Recent Posts
*Image source: https://docs.cypress.io/guides/overview/why-cypress
*Image source: https://docs.cypress.io/guides/overview/why-cypress
While there are several factors in deciding to commission custom software versus buying off the shelf, one area that requires extra care and discussion while setting up a project is the set of choices around handling personally identifiable information (PII). In case you’re skeptical, recall that Target suffered a massive breach in 2013, resulting in damages costing $252 million, before the 140 filed lawsuits against the corporation.
While there are several factors in deciding to commission custom software versus buying off the shelf, one area that requires extra care and discussion while setting up a project is the set of choices around handling personally identifiable information (PII). In case you’re skeptical, recall that Target suffered a massive breach in 2013, resulting in damages costing $252 million, before the 140 filed lawsuits against the corporation.
Portable Document Format (PDF) was introduced by Adobe over 30 years ago as a platform-agnostic way to share paper documents, and has since effectively become the only such format. Despite PDFs being well known and respected to the point of becoming the industry standard, that doesn’t make them the most cost effective option for digital paperwork. Many of The SilverLogic’s clients are surprised by the expense of integrating with the predominant PDF APIs on the market, like Docusign’s.
Thankfully, today, there are other approaches available to building in Docusign-like features into custom apps without resorting to market leaders. We’ll walk through some of the more common ones, and a newer technique we are exploring with our projects.
Portable Document Format (PDF) was introduced by Adobe over 30 years ago as a platform-agnostic way to share paper documents, and has since effectively become the only such format. Despite PDFs being well known and respected to the point of becoming the industry standard, that doesn’t make them the most cost effective option for digital paperwork. Many of The SilverLogic’s clients are surprised by the expense of integrating with the predominant PDF APIs on the market, like Docusign’s.
Thankfully, today, there are other approaches available to building in Docusign-like features into custom apps without resorting to market leaders. We’ll walk through some of the more common ones, and a newer technique we are exploring with our projects.
Imagine you're running a popular online retail store, "Gizmo Gadgets," that has grown exponentially over the past year. Initially, you could comfortably manage sales records, customer service interactions, and website traffic data. However, that growth encouraged you to expand your offerings, which brought in more customers – and as your data sources began to overflow with valuable information, it became increasingly difficult to handle.
Imagine you're running a popular online retail store, "Gizmo Gadgets," that has grown exponentially over the past year. Initially, you could comfortably manage sales records, customer service interactions, and website traffic data. However, that growth encouraged you to expand your offerings, which brought in more customers – and as your data sources began to overflow with valuable information, it became increasingly difficult to handle.
As quickly as generative AI’s utility has amplified and expanded in day to day business, there has been an equally rapid rush of offerings to help people understand and use this technology. However: you don’t have to learn everything about all the ways you can use all the types of AI, all at once. It’s okay to start by dipping your toes in the water of building a tool.
As quickly as generative AI’s utility has amplified and expanded in day to day business, there has been an equally rapid rush of offerings to help people understand and use this technology. However: you don’t have to learn everything about all the ways you can use all the types of AI, all at once. It’s okay to start by dipping your toes in the water of building a tool.
You’re driving down the street and you hear a noise – something’s wrong. You bring your car to the shop and the mechanic says, “look, we need to replace the gear shaft.” You’re not totally sure about the details, you just want this fixed, and quickly, without costing too much money.
You’re driving down the street and you hear a noise – something’s wrong. You bring your car to the shop and the mechanic says, “look, we need to replace the gear shaft.” You’re not totally sure about the details, you just want this fixed, and quickly, without costing too much money.
Just about everyone’s had the uncanny experience of discussing a product, service, or place with someone and subsequently being served an ad for that very thing minutes later, often attributed to “your phone is always listening”.
Just about everyone’s had the uncanny experience of discussing a product, service, or place with someone and subsequently being served an ad for that very thing minutes later, often attributed to “your phone is always listening”.
In a previous post, we walked through three key starter questions to ask when it comes to navigating sensitive data security terrain. We called those starter questions because as you can imagine, data security is a deep, complex topic that requires ongoing practice and vigilance. There are two other tactics that come in handy for securing data.
In a previous post, we walked through three key starter questions to ask when it comes to navigating sensitive data security terrain. We called those starter questions because as you can imagine, data security is a deep, complex topic that requires ongoing practice and vigilance. There are two other tactics that come in handy for securing data.
It’s easy to get caught up rubbernecking at serious data breaches at high profile companies – and it’s equally easy to think, “well, who’d want to come after my company? We’re not that big.” This, friends, is a great way to stumble in the running of your business.
It’s easy to get caught up rubbernecking at serious data breaches at high profile companies – and it’s equally easy to think, “well, who’d want to come after my company? We’re not that big.” This, friends, is a great way to stumble in the running of your business.
Confession: we know some people who used to work in agencies who became the clients who had to be nagged to “do their homework.” After all the effort that goes into finding the right help, signing the agreement and letting the agency get to work feels like a great time to get back to everything else on your plate.
Confession: we know some people who used to work in agencies who became the clients who had to be nagged to “do their homework.” After all the effort that goes into finding the right help, signing the agreement and letting the agency get to work feels like a great time to get back to everything else on your plate.
If you think about it, a discovery call is a bit like a first date: both parties are putting their best selves forward and seeing if they have enough in common to keep going. And, just like a first date, it’s easy enough to set up. Unlike a first date, however, a quick Google search (or are we chatGPT-ing exclusively now) of the other person isn’t necessarily enough. There are five areas of a discovery call conversation that an agency will typically cover. If you can put some notes together on each area ahead of time, you’ll be in a stronger position to assess the agency you’re meeting.
If you think about it, a discovery call is a bit like a first date: both parties are putting their best selves forward and seeing if they have enough in common to keep going. And, just like a first date, it’s easy enough to set up. Unlike a first date, however, a quick Google search (or are we chatGPT-ing exclusively now) of the other person isn’t necessarily enough. There are five areas of a discovery call conversation that an agency will typically cover. If you can put some notes together on each area ahead of time, you’ll be in a stronger position to assess the agency you’re meeting.