Flash has certainly not been replaced by any means and we see it’s evolution as a core technology really affect the application development world by helping remove browser compatability issues an creating very intuitive applications. Typically you’ll find Adobe Flex and Adobe Air(although interestingly enough Adobe Air can be powered by Ajax) driving these applications. However for the basic commercial website whether Business to Consumer or Business to Business jQuery offers an affordable solution that can help dynamically populate rich headers, calls to action, and more in a very re-usable format that requires no extra input from the marketing director or the individual managing the web presence.

Can this be done in Flash? Absoluletly. But it also takes experts with specific skill sets and depending on the level of data manipulation will almost run you double the cost of doing  it jQuery. I’m not the guru of creative work but Scott is and he offered up some quick links/resources and a side by side comparison of the two. Take a moment and check it out: jQuery vs. Flash

• We focus on your success
• Our talent is superior to our competitors
• We want to be partners with you for the long term

This is just a few examples but the message is obvious and anybody reading this that’s in a decision making position or a business owner has heard this from someone trying to get their web related business. The irony is I say these things myself as they’ve almost become a standard within our market. So have brutal undercutting and taking projects at a loss for no apparent reason other to say, “you’ve got work”.

What I’m currently battling with is how can a web firm clearly differentiate it’s service offerings over their competitors without boring a perspective client to death. Make no mistake this is a business of “one on one” relationships and while the web might be a driving vessel for small business contracts nobody signs the $50k ++ deal off of a Google search. Websites built for 5k or under, typically serve no other purpose but to provide credibility back to the client in which they inevitably will become displeased with lead generation, search engine placement amongst numerous other items.

I know at my company our culture has changed dramatically over the past two years and has switched gears to only develop web applications and commerical websites that fill a tangible goal whether it be to automate processes, expand lead generation, increase revenues, or offer new value add services to clients. The only way to truly manage and survive in this business where there are an untold number of new entrepeneurs entering the market is to make sure each company you engage has a clear guideline for success and your services/culture is perfect for getting them their goal. You can’t lose when doing this.

Perhaps this in itself is a new standard? Is this a nothing approach as well? Questions to ask myself. I’m pleased to say that our strategy has yielded terrific growth for the 2009 year and Unleashed Technologies, LLC is stronger than ever. This is based on a stable organic growth pattern that we all enjoy, I’m looking for the hockey stick pattern if you know what I mean <wink wink nudge nudge>.

I’ve personally read this book twice and I strongly recommend this to decision makers and people empowered with the responsibility of growing new business opportunities for their companies.

This is a very difficult process and addressing “Blue Oceans” mandates that differentiators have to be substantial and recognized in order to produce tangible results. Examples/Case Studies in this book also highlight very large companies with extensive budgets in being able to tackle new concepts/opportunities. I’d like to whine and say it’s not possible for those without significant investment capital but truth be told it is. Especially in technology related offerings where the majority of costs can be absorbed by variable costs mostly pertaining to labor. With that being said there is a huge price to be paid one way or another and entering a “Blue Ocean” is always inherently at a higher risk then swimming in the “Red Ocean” of traditional services or products.

When you get the chance I highly recommend picking up this book and giving it a read and who knows maybe the GBTC may put on another workshop related to this matter in the near future.

Even with my political views and alignment I’d be lying if I didn’t get caught up in the excitement of Barrack Obama becoming the next President of our great nation. While fearing the expanding role of our federal government into our daily lives I was suprisingly open and to see the possibilities in change that Barrack Obama could bring about taking a total different approach than other candidates. Through out the election my largest complaint was the overwhelming ambiquity that surrounded his campaign and his unwillingness to specify any level of detail whatsoever in how he would move forward in accomplishing his goals over the course of his first 4 year term.

I remember watching the debates and the final two before the election still ring clear in my ears. “A vote for John McCain is a vote for 4 more years of the same”. An implication that not only would a vote for Senator John McCain would be a step in continuing the current economic downslide and more poor decisions based on our involvement in Iraq but also that Barrack had a radical plan that was dynamic in getting American back on track…

So with less than two months under his belt what has Barrack Obama done as President? He’s done more of the same continuing the tactics of George Bush and then addressing the nation (Address To Congress) with awe inspiring speeches on how everything is going to be different in terms of education, healthcare, the war, and financial stability.

I still remain impressed with Barrack Obama’s ability to captivate an audience but approving a bailout larger than George Bush’s, 787 Billion to be exact and then informing Congress we’d be proposing a budget for the years to come even larger than what we’ve got now is ludicrous. I don’t care how many times Nancy stands up to make sure every sentence he says is a slam dunk the numbers aren’t adding up and it’s not looking good.

I found this online resouce that you may find interesting, it details the path of federal spending to combat the recession: http://www.cbsnews.com/elements/2008/11/24/business/timeline4630811.shtml

I was excited to hear about reform programs (especially healthcare) that have committees planned to meet but these initiatives are all to familiar. The best item I’ve seen from the nation’s initial recovery plan is http://www.recovery.gov a website that shows transparency in how our money is being allocated to different federal intiatives and programs. This is fantastic and I thank the administration for it.

To be honest I’m very much on the fence as it pertains to what’s happening in our nations government and I’m hoping that reform doesn’t come at the expense of our liberty or a lifetime of debt that eleven generations of my family will be paying for…. that’s not a plan.

However this hasn’t stopped me recently from becoming very interested in the analytics or information of the internet which led me to the book I’m currently reading called “Click” by Bill Tancer the authority and top reasearch guy at the company Hitwise that focuses on enterprise trending for traffic on the internet.

Click by Bill Tancer

Truthfully I’m only about half way through this book but it’s insight in to America’s underbelly is very interesting, so much so that I could not wait until I finished the book to make a blog post. It discusses in depth how the changes in our lives or what we say don’t always coordinate as people would think to actions on the web. My favorite example would be that of Ron Paul a republican candidate that ran in the 2008 election. Ron Paul commanded the internet as a front runner receiving more traffic than any other candidate many times over. His radical and refreshing views made him a much sought after and researched candidate on the internet but he received very low traction in the actual primaries causing him to drop out.

However what this truly highlighted was the power that the internet can have over the arena of politics and as people become more resistant to traditional methods of information collection they’ll need to leverage online resources to find, mine, and plant information effectively.

Bill Tancer is also not afraid to talk about the difficult be hard truths about the internet such as pornography, pills and casinos.  I found this refreshing as when I’m reading I realize that no details are being spared on showing the social trends of our society.

Seriously thought what this boils down to is the unbelievable amount of raw information that’s available to businesses across the nation. I’m wondering how far we truly are out if not from being predictive or proactive but being able to react in a matter of days, hours or minutes to a strange or unexplained spike in key term or sought out information. The next generation of tools we’re building need to utilize these amazing capabilities beyond checking hits, page view, unique visits, and funnel goals. The next phase is integrating these incredible sets of total internet data into web deployments that could perhaps change content based on what the internet is reporting as important terminology or common used search items. While this basic concept has several hiccups including the morphing of data and how quick those changes will be received by a Google or equivalent search engine what we can realize is that it’s certainly only going to get faster not slower.

Fast reacting, low management, interactive websites? Hmmm sounds interesting and while many claim these capabilities none are automated to the level I’m thinking about. It will be exciting to see where this goes or where Unleashed Technologies takes it!

Clock of Business Doom

As of late time management has been an utter nightmare for me in terms of being able to address current and future client needs while still plotting a course for the future of Unleashed Technologies, LLC (UT). Recently I spent time engaged with a good friend of mine in relation to my time management issue. Now my friend is an executive solely focused on sales and it was a breath of fresh air to hear how he managed his schedule because it was always full. He discussed where he’d made cuts in his schedule and how he’d structured his daytime hours to maximize efficiency, response time, and help focus on client needs.

Then I realized… that’s one of the four primary roles I support on a daily basis. The luxury of splitting staff into focused roles is something that has to happen for my sanity and the forward progress of UT but expansion is a little less than popular right now even though we grow every month by a fair percentage. My four separate roles that have me serving as a COO, CEO, Sales Executive, and Project Manager.

Luckily since we have been growing additions to the team have certainly taken a fair amount of work of my plate in terms of project management but that does not mean I’m not still busier than a one legged man in an ass kicking contest. I’ve actually found a way to effectively manage these items and it starts with pre-planning my day the night before and utilizing the very early morning hours to finish internal work for the company. No matter how you slice it as a public representative your going to spend most of the day answering emails, talking with clients, and getting stuck in meetings. By waking up two hours earlier I’m hoping with a plan put in place the night before I’m learning that all items can be completed in a single day..

I mean I’m making a blog post for the first time in how long?

My first endeavor to the Greater Baltimore Tech Council was initially to meet with business executives and connect with businesses that we share our experiences with to help avoid pitfalls as a young organization. The core motivation of most individuals/organizations when joining these groups is to create an extensive network (which is very important don’t get me wrong) and generate new business opportunities as opposed to seeking a group of people that help guide each other through these turbulent times.

Perhaps foolishly I was under the impression that buiding a network of strong professional and personal relationships was a bi-product of being surrounded by like minded CEO’s and professionals dedicated to the advancement of the technology industry. Well, since I’ve joined I’ve been unable to join a single Technet or round table group based on the fact that my business is conflicting with others that are already within those groups. Hopefully by moving to a products based environment and maintaining a true Application Service Provider (ASP) model I’ll be able to reverse that and I’ll see the benefits of being able to connect with the terrific friends and professionals I’ve met through the organization soon.

Consider this a preliminary rant and I love working with and helping grow the GBTC any way that we can over here at Unleashed Technologies, LLC. It’s just a little frustrating when your goals and objectives are pushed back considerably for reasons outside of your control. Here’s to the future!!

I’m excited to see this growth and that people while in troubled economic times are still keeping the American spirit alive by investing in their businesses web presence. We continue to work hard on a new CMS system that will provide a critical piece to a larger puzzle that will set Unleashed Technologies, LLC apart from other web design/development firms.

In this process I can’t tell you the amount of maturity our organization has gained in really planning for difficult development phases, managing workload, and addressing feature upgrade requests. The end of this year has marked a huge milestone for Unleashed Technologies and its growth. Bringing in the New Year I want to especially thank the partners and friends we’ve made along such as Evolution, GoBeyondIT, and many more.

A BETTER LINK with download and external information resources from the Wasington Post.

Make sure if your running I.E. 7 or older versions that you get the patch spoken about in the article. Thanks to Rick for sending this information over. Everyone viewing this thanks you as well.