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  • Google Rules for Retail

    - by David Dorf
    In the book What Would Google Do?, Jeff Jarvis outlines ten "Google Rules" that define how Google acts.  These rules help define how Web 2.0 businesses operate today and into the future.  While there's a chapter in the book on applying these rules to the retail industry, it wasn't very in-depth.  So I've decided to more directly apply the rules to retail, along with some notable examples of success.  The table below shows Jeff's Google Rule, some Industry Examples, and New Retailer Rules that I created. Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} table.MsoTableGrid {mso-style-name:"Table Grid"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-priority:59; mso-style-unhide:no; border:solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-themecolor:text1; mso-border-alt:solid black .5pt; mso-border-themecolor:text1; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-border-insideh:.5pt solid black; mso-border-insideh-themecolor:text1; mso-border-insidev:.5pt solid black; mso-border-insidev-themecolor:text1; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} Google Rule Industry Examples New Retailer Rule New Relationship Your worst customer is your friend; you best customer is your partner Newegg.com lets manufacturers respond to customer comments that are critical of the product, and their EggXpert site lets customers help other customers. Listen to what your customers are saying about you.  Convert the critics to fans and the fans to influencers. New Architecture Join a network; be a platform Tesco and BestBuy released APIs for their product catalogs so third-parties could create new applications. Become a destination for information. New Publicness Life is public, so is business Zappos and WholeFoods founders are prolific tweeters/bloggers, sharing their opinions and connecting to customers.  It's not always pretty, but it's genuine. Be transparent.  Share both your successes and failures with your customers. New Society Elegant organization Wet Seal helps their customers assemble outfits and show them off to each other.  Barnes & Noble has a community site that includes a bookclub. Communities of your customers already exist, so help them organize better. New Economy Mass market is dead; long live the mass of niches lululemon found a niche for yoga inspired athletic wear.  Threadless uses crowd-sourcing to design short-runs of T-shirts. Serve small markets with niche products. New Business Reality Decide what business you're in When Lowes realized catering to women brought the men along, their sales increased. Customers want experiences to go with the products they buy. New Attitude Trust the people and listen In 2008 Starbucks launched MyStartbucksIdea to solicit ideas from their customers. Use social networks as additional data points for making better merchandising decisions. New Ethic Be honest and transparent; don't be evil Target is giving away reusable shopping bags for Earth Day.  Kohl's has outfitted 67 stores with solar arrays. Being green earns customers' respect and lowers costs too. New Speed Life is live H&M and Zara keep up with fashion trends. Be prepared to pounce on you customers' fickle interests. New Imperatives Encourage, enable and protect innovation 1-800-Flowers was the first do sales in Facebook and an early adopter of mobile commerce.  The Sears Personal Shopper mobile app finds products based on a photo. Give your staff permission to fail so innovation won't be stifled. Jeff will be a keynote speaker at Crosstalk, our upcoming annual user conference, so I'm looking forward to hearing more of his perspective on retail and the new economy.

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  • A Comparison of Store Layouts

    - by David Dorf
    Belus Capital Advisors is an independent stock market research firm that sometimes rolls up its sleeves and walks retail stores.  This month Brian Sozzi walked both Macy's and Sears and snapped pictures along the way.  The results are a good lesson in what to do and what not to do in retail.  The dichotomy between the two brands is stark, and Brian's pictures tell the stories of artistry and neglect.  For example, look at these two pictures: Where do you want to shop for sneakers?  The left picture shows the Finish Line store within Macy's and the right shows empty shelves at Sears.  The pictures really show the importance of assortments, in-stock inventory, and presentation.  Take a look at the two stories, and pay particular attention to the pictures of Sears. 19 Photos that Show the New Magic of Macy’s Sears is Vanishing from our Minds, the Shocking 18 Photos That Show Why

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  • Impacting the Future through Collaboration at Alliance 14

    - by Jeb Dasteel-Oracle
    We’re hearing good things about the Alliance 14 conference held in Las Vegas by the Higher Education Users Group (HEUG) back in March. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Alliance 14 conferences, they are global events dedicated to enhancing and educating its members and the world on how higher educational institutions can utilize Oracle applications to change how they do business. The HEUG is an all-volunteer organization made up of individuals who collaborate with Oracle as part of the evolving higher education industry. Conference participants network with peers from other institutions (regionally and globally) to share the challenges; discuss solutions and ideas, and collaborate on HEUG strategic initiatives. The HEUG enables each institution to be a part of the ever-changing Oracle landscape. Watch the video below and hear directly from the attendees about their experience with Oracle and how being part of the HEUG has allowed them to  collaborate with one of their most importance resources... and with each other. Oracle is committed to fostering a strong and independent network of user groups worldwide. Currently over 900+ groups provide dynamic forums for customers to share information, experiences and expertise. If you’re interested in more information or joining an Oracle User Group, click and become part of a vibrant network of engaged users finding the best ways to get the most value from their Oracle investment and collaborating to provide a unified feedback voice to Oracle. Catch you next time, Jeb

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  • Project Management Helps AmeriCares Deliver International Aid

    - by Sylvie MacKenzie, PMP
    Excerpt from PROFIT - ORACLE - by Alison Weiss Handle with Care Sound project management helps AmeriCares bring international aid to those in need. The stakes are always high for AmeriCares. On a mission to restore health and save lives during times of disaster, the nonprofit international relief and humanitarian aid organization delivers donated medicines, medical supplies, and humanitarian aid to people in the U.S. and around the globe. Founded in 1982 with the express mission of responding as quickly and efficiently as possible to help people in need, the Stamford, Connecticut-based AmeriCares has delivered more than US$10.5 billion in aid to 147 countries over the past three decades. Launch the Slideshow “It’s critically important to us that we steward all the donations and that the medical supplies and medicines get to people as quickly as possible with no loss,” says Kate Sears, senior vice president for finance and technology at AmeriCares. “Whether we’re shipping IV solutions to victims of cholera in Haiti or antibiotics to Somali famine victims, we need to get the medicines there sooner because it means more people will be helped and lives improved or even saved.” Ten years ago, the tracking systems used by AmeriCares associates were paper-based. In recent years, staff started using spreadsheets, but the tracking processes were not standardized between teams. “Every team was tracking completely different information,” says Megan McDermott, senior associate, Sub-Saharan Africa partnerships, at AmeriCares. “It was just a few key things. For example, we tracked the date a shipment was supposed to arrive and the date we got reports from our partner that a hospital received aid on their end.” While the data was accurate, much detail was being lost in the process. AmeriCares management knew it could do a better job of tracking this enterprise data and in 2011 took a significant step by implementing Oracle’s Primavera P6 Professional Project Management. “It’s a comprehensive solution that has helped us improve the monitoring and controlling processes. It has allowed us to do our distribution better,” says Sears. In addition, the implementation effort has been a change agent, helping AmeriCares leadership rethink project management across the entire organization. Initially, much of the focus was on standardizing processes, but staff members also learned the importance of thinking proactively to prevent possible problems and evaluating results to determine if goals and objectives are truly being met. Such data about process efficiency and overall results is critical not only to AmeriCares staff but also to the donors supporting the organization’s life-saving missions. Efficiency Saves Lives One of AmeriCares’ core operations is to gather product donations from the private sector, establish where the most-urgent needs are, and solicit monetary support to send the aid via ocean cargo or airlift to welfare- and health-oriented nongovernmental organizations, hospitals, health networks, and government ministries based in areas in need. In 2011 alone, AmeriCares sent more than 3,500 shipments to 95 countries in response to both ongoing humanitarian needs and more than two dozen emergencies, including deadly tornadoes and storms in the U.S. and the devastating tsunami in Japan. When it comes to nonprofits in general, donors want to know that the charitable organizations they support are using funds wisely. Typically, nonprofits are evaluated by donors in terms of efficiency, an area where AmeriCares has an excellent reputation: 98 percent of expenses go directly to supporting programs and less than 2 percent represent administrative and fundraising costs. Donors, however, should look at more than simple efficiency, says Peter York, senior partner and chief research and learning officer at TCC Group, a nonprofit consultancy headquartered in New York, New York. They should also look at whether organizations have the systems in place to sustain their missions and continue to thrive. An expert on nonprofit organizational management, York has spent years studying sustainable charitable organizations. He defines them as nonprofits that are able to achieve the ongoing financial support to stay relevant and continue doing core mission work. In his analysis of well over 2,500 larger nonprofits, York has found that many are not sustaining, and are actually scaling back in size. “One of the biggest challenges of nonprofit sustainability is the general public’s perception that every dollar donated has to go only to the delivery of service,” says York. “What our data shows is that there are some fundamental capacities that have to be there in order for organizations to sustain and grow.” York’s research highlights the importance of data-driven leadership at successful nonprofits. “You’ve got to have the tools, the systems, and the technologies to get objective information on what you do, the people you serve, and the results you’re achieving,” says York. “If leaders don’t have the knowledge and the data, they can’t make the strategic decisions about programs to take organizations to the next level.” Historically, AmeriCares associates have used time-tested and cost-effective strategies to ship and then track supplies from donation to delivery to their destinations in designated time frames. When disaster strikes, AmeriCares ships by air and generally pulls out all the stops to deliver the most urgently needed aid within the first few days and weeks. Then, as situations stabilize, AmeriCares turns to delivering sea containers for the postemergency and ongoing aid so often needed over the long term. According to McDermott, getting a shipment out the door is fairly complicated, requiring as many as five different AmeriCares teams collaborating together. The entire process can take months—from when products are received in the warehouse and deciding which recipients to allocate supplies to, to getting customs and governmental approvals in place, actually shipping products, and finally ensuring that the products are received in-country. Delivering that aid is no small affair. “Our volume exceeds half a billion dollars a year worth of donated medicines and medical supplies, so it’s a sizable logistical operation to bring these products in and get them out to the right place quickly to have the most impact,” says Sears. “We really pride ourselves on our controls and efficiencies.” Adding to that complexity is the fact that the longer it takes to deliver aid, the more dire the human need can be. Any time AmeriCares associates can shave off the complicated aid delivery process can translate into lives saved. “It’s really being able to track information consistently that will help us to see where are the bottlenecks and where can we work on improving our processes,” says McDermott. Setting a Standard Productivity and information management improvements were key objectives for AmeriCares when staff began the process of implementing Oracle’s Primavera solution. But before configuring the software, the staff needed to take the time to analyze the systems already in place. According to Greg Loop, manager of database systems at AmeriCares, the organization received guidance from several consultants, including Rich D’Addario, consulting project manager in the Primavera Global Business Unit at Oracle, who was instrumental in shepherding the critical requirements-gathering phase. D’Addario encouraged staff to begin documenting shipping processes by considering the order in which activities occur and which ones are dependent on others to get accomplished. This exercise helped everyone realize that to be more efficient, they needed to keep track of shipments in a more standard way. “The staff didn’t recognize formal project management methodology,” says D’Addario. “But they did understand what the most important things are and that if they go wrong, an entire project can go off course.” Before, if a boatload of supplies was being sent to Haiti and there was a problem somewhere, a lot of time was taken up finding out where the problem was—because staff was not tracking things in a standard way. As a result, even more time was needed to find possible solutions to the problem and alert recipients that the aid might be delayed. “For everyone to put on the project manager hat and standardize the way every single thing is done means that now the whole organization is on the same page as to what needs to occur from the time a hurricane hits Haiti and when a boat pulls in to unload supplies,” says D’Addario. With so much care taken to put a process foundation firmly in place, configuring the Primavera solution was actually quite simple. Specific templates were set up for different types of shipments, and dashboards were implemented to provide executives with clear overviews of every project in the system. AmeriCares’ Loop reports that system planning, refining, and testing, followed by writing up documentation and training, took approximately four months. The system went live in spring 2011 at AmeriCares’ Connecticut headquarters. While the nonprofit has an international presence, with warehouses in Europe and offices in Haiti, India, Japan, and Sri Lanka, most donated medicines come from U.S. entities and are shipped from the U.S. out to the rest of the world. In addition, all shipments are tracked from the U.S. office. AmeriCares doesn’t expect the Primavera system to take months off the shipping time, especially for sea containers. However, any time saved is still important because it will allow aid to be delivered to people more quickly at a lower overall cost. “If we can trim a day or two here or there, that can translate into lives that we’re saving, especially in emergency situations,” says Sears. A Cultural Change Beyond the measurable benefits that come with IT-driven process improvement, AmeriCares management is seeing a change in culture as a result of the Primavera project. One change has been treating every shipment of aid as a project, and everyone involved with facilitating shipments as a project manager. “This is a revolutionary concept for us,” says McDermott. “Before, we were used to thinking we were doing logistics—getting a container from point A to point B without looking at it as one project and really understanding what it meant to manage it.” AmeriCares staff is also happy to report that collaboration within the organization is much more efficient. When someone creates a shipment in the Primavera system, the same shared template is used, which means anyone can log in to the system to see the status of a shipment. Knowledgeable staff can access a shipment project to help troubleshoot a problem. Management can easily check the status of projects across the organization. “Dashboards are really useful,” says McDermott. “Instead of going into the details of each project, you can just see the high-level real-time information at a glance.” The new system is helping team members focus on proactively managing shipments rather than simply reacting when problems occur. For example, when a container is shipped, documents must be included for customs clearance. Now, the shipping template has built-in reminders to prompt team members to ask for copies of these documents from freight forwarders and to follow up with partners to discover if a shipment is on time. In the past, staff may not have worked on securing these documents until they’d been notified a shipment had arrived in-country. Another benefit of capturing and adopting best practices within the Primavera system is that staff training is easier. “Capturing the processes in documented steps and milestones allows us to teach new staff members how to do their jobs faster,” says Sears. “It provides them with the knowledge of their predecessors so they don’t have to keep reinventing the wheel.” With the Primavera system already generating positive results, management is eager to take advantage of advanced capabilities. Loop is working on integrating the company’s proprietary inventory management system with the Primavera system so that when logistics or warehousing operators input data, the information will automatically go into the Primavera system. In the past, this information had to be manually keyed into spreadsheets, often leading to errors. Mining Historical Data Another feature on the horizon for AmeriCares is utilizing Primavera P6 Professional Project Management reporting capabilities. As the system begins to include more historical data, management soon will be able to draw on this information to conduct analysis that has not been possible before and create customized reports. For example, at the beginning of the shipment process, staff will be able to use historical data to more accurately estimate how long the approval process should take for a particular country. This could help ensure that food and medicine with limited shelf lives do not get stuck in customs or used beyond their expiration dates. The historical data in the Primavera system will also help AmeriCares with better planning year to year. The nonprofit’s staff has always put together a plan at the beginning of the year, but this has been very challenging simply because it is impossible to predict disasters. Now, management will be able to look at historical data and see trends and statistics as they set current objectives and prepare for future need. In addition, this historical data will provide AmeriCares management with the ability to review year-end data and compare actual project results with goals set at the beginning of the year—to see if desired outcomes were achieved and if there are areas that need improvement. It’s this type of information that is so valuable to donors. And, according to York, project management software can play a critical role in generating the data to help nonprofits sustain and grow. “It is important to invest in systems to help replicate, expand, and deliver services,” says York. “Project management software can help because it encourages nonprofits to examine program or service changes and how to manage moving forward.” Sears believes that AmeriCares donors will support the return on investment the organization will achieve with the Primavera solution. “It won’t be financial returns, but rather how many more people we can help for a given dollar or how much more quickly we can respond to a need,” says Sears. “I think donors are receptive to such arguments.” And for AmeriCares, it is all about the future and increasing results. The project management environment currently may be quite simple, but IT staff plans to expand the complexity and functionality as the organization grows in its knowledge of project management and the goals it wants to achieve. “As we use the system over time, we’ll continue to refine our best practices and accumulate more data,” says Sears. “It will advance our ability to make better data-driven decisions.”

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  • Customer Loyalty vs. Customer Engagement: Who Cares?

    - by Jeb Dasteel-Oracle
    Have you read the recent Forbes OracleVoice blog titled Customer Loyalty is Dead. Long Live Engagement!? If you haven’t, take a look. This article prompted lots of conversation in the social realm. Many who read the article voiced their reactions to the headline and now I’m jumping in to add my view. Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE Customer loyalty is still key. It’s the effect and engagement is the cause. We at least know that to be true for our customers. We are in an age where customers are demanding to be heard. We need them to be actively involved – or engaged – as well. Greater levels of customer engagement, properly targeted, positively correlate with satisfaction. Our data has shown us this over and over. Satisfied customers are more loyal and more willing to vocalize their satisfaction through referencing, and are more likely to purchase again, all of which in turn drives incremental revenue – from the customer doing the referencing AND the customer on the receiving end of that reference. Turning this around completely, if we begin to see the level of a customer’s engagement start to wane, this is an indicator that their satisfaction, loyalty, and future revenue are likely at risk. At Oracle, we’ve put in place many programs to target, encourage, and then track engagement, allowing us to measure engagement as a determinant of loyalty. Some of these programs include our Key Accounts, solution design and architectural, Executive Sponsorship, as well as executive advisory boards. Specific programs allow us to engage specific contacts within specific customer organizations (based on role) and then systematically track their engagement activities over time, along side of tracking customer satisfaction, loyalty, referenceability, and incremental revenue contribution. Continuous measurement of engagement allows us to better understand customer views of what it means to partner with a provider and adjust program participation to better meet the needs of the partnership. We can also track across customer segments, and design new programs that are even more effective than the ones we have in place today. In case you missed any of my previous Forbes articles, I’ve included links below for easy access. Award-Winning Companies Put Customers First The Power of Peer Networks: 5 Reasons to Get (and Stay) Involved Technology At Work: Traveling In Style Customer Central: 8 Strategies for Putting Customers at the Core of Your Business Technology at Work: Five Companies Doing IT Right /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}

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  • How to exclude R*.class files from a proguard build

    - by Jeremy Bell
    I am one step away from making the method described here: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2761443/targeting-android-with-scala-2-8-trunk-builds work with a single project (vs one project for scala and one for android). I've come across a problem. Using this input file (arguments to) proguard: -injars bin;lib/scala-library.jar(!META-INF/MANIFEST.MF,!library.properties) -outjar lib/scandroid.jar -libraryjars lib/android.jar -dontwarn -dontoptimize -dontobfuscate -dontskipnonpubliclibraryclasses -dontskipnonpubliclibraryclassmembers -keepattributes Exceptions,InnerClasses,Signature,Deprecated, SourceFile,LineNumberTable,*Annotation*,EnclosingMethod -keep public class org.scala.jeb.** { public protected *; } -keep public class org.xml.sax.EntityResolver { public protected *; } Proguard successfully builds scandroid.jar, however it appears to have included the generated R classes that the android resource builder generates and compiles. In this case, they are located in bin/org/jeb/R*.class. This is not what I want. The android dalvik converter cannot build because it thinks there is a duplicate of the R class (it's in scandroid and also the R*.class files). How can I modify the above proguard arguments to exclude the R*.class files from the scandroid.jar so the dalvik converter is happy? Edit: I should note that I tried adding ;bin/org/jeb/R.class;etc... to the -libraryjars argument, and that only seemed to cause it to complain about duplicate classes, and in addition proguard decided to exclude my scala class files too.

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  • How does Linux determine the SCSI address of a disk?

    - by Chris Sears
    Greetings, I'm working with RHEL 5.5 guest VMs under VMware ESX 4. When I configure the virtual disks in the VM hardware settings, each disk has a SCSI address in the format "N:M". For example, "1:3" would mean SCSI host number 1 and SCSI target ID 3. When I look at the disk info from the VM's BIOS or a Windows OS, the detected SCSI address info matches up with the virtual hardware settings. But under Linux, the SCSI address components don't match up, at least not completely or consistently. I've tried the three supported virtual SCSI and SAS drivers and they all seem to be "broken", but in different ways. Here's a list of the virtual hardware addresses vs what was detected under Linux with each of the drivers: Driver vHW Addr Linux Addr -------- -------- ---------- LSI SAS 0:0 0:0 LSI SAS 0:3 0:1 LSI SAS 0:6 0:2 LSI SCSI 1:1 2:1 LSI SCSI 1:4 2:4 LSI SCSI 1:7 2:7 pvSCSI 2:2 1:2 pvSCSI 2:5 1:5 pvSCSI 2:8 1:8 My main question is why does this happen under Linux? The next question is: how do I get it fixed or fix it myself? If I was going to guess, I'd say it's an issue with how the kernel is handing out the SCSI host number and how the Linux SCSI driver (included with VMware tools) is detecting the SCSI target number. Perhaps the order the drivers are loaded also has something to do with the issue. I'm guessing this would not involve udev, but I could be wrong. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks! PS. My environment is VMware, but I don't need an answer for these drivers specifically. I imagine this might be a problem with any SCSI driver under Linux.

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  • Which audio library to use?

    - by Jeb
    I want to build a .Net application for processing audio, and distribute it using ClickOnce deployment. I need access to a raw audio pipeline. Which audio library should I be using? I've heard the managed libraries for DirectSound are a dead end. I need as little as possible to be installed on the client's machine. Anything outside of the ClickOnce process isn't going to work. NAudio might be a possibility, but isn't there potentially a separate driver install? There's also SlimDX. It's a shame -- the managed DirectX libraries seem to work nicely and from what I've read, DirectX can be included in the ClickOnce install.

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  • Should I start a General Software Developer User Group? [closed]

    - by Jeb
    I'm moving to a small town (Panama City, Florida) at some point in the future. I've found a Linux user group, and a .Net user group, but I'd like to spend my time outside of the office learning about Python, Android, JQuery -- mostly things that aren't owned by .Net. I'm debating trying to start another user group of some sort there, primarily to attract programmers who use technologies other than .Net. What are some of the more general programming user groups in existence already? I'm looking for something I could franchise.

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  • Handling multiple async HTTP requests in Silverlight serially

    - by Jeb
    Due to the async nature of http access via WebClient or HttpWebRequest in Silverlight 4, when I want to do multiple http get/posts serially, I find myself writing code that looks like this: doFirstGet(someParams, () => { doSecondGet(someParams, () => { doThirdGet(... } }); Or something similar. I'll end up nesting subsequent calls within callbacks usually implemented using lambdas of some sort. Even if I break things out into Actions or separate methods, it still ends up being hard to read. Does anyone have a clean solution to executing multiple http requests in SL 4 serially? I don't need things to be synchronous, I just want serial execution.

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  • iPhone Application crashing upon loading a new Detail View

    - by Jeb Sears
    Hi, My problem is when trying to load a detail view through a table cell, the application constantly crashes. The error that comes up when running through debug is "__TERMINATING_DUE_TO_UNCAUGHT_EXCEPTION___" objc exception thrown. If anyone can help me it would be greatly appreciated. Here is a screenshot for the debug, I am not sure if I am interpreting it right http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/2143/errorud.png Here is my code where I beleive the error is happening: - (void)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView didSelectRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath { NSInteger row = [indexPath row]; if(self.moreDetailView == nil){ DetailViewController *dvController = [[DetailViewController alloc] initWithNibName:@"DetailViewController" bundle:[NSBundle mainBundle]]; self.moreDetailView = dvController; [dvController release]; } else{} moreDetailView.title = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@", [listOfItems objectAtIndex:row]]; goHerdv2AppDelegate *delegate = [[UIApplication sharedApplication] delegate]; [delegate.detailView pushViewController:moreDetailView animated:YES];}

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  • Oracle: Focus on the Customer

    Jeb Dasteel, Vice President Oracle Global Customer Programs, talks with Fred about what Oracle is doing to drive Customer Focus and to create the Superior Ownership Experience for every Oracle customer.

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  • Is an LSA MSV1_0 subauthentication package needed for some impersonation use cases?

    - by Chris Sears
    Greetings, I'm working with a vendor who has implemented some code that uses a Windows LSA MSV1_0 subauthentication package (MSDN info if you're interested: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa374786(VS.85).aspx ) and I'm trying to figure out if it's necessary. As far as I can tell, the subauthentication routine and filter allow for hooking or customizing the standard LSA MSV1_0 logon event processing. The issue is that I don't understand why the vendor's product would need these capabilities. I've asked them and they said they use it to perform impersonation. The product definitely does need to do impersonation, but based on my limited win32 knowledge, they could get the functionality they need using the normal auth APIs (LsaLogonUser, ImpersonateLoggedOnUser, etc) without the subauthentication package. Furthermore, I've worked with a number of similar products that all do impersonation, and this is the only one that's used a subauthentication package. If you're wondering why I would care, a previous version of the product had a bug in the subauthentication package dll that would cause lockups or bluescreens. That makes me rather nervous and has me questioning the use of such a low-level, kernel sensitive interface. I'd like to go back to the vendor and say "There's no way you could need an LSA subauth package for impersonation - take it out", but I'm not sure I understand the use cases and possible limitations of the standard win32 authentication/impersonation APIs well enough to make that claim definitively. So, to the win32 security gurus out there, is there any reason you would need an LSA MSV1_0 subauthentication package if all you were doing is impersonation? Thanks in advance for any thoughts!

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  • ZooKeeper and RabbitMQ/Qpid together - overkill or a good combination?

    - by Chris Sears
    Greetings, I'm evaluating some components for a multi-data center distributed system. We're going to be using message queues (via either RabbitMQ or Qpid) so agents can make asynchronous requests to other agents without worrying about addressing, routing, load balancing or retransmission. In many cases, the agents will be interacting with components that were not designed for highly concurrent access, so locking and cross-agent coordination will be needed to avoid race conditions. Also, we'd like the system to automatically respond to agent or data center failures. With the above use cases in mind, ZooKeeper seemed like it might be a good fit. But I'm wondering if trying to use both ZK and message queuing is overkill. It seems like what Zookeeper does could be accomplished by my own cluster manager using AMQP messaging, but that would be hard to get really right. On the other hand, I've seen some examples where ZooKeeper was used to implement message queuing, but I think RabbitMQ/Qpid are a more natural fit for that. Has anyone out there used a combination like this? Thanks in advance, -Chris

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  • Efficient way to store tuples in the datastore

    - by Drew Sears
    If I have a pair of floats, is it any more efficient (computationally or storage-wise) to store them as a GeoPtProperty than it would be pickle the tuple and store it as a BlobProperty? If GeoPt is doing something more clever to keep multiple values in a single property, can it be leveraged for arbitrary data? Can I store the tuple ("Johnny", 5) in a single entity property in a similarly efficient manner?

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  • naming a function that exhibits "set if not equal" behavior

    - by Chris Sears
    This might be an odd question, but I'm looking for a word to use in a function name. I'm normally good at coming up with succinct, meaningful function names, but this one has me stumped so I thought I'd appeal for help. The function will take some desired state as an argument and compare it to the current state. If no change is needed, the function will exit normally without doing anything. Otherwise, the function will take some action to achieve the desired state. For example, if wanted to make sure the front door was closed, i might say: my_house.<something>_front_door('closed') What word or term should use in place of the something? I'd like it to be short, readable, and minimize the astonishment factor. A couple clarifying points... I would want someone calling the function to intuitively know they didn't need to wrap the function an 'if' that checks the current state. For example, this would be bad: if my_house.front_door_is_open(): my_house.<something>_front_door('closed') Also, they should know that the function won't throw an exception if the desired state matches the current state. So this should never happen: try: my_house.<something>_front_door('closed') except DoorWasAlreadyClosedException: pass Here are some options I've considered: my_house.set_front_door('closed') my_house.setne_front_door('closed') # ne=not equal, from the setne x86 instruction my_house.ensure_front_door('closed') my_house.configure_front_door('closed') my_house.update_front_door('closed') my_house.make_front_door('closed') my_house.remediate_front_door('closed') And I'm open to other forms, but most I've thought of don't improve readability. Such as... my_house.ensure_front_door_is('closed') my_house.conditionally_update_front_door('closed') my_house.change_front_door_if_needed('closed') Thanks for any input!

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  • Oracle Transportation Management Annual Customer Conference

    - by [email protected]
    The 2010 Oracle Transportation Management (OTM) Conference will be held June 13-16 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The conference brings together all things OTM: users, prospective users, development personnel, product strategy, implementation experts, and software and services partners.  With over 200 attendees, this conference is the premiere location and time to learn about OTM, build relationships with peers, and get answers to all your OTM questions.    This year's conference will be held at the: Sheraton Society Hill, One Dock St., Philadelphia, PA. 19106Companies speaking at this year's event include:AT&T Land O Lakes BlueScope Steel Baillie Lumber Kraft Sears Roseburg Forest Products Toyota Beckman CoulterLevi StraussNiagara BottlingSmurfit StonePQ CorporationOffice Depot               To register click here http://www.otmconference.com/ConfAgenda.aspx.  1

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  • Stop Search param in directories by grep immediately after param match

    - by yael
    hi friends I use the following command to find under /var some param in my script grep -R "param" /var/* 2/dev/null |grep -wq "param" my problem is that: after grep find the param in file grep continue to search until all searches under /var/* will completed How to perform stop immediately after grep match the param word For example when I run the: grep -R "param" /var/* 2/dev/null |grep -wq "param" grep find the param after one second. But grep continue to sears other same param and its take almost 30 seconds How to stop the grep immediately after param match? THX

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  • What is the largest flatscreen monitor available for PC use?

    - by Avery Payne
    I'll qualify this specifically (by order of preference): must have the highest diagonal measurement, widescreen or "normal" aspect ratio doesn't matter here, just the diagonal. must have the highest resolution available, which means 72 inches of 1280x1024 won't cut it. must not have a TV tuner built into it, I'm not looking for a TV set, this is a monitor! must be available at a retail outlet that caters to the general public, i.e. Best Buy, Sears, Costco (all of these examples are in the U.S., although you can suggest something from whatever chain is in your area/nation/geography). Non-retail or non-physical venues like eBay, or businesses that only cater to other businesses, do not qualify under this requirement. I should be able to walk into this place and purchase it, not just whip up an order online. If you are unsure about this requirement, just ask yourself: can I physically see it before I open my wallet and purchase it?

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  • Improved Genetic algorithm for multiknapsack problem

    - by user347918
    Hello guys, Recently i've been improving traditional genetic algorithm for multiknapsack problem. So My Improved Genetic Algorithm is working better then Traditional Genetic Algorithm. I tested. (i used publically available from OR-Library (http://people.brunel.ac.uk/~mastjjb/jeb/orlib/mknapinfo.html) were used to test the GAs.) Does anybody know other improved GA. I wanted to compare with other improved genetic algorithm. Actually i searched in internet. But couldn't find good algorithm to compare.

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  • What event do I need to supress to stop IE from "Dinging" when I press enter in a text box?

    - by scunliffe
    On simple forms with one text box pressing enter submits the form (and this is great for easy search forms) However on a form with multiple fields, pressing Enter in an input="text" box won't do anything (e.g. submit) but in IE it "Dings" as if you have tried to delete an undeletable object. The question is... what event do I need to suppress in IE to stop this sound? e.g. if I have a username/password form, I DO want the enter key to submit the form, but I certainly don't want the "error" sound. Example site with the sound: http://www.sears.com/shc/s/StoreLocatorView?storeId=10153&catalogId=12605 Just press Enter in any of the text fields. Ding!, Ding!, Ding! Non-IE users, the sound is the: Program Events Windows Default Beep ("Windows XP Ding.wav")

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  • 3D Web Sites and Applications

    - by Scott Evernden
    I have for the last several years been struggling to understand why the Internet has so few actually useful 3D web applications. It's 2009 and still everything looks like pages from a Sears catalog. You can turn on your TV and find flying logos every night. After that you can get nostalgic and flip on ol' N-64 and play some Zelda or Mario Kart. On the PC, Sims 2 is approaching 6 years old already.. And then there's WoW. Current generation of users - the Facebook crowd, let's say - has ~no~ problem dealing with multi-dimensional environments.. And yet, nothing really immersive seems to happen on the web. I've been hearing about VRML and X3D for at least 10 years and ... pffft .. - nothing earth shaking going on there. Java 3D ? .. cool ! .. but ...... Still .... waiting and waiting. Do you think it will take a killer-web app before people become accustomed-to or will seek to use what could more more engaging web experiences? I am not talking about Second Life and other dedicated downloaded applications. I probably am more focused on apps like Lively or SceneCaster or Hangout or a half dozen others that are delivered 'painlessly' directly into web pages. My own particular interest is in the domain of virtual stores and immersive shopping. Its been a challenge trying to understand why an average user would not want to browse and wander a changing mall-space - like in the real world -- entertained by unexpected discovery. Is the 3D web always going to be 5 years in the future ?

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  • CodePlex Daily Summary for Thursday, December 30, 2010

    CodePlex Daily Summary for Thursday, December 30, 2010Popular ReleasesVarddienis - Windows Sidebar sikriks: Varddienis 0.9.5.0: Pievienota "Svetku" funkcija; Tiek paraditi Latvijas valsts svetki, atceres un atzimejamas dienas. Pievienoti “Atrie taustini” jeb isceli (laujot atrak izmantot Varddiena iespejas); Pievienota jauna poga - "Isceli", kas lauj lietotajam apskatit Varddieni pieejamos iscelus, un to taustinus. Nelielas izmainas: Nedaudz uzlabots JavaScript kods, Izmainits lidojošo logu aizveršanas krustinš – tagad tas klust dzeltens, ja uz ta uzbrauc ar peli; Ieverojami parkartoti un samazinati sik...SQL Monitor - tracking sql server activities: SQL Monitor 3.0 alpha 8: 1. added truncate table/defrag index/check db functions 2. improved alert 3. fixed problem with alert causing config file corrupted(hopefully)People's Note: People's Note 0.20: Version 0.20 is all about polishing the UI and supporting other developers. Several screens got better handling of the "close" button and the Escape key. The ink note screen got more traditional sketching colours, instead of the primaries. It also got a greater brush size. Messages for network errors have been improved. The Evernote API library got a Win32 target. Readme.txt was updated with additional instructions. To install: copy the appropriate CAB file onto your WM device and run i...ASP.NET Comet Ajax Library (Reverse Ajax - Server Push): Object Cache Sample: Object cache sample for Windows Forms Applications. This sample project demonstrates the usage of PCache class.Analysis Services Stored Procedure Project: 1.3.5 Release: This release includes the following fixes and new functionality: Updates to GetCubeLastProcessedDate to work with perspectives Fixes to reports that call Discover functions improving drillthrough functions against perspectives improving ExecuteDrillthroughAndFixColumns logic fixing situation where MDX query calling certain ASSP sprocs which opened external connections caused deadlock to SSAS processing small fix to Partition code when DbColumnName property doesn't exist changes...DocX: DocX v1.0.0.11: Building Examples projectTo build the Examples project, download DocX.dll and add it as a reference to the project. OverviewThis version of DocX contains many bug fixes, it is a serious step towards a stable release. Added1) Unit testing project, 2) Examples project, 3) To many bug fixes to list here, see the source code change list history.Cosmos (C# Open Source Managed Operating System): 71406: This is the second release supporting the full line of Visual Studio 2010 editions. Changes since release 71246 include: Debug info is now stored in a single .cpdb file (which is a Firebird database) Keyboard input works now (using Console.ReadLine) Console colors work (using Console.ForegroundColor and .BackgroundColor)AutoLoL: AutoLoL v1.5.0: Added the all new Masteries Browser which replaces the Quick Open combobox AutoLoL will now attemt to create file associations for mastery (*.lolm) files Each Mastery Build can now contain keywords that the Masteries Browser will use for filtering Changed the way AutoLoL detects if another instance is already running Changed the format of the mastery files to allow more information stored in* Dialogs will now focus the Ok or Cancel button which allows the user to press Return to clo...Paint.NET PSD Plugin: 1.6.0: Handling of layer masks has been greatly improved. Improved reliability. Many PSD files that previously loaded in as garbage will now load in correctly. Parallelized loading. PSD files containing layer masks will load in a bit quicker thanks to the removal of the sequential bottleneck. Hidden layers are no longer made visible on save. Many thanks to the users who helped expose the layer masks problem: Rob Horowitz, M_Lyons10. Please keep sending in those bug reports and PSD repro files!Razor Templating Engine: Razor Templating Engine v1.2: Changes: ADDED: Standard namespaces imports for all templates: System, System.Collections.Generic, System.Linq (Changeset 5635) ADDED: Methods for Precompilation (Changeset 3283) CHANGED: Refactored precompilation to be exposed per-TemplateService. (Changeset 3440) CHANGED: Added more descriptive compilation exception message. (Changeset 3629) FIXED: Forced reference to Microsoft.CSharp to correct support for testing frameworks. (Changeset 3689) FIXED: Added support for nested anonymous obj...Facebook C# SDK: 4.1.1: From 4.1.1 Release: Authentication bug fix caused by facebook change (error with redirects in Safari) Authenticator fix, always returning true From 4.1.0 Release Lots of bug fixes Removed Dynamic Runtime Language dependencies from non-dynamic platforms. Samples included in release for ASP.NET, MVC, Silverlight, Windows Phone 7, WPF, WinForms, and one Visual Basic Sample Changed internal serialization to use Json.net BREAKING CHANGE: Canvas Session is no longer supported. Use Signed...Catel - WPF and Silverlight MVVM library: 1.0.0: And there it is, the final release of Catel, and it is no longer a beta version!EnhSim: EnhSim 2.2.7 ALPHA: 2.2.7 ALPHAThis release supports WoW patch 4.03a at level 85 To use this release, you must have the Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable Package installed. This can be downloaded from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=A7B7A05E-6DE6-4D3A-A423-37BF0912DB84 To use the GUI you must have the .NET 4.0 Framework installed. This can be downloaded from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=9cfb2d51-5ff4-4491-b0e5-b386f32c0992 - Mongoose has bee...LINQ to Twitter: LINQ to Twitter Beta v2.0.19: Mono 2.8, Silverlight, OAuth, 100% Twitter API coverage, streaming, extensibility via Raw Queries, and added documentation. Bug fixes.Euro for Windows XP: ChangeRegionalSettings 1..0: *Flickr Wallpaper Rotator (for Windows desktop): Wallpaper Flickr 1.1: Some minor bugfixes (mostly covering when network connection is flakey, so I discovered them all while at my parents' house for Christmas).NoSimplerAccounting: NoSimplerAccounting 6.0: -Fixed a bug in expense category report.NHibernate Mapping Generator: NHibernate Mapping Generator 2.0: Added support for Postgres (Thanks to Angelo)NewLife XCode: XCode v6.5.2010.1223 ????(????v3.5??): XCode v6.5.2010.1223 ????,??: NewLife.Core ??? NewLife.Net ??? XControl ??? XTemplate ????,??C#?????? XAgent ???? NewLife.CommonEnitty ??????(???,XCode??????) XCode?? ?????????,??????????????????,?????95% XCode v3.5.2009.0714 ??,?v3.5?v6.0???????????????,?????????。v3.5???????????,??????????????。 XCoder ??XTemplate?????????,????????XCode??? XCoder_Src ???????(????XTemplate????),??????????????????Umbraco CMS: Umbraco 4.6 Beta - codename JUNO: The Umbraco 4.6 beta (codename JUNO) release contains many new features focusing on an improved installation experience, a number of robust developer features, and contains more than 89 bug fixes since the 4.5.2 release. Improved installer experience Updated Starter Kits (Simple, Blog, Personal, Business) Beautiful, free, customizable skins included Skinning engine and Skin customization (see Skinning Documentation Kit) Default dashboards on install with hide option Updated Login t...New ProjectsAlquerque.net: Quer mostrar todo seu potencial? Destacar sua idéia inovadora? Desenvolva uma solução na plataforma .NET e prove que você está preparado para o mercado!Buccaneer: Buccaneer is a very extensive version of the windows explorer, which can be even furter extended with selfmade plugins. It is developed in c#.Chianti: Project Chianticomputing pi with a webcam: computing pi with a webcam and a spinning plate using buffon's methodConfree for Outlook: Confree lets you create audio conferences from Claro / Telmex directly from Outlook.Esurfing: EsurfingFoursquare Helper for WebMatrix: The Foursquare Helper for WebMatrix makes it simple to integrate Foursquare in your site. With a few lines of code you'll be able to show an "Add to My Foursquare" button or show any user's badges in your site.GetSatisfaction Helper for WebMatrix: The GetSatisfaction Helper for WebMatrix allows you to easily integrate GetSatistaction feedback functionality into your site. It provides a set of widgets for your users to share their ideas, questions, problems, and praises.GoodStore: ??????????,??B/S??,asp.net?sqlserver???,???????,?????????。。。Groupon Helper for WebMatrix: The Groupon Helper for WebMatrix allows you to easily add a Groupon badge to your WebMatrix site. When the helper is in place, it can query the Groupon API to get the deals for a given location, for you to display them in new, different ways. HarrierSight: An extensible application for analyze of spatial dataiPlay: iPlay is a WPF application built using MVVM for generating iTunes playlists randomly and displaying the status of iTunes in a user friendly way. It's secondary purpose is to explore the capabilities of WPF and MVVM in a contextual way.iSun Studio CMS: SNS Kiiro: An easy to use collaboration and project management application built for SharePoint. Kiiro lets your team collaborate on projects, documents, discussions, tasks and issues all within a simple, easy-to-use interface.Kiva7: The Kiva7 app is a Windows Phone 7 app for www.kiva.com. It shows all information on your loans and allows you to search for new loans. LeanEngine Framework: The LeanEngine framework makes it easier and faster for developers to develop .Net data centric applications. It's developed in C# language.MedSpeech: Guardado de grabaciones sobre los estudios radiologicos para luego poder realizar reportes de estos.Open Gran Turismo: Open Gran Turismo is an opensource car racing game highly customizable developed in XNA and BEPU physics. Opt.Net: Command line options and arguments parsing library for .NET 3.5 and 4.0 programs. Uses reflection to convert command line arguments and options into property values on an object that the application defines. Will support command pattern programs as well.Plancast Helper for WebMatrix: The Plancast Helper for WebMatrix provides an easy way to integrate Plancast on your WebMatrix site. With a few lines of code you'll able to show your Plancast plans or the ones from your friends. Polldaddy Helper for WebMatrix: The Polldaddy helper makes easy to add Poll widgets, ratings and surveys to your WebMatrix site in a few lines of code. It also provides access to the Polldaddy API, wrapping some of the API methods to retrieve Poll data.Scribd Helper for WebMatrix: The Scribd Helper for WebMatrix allows you to easily add Scribd documents to your site. When the helper is in place, it interacts with the Scribd API and with Scribd Reader to easily list your documents, enabling users to view them without having to leave your site. SharePoint 2010 Custom List Form Demo: This example will show you how to create a custom list form for SharePoint 2010 in Visual Studio 2010 using SharePoint Designer 2010 and VS2010... See my blog for a "Walkthrough": http://ikarstein.wordpress.comTdd unit test bar for Windows Phone development: a simple application which launches NUnit-Console on your Windows Phone unit tests every time you build, using a SilverLight version of NUnit. The output is then colored for better readability: Green bar if success, Red bar if failure.Techne: Techne is a program which will take a user input of a color or picture and then using motors to pipette paint will manually create the colors described by the user and draw a picture. The goal is to continually expand the system into performing more complicated tasks.TelerikTest1: ????Telerik??111111111TriExporterNET: TriExporter .NET Twitter Helper for WebMatrix: The Twitter Helper for WebMatrix makes it simple to integrate several Twitter social features in your site. For example, you can display Twitter widgets like "Follow Me" and "Tweet" Buttons, and access the Timeline Resources exposed by the Twitter API in a few lines of code.windows azure backup: If you need to have a backup of your files using Windows Azure, then this is the project to download. It incorporates an "admin" user and his backups. Can upload/retrieve files from local hard drive. Made with ASP.NET MVC.WP7PrintHelper: This project is aimed at the Windows Phone 7 developers that need to print from an App they are developing. The project provides a WCF service that runs on any desktop or server, and a print dialog dll that runs on the Windows 7 phone. It is developed in Framework 4.0 Client C#Wufoo Helper for WebMatrix: The Wufoo Helper for WebMatrix provides an easy way to integrate Wufoo forms and data into your WebMatrix site. It allows you to add Wufoo forms in your pages and integrate the data submitted in your forms by using Web Hooks.

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  • Enterprise Process Maps: A Process Picture worth a Million Words

    - by raul.goycoolea
    p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }h1 { margin-top: 0.33in; margin-bottom: 0in; color: rgb(54, 95, 145); page-break-inside: avoid; }h1.western { font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 14pt; }h1.cjk { font-family: "DejaVu Sans"; font-size: 14pt; }h1.ctl { font-size: 14pt; } Getting Started with Business Transformations A well-known proverb states that "A picture is worth a thousand words." In relation to Business Process Management (BPM), a credible analyst might have a few questions. What if the picture was taken from some particular angle, like directly overhead? What if it was taken from only an inch away or a mile away? What if the photographer did not focus the camera correctly? Does the value of the picture depend on who is looking at it? Enterprise Process Maps are analogous in this sense of relative value. Every BPM project (holistic BPM kick-off, enterprise system implementation, Service-oriented Architecture, business process transformation, corporate performance management, etc.) should be begin with a clear understanding of the business environment, from the biggest picture representations down to the lowest level required or desired for the particular project type, scope and objectives. The Enterprise Process Map serves as an entry point for the process architecture and is defined: the single highest level of process mapping for an organization. It is constructed and evaluated during the Strategy Phase of the Business Process Management Lifecycle. (see Figure 1) Fig. 1: Business Process Management Lifecycle Many organizations view such maps as visual abstractions, constructed for the single purpose of process categorization. This, in turn, results in a lesser focus on the inherent intricacies of the Enterprise Process view, which are explored in the course of this paper. With the main focus of a large scale process documentation effort usually underlying an ERP or other system implementation, it is common for the work to be driven by the desire to "get to the details," and to the type of modeling that will derive near-term tangible results. For instance, a project in American Pharmaceutical Company X is driven by the Director of IT. With 120+ systems in place, and a lack of standardized processes across the United States, he and the VP of IT have decided to embark on a long-term ERP implementation. At the forethought of both are questions, such as: How does my application architecture map to the business? What are each application's functionalities, and where do the business processes utilize them? Where can we retire legacy systems? Well-developed BPM methodologies prescribe numerous model types to capture such information and allow for thorough analysis in these areas. Process to application maps, Event Driven Process Chains, etc. provide this level of detail and facilitate the completion of such project-specific questions. These models and such analysis are appropriately carried out at a relatively low level of process detail. (see figure 2) Fig. 2: The Level Concept, Generic Process HierarchySome of the questions remaining are ones of documentation longevity, the continuation of BPM practice in the organization, process governance and ownership, process transparency and clarity in business process objectives and strategy. The Level Concept in Brief Figure 2 shows a generic, four-level process hierarchy depicting the breakdown of a "Process Area" into progressively more detailed process classifications. The number of levels and the names of these levels are flexible, and can be fit to the standards of the organization's chosen terminology or any other chosen reference model that makes logical sense for both short and long term process description. It is at Level 1 (in this case the Process Area level), that the Enterprise Process Map is created. This map and its contained objects become the foundation for a top-down approach to subsequent mapping, object relationship development, and analysis of the organization's processes and its supporting infrastructure. Additionally, this picture serves as a communication device, at an executive level, describing the design of the business in its service to a customer. It seems, then, imperative that the process development effort, and this map, start off on the right foot. Figuring out just what that right foot is, however, is critical and trend-setting in an evolving organization. Key Considerations Enterprise Process Maps are usually not as living and breathing as other process maps. Just as it would be an extremely difficult task to change the foundation of the Sears Tower or a city plan for the entire city of Chicago, the Enterprise Process view of an organization usually remains unchanged once developed (unless, of course, an organization is at a stage where it is capable of true, high-level process innovation). Regardless, the Enterprise Process map is a key first step, and one that must be taken in a precise way. What makes this groundwork solid depends on not only the materials used to construct it (process areas), but also the layout plan and knowledge base of what will be built (the entire process architecture). It seems reasonable that care and consideration are required to create this critical high level map... but what are the important factors? Does the process modeler need to worry about how many process areas there are? About who is looking at it? Should he only use the color pink because it's his boss' favorite color? Interestingly, and perhaps surprisingly, these are all valid considerations that may just require a bit of structure. Below are Three Key Factors to consider when building an Enterprise Process Map: Company Strategic Focus Process Categorization: Customer is Core End-to-end versus Functional Processes Company Strategic Focus As mentioned above, the Enterprise Process Map is created during the Strategy Phase of the Business Process Management Lifecycle. From Oracle Business Process Management methodology for business transformation, it is apparent that business processes exist for the purpose of achieving the strategic objectives of an organization. In a prescribed, top-down approach to process development, it must be ensured that each process fulfills its objectives, and in an aggregated manner, drives fulfillment of the strategic objectives of the company, whether for particular business segments or in a broader sense. This is a crucial point, as the strategic messages of the company must therefore resound in its process maps, in particular one that spans the processes of the complete business: the Enterprise Process Map. One simple example from Company X is shown below (see figure 3). Fig. 3: Company X Enterprise Process Map In reviewing Company X's Enterprise Process Map, one can immediately begin to understand the general strategic mindset of the organization. It shows that Company X is focused on its customers, defining 10 of its process areas belonging to customer-focused categories. Additionally, the organization views these end-customer-oriented process areas as part of customer-fulfilling value chains, while support process areas do not provide as much contiguous value. However, by including both support and strategic process categorizations, it becomes apparent that all processes are considered vital to the success of the customer-oriented focus processes. Below is an example from Company Y (see figure 4). Fig. 4: Company Y Enterprise Process Map Company Y, although also a customer-oriented company, sends a differently focused message with its depiction of the Enterprise Process Map. Along the top of the map is the company's product tree, overarching the process areas, which when executed deliver the products themselves. This indicates one strategic objective of excellence in product quality. Additionally, the view represents a less linear value chain, with strong overlaps of the various process areas. Marketing and quality management are seen as a key support processes, as they span the process lifecycle. Often, companies may incorporate graphics, logos and symbols representing customers and suppliers, and other objects to truly send the strategic message to the business. Other times, Enterprise Process Maps may show high level of responsibility to organizational units, or the application types that support the process areas. It is possible that hundreds of formats and focuses can be applied to an Enterprise Process Map. What is of vital importance, however, is which formats and focuses are chosen to truly represent the direction of the company, and serve as a driver for focusing the business on the strategic objectives set forth in that right. Process Categorization: Customer is Core In the previous two examples, processes were grouped using differing categories and techniques. Company X showed one support and three customer process categorizations using encompassing chevron objects; Customer Y achieved a less distinct categorization using a gradual color scheme. Either way, and in general, modeling of the process areas becomes even more valuable and easily understood within the context of business categorization, be it strategic or otherwise. But how one categorizes their processes is typically more complex than simply choosing object shapes and colors. Previously, it was stated that the ideal is a prescribed top-down approach to developing processes, to make certain linkages all the way back up to corporate strategy. But what about external influences? What forces push and pull corporate strategy? Industry maturity, product lifecycle, market profitability, competition, etc. can all drive the critical success factors of a particular business segment, or the company as a whole, in addition to previous corporate strategy. This may seem to be turning into a discussion of theory, but that is far from the case. In fact, in years of recent study and evolution of the way businesses operate, cross-industry and across the globe, one invariable has surfaced with such strength to make it undeniable in the game plan of any strategy fit for survival. That constant is the customer. Many of a company's critical success factors, in any business segment, relate to the customer: customer retention, satisfaction, loyalty, etc. Businesses serve customers, and so do a business's processes, mapped or unmapped. The most effective way to categorize processes is in a manner that visualizes convergence to what is core for a company. It is the value chain, beginning with the customer in mind, and ending with the fulfillment of that customer, that becomes the core or the centerpiece of the Enterprise Process Map. (See figure 5) Fig. 5: Company Z Enterprise Process Map Company Z has what may be viewed as several different perspectives or "cuts" baked into their Enterprise Process Map. It has divided its processes into three main categories (top, middle, and bottom) of Management Processes, the Core Value Chain and Supporting Processes. The Core category begins with Corporate Marketing (which contains the activities of beginning to engage customers) and ends with Customer Service Management. Within the value chain, this company has divided into the focus areas of their two primary business lines, Foods and Beverages. Does this mean that areas, such as Strategy, Information Management or Project Management are not as important as those in the Core category? No! In some cases, though, depending on the organization's understanding of high-level BPM concepts, use of category names, such as "Core," "Management" or "Support," can be a touchy subject. What is important to understand, is that no matter the nomenclature chosen, the Core processes are those that drive directly to customer value, Support processes are those which make the Core processes possible to execute, and Management Processes are those which steer and influence the Core. Some common terms for these three basic categorizations are Core, Customer Fulfillment, Customer Relationship Management, Governing, Controlling, Enabling, Support, etc. End-to-end versus Functional Processes Every high and low level of process: function, task, activity, process/work step (whatever an organization calls it), should add value to the flow of business in an organization. Suppose that within the process "Deliver package," there is a documented task titled "Stop for ice cream." It doesn't take a process expert to deduce the room for improvement. Though stopping for ice cream may create gain for the one person performing it, it likely benefits neither the organization nor, more importantly, the customer. In most cases, "Stop for ice cream" wouldn't make it past the first pass of To-Be process development. What would make the cut, however, would be a flow of tasks that, each having their own value add, build up to greater and greater levels of process objective. In this case, those tasks would combine to achieve a status of "package delivered." Figure 3 shows a simple example: Just as the package can only be delivered (outcome of the process) without first being retrieved, loaded, and the travel destination reached (outcomes of the process steps), some higher level of process "Play Practical Joke" (e.g., main process or process area) cannot be completed until a package is delivered. It seems that isolated or functionally separated processes, such as "Deliver Package" (shown in Figure 6), are necessary, but are always part of a bigger value chain. Each of these individual processes must be analyzed within the context of that value chain in order to ensure successful end-to-end process performance. For example, this company's "Create Joke Package" process could be operating flawlessly and efficiently, but if a joke is never developed, it cannot be created, so the end-to-end process breaks. Fig. 6: End to End Process Construction That being recognized, it is clear that processes must be viewed as end-to-end, customer-to-customer, and in the context of company strategy. But as can also be seen from the previous example, these vital end-to-end processes cannot be built without the functionally oriented building blocks. Without one, the other cannot be had, or at least not in a complete and organized fashion. As it turns out, but not discussed in depth here, the process modeling effort, BPM organizational development, and comprehensive coverage cannot be fully realized without a semi-functional, process-oriented approach. Then, an Enterprise Process Map should be concerned with both views, the building blocks, and access points to the business-critical end-to-end processes, which they construct. Without the functional building blocks, all streams of work needed for any business transformation would be lost mess of process disorganization. End-to-end views are essential for utilization in optimization in context, understanding customer impacts, base-lining all project phases and aligning objectives. Including both views on an Enterprise Process Map allows management to understand the functional orientation of the company's processes, while still providing access to end-to-end processes, which are most valuable to them. (See figures 7 and 8). Fig. 7: Simplified Enterprise Process Map with end-to-end Access Point The above examples show two unique ways to achieve a successful Enterprise Process Map. The first example is a simple map that shows a high level set of process areas and a separate section with the end-to-end processes of concern for the organization. This particular map is filtered to show just one vital end-to-end process for a project-specific focus. Fig. 8: Detailed Enterprise Process Map showing connected Functional Processes The second example shows a more complex arrangement and categorization of functional processes (the names of each process area has been removed). The end-to-end perspective is achieved at this level through the connections (interfaces at lower levels) between these functional process areas. An important point to note is that the organization of these two views of the Enterprise Process Map is dependent, in large part, on the orientation of its audience, and the complexity of the landscape at the highest level. If both are not apparent, the Enterprise Process Map is missing an opportunity to serve as a holistic, high-level view. Conclusion In the world of BPM, and specifically regarding Enterprise Process Maps, a picture can be worth as many words as the thought and effort that is put into it. Enterprise Process Maps alone cannot change an organization, but they serve more purposes than initially meet the eye, and therefore must be designed in a way that enables a BPM mindset, business process understanding and business transformation efforts. Every Enterprise Process Map will and should be different when looking across organizations. Its design will be driven by company strategy, a level of customer focus, and functional versus end-to-end orientations. This high-level description of the considerations of the Enterprise Process Maps is not a prescriptive "how to" guide. However, a company attempting to create one may not have the practical BPM experience to truly explore its options or impacts to the coming work of business process transformation. The biggest takeaway is that process modeling, at all levels, is a science and an art, and art is open to interpretation. It is critical that the modeler of the highest level of process mapping be a cognoscente of the message he is delivering and the factors at hand. Without sufficient focus on the design of the Enterprise Process Map, an entire BPM effort may suffer. For additional information please check: Oracle Business Process Management.

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