The 10 common mistakes that companies do in their online marketing strategy are:

1.  1. Unclear e-strategy. Some companies think that their e-strategy is to have a web site and nothing more. The web site is sometimes disconnected from the rest of company’s business processes. Many companies produce only static sites, a brochure type approach. Having an Internet address does not mean that a company has a clear vision of what it wants from its digital presence.
2. Flashy designs with animated introduction or graphics full sites. Personally, when I stumble on these kinds of sites I browse away in a second. It is a total waste of time to see a flash intro more than one time. Having to look at it every time you visit a site is a torture. In my opinion, it creates a negative image for the brand.
3. Not optimized for search engines (Poor SEO). If the site is not fully searchable by the search engines is like the site does not exists for the Internet. Usually people search for a category and not a business. Not including appropriate content or meta-data to the site is a common mistake that many businesses do.  The way that search engines looks at a web page is totally different from the way humans look at a web page. Fetch as Googlebot is a very useful tool  to understand this difference.  You can see the difference if you use rich media files to display content, the page returned by Googlebot may not contain this content if Google can’t crawl it effectively.
4. Not directing visitors to the company’s site. Companies should use online tools such as search engine advertising and offline printed media to get people to visit their site. This is a very important step. If the consumers are not aware of the site then all the other steps are unimportant.
5. Old and outdated information. Having stale content on the web site is like the company has stopped its activities on the date of the last post. It gives a negative impression to the consumer.  The web site’s first page is the impression that consumers will have for the company. Depending on the sector that the company serves, the first page must make it really easy to navigate the site and find the product or service needed with only one click if possible. Make the site easy to use and navigate.
6. Inconsistency between customer digital touch points. Web sites, e-mails, newsletters, display advertising and pay search are important touch points. Using e-mails to attract customers can not be a good idea but using emails to help a customer make the purchase decision can be a great tool. Each industry sector is served better by a different online tool. For example travel sites are better served with display advertisements.
7. Mobile and tablet unfriendly web sites. Tablet sales in the US soared to more than 1.2 million units sold from January through October. The previous figure does not include the iPad sales. In addition, smart mobiles are billions. You want your company’s web site to be accessible by these devices. Check how your website looks in different browsers. Make also sure that your website uses HTML5 and not flash. Adobe stopped developing flash for mobile devices in favor of HTML5.
8. No RSS feed.
9. No social media presence. This means that the website does not have a link to a facebook, google+ and linkedin page. Consider the pages that you have in social media sites as additional digital touch points. Keep your brand consistent across all your digital touch points.
10. Slow to respond web site. Load your site with content and test it with online tools to measure the response behaviour under stress. How will behave with thousands of entries and with thousands of visitors? Is your web site loading fast? Web sites that takes long to render drive users away.

The above list is not exhaustive. It contains only the top 10 online marketing mistakes. As in the physical world, online marketing need a strategy and dedication to work.

References

Adweek(2007).Optimizing digital touchpoints. Available: http://business.highbeam.com/15/article-1G1-172169197/optimizing-digital-touchpoints-consumer-study-reveals

Worldwide Videotex Update (2007) TOP 10 MISTAKES BUSINESS WEBSITES MAKE ONLINE; May2007, Vol. 26 Issue 5, p4

Before we go any further we will define the different roles in project management.

The Project Manager

The project manager has responsibility for a specific project(s). The Project Manager’s purpose is to achieve the project goals within the predefined constraints of time, money and quality. The project manager is the main communicator between the various project stakeholders and the project team. Within the role of Project Manager is also to manage expectations. Every group of stakeholders may have different expectations from the project (system). Failing to address and communicate efficiently and effectively the system to various stakeholders may result in a project failure if the various stakeholders refuse to use it. For example, is the system user friendly and covers all the major issues that the end users of the system have? It is better to involve the end users in the process and get their feedback and support that to demo the finish system and find out that they do not want to use it.   Involvement of stakeholders early in the system design also acts as a fear remover. The new system is not something vague and unknown. It is not something that will move them from their comfort zone. It becomes tangible and the fear goes away resulting in better acceptance of the system.

The Project Manager (PM) resolves conflict. Conflict can occur between team members, customers and team member, between managers or even between departments. The Project Manager should address immediately the problem and try to resolve it in a positive and beneficial to the project way. Avoiding the resolve conflict may result in project failure.

In the role of PM is also to facilitate meetings acting as the chairperson. Chairing effective meetings needs well preparation and discipline. A guide on how to prepare and hold successful meeting will be available to download soon from here.

The PM usually reports to the CIO (Chief Information Officer) or CTO (Chief Technical Officer) of the company. In big organizations the Project Manager may report to the Project Management Office and / or a Program Manager.

Project Leaders report to the Project Manager. System analysts, programmers report to the Project Leader. According to the resource plan of the project other specialities may be assigned to the project leader.

The Project Team

The Project Team includes the Project Manager, the project management team and all the individuals that work in the project. A typical software team will have a system analyst, programmers, end users, web designer, quality assurance, testers, technical writer, database administrators. Some roles may be occupied by the same individual in smaller projects.

Management

It is the upper management. The CEO (Chief Executive Officer), the CFO (Chief Financial Officer), Functional managers (human resources, procurement, finance, accounting)  and IT Managers. It is important to note that a project will fail without support and approval from the upper management.

Program Manager

Program Managers manage related projects. A Program Manager works together with the PM to provide support and guidance for each project in the program. Usually a Program Manager interacts with more than one Project Manager.

Project Management Office(PMO)

The PMO is a central body in the organization that organizes and coordinates the projects under its supervision. PMO primary goal is to standardize and improve project management processes by the use of standards (ISO 9001, ISO 12207:2008, CMMI-Dev 1.3, Six Sigma), best practices and metrics. PMO provides to the PM among other things methodologies and policies about the project, training and mentoring, lessons learned, tools and resources for the project.

In the next article we will discuss about the Project Scope Management.

Link to the previous article of the series.

References

Project Management Institute(2008) A guide to the project management body of knowledge . 4th edition. Newton Square, Pennsylvania: Project Management Institute Inc

Project Management Institute(2012). The web site of PMI.

Sommerville, I (2006) Software Engineering 8th edition. Addison Wesley

Numbers is an innovative spreadsheet app designed by Apple for a mobile device by Apple. Built from the ground up for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch, it lets you make spreadsheets in short time— with tables, charts, photos, and graphics. It comes with over 250 easy-to-use functions.  Numbers works with iCloud.

Pages is a word processor designed by Apple for the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. You can choose from 16 Apple-designed templates and styles to instantly create letters, reports, flyers, cards, and posters. You can easily morph your document with the colors, fonts, and textures you like. It is compatible with Microsoft Word. You can import files from Mail, the web, a WebDAV service, or your Mac or PC using iTunes File Sharing.

 Keynote is a powerful presentation app designed by Apple for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch. You can create a world-class presentation — complete with animated charts and transitions — by simply touching and tapping. Use full-screen view to present right on your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch. Keynote works with iCloud. Keynote comes with 12 Apple-designed themes including Gradient, Showroom, and Portfolio. Compatible with Microsoft PowerPoint.
Documents To Go®  is an all-in-one application with support for Microsoft® Word, Excel, PDF, Apple iWork and other files. It includes a desktop application (Win and Mac) to provide 2-way file synchronization. It supports 2007/2010 Office format.

 Documents To Go® Premium allows you to EDIT, CREATE & VIEW Word, Excel & PowerPoint files (Office 2007/2008/2010). You can VIEW/EDIT/SYNC your cloud files. It includes support for Google Docs, Dropbox, Box.net, iDisk & SugarSync. Send & receive attached supported documents using the built-in Mail app. It is a great enhancement over the simple version of this app.

 Quickoffice Pro HD allows you to create, edit, & share Microsoft® Office documents, spreadsheets, and presentations, as well as view PDF files.  Using the File Manager enables you to access, transfer, and manage files on your iPad and through Evernote, Dropbox, Google Docs, Box, Huddle, SugarSync, Egnyte, and Catch.  Sharing features allow you to publish your content using e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Yammer, Slideshare, Scribd, and Docstoc. It has a very easy and intuitive interface.

The application I choose to use is Quickoffice Pro HD mainly because it offers a very easy to use interface.

What applications are you using on your iPad? Please feel free to share your experience and comments on the apps that you are using.

iPad 2 is a must have travelling assistant. As soon as we arrived to London, we purchased a 3G SIM for iPad 2. Just choose any provider that has pay as you go option for iPad 2 data.A small investment of around US $30. I had 3GB of data available. It is a good thing that iPad 2 is not locked to any provider, so changing the SIM is very easy. Alternatively you may use WiFi but I didn’t want to take the risk of being in an area that has no WiFi coverage.

I used the built in application Maps. It is amazing. You press once the notification icon and you find your position, you press twice and you receive your bearing. It also has a digital compass.  You  know instantly if you are heading to the correct direction. The application has also a feature to give you instructions on how to get to your destination by foot, car or public transportation. It also provides time estimations from your current location to your destination.You can see a list of turn-by-turn directions or a highlighted map route with estimated travel time. You can also mark specific locations and find the best route between them. So you’ll be finding your own way right and left. So, using the iPad 2 you’re less likely to get lost. Unless, of course, you want to.

The other 2 applications we used were:

Make sure to download the Skype for iPad application.

TripAdvisor helps have the perfect trip with access to real traveler reviews, opinions, photos, maps, and forums that can answer even the most specific questions when you’re on the go. TripAdvisor is the world’s most trusted travel site with over 50 million reviews and opinions by travelers.

What programs do you use on your iPad 2 when you travel?

Software Project Management (SPM) is the planning and leading of a temporary endeavor undertaken to produce a software product. Software Project Plan is a part of Systems (or Software) Development Life Cycle (SDLC). In a nutshell, SDLC is the process and the model used to create or evolve a software product. The SDLC starts with an idea. If the idea is feasible a project plan is initiated. Then the phases of analysis, design, code and testing are executed. The software at the end of the cycle is  placed in production to be used by the end-users. There is a plethora of SDLC models from sequential to iterative to agile. We will examine these models in a later article.

A short description of each phase:

Analysis

The input to this phase is the statement of work (SOW). During this phase we define the system, we break it down to sub-systems in order to fully understand what is requested. We need to involve the users of the system and gather detailed requirements. It is important to allow amble time so all the projects goals are analyzed and understood. This is the phase that we create the business requirement (BR) document.

Design

The input to this phase is the BR document. During this phase we create the functional and non-functional requirements of the project. We desing screen mock-ups, create entity-relationships diagrams of the database, process diagrams and all needed supporting documentation. UML can be used to depict the critical part  of the system. At this stage we clarify all the requirements and we make sure that we have also a table of all business rules related to the requirements. Prototypes may be created at this phase to clarify the functionality of the system. The output of this phase is a complete and detailed description of the system to be implemented.

Code

The actual coding of the system.

Testing

Testing includes unit tests, code reviews, black box testing and user acceptance tests. We will revisit testing in a later article.

Close-Out

The project ends, the product is delivered to the customer. We record lessons-learned. We initiate the maintenance of the product. We archive all the projects documents.

There are two major project management methodologies. The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) and Projects in Controlled Environments (PRINCE 2).  PMBOK defines five process groups common to almost all projects: initiating, planning executing, controlling and monitoring, and closing. PRINCE2 defines eight major processes: starting a project, planning, initiating a project, directing a project, controlling a stage, managing product delivery, managing stage boundaries and closing a project.

Why is project planning important?

It is almost a certainty that poor or no planning of a project will result in problems. The CHAOS report of 2009 indicates that 68% of software projects were either challenged or failed. (Worthington, D, 2009).  Project planning helps reducing the over-budgeting or over-scheduling problems.

A Software Project Plan should encapsulate all the work needed to deliver the product to the end-users.    A software project as any other project has a definite start and end date. A software project is constrained by scope, quality, schedule and budget.

First we need some definitions:

Stakeholder: Any person or group of persons or organization(s) that is impacted by the project.

Scope: This can be further decomposed to Project Scope and Product Scope.  Project scope defines the work to be accomplished to deliver the product. Product Scope describes the functions that define the software product. The product scope is defined in a business requirements (BR) document.

Quality: It can be defined as the percentage the software product satisfies the requirements expressed by the stakeholders.

Schedule: The  chain of activities and their duration over time from start to  finish of the project

Budget: The money needed to complete all the work of the project.

The constraints are interconnected, if you change one constraint it affects at least another factor. For example, if the customer increases the scope then the time to complete the project will increase and it is almost certain that the cost will increase too. We will see later on how to manage the changes to the project scope.

In the next article we will discuss the different roles in project management.

References

Project Management Institute(2008) A guide to the project management body of knowledge . 4th edition. Newton Square, Pennsylvania: Project Management Institute Inc

Sommerville, I (2006) Software Engineering 8th edition. Addison Wesley

Worthington, D (2009). Imagination, process failures doom software projects. SD Times

Communication is vital for the project manager. Having access to the latest project information is also equally important. iPad is an important tool to help you in your daily tasks of managing a project. Personally, I use a combination of tools for my day to day tasks. Can iPad replace the desktop or your notebook? The answer to this is no, but iPad can help you regain your mobility. You do not have to carry around a laptop. iPad is a perfect replacement for your laptop. I use remote desktop connection (RDC) to connect to my work computer from everywhere by using a combination of 3G or WiFi with a VPN. All the information I need is readily available on my fingertips without having to carry around my laptop.

Below is a list of 10 iPad 2 applications which I have installed and use daily on my iPad 2.

1. Toodledo is a powerful, online to-do list. Keeping track of all your tasks will help you avoid disorganization, stay motivated and be more productive. Check it out.

2. Note Taker HD This amazing app enable you to take handwritten notes and create diagrams. Very handy when you want to communicate your ideas during a conversation.

3. iThoughtsHD (mindmapping) Very handy during requirements gathering. iThoughtsHD imports and exports mindmaps to and from many of the most popular desktop mindmap applications such as Freemind, Freeplane, XMind, Novamind, MindManager, MindView, ConceptDraw MINDMAP, MindGenius and iMindmap.

4. Quickoffice® Pro HD With its easy-to-use interface lets you edit  Microsoft® Office Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files. It provides  access to multiple cloud service providers including MobileMe, Dropbox, Google® Docs, Box.net, Huddle and SugarSync.

5. Pocket Informant HD (Calendar & Tasks) It is a great productivity tool. Syncs with Google Calendar and Toodledo. Very well designed interface. I can see both my appointments and tasks together. In my opinion this is a must have tool for project managers.

6. Evernote You can take notes and synchronize them with your other devices (desktop – laptop, etc).

7. Remote Desktop Lite – RDP I started using the Lite version for about 4 months. It works very well. I tested the connectivity both over 3G and WiFi. I made the decision to purchase the full program, Remote Desktop – RDP. It supports: Landscape mode.- View only mode.- Mouse left/right click, drag , hover and  wheel.- WOL (Wake on LAN). – Printing. – NETBIOS name support for easy configuration – Banners with extra keys (ctrl, alt,shift, arrows f1 f2…). You can lock the screen and you can use two fingers to scroll.

8. Dropbox Great free service to share files.

9. iBooks Helps you organize your project management books.

10. Skype for iPad This application needs no introduction. Couple it with a monthly subscription for maximum benefits. I lowered my telecommunication costs significantly.

Feel free to send me your favorite project management tools for iPad 2.

Before making my final choice I wrote down my needs along with devices that allowed me to do so:

• To be able to read books and articles

For this functionality I considered the Kindle Fire. It has a 7″ display 1024 x 600 pixel resolution at 169 ppi, 16 million colors. It also has 8GB enough to store movies and books.

• To connect to the Internet and receive/send emails

Both Kindle Fire and Samsung Galaxy offer this

• To be able to connect remotely to work

VPN is a common feature for all tablets.

• To replace the need to carry all the times my notebook(laptop)
• To have big screen so I can watch videos

This feature puzzled me a lot. Ipad 2 is not supporting flash. I decided to follow down the HTML 5 path.

• To be able to connect with other devices – computers, projectors etc
• To have both 3G and wifi.

I want to be connected all time.

• To be able to take pictures or video.

This option erased Kindle Fire from my list.

Although almost all tablets meet my requirements, I choose iPad 2, mainly for its stability and ease of use.

I found  only one annoying thing. It has a strange limit on 3G, you cannot download files greater than 20MB. I have no download limit from my carrier, so it is strange that the iPad has this limit. I hope Apple to remove this barrier in the near future.

The research was conducted by Chao Zhang and Keith Ross of NYU-Poly; Stevens Le Blond of the Max Planck Institute for Software Systems (MPI-SWS), Germany; and Arnaud Legout and Walid Dabbous of the French research institute I.N.R.I.A Sophia Antipolis.

It is important to mention that  even when a user blocks callers or connects from behind a Network Address Translation (NAT) , it does not prevent the privacy risk.

By using commercial geo-location mapping services, the researchers, found that they could construct a detailed account of a user’s daily activities even if the user had not turned on Skype for 72 hours. In one example, they accurately tracked one volunteer researcher from his visit at a New York university to a vacation in Chicago, a return to a New York university, lodging in Brooklyn, then to his home in France. “If we had followed the mobility of the Facebook friends of this user as well, we likely would have determined who he was visiting and when,” the authors said.

How do we value our privacy?

The researchers has informed Skype and Microsoft for these vulnerabilities.

As Kurt DelBene, president of the Office Division, states most of the technologies (speech recognition, real time collaboration and data visualization) presented in the video are researched or are commercially available now.

For sure the technological future will be very interesting.

ICANN’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Rod Beckstrom said “This is a major turning point in the on-going development of the Internet. No one was caught off guard by this. The Internet technical community has been planning for IPv4 depletion for some time. But it means the adoption of IPv6 is now of paramount importance, since it will allow the Internet to continue its amazing growth and foster the global innovation we’ve all come to expect.”

IPv4 uses 32 bits for the addressing. This makes 4.3 billion addresses. Only 3.7 billion IPv4 addresses are usable by ordinary Internet access devices. The others are used for special protocols, like IP Multicasting. Today, none of those 3.7 billion IPv4 addresses remain unallocated.

IPv6 has a 128-bit address space, which is 340 undecillion addresses (340,282,366,920,938,463,463,374,607,431,768,211,456).

You can find more on IPv6 addresses here. You can also find  information about the RFCs in the TCP/IP Guide.