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Proposal Compliance Tool Number Four: Compliance Matrix

As related in previous posts, the four tools I find most useful in ensuring proposal compliance are as follows:

    •    Tool 1: Overview
    •    Tool 2: Proposal Shell
    •    Tool 3: Compliance Review
    •    Tool 4: Compliance Matrix

To communicate proposal compliance to the buyer’s evaluator, most proposals should include a compliance matrix at the beginning of the submission. This matrix clearly identifies each major RFP requirement, states where in the RFP the buyer requests the information, and lists the proposal location where the requirement is addressed. This layout provides a concise reference for the evaluator to connect each RFP requirement with the associated response.

The matrix also serves as a final tool to ensure that the proposal is compliant: the proposal team must fill in the page numbers and other location information when all other development is complete. This results in a final review, ensuring that each RFP requirement is addressed specifically by a proposal section.

When we have created and utilized the overview, developed a compliant proposal shell, performed a thorough compliance review, and completed the compliance matrix, we can submit the proposal with the confidence that it meets the buyer’s submission criteria.

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Looking for a Better Browser?

My web developer colleagues could tell you...I sound like a broken record when it comes to complaining about Microsoft’s web browser, Internet Explorer (IE). And in most cases, I’d say such diatribes are well warranted. But instead of going on a rant in this article, I figured I would take a more rational approach. Let's take a brief look at some of the known downsides of IE and shed light on some alternative browsers.

Properly understood, a web browser is a "program on your computer that allows you to visit websites." And your web browser is important. Google argues in fact that it is the most important program on your computer—because through it you view and interact with hundreds of thousands of websites. And in today's business world, where all signs point towards increased utilization of software by means of the web, browser knowledge is all the more important.

Statistics vary—the number of users who employ IE as their browser ranges anywhere from 35% to 65% depending on who you ask—but chances are you're reading this article using the IE browser.

Internet Explorer (IE) Pros/Cons

Now in its eighth version, IE is one of the oldest existing and most widely used browsers available. However, the IE browser consistently lags in its speed, efficiency and functionality. In a recent performance review conducted in October of 2009, IE’s overall score (as well as the score for many individual feature tests) placed it dead last among the most popular browsers.

But if performance results don't make you wary, perhaps security concerns will. To be fair, no browser is 100% fail-proof. But I will say this—of available browsers, IE has the worst security track record. This is partly because it has been around for so long, and partly of because hackers make IE the target of most of their efforts (because of its popularity). Just this past January, for example, a severe, malicious attack on IE spurred the German government to recommend that all users switch to an alternative browser.

It is also worth noting that IE typically lags behind the trends in introducing new and valuable browser features that enhance the web experience. For example, IE was the last browser to implement a tabbed interface. However, many points in IE’s favor come from its ease of integration with other Microsoft business products—such as SharePoint. For this reason, many (if not most) business professionals use Internet Explorer as their primary (but not to say only) browser.

Alternative Browsers

Some great IE alternatives are available: Google Chrome, Opera, and Safari (to name a few). A browser that I feel to be among the best, if not the best: Mozilla Firefox.

Firefox performs well against other browsers (tied for second overall in the aforementioned tests). It has a reasonably good security record. Firefox conforms to most current web standards (i.e., the websites you visit are likely to appear how they were intended to look).

Like IE,  Firefox is all but universally supported—you are unlikely to encounter errors while performing a common task—for example, paying bills online. Firefox has been successful in distributing its browser widely using strong branding—a very important factor in attaining universal support. Firefox has a large developer community, is design forward, and has been a leader in implementing features that improve the user experience and provide broader capability to web developers.

I hope that this article—although by no means exhaustive—sheds a sliver of light on the world of web browsers. Try Firefox or another alternative browser today, and see what works best for you!

Useful links:

Browser Statistics: http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp

Browser Performance Chart: http://sixrevisions.com/infographics/performance-comparison-of-major-web-browsers/

Security Announcements: http://mybroadband.co.za/news/Software/11239.html

Mozilla Firefox: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/firefox.html

Google Chrome: http://www.google.com/chrome/

Opera: http://www.opera.com/

Safari: http://www.apple.com/safari/

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Proposal Compliance Tool Number Three: Compliance Review

In previous posts, I described two tools for ensuring proposal compliance: the overview and the proposal shell. A third tool is the compliance review. 

Conducting a compliance review as the proposal nears completion (generally around the red team* review stage, when the content is mostly in place) ensures that the content provided includes everything the buyer requests. If the previously developed compliant shell has been utilized, the required sections should appear in the appropriate places. As a result, the compliance review is able to focus more closely on whether the content provided in each section adequately addresses the specific RFP requirements. 

When performing the compliance review, carefully check each document against the overview, RFP, and RFP amendments, as applicable. The review ensures that any necessary changes are identified and implemented before the final review/gold team stage of development and the proposal due date.

I will discuss my final compliance tool recommendation, the compliance matrix, in a future post. 

* Editor’s Note: Generally speaking, the function of the Red Team is to put together a scoring prediction for the proposal and evaluate its overall effectiveness.

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Backup and Disaster Recovery Planning

Here is the methodology that Trinity uses when performing backup and disaster recovery planning for a client. This article follows Is Your Network Data Backed Up? Are Your Sure?.

First, Trinity works with the client to identify data on the network and to classify its importance. Essentially, Trinity finds out how much data of each type the client can afford to lose. The answers dictate cost/benefit for the proposed backup and disaster recovery planning.

Second, Trinity proceeds to schedule onsite backups, offsite backups, and backup integrity checks (according to client need)—with separate schedules for data with different levels of importance. For example, the most critical data might be backed up onsite every three hours and migrated offsite nightly, while less critical data might be backed up once per day and migrated offsite weekly. Backup integrity checks might be scheduled every two weeks.

Most clients understand the function of onsite and offsite backups, but fewer (even at companies with annual revenue exceeding $100MM) understand the importance of backup integrity checks. Backup integrity checks confirm that the data in your backup sets will actually perform functionally when restored—they make sure that backups sets (or individual files within them) have not become corrupted either before, during, or following the backup process.

If Trinity is engaged to perform backup integrity checks for a client, it will typically perform a restore of the data to Trinity’s test-bed network—then test various files (particularly those of top importance) to determine whether they are functioning properly after the restore.

This, combined with proper data maintenance planning, helps to ensure that backups are actually worth something when they are needed.

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Top 10 on Google Guaranteed?

Wherever I go, I run across consulting/service firms that guarantee they can get your company’s website on the first page of Google’s search results. Usually this claim is to be accomplished by using something called “SEO”. Let’s take a minute to understand the term “SEO” and evaluate claims made by SEO firms.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) or Search Engine Marketing (SEM)?

SEO is the practice of improving the amount and/or quality of traffic to your website through organic search engine listings. In other words, the goal is to have pages from your website rank high in the natural search result listings. By contrast, SEM is the practice of improving the amount and/or quality of traffic to your website through paid advertising (such as Sponsored Links) on Google.

Some SEO offerors improperly include SEM within the SEO designation. In fact, they are two different but related areas.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

As indicated above, SEO deals with organic listings. Typically, increased organic rankings are achieved by the quality of the content on your website and the frequency with which others on the Web link to that content. Therefore, SEO practitioners have as their primary goal to increase the quality of your web content and to advance your outreach to increase linking from your online market: web-savvy consumers, peers and partners.

The effectiveness of your website’s content, considered as part of an SEO strategy, is very dependent on your ability to manage the content fluidly. SEO-ready web content management systems (CMS) are a prerequisite to competent SEO management.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

High organic search result rankings are generally preferred to high advertising positions (such as you might see in Google’s “Sponsored Links”) gained through SEM. However, SEM provides several valuable functions. First, at the least SEM gives you a search engine presence while you are working on the position of organic listings. Second, SEM can provide reinforcement for your organic listings (the consumer sees your company in two different positions on the same page). Third, SEM might provide more return on investment than your total investment in SEO efforts—thus making it the place where you decide to devote your resources.

Hypothetical Guarantees

Once you have found out how the offeror achieves the result (SEO and/or SEM), it is important to note the nature of the guarantee. Examples:

• For SEO, the guarantee might not consist in the ability to get your site on the first page of search results, but merely that you won’t pay unless the desired results are achieved. For example, once a page from your website hits the top 10 in response to a given keyword search, you will be charged $400 dollars per month, per keyword for every month in which the same result is achieved.
• Also for SEO, the guarantee might state that you will not have to make any changes to your website. This means that the results will likely be achieved solely by setting up referral content (content at other frequently visited websites that point to your site).
• For SEM guarantees are much less frequent, because the position of your advertisement is based solely on your ability to fund the campaign necessary to achieve top rankings.

Further Questions for the Consultant

• Be careful to ask discerning questions about methodology—some consultants use less than scrupulous methods, which will result in only short-term gains. [I may write a future article to elaborate on this point.]
• Ask what level of control the consultant will need to have over your content (whether it appears on your website or elsewhere). Your content represents your company. Make sure that the consultant doesn’t start populating your website (or feeder sites) with poorly written content that drives traffic but does not result in sales and further, degrades your brand.
• Request a preliminary review of the SEO ability of your current website—this will make sure that you don’t get halfway through an engagement, only to find that you need to spend thousands of dollars on renovating your site.
• Request case studies of work performed for named, knowledgeable companies that paid going rates for the services that they received from the consultant.

Finally, SEO/SEM consultants can spend between several hours and thousands of hours on related strategy, management and execution for your company. Make sure that you clearly state your budget and expectations when hiring a constant.

There is much more that can be written on this subject! However, this article should provide a primer for those pursuing SEO/SEM consulting services to benefit their company.

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Proposal Compliance Tool Number Two: The Proposal Shell

In a previous article, I discussed using the proposal overview to ensure compliance. This article discusses a second compliance tool: shell documents, or the “proposal shell.”

The proposal shell—a complete set of digital files for the proposal created during the first stage of development—includes a document for each factor (proposal section). Developing each proposal section in a separate document enables multiple individuals to work on the various factors simultaneously.

The document for each factor should include an introductory compliance review and headings for each required section within the factor. Developing a proposal shell in this way yields the following results:

• The compliance review will remind the customer’s proposal evaluators of the RFP requirements for that section.
• The headings follow the overview and provide a working outline within which the proposal team places the content. This produces the most “responsive” proposal submission possible, with a section specifically addressing each RFP requirement.

The shell also includes all other files necessary to produce the hard-copy proposal, including tables of contents, tabs, and introductory materials (cover letter, compliance matrix, etc.).

Ideally, a member of the proposal team develops shell documents for the proposal while another team member writes the overview. This creates a rapid start to the development process; the team can only begin effectively working on the content once both the overview and the shell are completed.

Also ideally, when the overview and the proposal shell are both finished, the overview author will review the shell to cross-check it against the overview for compliance. This maintains consistent oversight of proposal compliance, while also adding the value of a second pair of eyes for quality control.

Developing and reviewing the proposal shell ensures compliance from the beginning of proposal preparation—before writing assignments are made and multiple parties begin content development. Using the shell maximizes compliance even under the tightest of deadlines. And most importantly, using this method creates an easily evaluated proposal that clearly corresponds with the evaluation criteria.

I will discuss two additional compliance tools, the compliance review and the compliance matrix, in future articles.

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Strategic Engagement Scopes

I am often asked how Trinity engages with clients on the Strategic level. The answer is that Trinity provides strategic consultation in every type of engagement (Design, Web, Proposal, IT)—that is what makes Trinity a provider of Integrated Business Development Solutions rather than simply a provider of services.

However, though the above answer is true, it may seem to “dodge the question” a bit. So here’s a more practical response.

Trinity’s Strategic offerings run the full Business Development gamut, from market analysis to internal diagnostics (people, process, tools).

So, Trinity can be engaged to handle a complete marketing review and analysis, followed by the creation of a marketing plan and the management/performance of its execution.

However, Trinity can also be engaged in opportunities of limited scope. Trinity might be asked to handle a small aspect of a client’s marketing concerns. Here are a few examples:

• Web toolkit review—to identify whether or not a client is properly leveraging web-based tools for marketing and/or business operations
• Tradeshow planning—to help the client plan for participation in a tradeshow, from booth concept design to authoring keynote presentations
• Capture planning—to help the client identify opportunities for new business acquisition through RFP response (proposal development)

The best way to learn how Trinity can provide your company with a Strategic advantage is to contact us to set up a free initial consultation. Let’s sit down and talk about your business!

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Is your network data backed up? Are you sure?

How critical is the data you use every day?  How important are the files on your network share?  What would happen if suddenly some of that information was missing?  Worse, what if the latest recoverable data backup was six months old?

When engaging with a new IT client, the first service Trinity typically performs is an IT audit. One aspect of this audit is a backup routine review and file-set integrity check. You would be surprised at how many times we discover glaring holes in the backup routine, or find that it has been a year since a successful backup, or learn that a test restore has never been performed.

This problem is more common in small businesses without full-time IT personnel. In many instances, stopgap or emergency IT support personnel do not (or are not in a position to) properly establish, execute and monitor data backup plans.

Therefore, when Trinity starts a new IT engagement—even when we are taking over from another IT contractor—we don’t take anything for granted. Trinity always start with data backups and disaster recovery planning.

First, we learn the client’s idea of its current backup routine. Trinity then discovers the actual plan being implemented (this often differs from the client’s idea of the plan), analyzes what the client’s existing backup routine is designed to do, and compares that design to what is actually occurring (the resulting data backup file-set). Finally, Trinity proposes a plan to improve the client’s backup routine and  achieve the necessary results.

Simple but effective.

In a subsequent article, I will elaborate as to how Trinity conducts backup and disaster recovery planning for clients.

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A Concept Rendering is Worth a Thousand Words ... at least Ford thinks so.

"... We will get a huge circus tent , with open sides on both ends to usher in and out the hundreds of guests that will attend. We will put our highest performance vehicles on display so visitors can touch and feel the quality. We will have mounted engines, chassis, cut-a-way models, accessories, performance charts and graphics, racing vehicles, performance tests, resource libraries, driving video games, give-a-ways, and live entertainment as well as high powered presentations and music."

Can you picture all of this?

Most people cannot ... without some help.

Jackson-Dawson Marketing turned to Trinity's Art Director, Chris Pelicano to help bring this complex concept to life. He created detailed concept renderings to replace the thousand words that would otherwise be needed to show and sell Ford on the promotional event. Below is one of the renderings and some larger detail views.

Concept renderings are invaluable selling tools for projects of any size. Trinity Consulting knows this and is prepared to help you and your clients to visualize creative solutions in a variety of formats ... from napkin drawings to full-color renderings. Let us help you show your clients what they cannot yet imagine.

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Proposal Compliance Tool Number One: Overview

An important part of proposal development is ensuring that the submission complies with all RFP requirements. One tool that helps ensure compliance is the overview.

The overview, or outline of the RFP requirements, pulls all of the requirements together into one well-organized document, clearly identifies the requirements so that everyone working on the proposal is on the same page, and connects related requirements that may be separated in the RFP—such as the instructions for a factor and that factor’s associated evaluation criteria.

Writing the overview helps the individual with primary responsibility for compliance to digest the information provided, to identify conflicting requirements that may merit requests for information (RFIs), and to note long-lead-time items that must be obtained or developed. The overview serves as a guide to the proposal requirements for all members of the development team and is particularly useful when conducting compliance reviews of the shell documents and the completed content.

In creating RFP overviews, I recommend developing a standard structure and format that works best for the particular proposal team, thereby translating varying RFPs into a familiar document in which team members can easily find the information they need. The structure I use has evolved gradually over time as I have received feedback from team members and incorporated a variety of RFP requirements.

I begin each RFP overview with the overall proposal requirements such as the due date, formatting requirements, page limits, and overall evaluation criteria, followed by a quick outline of the factor and subfactor titles. I then outline in detail the specific requirements for each factor. Throughout the overview, I include the section and page numbers where the requirements are provided in the RFP or subsequent amendments, enabling the proposal team members (including myself) to quickly reference the original requirements. Finally, I highlight any conflicts or questions for the proposal manager’s review.

To create a compliant proposal, you must first know the RFP requirements and be able to locate them easily throughout the development process. By achieving these ends, an overview becomes an essential step towards proposal compliance.

In subsequent posts, I will discuss three additional compliance tools: the proposal shell, the compliance review, and the compliance matrix.

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Review: The Fable of the User-Centered Designer

I recently read an excellent book by David Travis, "The Fable of the User-Centered Designer". It's a short story about a young designer who learns the secrets of user-centered design from three clients of a designer he found in a nearby town. It is a very enjoyable read and the three little lessons learned are great reminders for any designer (or for any executive approaching a product/service design project).

Take the time to read the book—but here is a simple outline of the “secrets” of the user-centered designer (from my perspective as a web user interface designer).

1. Early and Continual Focus on Users and Their Tasks

The first secret stresses the importance of determining goals and requirements from examination of how users interact with a product. Normally, goals grow out of budget concerns or market competition rather than examining how users are performing tasks and where their experience can be improved. The important question is not "What do we need to do to fix this application or make it better?" The important question: "What do our users need/want and how can they attain that more easily?"

2. Empirical Measurement of User Behavior

The second secret is focused on performing user testing within a user's natural environment in order to gather real data about how they interact with the product. With options like Google Analytics designers are able to get an insight into user trends—but nothing can replace sitting down next to users and watching them perform tasks. Metrics recorded from testing influence the goals set while employing the first “secret” and ensure that improvements are made based on tangible data. 

3. Iterative Design

The third secret is to perform continual design tests with users before you start building the design improvements. After testing a user to determine how you should improve a feature, it is pointless to create the feature and release it before testing to make sure the improvements work! Create paper and electronic wireframes and make sure that users find an improvement before you start writing code. 

Remarks

All points that David makes in this book are astoundingly simple and profound. I strive to create user-centered designs, but the emphasis placed on witnessing live user interaction with the design is a great reminder of how important it is not to assume that I know what the user is thinking; we all know what happens when we assume!

I completely agree with David that paper and simple wireframes are an excellent way to show the user how content will be organized—and what they need to do to accomplish the desired goal. However, if I am building a web application with any “animation” (such as might be achieved with AJAX or Flash), I want users to interact with these elements. For example, it is much faster/effective to write a little html and a couple jQuery functions for a toogle or fade-in/fade-out than to attempt to illustrate the effect with a simple wireframe and expect reliable user feedback.

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Is Compliance Overrated?

In a recent online discussion, a senior proposal manager wrote that compliance is overrated. While the statement seemed surprising, it may be an often-unspoken perception that is shared by writers, subject-matter experts, and others involved in various aspects of proposal development.

In my experience, however, if a proposal is not compliant it is typically not worth submitting. When an RFP states that the evaluation process will begin with a compliance review, the government means it. In the worst-case scenario, I've seen non-compliant proposals eliminated from consideration, while in the best-case scenario, the government has come back to request the missing information in discussions and proposal revisions.

Companies put substantial man-hours and financial resources into the development of a proposal. Isn’t it worth ensuring compliance to avoid wasting those resources?

In the coming days I will post information on the four tools that I find most useful for ensuring proposal compliance: the overview, the proposal shell, the compliance review, and the compliance matrix.

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Branding Multiple Personalities (Part II)

Also see: Branding Multiple Personalities

Below are 3 additional sets of preliminary designs created for CONFLUENCE Watersports. These trade show and retail displays explore optional approaches that allow the client to showcase their branded kayaks and kayak accessories.

 

Each display is designed to hold 6 kayaks and varying accessories. Each display allows ample space for branding and product informational graphics. Each display design can be customized for all 5 kayak brands. This approach to product display offers the client flexibility, variety, and economy ... since they can build 1 display configuration or 4 configurations depending on their engineering budget ... and each configuration is able to be customized according to brand. Most of the brand graphics are printed on cloth or paper substrates and applied to the display framework ... allowing the client to economically change/update the brand graphics as needed.

The display designs are aesthetically pleasing, functionally effective, and economically efficient. The result is a degree of innovative design and elegant engineering that compliments the nature of the products they display.

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Ready for Strategic Marketing Consulting?

Small businesses often wonder at what point, if any, they should seek an outside consultant to provide objective marketing advice or run their marketing functions. There is no clear-cut answer to this question. However, I do offer a few words of advice to small business owners (or managers).

1. Define your needs. To the extent possible, you should know and be able to articulate exactly where you feel such a consultant would be able to help your business. This is important because it helps you to be (and feel like) a partner in the marketing process when you begin to interview consultants. It also helps you to remain a partner as the relationship progresses.
2. Quantify success. Once you have defined your needs, be sure to identify how you will quantify success. After all, regardless of the number of marketing actions taken, you will judge the consultant by the level of success attained through those efforts. Since this is the case, make sure you define your expectations for success (your goals) and be prepared to relate them to the consultant.
3. Define a budget. A good starting point is to determine how much marketing spend you can afford per dollar in earned revenue. This information helps to provide marketing parameters by stating what marketing expense can be tolerated within your industry (and within your particular model of operation) while remaining competitive and profitable.
4. Be open to scrutiny. Small business owners, particularly first time business owners, can feel very personally about their business. As a small business owner, I know this to be true! You might be flustered by the level of scrutiny that will be brought to bear on your entire business by a good strategic marketing consultant. The many questions that you receive are designed to probe your knowledge of your business, of the market, etc. At some point the consultant may recommend that your business model be adjusted in order for you to be competitive. Be prepared for this possibility.
5. Be involved. The marketing process will be a partnership between the consultant and the business owner; both parties must commit to the success of the business venture. Therefore, the business owner needs to set aside time each week for following, understanding, and being involved in the marketing efforts.
6. For a specific need, hire a specialist. Good strategic marketing consultants bring a circumspect approach and like to look at the big picture. So if you are looking for someone to handle a specific need (rather than to provide comprehensive insight for your marketing plans), you aren’t looking for a strategist or overall marketing manager—you are seeking a specialist. For example, if you merely want someone to manage your existing graphic design and printing needs, you should consider hiring a graphic designer/director who takes a consultative approach and is used to working directly with printers to manage projects.

Interviewing and selecting a marketing consultant, as well as the engagement process itself, will no doubt influence positions established prior to the hiring process. You may work with the consultant to create a revised set of needs, a goals statement, and budget. However, all of the above items are necessary groundwork to define for what purpose and at what point it is reasonable to hire a marketing consultant.

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Windows 7 PDF Preview Handler Solution

While Windows 7 is, in many respects, a great leap forward in terms of application compatibility, every so often we'll discover a basic functionality that Microsoft or a Microsoft partner has inadvertently run into the ditch.

For instance, Adobe's PDF Preview Handler has long had an uncertain relationship with 64-bit Windows, and users who'd hoped that Windows 7 might resolve the issue out-of-the-box are bound to be disappointed when they fire up Outlook , open an email, and discover that the Preview function is still broken.

However, Pretentious Name's Leo Davidson has come up with a fix.

http://www.pretentiousname.com/adobe_pdf_x64_fix/index.html

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ColdFusion OOP Benefits the Developer and the Client

During my (lustrous) career using ColdFusion, I have seen a lot change!  One of the most important changes was the introduction of Object Oriented Programming (OOP) interface with ColdFusion 6 in the year 2002. This finally provided a logical way to separate functions and procedures into discrete bundles for reuse. More features and improvements to the OOP interface were found in subsequent ColdFusion releases, continuing up to the present.

A ColdFusion programmer can now create extremely complicated applications using a storehouse of portable objects derived from past work and third-party offerings.

Here is an example of a case where ColdFusion OOP presented an opportunity for both Trinity and a client. Recently, a request came across my desk for an extremely flexible blast email system built in ColdFusion.  The current application being used by the client was good—it did what it was designed to do, which was to send out blast emails using a static template (built specific to the client).  But the client needed more features to satisfy its emerging needs.

The old e-mail system was too antiquated to consider “upgrading”. Developing a new system, incorporating all of the desired features, would be more labor intensive than the client could afford. Therefore, I decided to create a independent application utilizing OOP and hence create a portable object. This would allow me to offer the functionality to multiple clients, customizing it as needed for each specific client.  This would, in turn, reduce the cost to the immediate client, deliver a quality product, and potentially benefit all of our ColdFusion clientele.

Smart OOP development should be standard practice. It benefits both the developer and the client by enabling rapid application deployment and affordable pricing.

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Trinity’s Dual Approach — Marketing and IT

Trinity’s broad business development platform is indicative of its strong roots in business communication and information technology. The most obvious juncture at which these two disciplines meet is Trinity’s Web Design & Development service, where technology, design, content, etc. come together to make powerful business tools.

Most of Trinity’s service offerings (Strategic Consulting, Graphic Design, Proposals, and Web Design & Development) are generally understood within the construct of Marketing. But some wonder where IT Managed Services fits in.

Trinity realizes that all clients are interested in increasing profitability. Two primary ways to do this are by increasing revenue and improving operations. Many companies suffer from information technology (or IT support) that is either functionally deficient or not properly utilized to best advantage. Providing IT Managed Services is one way to address a key pain point for many clients that frees up time, attention, and often resources. Trinity’s clients are then free to keep the focus on the future, and the freed assets may be rededicated to driving corporate growth—which might include future IT investment.

IT Managed Services are complemented by the “Development” aspect of Web Design & Development.  Trinity provides web application development services to clients who have specific business process automation needs, and consults to bring ready-made third-party solutions to bear, as appropriate.

Trinity’s efforts revolve around helping clients to build real assets that drive corporate success—whether the asset be a brand or an automated business process—and it is from this viewpoint that Trinity’s individual services are presented.

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Maximizing Introduction Effectiveness

Proposal developers often erroneously assume that government proposal evaluators for any given proposal are thoroughly familiar with the solicited project or contract, as well as the overall requirements and layout of the RFP. In reality, different teams of evaluators will likely score each distinct proposal section (i.e. factor) in isolation from the rest of the proposal, using a compliance checklist derived from the RFP requirements.

Since proposal evaluators may only be familiar with the individual section assigned to them, the first page of each factor presents a unique opportunity for the offeror (bidder) to provide an introduction that puts its “best foot forward” in the context of the entire proposal. A well-structured introduction will accomplish quite a feat in that short space: remind the government of the submission requirements for that particular section, highlight the offeror’s response and key discriminators, and outline exactly what content follows.

Content presented in proposal section introductions should also correspond with the information presented in the proposal’s executive summary; however, I recommend the following elements for developing effective introductions independent of the executive summary:

Compliance Review: Include a compliance review that accurately outlines the factor requirements as identified in the RFP. This will not only remind the evaluator of what was required of the offeror, but will also place the subsequent factor introduction—including key discriminators—in context, thus increasing effectiveness.

Address Hot Buttons: The introduction should address the customer’s key concerns (i.e. “hot buttons”)—both for the overall solicitation and the content of that specific factor (clearly addressing the relevance and evaluation criteria identified in the RFP). The response is then positioned to highlight key discriminators and primary reasons why the proposed solution will exceed the government’s expectations (as always, substantiate those claims with past performance).

Outline: Finally, outline exactly what is provided in the section that follows, with any applicable explanatory notes. For example, during development of a recent client proposal, my client chose to include evaluations and commendations in the past performance section even though these forms were not specifically required by the RFP. I developed an explanation in the factor introduction to outline exactly what was included, where it was located, and why it was of value to the government.

Including these three elements ensures that the proposed solution (with accompanying value) is described in a way the evaluator cannot overlook.

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Jobsite Document Management for General Contractors

Large general contractors require an IT solution to handle the creation, access, and storage to what I call “jobsite documents”.  Jobsite documents are those created by field users, such as daily reports, RFI, drawings, etc.  Many companies develop the bad habit of storing these documents on jobsite computers and/or in the Project Manager’s email software data file.

There are several scenarios under which this incorrect approach might prove to be problematic for the construction company. Two of those scenarios are as follows, concluding with the provided IT solution.

Scenario 1: What happens if the jobsite computer hard drive crashes? An attempt to recover the data might not be successful, either in part or in whole.  Hopefully that data wasn’t needed for any critical part of the construction process or to support claims in litigation!

Scenario 2: What if someone else in the company needs to quickly access the document? Of course, that someone else can always ask the field user to send the document via email. However, it may take time to track down the field user and receive a response. Also, sending the document through email duplicates the document and creates possible workflow problems.  (If no one knows who has the authoritative document, this can cause numerous  issues.)

One solution Trinity has deployed for a construction client is Microsoft SharePoint.  Trinity’s application of SharePoint solved all of the client’s jobsite document management pain points, within an affordable budget. Moreover, Trinity’s provided a SharePoint interface that allowed for ready adoption, minimizing training time for all related personnel.

Today, Trinity’s SharePoint solution for the client provides a central, secure, web-based system allowing the client to create, access and store its jobsite documents. Document storage in a centralized database permits IT staff to provide an effective backup and recovery solution for critical data (addressing Scenario 1) and allows all key staff members at multiple offices to access and  manipulate jobsite documents, as appropriate (addressing Scenario 2).

If your company is suffering from poor document management, please contact Trinity! We will be happy to develop and apply a solution for your specific needs.

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Branding Multiple Personalities

Mergers, acquisitions, and expanding product lines can create unique challenges when it comes to designing and producing trade show and retail product displays.

 

CONFLUENCE Watersports, for example, produces kayaks under 5 unique brand names. Each brand has its own personality and history, appeals to its own water sport audience, and has its own competitors. It is challenging enough to create a product display that securely holds 6 kayaks ... let alone a display that also effectively communicates brand differentiation, energy, and personality in a commpetitive and discriminating marketplace. (I am not even going to mention that kayak displays need to take up as small a footprint as possible in an already overcrowded retail environment .... oops, I mentioned it.)

I worked closely with South Carolina fabricators (local to the Confluence home office) to create 4 preliminary display solutions for the Confluence brands. The first of those designs appears below.

 

This WAVE design is built on a simple curved shape and webbed strap arrangement that is dressed up with permanent and semi-permanent brand specific graphics.

 

Each display is branded with the product logo and associated “brand personality” specific graphics, colors, and surface textures. The result is a unique, eye-catching display that can be customized to display 5 different products. The design is suitable for either trade show or retail environments.

See the other preliminary designs created for Confluence in subsequent blog posts.

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Tips for New Business Owners

A reader requested that I provide some thoughts directed at sole proprietors who are just getting started in business. This got me wondering: what sort of advice would I give to someone who was in the process of setting up their first business? Here are some tips.

1. Make sure that you do everything necessary to legally operate your business and to limit your potential liability. Incorporating your business will limit your personal liability. Make sure you secure the additional licenses required for your type of business (if any). Secure insurance policies as necessary.

2. Define what accomplishment/success means for you in your business. Create clearly stated goals based on this definition. Create a business plan that outlines how you plan to meet your goals and achieve success.

3. Create a goals for your personal time management, create a schedule, and do your best to stick to it. Many new business fail because the owner is unable to properly manage his/her own time.

4. Don’t figure out your bookkeeping after you get started on your business. Learn how to keep your books properly, and get the system set up before you get busy. Many small business are uncertain of their current financial status due to ineffective bookkeeping. This inhibits confident decision-making. In addition, poor tax planning can be murderous to a business.

5. Many new businesses fail, for a large variety of reasons. Particularly if others are dependent on you, your business plan should include risk assessment and an exit strategy.  If you don’t have an exit strategy, then you haven’t defined the line past which “enough is enough" and you need to cut your losses and move on.

I hope this provides some beneficial information, and look forward to any questions that you might have.

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ExpressionEngine 2.0 Workshop 2010

Filled with excitement, I jumped on the DC Metro last Saturday and headed for the EE2 (ExpressionEngine 2.0) Workshop hosted at CDIA. The presenter was Zac Gordon, an accomplished web design and development teacher in the MD/DC area. ExpressionEngine’s first announcement of the EE 2.0 remake was back in 2008, I was thrilled to finally get a good look at all the wonderful improvements slated to be introduced with the new release. I sat down, booted up the Mac and looked around at the other attendees—noticing the same expression on everyone's face: "Show me the goodies!"

First, Zac introduced himself and the teaching he has been doing in the local area. I was impressed to hear that he has started "Freelance Fridays" in his classroom. Zac gives each of his students a chance to work on their own personal projects or the classroom client project. Moreover, he pays the students for any work that is passed on to one of his clients. What a wonderful way to get young designers introduced to live client work!

Zac proceeded to give an introduction to ExpressionEngine and the value that EE presents as compared to other Content Management Syste ms of its kind. One of the primary advantages that he noted was the extreme flexibility of EE's template and publishing systems. 

After introductions, we dived into the administrative interface of the new ExpressionEngine 2.0. Instead of covering all of the features, Zac focused on the main components of content management. I won't go into all of the particulars, but here are some highlights from the presentation. 

New Custom Fields Toolbar

We first investigated the new custom fields section and discovered the brand new Toolbar feature. The Toolbar provides full control over which content fields are presented to members through very intuitive show/no-show controls. Additionally, custom fields can be moved to admin-created tabs in the admin interface to help organize different content and de-clutter the interface; very impressive! 

Improved File Manager

Next, Zac reviewed the slightly improved File Manger. Before, adding and browsing files was confusing and painful. Now, EE2 has added a decent file browser with thumbnails as well as an option to resize images on upload. But much to my dismay, the resize options are very simple and buggy; one step forward = two steps back.  

Template Design Improvements

Some of the biggest improvements to EE were made to the new "Design" template section. EE2 introduced a new Synchronize feature to improve template editing in external html editors—a major plus to all developers who hated losing all their code after getting logged out of a session right in the middle of intense development.

When it is necessary to code within the EE admin interface, EE2 has added tabbing to the template field allowing developers to write readable indented code; another "finally"! EE2 got a little creative with the addition of "Snippets", a library of custom code or text clippings to quickly add within templates. However, I was quite frustrated to see that EE didn't copy the code tabbing feature to the Snippets section. After waiting almost two years for this release and seeing an increase in price, little oversights like this are annoying. 

Problems Remain

With all the great additions to EE that have been noted, there are still some unpardonable bugs in the system. This release is in no way ready for production usage. Together with the problem of glaring bugs, none of the third-party add-on improvements that EE developers have come to rely on have yet been released for the new EE 2.0. During the "Discussion" section of the workshop, Zac asked the group, "Would any of you consider using EE2 for live projects?" The overwhelming answer was "NO." It was wonderful to see the new eye-candy of the redesigned interface and all the fun controls and JavaScript widgets—however, EE2 still needs some major development before it will be ready for the "real" world. 

Conclusion

All this being said, it was nice to hear from Zac that the ExpressionEngine team has “ratcheted it up a notch” and are pumping out improved versions almost every week. If all goes well, we will see a fully-fledged-new-and-improved-ready-for-action-EE 2.0 before the year is out!

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ACT

ACT: move towards your market

From the article “See, Transform, Act”: Trinity’s model of business development derives its uniqueness from the way that Trinity expresses and applies the model’s principles. Trinity’s unique expression and application of SEE, TRANSFORM, ACT comes from deeply seated personal and corporate beliefs about humility, communication and business ethics.

Recap: The SEE part of “See, Transform, Act” presents a roadmap for growing business through an effective market approach. In the TRANSFORM part of the model, the company readies itself for this approach by applying necessary internal change.

Having done these things, it is time to ACT.

ACT means execute. The company uses all of its investigation and transformative (or “readying”) action to move forward aggressively in pursuit of clearly stated goals.

ACT means courting your market. ACT equals attaining the object of your desire. ACT means winning the contract, superior performance in product/service delivery, and high customer retention.

The “See, Transform, Act” model takes the company on a full development cycle. SEE (Marketplace Diagnostic), TRANSFORM (Internal Diagnostic), ACT (Tactical Plan Development/Execution), and finally SEE again (Post-Plan Execution Analysis). This last part of the process ensures that gathered statistics and learned lessons are fed back into the strategic plan for improved execution in subsequent iterations of the cycle.

The entire process increases the organization’s body of general knowledge and intellectual property, which strengthens the organization and leads to growing effectiveness and confidence in decision-making.

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“Interesting Times” for Defense Acquisitions

According to an oft-repeated cliché, “May you live in interesting times” constitutes a particularly malevolent curse in the Chinese language. Like it or not, these days are indisputably interesting times in the field of defense acquisitions.

Recent days have brought stories of leading defense contractors downsizing due to declining federal budgets. Yet they have also brought numerous contract awards—as well as new solicitations—long delayed by pending defense appropriations legislation, finally passed in the waning days of 2009.

These seemingly disparate facts point to two realities of these interesting times: the federal floodgates seem to have finally reopened, but the amount pouring forth from behind them has diminished. Consequently, firms hoping to secure defense work should expect fierce competition for the shrinking pool of federal contracts and dollars.

A proven proposal team with a track record of winning contracts for clients from numerous defense and other federal agencies—what sounder investment could there be in these interesting times?

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A Double-Duty Holiday Card

Staging Directions, a corporate and theatrical production services company, wanted to send its clients a holiday greeting card that would also serve as a change of address notice. They enlisted Trinity Consulting Art Director, Chris Pelicano, who created a custom solution which utilized the company's equipment truck to serve both purposes. A small rough sketch presented to the client conveyed the essential idea and whimsical approach suggested to the client.

Once approved, a finished illustration of a company truck carrying a Christmas tree along a snowy landscape was created for the front panel of the card.

The interior of the card completed the holiday sentiment, the brand identification, and the new address.

This forward thinking client, commissioned two additional custom holiday cards which would be mailed in subsequent years but printed at the same time as the card above. Producing all three cards at the same time allowed the client to achieve design consistency and save printing costs.

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New Year’s Resolution: Put Your Old Hardware to Good Use

With the beginning of a new year and a new decade, it is a good time to take a look at the technology lying around the home or office and decide what to keep and what to toss. If you are like me, you have piles of technology stored all over that you “might need someday”.  Over the past holiday vacation I cleaned up my home office and found the following items.

• 2 laptops (one that was eight years old, another with a broken screen)
• 1 docking station and monitor stand (Dell) from my previous laptop
• 1 cell phone (my father-in-law’s old phone)
• 3 desktops (one build-it-myself project that never got done and two ancient Dells)
• A multitude of hard drives, power cords, USB cords, and a rats nest of power adaptors that I could not match to anything

Knowing that my IT department could use some of the items, I gave them the eight-year-old laptop (it could be turned into a decent Linux test box) as well as all of the usable parts from the broken laptop (wireless card, battery, DVD-ROM, memory).  I also gave them the Dell docking station and monitor stand.  These items can still be used with some of the laptops we have at the office, and it is nice to have some spare parts around (if they are really usable).

I tried to give the old desktops to The Salvation Army, but they will not take computers that are five or more years old, which mine were.  I thought about stripping the desktops down to their usable parts and offering them to my IT team, but since I just gave them an eight-year-old laptop...I had a feeling that if they saw me headed in their direction with old PCs they might run away.

So, I utilized a recycling option for the desktops. Best Buy has a recycling program—you pay $10 per item and are limited to two items a day.  You get the $10 back in a gift card, so if you are going to buy something at Best Buy anyway, you might as well drop off your old computer.  If a computer-specific recycling program proves to be impossible, you can always take old computers to your local dump.  Just make sure you drop them off at the hazardous material section since many of the internal components contain hazardous compounds.

The old cell phone was donated to Cell Phones For Soldiers.  I have done this in the past, and it is a painless process.  You go to the web site and print a pre-paid shipping label, so it costs you nothing.  The organization asks that you remove the batteries, chargers and accessories (but they will gladly accept them if sent).  They sell the phones to recyclers and use the money to buy pre-paid phone cards that are donated to our soldiers overseas.  As an added bonus, the value of the cell phone is tax-deductible.  Make sure to delete all of your contacts, sent and received call logs and any other personal information on the phone. There is usually an option to set it back to factory defaults buried in the settings menu. 

Finally, I threw the rats nest of power adaptors away as well as all but one or two power cords.  I stacked all of the hard drives in a box for some sledge hammer fun in the spring (whenever you need to vent some technologically caused frustration).

Now I have enough room in my home office to actually get some work done! Moreover, I’ve resolved not to accumulate useless technical junk in the New Year!

Think that resolution will last?

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The Non-Profit Matrix

I’ve been working with non-profit organizations for 14 years. In that time, I’ve compiled a matrix for non-profit formation built not only on my own experiences, but also on expert consensus. This structure, called the Non-Profit Best Practice Concurrence Matrix™ (The Non-Profit Matrix™, for short), was first composed in my thoughts and project notes, subsequently researched, and then finally assembled into structured document/presentation form in early 2009.

The Non-Profit Matrix deals with the roles of leaders, management, staff, and volunteers. It also addresses such fundamental areas as board composition, strategic planning, and business planning. The last mentioned area includes such items as asset review, budgeting and reporting, market research, communications/marketing activity, staffing, and appropriate use of technology.

At present the structure includes just over 50 principles for action that should be considered by most if not all non-profits. The Non-Profit Matrix seeks to encourage not only the tacit acceptance of its principles; rather, it seeks to encourage that the principles be embraced and discussed by the individuals who are responsible for enacting them.

An example of a specific (and very important) subject dealt with in The Non-Profit Matrix: board composition. A well composed board is vital to the success of a non-profit organization—and once you find yourself with an ineffective board, it may prove a difficult problem to rectify.

On the subject of board composition, The Non-Profit Matrix includes several principles, including “the board’s role and responsibility for setting the organization’s values and philosophies should be firmly established” and “each board member should understand the key elements necessary to the success of the organization”. Other principles encourage utilizing proper criteria when nominating board members, implementing various forms of accountability for the members, and planning for succession at key board positions.

The Non-Profit Matrix seeks not only to consider non-profit concerns per se, but also concerns that are universally applicable to considering profit and long-term value in both the for-profit and non-profit sectors.

At present The Non-Profit Matrix is not available for distribution and serves both as an internal consulting tool and as the foundation for several presentations (such as on Strategic and Business Planning for Non-Profits). However, if you have any questions about how its principles might be able to help your non-profit organization, please Contact Trinity for an appointment. I will be happy to speak with you!

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TRANSFORM to ready yourself for the market approach

From the article “See, Transform, Act”: Trinity’s model of business development derives its uniqueness from the way that Trinity expresses and applies the model’s principles. Trinity’s unique expression and application of SEE, TRANSFORM, ACT comes from deeply seated personal and corporate beliefs about humility, communication and business ethics.

The SEE part of “See, Transform, Act” presents a roadmap for growing business through an effective market approach. In the TRANSFORM part of the model, the company readies itself for this approach by applying necessary internal change.

The TRANSFORM process analyzes people, process, and environment. Are the right people in place? Are the necessary processes and policies defined? Is the environment equipped for operational requirements of the plan?

Sustainable business growth is enabled by the right people, working toward common goals by means of well established processes and policies, operating effectively in an environment that is equipped with necessary tools.

TRANSFORM readies a company to aggressively, doggedly, and successfully execute a market approach.

Next: ACT.

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A clash of perspectives

One of my greatest challenges as a proposal manager comes from conflicting priorities between my perspective as a communications professional and the perspective of the subject matter experts contributing to any particular proposal.

Whether the subject matter expert (SME) be an architect, systems engineer, etc.—a common trait emerges during proposal development: SMEs place their attention and effort on the project specifications (understandably so), but don’t spend much time worrying about the technical submission requirements of the RFP. It’s really just a clash of worldviews—my primary concern is achieving a high rating during the government’s review, while the SME’s primary concern is meeting the project specifications.

This difference in viewpoint can create a challenge when the SME is unconvinced of the validity of compliance-related concerns as necessary to content production. In working with SMEs on dozens of proposals, I have found the following actions to be helpful in fostering good communication and creating structure for content development.

1. Initial Contact: Outline in detail the requirements of the relevant section(s) of the RFP, the development process (initial draft, in-depth compliance review, revised draft, additional clarifications), and proposed deadlines for each stage. Follow up with a phone call to discuss each point and express the imperative nature of meeting each RFP requirement (in addition to the spec)—and how doing so will impact proposal scoring.
2. Compliance Review: Conduct an in-depth, point-by-point compliance review of the initial draft provided by the SME, analyzing the content to see whether or not all of the necessary information is available (beyond whether the content is arranged strictly according to the outline, which is correctable by the proposal team if all information is present). Communicate detailed feedback in written form, and  follow up with a phone conversation.
3. Final/Subsequent Drafts: Hopefully the second draft will fix any substantial deficiencies that were identified during the compliance review. However, this may not be the case. Complete an accelerated review based on the originally-identified areas of deficiency. If major concerns have gone unaddressed, a second round of feedback will likely be needed; otherwise, a good technical writer can massage the whole document into a compliant state.

As with all business relationships, clear and consistent communication of goals and associated value is very important to the success of joint content development between the proposal manager and the SME.

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A good user interface is imperative, even for small user groups

Application of best practices for user interface development helps to ensure that programs are intuitive with a logical flow and strong visual cues, and that these positive attributes are further supported by Help/Instructions accessed through an easily recognizable mechanism.

The application development process can often be a tug-of-war between following universal best practices for development and the client’s budget. This is particularly true in user interface development for small user groups, where the developer is fairly confident that the application will be directly presented for orientation to the entire group.

However, even under such circumstances there are considerations that make a compelling case for applying best practices for the implementation of user instruction and orientation within the interface.

First, even a small user group will likely change over time—new users will require orientation. This process will be eased if the orientation is embedded in the system.

Second, infrequency of application use (if such is the case) will render even the most attentive members of the group foggy as to the proper utilization of the program.

Third, in the event that the application receives continued development from another developer, good user orientation will speed the developer’s own orientation to the project (along with other under-the-hood best practices in coding).

Finally, and perhaps most importantly: ease-of-use is often a factor of user satisfaction with the application—which often dictates success in user acceptance and utilization.

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SEE Your Business Clearly

From the article “See, Transform, Act”: Trinity’s model of business development derives its uniqueness from the way that Trinity expresses and applies the model’s principles. Trinity’s unique expression and application of SEE, TRANSFORM, ACT comes from deeply seated personal and corporate beliefs about humility, communication and business ethics.

In the SEE portion of the model  these ideas are immediately brought to bear. SEE is, in its essence, an exercise in humility. SEE, to Trinity, means the need to view your company not just from the inside out, but from the outside in. How does the market (customers, competitors, peers/partners, analysts/experts, government, etc.) see you?

To SEE, or examine yourself through the eyes of the market, requires the humility to recognize the value of what others have to offer.

SEE is gathering information. SEE is building knowledge. SEE is essential to business growth, and the more clearly you SEE, the more successful you will become.

Next: TRANSFORM.

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Perpetuating a Versatile Corporate Mascot

Brand equity is built through the faithful delivery of the brand promise accompanied by the consistent application of well-designed brand graphics. Well established brands can take advantage of their notoriety and apply their brand graphics with more variety. This is especially true with longstanding brand mascots ... such as the Michelin Tire Man.

"Bibendum" or "Bib the Michelin Man" is one of the world's oldest and most well-known trademarks, introduced by the Michelin brothers in 1894. BIB has changed with the times and has undergone many makeovers in the last one-hundred years. Today, he is a very busy mascot, wearing many hats in his job as chief company spokesman.

BIB recently donned a hard hat and safety vest to promote their line of mining tires and tire sensor equipment. For this assignment, he started as an art director's rough thumbnail sketch in which he is shown sitting in front of a computer monitor.

From this starting point, he Trinity Consulting Graphic Design department created a full-color illustration of BIB ... confidently giving the viewer his "thumbs-up" in approval of Michelin's superior equipment. This illustration was incorporated into a larger layout which demonstrated the advantages of the Michelin MEMS System.

 

 This post is offered as an example of how Trinity Consulting Graphic Design services can work in support of a well-established corporate brand

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Customizing Internet Explorer 8: Efficiency and Stability

Set IE8 to open links in a separate tab rather than a separate window

Internet Explorer 8 is peculiar among modern browsers in that, when a link is clicked on (from a document or email), its default response is to open that link in its own discreet window. On the other hand, Mozilla-based browsers such as Firefox and Opera will easily open the link in a tab, conserving desktop real estate.

Convincing IE 8 to function like the other browsers requires a quick menu change: In the menu bar, find Tools > Internet Options, and under the 'General' tab, click the "Settings" button under the Tabs heading, near the bottom of the dialog box. Find the option 'Open links from other programs in:' and click the radio button next to the option 'A New tab in the current window'. Click 'OK' to save this setting.

Change settings so that bad code in one tab does not affect other tabs

Malicious or poorly written web applications result in many browser-crashing errors: even novice internet users are familiar with the phenomena of the 'unhandled exception' or 'application fault' errors on a single web page forcing the closure of a few hours' browsing session.

Google Chrome (and now Internet Explorer 8) have provided something of a solution to this problem: by registering each window and tab as its own running process, any instance of the application that needs to close unexpectedly can do so without bringing down the rest. At the expense of a few more CPU cycles and some RAM, the power user can be assured of (relative) invulnerability to bad code.

This behavior is default in Chrome and impossible in Mozilla Firefox 3.5.3 and earlier versions, and IE 8 allows this option to be managed via the registry.

The following guide is from httpWatch.com Blog.

#4 : The IE 8 Process Model is Configurable

The IE team has documented a single registry value that controls the new process model. If you create a DWORD value called TabProcGrowth in:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main

you can control how many browser processes are used by IE 8:

 

The three most useful values for this setting are:

1. TabProcGrowth = <absent> - this is the default setting allowing IE 8 to control how many processes are used based on the amount of physical memory installed

2. TabProcGrowth = 0 - a value of zero means use the same process for all tabs, frames and pop-up windows in each browser session. This makes IE 8 behave just like IE 7 on Windows XP. There’s no frame merging and clicking on the IE icon creates a new instance of iexplore.exe in a separate browser session. Protected mode on Vista is not available with this setting because the IE frame and tabs can only operate at different integrity levels if they are in separate processes. This setting may be useful if you are debugging an IE add-on or if you have automated tests that rely on the IE 7 process model.

3. TabProcGrowth = 1 - this means use one process for all the tabs and pop-ups in a browser session and one process for the IE 8 frame window. Frame merging occurs with this setting and protected mode is supported on Vista. You may want to use TabProcGrowth = 1 where you want to keep tabs and pop-ups in one process but still allow the use of protected mode.

Specifying a number greater than 1 sets an upper limited on the maximum number of tab processes to use per frame window process.

http://blog.httpwatch.com/2009/04/07/seven-things-you-should-known-about-ie-8/

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Identify Hot Buttons

Reviewing Trinity’s proposal best practices, I was recently reminded of the importance of “hot buttons”—an element of customer focus and a best practice that Trinity works to implement on every proposal.

Hot buttons are essentially the government’s (or buyer’s) needs and desires for the solicited project, whether stated explicitly in the relevance or evaluation criteria in the RFP, hinted at indirectly in the solicitation or in other communication from the buyer, or understood through knowledge of the industry or project type.  

Identifying and responding to the government’s needs, whether you use the term hot button or not, should be a natural part of proposal development. The aspect that I find most easy to overlook in the crunch of proposal preparation, and thus worthy of renewed attention, is stating where or how the buyer expressed the hot button issues, reminding the government that these are its concerns, and if possible referencing the exact locations in the RFP where they are identified. This identification of the hot buttons as government concerns should appear before any detailed discussion of why we are uniquely qualified to address them.

By identifying where the government has expressed the identified concerns, we demonstrate our attentiveness to the buyer’s communication and remind the government of the value it places on solutions that meet the needs expressed. Perhaps most importantly, identifying hot buttons informs evaluators (who may not be fully aware of such needs) that the associated solutions are of particular value to the buyer and merit extra consideration, yielding a higher rating for our proposal.

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Economic woes force reassessment of customer service

The poor economy has prompted many companies to reevaluate their customer focus.  In some cases, companies have had to reassess what customer service means to both themselves and to their customers.

On hearing this news, the customer's knee-jerk response might be: "Why weren't those idiotic companies providing great customer service to begin with?"  In some cases this is a reasonable complaint.

However, it is also important to consider that the company may simply be responding to the consumer's changing evaluation criteria. In the current economy, consumers are more clearly focused on value for the dollar--which might represent itself in various ways. Companies are investing more in polling and other forms of customer research as a way of learning about how changing priorities affect purchasing decisions.

Economic woes have imparted many difficult lessons, but that is not to say that many of these lessons aren't good for us. Companies that learn to value the customer more dearly, even if this learning experience is forced upon them, will be better off in the long run--as will be the customer.

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Thirteen years of ColdFusion application development

This year marks Trinity's thirteenth year in application development using ColdFusion. In that time, Trinity has written more lines of code than anyone at the company can count. Trinity has improved business processes for multiple organizations, and has served multiple different industries.

In 1996, Trinity was at the front of ColdFusion adopters. (Trinity has tested and developed applications for every ColdFusion release since 1.5.) Over the years, Trinity has watched this "rapid application development platform" grow in strength—in terms of capability, stability, and market share.

Trinity has developed and supported ColdFusion applications that have dramatically improved the ability of companies to operate effectively. In doing so, Trinity has covered a lot of ground—programming proprietary content management systems, ecommerce and customer management systems, business reporting systems, construction management systems, distance education systems, etc.

Trinity has also served multiple different industries in both the for-profit and non-profit sectors, including: insurance, broadcast media, trade association, distance education, engineering/construction, information technology, and others. Trinity has performed development work for entities ranging in size from small start-ups to more than $1.7 billion in annual revenue.

Working with ColdFusion presents occasional difficulties—all products have limitations and deficiencies. Adobe seems to take product development for ColdFusion very seriously, and has added striking new capabilities since acquiring the product with its acquisition of Macromedia in 2005.

Overall, ColdFusion is a great product—and Trinity is proud to be an extremely capable ColdFusion development shop!

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All design has to work for the user

In the rush to the Web over the last dozen years, much attention has been given to the website "user experience". To a certain degree, this extensive dialogue has been reapplied to print marketing pieces as graphic designers strive to combine traditional print design with visual elements familiar to web users.

The bottom line is that both mediums share these identical functional demands: the piece/website must handle well and must draw the eye to important information.

At the end of the day, every marketing piece has to work for you and your constituency. At times, this means pulling back on the artistic reigns for the sake of effectiveness; restraint is an artistic virtue. Sometimes the focus of the design needs to be white space and convenient access to information rather than a lavish design theme. A "sparse", high-contrast design that focuses on function has a high chance of attaining success.

Whether designing print pieces or designing for the web, the user's experience is the most important element in building a successful brand. Make sure that you consider all of your marketing pieces, not just your website, from the perspective of the user.

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See, Transform, Act

Trinity defines the strategic business development process as a repeatable cycle that uncovers ever more accurate information about both the market and your organization with each revolution.

In the “SEE, TRANSFORM, ACT” model, your organization sees its customer, transforms itself to accommodate the customer, and then moves towards and engages with the customer. All parts of the SEE, TRANSFORM, ACT process create valuable knowledge that enables principled, informed decisions at every stage of development. This leads to a strengthened corporate identity that facilitates growth.

Trinity’s “See, Transform, Act” model of business development derives its uniqueness from the way that Trinity expresses and applies the model’s principles. Trinity’s unique expression and application of SEE, TRANSFORM, ACT comes from deeply seated personal and corporate beliefs about humility, communication and business ethics.

The reason that Trinity often speaks about “corporate humility” is because humility is the cornerstone of effective business development.  Whether instituting new internal business practices or planning a marketing approach, humility is necessary to apply best practices and market information in an introspective manner.

Effective communication is essential within any business. Good leadership and management is impossible without effective, charitable communication at all levels of business.

Ethical behavior in business means pursuing a corporate agenda that respects the dignity of all persons.

Application of these concepts within the “See, Transform, Act” model breeds powerful knowledge, breeds true leadership, and breeds business innovation.

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Malware eradicated with Malwarebytes

"Malware" has long been the scourge of organizations of all types and sizes, with dramatic increases in computer malware infections in the past couple of years. One of the primary "malware types" from which users suffer is the fake anti-virus program, masquerading on the web under such names as "Anti-Virus 2009" or "Anti-Virus Pro 2010". Once on your computer, this malicious software compromises many aspects of the system, including disabling security features, and may use the computer as a staging area for attacks on other computers connected to the network/Internet.

Such malware programs are difficult to entirely remove from the computer. In years past, many such infections required Trinity to reformat the client's hard drive in order to completely eradicate the infestation.  However, the need to perform such a drastic action is typically no longer necessary due to the advent of effective "malware removing" programs. The most effective and inexpensive solution that Trinity has found for combating malware is the free version of Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware (available at http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php).

Once you have installed the Malwarebytes program, run a full scan and remove the infestations found on the system. Typically, a reboot will be required to remove all of the infected files, but once having done so, you should be up and running--and free from all malware.  If you continue to experience difficulties, contact Trinity (customers only).

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Visually Effective and Appealing Proposals

A truly effective proposal does not merely present your solution; it distinguishes your company and solution from the competition.

Does the visual presentation of your proposal help or hinder you in this regard? Some questions to consider:

Does your proposal…

• Contain visual elements that appeal to all reading styles?
• Utilize attractive fonts and formatting elements that enhance readability?
• Employ a clear, consistent hierarchy of heading levels to allow evaluators to quickly and easily locate your responses to required elements from the RFP?
• Present information graphically when appropriate--or does the proposal rely entirely on paragraphs of text to make the case for your solution?
• Include an attractive, inviting cover or cover page? People do judge a book—and a proposal—by its cover!

The proposal development firm that leverages a multidisciplinary approach--encompassing concise, compliant, effective writing and design elements--will yield a far greater value and return on investment than a company that offers only writing services.

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Staff Retention and IT Efficiency

In previous articles I wrote about IT efficiency and mentioned that having good tools impacts employee job satisfaction.

Your computer and network are tools that impact the ability to perform your job properly (effectively and efficiently). When the employer provides an inadequate IT toolkit, it places roadblocks in the way to success. The company places each staff member and the entire company at a competitive disadvantage, and creates frustration in many aspects of daily work.

Frustration mounts when poor communication pertinent to IT concerns exists between the IT department (or outside consultants), staff, and management. Part of good IT administration is effective communication regarding new systems, policy changes, etc. At times, IT problems and failure to communicate and/or apply a correction can result in high levels of workplace toxicity!

Beyond merely helping your staff to be happy and successful through proper application of IT, you should consider what technological advancements will allow you to create even greater efficiencies.  If employee productivity is increased, over time you should be able to do more with the same amount of people without increasing workload per person. This in turn can have positive effects: increased employee compensation and benefits (increasing the likelihood of staff retention), increased profitability, etc.

Want to perform an audit to find out how your staff members view IT efficiency, and how it impacts their job satisfaction? Contact Trinity.

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Browser Compatibility and Internet Explorer 8 Developer Tools

One of the features of Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) is built-in Developer Tools, and one of those tools is the ability to emulate Internet Explorer 7 (IE7). This would ostensibly make life easier for the developer. In fact, in development experience at Trinity such has not proven to be the case.

One of our developers worked on a web application project requiring IE7 compliance--the client had a large percentage of IE7 users hitting its website. 

Upon the beta release of the application it was discovered that there were several bugs in the application when run in IE7 on user computers.  The developer had used IE8 to program the application, making use of the developer tool "Internet Explorer 7 Browser Mode" to test its IE7 compliance.  Yet, the errors reported by IE7 users during beta testing did not appear during development testing.

To simulate the user's actual experience with IE7 (rather than relying on IE8's development tools), Trinity booted a virtual machine with an installation of IE7 and tested the application fully.  The developer started to experience the same errors that the beta testers did.  When comparing IE8 using the IE7 Browser Mode and an actual installation of IE7, the application pages rendered completely differently.  This led Trinity's entire development team to similarly test other applications. The finding: IE8 using IE7 Browser Mode rendered all of the applications differently from an actual installation of IE7.

This underscores the necessity not only for browser compatibility testing, but also for thorough testing of browser developer tools to make sure that the developer is not being mislead by product claims, resulting in poor development.

If you would like your current web deployments tested for browser compatibility, contact Trinity today.

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Remember

Some symbols (or logos) are created by history. When the tragic attacks occurred on September 11, 2001 a new brand was born.

For many, "9-11" is emblazoned in our minds as THE historic moment. Not "where you were when the bomb was dropped", or "where were you when you heard that JFK was shot", but "where were you when the planes hit?"

Graphic artists have created versions of this powerful brand to help us remember, and rally around, this powerful event that shaped our lives.

Today's blog post features a poster design created after the shock of 9-11 had lessened--and unfortunately, so had the wave of unity that followed it. 'Remember' is the main message of this poster.

Remember not just the bad that happened to the victims, but the good as well. Remember the heroes that were only ordinary citizens the day before. Remember how small our petty differences were when we were forced to focus on a greater good ... a common good. Remember how we grieved as a nation and how we cherished the everyday things in a new way.

Remember?

Today is not the anniversary of 9-11. But we can still remember that day ... The symbol which history created is still before us.

The graphic appearing in this blog post was created by Christopher Pelicano, Trinity's Art Director.

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Business Efficiency Gains In Information Technology

Three years ago, Trinity collected research from diverse sources about increasing business efficiency through Information Technology. Specifically, we were looking for low-cost solutions that did not require implementation of sophisticated process automation. What we found, based on the available statistics, is that one could theoretically increase worker efficiency by more than 200% per person by spending less than $2,000 per person. (Among employees that were heavily reliant on a computer on a business network in order to perform their jobs.)

Over the years, Trinity has seen many IT oriented efficiency claims that represent best-case scenarios or are created from bogus statistics. Even assuming that 20 different IT-backed solutions produced an efficiency increase of 10% per solution: due to may considerations, it is impractical to assume that a single person already operating at an average efficiency level could realize a 200% gain in efficiency by implementing every one of the available solutions.

As you can imagine, Trinity did not immediately sally forth with a marketing campaign based on improving workplace efficiency by more than 200% overnight. We knew from experience that would be a ludicrous proposition.

What Trinity did do was test solutions that could be implemented in our own office, and checked the results. For our client approach, Trinity focused only on solutions backed by reasonable claims. Trinity could clearly go to market with the potential of increasing performance by at least 20% in some environments. In many cases, we could (and do) make cost-offset arguments in favor of the necessary expenditure.

A few years back, a study emerged indicating that the average user could experience efficiencies in work performance of up to 10% by adding an additional display (monitor). Trinity deployed this in our work environment over a period of time, starting with our "power users" and extending the policy through to our administrative staff, interns, etc.

It was very difficult, and impractical, to perform process studies to precisely calculate the efficiencies gained after adding the additional display. However, the anecdotal evidence was clear. After a very brief period of initial orientation in which efficiency decreased slightly, efficiency increased noticeably for all users. The impact was that many tasks were made easier, and none more difficult, by adding the additional display.

Today, I remain confident that the application of a second display for all computer users results in a net productivity gain of at least 5% per user. Therefore, Trinity feels very confident recommending this expense to our clients. If the client is reluctant, we drop in a few extra displays to let them try it free for 30 days. (Once you have two widescreen displays on your desk, you don't go back--the benefits are palpable.)

There are many such IT improvements that can make a difference to IT efficiency within the workplace. Contact Trinity to discuss a free network efficiency diagnostic.

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Employee Satisfaction in the Workplace

Quality of coworkers, tools, and environment are three aspects of employee satisfaction that will occasionally be neglected (to one degree or another) by employers.  Yet, each has a major impact on staff retention.

Ultimately, many intelligent employees will figure out how to do with a few thousand dollars less--for the benefit of being able to work in a quality environment. This is particularly true of employees that have worked in difficult environments and know when they have found a good situation by having some basis for comparison. In other words, if there is a three thousand dollar difference in salary between loving your job and hating the thought of going  to work in the morning, in my experience most people would choose the job that they love and in which they feel well supported.

If you are an employer and are not weighing quality of coworkers (including management), tools (including IT), and environment as part of an employee's total compensation package, think again.

Contact Trinity to discuss improving employee satisfaction in your workplace.

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Content Filtering in a Business Environment

Once you have your http proxy in place, another layer of protection is to enable content filtering.  Most companies fail to do this because they are afraid their employees will revolt, but content filtering can be used effectively to prevent malicious sites and programs from infecting your network.

The question should be: "How can my company best leverage content filtering to fill a major gap in our network security?"  IT security must be approached in a layered manner.  The more layers an attacker or virus has to break through, the safer your network will be.

Failure to implement content filtering can have the following negative effects:

(1) Lost productivity. In the absence of content filtering, computers run a higher risk of becoming infected with spyware, viruses, adware, etc. from malicious websites. This results in lost time for the user and for the IT staff who have to clean up the mess.

(2) Increased liability. Your staff should be protected from accidental exposure to such things as hardcore pornography, child pornography, extreme fetishes, etc. Exposure to such material can occur from being redirected from one website to another (containing the material classified as objectionable). It can also occur when a staff member directly accesses objectionable material and then either deliberately or accidentally stores the material on the computer or network where other staff members can encounter it.

Other negative effects from a failure to implement content filtering: bandwidth clogging, liability from users illegally downloading music or movies, or liability after an infected computer sends confidential data (like social security numbers) to a hacker.

Tips for installing a content filter include the following:

• Install the filter as a gateway device (not per computer). This allows easier manageability.
• Let users know there is a content filter in place, and make sure they understand the company’s "acceptable use policy" for web browsing.
• Let users know what to do (who to contact) if they are blocked when browsing the web, and need to access a web site for business purposes.
• Make sure you perform some user testing before broadly deploying the filter--and add all the main web sites your users need to access to the white list.

Since most corporate IT security incidents are caused by careless/dangerous user behavior, it is a very prudent step to install content filters on your business network.  It is that "next layer of protection" which most small to medium businesses have not added to their IT security.

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A Modest Proposal?

While participating on a review team for a recent client proposal, I heard another reviewer—a senior manager with our client firm—recommend that we omit the word “unmatched” from the proposal’s executive summary. He commented, “Words like this are meaningless hyperbole. They’re just a waste of space.”

Did my fellow reviewer have a point? Firms preparing federal proposals must carefully adhere to often arcane and complex submission requirements that frequently include strict page limits. Failure to observe these rules can lead to entire pages being discarded unread—or even to the whole proposal being excluded from consideration due to noncompliance. Page limits aside, no evaluator wants to wade through excess verbiage to find the information requested by the RFP. Finally, the use of superlative language invites skepticism from the reader: “‘Unmatched,’ eh? We’ll just see about that!”

Considering these dangers, one might easily conclude that effective proposals should avoid superlative language and simply “stick to the facts.” But this conclusion misses a key (and oft-neglected) point: a proposal is—and must be approached as—a marketing document. For all the government’s attempts to evaluate proposals independently and objectively using quantitative metrics, much of the evaluation and award process remains subjective and comparative. This is even truer for non-federal buyers who are not obligated to observe the FAR. The offeror who offers nothing beyond dry factual responses to RFP requirements misses a vital opportunity to differentiate itself from the competition—and to convince the buyer that its solution offers the best (notice that superlative?) value. Joe Friday may have wanted “just the facts,” but an effective proposal requires much more.

How, then, can you effectively differentiate yourself from the competition while avoiding the pitfalls of empty superlatives in your proposals? The key is corporate humility—not in the false sense of debasing yourself and your accomplishments, but in the true sense of seeing yourself as others see you. Trinity’s CEO, Peter Mirus, recently blogged on the importance of this honest self-knowledge as a component of an effective overall marketing strategy. By knowing the genuine value your firm offers, you can begin to place that value front-and-center in your proposals—and begin to set yourself apart from the competition in terms that cannot be dismissed as “meaningless hyperbole.”

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Browser Compatibility Testing

Browser compatibility, or the ability of a web site/application to work in multiple browsers, is a concern for every web developer. Recent statistics show that five web browsers hold significant market share. The leaders in that report (in order from greatest to least) are Firefox, Internet Explorer 7, Internet Explorer 8, Internet Explorer 6, and Chrome.

The browser used by the largest number of web visitors can vary from site to site. However, most public sites require compatibility with more than one browser to minimize the difference in appearance, functionality (operability), and performance (speed) from browser to browser.

Browser compatibility testing is therefore done as a matter of routine at Trinity (unless a strategic assessment indicates that it is not necessary), though such is not the case with all development shops.

If you would like your current web deployments tested for browser compatibility, contact Trinity today.

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Color Memory

In a previous post I mentioned "color memory" as a quality that many experienced graphic designers and artists possess. I would like to elaborate on what I mean by that.

Color memory is essentially the ability to do with colors what a police line-up asks you to do with faces ... to distinguish one shade of red, for instance, from among many shades of red, using only your memory of having seen that specific red before. Many artists have this ability because they routinely work with standardized color wheel values, standardized paint and ink colors, and even standardized video display colors. Such standards are reference points from which experienced designers can distinguish specific color variations. That is why artists can "match" specific colors by sight.

The graphic design process involves the representation of particular colors across a variety of color systems. Video screens display colors use a 3-color light-emitting system (RGB). Desktop printers create colors using 4 toner colors. Commercial printers create specific colors by the juxtaposition of 4 semi-transparent inks (cmyk) arranged in screen patterns composed of tiny overlapping dots. It is part of the graphic designer's training to understand these color systems, their limitations, and the best ways to achieve color consistency when translating specific colors from one system to another.

As a design piece moves through the print-production-cycle from concept to the finished printed piece it is reproduced, at different times, in different color systems. It is created on computer display screens, reviewed as desktop print-outs, reviewed again on computer screens as printer's PDF files or as high-end photo-print proofs, and then finally as 4-color process offset printed pieces.

The graphic designer's color memory, and cross-system color translating ability are of great benefit to clients who need to predict what the finished product will look like while it is under development. Color memory also allows the designer to direct a printer's press operator to make subtle global adjustments when the job is on press ... the last stage of quality control in the print-production-cycle.

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Greatest Potential Threat to Business Networks (During 2010) - Part II

Education is the primary practical step to keep the network secure and business data safe.  Employees need to understand that if an unauthorized individual has successfully infiltrated a computer, he or she can cause immense and often irreparable damage to the employee, as well as to the company.

For example, an unauthorized individual can use personal information obtained through social media sites to obtain email passwords, generate personal attacks, or simply to acquire additional confidential information such as answers to secret questions by visiting a personal Facebook page to find names of pets, a place of birth, etc.

The unauthorized individual may even be able to obtain a contact list and then send a bot-infected email to every associated contact, may obtain confidential information related to the company accounting data, personnel files, or project information, and may disseminate this or other information to illicit third parties.

For the protection of your business’s critical information, as well as for the protection of private data for each of your employees, Trinity recommends the following practical policies for work computer use.

1. Do not visit social networking sites while at work.
2. Do not click on instant messenger links or download files using instant messenger.
3. Do not install any program or download any non-work file without approval from your IT department.
4. Identify the source of all work-related files prior to downloading them.
5. Delete any email received from an unknown source.
6. Never download files that end with .bat or .exe. Notify your IT department if files with these extensions are received.
7. Prior to clicking on a link pasted in an email, contact the source of the email to ensure that the indicated individual actually sent it.
8. Do not browse the internet for fun, even during "down time", and do not visit websites that offer anything free or “too good to be true”.
9. Immediately report viruses or even pop-ups to your IT department
10. Think before you click.

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Value on the Dollar

Within each subcategory of the uber-category "Business Development" there are many professional business consultants  providing an extreme variance in value accompanied by an extreme variance in pricing.

This is why, in many categories, it is impractical to believe that a good solution will be achieved if the company takes a commodity pricing approach to hiring a professional consultant. In other words, if the company sends out a solicitation for bid and selects with the lowest price available, that company is unlikely to receive returned value that exceeds the average. Rather, the company has to exercise due diligence and  perform a "best value" assessment.

This is not to say that the company needs to go with the most expensive option, even assuming that the most expensive option provides the "highest level of value". What is needed is a provided level of value that corresponds to the associated level of need--the right solution at the right price.  (Please note that the "right price" is not the price that one wishes, but rather the fair price for the value that is provided.)

Again, not the "highest level of value", necessarily, but rather the "best level of value."

Some companies convince themselves that all consultants are created equal--it allows them be lazy about acquiring enough knowledge to make a value judgment on the services that they are receiving for the price that they are paying. There is no reasonable excuse for this mindset. If the company doesn't know what it is already receiving (the value of the service, and how that value stacks up to the industry)--how can it make an educated decision about whether or not it is receiving fair value for the price? Simply stated: it can't.
Trinity seeks to demonstrate "best value" to all of its clients when recommending solutions. Not only is this the most prudent thing for us to do, but also:

1. We are interested in long-term relationships. Win-win strategies, we believe, will make both parties successful. We want to grow with our clients--not at the expense of our clients.

2. Trinity has a corporate commitment to building trust in business relationships. We hire only those consultants who will practice their profession at an ethical standard far above the industry standard. Being ethical, to Trinity, includes striving to charge a fair price for the value received.

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Project Management Via Basecamp

Trinity has used many online project management and team collaboration tools.  We have yet to find one that we can endorse without reservation--every system has its flaws and limitations (some of them more egregious than others).

However, for many client engagements, Basecamp has proven to be a good solution for keeping everyone on the same path--which, when you come to think about it, is the most important aspect of project management.

What Trinity loves most about Basecamp is the Comments functionality. Project details, creative ideas and client/development team communication can all be documented using this feature. Everything is linked to the associated Message, To-Do or Milestone item and neatly organized in chronological order.

Further exploration of benefits:

Store ideas/inspirations

Great projects come from great ideas. Ideas can be easily lost without a repository that can be utilized by the entire team. How often are great ideas appended in an email and lost forever?  How many are scratched on the corner of a notepad and tossed out in a mad frenzy to get organized? Basecamp provides an environment in which ideas can be quickly and easily stored.

Understand the project in manageable process pieces

In Basecamp, major project Milestones/goals are associated with To-Do lists, in which individual To-Do items are assigned to one or more team members.  This provides a series of understandable, manageable action steps (To-Dos).  Accountability for the action steps are clearly defined. This in turn creates ease in project status assessment--you know what exactly what stage the project is at and whose court the ball is in. Workflow made easy.

Organizing a project into detailed action steps can quickly make a workflow very complex--resulting in horribly nested lists as each action requires further sub-actions.

In Basecamp you can’t nest tasks--the farthest you can really go is the name of the To-Do list and the individual items in a single layer underneath it.  This can be a frustration to some users, but it also has the potential to create beauty through simplicity.  This "no sub-tasks" limitation ensures that the workflow remains manageable because it requires the project, problem or necessary action to be broken down simply and creatively.

Track communication in collaborative situations

Managing team communication is imperative.  What many don't appreciate is that Basecamp is first and foremost a communication tool.  Because of Basecamp's simplicity, communication headaches are greatly eased.  Client/development team communication can all be documented and posted via email through the comments attached to a To-Do item, Message, or Milestone.

Additional Notes

- Jamie Pittock at Erskine has written an excellent article “Project management is easy” http://erskinelabs.com/post/project-management-is-easy/, which highlights how Basecamp simplifies project management.
- You can find Basecamp at basecamphq.com
- This post is not intended to be a comprehensive evaluation of Basecamp
- Trinity Consulting, Inc. is in no way affiliated with Basecamp/37signals

If you would like to discuss Trinity's experience with Basecamp as well as similar tools, please Contact Us.

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Proposal Management Software

There is no shortage of conversation related to the automation and organization of proposal management process. With the increasing popularity of virtual proposal teams, it is no surprise to see the multitudes of collaboration systems contending for adoption by proposal professionals.

Most of the conversations found online begin with some form of the question: What is the best proposal management application? The good news is that question has a simple answer. The bad news is the answer isn’t what most people want to hear.

The answer to the stated question is: "It depends." If there were a single product that stood above the rest in every scenario, everybody would use it.  Yet there are dozens of collaboration tools written specifically for proposal management and many more general tools with customization available for proposal development.

SharePoint is arguably the most common tool used in the enterprise market, but there are a number of considerations that go into that selection.  Even with ready-built templates available, it is unlikely that SharePoint will immediately fit your needs without additional customization.

Before deciding what tools are best suited to your particular situation, you must fully understand your needs (and the needs of those who will score your proposals.)  Then you will be able to ask the right questions in evaluating the costs and capabilities of proposal management systems according to your strategic priorities.

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Greatest Potential Threat to Business Networks (During 2010) - Part I

During 2010 the greatest potential threat to business network (i.e., computer) infrastructure is a “bot”, a type of malware that allows an unauthorized individual to gain complete control over a particular computer or network of systems.

A bot attempts to silently infect a specific computer and remain undetected thereafter, using the computer to disseminate corporate or confidential data (to the bot’s owner), disperse spam or even viruses, and infect other computers on the network. Bots can infect a computer (and thereby a network) via many different avenues, the most common being the internet, to include email, instant messengers, and standard web pages.

Of particular note, social networking sites, such as linkedin.com, classmates.com, facebook.com, myspace.com, and youtube.com (among others), are now among the most common sources of malicious bots. To illustrate how a bot may infiltrate a particular computer, as well as to illustrate what information is at risk, Trinity will herein use these social networking sites as a general example.

Networking sites are dangerous because an unauthorized individual can easily impersonate a friend or colleague and post an infected link or file to an otherwise harmless personal page. Once another individual selects the link or file, a bot can instantly infect the person’s computer without the individual being aware of the intrusion (note that the vast majority of antivirus programs are ill equipped to prevent bot infection).

Moreover, personal information stored in particular networking sites is not private, regardless of whether the individual shares the information publicly. In other words, any information placed online – on one of these networking sites (or numerous other information-storing sites for that matter) – is information the entire world can view. This public visibility of personal data poses inherent security challenges to corporate networks. I will explore this issue in more detail as well as provide practical guidelines to keep private data safe in Part II of this blog series.

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Make the Most Out of Your Weakness

The two largest contributing factors to Trinity's success are (1) the character of our staff and (2) their drive to discover better solutions to problems/challenges.  Because of these two things, it is a privilege for me to come to work every day and experience these valuable qualities as the events of the day (week, month, year) are played out.

Not being able to provide the best solution to a particular challenge drives us nuts. If the lack of an available solution is attributable to a particular corporate weakness (on Trinity's part) that we can identify and address, we bear down and make improvements.

Every company likes to brag about its strengths and sweep its weaknesses under the rug.  But the reality of the world is that all people, and the companies that they word for, have strengths and weaknesses.  Nobody hits it out of the park every time. The rewards that are merited in life, including business achievements, are not measured by whether one has any weaknesses, but by whether one constantly strive to overcome them.

Many people, and the companies that they work for, are all about emphasizing their strengths. However, it takes discipline and character to acknowledge and address weaknesses so that those weaknesses can be turned into strengths.

Corporate introspection is a good thing. The acknowledgement that we all have weaknesses is a good thing. Using the "we all have weaknesses" card to excuse poor behavior/performance is a bad thing both in our personal lives, our businesses, and our society.  It is admirable to forgive -- we all need to do that. But "forgiveness", in my opinion, is often mistaken for "making excuses for others".  And too often, we make excuses for others but never forgive! How does that make good sense?

In professional business consulting, addressing weaknesses in a client relationship is not a one way street.  Trinity challenges its clients--and we desire to have clients that welcome that challenge.  But Trinity's clients also challenge us to grow, to expand our knowledge, etc. -- in short, to improve ourselves in too many ways to count.

Trinity holds a leadership meeting about every two weeks where our executives talk to each other about improving our internal practices to better serve our clients--and to make ourselves better professionals and better people.

In short, Trinity works to turn its weaknesses into strengths--a commitment both to ourselves and to our clients. Trinity is not satisfied with being less than the best.

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Benefits of Having the Designer at the Press Check - Example

Also see: The Designer and the Pressman

Here is an example of how the designer can help at a press check. I recently attended the press run of 25,000 4-Color books, which I had designed. After the job was set up on the press, I was called to look at the initial review sheets, and noticed that the registration (the 4 layers of overlapping process colors) was slightly off.

I knew that the pressman was working on a high speed web press that is capable of exact color registration and that correct registration is the first step in evaluating or requesting any color adjustments.  This is because registration effects color—so registration has to be corrected first. The registration was corrected, and we resolved subsequent color issues in short order.

An additional benefit of stressing exact registration at the first press sheet review is that it heightens the pressman's awareness to such issues on subsequent reviews; as a result, the back side of the first sheet was registered correctly without asking.

It was also helpful to discuss with the pressman that the printed piece was designed to avoid certain effects that are difficult to achieve on press. This conversation was appreciated by the pressman because he saw that the design was forward-thinking enough to avoid on-press problems.

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ColdFusion Updates

Adobe™ releases Hot Fixes, Cumulative Hot Fixes, and Updates for all versions of ColdFusion™.  It is very important to install many of these available options, and system administrators should perform frequent audits so as to be aware of when updates become available.

The major update for ColdFusion 8 (8.0.1) fixes a variety of issues associated with functionality, performance, stability, compliance, and security. A number of hot fixes have since been issued.

If your business uses ColdFusion, regularly updating the installation may be of paramount importance. If you would like to speak to a systems administrator who is an expert in ColdFusion administration, please contact us and ask to speak to a member of our Web Design& Development team about "updating ColdFusion".

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Self-Discovery is the Key to Good Marketing Strategy

The basis of Trinity's Total Marketing Strategy is knowledge gained through self-discovery.  The path of vision to self-discovery is directly through the eyes of your market.

Imagine yourself standing on a grassy slope with a wide open plain in front of you. Filling the plain is your market—not a crowd of people, but a group of individual persons. These individual persons extend across the plain and into the foothills of a mountain range on the other side.  These individuals are flowing down streams that come down from the mountains, through the foothills, across the slope, and out onto the valley floor.

The place on which you stand is not high enough to see each individual person.  In fact, you can only see a half-dozen rows deep.  You want to see more. The mountain range on the other side of the plain is undoubtedly a better vantage point, but you worry that if you ascend so high, you won't be able to see the individuals any more—just a massive pool of humanity.  But you move into the plain, you might be able to see even less than you see right now.

So, how do you engage the entire market?

Easily.  You stop being concerned about who you can see, and how clearly you can see them.  Instead, you close your eyes and imagine yourself in the shoes of each person standing on the plain...and you ask yourself: "What do I see when I look up at that slope?"

It isn't literally possible to put your feet into every pair of shoes.  So instead, you deploy your forces. You send messengers out onto the plain, who gather information and convey it to monitors that you have stationed on the mountain ridges.  You delve into the ranges, you find the source of the mountain streams, and follow them back to the plain.  You understand where each person came from and how they got to this place. 

You ask questions, and organize persons into groups of people. The questions are many, but the ultimately what you are trying to get from each person, and from each group, is the answer to the master questions: Who are you? What are you looking for? What do you see?

In business, the only way to see yourself truly--as you really are (not as you want to see yourself, or as it is convenient to see yourself)—is to understand how your market sees you (or whether they can see you). The way you know yourself only on the inside is, to a great extent irrelevant if each individual person (customer, client, partner) does not see you in the same way...and find something of value in that vision. 

Ironically, if the person sees value in your company, it will be as they see themselves through the prism of the goods and services that you provide.

You need to see and know yourself through the eyes of others. It is the only way to make sure that you are valued, that you are wanted, that you are needed.  It is the only way to comprehensively engage the market.

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Process, Standards and Best Practices

Q: What exactly are "industry standards and best practices" when it comes to proposal development?
 
A: They are what you are promised by every proposal development firm under the sun.
 
If you've looked for an organization to outsource your company's proposal development, it's a near certainty that you prefer one or more that promise process-centric services based on best practices.
 
In point of fact, it isn't unique to proposal development. Efficiency and repeatability are fundamental building blocks in any professional services offering and are enabled by established process. But proposal development also requires adaptability.  
 
Adaptability mitigates short and unpredictable acquisition schedules, and it requires process flexibility that allows us to work through ambiguities and contradictions that find their way into so many solicitations. A linear, 96-step process is a great framework for proposal execution, but it could never work for every bid.

So how do you know if a proposal development company can adapt their "proven process" to your company and the specific needs of your desired client? Do they have success across multiple, unrelated industries? Do they have a track record over a wide range of contract values? Do they trust their ability to adapt well enough to offer flexible engagement models?
 
These are just a few questions that you should ask when you are engaging proposal consultants. Any firm will increase efficiency as you reward them with repeat business, but adaptability promotes higher value from day one.

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Instant Coffee? Is Starbucks Devaluing Their Brand?

In a frenzied media blitz last week, Starbucks launched a new product line called Via – their version of instant coffee. They call it a game changer, opening an almost $20 Billion market currently held by Nestle, Folgers, and Sanka. They piloted this concept in three different cities with apparently great success and seem to believe that it will not detract from their existing coffee at Starbucks locations. They are touting that it tastes just as good as a regular cup of joe at a fraction of the cost of one Starbucks cup (packs of three for $2.95 and packs of 12 for $9.95).

That may be true – given their testing I am certain they monitored these numbers very carefully and it most likely will impact their immediate future earnings positively. They enter the niche with a bang as THE Gourmet option for instant coffee – sort of the high-end among low-end coffee. The price point may still be too much for the average morning home consumer who dips into the jar of Folgers to get their near instant caffeine fix.

The real problem of course is that Starbucks Brand has always been associated with high-end coffee – the essence of which is the quality AND experience…and instant coffee, well…that is just not high end. While Starbucks may claim similar quality they will have to overcome the stigma of “instant coffee = cheap coffee”. And so the questions remains… will the Starbucks brand go from being associated with an experience to just another coffee, thus sacrificing long-term value for short-term gain?

A final aside is that my view is national not global. Since US consumers account for only four percent of the worldwide instant coffee market, it very well could be that the stigma of instant coffee as low end exists only in the US, and not abroad. However that doesn’t change the essence of the question – will instant coffee devalue the Starbucks Brand and will it also devalue long-term earnings by digging into its other offerings?

I guess we will have to stay tuned.

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The Evangelist

Outside of Christian expression, the title "evangelist" is one that has been applied either in an official or unofficial manner to the professional product enthusiast. This enthusiast is harnessed to employ his natural talents to encourage others to buy into the qualities of the product/service, and encourage a sense of community and lifestyle associated with the consumer's affinity for the product and the company that created it.

The first time that I came into contact with this usage of the word "evangelist" was some years ago when I first encountered the term "Apple evangelist" or "Mac evangelist". This expression was treated with delight by Mac enthusiasts, skepticism by the PC indifferent, and derision by those who favored the PC.

So many companies receive a substantial portion of their business through word of mouth. Therefore, it can be very advantageous to identify courageous "early adopters" of products (particularly technology) who live in both the "world in the details" and the "world of people". These individuals maintain a near obsessive product knowledge and associated value while widely, warmly, and enthusiastically carrying that message to market.

To harness the evangelist to your purposes, you absolutely must (to one degree or another) welcome him into the inner circle and provide a level of access that helps to solidify his sense of solidarity as a stakeholder in the product's continued success. You may also need to provide some sort of subsidy (if not salary) to make sure that continuing to act in this evangelical way is a sustainable proposition.

No one would ever mistake me for being an evangelist at the elite levels, but I am passionate about good products, retain the product information easily, and broadcast that information with enthusiasm.

For example, about three years ago I developed a thing for Nordstrom SmartCare shirts (tailored cut) and haven't gotten off of that kick yet. I tell people about them all the time (because people tell me my shirts look nice, which is a great opportunity), and Nordstrom has sold a few shirts because of me. What do I get out of that? Nothing. But as I said, I love a great product -- and I think that people who produce great products should be patronized.

However, real evangelists naturally create much broader social circles than I do. The web, and then the blogosphere, and then social networking, has given evangelists a greater reach than ever before. Pair that with a little brand backing, and you expand that social circle exponentially.

This is all major food for thought not only for the enterprise but also for the small business. To what extent are these evangelists identifiable? Does one or more already work for my company? Can they be put into harness? What is the cost/benefit?

It is often said that great products sell themselves, and that is true to a certain extent. But somehow you need to get the product in front of the consumer, and word of mouth is often the fastest and most direct way to make that happen. If you can find and partner with the person who can make the connection between product and consumer in the most effective manner, then you have your gospel messenger.

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The designer and the pressman

It can be a great benefit to have your veteran graphic designer attend the "press check"—the last phase of production for print communications. By doing so, the designer accompanies the project from initial concept to ink-on-paper, thereby completing the print design production cycle. The press check is, in a sense, the most critical phase of production—and the last chance to make small detail or global design adjustments prior to the actual print run. The presence of the designer "on press" can ensure that the client's interests are being heard—because even a good commercial printer will be a bit more attentive to its own priorities (work flow, press time, paper consumption, etc.) than to the client's aesthetic concerns.

In this digital age, a print design may never appear on paper until it gets to the printer. Digital Proofs (mostly PDF documents) are often circulated via email because of the benefits in efficiency. However, because the same document can look very different on the wide variety of display screens, a predictable standard is needed.

Therefore, the designer sets the standard for accurately evaluating digital layouts and proofs.

I work on a color-calibrated screen in a room with controlled, balanced lighting. This calibrated digital work station allows me to accurately anticipate the difference between on-screen color and ink-on-paper color. Moreover, an experienced designer has what I like to call good "color memory". This means that throughout the entire print design cycle the artist knows what the key colors are and how best to achieve them on screen, on proofs, and on press. Familiarity with the entire design development process and the capabilities of modern press technology allow the designer to avoid potential problems and create a piece that is "printable".

Ultimately, when the job gets to press, the designer is the best interface with the resident pressman— whose own color sense may influence how he sees color on the printed page. The pressman's expertise is the operation of the press—not color interpretation. So it is doubly important that the designer be there to make sure that the client's interests are represented.

Conclusion

So, whenever necessary and possible, include the designer at the press check! It is a great way to ensure that you get what you intended out of your printed communication pieces, ensure smooth press checks and runs, and solidify the relationship with your printer.

Additional Note

While including the designer at the press check may not be practical for small projects, the designer should be included for large significant projects, or when the printed piece is highly complex.

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Simple, but often not employed, firewall protection

Many organizations, from small business to the enterprise, are not adding two layers of firewall-level protection to their network.

The first layer: block unused ports for outgoing traffic

Many organizations are concerned about threats coming onto the network from the Internet (incoming traffic). However, there are many ways in which a threat can enter a network (such as SPAM)—and malicious software may still make its way onto one or more network systems. Blocking unused outgoing ports will prevent many forms of malicious software from using random, non-standard ports to send update requests and information gathered from the system(s) to the rogue source outside the network. If the policy administrator takes action, he can effectively restrict such communication and thus reduce risk and liability.

Many if not most routers/firewalls, by default, allow all outgoing packets on all ports. Many companies never get to the step of reversing this default by closing ports. Basically, what we advocate is to take the "turn everything off, then white list" approach to controlling outgoing port traffic.

The second layer: implement an HTTP proxy

Proxy filtering is different from packet filtering. A packet filter examines the IP header for each packet. If the packet header information is legitimate, the filter allows the packet. By contrast, a proxy filter examines both the header information and the content. If the content does not match the criteria allowed by the administrator, the packet is denied. The HTTP proxy acts as an intermediary for all client-to-server HTTP (web) requests. However, by default, most firewalls do not employ a proxy filter for HTTP traffic (the feature is not enabled).

It is important to implement the proxy in order to protect web users and your network. Establishing and properly configuring an HTTP proxy allows the administrator to filter requests made through the web. Filter rules can be set to restrict what files, file types, and even web page content can be accessed through the user's request.

Conclusion

Network security is a fine balance: companies must attain the highest level of security possible while still allowing the necessary communication and functionality for business to take place. A clear knowledge and understanding (including risk/reward and cost/benefit) is necessary to properly set up and configure a firewall. Where a business deliberately leaves itself exposed for other strategic purposes, the vulnerability should be documented and monitored.

There are reasonable steps (such as the two layers of protection described above) that should be taken to protect all business networks. Trinity has the expertise necessary to assist companies with firewall installation and configuration.

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Trinity Creates Bid Automation System for Client, Part II

Read Part 1 of this article.

These three systems, which currently operate independently, will work together to manage the bid solicitation process. Integration will introduce new efficiencies to a bid solicitation process that has already seen significant application process improvements over the past 12 months, and will facilitate the reduction of more than $100,000 in annual overhead expense (according to Trinity's judgment).

The first step of the improvement/integration process is to bring the Bidders List online. The Bidders List will be converted from an Excel workbook located on the network to an integrated application in the contractor's management suite. Once that first step has taken place, the three systems will be integrated/improved to create the following effect.

(Present tense is used to indicate systems already in place; future tense to indicate the post- integration/improvement state.)

All approved subcontractors and vendors (henceforth, both called "Subs" or "Sub" for convenience) are managed in the contractor's management suite. Also managed in the suite is the contractor's bid list. When a new project comes onto the bid list, an invitation to bid goes out to Subs via the Communications System (fax, email). Naturally, a recipient list is be created as a part of this process.

The system will then use this recipient list to create a record set of Subs for the project in the Bidders List. This record set becomes a working hotlist for communication with Subs, and allows communication tracking. The Bidders List record set is refined both by personal correspondence with the Subs and/or by repeat general correspondence—the system will allow the user to send a refined list from the Bidders List back to the Communications System. If any new Subs respond to subsequent correspondence through the Communications System, they are added as new records to the existing record set in the Bidders List.

The Project File Management/Download System can be visited by any approved Subs within the subcontractor and vendor management systems, and provides access to project documents (including large plan specifications) and other pertinent files. Once the system integration is complete, any visitor to this system will be automatically added to the Bidders List for a project when one or more of the project files are accessed.

The Project File Management/Download System also keeps a log of which files were downloaded by each Sub. This enables the contractor to see whether or not EVERY required file has been download. This is important because federal requirements may stipulate that even some project documents that do not pertain to the Subs' portion of the bid must be provided to them by the contractor. The download logs, along with logs from the Communications System, provides a permanent record of good faith effort.

Value Point Summary:

• Reduction of labor cost in Subs communication, Subs bid management, project document distribution 
• Reduction of expense in overnight project document distribution via CD 
• Bandwidth utilization burst load reduction through elimination of project document distribution via bulk email 
• Easy accountability reporting for demonstrating good faith efforts to use SBA classified Subs

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A Good Laugh..In Search of Website Editing Nirvana

Given my role as CMO, I occasionally visit the websites of various associations for our services to determine the benefits to Trinity and whether we should join. In my google meanderings I came across a web association I had not seen before.

My first glance made me do a double-take:

"Established in 1708, (this) trade association advocates on behalf of more than 9,100 web designers and web developers to promote and share industry best practices."

(Just to think some of our founding fathers’ fathers might have been web developers!)

I then checked their home page which suggests that they actually began this year—not 1708:

“Since 2009. (This Association) has advocated on behalf of more than 30,000 web designers and web developers in the United States and Canada.”

(I’m sure you noticed the period instead of the comma. It’s not that I am a stickler for grammar, but now that I have 1708 on my mind... well, I can’t help it.)

However, according to their news article titled… “2010 (yes – you read that correctly - 2010) Recognized as Top Membership Association”, they have been in business seven years!

(That’s right folks. This association is so good as to be recognized in the future. Just In case you were wondering, they announced this special recognition in April of 2009.)

So, as I wound through the rabbit trail of dates, I ended up with an historical beginning of either 2002 or 2003 (depending on whether that was seven years from 2009 or 2010).

Well, getting close to solving that historical puzzle was cause for celebration! I decided to attend their 2009 Web Designer Spectacular Gala to celebrate. But then I saw that it was announced in their “What’s New” section on 7/28/2010 — one year after it occurred! Its never too late to get out an announcement!

By this time I suspected the organization was not real. In case you are wondering, I did call them. It turns out the phone doesn’t go to the association at all but instead goes to a Web Design company. Apparently, the site was created to showcase various design capabilities to their clients . The person who answered thanked me profusely for bringing it to his attention and we had a very amicable discussion.

Oh well, so much for that blog piece I was going to write on the importance of website content editing…

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Is the Principle of Subsidiarity at Work in Your Place of Business? (Conclusions)

Conclusion 1: Evidence while growing is anecdotal

As you may have noted in the Part III, proof for the success of the Principle of Subsidiarity in business is anecdotal – I have found no in-depth scientific studies and if anyone does find one, please send it my way.

Most of what I have found is in the form of articles and case studies. However, I did note in one study that 70% of organizations have embraced some sort of “empowerment” process. This suggests, at the very least, a recognition of the good derived from decentralized decision making, particularly at a global level.

Conclusion 2: The Role of leadership is crucial for subsidiarity in an organization

The role of leadership in an organization is crucial for subsidiarity – from how they view and encourage the worker to how they provide appropriate training and technical support. Additionally, the organizational vision provided by leadership helps form the necessary foundation for unity in the organization.

Conclusion 3: Subsidiarity cannot bear fruit without solidarity

There is an inherent danger of decentralization that must also be recognized: the creation of independent fiefdoms which no longer operate with respect to the common good (both of the company and potentially the society at large). Thus, just as owners of a company must focus on protecting the individual dignity of the worker, the worker also has a responsibility to protect and contribute to the common good of the company. In other words, the principle of subsidiarity within the company cannot bear fruit without solidarity.

Conclusion 4: There is an inherent non-monetary relationship between owner and worker based on service

Within the framework of subsidiarity, there is a non-monetary, non-contractual reciprocity in the relationship between owner/management and the worker that is focused on the good of the company. There is, in a very real sense, a giving of yourself in service (through your work) to those around you – whether you are an owner or a worker. In this particular way, the owner and worker are on a level playing field because in a real sense (judged from a non-economic, relational perspective), they are servants to one another.

It would stand to reason that companies without subsidiarity could not have this type of relationship between owners and workers.

Final Remarks

While the current anecdotal research is extremely promising, greater scientific study is required to better understand the economic fruits of subsidiarity within business as well as other factors including retention, employee satisfaction, customer satisfaction, innovation, etc. It is my sincere hope that companies begin to explore and understand the effect of subsidiarity on their organizations.

As mentioned in Conclusion 3 above, solidarity also plays a significant role regarding mployee relationship to the organization. There seems to be an inevitable and corresponding relationship between both subsidiarity and solidarity (principles shaping the relationship of the organization to the individual and the individual to the organization).

As such, both the principle of solidarity as well as the relationship between subsidiarity and solidarity regarding their corresponding application to business bears future exploration.

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Beyond Exchange: Mail Server Solutions

Trinity has been performing mail server administration for more than a decade and has been experimenting with Windows-based alternatives to Microsoft Exchange™ for eight years. Many SMB cannot make a strong business case for Exchange™, but require a solid alternative that meets their needs.

To this end, Trinity recommends MailSite Fusion™ and SmarterTools SmarterMail™, both of which present a compelling alternative (though by no means a replacement) to Exchange. (Click on the link for each product to see their claims as Exchange alternatives.)

Trinity has extensive experience with both of these products, including integration with third-party anti-virus and anti-spam solutions, as well as integration with third-party products and proprietary application development. MailSite Fusion utilizes SQL Server™, which eases some aspects of integration.

If you require Exchange, but are not willing/able make the investment for in-house housing, you should consider AppRiver™—one of the best in the business for outsourced Exchange hosting, with extremely competitive pricing. AppRiver offers a free 30-day trial on all services, and their team members have been extremely helpful to us in past dealings.

If you have an interest in how one of these solutions can work for your business, please contact Trinity.

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Trinity Creates Bid Automation System for Client, Part I

In recent weeks, Trinity has been working on a valuable application for a leading construction contractor ("the contractor") whose primary work comes through federal contracts.

The full application suite (developed by Trinity) encompasses bid solicitation, subcontractor and vendor management, project/contract management, equipment, reporting, technical proposal development, and many other functions.

Trinity will be integrating three tools from the suite's toolset to improve the bid solicitation process: the Communications System, the Bidders List, and the Project File Management/Download System.

These three systems, which currently operate independently, will work together to manage the bid solicitation process. Integration will introduce new efficiencies to a bid solicitation process that has already seen significant application process improvements over the past 12 months, and will facilitate the reduction of more than $100,000 in annual overhead expense (according to Trinity's judgment).

This blog post will discuss the individual tools and their operational capacity, while a subsequent post will discuss the benefits of integration.

Taken independently, the tools to be integrated are defined as follows.

The Communication System enables the contractor to send email and fax communication to known subcontractors and vendors who may be interested in bidding the project (for which the client is preparing an effective bid/RFP response).

• Value point: the client makes a point of soliciting bids from small/disadvantaged businesses, and the communications system tracks successful communication transmissions (successful fax transmissions are particularly noteworthy). Not only can the client provide information about small business inclusion based on its past performance record, but also information about attempt to encourage small business participation through the bid solicitation process.

The Bidders List is a list of subcontractors and vendors who have responded with interest in bidding aspects of the work for project.

• The Bidders List is currently an offline system—a set of Excel files created by the client that reside on a server in one of their offices. This makes access and management very difficult and does not provide a comprehensive solution. Notes regarding the management of this list are kept on paper. This system will be moved into the application suite under consideration, prior to integration.

The Project File Management/Download System allows the contractor to manage project documents that will be made available (by download) to subcontractors and/or vendors, per federal requirement.

• Value point: Prior to recent application upgrades, the client sent out project documents in digital form to all potential bidders, as email attachments. The large size of some of the files, when sent to hundreds of potential bidders, caused extreme bandwidth/network performance problems. The Project File Management/Download system allows the client to upload the project files to the website, where only those subcontractors who respond with bidding interest are permitted to download project documents for review.
• Project documents are also sent by CD (through the mail) to all parties expressing bid interest. The CD creation/distribution process is time-consuming, but it is a way to demonstrate to the federal government that honest effort was made to provide the bidder with ALL pertinent project documents. However, the necessity of performing this task will be eliminated by refinements created during the integration process.

Next: Part II: Integration and further development of the three systems, including additional client benefit.

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The Print-Design-Production Cycle

Commercial printing has not "gone away" as some cyber publishing enthusiasts predicted. Environmentally friendly inks, high efficiency paper recycling, and state of the art presses have allowed commercial printing to remain an invaluable business communications medium. So, how do you get an important communications piece designed and printed? You enlist a print-savvy graphic designer and engage the Print-Design-Production-Cycle.

Typically, the Print-Design-Production-Cycle incorporates five phases, with occasional variations depending on the scope and complexity of the project and priorities of the client. Likewise, the number of iterations within a particular phase, such as the number of concepts presented at the start of the project or the number of revisions to subsequent layouts, depends largely on budget and time constraints.

The first phase is concept development, which includes information gathering and the creation of one or more "roughs" which are presented either verbally or visually to the client for consideration. These "roughs" are created with expediency and presented thoroughly so the client can preview the merits of various design solutions. "Roughs" may be modified based on client feedback and re-presented for review or approved for refinement into working layouts.

Client approval of one or more "roughs" marks the beginning of phase two, which is layout design. In this phase, the designer incorporates elements of copywriting, photography, illustration, decorative graphic design, typography, etc, to create a digital layout that approximates the appearance of the finished printed piece (promotional poster, advertisement, brochure, etc.). This phase will include one or more layout review stages to reassure the project team that the work under development satisfies client expectations. Client feedback may lead to revisions and additional layout reviews and ultimately to client approval before the project moves into production.

The third phase is Production Art, during which the designer prepares the approved layout for print production. This phase requires the designer to ensure that the contents of the layout are in their final form and constructed according to the printer's technical specifications in order to ensure trouble-free printing. Final proofreading takes place during this phase and is generally the responsibility of the client, who then provides final production art approval prior to file transfer to the printer.

Once the production art has been approved by the client and transferred to the printer, the fourth and fifth phases begin: Printer Proofing and Printing & Delivery. Some clients prefer to handle these last two phases without the designer's involvement. Other clients want the designer to oversee the activity of the printer, or at least share oversight responsibilities. There are many advantages to keeping the designer involved in these last two phases of the Print-Design-Production-Cycle.

Printer Proofing involves the creation and review of either digital and/or hard copy pre-press proofs supplied by the printer. These digital proofs (usually Adobe Acrobat PDF files) allow the client to make certain that the designer's production files move successfully through the printer's internal press-ready process. Potential problems with complex graphics files will show up and can be corrected at this proofing stage. Hard copy proofs allow the client to hold a physical rendition of the communication piece in their hands (perhaps for the first time in the design cycle) and preview the finished size, folds, and approximate ink colors. The Printer Proofing phase is the last best time to scrutinize the communication piece for any errors before it goes to press. Approval of Printer Proofs usually gives the printer the official "O.K." to print the job.

Printing & Delivery entails coordination and verification of final print specifications (print quantity, paper stock, folding, trimming, binding, etc) as well as packaging and delivery details. This phase can often be handled via email and phone. However, some print jobs are of such high quantity and entail such expense that a client press check is warranted.

A press check allows the client and/or designer to attend the set-up of the job on the printing press immediately prior to the full press run. If a project warrants a press check it demands the presence of a print-savvy designer or client representative. The press check allows a client a final opportunity to view the actual printed piece in a limited quantity and potentially cancel the print run if needed. It is primarily a quality control check-point and disaster prevention release valve. Some slight global color corrections can be effected on press, but no real changes can be achieved. Instead, the press check allows a client to catch a potentially deal-breaking error, that somehow passed through all the earlier proofing stages, before thousands get printed.

There are other important benefits to a press check, which will be presented in future articles.

The Print-Design-Production-Cycle is a collaborative process involving the graphic designer, client, and printer. Central to the process is the print-savvy designer who can efficiently and effectively turn a client's message into deliverable print communication pieces.

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The Non-Profit Road

Trinity's fondness and sympathy for non-profit concerns stems primarily from one source: our staff, who genuinely care about the greater good, and desire to make the world a better place.

However, we all acquire that caring and desire from a source. Mine was prompted by the sacrifice that my parents exhibited throughout my formative years, and to the present. Legitimately interested in changing culture and society for the better, both my mom and dad have been active parents and educators. Both were always very sensitive to charitable concerns, contributing to worthy causes even in times of financial hardship. My father cofounded a non-profit institution in 1977, and founded another on his own in 1985. Both are thriving today.

My personal experience in non-profit ventures has not only been through board membership, employment, and volunteer work, but also by addressing the needs of various non-profit clients at Trinity.

Over the years we at Trinity have been privileged to serve non-profit clients working in a variety of areas, including Higher Education, Medical, Aerospace, Broadcast Media, Publishing, Retail, Family Advocacy, Insurance, Political, and Religious. Services performed have spanned all of our service lines.

At Trinity, we know that non-profits are needed. They make a difference in our communities, our religious institutions, our medical centers, our businesses, our families -- our lives. We do our best to honor our non-profit clients by giving that little bit extra to help them succeed.

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Four Rules for Working in a Non-Profit Organization

Since Trinity Consulting does a good amount of work in both the for-profit non-profit sectors, we occasionally serve as a sounding board for individuals who are contemplating the career leap from for-profit to non-profit. This is particularly true as Trinity assists our clients with staff recruitment.

Here are four rules (of many) to working in or with non-profit organizations.

1. Be Cost-Conscious. All but a small percentage of non-profit organizations are cash-poor (especially today). If you don't know how to stretch a dollar, learn. However, don't be penny wise and pound foolish.
2. Be a Strong Advocate: If you need something (mind, heart, resources, time, talent, etc.) from somebody to advance the mission of your organization, ask for it. The worst they can say is "No." Get over irrational fears of being perceived as someone who is always walking around with your hand out -- embrace it!
3. Strive for Excellence: Work hard and smart; focus on accomplishments. Make up your mind to the fact that non-profit status is not an excuse for mediocrity.
4. United We Stand: The more important the cause, the more passionate people within your organization will be. Even when everyone has a single goal in mind, there may be many strong opinions about the path to take. Beware divisiveness, which will cripple your organization! Check egos at the door.

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Graphic Design: Global vs. Detail Changes

The graphic design process is really a process of refinement from rough concepts to finished deliverables (printed pieces, logos, web sites, electronic documents, packaging, etc.). Refinement means change, revision, alteration. Large changes should be confined to early stages of the process which gradually give way to smaller revisions as the process reaches the finished deliverable form.

As with so many other industries and tasks, graphic designers utilize the computer as their primary service development tool. These days, layouts are created, presented, revised, and delivered entirely within a digital environment. The "point and click" and "cut and paste" computer environment is well-known in the business world and has indeed made certain kinds of revisions faster, easier, and more efficient than they used to be. However, not all revisions are created equal and it is important to understand how true this is in the graphic design process.

A graphic design layout is really a container that holds various content elements: type, photos, illustration, logos, etc. The placement of each of these elements effects the placement of the others. (That is what design is ... and good design arranges the elements in a prioritized, pleasing and effective manner.)

There is always a limited amount of visual display real estate (the size of a printed piece of paper, the effective amount of screen display width, the label on a product, etc.) within which the designer must "fit" the content. This interrelationship means that a small detail change to one element can, and often does, effect the placement of the other elements. Multiple small changes can have a dramatic effect on the design and appearance of the finished piece as well as the amount of time and energy expended to complete the work. For this reason, layout revisions should be considered, approved, and conducted carefully.

Global changes refer to revisions that effect repeatable elements within a layout, such as type fonts, background colors & textures, brand consistency, color schemes, and color display systems (RGB for web and video or CMYK for print).

For example, selecting and applying a new type font to all the text in a layout will change the appearance of the document as well as the amount of room the text occupies. In a 200 page book, such a global change would cause the entire text of the book to reflow, effecting all of the paragraph breaks and probably the page count of the book as well.

Changing the color of the text, a different global change, would change the appearance of the book but not cause the text to reflow.

Another example ... a small detail change to the appearance of a product will require a global change ... the need to update all of the communications pieces which feature the product. So, some global changes cause multiple detail changes while others do not, and some detail changes cause global changes which require multiple detail changes.

The reality of global versus detail changes is precisely what experienced graphic designers are best at managing. They are in a unique position to advise clients on the budget ramifications of graphic design changes, especially during the layout and production phases of any project.

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Over thinking Your Applications? = BAD

Have you ever received a client application request that at first glance seemed easy and straight forward, but after you start to write the application, you have a list of questions that is longer than the original request?

If your answer is “yes” you are not alone. This is a fairly typical occurrence among programmers. At first I thought the problem was in the initial stage of development (where you scope out the work and fine tune the request with the customer). After a little more review, though, I discovered the root of the problem: feature creep! Feature creep is when a developer adds more and more functionality, beyond the original scope of work requested by the client, because the developer believes that:

A. The end user needs that feature and forgot to ask for it, or

B. A new feature is really challenging, and uses new technology and methodology that the developer is interested in.

To be clear, for the purposes of my definition, “feature creep” is what the developer adds, while “scope creep” is typically what developers attribute to client additions during a project.

The good thing about feature creep is that you may hit upon something that the user really needed and just didn’t convey properly (thus adding value to the process). It means that the developer is truly trying to think like the end user and is trying to make their task easier to accomplish.

On the other hand, the problem is that feature creep can extend the life of the project beyond the original deadline thus increasing time and cost. Also, a developer can over think the application, supplying more than what the client requested and more than the client is willing to pay for the services, and that is never good.

To avoid feature creep, the project manager needs to have the end user write up goals that the application should meet in “non-techno” speak. Then, with the developer, those goals need to be processed through a geek translator. The developer can then use the goal list as a guiding light for the project. All work will then need to meet the goal requirements or they are not implemented. This is called goal-oriented development and helps an application avoid being just a group of features.

If you implement this technique, your applications are more likely to be released on schedule, under budget and it will give the end user a streamlined tool sooner, thus increasing their productivity. If the end user wants more, they can always request additions or changes. In the meantime, the end user gets to use the application and isn’t that the whole point?

As for the developer, you get to mark a task complete, and most of the time, that is more fulfilling than adding unnecessary, but interesting, technology to a project.

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Why Can’t My Excel Spreadsheets Open in Separate Windows in Vista?

This is a common complaint for both XP and Vista. Rather than open up an automatic second window to view a second spreadsheet, Excel 2007 opens up another spreadsheet in the same window. When a client is comparing two sets of data, toggling between two different spreadsheets in the same window can be time-consuming, cumbersome, and frustrating.

This past week one of our clients (running Windows Vista) asked us for the ability to open two Excel Worksheets at the same time, in two separate windows in order to view them on two separate monitors.  After some research and trial, we discovered a solution for Windows Vista. It is important to note that the following solution applies to computers running Windows Vista ONLY:

Your installation of Excel may default to open new files in their own Excel environments, but if it doesn't, a simple registry edit will affect the necessary change.  Before you begin, confirm that:

• You have Administrator rights on the machine whose registry you are attempting to edit
• You have permission from your IT Administrator to make a registry change
• You are using a copy of Windows Vista and Office 2007 (Office 12)

NOTE: registry changes have no 'undo' path and may impact the stability and functionality of your OS. You should ALWAYS export a copy of any key you change, so you can restore it if necessary.

Step One:  Load the Registry Editor

1. To load the Registry Editor, go to Start > Run.. and type “regedit” in the box and press enter.
2. Navigate to: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Excel.Sheet8\shell\Open\command.

Step Two:  Save a Copy of the Registry Branch

1. Export a branch by clicking on the branch you want (in this case: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Excel.Sheet8\).
2. Right click, and click the menu item: Export...
3. Note the location and name you choose to save it under and click: Save.
4. Now you are ready to edit the registry entry HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Excel.Sheet8\shell\Open\command.

Step Three: Edit the Registry

1. Double-click on the default key located in the right-hand pane. Erase the string provided and, including the quotation marks, replace it with:  "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12\EXCEL.EXE /e".
2. Click the OK button and restart your computer.
3. Excel should now open new documents in separate instances of Excel.

This can also be done for XP, however, there are different steps involved.  Let us know if you need these steps by clicking on the Contact Button.

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Dysfunction Junction

You have arrived, you say, at the switching station, or junction, of poor CMFL tag utilization and inefficient database querying?

Oh… that’s right…what you said was, “Our ecommerce product placement script is taking too long to load, and our affiliates are dropping it!”

All joking aside, insufferable page load time is probably the #1 inhibitor to getting business done on the web. The case above pertains to an instance where a client, running a ColdFusion-based ecommerce solution, had created a script that could be called from any affiliate site. This system was not unlike Amazon.com affiliate programs widgets, in which a few keywords would cause the most relevant of the client’s products to appear on the affiliate website.

But the products just didn’t display…and didn’t display…and the process often held up the rest of the affiliate’s page from displaying – until finally the affiliate said: “Oh, the heck with it!” The opportunity to earn revenue through the affiliate program was not worth the lost revenue from the fact that the visitor to their site burned up 7 to 10 seconds of their 8.5 second per-page attention span (generous) simply waiting for the freaking page to finish loading.

As it turns out, the problem was easily remedied. Eight hours of diagnostic time later, a solution was produced—and, for the client’s reasonably-spent dollar, a problem was solved that was costing the client a packet in lost revenue.

The result – Trinity continued to perform one limited engagement for the client, and then we went our separate ways! They had in-house CFML development, and as it turned out, only needed us for the on-the-spot insight. And we… we felt great! Trinity did its job and provided high value to the customer.

If you perform your ColdFusion (CFML) development in house, let us know the persistent problems that are nagging you. We just might have solutions!

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The phased approach to building business

In business as in life, the space between the current situation and an improved situation can seem very far. I think it is important for business development consultants and their clients to keep this in mind: not everything needs to happen at once.

Many business improvements, whether in development strategy or IT solutions, can be done incrementally to accommodate constraints in time and budget.

Example 1: Let's just say that your current brand (logo, colors, typeface, marketing copy, etc.) is a liability: outdated, ugly, uncomfortably worded, poorly presented, whatever -- it doesn't effectively represent your organization. You don't have to go through the entire brand renovation process at one time. If your brand is a liability, you can take positive structured steps to create new standards, and then roll out the new brand strategically and incrementally -- starting with the most visible presentations and moving on from there.

Example 2: Your network needs dramatic upgrades, but IT consultants keep offering you "all or nothing" solutions. Well, Trinity knows how to plan phased deployments/upgrades as well as prudent ways in which to stretch the IT dollar. We can start with improving infrastructure and support to your most critical users, and move forward from there.

The important thing is to firmly establish the fundamentals of the solution approach and create a development timeline, not just including tasks to be performed but also goals to be accomplished.

Then you need to put a big mark on that timeline to indicate at which point during the process the transformation will produce measurable results. Make it possible to celebrate the moments at which you turn liabilities into assets, and then continue building from strength to strength!

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Is the Principle of Subsidiarity at Work in Your Place of Business? (Part III)

In the last blog I concluded with the remark that subsidiarity can increase economic value. In this blog I will point to two case studies I have found on the subject and summarize results.

Case Study 1: FirstFruits (a Costco Supplier)

This recent successful example was highlighted in the Costco Connection magazine http://www.costcoconnection.com/connection/200908/?u1=texterity :

This particular article introduces the concept of servant-leadership focused on four basic tenets:

0. Serving the needs of the organization
0. Meeting the needs of those they lead
0. Facilitating personal growth in all who work with them
0. Listening and building a sense of community

In particular this article makes the case that by focusing on the dignity of their workers, the business has grown a single apple orchard into an $80 Million business.

Case Study 2: FreMap (a Spanish non-profit mutual Insurance Company)

This cases study can be found in Dominic Mele’s academic paper (pg 10-15) http://www.iese.edu/research/pdfs/DI-0566-E.pdf

Among other things, Fremap helps manage Spain’s social security. From 1933 to 1992 they managed the business as a highly centralized organization with pockets of high specialization and rigid hierarchical divisions. A strong bureaucratic culture had built up with layers of paperwork and management for each aspect of that paperwork. The result: customers had to speak to multiple people and wait a long time to get issues resolved.

In order to improve customer service, subsidiarity was introduced. A customer would work with one agent responsible for resolving all issues. The customer would be assigned to the agent on a territorial basis. Support, expertise and training were provided to the agents.

Results: Improved internal quality and efficiency, improved customer relations, significant growth of revenue and employees, and a AAA rating by S&P. According to the CEO, Carlos Alvarez, “businesses must organize work to achieve efficiency in such a way that it is compatible with human development.”

I will provide my final conclusions on the Principle of Subsidiarity in my next blog.

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Time To Be Selective

The Wall Street Journal’s Small Businesses Chase Big Stimulus Money sheds some light on the business effects of this year’s stimulus bill. Most of us have anticipated increased competition through opportunistic bidding from the start, but none of us has been fully able to predict the impact on small businesses in pursuit of the dollars.

Thus far only $8.1 billion – one percent of the $787 billion bill – has been awarded. Less than a quarter of that, $1.9 billion, has been awarded to small businesses. What does that mean for small businesses looking to take advantage of increased spending in a difficult economy? One thing is clear: it isn’t as easy to get money as many had hoped.

With the amount of time and money required, winning federal business is not cheap. The best thing you can do is avoid the temptation to be an opportunistic bidder. Increase your scrutiny of opportunities as they arise, and triple your efforts on the solicitations you are highly capable of winning. All the while, continue to focus on effective capture management. There are hordes of scavengers sleeplessly circling FedBizOpps, and as the article reminds us, “Building relationships offline … is just as important.”

With well over $775 billion left to be spent, don’t spin your wheels just for the sake of making noise. Be selective and win while your competitors run out of gas before the bulk of the money starts moving.

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Is the Principle of Subsidiarity at Work in Your Place of Business? (Part II)

In the last blog I defined the principle of subsidiarity, and in this blog I’ll begin to explore its relationship to business.

Subsidiarity bears a strong resemblance to the modern business method of “empowerment”, which is the process of imbuing lower levels of authority with greater authority.

However, subsidiarity is not a process; it is a philosophy or framework. This case is made very strongly in an academic paper by Domenec Mele, a Professor of Business Ethics at the University of Navarre, in Spain.

He points out that in a business where subsidiarity is fundamental, empowerment would never have to occur since the central authority would already be limited in scope and authority, and would already reside at the lowest possible point. The key difference though is that empowerment by its very existence acknowledges a strong central authority that is giving up some authority to lower levels in order to drive efficiency. In other words, it is still a top-down approach that focuses primarily on the good of the business rather than the resulting good of “empowering” the individual.

As I pointed out in the first blog, subsidiarity is different because, at its heart, it is concerned with the dignity of the people that are part of the society (as well as the people that society interacts with or serves i.e. customers). That efficiency and a sense of “empowerment” or “loyalty” occur is the natural byproduct of the framework of subsidiarity — not the goal.

Professor Mele states that “the point is not to ‘give power’ to employees, but to recognize that the dignity, freedom, and diversity of employees be duly considered, as should their capacity to contribute to the common good of business and the whole of society. This requires that employees have the power to organize their own work and make decisions.”

You may ask as I did, “So what? It seems like a difference in kind – doesn’t it accomplish the same thing?” My ultimate conclusion is that, yes, certain things are similarly accomplished according to various case studies—efficiency, improved customer relationships, and productivity, but the focus of the company says everything about the company.

At the end of the day, for companies truly interested in their employees, the bottom line (while important) is not everything – the people are. People are not tools to be used by a company—they are people who should be properly supported and trained to help the society they work within flourish by being better stewards of their individual spheres of influence. A steward by definition must have authority over what he/she is caring for.

It should be noted that by focusing on the person, the philosophy of subsidiarity does not decrease economic value. An argument can be made, though evidence is anecdotal, that it enhances economic value… for all parties. This evidence will be focused on more closely in Part III.

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Accounting for Your Time

Trinity is always looking for ways to improve the per-dollar value received by our clients. We also want to show our clients exactly how we use the time that they pay for.

In this, we may be no different from our quality competition. However, I feel that Trinity has taken this effort particularly seriously – and we recently again upgraded our game by upgrading our timesheet software. We are now using top-ranked Dovico Timesheet™, and even though we’ve only been using the system company-wide for a brief period of time, Trinity is already starting to see the benefits across a number of fronts.

• As alluded to above, Trinity will soon be able to easily provide clients with more detail than ever before about how time is being spent.
• Using the application’s available tools will likely shorten time spent in some areas of project management.
• The software will assist in precisely defining projects, following in-project process, and in general maintain a high level of focus throughout projects.

Most importantly: within projects, most assigned tasks mirror Trinity’s consultative and development processes across our various disciplines. This means that the software is heavily invested with the proprietary advantages that Trinity provides to clients.

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A Winning Proposal Depends on Your Overall Goals

The 2009 Tour de France came to its conclusion this week in front of a record audience on the Champs-Élysées. I found it to be an interesting exercise to compare winning the Tour to winning federal business.

There are a number of analogies to draw from the comparison:

1. The Tour itself can be likened to an annual campaign to grow federal business.
2. Each stage of the Tour can represent a single proposal (although there is no parallel for a "no-bid" in the Tour).
3. The various teams in the Tour can represent companies competing after some aspect of a similar business.

Team goals differ in the Tour, just as corporate goals differ between competitors. New and lesser-known teams might seek the notoriety of a single win to build upon, while the well-established teams seek to gain and keep the yellow jersey through the end.

Teams apply a single strategy to the 20+ day event for the purposes of achieving a set goal. Alberto Contador held on to the yellow jersey by keeping ahead of his immediate threats - not by winning every stage. Franco Pellizotti didn't need to win a single stage to capture the "king of the mountains" polka-dot jersey.

If they had set out to finish every stage as fast as they could, neither of these riders would have made it anywhere near the final podium. By setting a big picture goal, these riders and their teams were able to exercise effective strategies even on the stages that didn't have a direct and obvious impact on the goals.

A similar story could be said for many businesses. If you have a linear proposal process that starts in capture and ends after submittal, you may be right in line with most of your competition. That may be the appropriate place to be at times, but at the end of the race you don't want to be with your competition - you want to be ahead.

Consider taking a cumulative approach to proposals, where every bid is exercised as a part of your larger growth strategy: No proposal should be an isolated effort, and the output of each effort should positively affect your remaining efforts towards achieving your goal.

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Information Technology Is Your Friend!

Wouldn’t it be nice, the next time you are passing by, to gaze lovingly into your server room?

If you don’t generally get excited about Information Technology, take a few minutes to put yourself into my shoes. I promise to repeat the favor, given a chance, at some point in the future. ;-)

When I was a teenager, my father and I spent hours assembling our first business workstations and servers. We sat on the floor, read poorly translated Japanese-to-English instruction books, hooked this cable to that set of pins, soldered, sweated, laughed, and burned out a few parts through stupid mistakes.

Why did we do all of this? Two reasons – first, it was much, much cheaper than buying them preassembled; second, we needed those damnable machines to communicate with people all over the world. Next thing we knew, people from across the globe were dialing into our BBS (Bulletin Board System) reading our information and admiring our glorious graphics -- eight color, ASCII character-created, and beautiful.

For those of you who have been through a similar experience, or simply had to shout to be heard over the incredible din of a room full of two huge dot matrix printers and one daisy wheel printer, you know that personal computers were good for us then, and they sure as hell are much better now.

When you think about those days and realize the advancements that have transpired in intervening years, you start thinking about our current amazing techno-contraptions as something wonderful. And when you start to think more positively about your IT, you start to think about how it can be even more wonderful than it already is!

Well, maybe you have lost that sense of wonder, and are just thinking that IT is a pain in the ass. Well, there’s a litmus test for determining just how much of a pain in the ass it actually has become. This test may not apply specifically to your business, but I’m sure you can think of a version of this test and self-apply.

Let’s say that you have a digital form that you need to fill out and then save. When the form is saved, it goes into a database. Two days later, you need to retrieve the data from the database and reference it to make a phone call pertinent to the data entered using the form.

If, at any point in the process, you find yourself thinking that it would be easier to write down the information on a piece of paper, file it in a two-drawer lateral filing cabinet two rooms removed from your office, and pull the same piece of paper two days later for reference (refilling it afterwards)…you have no doubt lost any sense of romance that you once had with IT.

Anyway, if you have any situation that remotely approaches this admittedly hyperbolic (or is it?) litmus test, you need an IT consulting firm to assist you to restore that feeling of wonder. Because, doggone it, business is beautiful, the computer is wonderful, and it should be working for you (not vice-versa).

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Graphic Design: Know Thy Audience!

If you are a company that utilizes graphic design in any way to speak to your customers, you need to know who they are so that you can produce design pieces that speak to that constituency, or the individual segments within that constituency, personally.

Knowledge of your audience is of particular importance if you are a small company with a tight budget, and can only use a single sign approach to your customer base.

Let me use a food analogy here. You run a restaurant, and you serve only one dish per evening – the same dish to the entire restaurant. Which dish do you choose? If 75% of the crowd is a “meat and potatoes” type of audience and you serve them a Thai dish -- spring vegetables with fried bean curd in a spicy black bean sauce, with seaweed and diced chicken soup on the side – you may have lost 75% of your constituency before the first bite.

In graphic design, you can’t please everyone – tastes differ radically. But if you have only one shot, you darn well better know what imagery, language, and design style will be appreciated by the majority of your audience. If you don’t provide that kind of information to your designer, you run the risk (but not the certain result—in fact, less so if you have a good designer) of getting mediocre results out of your design pieces.

Involve your designer as a strategic partner! A single designer may service many different industries, designing for a wide range of audiences. Good designers are tuned into the world of taste and the intangibles that attract attention and move behavior. Put their experience to work for you.

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Room for Growth?

Have you completely saturated your market?

No? Good. Because that means even if your market is shrinking, you still have room for growth.

In a down-turning economy, some companies take a pessimistic view towards their ability to grow or sustain revenue. It's easy to understand why: a generic view of the marketplace leads one to think that everybody has less money to spend. Less spending means fewer business opportunities. Fewer business opportunities translates into reduced revenue.

While all of that may be true on some level, and the number of potential customers may be dwindling, you still have opportunities for growth if you haven't already gobbled up the entire market.

In any economy, you aren't competing against the prevailing economic conditions; rather, you are competing against your competitors in the marketplace. So if you have a good product or service (or both) you should still have a sense of optimism!

But do you have what it takes to "make hay" in this market? What do you really believe about yourself? You might be able to provide an answer to these questions by selecting a completion to the following statement.

Statement: When current and potential clients take a closer look at their vendors, it is:

• Better for us. We're awesome and we always have room for improvement.
• Worse for us. When there's less work to go around, it means the better companies will suck up what trickled down to us in a good economy.

If you believe that #1 is the correct answer, then keep reading.

A message from me to the company that believes in itself:

"Marketing is right for you. You have openness to ideas and information that will benefit your company, and believe that there are potential customers, yet to determined, that will be responsive to the message that your company sends to the market."

If you can get excited about your company, Trinity can get excited about your company. In marketing it is absolutely 100% true that the client "makes" the project. If you have the enduring optimism that can support finding out what the market demands of you, and then making a strong response to it, Trinity's brand of marketing is right for you.

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Responsibilities of the Design Client/Employer

The graphic designer has his own set of responsibilities in pursuing your design work: see here for the relevant post.  Fair is fair!  Clients should read that post as well, just as the designer should read this post.

Commercial graphic design is a coordinated process of mutual responsibilities between the client/employer and the graphic designer.  This post is intended to be orienting, not comprehensive.  However, if the following general principles are observed within projects, you increase the likelihood of getting a superlative design solution in the final product.

As a client or employer of a graphic designer, it is important that you think carefully about the work that you will be requesting – above all, what the pieces are to accomplish.

Essential content and functionality of the communications pieces to be designed is primarily the job of the client.  Clients that concentrate on providing content are supplying the soil in which the designer can grow creative solutions.  Let your designer help you to qualify your content as you gather it…not everything on your wish list needs to go into the communication piece.  The first and last responsibility for determining whether the intent of the project is represented in the applied solution (or design) is the responsibility of the client.

The responsibility of the client (or employer) starts with the wise selection of a graphic designer and then the placement of their trust in that individual.  Indications of good a graphic designer are: portfolio, pricing, and whether or not he/she displays an insatiable desire to understand not just design concepts but also the need or intent behind a particular proposed project.

It is also the responsibility of the client, with the designer’s assistance, to understand what may and may not be able to be accomplished within the budget and timeframe designated for a particular project.

Many commercial graphic design projects belong to a certain genre (website, business card, print advertising, etc.) all have certain conventions that must be observed.  The lower the budget and the shorter the timeline, the greater the odds that you will get a piece that honors convention more than inspiration.  There isn’t necessarily anything wrong with that.

It is also the responsibility of the client/employer to know the intended audience for the design piece, and to tangibly communicate that information to the designer.

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Responsibilities of the Graphic Designer

Don’t worry, designers – there are rules for clients too!  Read this post to see what they are.

Beyond actually having the tools of the trade (or, the ability to produce excellent graphic design), being a good producer of graphic design solutions is about pursuing a true consultative approach.

This isn’t a comprehensive list of graphic designer responsibilities – just some of the highlights based on my experience in performing, managing, and requesting design work.

It is the responsibility of the graphic designer to thoroughly understand the function of each design piece and control client/employer expectations by clearly indicating what manner of solution might be applied to produce the desired effect within the budget and time frame.

It is also the responsibility of the graphic designer to understand the balance between form and function in producing a piece that is both aesthetically pleasing and conveys the necessary idea or information.

Moreover, the graphic designer needs to clearly inform the client if a truly unique solution will be able to be applied within the budget and time frame. It is very important for the client to understand that, though the ideal outcome of any project is a tailored solution, such may not be possible within the project’s set parameters. The best solutions are custom solutions, but the occasion may only allow for a customized, rather than completely custom, response.

Finally, it is the responsibility of the designer to clearly understand all intents for the finished piece (both the form of distribution and whether or not aspects of the piece will be segregated for separate uses) and present a digital file (or files) that is well composed and ready for those responsible for producing the finished piece (whether that be a printer, website manager, etc.).

To this extent the designer shares production responsibility across various media platforms. Please keep in mind that each media has its own technical demands that may dictate some time consuming file preparation variations. For example, it takes more than a couple of mouse clicks to re-purpose digital web files for commercial offset printing.

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Is the Principle of Subsidiarity at Work in your Place of Business? (Part I)

The principle of subsidiarity is an important one to be aware of in a place of business.  It affects organization, employee satisfaction, customer satisfaction, and ultimately revenue and profit.

In a three-part blog series I will attempt to introduce the principle of subsidiarity and its key elements, its place in business, and its effect on business success and the resulting intangible benefits.

Introduction to Subsidiarity
The Oxford dictionary defines subsidiarity as “the principle that a central authority should not be very powerful, and should only control things which cannot be controlled by local organizations.”

According to Wikipedia, the principle finds its historical roots in Catholic social teaching which states that “a community of a higher order should not interfere in the internal life of a community of a lower order, depriving the latter of its functions, but rather should support it in case of need and help to coordinate its activity with the activities of the rest of society, always with a view to the common good.  [The principle of subsidarity] protects people from abuses by higher-level social authority and calls on these same authorities to help individuals and intermediate groups to fulfill their duties. This principle is imperative because every person, family and intermediate group has something original to offer to the community.”

There are three basic elements at work in this principle:    

• Each individual is unique and has inherent worth or dignity.
• All levels of a society - from the family, to local institutions, to the federal government - should work to support and promote that dignity.
• The dignity of individuals is best supported by what can be accomplished at the lowest or most immediate level in a society since it permits the greatest amount of participation by individuals.

Extrapolating from above, the principle suggests that those levels of authority closest to the human being are better equipped to understand and appreciate the needs of the individual and thereby address them (such as a parent to a child).  Conversely, this also suggests that any larger or more complex authority that usurps functions or responsibilities most appropriate to a lower authority strips away the inherent worth of the human beings involved. 

If this principle is fundamental to the well-being and functionality of all societies from the family unit to national government, how does it affect business in particular?  Should it make a difference to how a business is run, how decisions are made, how performance is measured, and how customer satisfaction is addressed? Does putting this principle into action in a business produce positive results?

We’ll begin to explore those questions in Part II.

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The Agony and the Ecstasy

Movie buffs may be familiar with the 1965 classic The Agony and the Ecstasy, starring Charlton Heston as Michelangelo and Rex Harrison as Pope Julius II. If my memory serves me correctly, the movie portrays the painting of the Sistine Chapel, including the intellectual relationship between the two lead characters.

One of its oft-quoted movie lines is from Pope Julius II, who (desiring a more snappy completion of the project) incessantly questions Michelangelo, “When will you make an end?” To which the latter replies, “When I am finished!”

Great artwork often requires both time and space in which to make the accomplishment. If you are working on a commissioned piece, such as Michelangelo was, naturally you will have pressure to bring the project to a timely conclusion (particularly if you are charging time plus materials).

However, Michelangelo’s ability to create a great and godly work was due to his reluctance to be pressured into completing the work more rapidly than the occasion called for. In other words, he appreciated what his own skills, combined with the magnitude of the project, required for success.

Conversely, commercial graphic design is almost invariably performed on a budget and a schedule. Were you to walk into your graphic designer’s office and ask, “When are you going to be done?” and receive the answer “When I am finished!” you would not be a happy camper.

UPDATE: There are certain mutual responsibilities between the graphic designer and the client/employer, addressed in these posts:

Responsibilities of the Graphic Designer

Responsibilities of the Design Client/Employer

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The Cure for Paralysis

Sound business decisions are best based on sound analysis of "the numbers". However, in the absence of a stable analytical process that tracks and regularly reports on key business measurements, the numbers often lead to frustration and decision making paralysis -- or the opposite: decision making in absence of the full picture.

Trinity provides SMB with reports that grow with their company and provide real-world data that facilitate the decision making process. The ability to generate these reports often depends on sound bookkeeping practices; therefore, Trinity provides advice on how to restructure books to facilitate the report process.

Once this process is complete, the client has numbers that tell the truth about its business world, rather than numbers that are forced into the clients assumptions of the world. This enables quick and decisive corporate action in a fast paced business environment.

The story told by the numbers may need to be related to shareholders, partners, and the like. The sound and detailed reporting process enables clients to create charts that tell a clear story and are precisely backed by real figures.

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March Madness

Now that we are in the middle of the NCAA Tournament, it seems like a good opportunity to point to a great read: Wooden on Leadership

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The Written Word

One of the important ways in which Trinity helps clients is by developing a “language” which the client uses to express its vision of itself—including its core beliefs, competencies, and products/services.

This language is composed of two parts.  The first part is “fact words”. These are words and phrases that the company uses when expressing truths about itself.  The second part is “feel words”—what the company feels about itself and what the company wants others to feel.

There is a process for mining, or extracting these words from the conscious or subconscious thoughts of the company’s key individuals.  Not everyone can easily put what they know to be true, what they believe to be true, and what they feel emotionally into concise words and phrases.  Trinity uses its own process to bring this information forth, refine the raw material, and craft beautiful pieces of corporate self-expression.

Naturally, these pieces are tailored to particular audiences.  Otherwise, you aren’t making a social language—your company is making a cult language without caring if only your own company can understand it.  What language is your audience already speaking, and therefore require?  Some audiences require a “fact word approach”, some require a “feel word approach”, and some require a “fact/feel approach”.

Take it from me: if your method of delivering your words is technical proposals for Federal RFP response, don’t go with the “feel word approach”.  If Trinity took that approach on behalf of our clients, we’d be wasting hundreds of man hours and hundreds of millions of dollars in client opportunities.

So, your audience needs to be segmented for success, and an important segment is your own company!  One of the great values of Trinity’s process is that it provides all aspects of the company with a vibrant, yet concise language for communicating corporate vision internally.

When your new language is used for communication on all levels of your corporate structure, you’ve primed the pump for success.  And through market research, the language that you use to communicate will be a language that is compatible with, and influenced by, your customers and your industry.

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The Only Thing to Fear Is?

As a business owner and entrepreneur, it is somewhat strange that I have fallen in love with marketing. In some ways, I have a great loathing for marketing. Why? Performed properly, strategic marketing doesn't put the market in the cross-hairs—it puts your company in the cross-hairs. Your own company. Your baby. Do you really want to know whether your company has the stuff that it takes to succeed? For me, the answer has always been "Yes"—albeit, at times reluctantly so. Painful as the discovery process inherent to good marketing can be, which scenario would you rather see yourself in?

1. Going out of business.
2. Eking out an existence.
3. Thriving while hitting home runs.

If you answered with #3, then you and I are on the same page. Nobody wants to go out of business and nobody just wants to barely hang on forever. Marketing (again, when properly performed) makes sure that:

1. You have a market to address.
2. You are ready to address the market.
3. You have a winning message to present to the market.

There are costs associated with all three of these steps. But if you want to be "thriving while hitting home runs", you have to be able to afford them. In this economy, more companies are finding themselves cash poor. You might think: "Can I afford marketing?" The question is: can you afford not to?

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Puzzle This

Recently I was engaged in a discussion with one of our salesmen, who asked me: "What do you think is more important...Marketing or Sales?" That is an interesting question.

Many companies focus on the importance of Sales over Marketing (or vice-versa)--or rather, they have defined the role of one and not the other. In companies where strong silos have been built around each department, Sales generally views Marketing as a machine that "spits out stuff" and operates somewhere in the background. Marketing, to Sales, is merely leads, occasional handouts, case studies, powerpoints, trade show giveaways, the occasional cool advertisement, etc.

Sales tends to operate in a "what have you done for me lately" mentality, and Marketing is only top-of-mind when Sales is in need of something. Their viewpoint is understandable given this reality: Sales personnel perform a high stress job, they tend to be measured on short-term accomplishments, and they are trying to leverage every tool at their disposal to close deals (which, by the way, is of supreme importance to the revenue lifeblood of a company).

In this entrenched mode, Marketing may feel a constant pressure from Sales to produce of-the-moment deliverables that drive the ability to turn opportunities into paying customers. Feeling that Sales is always in "gimme" mode, but not providing the comprehensive customer-needs analysis necessary to produce materials (which Sales does not view to be its problem, though Sales is directly interacting with customers on a daily basis), Marketing may ascend even higher into a non-practical strategic stratosphere.

Without true harmony, each department views itself as doing what is really necessary to drive revenue. Not feeling the support of Marketing, Sales may feel the need to outpace Marketing's ability to deliver, and as a result autonomously generate sales materials that are not reflective of Marketing's vision. Both departments use their own language in support of increasingly distinct tactics. Before you know it, brands are destabilised and careers are placed in jeopardy.

In these situations, depending on your perspective, Sales is everything, or Marketing is everything. But Trinity strives for a perspective from which both Sales and Marketing are viewed as being indispensable parts of the same integrated process. Our answer is that Marketing is most important, but as a component of Marketing, Sales is inseparable from this judgment.

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Humility and Your Company

Fundamentally, companies are human societies interacting with other societies. Like any human society, companies are laden with corporate or cultural virtues and vices that stem from human virtue and vice.

A product or service is not just created to be, but created to be for a person. Ideally, the product itself, as well as the process of marketing, selling, and supporting the product creates a trust relationship with the brand that drives repeat business.

Whether or not it is recognized in all places of society, relationships that are truthful are more sustainable than those that are not. And if it is true that "action springs from being," how can you be what it takes to be successful in your corporate society, and how can Marketing play a key role in this endeavor?

Self-knowledge rooted in truth, and the strength to deal with rooting out corporate vice is necessary for success. But self-knowledge requires being open to the customer's perspective.

Understanding your customers' needs/wants, and creating products or services to address those needs, requires being focused externally. The company is also, like the individual human being, in a process of self discovery in which a company must overcome its internal corporate vices to be more fully integrated in the world and the customers around them. Practically speaking, the corporation focused on the customer is better able to provide valuable products and services tuned to specific needs, as well as to communicate and establish processes to handle high-quality customer service (which will help cement long-term relationships).

In the corporate culture, pride has a very strong company focus ("what is good for the company is good for the customer") while its inverse, humility, has a customer focus ("what is good for the customer is good for the company"). Properly oriented Marketing, supported by Sales and Customer Service, plays the primary role in analyzing and expressing customer needs and marketplace truths to top-level decision-makers.

Humility suggests being open to truth, particularly unpleasant truths, and requires a CEO to create and foster a culture of truth in order to produce long-term stability and growth--producing real bottom-line dollar results! Again, Marketing (which is already geared towards targeted communication, results collection, and analysis) can play a critical role internally in communicating the vision of this culture to the corporate entity at large, and then running internal diagnostics to help judge the preparedness of the entity for change based on the findings.

In order to perfect your business, you have to gain greater knowledge of yourself by investing in those you serve.

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The Promise of Truth

The promise of Trinity’s marketing approach is that it is based in truth. There’s no such thing as a “one size fits all” marketing approach. Who are you? Who does your customer want you to be; i.e, what is the truth of your situation? That’s what dictates your proper approach.

Not every company is ready to grow. So a company’s growth inhibitors may need to be addressed. Unless you are ready, dollars spent on promotion and sales might be water poured onto the sand — there for a moment, but quickly disappearing.

Trinity cares about whether or not our clients succeed. So the marketing process is an investment that fuses the heart and soul of your vision to a market-ready machine — your company. But the challenge is — you have to be ready to see yourself through the eyes of someone else (your customer) — and be prepared to make the appropriate response to the perspective that brings.

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