Lotus notes along with a domino server can be used as a powerful platform for managing access and accounts within an entreprise.
However, with the advent of wiki collaboration tools such as jotspot (www.jotspot.com), there is a real possibility of getting the same fonctionnalities implemented on a jostpost server appliance.
Lately, I have been toying with this concept using the following setup:
-VMWare appliance
-Wiki app
-Active directory setup on a windows machine
-Email Server
From there, I am trying to do a complete workflow for a typical AM task (AD account creation, email account creation and ldap acct setup).
Things to be working as planned although there are a lot of things to be ironed out.
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Monday, November 27, 2006
Web 2.0 3.0 and on: the chinese and indian future for all of us
Lately, I have come across some very interesting websites, the so called web 2.o generation, with some of them originating in india. A typical example is zoho crm, which I am now testing for my own use and can already say it is an impressive piece of work.
This brings me to the latest statement by Former World Bank chief James Wolfensohn, see http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061126/wl_asia_afp/australiachinaindiaeconomygrowth, in which he is envisioning a future dominated by India and China. This is to be expected given the current drive these two countries are giving to manufacturing and software development.
To be checked ...
This brings me to the latest statement by Former World Bank chief James Wolfensohn, see http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061126/wl_asia_afp/australiachinaindiaeconomygrowth, in which he is envisioning a future dominated by India and China. This is to be expected given the current drive these two countries are giving to manufacturing and software development.
To be checked ...
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Jotspot wiki and its relation to Lotus Notes
A couple of weeks ago, I signed up with www.jotspot.com because I was interested in using a wiki to manage my daily IT chores.
Jotspot was highly praised by several columnists and since there was a free plan, I started using it right away to manage the daily calls (actually the emails I receive on my business account).
Because I needed to modify one of the functionalities in the daily calls app, I was pleasantly surprised that it was really easy to make changes to the way the app behaves.
But what really struck me was the model behind Jotspot: everything there was just a wiki page and fields, views etc can be added rather quickly. The API behind jotspot will let you do that in a straightforward way.
As I started looking into some of the apps on this platform, I saw the similarity with Lotus Notes where everything is a database, which is itself a collection of documents.
So, my previous post on Lotus Notes was right on target. Jotspot was able to bring similar functionalities using the wiki concept.
About a week after I signed up, Google announced that it was acquiring Jotspot. No need to explain why but if you worked with Lotus Notes, you see how Jotspot is going to fit within Google strategy.
Jotspot was highly praised by several columnists and since there was a free plan, I started using it right away to manage the daily calls (actually the emails I receive on my business account).
Because I needed to modify one of the functionalities in the daily calls app, I was pleasantly surprised that it was really easy to make changes to the way the app behaves.
But what really struck me was the model behind Jotspot: everything there was just a wiki page and fields, views etc can be added rather quickly. The API behind jotspot will let you do that in a straightforward way.
As I started looking into some of the apps on this platform, I saw the similarity with Lotus Notes where everything is a database, which is itself a collection of documents.
So, my previous post on Lotus Notes was right on target. Jotspot was able to bring similar functionalities using the wiki concept.
About a week after I signed up, Google announced that it was acquiring Jotspot. No need to explain why but if you worked with Lotus Notes, you see how Jotspot is going to fit within Google strategy.
Openbravo training slides
I posted some powerpoint slides on slideshare.net
Please look under tag: openbravo or blidainfo.com
For the time being, I made available the basic stuff related to the procurement and sales modules.
In preparation are those related to the finance, material and business partners modules.
Hope those involved with Openbravo will find them useful.
Please look under tag: openbravo or blidainfo.com
For the time being, I made available the basic stuff related to the procurement and sales modules.
In preparation are those related to the finance, material and business partners modules.
Hope those involved with Openbravo will find them useful.
Friday, October 20, 2006
ERP implementations
For the last 4 months, I have been deeply involved with an ERP implementation.
It started with a request for a billing system that a large customer wanted to have.
After I researched the market and given that there was a justification for an open source solution, I selected the leading packages ERP5, Compiere, OfBiz and Openbravo.
A detailed examination of the features, actual and proposed, was done during the summer. What I found out is that a number of claims are put forth on the websites and the accompanying brochures.
However, when you start testing real world scenarios, you find some really nasty surprises. As I always advise my friends, it is best to check carefully the claims that the developers make before making a firm commitment.
While I am not going to put forward the study here on this blog, let me just say that Openbravo seems to be the most promising, least because of its open architecture and its elegant handling of the PDFs (documents that you will need to print sooner or later such as invoices, Purchase orders, etc).
Its web interface, while well laid out is easily modified and any competent web developer can add extra UI stuff to the existing one.
Some important features are missing in Openbravo but the WAD put forth by the Openbravo team helps a lot in adding any new functionality.
Database can be either Oracle or Postgres. For the time being, I tested both but the actual production system will run on Postgres. How that will work out is open at the present time.
Needless to say, I learned a number of key things during the course of this project. The next stage will be to turn this into a production system and see how it will perform.
It started with a request for a billing system that a large customer wanted to have.
After I researched the market and given that there was a justification for an open source solution, I selected the leading packages ERP5, Compiere, OfBiz and Openbravo.
A detailed examination of the features, actual and proposed, was done during the summer. What I found out is that a number of claims are put forth on the websites and the accompanying brochures.
However, when you start testing real world scenarios, you find some really nasty surprises. As I always advise my friends, it is best to check carefully the claims that the developers make before making a firm commitment.
While I am not going to put forward the study here on this blog, let me just say that Openbravo seems to be the most promising, least because of its open architecture and its elegant handling of the PDFs (documents that you will need to print sooner or later such as invoices, Purchase orders, etc).
Its web interface, while well laid out is easily modified and any competent web developer can add extra UI stuff to the existing one.
Some important features are missing in Openbravo but the WAD put forth by the Openbravo team helps a lot in adding any new functionality.
Database can be either Oracle or Postgres. For the time being, I tested both but the actual production system will run on Postgres. How that will work out is open at the present time.
Needless to say, I learned a number of key things during the course of this project. The next stage will be to turn this into a production system and see how it will perform.
Friday, March 31, 2006
Chili at 5:00 in the morning
Unbelievable, but this is a first for me. Today, we had a pot luck at work and I had chili at 5:00 in the morning. Very strange but my stomach is still not saying anything :)
Anyway, that was a really good way of celebrating the coming of spring and the food was excellent with people bringing specialties from around the world.
Anyway, that was a really good way of celebrating the coming of spring and the food was excellent with people bringing specialties from around the world.
Friday, March 24, 2006
During the course of writing the HTMLDB (oracle applications express-APEX- a.k.a TAKFAH) tutorial, I was confronted to the case of the POST-CHANGE trigger (Forms-like) in APEX.
The question was already asked by a user on OTN and I went through an implementation using an idea borrowed from Carl Backstrom.
Here is the problem: you create a report based on one table. However, in one of the region, you want to retrieve the details based on one of the items from another table.
Here is the link: http://forums.oracle.com/forums/thread.jspa?messageID=1234011�
The question was already asked by a user on OTN and I went through an implementation using an idea borrowed from Carl Backstrom.
Here is the problem: you create a report based on one table. However, in one of the region, you want to retrieve the details based on one of the items from another table.
Here is the link: http://forums.oracle.com/forums/thread.jspa?messageID=1234011�
Monday, February 13, 2006
Upcoming tutorial for HTMLDB - Oracle Application Express
I am putting the last touch on a tutorial about HTMLDB 2.0
As you might know, Oracle has now changed the name of HTMLDB to Oracle application express.
What I like about HTMLDB is the ease of development and the fact that you can put together a working app in a very short time. Unfortunately, there does not seem to be a lot of tutorials on this tool (the OTN page for HTMLDB lists a few but there no single end-to-end app developed with HTMLDB).
At any rate, it will be posted here very shortly.
As you might know, Oracle has now changed the name of HTMLDB to Oracle application express.
What I like about HTMLDB is the ease of development and the fact that you can put together a working app in a very short time. Unfortunately, there does not seem to be a lot of tutorials on this tool (the OTN page for HTMLDB lists a few but there no single end-to-end app developed with HTMLDB).
At any rate, it will be posted here very shortly.
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