http://www.stonehenge.orgen-usCopyright 2009 stonehenge.com/stonehenge-homepage/blog.aspx2010-08-25T17:36:32umbraco <xsl:value-of select="data[@alias='headline']"/> Mon, 01 Dec 2008 10:31:40 GMT/blog/2008/12/1/it's-about-the-content,-not-the-system.aspx$SiteURL/blog/2008/12/1/it's-about-the-content,-not-the-system.aspx <p>When choosing a web content management system, what should you look for? Too often I see this question devolve into a debate over "open source" vs. "commercial," ".NET" vs. "Java," or worse yet, "SharePoint" vs."everything else."</p> <p>I say... <xsl:value-of select="data[@alias='headline']"/> Mon, 08 Dec 2008 10:47:46 GMT/blog/2008/12/8/free-tools-every-net-developer-should-have.aspx$SiteURL/blog/2008/12/8/free-tools-every-net-developer-should-have.aspx <p>There are several tools that my team has grown accustom to using on our .Net projects. Having used them on several projects now, I can't imagine doing work without them.</p> <p>They are all free, and I think that every .Net developer should g... <xsl:value-of select="data[@alias='headline']"/> Mon, 15 Dec 2008 10:22:11 GMT/blog/2008/12/15/software-delivered-on-time,-on-budget,-on-target-oh,-really.aspx$SiteURL/blog/2008/12/15/software-delivered-on-time,-on-budget,-on-target-oh,-really.aspx <p>Six Sigma, meet software development.</p> <p>While other industries strive for perfection, as expressed in the set of practices (made famous by Motorola, GE and others) aimed at achieving fewer than 3.4 defects per million, the motto for the ... <xsl:value-of select="data[@alias='headline']"/> Sat, 01 Nov 2008 10:34:00 GMT/blog/2008/11/1/how-to-pick-a-cms.aspx$SiteURL/blog/2008/11/1/how-to-pick-a-cms.aspx <p>I got into a LinkedIn conversation the other day with <span class="fn">Rob Fields</span>, the Director of Member Development at PMA--The Association for Integrated Marketing. He asked: "Can anyone recommend a good content management system for... <xsl:value-of select="data[@alias='headline']"/> Wed, 01 Oct 2008 10:24:35 GMT/blog/2008/10/1/yeah,-we-can-do-that,-too.aspx$SiteURL/blog/2008/10/1/yeah,-we-can-do-that,-too.aspx <p>I was having lunch with a long-time client the other day when the topic of conversation turned to some of the projects StoneHenge Partners consultants are working on for other clients. I mentioned we have one team re-architecting a mammoth dat... <xsl:value-of select="data[@alias='headline']"/> Thu, 15 Jan 2009 10:19:54 GMT/blog/2009/1/15/estimating-the-uncertainty-of-estimates.aspx$SiteURL/blog/2009/1/15/estimating-the-uncertainty-of-estimates.aspx <p>Last month, a new client came to us to talk about developing some software for him. We met a couple of times, asked a lot of questions, drafted high-level business requirements, and did an initial Function Point Analysis. We sized the effort a... <xsl:value-of select="data[@alias='headline']"/> Thu, 01 Jan 2009 10:29:59 GMT/blog/2009/1/1/chasing-the-cms-dream.aspx$SiteURL/blog/2009/1/1/chasing-the-cms-dream.aspx <p>I'm learning a new content management system these days. Again. [sigh]</p> <p>In the past 10 years I've suffered through discover/design/develop/deploy of a CMS 6 or 7 times, depending on how you want to define a CMS. Some have been OK, and s... <xsl:value-of select="data[@alias='headline']"/> Tue, 03 Feb 2009 10:15:57 GMT/blog/2009/2/3/a-decade-of-excellence.aspx$SiteURL/blog/2009/2/3/a-decade-of-excellence.aspx <p>March, 1999: Companies were bracing for the impact of Y2K &hellip; Microsoft released a version of Windows that finally worked &hellip; the Browser Wars was raging between IE and Netscape &hellip;</p> <p>And a group of Tulsa technologists lau... <xsl:value-of select="data[@alias='headline']"/> Sun, 01 Feb 2009 10:27:24 GMT/blog/2009/2/1/why-is-web-content-so-hard-to-manage.aspx$SiteURL/blog/2009/2/1/why-is-web-content-so-hard-to-manage.aspx <p>In so many areas, software is getting better. Languages are more robust, databases are easier to line up, and interfaces are more intuitive. But web content management systems continue to be ... umm, off-target. Why is that?</p> <p>I was thin... <xsl:value-of select="data[@alias='headline']"/> Sun, 15 Mar 2009 10:49:42 GMT/blog/2009/3/15/function-point-102.aspx$SiteURL/blog/2009/3/15/function-point-102.aspx <h3>Fair and Accurate Pricing with Function Point Analysis</h3> <p>When you're outsourcing information technology project management, pricing calculations can seem closer to voodoo than an exact science. And the vague pricing may not be accurate... <xsl:value-of select="data[@alias='headline']"/> Thu, 12 Mar 2009 10:50:59 GMT/blog/2009/3/12/function-point-101.aspx$SiteURL/blog/2009/3/12/function-point-101.aspx <h4>(Or; how to keep unpleasant surprises from derailing a project)</h4> <p>Keeping information technology projects on time and on budget is a task of Herculean proportions. According to a study by The Standish Group, only 29 percent of IT proje... <xsl:value-of select="data[@alias='headline']"/> Sat, 25 Apr 2009 10:13:37 GMT/blog/2009/4/25/domain-driven-design-part-3.aspx$SiteURL/blog/2009/4/25/domain-driven-design-part-3.aspx <h3>Repositories and Factories</h3> <p>Today I conclude my series on Domain Driven Design. In the first part we looked at a brief introduction and the concept and Entities. In the second part we covered Value Objects and Services. Today we'll lo... <xsl:value-of select="data[@alias='headline']"/> Wed, 15 Apr 2009 10:42:43 GMT/blog/2009/4/15/domain-driven-design-part-2.aspx$SiteURL/blog/2009/4/15/domain-driven-design-part-2.aspx <h3>Value Objects and Services</h3> <p>Today's post is a continuation of my series on Domain Driven Design. One of my favorite parts of Domain Driven Design is how it narrows your focus down to a handful of design patterns that will work for jus... <xsl:value-of select="data[@alias='headline']"/> Thu, 02 Apr 2009 10:45:41 GMT/blog/2009/4/2/domain-driven-design-part-1.aspx$SiteURL/blog/2009/4/2/domain-driven-design-part-1.aspx <h3>An introduction</h3> <p>At StoneHenge Partners, we've realized that the best way to ensure the success of software development projects is to keep the focus on the users and their experience at all times. Too many times, once you get into th... <xsl:value-of select="data[@alias='headline']"/> Sun, 03 May 2009 11:55:38 GMT/blog/2009/5/3/no-website-is-an-island.aspx$SiteURL/blog/2009/5/3/no-website-is-an-island.aspx <p>Maybe it's a coincidence, but three times this week I have talked to companies who are unhappy with their websites. "It looks good, but it doesn't do anything for my business," they say. "How come nobody uses my website?"</p> <p>So we talked ... <xsl:value-of select="data[@alias='headline']"/> Sun, 03 May 2009 10:10:26 GMT/blog/2009/5/3/function-point-103.aspx$SiteURL/blog/2009/5/3/function-point-103.aspx <h3>Information Technology Project Management: A Forward-Looking&nbsp; Strategy</h3> <p>Many IT teams use a "rear-view mirror" strategy to manage projects, tracking hours spent as they move towards their goals.&nbsp; This can lead to serious gap... <xsl:value-of select="data[@alias='headline']"/> Mon, 04 May 2009 10:00:40 GMT/blog/2009/5/4/finding-umbraco-nodes-by-name-.aspx$SiteURL/blog/2009/5/4/finding-umbraco-nodes-by-name-.aspx <h3>The XPath Answer</h3> <p>Sometimes I need to find umbraco content nodes by name, and then pull a property from the node. This is a bit frustrating, because umbraco doesn't provide a way to do that - everything is alias or id, and sometimes y... <xsl:value-of select="data[@alias='headline']"/> Wed, 03 Jun 2009 11:49:06 GMT/blog/2009/6/3/the-true-value-of-a-bcp.aspx$SiteURL/blog/2009/6/3/the-true-value-of-a-bcp.aspx <h4>Is your company prepared for a pandemic?<br /> </h4> <p>Most companies have invested in insurance and provided for offsite data backups, but <strong>these steps alone will not meet customer expectations and provide adequate resources &amp; r... <xsl:value-of select="data[@alias='headline']"/> Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:22:55 GMT/blog/2009/10/21/cms-details-details.aspx$SiteURL/blog/2009/10/21/cms-details-details.aspx <p>When it comes to usability in content management systems, for the editor the details make all the difference.</p> <p>That point was driven home this week while migrating content from our current CMS, Joomla!, to our new CMS, Umbraco. Now both... <xsl:value-of select="data[@alias='headline']"/> Thu, 22 Oct 2009 18:46:15 GMT/blog/2009/10/22/the-difference-between-success-and-failure.aspx$SiteURL/blog/2009/10/22/the-difference-between-success-and-failure.aspx <p>Everyone has worked on some projects that were great successes, and some projects that in which you feel like you are stuck in a mire never to escape.</p> <p>What makes the difference? Why do some projects succeed while others fail? To addres... <xsl:value-of select="data[@alias='headline']"/> Fri, 23 Oct 2009 10:29:31 GMT/blog/2009/10/23/the-unique-value-of-a-unique-value-proposition.aspx$SiteURL/blog/2009/10/23/the-unique-value-of-a-unique-value-proposition.aspx <p>It's funny how you start thinking about something for someone else and end up thinking about it for yourself.</p> <p>We've been working for the past six weeks to design a website strategy for a local client, and as part of that we decided to ... <xsl:value-of select="data[@alias='headline']"/> Tue, 27 Oct 2009 14:41:28 GMT/blog/2009/10/27/function-points-and-software-measurement.aspx$SiteURL/blog/2009/10/27/function-points-and-software-measurement.aspx <p>I spoke at the 4th Annual International Software Measurement and Analysis Conference held in Chicago&nbsp; Sept. 13-16th. This conference is sponsored by the International Function Point User's Group (IFPUG). It included two days of workshops ... <xsl:value-of select="data[@alias='headline']"/> Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:25:06 GMT/blog/2009/10/30/creative-or-system,-not-both.aspx$SiteURL/blog/2009/10/30/creative-or-system,-not-both.aspx <p>"Never redesign your site AND install a content management system at the same time." That's what user experience professionals have been saying for years, and it's always made sense to me. It's like trying to build a boat and sail it at the sa... <xsl:value-of select="data[@alias='headline']"/> Mon, 02 Nov 2009 08:32:38 GMT/blog/2009/11/2/working-with-agility.aspx$SiteURL/blog/2009/11/2/working-with-agility.aspx <p>Everyone has their own brand of Agile development these days. Much like it has become cool to say "I have an iPhone", or "My next laptop will be a Macbook Pro", for developers the catch-cry has become "I work in an Agile development environmen... <xsl:value-of select="data[@alias='headline']"/> Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:33:03 GMT/blog/2009/11/20/facebook-case-study.aspx$SiteURL/blog/2009/11/20/facebook-case-study.aspx <p>I've been watching a fascinating case study this week on how a business can harness the power of social networking to energize its loyal customers.</p> <p>Nov. 16-22 is Collection Week for <a href="https://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/oc... <xsl:value-of select="data[@alias='headline']"/> Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:52:38 GMT/blog/2009/11/20/social-media.aspx$SiteURL/blog/2009/11/20/social-media.aspx <p>At the InnoTech Conference in OKC recently, I had the opportunity to sit through the eMarketing track.&nbsp; The first session was touted as "Lessons Learned from Internet Marketing Experts," and while the panelists were certainly qualified, t... <xsl:value-of select="data[@alias='headline']"/> Tue, 29 Dec 2009 10:18:25 GMT/blog/2009/12/29/the-best-and-the-brightest.aspx$SiteURL/blog/2009/12/29/the-best-and-the-brightest.aspx <p>Ninety percent of our staff augmentation business is repeat business. Why? What makes StoneHenge people so special that our clients keep coming back for more?</p> <p>This question was posed to me several times this past week during the latest... <xsl:value-of select="data[@alias='headline']"/> Wed, 30 Dec 2009 10:10:21 GMT/blog/2009/12/30/consulting-is-a-career.aspx$SiteURL/blog/2009/12/30/consulting-is-a-career.aspx <p>Being a consultant is not just a job, it is a career.</p> <p>As a <a href="/about-us/contact-us/amanda-fletcher.aspx" title="Amanda Fletcher">recruiter</a>, I talk to people who are actively looking for a change in employment opportunities, as well as those who are ... <xsl:value-of select="data[@alias='headline']"/> Tue, 02 Feb 2010 09:29:23 GMT/blog/2010/2/2/what-is-consulting.aspx$SiteURL/blog/2010/2/2/what-is-consulting.aspx <p>In my various IT roles over the past 30 years I've hired a number of IT consulting firms of all sizes and capabilities, both on-shore and off-shore to help solve a variety of problems. The reasons for using a consulting firm&nbsp;are as varied... <xsl:value-of select="data[@alias='headline']"/> Fri, 12 Feb 2010 13:55:49 GMT/blog/2010/2/12/technology-solutions-at-stonehenge.aspx$SiteURL/blog/2010/2/12/technology-solutions-at-stonehenge.aspx <p>As I mentioned last week, StoneHenge Partners is an 11 year old IT Consulting and Staffing company that has built its reputation around&nbsp;three primary service offerings; Professional Services, Strategic Consulting, and&nbsp;Staffing. One o... <xsl:value-of select="data[@alias='headline']"/> Wed, 17 Feb 2010 16:02:25 GMT/blog/2010/2/17/strategic-consulting-at-stonehenge.aspx$SiteURL/blog/2010/2/17/strategic-consulting-at-stonehenge.aspx <p>As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, StoneHenge Partners is an 11 year old IT Consulting and Staffing company that has built its reputation around&nbsp;three primary service offerings; Professional Services, Strategic Consulting, and&nbsp;Sta... <xsl:value-of select="data[@alias='headline']"/> Wed, 24 Mar 2010 11:24:00 GMT/blog/2010/3/24/content-modeling.aspx$SiteURL/blog/2010/3/24/content-modeling.aspx <p><img src="/media/4488/ben-herrington.jpg" width="80" height="120" alt="Ben Herrington" class="right"/>One of the most commonly unanswered questions in implementing a website content management system is: How do you want to divvy up the content... <xsl:value-of select="data[@alias='headline']"/> Mon, 29 Mar 2010 15:05:31 GMT/blog/2010/3/29/agile-vs-nimble.aspx$SiteURL/blog/2010/3/29/agile-vs-nimble.aspx <p><img src="/media/4493/wayne-wild.jpg" width="80" height="120" alt="Wayne Wild" class="right"/>Just like the software development industry as a whole, we too have experienced problems before integrating Agile Development into our methodology.</... <xsl:value-of select="data[@alias='headline']"/> Thu, 29 Apr 2010 10:29:28 GMT/blog/2010/4/29/a-better-way-to-support-browsers.aspx$SiteURL/blog/2010/4/29/a-better-way-to-support-browsers.aspx <p><img src="/media/4488/ben-herrington.jpg" width="80" height="120" alt="Ben Herrington" class="right"/>How many times has this happened to you: The client calls. "I can't see my new widget. The site's broken!" "Sorry, sir,&nbsp; you'll have to ... <xsl:value-of select="data[@alias='headline']"/> Tue, 04 May 2010 15:53:18 GMT/blog/2010/5/4/staff-augmentation.aspx$SiteURL/blog/2010/5/4/staff-augmentation.aspx <p><img src="/media/30587/mike-rodebush.jpg" width="80" height="120" alt="Mike Rodebush" class="right"/>Serving in various IT Director positions over the past 30 years I frequently found myself needing to augment my staff.</p> <p>Sometimes we ne... <xsl:value-of select="data[@alias='headline']"/> Thu, 06 May 2010 13:49:31 GMT/blog/2010/5/6/the-difference-between-success-and-failure.aspx$SiteURL/blog/2010/5/6/the-difference-between-success-and-failure.aspx <p><img src="/media/30587/mike-rodebush.jpg" width="80" height="120" alt="Mike Rodebush" class="right"/>Every company has worked on some projects that were a great successes, and some projects that weren't as successful. What makes the difference... <xsl:value-of select="data[@alias='headline']"/> Mon, 17 May 2010 12:24:55 GMT/blog/2010/5/17/nimble-works-with-agility.aspx$SiteURL/blog/2010/5/17/nimble-works-with-agility.aspx <p><a href="http://www.agilemanifesto.org/" title="The Agile Alliance Manifesto"><img src="/media/4493/wayne-wild.jpg" width="80" height="120" alt="Wayne Wild" class="right"/>Agile Software Development</a> is a relentless focus on providing a con... <xsl:value-of select="data[@alias='headline']"/> Thu, 20 May 2010 09:45:38 GMT/blog/2010/5/20/system-administration-on-a-zero-budget.aspx$SiteURL/blog/2010/5/20/system-administration-on-a-zero-budget.aspx <p>As with most small businesses, when it comes to IT, our own needs take a back seat to our clients. In our case, we have a definite need for an IT support shop to provide internal development servers, test environments, and everything else asso... <xsl:value-of select="data[@alias='headline']"/> Tue, 06 Jul 2010 08:57:57 GMT/blog/2010/7/6/function-points-by-the-numbers.aspx$SiteURL/blog/2010/7/6/function-points-by-the-numbers.aspx <p>For the last three years we have been using Function Point Analysis to size IT projects at StoneHenge Partners. Below is a summary of our sizing effort and the lessons we have learned along the way.</p> <h4>The numbers</h4> <table border="0"... <xsl:value-of select="data[@alias='headline']"/> Fri, 30 Jul 2010 13:51:16 GMT/blog/2010/7/30/if-its-meat-its-not-spam.aspx$SiteURL/blog/2010/7/30/if-its-meat-its-not-spam.aspx <p>I was talking to a prospective client yesterday when he remarked about our monthly email newsletter.</p> <p>"It's really good," he said. "I read it each month. I look forward to it."</p> <p>When was the last time you heard a client say he lo... <xsl:value-of select="data[@alias='headline']"/> Fri, 30 Jul 2010 15:54:40 GMT/blog/2010/7/30/crisis-communication---lessons-learned.aspx$SiteURL/blog/2010/7/30/crisis-communication---lessons-learned.aspx <p>A <a href="http://www.tulsaworld.com/business/article.aspx?subjectid=46&amp;articleid=20100729_46_E4_Fallou110497&amp;archive=yes" title="Tulsa World">recent article</a> in the Tulsa World about the BP Gulf oil crisis highlights the benefit o... <xsl:value-of select="data[@alias='headline']"/> Tue, 17 Aug 2010 16:11:45 GMT/blog/2010/8/17/knowledge-management.aspx$SiteURL/blog/2010/8/17/knowledge-management.aspx <p>What would such diverse topics as space shuttle flights, gas well flow regulators, cancer studies, and Hollywood movies have in common? They were topics of discussion at the <a href="http://www.kipanet.org/" title="Knowledge Management Symposi... <xsl:value-of select="data[@alias='headline']"/> Wed, 18 Aug 2010 10:47:18 GMT/blog/2010/8/18/e-commerce.aspx$SiteURL/blog/2010/8/18/e-commerce.aspx <p>I've been working a lot lately on e-commerce websites. I'm working with three different clients, in three different industries, with three different e-commerce needs. And yet all three had the same viewpoint, initially: "What's so hard about e... <xsl:value-of select="data[@alias='headline']"/> Tue, 23 Nov 2010 11:17:07 GMT/blog/2010/11/23/worth-1,000-words.aspx$SiteURL/blog/2010/11/23/worth-1,000-words.aspx <p>Last week I was in a meeting with a client and our architect/tech lead on a website development project. The client was explaining a newly discovered business requirement we needed to fold in somehow.</p> <p>"We sell our products to students,...