The headline reads:

Starting June 8th, we’re giving away 30 iPhones in 30 days via Twitter.

The fine print says:

Winning prize will include a $199 gift certificate to the Apple store, which may be used toward the purchase of an 8GB iPhone, or toward any other official Apple products or services.

I’m calling shenanigans Squarespace and what is misleading marketing. I’m happy to see that Mashable jumped on this last week. Unfortunately,as usual, a lot of people didn’t read the fine print, and tweeted Squarespace in the hopes of winning an iPhone, not a gift certificate. Check out the article on Mashable for why this is a big deal. Here’s a hint: look at the upgrade path for current iPhone users.

For me, this steps over the line and goes right into deceptive marketing territory. Marketers today know that most people don’t read the fine print, so it’s easy to catch them. So why do people hate marketers? I wonder why.

What do you think? Did they cross the line? Should marketers be responsible for disclosing the details to those they market to, or is it the responsibility of the consumer?

Consumer confidence is shaken, and rightly so. Transparency is the key to rebuilding that trust.

The Conductive Education Center of Orlando (CECO) opened its doors in 2001 with the support of local families who wanted a program that would challenge their children with motor disabilities to acquire new skills. CECO’s mission is to combine physical and social educational methods to meet the unique needs of children with motor and cognitive disabilities. They need our help.

On Friday June 19th, CECO is holding a benefit event to raise money to continue providing conductive education to Central Florida children in need. For $35/person, you’ll help CECO fulfill their mission, and you’ll also have access to top shelf open bar, a silent auction, and networking opportunities. The event will be held at 23 Church Street in downtown Orlando. I’ll be there, and I hope you will be too.

Please RSVP by calling Jen at 407-673-5137, or send her an email at jen at cecfl dot org.

Thank you for your help.

In episode 2 of Rock the Job, Nick and I discuss the negative impact of keg stands on your career.

As I was walking from my car to class the other morning, I started thinking about the sense of entitlement I’m told the Millennial generation (those born between 1980 and 2000) has, and where this comes from.

I recalled a story a classmate told about how, in today’s competitive sports, everyone gets a trophy. In days past, only the winner of a game would receive a trophy. Today, everyone gets one merely for participating. This culture is furthered by the helicopter, blackhawk, and lawnmower parents that I discussed in my last post, parents who will not allow their children to accept responsibility for their actions, and to fail, and therefore learn, on their own. The deck is stacked against this entire generation.

This saddens me.

I can understand wanting to be an individual, and wanting work life to compliment personal life. I truly believe that it is possible. I also believe that every company operates from a core set of beliefs. Those beliefs may be somewhat flexible, but more often that not they aren’t.

The simple fact is that the world does not owe any of us anything. We have to work hard to get ahead. We also have to know what we believe in, what we want, and what we’re willing to do for it. We have to take responsibility for ourselves, and we have to let others take responsibility for themselves.

“If you are really going to pare down your technology projects to those that are absolutely vital to your company, you probably don’t want to hand those projects off to the lowest bidder. If you are going to embark on some cost-saving project based on hosted software or extra tight security, you might want to keep those under close watch. If your company is going to be either acquired or go out acquiring, you need to know where your costs are. If your remaining customers are the only barrier between you and the unemployment line, you want to make sure those customers are being treated with the utmost care.”

- Eric Lundquist, CIO Insight Editor at Large

Companies have outsourced since time began. Outsourcing simply means purchasing goods or services from an outside supplier or source. Once countries including Brazil, Russia, India, and China began to offer inexpensive services on a massive scale, another type of outsourcing – offshoring – picked up steam. The price divide between the U.S. and other countries used to be huge, making offshoring a great way to keep costs low. No longer. Prices of foreign-based services are going up and the dollar is down.

When I attended the Agile Development Practices conference last month, I spoke with a number of people whose companies had outsourced almost their entire IT management to an offshore provider. These were large companies mind you. What were the users’ reaction? I heard something about machines sitting under desks that were “off network” so they could get work done. That didn’t sound too secure. When pressed as to why this occurred, I was told that response time was too slow, and that the provider didn’t listen to their requests. The result was that they had to create these “workarounds” to get their jobs done. I was incredulous. Imagine, if they had a local provider working with them, these things might not have happened. I don’t even want to imagine the security holes that were opened up as a result.

Developing software is a different beast than network management. At ADS we successfully work with clients all over the world. We are successful due to our process, the core of which is transparency and communication. So I found it interesting when I saw a LinkedIn user asking about access to development staff. He said that he was working with an offshore provider, and that they wouldn’t let him speak directly with the development staff. Though he didn’t mention whether or not he had asked the provider why this is, he was asking the LinkedIn community if this was normal, and why it was the case. Responses ranged from language barriers to culture.

Frankly, if you are paying to have software developed for you, you should be able to talk directly with the people who are coding it. If not on a continuous basis, then on a planned, daily basis. After all, if developers are talking to clients, they aren’t coding. On the flip side, if developers don’t talk with clients, how do you know that the end result is what you wanted in the first place?

How do we break these language and culture barriers? How do we ensure transparency in the process? How do we keep things secure and flowing smoothly? How do we help bring back the U.S. economy? If you’re a U.S. company and you outsource, keep it close to home.

Like what you read here? Leave a comment, and then follow me on Twitter.

In Top 10 IT Trends for 2009, Samuel Greengard listed the following 10 trends:

1. Software as a Service (SaaS)
2. Virtualization
3. Enterprise mobility
4. Energy-efficient data centers
5. Security, risk, and compliance
6. Social networking
7. Web 2.0
8. Document management and e-discovery
9. Project management and project portfolio management
10. Web and video collaboration

I wasn’t too surprised to see SaaS as #1 on the list. “(SaaS) is growing at an annual rate exceeding 40 percent… it is expected to command a 23 percent share of the $120 billion U.S. software market by 2010, according to RBC Capital Markets,” Greengard wrote. That’s incredible, and confirms that the move of software online, and the use of the Internet as a platform, is both well established, and the future of software. There are many examples of highly successful SaaS companies, including Salesforce.com, 37signals, and everything Google. Our ADS AppSuite is delivered using the SaaS model. There are many advantages to both customers and vendors to provide software in this way, not the least of which is lower costs for everyone.

Virtualization has been used in data centers for many years. It’s use is now increasing inside companies, allowing better utilization of servers, many of which have idle capacity. It is also going much further, extending out onto the desktop. And wouldn’t you know it, thin clients are making a comeback.

Enterprise mobility means real-time or near real-time access to data anytime, anywhere. Near real-time is today’s reality, and real-time is almost at hand. Using SaaS makes it much easier. The challenge is still keeping everything in sync. At ADS, we keep as many of our systems online as possible, so they can be accessed from anywhere. This makes managing a business that much easier.

Social networking is near and dear to my heart. I’m an avid user of Twitter, LinkedIn, and to a lesser degree Facebook. Companies are using social networks to get closer to their users, establish new relationships, and crowd-source. Companies also use internal wikis and blogs for knowledge management and distribution.

Tim O’Reilly coined the term “Web 2.0,” and later clarified what he meant in an article titled What is Web 2.0. To summarize, Web 2.0 includes:

• The web as a platform
• Harnessing collective intelligence
• Data as the next Intel inside
• End of the software release cycle
• Lightweight programming models
• Software above the level of a single device
• Rich user experience

“Adds Tim O’Reilly…’We are seeing the Internet become a preferred platform for application development’.” Most of the trends on the top 10 list confirm this. We can get RSS feeds for many online data sources, mashups, blogs and wikis have made their way into the enterprise, using agile techniques SaaS providers can deliver software more often, and technologies like javascript and Adobe Flex deliver rich user experiences.

In today’s economic climate, project management (PM) and project portfolio management (PPM) are extremely important. High transparency in projects allows you to see whether or not they are on-track and on-budget. PPM helps to identify critical projects that should be targeted for investment. Knowing which projects to focus on and which to delay ensures delivery of effective business value, and helps companies adapt to changing business and market conditions.

Web and video collaboration should be in the toolbox of every company. We use GoToMeeting for sprint reviews, and to keep in touch with our customers, most of which are well outside of driving distance. Skype helps our team keep in touch with each other. When you can’t get together in person, video conferencing is the next best thing. Advances in telepresence make meetings seem like you are in the same room. It’s getting awesome.

2009 Outlook

With the economic recession expected to reach far into 2009, lowering costs while maintaining effectiveness is crucial. While many companies may cut costs by reducing their workforce, innovative companies that can leverage SaaS applications, better utilize hardware using virtualization, provide data to a remote workforce, get closer to their customers and establish new relationships, invest in projects that deliver the most business value, and increase communication between staff and customers, will become more competitive and make it through.

Today’s workforce is more tech savvy than ever. Gen Xers and millenials want more freedom in their jobs, along with continuous access to social networks, instant messaging, and a host of Web 2.0 technology. Traditional corporate cultures are not well suited to deal with these issues. Command and control breaks down as employees find ways to circumvent security measures put into place by IT. They demand the ability to be continuously connected with their online counterparts. In this new world of open collaboration, how do corporations adapt their culture to harness the creativity of their workforce, and take advantage of these extended networks?

It depends, as it always does.

As the CEO of a development firm starting to build an online suite of products, of course I don’t want our employees telling everyone they know what products we are working on and how we’re going about it.

As the CEO of a development firm that uses open source technology, I want us to give back to our community. This comes in the form of blog posts, how-to articles, holding events, contributing at user groups, and being good corporate citizens.

I also understand that a single person only has so much knowledge, and going to others can drastically reduce the learning curve. Simultaneously, I understand that that same person could spend countless hours talking with others on social networks and IM, and not getting things done.

So how do you reconcile all of this?

As Ronald Reagan once said, “trust, but verify.”

A sad fact is that trust is lacking in a lot of companies.

Education and structure. Education and structure are key.

Help your employees understand what is and isn’t alright to discuss with their “friends.” Set the boundaries, and make them clear. Ensure they know that spending large amounts of time online and not doing their work could result in negative consequences. Let them know what “lot’s of time” means. Let them know what the consequences will be. Let them know your expectations.

Talk with them. Learn what resources they are using to help them do their jobs better. Provide these resources. Give them more.

And then, verify. Ensure that productivity and quality remain high.

Create the structure, educate on the boundaries, and verify the results. After all, two heads are better than one, and many are better than two.

Got a tight budget for next year?

Perhaps a fixed price contract is what you are looking for. Yes? Well, that’s fine with us.

What?

Anyone that has heard my thoughts on fixed-price contracts for software development are going to think I’ve gone mad. I was very against them. However, we are all allowed to change or minds. After all, we let our customers change their minds every two weeks, so why can’t we?

So what changed my mind?

First, we have moved to an Agile contract. This contract lays out how our agile process works, who is responsible for what at each step, how we plan and track requirements, how testing is performed, and finally how the technology transfer is handled. There is also a bunch of legal jargon in there too.

Second, the more Agile we get, the better we get at estimating work, though nothing is perfect.

Third, fixed price does not mean fixed scope. I am sure that everyone reading this has had clients (or product owners, some of which you may call “the business”) that had to have absolutely every feature in the initial release of an application. How many of those features get used? What’s the business value of each of those features? Do you even know? A fixed price contract will, in a way, force the customer to think in terms of value. What has to be in the app? What would be nice to have? What can we leave out for now?

Fourth, it helps our customers budget their development expenses. Sure, a $100K might turn into a $120K project. From what I hear, a $100K project can turn into a $200K project. But do they have to? Can your business afford for that to happen? I doubt it.

Fifth, the results of agile project speak for themselves. In the latest “State of Agile” survey, 89% of respondents said they increased productivity, 83% accelerated time-to-market, and 84% decreased software defects. All from implementing Agile. Visit the Agile Development with Scrum website for more.

The Bottom Line

Fixed-price contracts can allow for flexibility, and win-win scenarios. In today’s market, companies cannot afford large cost overruns, a story heard time and again from countless software projects of the past. Traditional project management will lead to traditional results – failed projects, unnecessary features, and unhappy customers. Expect more. Get more.

Like what you read? Follow me on Twitter, and learn more about my development firm Atlantic Dominion Solutions.

Dilbert hits the nail on the head once again with this cartoon from yesterday. Projects don’t have to be this way. Open and honest communication, up-front planning, and continual inspection leading to adaptation make projects successful.