Reasons why you should go for ASP.NET MVC 4 over ASP.NET MVC 3

List of features that are present in ASP.NET MVC 4 but not in MVC 3, and why you should care about them.

1. Bundling and Minification

Bundling and Minification reduces the number of HTTP request that a web page needs to make. They combine individual files into single bundled file for scripts and CSS and then reduce the overall size by minifying the contents of the bundle

2.Display Mode

Display modes is lets an application select view depending on which browser which is making request. For ex: Desktop browser request will return index.cshtml view, whereas mobile browser request will return index.mobile.cshtml view.

3.WebSockets & SignalR

WebSockets comes with open source framework SignalR which allows to set up real time multi-user communication through open TCP sockets.

4. Recipe

In technical language recipe is nothing but a dialog box that is delivered via NuGet with associated UI and code used to automate specific task. It’s like GUI for NuGet package Manger. Recipes are set of assemblies which are loaded dynamically by managed Extensibility Framework (MEF). This basically provides plugin model for applications.  The main use of Recipe is to automate development task, which are used over and over again.

5. Authentication using Social sites like FB or Twitter

The internet project template of ASP.NET MVC4 includes this library. Using DotNetOpenAuth library you can provide authention using OAuth or OpenID providers.

6. Web API

ASP.NET MVC 4 includes ASP.NET web API, a new framework for creating HTTP services that can reach a broad range of clients including browsers and mobile devices.

7. Windows Azure

Last but not the least, the Windows Azure is  an open and flexible cloud platform that serves as the development, data storing, service hosting and service management environment. Windows Azure provides developers with on-demand compute and storage to host, scale and manage web applications on the internet through Microsoft data centers.

That’s it folks. By the way are you using ASP.NET MVC 3 for other specific reasons? What advantages or facilities it offers you in your development environment?  Please share your views in the comments section!

Srivatsan Aravamudan

Design and Communication

PsiberTech Solutions Private Ltd

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10 Benefits Business Intelligence can do to your Business

To know more about PsiberTech Business Intelligence Solutions Please click here.
What are the benefits you gained from using Business Intelligence in your organisation ?
Share your views in comments section and let us know.

6 Pointers while Implementing Business Intelligence solutions

All you need to know to while implementing Business Intelligence & Self-Service Reporting solution successfully

Business intelligence (BI) analyst expert Gartner says that “BI can have a direct positive impact on a company’s business performance, dramatically improving its ability to accomplish its mission by making smarter decisions at every level of the business from corporate strategy to operational processes.”

So we all agree that Business Intelligence has become essential tool regardless of the industry and size of the organization. Without a clear pointer, organizations can fall into the BI patchwork leading to:

• Redundant costs in deployment, maintenance, and training
• Increased information inconsistencies
• Frustrated employees who cannot get timely answers to their business questions

Having a clear strategy and rationalizing the BI standards can result in significant savings and greater control over information. These are the 6 pointers we suggest while implementing Business Intelligence for your organization.

1.        Business users own the driver’s seat

It’s time to get your IT department align to your business end users. Create awareness to develop broader understanding and perspective of your business. This can help in better support and relationship between your IT support and business counterparts. Also encourage the IT department to use BI to manage the business of IT.

2.        Proliferation of BI tools

Budget has shifted from the IT to end user departments lately. And Many BI vendors suggest users to just buy the BI tool and forget the IT department. This can cause proliferation of overlapping BI tools, especially in large organizations. Users are often blissfully unaware of the different BI tools that their organization use and the benefit of having corporate standards.  It’s ok to have multiple BI tools but Address standardization and governance.

 3.      BI and strategically related Technologies

The two main BI efforts for users are BI Integration with operations and Data mining. These two technologies should be considered while developing BI strategies for your organization. Find important niche areas that may provide greater value for your business goals.

4.      Reduce time spent on data entry and manipulation

A strong BI system, if well-configured, can help eliminate the time spent copying and pasting data and performing manual calculations. It’s vital to generate reports where most of the leg work is done behind the scenes.

5.      Empower employees

It is believed that more people who have access to data, the greater value organizations will derive as a result. BI can help organization by turning employees into decision makers. Armed with right, relevant and real time information, employees can take informed decisions that will have significant positive impact in the organization.

The smaller things that count:

As long as you have data to analyze, BI would provide you the information you need for decision making. Implementing the above pointers will ensure efficient use of BI and self-service reporting.  Evaluate business values and understand the costs and efforts involved in implementation of the BI. Select right technologies and tools that are related to the use of BI. Address data quality, integrity and most importantly data security. 

BI strategy & standardization is hard work but definitely worth it, so what are the standards / strategy that worked for you ? Please share your views in the comment section.

Srivatsan Aravamudan

Design and Communication

PsiberTech Solutions Private Ltd

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5 reasons why you shouldn’t choose a large consulting firm for IT services

I believe start ups and small to medium business enterprises should look for smaller IT companies to outsource to, mainly because they are agile, responsive, willing to learn and establish a long term relationship. 

The level of experience of each team member is much higher and the background is more diverse.  Apart from the obvious cost factor, below are the five reasons why it’s wise to choose smaller IT firms over large ones.

1. More staff does not mean more efficacy

The term “too many cooks spoil the broth “better applies to this situation. Better solutions does not come from several hundred strategists than a solo strategic genius.  Imagine the trouble of going through several people to get heard of your concerns and issues. Small IT firms has clear definitions of who is doing what and thus can help your business with clear direction and strategy.

2. Big ideas emanate from small IT consultancies

Large consultancies are slow to adopt new ideas. At large consulting firms, ideas and processes are the products, and altering these throughout the entire consulting staff takes time. It’s relatively very simple when it comes to Small IT firms.

Service Industry is really flattened due to media platforms and consumer awareness. Small is the new big when it comes to IT. Unlike established large IT firms small IT firms always thrive to prove their presence and thus keep agile pace in generating big ideas. This can mean so much in finding the right and effective solutions for your specific IT needs. 

3. Right here Right now

Availability is the key while supporting issues related to IT solutions. Few hours of downtime can turn your smooth business into living nightmare.  Smaller IT firms have greater flexibility when it comes to supporting customer during crisis.  And thanks to new technologies like online chats and conferences the consultant you need is always right where you want him to be.

4. Entrepreneurial thinking is found in small companies

Non-conformist thinkers flee to smaller firms as large companies resembles any other large corporation when it comes to politics, ladder climbing and adherence to policies.  When you are looking for out-of-box thinking for your IT needs, it’s more likely to come from Smaller IT firms than larger companies.

5. Consultant’s success is not your success.

When you are working with small IT firms it is clear who the consultant wants to please: you. However imagine working with large company with so many layers of managers, project leaders and consultants. For a consultant to be successful in large company, he needs to please many layers of internal bosses. Although your project may be important to him there are several factors other than your project that would mean success to him.

Srivatsan Aravamudan
Design and Communication
PsiberTech Solutions Private Ltd

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