ColdFusion Use on the Rise

ColdFusion is widely used by developers across the word as a powerful web development platform. But the platform was developed in 1995 with some simple features to establish connection between HTML pages and a database. The version 2 of the ColdFusion was released in 1996 with a full scripting language and an IDE. But the latest version of the rapid web development platform, released in 2012, provides application developers with a set of advanced features to easily develop a variety of rich internet applications, along with carrying out enterprise integration.

According to FarBeyondCode.com, in February 2013, Adobe reported, “ColdFusion 10 brought sales and positive feedback to the highest point since 2008. They just had their best quarter at the end of 2012.” The commercial success further encouraged the company to release “a roadmap for versions of the ColdFusion server and the Eclipse IDE, ColdFusion Builder. They project to offer support for security and bug fixes for these new products until around 2020.” The report clearly indicates the growing usage of ColdFusion 10 to meet the needs of web applications developers to build robust application for clients belonging to different industries.

The constant rise in the popularity and usage of ColdFusion was also confirmed by a report published on WebProNews.com. To quote from the report, “Stephen O’Grady over at RedMonk compiled a ranking of programming language popularity based on an interesting set of metrics: StackOverflow questions and GitHub projects. Comparing Stephen’s findings from September 2011 and February 2012 show a significant improvement in ColdFusion’s position.” Also, a number of reports have highlighted the initiatives taken by Adobe to optimize the growth and popularity of ColdFusion.

Key Initiatives Taken by Adobe to Make ColdFusion more Popular

Discussing New Roadmaps

Each company has to collect feedback, suggestions and comments from its clients on the features and functionality of the applications developed by it. Often the interaction with customers also makes it easier for the organization to decide how to boost the performance of its application development framework. Adobe has initiated roadmap discussions to make ColdFusion programming more popular. As per the initiative, the senior leadership from the company will engage in discussions with customers. The feedback and suggestions received from customers will be used in deciding the features and functionality to make the updated version of ColdFusion 10 more powerful.

More Frequent Updates

Each software development company has to impress users by launching updated versions of its products. The updated frameworks also come with a set of advanced features that saves the programmers’ time and efforts while developing rich internet applications. Adobe has implemented a strategy to reduce the release cycles for ColdFusion. So the updated versions of the framework will be released more frequently with a number of advanced features and functionalities. Also, the reduced released cycles will make it easier for Adobe to meet the changing trends in technologies.

Launching ColdFusion on the Cloud

The Cloud-based application development frameworks are popular among developers due to their flexible and convenient features. Many companies have launched the Cloud version of their frameworks to meet the needs of developers. But the Cloud release of ColdFusion on Amazon EC2 was delayed due to some issues between the two companies. So Adobe has resolved the issues with Amazon, and is ready to offer Amazon Machine Image (AMI) for ColdFusion 10 at hourly rates. The Cloud version of ColdFusion 10 will encourage more programmers to avail the advantages of this powerful platform.

Expanding the ColdFusion Community

The popularity of an application development framework often depends on the size of developer community. So Adobe has taken initiative to promote ColdFusion at various community colleges. The initiative aims to educate programmers with a detailed semester curriculum for server side programming concepts using ColdFusion. Also, the program includes quizzes, tests, instructor guides and software to encourage new programmers to use this platform to develop rich web applications. At the same time, both instructors and students also have options to clear their doubts by interacting with a community expert.

Engaging the ColdFusion Users Actively

Adobe has further implemented a program to keep the users actively engaged. It is planning to organize ColdFusion events to keep the interested user groups by working with them in an active way. At the same time, the ColdFusion Business Unit at Adobe is planning to organize a full-fledged ColdFusion conference to encourage the involvement of user community. However, Adobe will work only as the primary organizer, while allowing the maximum involvement of the community in several aspects like content selection. The constant interaction with developers will further make it easier for the company to contribute towards the growth and popularity of this rapid web application development platform.

The initiatives taken by Adobe will encourage both novice and experienced programmers to migrate to ColdFusion. Also, the active participation and involvement of developer community will contribute towards boosting the popularity of this web development platform.

We provide coldfusion application development services. If you would like to discuss with an expert coldfusion developer from our team, please get in touch with us at Mindfire Solutions.

The future of Health Information Exchanges

Health Information Exchanges (HIEs) are expected to bring about a huge difference in the healthcare industry because of the nimbleness they are to suppose bring to data availability. This will also mean healthcare software testing will also pick up steam. There are some EHR vendors who currently offer the provision to physicians to exchange data with other practices which are registered to them. Some even go to the extent of offering all other features as are found in standard HIEs to them. But they are restricted in size and scale since it is only those physicians which are registered with the vendors which get entitled to draw the benefits.

HIEs go much beyond. These can be privately or publicly held and help in the transmission of clinical information from EHRs to participating physicians and providers. Most of the information is very holistic and helps in reducing the operational costs and improving the efficiency of practices. EHRs on the contrary hold a lot of information apart from the clinical data like demographics, allergies, laboratory reports etc. The potential benefits made available to group practices and physicians are many. By receiving and sending information, these entities benefit in a number of ways like

• Automation of their administrative tasks
• Availability of real time information at the point of care
• Transparency of processes
• Availability of Decision Support Tools
• Reduction in operational costs
• Qualification for Meaningful Use Incentives
• Increased Competitive advantage
• Improved quality of services

There are many other benefits offered by HIEs in addition to the ones listed above. However, it is not mandatory to find all of these offerings at a single HIE. It is left to the physicians to exercise their judgment before deciding to join one such organization. There are many reasons for the buzz around creation of HIEs. Needlessly to say that they enhance the degree of safety, quality and cost reduction otherwise possible without their usage. But one of the major driving factors has been the push provided by the Federal Funding.

Through the HITECH ACT, which stands for Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health, an amount of 2 billion dollars has been put aside by the federal reserve for creation and expansion of HIE infrastructure. HIEs fall under the purview of both the State, as well as the Federal government laws for finalizing the regulations of its operations esp. related to the privacy and security concerns of handling patient information. With the broad guidelines made available by the Federal government, the state laws determine the rules to be followed to set up the infrastructure, get the required certification to operate and specific ones for patient information protection. HIEs as such do not directly fall under the HIPAA act. But since it has to deal with entities which are covered by HIPAA e.g. providers, clearing houses etc. HIEs are expected to exercise and follow all the rules so as to comply with the privacy and security provisions as per the Act.

HIEs can act both as repositories and conduits for health information based entirely on the model that they want to follow. In the centralized model, data is stored in a central repository and is made available to members based on need. The advantage of doing this is that it leads to standardization of data. There are policies defined for ensuring this. In the federated model, the data stays at the source with HIEs providing pointers to them. This makes it possible for providers and physicians to get more control over the data unlike the previous one.

Overall, the involvement required by physicians in HIE governance is critical to their fraternity. From knowing how the model is developing in their states to how their data will be used, all this is important for physicians they decide to join one. There is one school of thought which is kind of making the physicians slightly apprehensive about their participation in HIEs. According to them, the data which is available with HIEs could be used to evaluate physicians or for profiling purpose. Thus all the more reason for physicians to know who has what access to the data available with HIEs and how is it supposed to be used.

We provide healthcare IT services. If you would like to hire healthcare software development experts from our team, please get in touch with us at Mindfire Solutions.

Enter the World of Speed, Productivity and Power with ASP.net Development

Only a handful of web frameworks are available which offer both productivity and speed and ASP.net is one among them. This brilliant web application is specifically leveraged to create and develop dynamic web pages. At present, big and renowned organizations are using ASP.net to exhibit their speed, productivity and power across their business websites. From large organizations to government entities, everyone is marching ahead with this remarkable website framework developed by Microsoft.

Companies should opt for .Net application development if they are looking for a web application framework that enables creation of large application utilizing lesser number of codes. This framework makes room for higher level of security as compared to other available frameworks for development of website apps. Therefore, a large number of sites which deal with online transaction prefer to build their official websites with the help of ASP.net. It is no doubt one of the securest and safest web application frameworks available till date.

Before going for any programming framework, it is important to comprehend the benefits that it will offer along with the reliability level. Let us understand briefly the advantages that the ASP.net framework brings with it, enabling businesses to unleash their power, productivity and pace.

• The major advantage of the ASP.net framework is that it is built over the Microsoft platform (unlike other frameworks such as J2EE and PHP). This empowers programmers to enjoy convenient access to the most up-to-date documentation as well as dependable client support from Microsoft with the help of MSDN service. Moreover, due to the built-in authentication by Windows, programmers can avail the most secured applications and innovative features. Presented as a key driver for dynamic websites, web applications and web services, the ASP.net framework has become much more than that, delighting end users with rich, convenient to use and dependable web tools.
  
• Since ASP.net is a genuine object oriented framework, it is capable of offering effective code management along with a clear cut code structure. It is also able to generate quicker web applications through the use of optimized compiled code, as compared to PHP, which operates in the form of interpreted code. Moreover, according to a number of project managers, the partition that exists between markup and code (in other words, between design and logic) is very effective and paves the way for more efficient and organized work within a team.
  
• Another significant advantage of the ASP.net framework is that it provides support to around 25 or more mainstream coding languages like C++, Jscript, C#, Visual Basic .Net and so on. This enables the developer to work with one language while simultaneously accessing the exclusive features of some other supported language.
  
• Visual Studio .Net, supported by the ASP.net framework, has an exclusive set of tools, including web design tools, database tools, debugging tools and so on, which make it a conveniently usable yet powerful background for web development. feature of Visual Studio .NET is an effective interactive tool, enabling developers to examine, debug and also make modifications in a page while it is being executed. When compared to J2EE’s eclipse and PHP’s Zend Studio, Visual Studio .Net delivers programmers a greater range of good quality tools to enable them to develop newer web applications within a short span of time.
  
• In the form of an inherent functionality, ASP.net offers instant and direct access to a range of .Net framework class libraries, incorporating 4500 or more classes possessing high quality functionality that includes image generation, XML, data access, SMTP, file upload and others. So far as UI is concerned, we have ASP.net web forms, supporting a number of business objects and server controls. Again there is the Mobile Internet Toolkit from this framework which targets PDAs, mobile phones and such other mobile devices.
  
• One of the crucial benefits of ASP.net is Language Integrated Query (LINQ) functionality which enables queries over almost any sort of data including collections. For programmers this means expressive, convenient to write code.

These are some of the striking benefits that ASP.net offers, empowering businesses to surge ahead recording a powerful performance. It is expected that the future will witness more exciting features within the ASP.net framework, bringing in an amazing revolution in technology.

We provide asp.net development services. If you would like to hire .net developers from our team, please visit Mindfire Solutions.

Receiving More from SharePoint Deployment – Top 10 Approaches

SharePoint is a powerful and robust tool that has gained a good niche in the industry. Proper deployment of this particular tool helps resolving a number of cases for organizations. The tool features Enterprise level functionality that can easily be deployed for gaining effective solutions for improved collaboration, search, workflow, business intelligence, document management, etc.

However, it is to be noted that deploying such a level of authoritative solution, maintaining little thought and effort on its consumption, management, and development can lead to poor adoption. Well, to achieve success, you must focus on aspects adapting to which at the organization level can lead to increased user acceptance and better growth. Of course, the technical traits need to follow the organizational aspects.

Deploying SharePoint – Top Tips to Follow

Deploying SharePoint for better success often turns out to be an important task and hence, requires proper planning. Following some of the best practices of successful deployment, ensure that you do away with the common problems that tend to arise with SharePoint. Here is a look at the top tips that you must always adhere to in the process:

1. Develop a Proper Plan: A clear and concise strategy is a must for ensuring successful SharePoint deployment. Whether it is for improved internal collaboration, proper document management, or effective mobile functionality, a strategy helps determining the setup and installation process of the same. Additionally, it also helps estimating the time that the deployment might take and the way you would like to introduce the software to your staff. The planning process must follow the installation of the tool and extend post the installation as well.

2. Configure the tool: Once, you get accustomed to SharePoint in terms of what make the tool useful to businesses worldwide and its capability to customize to specific business needs and interests, you must follow the planning stage with configuration aspect. From offering an access of some particular documents to a specific staff group to analyzing the benefits that deployment of this tool can have on your business, this stage is for all such considerations. Additionally, you might also like rolling out mobile access for your staff enabling the feature of work on the go.

3. Maintain the deployment throughout: Well, when it comes to getting more from your SharePoint deployment, you must remember that the process does not end with installation of the tool. It is important to update the same for a smooth and secured operation. The administrators must avoid loss of any data. Additionally, the servers and databases must also be checked regularly for preserving them in good condition.

4. Formation of a committee also helps: Forming a SharePoint committee within your company or business for better management and monitoring of the same is essential. It is advisable to form the committee with administrators from various departments of your organization. The next step obviously includes creating a forum, as it would help communicate on the development aspect and share thoughts on the next proposed direction. The forum would also let you share rules and templates alongside managing requests efficiently.

5. Focus on the prerequisites: The servers of SharePoint come with few prerequisites, which must be installed essentially for a better deployment of the tool. These essentials include the Sync Framework Runtime 1.0, Microsoft Filter Pack 2.0, and several other hotfixes. These can be easily installed through an Internet connection of the server.

6. Make the tool available for alternative access mapping: SharePoint holds the capability of providing separate URLs for accessing similar kind of site collection or a site. This is achieved through the feature named Alternate Access Mappings. When it is about making the tool function with reverse proxies, for example Forefront TMG or load balance, the AAMs work wonderfully.

7. Prepare a SharePoint support featuring add-ons from third party: Typical to Microsoft, SharePoint too features some strong and robust functionality and lack specific functionality in some areas. This is where support to third party must be accessible for benefitting through the deployment.

8. Obtain in front of Office 365: This particular application is certain to make SharePoint cost-effective and affordable. Additionally, the tool can also be easily implemented with the help of Office 365, which is sure to benefit the businesses largely.

9. Strive towards timely wins with collaboration and portal: Incorporating the high value workload and setting up operational stability, prior to moving onto risky and challenging applications also help in better deployment of SharePoint.

10. Planning must match the budget: If you want to receive the best from SharePoint deployment, the focus must lay on correlating the planning with the budget. Financial support for staff training, resources, and change management must match with the environment of Sharepoint.

Following the above-mentioned tips diligently will surely help you leverage the maximum benefits of SharePoint application development for your enterprise.

We provide sharepoint development services. If you would like to discuss with an certified sharepoint programmer from our team, please get in touch with us at Mindfire Solutions.

Different Versions of SSRS and What Fits Better for Businesses

SQL Server Reporting Services or SSRS comes with great many features to meet the reporting needs of complex businesses. So far as creation of reports is concerned, SSRS is a full-fledged report engine. The reports can be generated against any data source which consists of OLE DB, ODBC data source or any managed code provider. This implies that data can easily be retrieved by a SQL database developer or by a user versed with SSRS from Oracle, SQL Server, Access, Essbase, Analysis Services or lots of other databases. The data can be brought forth in a number of ways.

Taking feedback from SSRS 2005, Microsoft enhanced SSRS 2008 with new Chart as well as Gauge controls, along with a brand new Tablix control, that is in fact a blend of the Matrix and the Table controls from the prior release. Collectively, these fresh presentation formats offer a completely new experience that is also something innovative. Additional enhancements consist of new formats of output presentation, including Excel and Word, as well as straightaway assimilation with SharePoint. Before discussing the different version of SSRS, let us have a look at the main features of SSRS.

Prime features of SSRS

• Data Retrieval from managed providers, ODBC and OLE DB connections
• Display of Data in a number of modes, including charts, free form and tabular
• Export to a number of formats, such as PDF, HTML, CSV, XML, Word reports, TIFF and Excel
• Summarization and Aggregation of Data
• Add in report navigation
• Creation of ad-hoc reports and saving the same to the server
• Embedding images, graphics as well as external content
• Integration with SharePoint
• Offering a SOAP or Simple Object Access Protocol API (application programming interface) along with pluggable architecture
• Generation of on-demand reports and subscription-based reports
• Facilitating management and storage of custom reports by users, generated with Report Builder 2.0 of SSRS.
• URL-oriented access of report
• Availability of Gauge as well as Chart controls for the display of KPI data

As is obvious, SSRS offers an all-inclusive list of innovative features. Again, another striking aspect of SSRS is its extensible nature. This kind of extensibility empowers developers to make use of SSRS in a variety of ways, from tailor-made reporting solutions to embedded reports.

Versions of SQL Server Reporting Services

As far as SSRS is concerned, there are four versions or editions, which tend to mirror those of Visual Studio and SQL Server. These versions incorporate free starter editions as well as full-fledged Enterprise versions. Let us have a quick overview of the different editions:

• Express: This edition provides a lightweight version of SSRS for those developers who intend to understand the procedures of using SSRS.
• Workgroup: This version is meant for use within small branch offices or departmental organizations. In case there is any need, up gradation of the Workgroup Edition to the Enterprise or Standard Editions can be done.
• Standard: The edition is utilized in medium to small sized enterprises or within a single server ambience. The Standard Edition renders supports to all the available features of SSRS, with the exception of extremely specialized data-oriented subscriptions and Report Builder driven infinite drill down.
• Enterprise: The Enterprise edition is highly suitable for large organizations which work with complicated reporting needs and databases. This version is completely functional and renders support to scale-out functionality across the web farm.
• Developer: Generally speaking, the Developer version is almost similar to the Enterprise edition, but possesses distinct licensing requirements to facilitate the development of enterprise applications by people. In fact, this edition is licensed with regard to each developer within non-production or development environments.

Thus we have seen the prime features of SSRS and understood how the different editions suit organizational purposes. Each version has its own specialties that attend to particular business needs.

We provide SQL server database development services. If you would like to know more about the expertise of our SQL server developers, please visit Mindfire Solutions.

Guidelines for Android Mobile Design

Android offers an outstanding platform for mobile design and goes a long way in creating an effective app that offers a brilliant experience across numerous devices of diverse combinations of aspect ratio, pixel density and screen size. The diversity of Android throws a number of challenges to the designer and here we bring to you some crucial guidelines in terms of pixels, user experience, layouts, styles and themes that need to be considered for creation of successful Android apps.

Pixels

An app’s perceived quality is largely dependent on the visual design, which also enhances the usability. Most of the developers are well-versed with the UI patterns, but only a handful has the requisite visual design skills. You need to concentrate on the following in order to deliver an experience that is aesthetically pleasing.

• Nice Scaling: The Android platform comes with diverse screen densities, with no definite resolutions for targeting but a measurement format for layouts widgets and graphics that is somewhat density independent. So, it is always advisable to optimize the graphics for a varying range of screen densities. Make sure to test the designs across low-end devices and optimize resources that do not scale well.
• State Friendly: Significant confirmations of selections and clicks are provided by the touch states. During customization of the widgets like buttons, the creation of drawables with respect to all required states such as disabled, pressed, focused and default is crucial. The size is also a significant factor. Touch targets should usually be minimum 45 density pixels in height and width.
• Use Fonts: Roboto and Droid Sans are the two major fonts of Android. However, any fonts can be roped in for an application in TTF format.
• Utilize 9-patch Drawables: These facilitate stretching and scaling of PNGs in a pre-defined manner. Markings alongside the top-left edge outline the stretchable regions. Optionally, the padded content region can be defined through markings alongside the bottom-right edgings. 9-patches are crucial for creation and customization of UI widgets.

User Experience

As is the case with any other platform, Android app development has conventions and patterns. These help in formation of expectations regarding the behavior of an unfamiliar app.

• Design of User Flows: Android apps contain a set of screens, at the basic level. Navigation within the stacks is possible with the help of buttons, list items and action bar icons. There is also the up affordance which facilitates the navigation along the information hierarchy. It is good to try user flows with prospective users through mock-ups or wireframes and iterate. Ideally, prototypes on real devices should be leveraged because the same facilitates testing within realistic mobile environments.
• Use of UI patterns: UI patterns should be considered as tools rather than constraints, because they provide recognizable hints regarding interaction and navigation, maintaining platform consistency. Some of the common Android patterns are the action bar, the dashboard pattern, the workspaces pattern and the ribbon menu. These are the most effective tools for carving out app navigation and layouts.
• Design Responsively: With varying screen areas, Android is somewhat similar to responsive web design, wherein rendering support to each screen is the target. You can avoid premature optimization through focusing on popular devices and target users. The ideal option is to target middle sized popular phones and then go for requisite optimization with user flows and alternate layouts for specifically small tablets and devices.
• Comprehension of Mobile Interactions: Users interact with mobile apps in a different manner than with websites or PC software. In case of mobile apps, most interactions utilize touch input and are often capable of measuring in seconds.
• Optimization of First Use: Installation of apps often is a response to real world problems. So, it is always wise to render a feel of the experience. You can also think of launching a tutorial with the app.

Layouts, Themes and Styles

Let us now discuss some of the best practices for crafting performance-oriented and maintainable layouts. The commonly used layouts are Linear Layout and Relative Layout, and sometimes Grid Layout.

• Automation with framework: The Android framework makes room for automated resource switching revolving around the folder structure. This implies that there is the possibility of having distinct graphic layouts and assets for diverse screen sizes as well as densities.
• Extraction of values: Keeping the layout XML free from dimensions and colors is a good practice. You can separately define them and reference in the layouts, thereby enhancing the visual consistency and ensuring that things are easy to change at a later stage. Extraction of these values facilitates dimension switching across diverse platform versions, orientations and screen sizes.
• Use of themes and styles: An effective means to ensure a maintainable XML layout is to segregate the positioning concern from the styling concern. Every Layout View is required to possess a height and a width attribute. Sets of attributes that recur can be moved to styles whereas widget styles that universally occur across the app may be moved to the theme.
• Optimization: The merge and include XML tags facilitate the dropping of reusable sections of UI into the layouts, thereby minimizing duplicate XML as identical set of views appear in manifold layout configurations. Lint is a comparatively new addition for Android Developer Tools, which creates warnings regarding potential performance optimizations after scanning the project resources.
• Debugging: The Hierarchy Viewer tool makes it convenient to spot bugs through inspection of an app’s layout tree.

Hope you are now acquainted with the major tools and techniques pertaining to Android mobile design. Remember that the most effective apps rely a lot on clean visual design and platform consistency.

We provide android widget development services. If you would like to hire mobile app developers from our team, please get in touch with us at Mindfire Solutions.

Top 12 Features of SQL Server 2012

The SQL server 2012, launched by Microsoft in April 2012, has become a favorite amongst IT professionals. Let’s discuss here some of the exclusive features of this highly anticipated version.

1. AlwaysOn Availability Groups: Users can experience an entirely new level of database mirroring with this particular feature. Instead of individual use, it is possible to utilize manifold databases in groups with the help of AlwaysOn. Moreover, users can have access to secondary copies which are readable and are capable of being leveraged for database backups. One of the crucial aspects is that the DR environment does not have to sit idle.

2. Support by Windows Server Core: Core refers to the version of Windows that is GUI less and utilizes PowerShell and DOS for user interaction. The footprint is much lower with 50% less disk space as well as memory utilization. Fewer patches are required and in terms of the security quotient, it is more efficient than the full install. Starting from SQL 2012, the SQL Server renders support to Windows Server Core.

3. Columnstore Indexes: This particular feature is totally unique. The Columnstore Indexes constitute a special category of read-only index created to be utilized along with Data warehouse queries. On the whole, it involves grouping of data along with storage within a compressed, flat column index, reducing memory as well as I/O utilization for large queries to a great extent.

4. User-Defined Server Roles: Custom database roles can always be created by DBAs, but it is usually not possible to create the same server wide. For instance, in case the DBA intends to render read or write access to the development team for each database across a shared server, conventionally it is done manually or through procedures that are not documented. Both of these are poor solutions. Presently, the DBA is empowered with the capability of role creation, thereby enabling read or write access to all databases present over the server. Other customized server wide roles are also possible.

5. Superior Auditing Features: Presently, every edition of SQL server comes with the audit feature. In addition to this, custom audit specifications can be defined by the users for composing custom events within the audit log. Increased flexibility is attained through new filtering features which enable one to choose the proper event for writing into the log.

6. BI Semantic Model: Unified Dimensional Model is being replaced by this. The BI Semantic Model is in fact a hybrid model which facilitates the support of all BI experiences within the SQL Server through one data model. Moreover, this makes room for some clean text Infographics.

7. Sequence Objects: For users who have experience in working with Oracle, this one is a much sought after feature. A sequence refers to an object that serves well as a counter for activities such as augmenting values within a table. SQL has always maintained functionality similar with identity columns, however presently this is a distinct object.

8. Increased PowerShell Support: PowerShell scripting skills are indeed essential for SQL Server and Windows admin. Microsoft is taking lots of initiatives in order to instrument all the server based offerings with PowerShell.

9. Distributed Replay: This feature facilitates the capturing of a workload across a production server and replaying the same on a different machine. In this way, changes within hardware, support packs or underlying schemas can be conveniently evaluated under production conditions.

10. PowerView: This refers to a potent BI self-service toolkit that enables users to build mash ups of BI reports across the Enterprise.

11. SQL Azure Enhancements: Microsoft is considering certain key enhancements within SQL Azure. The Reporting Services pertaining to Azure would be available in addition to a backup for the data store of Windows Azure, which serves for a great enhancement. The Azure database comes with a maximum size of 150G. Moreover, Azure data sync makes room for a superior hybrid model of on-premise and cloud solutions.

12. Big Data Support: Microsoft’s venture with Hadoop provider Cloudera involves release of an SQL Server ODBC driver capable of running on a Linux platform. In addition to this, Microsoft is coming up with connectors for Hadoop, which serves as a highly acclaimed NoSQL platform. This declaration of Microsoft marks the company’s clear move towards a swiftly growing space.

For Microsoft, SQL 2012 marks a big step towards becoming a leader in the ever increasing space for big data. Web and database development professionals can always rely on this version to deliver innovative solutions to their clients.

We provide SQL server development services. If you would like to discuss with an expert database application developer from our team, please get in touch with us at Mindfire Solutions.

Adobe ColdFusion Roadmap: Tracking the Future Directions

Adobe recently came up with a development roadmap for ColdFusion highlighting the two prime upcoming releases of the ColdFusion server, code named “Splendor” and “Dazzle”. Through these new releases, Adobe plans to render increased support for analytics, social media, mobile applications, video, responsive content across multiples screens, along with a host of other features. These new features are sure to enable organizations to streamline their work with the aid of custom solutions.

Let us have a look at some of the latest versions of ColdFusion which will give us a fair idea of the current status of the software and where it is heading in the future. This will for sure help you decide if you want to do the ColdFusion migration now or later.

A look at the ColdFusion Servers

Adobe has charted out a detailed outline of Dazzle and Splendor, the two anticipated releases of the ColdFusion server. In the meantime, the team continued working on some other aspects. For instance, support for the much talked about Amazon cloud through the Splendor AMI was launched early in 2013, rendering users with a quick and simplified approach for the deployment of ColdFusion applications within the Amazon cloud.

Splendor: The prime thematic aspects of enhancements for Splendor incorporate taking ColdFusion into the age of social application support and mobile application development. Special focus is laid on additional security aspects, drawing upon the considerable work done in the field of security for release 10 and acquiring its priorities from the OWASP (Open Web Application Security Project) Top 10 Project. Enhanced deployment and manageability coupled with new and revamped PDF assimilation functionality have also been planned. In short the version of ColdFusion server codenamed “Splendor” involves the following:

• Mobile Application Development that is mobile streamlined
• Novel PDF functionalities
• Empowering enterprises to go for easy integration of Social Media Streams
• Enhanced deployment and installation experience
• Language Improvement
• Pluggable Framework

Dazzle: So far as the dazzle release is concerned, extension of the mobile platform to render support to the multi-screen content and capabilities are planned. Dazzle is also anticipated to give Adobe the required push within the digital marketing domain through introduction of more intense social, mobile and web analytics functionality. The Dazzle release is expected to offer an enterprise video portal having the potential to be customized, along with capabilities that will empower ColdFusion to operate within cloud environments in key cloud platforms. Lastly, the enhancements are expected to be accompanied by a serious focus on the security aspects, moving ahead with the work that is done with splendor and emphasizing on mobile security with respect to the Mobile Security Project of OWASP. So, with Dazzle, we have the following:

• Enterprise mobility ensuring scalability, performance and multiple-platform support
• Support for content that is multi-screen and responsive
• Social Mobile and Web analytics for digital marketing
• Enterprise Video Portal that can be tailored

An Insight into the ColdFusion Builders With regard to ColdFusion Builders, two releases coinciding with the Servers are on the cards. Key work areas have also been identified for the latest releases of ColdFusion Builder.

Thunder: The release of Thunder is anticipated to play a major role in the stepwise developmental workflow in case of mobile application development and also offer a professional experience in JavaScript authoring. New developers would constitute the prime focus area along with new workflows underlining a “getting started” scenario. On the whole, Thunder brings with it the following:

• Step-by-step workflow for mobile application development
• An enhanced getting started experience
• Professional support for JavaScript development

Blizzard: The ColdFusion Builder, code-named Blizzard, would most probably be released simultaneous to the Dazzle server release, featuring multi-screen one click support and deployment support corresponding to Ops/Dev integration trends, as well as enhanced debug and test workflows. In short, we get,

• Multi-screen support with a single click
• Convenient application deployment
• High quality, improved debug and test workflows

Along with the server and builder releases, ColdFusion also brings in some cloud offerings. All of these taken together indeed spell a bright future for Adobe ColdFusion with increased performance, support and security.

We provide coldfusion web development services. If you would like to discuss with an expert coldfusion developer from our team, please get in touch with us at Mindfire Solutions.

Why should your business build iPhone apps for internal use?

The increasing growth of iPhone deployment in large organizations has been throwing new sorts of challenges for the IT department, especially around the aspect of developing and distributing enterprise applications. It is certainly undeniable that the popularity of iPhone applications has reached much beyond any other application in the market. This can clearly be accounted to the unprecedented demand for iPhone apps. Furthermore, the demand for the applications can further be connected to the growth and spread of the Apple mobile device in the market.

Such kind of a connective loop between the mobile device, applications, and the influx of the same in the tech town has made iPhone application development the recent buzzword of the corporate world. What tends to be more interesting is that today people from various lifestyles is accepting and responding to the growing demand of the iPhone apps. It is no longer just restricted within the small world of the technologically advanced people.

Today, more and more organizations or entrepreneurs are looking forward to deploying iPhone apps in their business domain for leveraging the business prospects largely. Almost every enterprise of the present age intends to use an application for business that would allow them to exhibit their talents alongside being always accessible and available to clients.

Strategies being Used for iPhone Application Deployment

To get the most of the applications in terms of internal business use, the organizations are focusing on integrating a number of strategies for generating better business through iPhone applications. Here is a quick look at the strategies:

• Direct sales: Paid applications
• Indirect sales/marketing/branding: being accessible to a larger audience base
• Mobile commerce: enabling customers to shop through iPhone
• Mobile marketing: revenue generation through advertisement on the applications

Advantages of iPhone Apps deployment

Now, if you seem to be wondering about why you should develop and use iPhone application specifically for internal business use, the reasons tend to be multiple. After all, it allows better work efficiency, improved productivity, enhanced scalability, and speedier process. Here is a quick look at the advantages of deploying iPhone applications in your business aspect:

1. Allows Fast Service: The fast progression of technology in today’s age has certainly advanced the work process in the business sector. However, it has also affected the thought process of the people largely as they now always tend to seek instant satisfaction from a particular thing. This is where applications come of great help. After all, the right kind of application certainly enables you to reach out to your audience in minimum time at their own comfort and convenience. Moreover, it opens a gateway of interaction between you and your clients anytime and anywhere. Being available and accessible to your clients and customers throughout the day is crucial for your business.

2. Facilitates Ease of Use: iPhone applications are also known to facilitate ease of use. After all, you can carry out an operation in just few clicks. For instance, to carry out any banking transaction via the traditional approach, you need to first visit the bank, stand in queue, and execute the operation. On the contrary, a proper banking application can help you execute any sort of banking transaction at ease in just few clicks without any hassle. The same approach is also applicable for enterprises as with the right kind of application deployed within their business domain, they can carry out any task without much effort.

3. Make Way for New Customers: iPhone applications are great crowd puller. Once, your existing customers or client base starts using the specific business application and obtain the level of satisfaction desired, you will surely witness an influx of new customers as your existing client base will go on praising the application throughout.

In addition to these three advantages, deploying the right kind of iPhone application also makes room for better accessibility and availability of information. Moreover, the market of mobile app development is still growing and will surely achieve greater and better recognition in near future. Therefore, it is always wiser to start adapting to the same and emerge as the leader in the corporate world.

We provide iphone app development services. If you would like to discuss with an expert iphone app developer from our team, please get in touch with us at Mindfire Solutions.

Top 10 Cloud Computing Load Test and Performance Monitoring Tools

In today’s technologically advancing age, more and more businesses are embracing new and latest techniques of creating a niche in the industry. The latest being the trend of cloud computing. Since its inception, the IT industry especially has embraced the trend that makes business processes easy and swift. The newly evolved approach can easily be termed as an upgraded adaptation of utility computing. A growing number of IT communities have already adapted to the trend and started unleashing their potential at their best.

Today, a good number of cloud based technologies and tools are available in the market facilitating the different facets of IT development. The rapid pace of advancement has also made way for tools catering to varied aspects of testing involving both performance and load management. The benefits of integrating the cloud based tools of testing are many like flexibility of use and cost reduction (usage charges, licensing infrastructure). It also helps you choose the right kind of tool required for the job and start working immediately.

Here is a quick look at some of the acclaimed companies and the top 10 cloud based testing tools and solutions released by them, which help in performance monitoring and load testing:

1. SOASTA: A pioneer in the field of cloud testing, this helps the industries make use of the leading service of web testing for performance optimization and improved reliability and scalability of applications and websites. The CloudTest from SOASTA leverages the cloud resources for facilitating performance monitoring and load testing. Additionally, it also replicates traffic that hits an application or a website from inside or outside the firewall. The effortless integration of the CloudTest’s monitoring, test design, and reporting offers all that you need to produce high quality services and web applications at cost effective rates.

2. Keynote: An internationally acclaimed service provider dealing with mobile cloud monitoring and testing, Test Perspective of Keynote provides comprehensive solutions geared towards the enhancement of online experience. It helps companies analyze the performance of their websites, applications, and content on a diverse set of browsers, mobile devices, and networks. The exclusive business model of Keynote allows you to improve productivity while, controlling costs with the reliable and striking performance of its on-demand measurement and test services and products.

3. Monitis: The Universal Cloud Monitoring Framework is another flexible and comprehensive monitoring solution for the IT industry that is entirely cloud based. This allows consolidating various aspects of monitoring like application, backend, and website facilitating an all-in-one central service. The platform offers easy customization opportunity and can be used for managing a diverse range of IT assets like servers, switches, routers, DNS, processes, websites, databases, VOIP devices, and any other kind of IP devices. This particular solution helps companies get a complete view on the performance and health of their systems.

4. BrowserMob: The monitoring service of this particular provider makes use of real web browsers to replicate the interaction of a user with your website. Irrespective of being equally priced to the monitoring service style of simplistic ‘ping’ that only goes through individual URLs, this takes a step ahead in the service approach. The usage of real browsers enables you to have a check on the response of the individual objects alongside verifying the functionality of your website in its entirety. This particular approach also involves ensuring that third-party components like gadgets, content delivery networks, advertisement, and analytics does not affect your website negatively.

5. Cloudslueth: This particular solution allows businesses to monitor and have a real time check of their own cloud application. All you need to do is submit a particular URL and the service provide will do the monitoring of the cloud application on your behalf. The aspects of availability measurements and live performance are specially monitored.

6. GFI: The MAX RemoteManagement of GFI enables easy monitoring of different aspects of your clients like remote offices, bandwidth usage, servers, ISP connection, raid arrays, and the website. In simple words, this particular service allows monitoring the principle parts of the infrastructure of your network and takes care of the clients proactively maintaining a minimum cost of the hardware avoiding costly downtime.

7. LoadStorm: This particular approach of load testing enables the developers to have complete knowledge about the response of their applications when put under high volume of HTTP traffic. This particular service offers an increasing number of cloud resources in the hands of the developers enabling them to enhance or improve the performance of the applications of the web. With this, you can develop your own test plans and produce maximum 50,000 concurrent users in practical scenarios.

8. InterMapper: The Amazon Web Services (AWS) offer you solutions that are critical to your business and InterMapper ensures the continuous operation of your services in a cost-effective approach. The CloudWatch technology released by AWS gathers the performance metrics for all virtual servers functioning in cloud. InterMapper runs a query of these metrics for monitoring the status of an Amazon ec2 Instance.

9. CloudHarmony: This particular testing solution is still in beta. However, you may make use of the continuously updated extensive list of benchmarks for viewing and comparing the performance metrics from different cloud services and providers.

10. CloudTools: This set of tools allows deployment of various testing and managing JAVA EE applications on Elastic Computing Cloud (EC2) of Amazon and VMware environments.

The above-mentioned performance monitoring and load testing tools allow a better analysis of the IT infrastructure maintaining a smooth and swift approach.

The above-mentioned performance monitoring and load testing tools allow a better analysis of the IT infrastructure maintaining a smooth and swift approach. While taking hiring decisions, choose a certified load testing team which has in-depth experience in doing load tests on varying loads.

We provide load testing services. If you have a need to hire software testers, please feel free to ask us about the certifications of our testers. We will be glad to share all our achievements at Mindfire Solutions.

FileMaker: A Credible Platform for Mobile Apps Development

Are you eyeing a mobile application development that can do away with the distribution via a huge consumer push on an application store? Well, thanks to the introduction of an advanced platform of database development, the thought has now actually become a reality. You can now consider achieving the purpose with the help of FileMaker application development. The subsidiary of Apple actually brings forth a good number of examples of small businesses benefiting from such a service introduction.

Today, a number of small businesses are using mobile applications internally to monitor and track chief business functions like inventory management. FileMaker makes absolute sense and stands as a great alternative for small businesses already using the software of database management to make the business process automatic. Additionally, it also stands as a great alternative for businesses wishing to develop specific applications pertaining to internal or in-store kiosks use.

Moreover, instances like organizations and businesses wanting to use mobile apps for better management have also become quite frequent these days. Today more and more businesses are willing to automate the entire manual process. Additionally, small retail stores are also looking forward to exhibit promotions and products in kiosks inside the stores.

A bit about FileMaker

The platform of database development of FileMaker involves a release of the application under Apple. The main aim of the platform is to stand as an alternative to application release for developers. Since, a number of FileMaker developers have already benefitted from the service, the recommendation of this particular application stands high. Add to this the supporting benefits of Apple and you know the reason behind such a wide range of acceptance.

Now, it is to be noted that the benefits of this application has specifically stood true for small businesses making use of mobile applications. However, it is to be remembered that most people tend to make a mistake in judging FileMaker as an option, especially in cases where it should emerge as the primary element of application distribution.

FileMaker Makes the Development Process Easy

Now, when it comes to designing a mobile application by making use of a FileMaker Pro, you will be delighted to know that the process involved actually tends to make the approach easier. The application platform comes loaded with templates that enable easy resize of existing applications allowing an access in a wide range of mobile device including the iPad.

If the mobile device features a touch-screen interface, even then the application hardly presents any problem. The fonts can be easily adjustable and the selection box sizes can be increased to suit the approach of a touch-screen interface. Additionally, FileMaker Pro when used as a development platform also allows distribution of applications via email alongside copying the same into iTunes. These usually tend to run on any mobile platform through the free mobile applications, FileMaker Go.

Additionally, there is also another scenario of distribution for small businesses that frees you from the worry of coordinating the information and prices of a mobile application with a desktop application. Investing in a release of FileMaker Server ensures an automatic update of mobile applications. This stands important in situations or cases where inventory and pricing information are subject to rapid changes. The application runs equally well on both Windows and Macintosh.

FileMaker Promotes Easy Usage Facility

Introducing a revolution in the world of small businesses through mobile applications has become easier with the service of FileMaker. All you need to do is download the application and indulge in the fun of developing software via the platform. This particular application is touted as an easy platform as against others benefitting small businesses largely.

Such enhanced and improved features of the application easily promotes the credibility of the same in the industry as small businesses can never go wrong with the platform and success is bound to come through its use. So, wouldn’t you want your business to taste success by indulging in the use of the FileMaker application?

We provide bespoke database development services. If you would like to know more about the expertise of our expert filemaker developers, please visit Mindfire Solutions.

Explore the Benefits of ColdFusion Web Hosting for E-Commerce Web Sites

An HTML oriented programming language that is mostly leveraged to build dynamic web pages, ColdFusion facilitates web interactivity with the databases. In fact, ColdFusion hosting more or less revolves around databases. Through this software, it is possible to query, update and chart databases from all new web browsers. Application development with the help of ColdFusion hosting is as convenient as developing a static website. An array of functionalities can be introduced which are not available in conventional server applications or static websites. There is the CFML (ColdFusion Markup Language) facility which enables control over the behavior of the application and assimilates a number of server technologies, producing content for the web browser without any kind of human intervention. Every time there is request for a ColdFusion application, the request is automatically preprocessed by the ColdFusion application server.

ColdFusion web hosting imparts remarkable versatility to ecommerce sites. Whether you are looking forward to launch an online business or wish to incorporate additional features to boost your current web business, ColdFusion can help you build amazing ecommerce websites. Let us understand how different features of an ecommerce store can be effectively built using ColdFusion web hosting.

• ColdFusion Shopping Carts: Catering to basic and customized B2B (business to business) as well as B2C (business to consumer) web requirements, ColdFusion shopping carts incorporates striking features such as concurrent shipping charge computation facilities, multiple recipients, integration with main carriers, coupons, gift cards, discounts and so on.
• Credit Card Payments: Through ColdFusion web hosting for ecommerce websites, businesses can have productively incorporated popular gateways like Google Checkout, Yourpay, Click2pay, Plugnpay, Authorize.net, PayPal Direct Payments, PayPal Express Checkout, PayPal Payments Pro, PayPal Payflow Pro, or CardServices for handling every international transaction types. Moreover, security features like AVS, CVV2 verification can be implemented to safeguard against online fraud.
• Store Locator: This feature enables you to locate any retail store within a specified radius pertaining to any zip code.
• Discounts and Coupon Codes: ColdFusion paves room for an extremely flexible database that can make available every sort of discount.
• Personalization Elements: ColdFusion backed ecommerce stores are designed to encourage repeat business. Customers are able to verify order status, generate wish lists, re-examine order history, re-order products and obtain advanced notifications regarding new products and special offers.
• Tracking of Shipment: ColdFusion ecommerce development facilitates automatic recovery of shipment status from prime carriers and generation of shipment notice to clients.
• Accounting Software Integration: ColdFusion enables ecommerce websites to communicate direct order information to business accounting software. Hence, reports of expenses and sales as well as vendor and client profiles can be conveniently accessed.
• Back-End Support: Coldfusion ecommerce sites are empowered with back-end integration in the form of customer management, order entry, sales reports, printing of shipping labels, content management, barcodes and much more.

Hence, ColdFusion web hosting has something or the other for every aspect of an ecommerce website. The ability to search databases specific to a particular site facilitates a number of activities such as availing zip codes directly from the post office. Moreover, it is also possible to publish something and subsequently remove the same once the specified time is over. Another striking feature of ColdFusion is that mailing lists and business reports can be easily created, and visitors are able to print content. Interestingly, this software is integrated with the entire application and can be conveniently used with Apache or IIS. Since it is very much like HTML, one can easily learn ColdFusion programming.

ColdFusion when used along with Dreamweaver speeds up the process of coding and inserting files. In such cases one gets the facilities of built in editor in order to edit the code. On the whole, ColdFusion web hosting makes an ecommerce website more efficient, involving little human effort.

We provide coldfusion web development services. If you would like to discuss with an expert coldfusion developer from our team, please get in touch with us at Mindfire Solutions.