Think fast
Thoughts and ideas on how to build tools, automate workflows and speed-up the workplace.
Top 10 Data Transformation Tools
Selecting the right data transformation tools is a critical decision - with far-reaching consequences. Nowadays, the idea that data is your business’s most valuable asset is a bit of a cliche. The real challenge is getting this data in the hands of the right people, with the right tools, in a usable form. This is especially tricky in a context where we’re increasingly dealing with diverse, varied, and large-scale data sets.
Ronan McQuillan
Jul 21, 2023
Workflow Management Database Design
Today we’re going to guide you through exactly how to create a workflow management database design - from scratch. This can form the basis of all sorts of solutions - including workflow management tools, approval apps, automated solutions - and a whole raft of other internal tools. See, most internal tasks and processes aren’t that complicated. In fact, most management or administrative tasks can be expressed as chains of requests and decisions.
Ronan McQuillan
Jul 21, 2023
Integration for Digital Transformation | 6 Methods
Integration is one of the central building blocks of digital transformation. In fact, it’s very rare that we’ll encounter transformation solutions that don’t rely heavily on integration. See, many transformation projects aim to get the most out of existing assets - whether these are internal tools, data sets, or SaaS platforms. Specifically, we can achieve huge efficiency improvements by simply getting these working together more effectively. Of course, custom solutions play an important role too.
Ronan McQuillan
Jul 14, 2023
What are API Headers?
API headers are central to how your request is received by the target server - and the response it produces. These can be used to provide extra context for our request, prove our permission to access resources, or for other important metadata. As such, knowing how to use request headers properly is a vital part of accessing external data via APIs. Today, we’re going to cover everything you need to know - from what API headers are, what they do, and how they work - to concrete real-world examples of how you can leverage them to build integrated solutions.
Ronan McQuillan
Jul 14, 2023
ACID vs BASE Databases
Data has never been so fundamental to the success of your business - but nowadays we have more options than ever for how we store and manage information. Today we’re checking out two of the most common approaches, by examining ACID vs BASE databases. See, we’re always constrained by some core computer science principles. Specifically, there’s an inherent tradeoff between availability, consistency, and partition tolerance. No database system can guarantee all three.
Ronan McQuillan
Jul 7, 2023
ITOps vs DevOps | What's the Difference?
Comparing ITOps vs DevOps is a tricky one. On the one hand, they’re clearly two distinct fields, with their own goals, priorities, responsibilities, and daily workflows. On the other, there’s a huge degree of overlap - with both ultimately aiming to use technology to make your business more efficient, secure, and agile. Oftentimes, they might even involve the same people. Today, we’re un-muddying the waters. Specifically, we’re going to guide you through everything you need to know about what ITOps and DevOps mean, what they achieve, who is responsible, and how you can use both to create sleek, performant solutions for your team.
Ronan McQuillan
Jul 7, 2023
WebSockets vs WebHooks
Understanding how and when to use WebSockets vs WebHooks is a crucial element of modern application development. If we don’t know how to choose the right tool for the task at hand, we risk creating ineffective or needlessly over-engineered solutions. Today, we’re covering everything you need to know. We’ll start by examining the basic principles of both data transfer tools and their underlying technologies. Then, we’ll check out how and when each is used, as well as the tradeoffs involved in choosing between them.
Ronan McQuillan
Jul 7, 2023
What are Information Management Workflows
Information management workflows are some of the most basic tasks that you’ll find in almost every business. Basically, any cognate task is going to include some element of information management. That is, we’ll almost inevitably need to gather, store, transform, or communicate information - regardless of what this actually represents. This could be invoice data, customer requirements, minutes from a board meeting, marketing content, or anything else. The point for today isn’t the information itself, but how we handle it internally.
Ronan McQuillan
Jul 7, 2023