Intranet Plus

Hi all,

Imagine that your client can track online what is the progress of the order. Or even better they can add more details to the order so you can communicate which each other without the hassle of sending emails back and forward.

Wants more? What about you upload those files and they can download them? And change things and upload it back? Or let them see a preview of the file?

Sounds great, no? this is exactly what we offer. In our Intranet solutions it is easy to create a work space where you and the client can share information online.

The idea is simple but powerful – for each order you have a secured space where you can insert and edit data. I am sure this is something that can help you attract more clients. Because they love that they can see all the relevant info without sending you and email.

To see a demo please contact us

Hi all,

If you run a search on Google for the term ‘online database‘ you will see many ads and sites that offer you to create a powerful database in 60 seconds or so.

This is really impressive and some of them are really good tools. But let me tell you this - Creating a database is a dame difficult job. I am doing it for 10 years now and it is really complicated thing. It is not a rocket science but it is not something that you can do without training and experience.

That’s why you need a developer (us!) that can do it for you. You should focus on your business and not on trying building databases. I have one client that was involved in the process to define the database and he swear to me that he will never do it again.

What we do is understanding your business and than design a database that is relevant to your needs. It may be a long process, but the end result is very good. And once you have a good structure it is very easy to add more things.

So if you need a database, don’t buy ready made one. Save your money and give us a call or drop us an email. We will be happy to assists.

Assaf

Hi all,

We want you to see for yourself how an Intranet can change your business and make it more efficient. A good Intranet can save you a lot of time running your business and manging it.

We at S-Development believe that Intranet is something different from all these ready made applications that companies try to sell you. We think that a good Intranet is something that evolved from the business itself. We have many customers to prove it.

Before you buy off the shelf an Intranet product, contact us, and we will be happy to show you a demo.

Have a nice weekend!

Hi all,

This is one of the most popluar question that I get. People love their Excel. And there are good reasons to like it. As one of our cliens puts it: “With 2,3 clicks I can arrange the data the way I want it…” It is perfectly true.

When you develop an Intranet application and you want to change the layout you need to call to the developers (us ) and ask them to do so. Than it can takes day or two… while on Excel you can do it by yourself.

So many organisations afraid to lose touch with their beloved Excel. But they don’t have to. With simple process we can export any data from your Intranet database to Excel file according to the layout you need. In fact the two tools work very good together.

For another client we generates invoices in Excel from the Intrantet db and everyone are happy.

So for the question - can I export data to Excel (from my Intranet)? the answer is YES

Assaf

Hi all,

We have created a small demo to one of the Intranet application we used. The demo is very basic, but I think it gives you a good idea of what you can do with Intranet applications. This is a tailor made solution, and it is very flexible so we can change and add features that will suit your company Intranet.

To gain access to the Intranet demo, please contact us, and we will send you user name and password to login.

Assaf

Hi all,

Many of my clients contact us saying that the run their business using Excel sheets, and while it was good when the business was small, they find it hard to cope when there are many jobs to track.

Having say that they also say that they got used to Excel and they afraid to lose the flexibility that Excel offers. That makes perfect sense. Excel offers some great features and it quite easy to use. By click of a button you can drag, drop, delete, insert, sort and so on.

Can an Intranet do so? I would say 90% yes. You can do develop anything you need on an Intranet application that will give you the same functionality as Excel. In fact using Ajax technology you can also have the same interface more or less.

And on top of that you get all the benefits of web based application:

1. Many users can view it and update it.
2. You can create users level, so different users can see and update different things.
3. You can track record of who did what and when
4. Access it from all over the world – all you need is just an internet connection.
5. Create to you clients a page where they can track the progress of the job
6. Import all your old data from Excel
7. Advanced search options
8. Advanced reports
9. Easy to backup and restore information
10. Easy to add more functions and modify others

And more and more…
Can Excel do it? I don’t think so.
Can Intranet replace Excel? I would say yes. And to a better job!

Assaf

Again it has been a while since I wrote a blog, but really to many projects with tight deadline, that push the blog down in the pecking order. I am really sorry about it.

Many of our clients hire us for a specific project. They need to have a website and in that website they have a member section where professional people can communicate with them and they need a back office to monitor this communication. Easy.

But by mistake they think that once they have this back office admin they have an Intranet. But this is really just a small aspect of Intranet system. In our view a good Intranet system should be part of any aspect of the business.

I am so happy when I am visiting my clients to see their employees using the Intranet with everything they do. If they Intranet page is their homepage then you know that you did something good.

With the new open source DHTML suite that our friend in dhtmlgoodies.com has developed the sky is the limit. This interface is so superb that it allows us to take any software and convert it to the web without loosing the usability.

We have just finishing a huge project to run a complete business online. We used this interface, and the response is amazing. For me this is a real breakthrough. Intranet is not longer old and grey. It is cool and thanks to the Ajax technology fast. Very fast.

If you want to see a demo, just contact us

Hello all,

It is busy here at S-development. So busy, that I didn’t have time to write. So instead of a weekly blog, this look likes more a monthly one.

Today I want to discuss why it is important that your Intranet developer will know you business. We had a visit of one of our clients who came from Amsterdam. We developed for his company a complicated web based database that runs his business. This was a long process to understand what he needs and to learn his business.

Now he is very happy with it, and wants to add more options. But what he needs it is not a straight forward and it took us a long meeting to find the right solution that will handle the business process right. This thing an on - shell software can’t do. It can’t understand your business and your special needs.

For this specific client we saved lots of time by developing automatics tools that do in minute things that took him half a day to do before. Simple things to update a date to multiple jobs to complicated stuff like update dates to multiple jobs where some conditions are true. For us it is easy to develop. For him it saves time and money.

We have another client that wanted to copy all the entries of 2006 to 2007 so he will not need to re-insert it again just to modify it. Because we worked closely to him on this project (flu vaccinations) it was easy for us to implement this.

The bottom line is that a developer who knows your business may seem expensive, but for the long run it is cheaper and more efficient.

Hope it helps,

Assaf

Hi all,My wife works for one of the biggest investment bank in the world. They have a sophisticated intranet system over there. With that system the employees could do a lot of things. In fact it was a classified website. Like Loot or even E-bay. It was buzzing with activity - After all this bank has 60,000 employees. So you could find there tickets to gigs or football, recommendations about builders, cleaners… benefits for the employees and much more.

One day without any reason they decide to change the system. Since then there is virtually zero activity. Why? Because they replace a good intranet design with bad one. So people can’t find a thing over there. And after a week or two they don’t even try. So now they have a deserted intranet system that cost them fortune.

This happens many times. If you get it wrong, people won’t use it no mater how much money you spend. The rule is very basic: keep it simple. If you look at Google for example their secret is simplicity. Just a logo with a search field and some links to other services. And it works. The less is more on this case.

I visited one of my clients that wanted me to add some functions to their already exciting intranet system. I felt like sea sick. So many colors and information on one page that it was impossible to use. I asked them if the use it a lot, and they say not really, but they want to have more functions, so people will use it more.

My first advice for them was to change the design completely. Our designer here in S-development, came with a nice interface. Very clean and simple. This is even before we add more functions to it. They love it. Now they use it much more, and it is a good basic for further development.

So don’t get it wrong. It is Important

Assaf Scialom

Hi all,

Well first we need to describe what is Ajax and yes, it is the famous football club from Amsterdam, and yes also the cleaning product, but also something else…

Ajax is shorthand for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML, and it is just a new way do develop applications for the web. So what it gives you?

Without going into much technical details, it lets the server stream information to the webpage without refresh the page or call to another page.

And how it can help your business?
Well traditional web applications suffer from clumsy user interface which gives the user an awkward feeling.

The new technology creates smooth interface which gives the users an impression of real software. Have you tried to use Google mail account? This project is a good example of what Ajax can do to the usability experience.

So your employees will love to use these applications because they are cool / fast and yes, sexy! so if they are happy, you are happy.

For more demos about Ajax visit these two great websites:
http://script.aculo.us/
http://www.dhtmlgoodies.com/

Assaf Scialom