Able-One Blog

The enterprise technology space is constantly evolving and reading industry news and blogs is one of the best ways to stay on top of the space. Although you may be a subject matter expert in one technology area, such as strategy or security, it’s challenging to be knowledgeable in all areas.

Here are 9 insightful and knowledgeable enterprise technology blogs that can help keep you up-to-date. Browsing these blogs on your daily commute or once a week is a simple way to stay informed on your industry.

1. CIO Online

CIO Online is the premier news site serving IT leaders, as well as the ecosystem that surrounds and interacts with them. This blog is updated on a daily basis and covers topics including big data, cloud, project management, mobile and security. 

2. Forrester Research

Forrester is known for their in-depth research reports, playbooks and insightful industry analysts. Most of these reports are paid, but they have a regularly updated blog with articles from various analysts from their team, including a blog geared towards CIOs and IT leaders.

3. TechRepublic CXO

TechRepublic blog is geared towards IT management and executives to help with bolstering their career paths and the perception of IT in the enterprise. Topics covered on this blog include software, cloud, data centres and hardware.

4. CIO Journal - Wall Street Journal

This online section of the Wall Street Journal has reporting and analysis for corporate-technology executives. Updated on a daily basis, the CIO Journal has commentary on strategy, talent management, security and more.

5. Search CIO – TechTarget

Search CIO is one of many blogs in the TechTarget network of technology sites focused on enterprise technology areas such as virtualization, disaster recovery and risk management.

6. CXO – ZDNet

ZDNet CXO is a general technology blog for CIOs, CEOs, CFOs or CMOs. CXO ZDNet is has good general articles on enterprise technology topics, but it’s less in-depth and specific compared to other blogs that are completely geared towards enterprise technology such as TechTarget above.

7. Security Intelligence – IBM

Security is one of the hottest enterprise technology topics today, partially because of the increasing number of breaches and emerging issues like BYOD. IBM’s official security blog is updated on a regular basis with articles from industry experts on nine major security topics such as infrastructure protection, data protection and mobile security.  

8. IT World Canada

IT World Canada is an online magazine that’s geared towards Canadian IT professionals about a range of enterprise technology areas and issues including privacy, green IT, cloud computing and analytics.

9. TechCrunch Enterprise

Unlike the blogs listed above which deliver analysis on enterprise technology topics, TechCrunch Enterprise delivers news on up-and-coming enterprise technology startups and new enterprise products/services. Keeping an eye on startups and disruptive products is a great way to stay on top of leading edge trends.  

What other blogs would you add to this list?

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Guest blog post by John Kelly, Founding Partner of KOgent Systems, LLC.

I started a new software consulting company, KOgent Systems LLC., exactly five years ago today.

I was coming from a twenty year consulting career focused primarily on the IBM i. In my previous life, I had worked for two of the largest software tool vendors for the IBM i, and over the previous decade, I had managed an eCommerce solution designed to integrate into all the major ERP systems (i.e., JD Edwards and others). We had implemented 100s of eCommerce projects working within a wide variety of customer markets. The product was well-known in the industry, widely used and the services practice had been profitable under my watch.   

Now, I was on my own with a new staff. I had to consider which way to go, and what tools and products I would invest in for the transition to a new development platform. I chose ZEND PHP. Why?

1. Platform Independence

Did I want to be free of the IBM i? No. I was raised on the box, and I’ve had too many successes on the platform to cast aspersions on the technology. But we all know all good things come to an end, and I want the freedom to run anywhere. I want the freedom of choice. Zend PHP provides this choice for me.

2. Legacy Integration

Let’s face it, most of the software development work that I do is integration work into pre-existing packages, and ERPs. I don’t write from scratch anymore. I extend and improve. I extend the life of the legacy applications by transforming them to run on new devices – mobile or the web. The Zend server open source PHP toolkit for the IBM i provides me with this capability. It provides direct integration for all IBM i objects – RPGILE, CL, C, data areas, etc. There is nothing I can’t touch directly – this makes me happy.

3. MVC Architecture

PHP scares some people because they remember the days of SQL injections, and unmaintainable code. Back when PHP was a basic scripting language, it was easy to learn and easy to write code in bad form. The IBM i community has a long memory. This has long changed with the introduction of the modern PHP frameworks. The modern Zend Framework 2 architecture is a true enterprise level OO development platform. Its structure promotes highly modular design while supporting large groups of developers. This is a product built for professionals. 

4. Enterprise Level Support

I wanted an open source product with enterprise level support. I want to be able to tell my customers that the chosen technology has a strong support backbone, which means a long life. I don’t want to be the only guy on the block running Python on the IBM i. Yeah, I’m sure it can be done, and it would be cool, I just don’t want to be the only guy doing it.   

5. My Gut

Ok, this is the real reason. It felt good. I went with my gut like I always do. I tend to spend a lot of time researching, and analyzing something that my gut told me was the right choice from day one. Remember, this is a blog, I’m allowed to have opinions and back them up with nothing. My gut has never let me down (except for that one time with the redhead in the 8th grade). But otherwise, I tend to go with my gut.

Check back next week when I provide you with some real life examples of how listening to my gut worked out. I will explain how we used Zend PHP to integrate into the IBM i, and SAP running on Linux simultaneously to provide a new B2B site for one of the largest retail chains in the country.

Able-One is lucky to have offices in two great technology communities in Ontario. Our head office is based in Kitchener, which is one of the premier tech hot beds, not just in Canada, but in the world. We are also happy to have an office in London, an up and coming start-up community. There are many resources available to organizations in London to help them grow and succeed.

1. TechAlliance

TechAlliance is the Regional Innovation Centre for London and surrounding areas as part of the Ontario Network of Entrepreneurs. TechAlliance offers services to help start, grow and connect companies in many industries including digital media, the life sciences, advanced manufacturing, and clean technology. These services include access to valuable expertise, seed funding, educational programs and workshops, industry-specific events, and a comprehensive membership program.

2. Hacker Studios

Hacker Studios is a startup hub, providing both space and support for growing companies, and a place for a community of entrepreneurs to gather. Able-One has an office in London within Hacker Studios. They offer co-working and private office space that’s built to grow.  It is not just the space that helps entrepreneurs grow their business. Hacker Studios offers programs, services, and events that help entrepreneurs build better businesses.

3. Western University

The main initiative at the Western University is Propel. Their mandate is to expose youth to the concepts of entrepreneurship, encourage testing of ideas through hands-on experience, and equip with the resources and skills necessary to succeed. Propel can offer co-working space, mentorship, access to funding, education, training, pitch competitions, and community events.

4. Fanshawe College

The main entrepreneur organization at Fanshawe is Leap. It is a campus-linked accelerator located inside the school. It has space in the student unions building and is the main hub for organizing events and initiatives.

5. Small Business Centre

The Small Business Centre in London provides tools and resources that entrepreneurs need to evaluate their idea and decide if entrepreneurship is right for you. The Centre offers a full range of support services, including workshops, seminars, government programs, advisory assistance, and networking events.

There are many resources and organizations available for startups in London. We are proud to be part of this growing community as well.  We are looking to support startups in London. This support could range from mentorship to Able-One being a potential sales partner.  Please contact us if you are interested in talking.

This is the first in a series of blogs on PHP for the Enterprise by Eden Watt, Able-One VP of Application Innovation with Guest Blogger, Amy Anderson, Zend Director of Business Development.

With millions of sites and millions of developers using PHP, it’s a technology that should interest everyone in IT. This first blog provides an introduction and in subsequent blogs, we’ll review the features of PHP and Zend Server that are most valuable for business users.

PHP is an open source development language designed for web and mobile applications.  Originally, built as a scripting language for “personal home pages” (as in, “PHP”) the language has proven itself adaptable, resilient, and future-proof. According to UBM, “More than 240 million websites, including those of ADP, Facebook, NYSE Euronext and Toyota, are written largely in PHP”.

Many organizations have some PHP scripting embedded within their websites – especially since popular content management solutions, such as Wordpress, Magento, Joomla, and Drupal, use PHP under the covers and to extend the base package – while others may have a larger, more strategic commitment to an Enterprise PHP platform or framework for their applications. 

This Chart shows widespread use of PHP as a server-side programming language for deploying web applications.

PHP continues to expand in popularity and usage because it has matured along with the Internet itself.  As businesses have developed requirements for increased levels of security, performance, and reliability, PHP has stepped up to the challenge.  And because it is a dynamic language, it is well suited to mobile development as well.

There are many use cases for PHP, including Content Management Systems such as Drupal, Wordpress, and Joomla, Commerce solutions such as Magento and X-Cart, and Customer Relationship Management solutions such as SugarCRM and OroCRM.  A fourth use case is perhaps the most relevant for a majority of established businesses: application modernization.  

As various computing trends have come and gone—from mainframe to client-server to web-enabled—businesses have invested in application environments that all too often resulted in a dead end for the business logic and data structures contained within those systems.  And yet, those environments continue to deliver value to business through high productivity and low total cost of ownership.  By using PHP as a front-end to those back office applications, businesses can leave the business logic and data where it is, and still deliver the information business users demand on the devices that are currently trending, whether it’s a tablet, a phone, or a smart watch.

PHP brings many advantages to these solutions.  First, the cost of entry is relatively low as compared to heavier application environments like Java.  Second, there are millions of PHP developers worldwide, and they are well networked together, so businesses can identify and hire critical skills regardless of location. 

And finally, PHP has evolved into a robust, enterprise-class environment that delivers the highest levels of security, performance, and reliability.  Zend Technologies, whose founders were two of the original authors of PHP, delivers a commercial-grade application platform for PHP that provides enterprise class features, improved ease of use, and of course, service and support that is unparalleled in the PHP community.

If you’re interested in finding out if PHP and Zend Technologies is a good fit for your enterprise, please get in touch with us.