Causes Of Software Project Failure

Most software projects fail completely or partial failures because a small number of projects meet all their requirements. These requirements can be the cost, schedule, quality, or requirements objectives. According to many studies, failure rate of software projects is between 50% - 80%. This essay is a compilation of failure causes of software development projects; this essay summarises several areas that play a vital role in software project failure.

So, what really is the reason for software project failure? The sad fact is that software projects fail because we do not recognize that good engineering principles should be applied to software projects just as they are to building office buildings. We try to defend ourselves by saying that software construction is "different".

One of the most serious complaints against software failure is the inability

to estimate with acceptable accuracy the cost, resources, and schedule necessary

for a software project. Conventional assessment methods have always produced

positive results which contribute to the too well-known cost infested and

schedule slippage.

Over the last 20 years many cost and schedule estimation techniques have been

used with mixed sensation due to restrictions of the assessment models. A major

part of the estimations failure can be due to a lack of understanding of the

software development process and the effect of that method used in the project

plan, schedule and cost estimates.

Failure Case Studies

Below are few of the case studies considered which will be analysed to fetch

the main reasons of failure of the software system.

Northumbria University developed accounting software to manage its day to day

business. The project could not come up with the desired results and failed to

meet the deadlines. Te investigations showed that the basic project management

procedures were not followed. This case study is referenced in this essay at

different points where necessary. [1]

Thai subsidiary (SMTL) of a Hong Kong-based multinational company (SMHK)

engaged in the manufacturing of electronic equipment. They implemented an

integrated software package; which was a failure at the several factors. These

factors were mostly management related. Such as a poor fit between the business

process assumptions inscribed in the software and the business processes in SMTL,

poor leadership at different levels, cultural differences, organizational

environment, and poor human resource management.

St John's Hospital is a District General Hospital provides medical and

nursing services, which includes both general surgery and medicine.All these

services are supported by diagnostic imaging, laboratory, ambulance, pharmacy

and therapy services, which are all on site. As the major hospital in a tourist

area, it deals with many visitors in the holiday season, generating a large

amount of non-booked admissions work.

Software Management & Leadership

It has been shown repeatedly, that effective leadership is essential for successful IT implementation (Klenke, 1994). A leader must also have cultural sensitivity, communication skills, creativity, ability to delegate, and the ability to develop and retain human resources (Luthans, 1994). The software manager at (SMHK) was a western, where as the lower managers were Eastern. So there was a cultural clash going on always. Jack (Manager) always try to introduce creative thoughts. And most of the time the lower management could not do them. Hence there was a clash going on all the time.

Employees also felt that management hardly ever "listened" to their concerns

or attempted to address them. Consequently, many employees were eager to leave

the company, and did so as soon as they found alternate opportunities in other

companies.

Project Planning & Scheduling

Project planning means creating work breakdown, and then allocate responsibilities to the developers over time. Project planning consists of construction of various tasks, timelines and essential pathways including Gantt charts and PERT charts and different written plans for various situations.

It is quite usual in software development process to work backward from the

project end date which results in complete software project failure. It is

impossible that a project can be completed efficiently from the planning stage

to the implementation stage.

Allocation of roles and responsibilities has to be clearly defined, and it

becomes crucial while hiring the stall from outside. University's higher

management failed to apply the basic project management rules which laid to the

project failure.

Proper scheduling is also required before the start of the project. It

includes the time scheduling, teams scheduling. Project managers don't know what

they have to plan and schedule. They just only tell the programmer what to do

and the programmers can come up with a proper solution.

The development was moved to a new office and the office was not fully

equipped with the proper infrastructure. As time is also a big factor in success

or failure of a project. So it delayed the development process and contributed

towards the project failure. Infrastructure was not fully scheduled and

management team didn't know where and how the project development will be

started.

The top secret of a winning software development project is to control the

quality up and lower the risk. Contingency plan is also the part of planning. In

case things went wrong then this plan can be followed to lower the affect of the

failure of project. Same was the case with university's accounting software. The

management team had no such a contingency plan nor did they evaluate the risk

involved in the development of the new system. So it caused more trouble without

the backup system or backup plan.

The management just try to follow the methodologies like SDLC or RAD, but don't know which methodology to use and at which time should apply the right technique.

Cost Estimation

Cost estimation is mainly involved the cost of effort to produce the software project. But it's not limited to the effort only. It also includes the hardware and software cost, training the employees and customer, travelling to the customer, networking and communication costs. Cost estimation should be done as a part of the software process model.

Cost estimation needs to be done well before the start of the project

development. Failure of the budgeting for the cost of the project results in

complete disaster. As stated above the infrastructure cost, development tools

cost and hardware cost also needs to be estimated first.

Same thing happened to university's accounting system development. They

purchased the new system well with out any serious estimation of the cost and

the income sources.

Below are the reasons why wrong cost estimation is done.

Inappropriate estimation methodology

Another reason would be the use of an inappropriate cost estimation methodology. Not a single methodology is better than other. Every methodology has its own strong and weak points which should be considered. Dr. Barry Boehm's book Software Engineering Economics lists seven estimation methodologies. One or more of these methodologies can be used to estimate the cost of a project

"Good suggestion is that more than one software cost estimation methodology

should be used for accurate estimation".

Cost estimation tools

There are many drawbacks in manual cost estimation. This technique is almost obsolete now. These days successful cost estimation includes the use of appropriate commercial software cost estimating tool.

Good software estimating tools do not always guarantee reliable software

estimates. Wrong input of the software size will result in wrong estimate.

Estimation software also needs to be customised for the specific need of

organization. These customisations require the data from the past projects as

input for the tool to estimate.

There are number of reasons these tools can return the wrong estimate.

Choosing the right estimation tool

Choice of a right estimation tool is necessary for the right estimation. The tool is not capable of handling the input and thus it can come up with the wrong estimate and hence cause the software project to fail.

Ease of customisation

As mentioned above the selected tool must be customisable according to the organisation needs, so that the organization can customise it according to the needs and past project data.

Easy to use and learn

The cost estimation tool should be easy to use and learn. It must include help and examples, simple and straight forward user interface. It must require less training to learn the system and inputs should be well defined.

Accurate Estimation

The estimation tool must have the capability to analyse all the parameters and come up with the accurate estimation for the cost.

Risk Management

Risk management is an important factor towards software project failure if it's not managed timely and effectively. As nothing can be predicted that what will happen in future so we have to take the necessary steps in the present to take any uncertain situation in the future. Risk management means dealing with a concern before it becomes a crisis.

Risk Identification

According to the Universal risk Project there are two types of conditions which can be a symbol of as risk.

IF-THEN Statements

"IF technology is not available, THEN we will not meet the requirement"
"IF we cannot hire sufficient qualified software engineers, THEN we cannot meet the planned development schedule

CONDITION-CONSEQUENCE Statements

Given the "condition", there is a likelihood that the "consequence" will occur
"Given that this specific test fails (the CONDITION), the CONSEQUENCE is that the planned schedule will slip"



Project managers have to identify the areas where the risk can be and how it

can affect the development of the project. Risk can be of technical nature or

non technical. Project managers needs to be aware of both the risks. Most of the

projects managers are not good in either of the side. A good manager with

programming skills can be good in identifying the technical risk but not in non

technical risk.

Risk Analysis

After the risk is identified there is a need to make the categories of that risk. Risk analysis is the process of examining the project results and deliverables after the risk analysis and applying the technique to lower the risk. After risk analysis is complete, the proper risk analysis plan needs to be made to cope with any uncertain situation. First identified risks are categorized and make the hierarchy of those risks. At this point the risk is classified as the positive or negative risks.

Risk Prioritization

After the risk is analyzed, the next step is to priorities the risk. At first focus on the most sever risk first; and les sever later. These risk factors can worked from time to time so that the final project out come is free of risk. So most of the time project management team fails to identify the sever risk and work on the less sever risk. This often results in the form of a crisis.

Risk Avoidance

Dealing with the risk is an art. Some times the management takes the projects with out identifying the proper risk involved in the project. So an experienced manager will take the project after proper risk analysis and avoid any risk involved in the project.

Risk control

Managing the risk to achieve the desired results and deliverables is done through controlling the risk at its best. This is a pure intuitive process and depends on the experience of the project management team, or risk already managed in past projects which were done by the same organization.

Conclusion

This essay has presented three basic factors which can cause the software development project to fail. Planning & Scheduling, cost estimation and risk management. All of these factors are to be considered at the management level and then transferred to the lower management.

Planning & Scheduling comes at first, good planning and scheduling makes the

strong foundation for the software project. Project planning consists of

construction of various tasks, timelines and essential pathways including Gantt

charts and PERT charts and different written plans for various situations. If

these factors are not taken into part then the software may encounter problems

during the development and the final product will be a failure.

Cost estimation depends on the budget of the project, customer type and the

size and effort to be put in the project. Cost estimations are done many times

during the life cycle of a project. It affects the project in many ways, wrong

estimation complete failure, affect the good-will of the organisation if the

costs are not covered, stake holders are affected and waste of resources.

Managing the risk is a practical approach for decreasing the ambiguity and

possible loss related with a software development project. Potential measures

can be considered as opportunity-focused (positive risk) if their consequences

are favourable, or as threat-focused (negative risk) if their consequences are

unfavourable.

[1]. infoNet is an Advisory Service funded by JISC retrieved on November 26 2006 from http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/ Jones, Capers, Patterns of Software Systems Failure and Success, International Thompson Computer Press, Boston, Mass., 1996. Boehm, B.W., ?Software Risk Management: Principles and Practices?, IEEE Software, January 1991 http://sunset.usc.edu/classes/cs510_2003/notes/risk.pdf ?Software Risk Management: Back to Basics ? The Top 10 (or so) Software Risks?, Software Technology Conference, 2003

Lowering The Risks In Developing Do-It-Yourself Software Projects

Mike Dunville* had a decision to make. As the new operations manager for Alpha Staffing, he wanted to make a difference at the dynamic staffing firm. The principals of the firm had charged him with making the day-to-day operations run smoothly and efficiently while they concentrated on growing the business in today's challenging economy.

With his background in operations and finance in the insurance industry, Mike had confidently and successfully translated some of those service practices into Alpha's daily staffing and recruiting operations. Now it was time to take the next step, and modernize the hodge-podge of computer systems that until now had been reasonably adequate for their three-office operation.

But where to start? He needed a real staffing software package. Mike knew that the custom system his former employer, an insurance giant, had implemented the year before had done wonders to improve efficiency and overall profitability. It had also taken three years to develop, and another to implement. In fact, when he had left, they were still making "customizations" -- a process he figured would go on forever.

Mike didn't think that Alpha could invest that kind of time or money. Could he could bring in some business software consultants and work with them to develop a tailored package in a shorter period of time? Mike knew that the continued success of Alpha Staffing, and its entrance into new markets and business lines would be greatly dependent on a successful staffing software system implementation.

This reinforced Mike's doubts that one of the "off-the-shelf" staffing software packages would fit their needs, even if it were quicker and easier to implement. The more he thought about it, the more Mike felt that his decision on business automation would be his biggest, and if wrong, his last. He reached for a bottle of antacid.

Mike's business is unique, like yours. Special. Unlike any other competitor in the whole wide world of staffing. Your business practices are equally different. As a result, your staffing business requires specialized information technology that addresses those unique needs. You are convinced that with the right IT infrastructure -- the right staffing software -- you will be more efficient, productive, and profitable. If you subscribe to this common belief, you, like Mike, have three options to achieve that end:

1. Develop your own custom staffing software and technology infrastructure;

2. Hire a consulting firm to develop the staffing software and IT for you;

3. Buy from a staffing software/IT vendor familiar with your industry.

Of these three options, which do you think is most likely to work the best, cost the least, and get implemented the fastest?

If you, like the high-profile public staffing firms of Norrell (now Spherion) and Manpower choose to develop your own software solution, you too may have a very expensive future write-off to enjoy. In fact, Manpower's write-off for its failed three-year software development effort in the late 1990's was pegged at $57 Million.

The right answer to this perplexing question is to buy from a staffing software vendor who is intimately familiar with the industry.

Surprised? After all, you're special, unique, different, right? Well, not exactly. Yes, it is very true that you and your competitors differ in a number of important areas, such as management styles and objectives. However, you and all of your competitors also share a wealth of common traits, such as tracking employees and candidates, performing the business transactions of orders and assignments, making payroll, and billing customers.

These shared business issues are at the core of your staffing and recruiting business, and it is these issues that a staffing software vendor familiar with your industry is best qualified to address. After all, such a vendor has researched the issues to develop the necessary technology. These industry-specific software vendors can often implement a solution that can handle 80 percent to 90 percent or more of your business operational needs. (It should be noted however, that vendor solutions may vary greatly in quality, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness, depending on their expertise and previous success in the marketplace).

But let's say that the "90 percent solution" that an industry-familiar vendor has to offer just isn't enough for you. You want it all. Or you want some features or functions that the vendors don't have.

Your options then are to either do the job yourself or hiring the project out to outside consultants. Both are similar in that you, the client, assume the overall project management risks, and, in the case of doing the job yourself, the programming chores for your unique staffing software. If you decide to take either of these routes, do so with extreme care -- as industry surveys indicate that there is nearly a 60 percent probability of its failure.

According to one survey of thousands of software projects, conducted by the Standish Group of Hanover, Massachusetts, four of 10 software projects failed outright. To make matters worse, an additional 33 percent of software projects were completed late, went over budget or were completed with fewer features and functions than originally specified. Can your staffing business afford to make that kind of risky investment?

In an even more unexpected finding, the study also revealed that the use of IT consulting houses -- even highly respected companies such as Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) and Lockheed Martin -- increased the risk of a project's failure. This is astonishing because such consulting firms have staked their reputations on and are hired for their claimed expertise at developing or implementing enterprise software from such giants as SAP and PeopleSoft.

But the reason for their poor results is not so surprising -- as it pointed to business practices that leave a lot to be desired, frequently at the considerable expense of their clients.

It should be no wonder then that dissatisfaction with IT contractors has reached an all-time high. A poll of 200 MIS managers conducted by Information Week revealed that 63 percent of them had either eliminated or rebid an IT service contract within a year. This was typically due to unacceptable performance or failure to deliver as promised.

Why the low success rate of home-grown "Do-It-Yourself" software projects?

With a success rate of only roughly 40 percent, you might be tempted to accept the premise that the very complexity of custom software would have a bearing on the success or failure of project. To a degree, this is true, however, the three main causes of software development failure, as determined by industry surveys, are not related to the technology itself, but to experience, management, and politics. They are:

1. Inexperience: Technologies and programming methods change rapidly. This means that both business-side and/or contract programmers and program managers are not always up to speed on the latest development technology. What is more important, IT-oriented program managers and programmers are rarely totally familiar with the business issues to be addressed, and so may not be able to make the connection to the best technology needed to address them.

Consulting companies, including the largest and most well-known of the accounting/IT consulting firms, often use novice talent, fresh out of school, to handle programming and management chores. This inexperience leaves clients open to potentially massive cost-overruns or, worse, a system that never works even after years of development.

You probably won't hear much about these consulting firm failures though; both the firms and their clients have a vested interest to keep such admissions of failure quiet. Only when it reaches the "public scandal" or "write-off" stage does such information become public knowledge.

2. Management mis-objectives: Any firm trying to develop a staffing software project for itself must first fully and clearly define the objectives for the project. Few do this to the extent needed.

Software development and implementation is an incredibly complex process, even for a moderately sized firm. Senior management must be involved from the get-go. End-user considerations are paramount if the technology is to be fully accepted. Questions regarding business practices, methods, and future business or technology possibilities must be answered.

Critical to the success of the project is both established accountability and an understanding that software development is inherently risky due to rapidly advancing programming technology. It's useful to remember that the billions of dollars allocated to correcting Year 2000 computer problems were the result of management and programming decisions made, in some cases, in the 1960's.

At a time when CEO's often focus on the performance of the next quarter, trying to plan and manage something that may take years and millions of dollars is difficult at best. Even with long-range planning and management, mis-steps are fairly typical. And it takes unusually strong and pragmatic business leadership to admit that they've taken the wrong development road and make any needed course changes.

3. CYA CIO's: The CEO who does not want to get involved in software or IT projects is often tempted to place all of his eggs in the basket of a trusted CIO or similar IT manager. Doing so may set the firm up for a humpty-dumpty fall.

Years ago, the MIS department was often referred to as the "glass house", where massive mainframes resided, presided over a technical priesthood whose mystic incantations were the interface between the "big iron" and the information needed to run the business. Today, business-savvy CIO's and networked computer systems are the rule.

However, the firm's CIO and the MIS department may still have a vested interest in the technology and methodology with which they are already familiar. They may want to protect their turf at all costs. As a result, their tendency is to do things "the way we've always done them", only bigger and more expensively.

At the other extreme are sometimes visionary CIO's who see a new IT project as an opportunity to bring in the latest and greatest technology, without fully understanding it or its applicability to the business. Here, they may apply an attitude that if the business sotware is "not invented here", it won't work right.

Either way, the firm loses, (although the CIO and MIS department staff may gain some new programming skills they can use on their next job).

Can you ensure the success of any "Do-It-Yourself" home-grown software project?

With so many variables -- technology, management, business practices, internal politics, competitive issues, and more, it is virtually impossible to predict the success of any custom software development project. At best, you've only got a 40 percent chance of success. You can, however, improve your chances somewhat by following a few simple guidelines:

1. Establish goals. The most important thing is to define, exactly, what you want to accomplish. What is your firm's business plan? How does IT relate and contribute to it? What should its objectives be? Be realistic in setting the goals, then document them. Get buy-in on these goals from senior management all the way to end-user.

2. Establish budget and time specifications. No matter how you cut it, software development is all about time and money. Working from your goals, consider the cost to develop the software, AND those areas where budget and time requirements can increase exponentially. This includes testing, documentation, implementation, and end user training. And don't forget ongoing support, development, and "bug" fixing.

3. Establish project milestones. Hand-in-hand with establishing your budget and time-frame -- determine what goals you have to achieve in the development process to complete the project on-time and on-budget. Some of these milestones should be, as NASA says, "GO--NO GO", milestones; that is, if not achieved, the project doesn't fly. Remember, 40% of all projects fail outright, so be prepared to cut your losses.

4. Obtain warranties and guarantees. When dealing with outside consulting firms, this is crucial. It is all too easy to point fingers after the fact, less so if clear communication between client and consulting firm spells out the expected results. And the consequences of failure. Have a "Plan B" that you can, if necessary, fall back on.

5. Avoid "mission creep". There is often a temptation to add features and functions beyond the scope or goals of the project as it progresses. This is especially true as new technology raises the "wow" factor of the possible. Stick to the established goals and avoid the quick-sand of the "never-ending" software development.

Can you succeed with the pragmatic alternative?

If all the preceding talk of the failure rates of custom software development makes you think it may not be worth the gamble, you've one viable option left. Go back and talk to those industry-specific staffing software vendors some more.

Find out exactly what they have to offer, and what they have on the boards for the future. Can their "90 percent" software be customized for the other five percent or ten percent you believe you just HAVE to have? Or, do you really need that five percent more?

Look at your own business with a critical eye to determine if your business practices can or should be adjusted to fit the available IT solutions. Remember that with any highly experienced staffing software vendor you're buying all the improvements they've made over the years for many, many clients. You may find that, while the software solution offered may not be exactly what you want, it will in all likelihood measurably enhance the productivity of your current operations.

Above all, remember that you're in the staffing business, not the speculative, expensive, and time-consuming software development business. Stick to your own core business competencies, with the understanding that software and technology should support and enhance your business operations, efficiencies, services, and profits.

And what about Mike Dunville and Alpha Staffing? Well, he thought it through, had a lot of talks with everyone on the staff from top down, rated all of the staffing software vendors to find the one that met 80 percent of their expected needs and had the most experience and the best R&D and support capabilities, and bought it.

That was last year. So far this year sales are up 15 percent, billable hours per desk are up 20 percent, and net margin is up 12 percent. They'll add two more offices soon without a hitch, and staff retention is better as well. Mike really enjoyed passing out the big bonus checks to everyone. And getting one himself.

*Mike Dunville is a fictitious character, as is Alpha Staffing. His story, however, is fairly typical of the clients who have come to VCG, Inc. for their staffing software needs.

About VCG, Inc.

Our focus is your success. Since 1976 staffing firms have counted on VCG, Inc. for staffing software solutions that help them improve the productivity and profitability of their operations. Founded by staffing professionals and technologists intimately familiar with the business of staffing, VCG is the staffing industry's largest and most experienced dedicated staffing software development firm. VCG solutions today power hundreds of successful staffing companies and 12,000-plus staffing professionals throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe, Southeast Asia, and Australia. VCG, C-PAS, StaffSuite, TempWare-V, WebPAS, StaffSuite WorldLink, and WebPAS WorldLink are registered trademarks of VCG Inc.

VCG Staffing Software

Phil McCutchen is Marketing Manager for VCG, Inc., the leading provider of staffing software to the staffing industry. He has been associated with the staffing industry for nearly 14 years, and has more than 25 years of marketing related experience.

SOAP : The New Age Router With Touchscreen, Home Automation And Power Of Android

Technology has evolved by leaps and bounds but ironically the Router we use to consume majority of it remained more or less same since years, a brand new router design is all buckled-up to change this soon. Named "SOAP - The Intelligent Router" aims to be the center hub for your home networking, automation, security, storage and parental control needs.

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Aoao Watermark World Cup Special Edition Giveaway

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Your Family Tree – July 2014 (23MB)

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Google I/O 2014 : Android L, Android Auto And Android TV

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Elvis lovers and everyone else will find that playing slots with an Elvis sound track is a lot of fun and can be very uplifting. The excellent high quality sound and the cutting edge graphics beckon players to join in the fun. Especially designed for a small screen, Slotomania games provide great free entertainment and many chances to win.

Why Are Slots So Popular?

At both live and online casinos, slots are usually the most popular games. Because slots are so easy to learn and so intuitive, players do not have to concentrate on figuring out strategies. Slots are great for people who want to do more than one thing at a time. Slots can be played while watching sports on TV, talking to friends, drinking, eating, or just tuning out. Spin that wheel and relax. Slot machines are geared to every level of player and every financial situation. Play for free or invest in some coins. Either way, slots are great fun and offer a real challenge.

Rewards for Loyalty

Live casinos like to reward their best players with special perks. Slots players are especially sought after, and they often are given free food, drink, hotel rooms, and even airfare. Some online slots programs also reward their regular players. Slotomania offers their regular, loyal customers a chance to sign up for a special Rewards Program. Slotomania Rewards members can earn Reward points to use towards purchasing special benefits like . There are some guidelines and rules associated with this royalty program, so check the Playtika LTD website to learn more. For players who already have a Slotomania membership, just click the JOIN VIP CLUB button to join the loyalty program and get a lot more out of your cool mobile gaming hobby.

The Interface Attracts Players

High quality sound effects and cutting edge graphics have piqued the interest of millions of players across the world. The consensus is that the Slotomania games, especially the Elvis program, have the best interface in the industry.

The Official UK Top 40 Singles Chart – 08 June 2014 (348MB)

Download The Official UK Top 40 Singles Chart, here we added all 40 mp3 files in 320kbps, hope you all enjoy the beat.

The Official UK Top 40 Singles Chart – 08 June 2014

The Official UK Top 40 Singles Chart – 08 June 2014
320 Bitrate (CBR) | Dual Channel | .MP3 | 348 MB

Direct magazines download only at MagazinesDownload.org Daily update

Content ::

01 Ed Sheeran – Sing.mp3
02 Sam Smith – Stay With Me.mp3
03 Second City – I Wanna Feel (Club Mix).mp3
04 Mr. Probz – Waves.mp3
05 John Legend – All Of Me.mp3
06 Klingande – Jubel.mp3
07 Rita Ora – I Will Never Let You Down.mp3
08 Fuse ODG Feat Sean Paul – Dangerous Love.mp3
09 Jason Derulo Feat Snoop Dogg – Wiggle.mp3
10 Paloma Faith – Only Love Can Hurt Like This.mp3
11 Calvin Harris – Summer.mp3
12 Michael Jackson Feat Justin Timberlake – Love Never Felt So Good.mp3
13 Coldplay – A Sky Full Of Stars.mp3
14 Pharrell Williams – Happy.mp3
15 Idina Menzel – Let It Go.mp3
16 The Neon Brotherhood – Hope Ain’t A Bad Thing.mp3
17 Kiesza – Hideaway.mp3
18 Clean Bandit Feat Sharna Bass – Extraordinary.mp3
19 Sigma – Nobody To Love.mp3
20 Lethal Bizzle Feat Cherri Voncelle -The Drop.mp3
21 Iggy Azalea Feat Charli XCX – Fancy (Explicit Edit).mp3
22 Kasabian – eez-eh.mp3
23 Clean Bandit Feat Jess Glynne – Rather Be.mp3
24 Little Mix – Salute.mp3
25 Wilkinson Feat Tom Cane – Half Light.mp3
26 Chris Brown Feat Lil Wayne & Tyga – Loyal (Explicit Edit).mp3
27 Ellie Goulding – Beating Heart.mp3
28 Katy Perry – Birthday.mp3
29 Sam Smith – Money On My Mind.mp3
30 Twin Atlantic – Heart And Soul.mp3
31 Tove Lo Feat Hippie Sabotage – Stay High (Habits Remix).mp3
32 Pharrell Williams – Marilyn Monroe.mp3
33 Duke Dumont Feat Jax Jones – I Got U.mp3
34 Coldplay – Magic.mp3
35 Lana Del Rey – West Coast.mp3
36 Route 94 Feat Jess Glynne – My Love.mp3
37 R3hab, NERVO Ummet Ozcan – Revolution.mp3
38 5 Seconds Of Summer – She Looks So Perfect.mp3
39 Pitbull Feat G.R.L. – Wild Wild Love.mp3
40 One Direction – You & I.mp3

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Develop 3D – June 2014 (36MB)

Develop 3D is one of the design magazine.

Develop 3D – June 2014

English | Pages 68 | PDF | 36.2 Mb

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Free Software?

There is plenty of software that you can obtain from a variety of sources such as by downloading from the internet or from the CD on the front cover of a magazine that you have purchased. You might think that all of this software is completely free and that you can do what you like with it. No matter how nice it would be if all of this software actually was free, this is rarely the case.

If you check out the documentation that comes along with this software you will usually find that the software is labelled as Shareware, or is a Trial or Demo version. If so then to use the software legally on an ongoing basis requires an additional payment to the software owner.

In each of these cases the software that you have has been provided so that you can evaluate the product and decide whether it is the right one for you before you buy it. In the case of a demo version some key function of the software such as save has been disabled in the version that you have and although you can try out the functionality of the software to see what it does you can't actually do anything with the results.

A trial version is not quite so restrictive. Usually with a trial version you get full functionality but only for a limited number of uses or for a limited amount of time, at the end of that usage the software will either disable itself completely or will convert to a demo version. The assumption in either of these cases is that you get to see what the program does and if you like it you then pay for the full version. In some cases converting your demo or trial version into the full version just requires you entering the code supplied when you paid for the product into the program that you already have.

Shareware is exactly the same as trial or demo software in that you are given permission to try the software for a limited period before buying it. The main difference between shareware and a trial or demo version is that the software may continue to function after the trial period expires. This doesn't mean that you are legally entitled to continue using the software, it just means that the software owner is relying on your honesty to pay for the software. Continuing to use shareware after the trial period and without paying for it is just as illegal as taking a copy of purchased software off of your friend's computer and installing it on your own.

So when is the software that you obtain from the internet or on magazine cover CDs actually free?

Well sometimes the magazines do a special deal with the software owners to put a free copy of an old version of their software on their CD along with a special offer to upgrade to the full version. This is usually advertised very clearly on the magazine cover and on the CD as well so it should be clear when this is the case. One thing that I have noticed recently regarding this type of software is that most of it requires that you register it via the internet in order to be able to continue using it beyond a short trial period. This can make it difficult to install such "free" software on a computer without an internet connection.

Other software that is free for you to use on your own computer should be clearly identified as Freeware, Public Domain, or software subject to the GPL (GNU public licence). Any software so marked is available for you to use on your own computer and most such software may also be copied and given to your friends as well (but check for any restrictions particularly if you obtained the software from a CD). In the case of public domain software you can do whatever you like with the software including selling it (if you can find anyone silly enough to buy something they can obtain free). GPL software may also be sold and even modified to perform additional functions. The only conditions on doing anything with software subject to the GPL is that the conditions of the GPL be met which includes the requirements that the source code be supplied along with the executable version and that any copies and modified versions are also distributed subject to the GPL. Just because software is freeware doesn't necessarily give you the right to do what you like with it, the owner may have given you the right to a free copy that you can run on your computer but they may have retained all of the other rights associated with the program for themselves.

So just because you downloaded some software from the internet or from a magazine CD cover doesn't mean that the software is free, it all depends on the license conditions associated with the software.

All software not in the public domain is subject to copyright. This copyright gives the software owner certain rights over their software such as the right to make copies of the software, the right to change the software, and the right to sell the software. When you obtain a copy of any software by whatever means, the software owner still retains these rights. What rights you get with respect to the software should be spelled out for you in the software licens.

Stephen Chapman runs a computer help website at http://www.felgall.com/
Internet design/development ebooks and software at http://members.felgall.com/
Javascript help at http://javascript.about.com/

VOLO Magazine – June 2014 (59MB)

VOLO is the perfect intersection of Art, Glamour and Sex. Blow your mind with hot pictures and videos that have been shot in the style of Hi-Fashion editorials, but provide the spice and glamour of an eye candy spread. Want to see beautiful supermodels take it to the next level, want to be informed about the edgiest and most liberated fashion shoots in the world (read nude), you have come to the right place. If it is fashionable, sexy, en-vogue and crazy enough, it’s in VOLO.

VOLO Magazine – June 2014

English | Pages 150 | PDF | 59.55 MB

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Buyers Guide to Parental Control Software

The Internet is now part of our everyday live and people are learning more about both good and bad sides of the internet. Everyday almost we hear stories about predators looking for children on the internet in chat rooms on social communities as MySpace. Parents are more aware that there are lots of information, pictures and people on the net that can be harmful for children out there on the on hate site, pornographic site and etc. Then there is the problem of kids overusing the internet and developing internet addiction and therefore not showing up for school, getting bad grades and quitting their sports and hobbies.

Parents want to guide and watch their children but at the same time know they cannot be there all the time sitting with them when they are online. So even though parents are aware of the danger of the internet, talk to their kids and monitor them at home, parents know it is not possible to be the one that keep them safe all the time on the internet. They also know even if they trust them well, there are accidental search that can lead to harmful and material even they are not looking for it. So deciding on buying parental control software is considered a logical and responsible step more parents are taking.

Buying parental control software could be something you just take few minutes in doing. You sit down in front of the computer, "Google" some right words for it, press a link and buy a product. At the same time there is not certain that best software's are those that will appear in top ten of Google search and you might be want to consider thinking what do I want my parental control software be able to do for me?

You could start buy asking other parents what they are using and asking for their experience. You could also try to browse around test look at their sites and read about that software; even send email to the sales apartment. You should check if the software has a 15 days trial period so you can test the software. Check for things like is the software being updated, which is very important in this day by day changing online world were dangers of the internet is always changing and software that the parental control software needs to work with is also updating and changing.

The biggest question you need to ask yourself when deciding on buying parental control software is the function of it. What do you want the parental software to do for you? Parental control software do not all have the same features and possibilities and you should therefore spend some time on thinking "what kind of parental control software do I need" Most of them will do different things for you and you may need different things for best safe surfing in your family. The possibilities are enormous. Let's go over few things parental control software may have in their toolbox, so for you to use it in your buying guide you can look for those things you want to have when browsing through parental control website doing your own parental control software review.

Filtering: Does the software have filtering option? Most software will filter (pornographic filter, hate site filters, making bomb filter, violence filter etc. sites for you, but you may want to think how and how much control you have over the filtering system. 1. Does the parental control software have a database of blocked and family friendly sites? 2. Does the software allow you to create additional filtering list of sites you want to block? 3. Does the software have ability for you to only allow certain sites you choose and filter all other sites? 4. Does the software have a allow list have the ability to allow sites permanently and therefore overriding all other filtering system. 5. Does the software have dynamic content filter that block sites based on the content on each site you open?

Blocking software: You may also want to know if the parental control software is also blocking software, allowing you to block software's you may think is harmful.

1. Does the software Block p2P file sharing like e.g. torrent software that are often used to download illegal software, music, movies, games and adult material?

2. Does it block chat programs?

3. Does the software block games that are considered more addictive e.g. MMORPG games?

4. Does the software allow you to choose additional software from the computer and block it?

Monitoring Software: You may want to check if the parental control software allows you to monitor the overall use of the computer and give you a good report on what has been happening. Does the software monitor all keystrokes that will enable you to read what has been written on the computer based on the software the words were written in? You may also want to have a screen shots recording in the software to able you to see how what has been happening in a form of picture of the screen. The screen shots recording is also good as a proof if something bad happens, e.g. Predator harassing the child, or some other child bullying the child on chat application. With screen shots you have a proof of what has happened after these incidents. Some software also has email monitoring of incoming and outgoing emails. Last option you may want to check for if the software monitors all cut and paste-ing on the computer both picture and text.

Time control software: This is a feature that can be extremely important in avoiding the computer will take too much time from school work, friends, sports and possibly preventing internet addiction. You may want to look closely into if the software allows you to specify how many hours a month, week and per day. You may want to control differently at what time of day and different between weekdays and weekends. At last the possibility of controlling some specific behavior such as applications or watching movies could be an option you want to check for

Protecting Privacy: The internet is a dangerous place for kids with predators lurking in chat rooms the importance of protecting privacy is important factor in buying a safe surfing tool as parental control software. Therefore a software that allow you to block user for sending out private information as address or phone number and/or take screen shots and notify you when private information are being sent from the home computer.

Alerts and Reports: Parental control software is not as useful if it never tell you what is happening. Good report system is important to go over the computer use and good alert system that notify you in an email or SMS can be extremely important to be able to get alert as soon as something bad things happen.

There are many other factors to look for, how easy to use the software is, is it doing what it is supposed to do, what kind of support can I a get and does the website provide me with some other useful tools or information's. There are of course other things as well to look for as does the software provides me with specific tool for specific things I am aiming to avoid or control. These specific things could be related to e.g. all the emerging internet addiction, that is gaming addiction prevention, gambling addiction prevention, pornographic and cybersex addiction prevention. Are there some helpful tools for younger children or older children .

You may also want to look at how sure am I of being able to control the computer and my kid's not just get around the software. You want to choose a software that is password protected, can be set in stealth mode and stop others from changing anything in the computer control panel.

Most important thing is to take your time searching, reading, asking, testing and in the end when you are happy choosing the right parental control software.

Bjorn Hardarson is a clinical psychologist with ten years of therapy experience, around 15000 therapy sessions. For more information on buying parental control software he recommends http://www.responsiblesurfing.com

Angler’s Mail – 3 June 2014 (96MB)

Angler’s Mail is a weekly angling magazine published in London, the magazine covers aspects of modern coarse fishing,

Angler’s Mail – 3 June 2014

English | Pages 120 | PDF | 96.4 Mb

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Dagstuhl Seminar End - User Software Engineering

I have been reading this abstracts paper from the Dagstuhl Seminar End-User Software Engineering and it has lots of interesting points to make.

In the Dagstuhl Seminar report (Burnett et al) it is stated that "The number of end users creating software is far larger than the number of professional programmers. These end users are using various languages and programming systems to create software in forms such as spreadsheets, dynamic web applications, and scientific simulations. This software needs to be sufficiently dependable, but substantial evidence suggests that it is not." This point relates to that of (Ko) (Carnegie Mellon University) who explains that the goals of end-users may be unrelated to production of code, but instead they are interested in their domain problem, this means they perceive programming barriers as distractions. Ko explains that end-user programmers must be allowed to focus on their goals, and an important part of the solution is to visualise the whole program execution not just the output. A further problem outlined by Ko is that of programs which were intended to be temporary and owned by a particular person becoming central to a company, this often happens with spreadsheets.

(Henry Lieberman) of MIT Media Laboratory asks "Why is it so much harder to program a computer than simply to use a computer application? I can't think of any good reason why this is so; we just happen to have a tradition of arcane programming languages and mystically complex software development techniques. We can do much better." He argues that researchers should use program transformation, and visualisation to make the end-user programming process as automatic as possible. In order that people can become End-User Software Engineers without their even realizing it. This needs to involve interdisciplinary research to combine different research approaches. (Blackwell) also argues the need for interdisciplinary research on the end-user programming problem to identify techniques within software engineering that can assist with this problem.

(Coutaz) explains how Model Driven Engineering and Service Oriented Architecture can be combined. Coutaz also explains that "An interactive system is a graph of models related by mappings and transformations." This would fit in well with the structure of RDF (Resource Description Framework) a Semantic Web standard, which is also a graph structure. Alexander Repenning of University of Lugano explains the need for enhancements to UML (Unified Modeling Language) to aid end-user programming. (Engels) of University of Paderborn also explains that UML should be extended to allow development of user interfaces in order to assist end-users to program. (Repenning) also argues that "Visual programming languages using drag and drop mechanisms as programming approach make it virtually impossible to create syntactic errors." So "With the syntactic challenge being - more or less - out of the way we can focus on the semantic level of end-user programming." (Rosson) of Pennsylvania State University also explains about creation of a web based drag and drop interface. Abraham and (Erwig) of Oregon State University integrate spreadsheet modelling into the UML modelling process. (Gerhard Fischer) of University of Colorado explains the concept of meta-design as aimed at creating infrastructures for collaborative design assuming future uses and problems cannot be completely anticipated during development of a system. (Dittrich) of University of Copenhagen argues that more research is needed into the software lifecycle and methods and tools needed for end-user developers, especially when they are collaborating. These end-users often need to adjust old software for new purposes. (Costabile and Piccinno) also explain that new methodologies and environments are required for supporting end-user collaborative development

(De Souza) argues that the goal of human-computer interaction (HCI) will evolve from making systems easy to use to making systems that are easy to develop. Lieberman also argues that HCI experts have concentrated on ease of use and should examine ease of programming. (Begel) of Microsoft Research explains that if programming is left only to programmers rather than allowing domain experts to be involved the program becomes a black box and the domain expert cannot trust or verify the results. He explains that text based computer languages are often too obscure for end-user programmers. Begel also explains that end-users may lack an engineering mindset to form mental models of how to make the computer do what they want. Segal of the Open University argues that professional engineers have a history of programming so can be distinguished from other end-user programmers as having less problems with coding. (Fischer) explains that it is the mismatches between end-users needs and software support that enables new understandings. Fischer also argues that software development can never be completely delegated to software professionals because domain experts are the only people that fully understand the domain specific tasks that must be performed. He also argues for an approach to enabling end-user programming that makes it interesting to end-users. He explains that often the problem is that end-users find programming boring rather than that they find it hard. (Spahn et al) explains that end-users of ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems are domain experts not IT professionals, and this is forcing them to communicate their needs to IT developers. Spahn et al argue for the empowerment of users to customise software by providing an abstraction layer to hide technical details and allow for concentrating on business needs.

(Clarke) of Microsoft examines the characteristics of end-user developers in order to assist with meeting their needs. (Fischer) hypothesises that this emphasis on end-user development also changes the emphasis on testing "Software testing is conducted differently. Because domain expert developers themselves are the primary users, complete testing is not as important as in the case when the developers are not the users."

References

End-User Software Engineering - Dagstuhl Seminar - Summary - http://www.dagstuhl.de/en/program/calendar/semhp/?semnr=2007081 - PDF Abstracts and links to papers - http://eusesconsortium.org/docs/dagstuhl_2007.pdf - Margaret M. Burnett, Gregor Engels, Brad A. Myers and Gregg Rothermel - From 18.01.07 to 23.02.07, the Dagstuhl Seminar 07081 End-User Software Engineering was held in the International Conference and Research Center (IBFI), Schloss Dagstuhl. During the seminar, several participants presented their current research, and ongoing work and open problems were discussed.

Abraham, R., Erwig, M., 2007. Exploiting Domain-Specific Structures For End-User Programming Support Tools. In: End-User Software Engineering Dagstuhl Seminar.

Begel, A., 2007. End User Programming for Scientists: Modeling Complex Systems. In: End-User Software Engineering Dagstuhl Seminar.

Blackwell, A., 2007. Interdisciplinary Design Research for End-User Software Engineering. In: End-User Software Engineering Dagstuhl Seminar.

Burnett, M. M., Engels, G, Myers, B. A., Rothermel, G., 2007. End-User Software Engineering Dagstuhl Seminar.

Clarke, S., 2007. What is an End User Software Engineer?. In: End-User Software Engineering Dagstuhl Seminar.

Costabile, M. F., Piccinno, A., 2007. Software environments for supporting End-User Development. In: End-User Software Engineering Dagstuhl Seminar.

Coutaz, J., 2007. Meta-User Interfaces for Ambient Spaces: Can Model-Driven-Engineering Help?. In: End-User Software Engineering Dagstuhl Seminar.

De Souza, C., 2007. Designers Need End-User Software Engineering. In: End-User Software Engineering Dagstuhl Seminar.

Dittrich, Y., 2007. Rethinking the Software Life Cycle: About the Interlace of Different Design and Development Activities. In: End-User Software Engineering Dagstuhl Seminar.

Engels, G., 2007. Model-Driven Development for End-Users, too!? In: End-User Software Engineering Dagstuhl Seminar.

Fischer, G., 2007. Meta-Design: A Conceptual Framework for End-User Software Engineering. In: End-User Software Engineering Dagstuhl Seminar.

Gross, M. D., 2007. Designers Need End-User Software Engineering. In: End-User Software Engineering Dagstuhl Seminar.

Ko, A. J., 2007. Barriers to Successful End-User Programming. In: End-User Software Engineering Dagstuhl Seminar.

Lieberman, H., 2007. End-User Software Engineering Position Paper. In: End-User Software Engineering Dagstuhl Seminar.

Repenning, A., 2007. End-User Design. In: End-User Software Engineering Dagstuhl Seminar.

Rosson, M. B., 2007. Position paper for EUSE 2007 at Dagstuhl. In: End-User Software Engineering Dagstuhl Seminar.

Segal, J., 2007. End-User Software Engineering and Professional End-User Developers. In: End-User Software Engineering Dagstuhl Seminar.

Spahn, M., Scheidl, S., Stoitsev, T., 2007. End-User Development Techniques for Enterprise Resource Planning Software Systems. In: End-User Software Engineering Dagstuhl Seminar.

I am a Researcher in the final year of my PhD. I specialise in applying Semantic Web techniques. My current research is on a technique of 'User Driven Modelling/Programming'. My intention is to enable non-programmers to create software from a user interface that allows them to model a particular problem or scenario. This involves a user entering information visually as a tree diagram. I am attempting to develop ways of automatically translating this information into program code in a variety of computer languages. This is very useful for many employees that have insufficient time to learn programming languages.

Home Page - http://www.cems.uwe.ac.uk/~phale/.
End-User History - http://www.cems.uwe.ac.uk/amrc/seeds/PeterHale/EndUserHistory.htm.
End-User Programming - http://www.cems.uwe.ac.uk/amrc/seeds/EndUserProgramming.htm.

TV Times – 7 June 2014 (87MB)

Gets you closer to the stars!
Published by IPC Media. TV Times delivers unique and exclusive access to the UK’s favourite TV personalities and shows. The magazine goes behind the scenes to bring you great features, exclusive photos, soap news and story updates. Includes a guide to the week’s top films and seven days of easy-to-read TV listings plus two pages of TV highlights per day.

TV Times – 7 June 2014

English | Pages 89 | PDF | 80.7 Mb

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Reconciling Parental Control Software with Internet Security Principles

Parental control software remains a useful tool to monitor your child's online activity and at the same time block inappropriate content. The fact that you are an adult does not necessarily mean you like to view offensive content, so the software can also be utilised to block offensive content on sites you often visit. Unfortunately, with the monitoring part of the software comes an inherent security risk of sensitive information that may fall into the wrong hands.

If you want to use parental control software, you need to use it responsibly, especially if you install it on a computer that is shared by several members of your household. The trustworthy members of the family need to be aware of the software and the need to have administrator privileges to disable the software before working on the computer. Parents often forget to disable the software before doing online shopping or banking, effectively allowing the key-logger component of the software to log important information such as social security numbers, credit card numbers and passwords.

Many Internet monitoring software packages take screen shots at certain intervals to capture the contents of the screen at a specific point in time. This is also dangerous if you forget to disable the monitoring part of the software, before logging into a secure area of a website. Screen shots can be taken of sensitive information that's normally only accessible behind a secure login area. All this information (keystrokes and screen shots) is stored on your hard drive, exposing it to possible exploits from crackers or spyware.

Well-written parental control software will obviously encrypt the information it logs, but crackers often decipher the encryption code in next to no time. The last thing you need is a spyware infection or an intruder on your system that can bypass the encryption of the parental control software. You don't want a stranger going through your logs if you accidentally forgot to disable the software before entering sensitive information on the Internet. So the most important thing to remember is to disable the monitoring software before you use the computer and remember to enable it again when you're done, otherwise there is no point in having the software on your computer in the first place.

Some parental control software allows you to create different profiles for different members of the family. You can for instance have a "Child" profile that blocks inappropriate content and monitors your child's activity on the web, a "Teen" profile that does not block any content, but only monitors your child's activity and a "Parent" profile that does not monitor your activity or block any content. The "Teen" profile can be activated when your teenager wants to use the computer, or you can activate the "Parent" profile if you are present while your children surfs the Internet. The "Child" profile should be used to limit Internet access while you are not at home to keep an eye on your children's Internet activity.

Kaspersky Lab recently integrated a parental control module into their Internet Security suite. It does not log keystrokes or take screen shots, it only monitors HTTP traffic. To know what your child is doing on his or her computer, you only need to monitor their Internet use. It is easy to see which games they are playing and which software they are using by examining certain areas of your system, like the Program Files folder and the Add and Remove Programs section of the control panel. Clever kids will know how to wipe this information, but most programs make connections to the Internet these days, so just by examining the HTTP traffic generated by these programs, you can easily tell which programs your child is using and which websites they are visiting.

The parental control module of Kaspersky Internet Security logs all the websites visited by your children, all the remote images loaded from e-mails that they read and all the servers they connect to for online gaming and software updates. If the logs contain entries from winamp.com, then your child is probably using Winamp to play music or movies. Entries from ea.com, might indicate that your child is playing some games developed by Electronic Arts. Your children will also download software from certain sites, which will give you another indication of what kind of software they are using. The fact that the software monitors HTTP traffic, means that you are not only limited to the traffic generated by a web browser or e-mail client, it monitors all Internet activity from any application.

The way that Kaspersky Lab approaches parental control and monitoring software, does not compromise your online safety like your conventional child monitoring software, because there is no security holes created by keystroke logging and capturing of screen data. The logs of your HTTP traffic may still contain tracking information that you may not want to reveal to advertising companies (and their spyware programs), but the beauty of this module is that it is integrated into an Internet security suite, so you are automatically protected against unauthorised access and malicious software infections, thanks to the firewall the anti-malware shields of the software. Traffic through secure servers (HTTPS) is normally encrypted, so the monitoring software only sees the encrypted data during a secure online session like Internet banking or online shopping. I still recommend that you turn of the parental control module before transmitting sensitive information over the Internet.

Up to know I basically discussed the monitoring part of parental control software. The control part allows you to block indecent content as well. Blocking inappropriate content minimises the risk of malware infections. Porn sites are often loaded with spyware, so keeping your children away from these sites, does not only protect them from exposure to harmful content, but it also protects your computer from dangerous infections. Your child's porn surfing may be the cause of a dangerous spyware infection, something you may not be aware of (especially if you don't have any spyware protection installed). You could easily log into your online banking account or enter sensitive information on the web, without realising that there are spyware lurking on your computer, watching your every move. Parental control software is not designed to protect your computer against malware infections, but preventing your children from accessing inappropriate websites, helps them to stay away from potentially dangerous websites, which is the number one rule in malware prevention.

Proper parental control software should allow you to set up filters to block specific inappropriate content, giving you complete control over what you allow your child to access on the Internet. Kaspersky Internet Security allows you to do exactly this. Lets say you want to block access to sites containing the word "murder" in the URL. You simply add the filter "*murder*" to the Parental Control Blacklist and it will block all websites containing the word "murder" in the URL. You can also blacklist specific URL's to prevent access to certain online chat rooms, web mail services or social community websites. Websites that carries your approval can be added to a white list to prevent the software from accidentally blocking it, or you may want to allow only specific pages from a site that's currently on the blacklist. The flexibility of the software allows you to fine tune the parental control software to your own specific needs, enhancing the online safety of your children.

So what is the message I'm trying to get across here? As I said at the beginning of this article, parental control and monitoring software remains a useful tool to keep an eye on your children's Internet activity when you are not present. As a parent you need to understand that parental control software poses certain security risks of you do not manage the software in a responsible way. I feel that developers of parental control software should move away from keystroke logging and screen capturing and focus on HTTP monitoring instead. Parental control software developed by a company who specialises in Internet security, gives you peace of mind that the software was designed with security as a top priority. The next step for Kaspersky Lab may be to make the module optional. Not everyone wants parental control software, but if I want to add this functionality to my computer, I'd rather buy it from a developer who has been in the Internet security industry for years, than buying the software from a developer who does not have a clue about Internet security.

Coenraad is webmaster and founder of Cyber Top Cops, leaders in Internet security and analysts of Cyber Security Software Read our review of Kaspersky Internet Security 7.0 for an in depth look into one of the most comprehensive Internet security suites in the security software industry.

Canadian Business – July 2014 (23MB)

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Software as a Service - A Guide to Transforming Your Software Product into a Service

There is growing market demand for more economical and efficient enterprise applications to an ever-expanding global market. The combination of the ubiquitous Internet and the availability and legitimacy of open source software is creating substantial opportunities and economies for software vendors to deliver Software as a Service (SaaS).

Software as a Service is a model in which the software vendor provides an Internet hosted version of their application (in house or at a managed 3rd party site) that is accessed by customers from the website and paid for on a per-use, per-project or subscription basis.

The SaaS model offers significant benefits to software vendors and their customers. The SaaS model offers customers cost-effective subscription-based or per-use pricing, eliminating the need for substantial capital outlays to purchase perpetual software licenses. It also eliminates the initial outlay and on-going costs and risks of installing, supporting and maintaining in-house hardware and the associated IT staff. In addition, user access and application performance can be dramatically improved with Internet-based, on-demand, 24x7 systems. The SaaS model opens new markets to software vendors. Established software companies can broaden their market reach by offering SaaS solutions to small and midsized enterprises. Other benefits include the financial advantages of predictable recurring revenue streams and strengthened relationships with customers. Software vendors migrating to or developing products from the outset as SaaS offerings will have a significant competitive advantage when competing with traditional license-model vendors.

Realizing the benefits of the SaaS model may require fundamental changes to a software vendor's business model, software architecture and operational structure. This white paper provides an overview of the issues associated with the software application itself and the development considerations associated with moving to a SaaS model.

Time is of the essence. As with any new business model, the rewards often go to early market entrants. Accelerating the time-to-market of your software deployment is critical to your business success. Outsourcing product modifications to implement your SaaS offering, with the assistance of an expert services team, and engaging an optimal on-demand service delivery firm will accelerate your time-to-market and insure an on-time, on-budget, on-scope implementation.

The Challenge of Transforming Your Software

While there are a multitude of benefits in providing Software as a Service, traditional software companies may face challenges in moving to this model. First, your software must be web-enabled with all functions carried out by the user using a web browser. If you have a client-server application, you must replace the functionality implemented in the client with HTML, and possibly other technologies (XML, Java, etc.), that can be displayed by a web browser over the Internet. Next, in order to gain operational efficiency, your software needs to be multi-instance. You move from single-instance to multi-instance by loading multiple copies of your software on a single set of servers. Multi-instance enables you to share the cost of a server across multiple customers. Additional productivity enhancements and economies may be gained by moving to multi-tenant SaaS, or replacing proprietary commercial software with open source software. Web services provide an opportunity for integration with other applications and data flows.

Single Instance Applications

Traditional client/server applications are single instance. They require software to be installed on the user's computer to carry out computations and provide functionality. Clients often implement highly interactive features and enable the user to manipulate large amounts of data. This can be very difficult to implement in a traditional HTML, request/reply web application interface that requires frequent page refreshes. Migrating from client/server to an Internet-based SaaS model is highly dependent on your specific application.

Today, new Rich Internet Application (RIA) technology is available from Macromedia, Laszlo Systems and others that give web applications the look-and-feel and functionality of a desktop application or client. RIA requires little or no software be installed on the user's client computer. The most that is needed is a small browser plug-in or Java applet. This fundamental change to the user interface converts your client /server application to a single-tenant web application.

Web applications may be single instance or multi-instance. A single-instance web application is typically installed on dedicated servers in the customer's data center and used only internally, behind the firewall. At installation time, your software is configured to consume whatever system resources are needed and available on the computers.

When a web application is offered as a service over the Internet, it should be hosted in a professional data center. This will minimize costs and delivery high quality service to your customers. If you have a single instance application and more than one customer, one approach is to install a new instance of your software on a dedicated server for each customer. This may work for a few customers or some big accounts, but it does not scale effectively for large numbers of customers. It also cannot be used for small and medium sized customers that cannot afford the set-up costs.

Moving from Single to Multiple Instances

An alternative to individual customer dedicated servers is to install multiple copies of your software on a single set of servers. This is called multi-instance. Multi-instance enables you to share the cost of a server across multiple customers. Most business applications use a database and each additional copy of the software installed requires a new database instance as well.

Installing multiple copies of your software on one set of servers may not be as easy as it sounds. Installation procedures need to be modified so that each instance is installed without disrupting resource allocation or the security of the other previously installed copies of the software.

There is a limit to the number of instances that can be installed and eventually system resources will be consumed. System resources include shared memory, process semaphores and other internal operating system parameters. So the question becomes, "How many copies of your software can you install on a server?"

Obviously, you can keep installing instances of your software until resources are exhausted. However, you must also consider the performance of the system under load by users. Typically there are a maximum number of simultaneous users your software must support and minimum performance or response time requirements that must be met to satisfy customer commitments.

An accurate answer to the "How many copies of your software can you install on a server?" question is derived by testing the software as you add additional instances. This is best done with automated testing software tools that can simulate the desired number of users placing a load on the system.

The testing process is to determine the optimal number of instances and the resulting performance. This is accomplished by installing additional instances of your application, and carefully monitoring system resources and running user load tests using variable traffic modeling to determine the point at which returns diminish.

This process of maximizing the number of instances on the servers can take one to three weeks depending on the size and complexity of your system, the quality of your installation process whether you have already created automated user load testing scripts and procedures.

Minor code changes may be needed to move to multi-instance. For example, if your application reads and writes a file with a hard-coded filename and location on the disk, then the file must be created in different locations for each instance to avoid conflicts between each instance. These problems will be discovered and changes will need to be made during the one to three weeks.

Next Steps - Improving Functionality and Reducing Costs

Once your software is running effectively as a multi-instance SaaS application, you may want to pursue a multi-tenant architecture. In a single instance, multi-tenant architecture, multiple customers share a single instance of your software. Migration from multi-instance to multi-tenant can be a significant project and may even require a rewrite of your application from the ground up. The efficiencies gained in moving to multi-tenancy need to be closely examined. You might find your resources better spent in other ways.

Another possible step would be to focus on driving costs out of your model. Many applications have dependencies on expensive proprietary databases and/or middleware. Significant savings can be realized by migrating to lower cost or open source alternatives. An investment here might provide significant savings in operating costs that would be transparent to your end users and very beneficial to your bottom line.

You might also consider adding web services for inter-process communications. This will be particularly appealing if your application is part of a workflow with information passing-to or gathering-from another application. Designing with web services in mind will minimize long-term integration requirements.

A Single Instance, Multi-Tenant Web Application

Software companies have created web applications for over ten years now. These are often installed on the Intranet of a customer and only used internally, behind the firewall. This single instance of the software is used by just one customer. This is both single-instance and single-tenant.

You saw above how you can install and test your software to make it multi-instance -- having multiple copies running on one server. However, each copy is a single-tenant web application.

Single-tenant web applications can be modified to support multiple customer tenants on the same instance. Multi-tenant web applications minimize the amount of hardware needed to support multiple customers. Also, customers can self-provision their use of your software by signing up for an account and entering payment information. This minimizes, and often eliminates, the amount of support needed to set up a new customer.

One of the modifications to support multi-tenant is the creation of a user interface for user provisioning of accounts in the system. Another modification, depending on the requirements for integration with other enterprise systems, is an LDAP interface for convenient provisioning and administering of user accounts. Modern database technology can enable quick duplication of the data model so each customer has its own copy of each table in the database. This is an elegant way to keep customer data separate when stored in the single database instance used for the service.

Templates for configuration of the software should be provided to accelerate customization and adoption of the service by new customers. Templates support various scenarios of system usage by customers.

A system management dashboard showing system use by all tenants may be required. A mechanism must be available to measure system usage for purposes of billing as well as monitoring system load. Administrative accounts for customer support purposes may also need to be implemented.

It may be necessary to enhance the reliability of the back-end, using database technology to implement parallel servers at physically distant locations, to ensure constant up time during periods of natural or man-made disasters.

Maintaining Performance of Your Multi-Tenant Web Application

Multi-tenant applications must deal with several issues that are not as pronounced in single-tenant and client/server systems. Because multi-tenant systems are available over the public Internet, usage may be unpredictable. Therefore, demand planning must be done more carefully. The systems should be instrumented to detect increasing usage so additional hardware and bandwidth are provided to maintain service levels.

Driving Down Costs by Moving to Open Source

Many software developers are agnostic about the application server and database software used by their applications. The customer often dictates these choices. If your customers want to use Oracle as the database, then you must support this popular choice. Your software must have modules to support each database technically. Business-wise, you pass along the cost of the database license to the end customer, if they do not already own a license.

But what database should you choose for your software when it is offered as a service? There may not be a need for the technical features of an expensive commercial database. Moreover, the economics of offering your software as a service may preclude the expense of a commercial database license fee.

Therefore, many companies converting their software to a service will choose one of the low or no cost open source databases available today. These database choices are now widely used and robust. Advanced features such as redundant clustering and automated backup capabilities rival those of commercial databases.

If your application does not yet support one of these databases, a few technical issues need to be overcome. The format and syntax of most SQL used to access and manipulate data in a database is standard. However, almost every database vendor extends SQL and many applications use these extensions, such as special functions to modify and compare data. There can be many variations in how each database vendor treats cursors, triggers, data types and package variables. If you use SQL extensions in your application, you will need to recode these SQL statements to work with the target open source database.

Migration to on demand delivery models works cohesively with bootstrapped technology deployment and investment. Even if the open source database software does not have all the features you want to have or if they run a little slower, you may have no choice economically when you first start offering your software as a service. It may not make financial sense for you to invest tens of thousands of dollars in a commercial database license while you can only charge a few hundred dollars per subscriber. Over time, as your subscriber base grows, you may choose to switch to the commercial database. Until you can afford it or activity levels grow to high levels, open source database solutions may be your only practical solution.

Another relatively expensive part of your software is the license required for a commercial Java application server. This is another category of software where several open source options exist. Generally, conversion over to an open source application server is relatively straightforward. All must comply with the specification for Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) and your code should not need any modifications.

However, there are differences in how you install your code in the application server. The installation and set up process is well documented for all open source application servers. You must modify your installation process to accommodate the requirements of the application server you use.

Again, the business case is clear. A huge community of users has made open source application servers a safe choice. The cost of a commercial application server is difficult to justify when you are just starting out offering your software as a service. As with the conversion to-and-from an open source database, you can always switch back to a commercial application server as your subscriber base grows.

Web Services For Data Transfer and Integration

When customers install your software in their own data center, behind their firewall, they are able to integrate the software with other applications and data sources. When you make your software available as a service over the Internet, then integration is not as easy. Authentication and encryption must be provided to enable safe data transfers.

The most popular approach to data transfers and integration over the public Internet is with web services, the SOAP protocol and WSDL. If your application has an Application Programming Interface (API) in a native language like Java or C++, you will need to create a web services interface that uses the API to communicate with your software and enables bidirectional data flow with the external world using SOAP.

Time to Market

Time is of the essence. As the new SaaS model is adopted, early entrants will have a significant advantage. Evolving your application to web-enabled, multi-instance will allow you to become a SaaS player quickly. Time to market issues should be considered when deciding whether to partner with experts or pursue migration and infrastructure development in-house.

The Advantages of Outsourcing Software Development

Outsourced developers, who are experienced with SaaS, can help you move forward quickly in migrating to this new model. They can provide installation and load testing to determine the optimal set-up for your multi-instance configuration; adapt your software to migrate from multi-instance to multi-tenant; or develop a multi-instance or multi-tenant application from your client/server application.

Importantly, an outsourced developer can modify your existing software product without disrupting the flow of new features and enhancements that your present customers expect. With a managed outsourcing relationship, you can continue to focus on your current business while outsourced developers are creating software to support your new business model. Outsourced developers will provide you both a cost and time savings in reaching the SaaS model.

To take the competitive lead in your space by leveraging SaaS, you should consider working with experienced vendors to guide you through the process of transforming your application.

About John Rowell

John Rowell is the Chief Technology Officer and co-founder of OpSource, Inc. Over the past decade, Mr. Rowell has held senior management positions with leading managed hosting, telecommunications, and Internet services companies. He has extensive experience building, operating, and managing complex global IT infrastructure systems that are able to scale to meet dynamic business requirements.

OpSource, the SaaS delivery experts, is focused on providing the operational infrastructure and ongoing services that enable software companies, On-Demand businesses, and Web applications providers to deliver and maintain the highest quality Web-based solutions.

For more information about OpSource, visit http://www.opsource.net