Minds In A Single Month. →

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Aren’t we blessed ???

Thoughts, Sudeep Pattnaik

It was the night of 20th September 2011 and I was returning home after attending a party at a friend’s place in Saheed Nagar. My friend’s sister got a job in TCS which made him invite some of the close friends in our group for a party at their home only. My phone started ringing right from the evening.After at least 15 calls from different friends and explaining  them that I had some work to finish,finally I left office at around 8 o’clock. All of my friends already reached and were having a great time. By the time the food was ready we started gossipping and rewinding the happy college days. Finally got the call from aunty “Dinner is Ready”. The food was prepared by my friend’s mom and sister and as it was utterly delicious,all of us had a nice dinner filled up till the neck.After a small chat when we decided to leave,it started raining heavily. At the request by uncle and Manas(my friend) few of us decided to wait till the rain stopped or at least slowed down a bit.Few lwft as they used to stay nearby.

Continue reading Aren’t we blessed ??? →

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Google+ Takes The Next Step: Google+ API

Web 2.0, , , , Danish Ahmed

Google+ may not be turning out the “Facebook-Killer” many predicted it to be, but as of yet it has been sailing smoothly. Providing API for developers was the next logical step and sure enough,yesterday it released Google+ API. Be it Facebook,Twitter or even Foursquare, nearly all successful social services provide development platform to facilitate developers build apps which eventually contributes to the success of the service. In fact Google is one of the earliest providers of Web APIs such as Search APIs,Google  Maps API. This would definitely  provide a boost to the 3-month old project which is now beginning to see decline in popularity after a period of rapid growth.

Continue reading Google+ Takes The Next Step: Google+ API →

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I am Google Search and I am 12 something.

Stories, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Subhendu Pattnaik

“Rehaan!!, Where are you?”

A voice buzzed near me. The pitch of the voice was high, and i could feel that it must be piercing through the walls into the green playground outside. The voice grew muffled – ” What i am to do with this kid! He just does not ……… ” I could not hear anymore..

But this story is not about Rehaan or his mom. It is about me.

I never talk to myself. I just give Gyaan. I am not intelligent. I am just efficient. But because i am efficient, i just am not able to get any rest. Who am I? I am Google. Google Search. I would have helped you so many number of times but sorry i dont know your name since you have not logged in. If you want, just click Sign in and say Hello. But yes, even though you will just tell me your userName, i will come to know about all your secrets because you know i am very good in archival of history. But dont be scared. I dont tell anyone – I am very secure and based on how you treat me or use me, i help you get to your results better with this archival based on your preferences.

I am Google Search
I am Google Search

When i was born,  I dont remember much of the exact date – (Please – No need to search Me for this) but my parents were very happy. I did not look as beautiful as i look today and I was small and was barely able to walk, let alone search. My dad told me, “Google, Dont worry. You are my most beautiful child. A day will come when everyone in the world will know you and you will be praised by everyone alike”. I had only learnt to listen to it and think it being daddyish love.

I had heard stories when i was playing with text searches, I often heard daddy talk over the phone to someone – “So what if Altavista can do …. ?” I would look at dad and think if I can help him but i could not- I was just a kid. At times in the middle of the night, i would wake up when someone typed something and i counted that to my memory. I dont know how but dad always used to come running to me to see the hit counter of mine. And this continued for days, months and years.

When I was about a year old, one day my dad drove me into a house where i had to “Live”. Dad told me that everyone calls this house as the Internet explorer. I cried a lot since i was going to be live for the first time but dad said you will manage it just fine. At times when i fell sick, dad used to come and repair me. But i was not allowed in the garage home anymore. Dad said i am grownup now and have to live with the IE.  I recall one day when someone came and typed Altavista on my face and I showed him a few results. The guy just shouted – ” Man, I dont believe this.. Altavista is just gone.. There is nothing getting returned from this. I could know that something happened to the other search engine.

From then on, i could see myself getting sick very much very often. I would often be taken to the garage home and dad and his friends would give me medicines. I never cried – I was a brave boy and dad told me that you would be one of the finest gentleman of all time. I believed him and took all the medicines which he gave me. Some of them I could not bear and i crashed out! Some i gave random results out but then dad loved me so much. Only when i was stable, he would take me to Internet Explorer house.

I was getting more and more loved by all people who came to this house. Everyone came to this house, met me always, typed on me and i gave them good results and slowly people loved me more. In IE, there were a few friends which i made. There was one called Lycos, he did similar things as i did but still i liked him somehow. And people did like him too.  Then Dad said, “Google – From today you dont have to climb the stairs to go upstairs if someone calls you. I have made a Google Search Toolbar and pasted it in front of the house – IE. So users will find it easier to find you and then you will have to answer them. Will you get tired son? ”

I said, “No Dad. I love to work. I will be the best search engine. I will fulfill your dreams to the best of my abilities”. Dad said nothing. He just smiled.

Blogger-Picasa
Blogger-Picasa

I dont remember how many years went by. But in a couple of years, i had so many of friends, and brothers and sisters which dad sent to my IE house. There was this guy called Picasa, who captured photos of everything whenever someone smiled, he used to archive that photo.  Then there were the google office kids – Google Docs and Google Calendar. Someone told me that you dont know – dont go by their looks, they are trying to do something on cloud which much older people are doing on the desktop clients. To this i would always feel, “Well, Yeah – Its all inside me but i will know only when someone searches me! ” Couple of years back – Dad brought home two guys into IE saying they will be my companions – One guy – God he talked so much.. He just kept on talking and talking. His name was Blogger. Then i later knew – my dad adopted him. Then there was this cool hunk – You Tube. Picasa was always jealous of him because youtube showed the exact emotions, exact video that just photographs. But I was cool with everyone because everyone loved me.

Years later, Dad took us all into a new house altogether. We all love it. It is our own house. We call it the Google Chrome.  Till today we also go to the older house of ours IE and at times to the garage home too but we all love chrome. We also have a marketplace where we meet other people belonging to the Chrome app store or Google app store. All these new members too love me. I am the darling of all – I am google search. Today I remember what Dad used to say..

Son, You are the most beautiful of all searches. You have to work hard and always keep focussed. You cant complain for the pain which you will have to suffer in the interim period. You cant cry out loud. Learn to be patient. Dont worry if you cant be the cynosure of all eyes overnight. A day will come when all your efforts will pay off. A day will come when the entire world will just love you like anything. And i could know that this is the day which dad was talking about. I love you Dad.

“…… Where are you hiding?!!” Rehaan’s mom’s voice slowly faded in. She stood near my world. Started at my world’s screen and the screensaver and said,” God, the laptop has been on all this time!” and switched me off.

I was not scared.

I knew that this is the time to take a power nap to get ready for more efficient searches when my world sees the new sunshine! After all, I have to live my dad’s dream and make him proud.

Author – Subhendu Pattnaik

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Blind Bard

A day @ Bhima Bhoi Blind School

Thoughts, , , , Sudeep Pattnaik
Blind Bard
Blind Singer

It was the evening of 1st July 2011,when the daily official routine was heading towards an end,I just thought of checking my GPS hoping for a message from Soumyanwesh regarding salary. I was even happier to discover the message count showing “1”. But it was not a message from Soumyanwesh,it was not a message from the Finance Department nor a message related to salary.It was a message from a Mindfirean named Asish Tripathy and was related to the “Corporate Social Responsibility” what we term as CSR in short.

Continue reading A day @ Bhima Bhoi Blind School →

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The Customer is Always Right?

Thoughts, , , , Chinmoy Panda

Is the customer always right? And if he is not, what do you do? One of our Software Development Leads faced this dilemma in almost an “Arjuna moment”..

(In the epic Mahabharata, as Arjuna stood ready for battle facing an army composed of his own family members, he wondered whether it was right for him to fight the battle at all. This dilemma froze his legendary skill and warrior will into non-action)
Situation Detail
(you can skip this section which has some technical details)

The client wants to make a mobile-compatible version of their web site. The web site is an online e-commerce site, developed using Adobe ColdFusion server technology.

Client priority is to get the mobile site out as quickly as possible. The thought process is to reuse as much as possible ColdFusion code developed for main web site, while generating a screen-compatible and down-sized mobile “face”. The strategy he suggested was to use front-end CSS scripts that would be added for mobile access only. Pages would be processed and downloaded exactly as the main web site. Then the additional CSS would also be downloaded on detection that page was being accessed from mobile. This CSS would do front-end browser-level manipulation (such as menu manipulation, image size and so on) to give an entirely different look and feel to pages, suited more to mobile screens.

While client wanted to follow this strategy, our technical and professional opinion said otherwise. Our Lead had tried to explain to client that this was a sub-optimal approach in the long run. Entire pages being downloaded and then “mobilized” using front-end CSS was essentially a trick with high bandwidth impact and soaring expense on data plans.

The real solution would be to restructure the application to move logic to sets of ColdFusion Components (CFCs) and use those from ColdFusion. ColdFusion code would be separate for mobile and normal web pages, and site redefinition should be done to evolve mobile-relevant functionality and pages. In short, a proper path to a mobile site.

Summary
You have a situation where client wants to follow technical path X, which has disadvantages. And there is a longer path Y, which is the correct technical approach. What do we do? Should we do X just because client says so? Or should we do Y because that is the “right” way to do it?

Opinion
Clients make choices based on a wider set of thoughts and priorities, some of which we may not be aware of. There may be a trade show the client wants to attend, or venture capitalist they need to meet, and they need a “quick and dirty” mobile-enabled site rather than a true solution. Maybe the client has thoughts on how a split code-base may cause maintenance and consistency issues, in spite of code restructuring for logic centralization. Maybe the client is not savvy enough to understand the technical aspects of both solutions. Maybe the client is simply not smart enough. Many possibilities exist.

Although we work in 1’s and 0’s, the real world is not binary. There is no black and no white, it is a range of greys. There is no right and no wrong, it is a range of possibilities.

A client’s choice is not necessarily wrong just because it is not the technically superior solution – there may be aspects we are not aware of. When you understand those aspects, perhaps you would make the same choice in his shoes. Perhaps the same choice is correct in his context, even if it is wrong in isolation or in our opinion. And finally, the client may make a wrong choice – after all every human (including us) is born with the right to make wrong choices.

Confusion
As self-respecting professionals, following something blindly is, to say the least, a criminal sin. Client or no client, we need to know and express our opinion based on facts and expertise. We cannot accept day as night just because client says so. Doesn’t matter if he is the client, if something is wrong it is wrong. We are professionals, not clerical staff to follow orders blindly.

However, at the same time, we do have to accept client choices. This is a simple and fundamental truth. We do not work in isolation. We work for clients. Clients pay for work with their hard-earned money, and if a client makes a choice we do not agree with or understand, we still have to follow the client decision.

So what does this mean, how can you do both?? How can we preserve our professional integrity and yet accept something that goes against our professional opinion?

The answer is simple.

Clarity
Before choices are made, our duty is to advise the client, to update him with our professional advice and informed opinion on negatives and positives of available options.

Once a choice is made, our duty is to do. Our duty is to align and focus and do as per client choice, even when we professionally disagree with that choice.

Who gets to make the choice? The client.

Why? Not because he is paying and is the client – that is an immature and misdirected thought process. But simply because the work is being done for him, and only he knows the entirety and facets of the situation and conflicting priorities, and can make the choice that is right or wrong for what he is trying to achieve.

Bottomline
The customer is NOT always right, and it is our job to express that opinion to customers openly instead of blindly accepting whatever customers say. But it is also our job to respect customer decisions once they are made.
What do you think?

(This incident and thoughts reflect some opinions, beliefs and a way of looking at things. I hope sharing these will lead to debate and discussion)

 

Author – Chinmoy Panda

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The future without “Quantum Bug”

Uncategorized, Hem Dutt

Today, even the massive amount of processing power generated by computer manufacturers has not yet been able to quench our thirst for speed and computing capacity.

Although progress in VLSI technology has reduced the size of chips immensely and thus contributed a lot in making more powerful and high speed processors, conventional technologies have their limitations. Conventional processors use transistors for computing, which cannot be made smaller after an extent because then Quantum effects will come into play leading to erroneous results.

In 1982, Nobel prize winner physicist Richard Feynman coined the idea of  a “Quantum computer“, which could use the effect of quantum mechanics to its advantage. Unlike conventional computers in which a bit can only be in 0 or 1 state, a quantum bit(qubit) can exist in both states simultaneously.

Continue reading The future without “Quantum Bug” →

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