Island Web Works

This post is part of a MIGTurbo CRM 2 series that will highlight the key improvements and features in the new product that we’ll be running over the next few months. You can also follow our Twitter account @migturbo for regular updates on progress.

Early on in the MIGTurbo CRM 2 development we asked ourselves if the current graphical user interface (GUI) was in fact the best one, or if we should consider taking another approach.  We had numerous discussions where we batted around different ideas, and ended up trying out several prototypes before committing to the final GUI.

Taskbar interface

In our first approach, we wanted to link back to the familiarity of Windows by making the interface taskbar-centric.

A main menu button would trigger a start menu, from where you could select different modules to be displayed in separate windows.  Each module window would have a button in the taskbar, from where it could be restored if it had been minimized or obscured by other windows.

Whilst it had obvious benefits in being very flexible and working a lot like the Windows GUI, several problems soon arose.  The main one was the confusion of having a second taskbar in addition to the Windows taskbar.  Another problem was clarity - with multiple windows active at any one time, potentially overlapping or obscuring each other, it would be difficult to get a quick overview of what information you have available.

Accordion interface

To address the problems with the taskbar interface we came up with a GUI with expandable/collapsible panels in the style of an accordion interface. 

Vertical lists of panels could be expanded by collapsing other panels in the same vertical ‘lane’.  Multiple tabs could also be combined to form tabbed panel areas.  This way we could utilise as much of the screen real estate as possible without making the interface too cluttered.

This approach worked to a degree, but turned out to offer less flexibility than we’d anticipated.  It was, after all, just a fixed layout of panels.  Also, the idea of having to constantly hide panels to display others felt counter-intuitive and cumbersome.

Docking interface

Our third approach was a docking interface, where panels could be docked to form tabbed panel areas, tucked away as pop-out tabs or left as floating window panels.  This gave us a high degree of flexibility - recreating the classic layout of MIGTurbo 1 series was a piece of cake, for instance.  At the same time, this approach really maximised the use of available space.  Different layouts could also be saved for instant recall, allowing the operator to open an ‘end-of-month’ view for the monthly summary, or a marketing view when sending out email shots.

From prototype to final GUI

Once we tested the third prototype, it was quite clear we had a winner.  Ease-of-use combined with flexibility and clarity put the docking interface way ahead of the others.  That it could be made to look like the MIGTurbo 1 series GUI was a nice bonus, as it would reduce the learning curve for our existing user base.  So, as it turned out, we did have a good interface in the older versions of MIGTurbo, but the new docking functionality will bring it to a whole new level of usability.  Exciting times indeed!

This post is part of a MIGTurbo CRM 2 series that will highlight the key improvements and features in the new product that we’ll be running over the next few months. You can also follow our Twitter account @migturbo for regular updates on progress.

Andreas MIGTurbo, MIGTurbo CRM 2

This post is part of a MIGTurbo CRM 2 series that will highlight the key improvements and features in the new product that we’ll be running over the next few months. You can also follow our Twitter account @migturbo for regular updates on progress.

When we blogged about the new client/server model of MIGTurbo CRM 2, we gave a hint as to how we see users interacting with the product. This post discussed how the database server was “hidden” behind the MIGTurbo application server. But if the user cannot connect to the MIGTurbo database directly, how can they use MIGTurbo?

MIGTurbo CRM 2 brings with it a comprehensive API for extending the product both at the server level, and at the client-level. Using this API, we can provide secure access to MIGTurbo data using nothing more than a server URI, a username and a password. We’re going to include two “clients” out of the box.

MIGTurbo CRM 2.0 Silverlight Client

The MIGTurbo CRM product demands a rich user interface that is a pleasure to use, as it is often the key component on a user’s desktop. We were keen on retaining a web user interface, but we didn’t want to find ourselves working around the complexities of web pages and utilitising toolkits that were stretching the web experience to its limit. We developed a number of mock-ups using web page-based user interfaces but felt that we still lacked the killer customisation and user-driven experience we required. Until we created a mock-up in Microsoft Silverlight.

Microsoft Silverlight is a rich internet application (RIA) platform that allows development of web experiences that combines the mashing together of web data and technologies and a rich user experience. While it is implemented in much the same way as Adobe Flash, it is actually a richer and more comprehensive platform. Silverlight brings with it a subset of the .NET Framework, building on existing APIs such as WCF and WPF. Much of the code between server and client can be shared, and using the Microsoft stack, we were able to create an attractive and extensible user interface on business data. We’ve remained loyal to our user interface, too, as you’ll see in upcoming screenshots.

Using Silverlight, it is also possible to “install” MIGTurbo locally. This “out of browser” experience creates an icon in your Start Menu that behaves in most ways as if the software was installed locally on your own machine. This reduces the gap to the server, but it is important to note that MIGTurbo will continue to run in all the major browsers on the Windows platform (Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, etc.) and also the Apple Mac platform.

Silverlight remains amongst the most secure application platforms available on the internet today. It also is not standing still. The upcoming release of Silverlight 4 promises interoperability with desktop applications, webcams and more. Rumours abound of Silverlight appearing on mobile devices being announced in the MIX10 event from the newly rebranded Windows Phone to Symbian devices. If you’re in doubt, check these trends out for people investigating Silverlight as opposed to ASP.NET on Google.

MIGTurbo CRM 2.0 Office Client

Not all users will need to use MIGTurbo for their day-to-day work. And not all users work in a web browser silo to fulfil their function. That is why MIGTurbo CRM 2.0 will extend the successful Outlook Toolbar add-on to provide more functionality direct from Microsoft Office.

Users of our Outlook Toolbar have seen how integrating with MIGTurbo and MIGTurbo DocuMentor has made their job dealing with items in their inbox much easier, especially when relating communication back to clients, respondants and candidates. We’re building on this functionality to dig deeper into MIGTurbo, providing features from across the product including any plug-ins. The MIGTurbo toolbar will appear in Microsoft Outlook and will also soon appear in Microsoft Word and Excel. You won’t be far from MIGTurbo, whatever your role may be.

This is possible using the MIGTurbo CRM 2 API. We’re already starting to hear expressions of interest on how our clients can utilise this API for themselves to extend our existing user interfaces and build entirely new ones for their own specific purposes. The API is secure and uses the Microsoft stack so will be readily portable onto desktop, web and portable devices.

These posts discuss features of MIGTurbo CRM 2. While we have every confidence that these features will appear and work as discussed, these blog posts do not represent a final product specification. We will release final product specifications at launch.

Nathan MIGTurbo CRM 2 MIGTurbo 2.0, MIGTurbo Outlook Toolbar, Silverlight, User Experience (UX)

This post is part of a MIGTurbo CRM 2 series that will highlight the key improvements and features in the new product that we’ll be running over the next few months. You can also follow our Twitter account @migturbo for regular updates on progress.

With the development of version 2 of MIGTurbo, we soon realised that we needed to revitalise the MIGTurbo branding to reflect both the major leap in technology and the potential present in the new version.  After all, this is our first full version upgrade with a completely new code base (we’re not using a single line of code from the previous 1.x versions).

The first thing we needed to address was the MIGTurbo logo itself.  The logo had undergone a slow and gradual evolution over the years, but essentially stayed the same square white and blue badge as it was in our first release in 2002.  For the new version we wanted to illustrate the solidity and adaptability of the software, but at the same time hint at how easy MIGTurbo is to use.  After much discussion we agreed on replacing the badge with a glassy sphere.  The shape of a sphere is simple, smooth and efficient, and making it look like glass gives it an impression of being heavy and solid whilst at the same time being transparent and clear.  The name MIGTurbo was also moved out of the logo and placed alongside to make it easier to read.  In addition, the abbreviation ‘CRM’ was added to clarify the purpose of the product.

With the logo now in place, we moved on to the supporting branding.  For the last couple of years we’ve been using our ‘Blue sky’ concept together with the tag line ‘Simply a better way…’ which has served us well.  This would not work with our new logo however; a different concept was needed.  The fact that MIGTurbo is business critical for many of our clients gave the idea that MIGTurbo is like the DNA of a business; a centra-lised carrier of  information necessary for everyday operation.  That resulted in the tag line ‘MIGTurbo - The DNA of your business’.  That, in turn, gave us the concept of DNA strands and we tried out several different backdrops based on that idea until we finally settled on a multi strand swoosh sprinkled with bubbles representing DNA base pairs.

The end result is a brand that feels modern and fresh but still distinctly business-like.  We are rather pleased with it.  What do you think?

We are planning to integrate the new branding on our Twitter channel and our MIGTurbo web site.

This post is part of a MIGTurbo CRM 2 series that will highlight the key improvements and features in the new product that we’ll be running over the next few months. You can also follow our Twitter account @migturbo for regular updates on progress.

Andreas MIGTurbo, MIGTurbo CRM 2 Branding, Logo, MIGTurbo 2.0

This post is part of a MIGTurbo CRM 2 series that will highlight the key improvements and features in the new product that we’ll be running over the next few months. You can also follow our Twitter account @migturbo for regular updates on progress.

Over the past year, we’ve been hard at work developing the new evolution of our key business intelligence product, MIGTurbo 2.0. MIGTurbo is a successful CRM product running in many client sites both on and off the island. During its lifetime, we’ve come to understand what our users want and how they work. One aspect we have come to learn is how users configure their servers.

A key trend that has developed in the last 5 years is virtualisation. Virtualisation allows companies to extract more efficiency out of their existing hardware platform by creating virtual instances of servers running on the same physical hardware. If implemented well, this can result in benefits such as:

• efficiencies in leveraging under-used CPU cycles by planning and scheduling server activity accordingly
• separating server processes to provide a layer of protection from configuration issues when processes compete for finite resources
• provides redundancy and an additional backup strategy to maximise uptime and reduce maintenance costs

Having virtualisation in mind when working on MIGTurbo 2.0, we were able to re-architect MIGTurbo to work well within both virtualised and existing physical environments. A key change we have made to this new version is to extract the “engine” of MIGTurbo from an IIS-hosted application to a self-contained server process. This allows MIGTurbo to operate independently of IIS and its configuration for its core operation, and providing a host for autonomous activities such as workflow, caching, index building and security services.

A key benefit for us is that as MIGTurbo develops, we can decide whether features are user-oriented, or system-oriented. System-oriented features such as security indexes can be built and maintained on the server at no cost to the user’s experience.

This positions MIGTurbo in the ideal position for businesses of just about any size. From a one-man business with a server in the corner to an organisation with thousands of users across different sites, MIGTurbo has a deployment model that will work.

The diagram below illustrates a typical “top-end” installation.

MIGTurbo Server deployment

The diagram shows three servers managing the MIGTurbo installation. These can be independent physical boxes, some or all of them could be virtualised on a single box, or different processes can be brought on to the same box as required by the company and available on the existing infrastructure. The Web Server continues to be the “point of contact” for MIGTurbo users who will fire up their browsers in the usual manner to interact with the software. Using the new API, new user interface clients can be created which interact with the web server or directly with the MIGTurbo server engine itself, for added performance.

A final benefit to this is that it moves the sensitive raw data further away from the end user. In a security conscious organisation, firewalls can be implemented between each server to maximise the security of the SQL Server databases used to store business critical and highly sensitive data. We’ve also used secure communications between the client and various components of MIGTurbo to further increase security. The diagram below shows that MIGTurbo maintains a secure database even when deployed over the internet using a DMZ configuration:

MIGTurbo working within a DMZ firewall

Moving the MIGTurbo engine out of IIS also allows us to provide additional functionality that would otherwise have been difficult from within the security-restricted context of IIS. Services such as instrumentation using Windows Performance Monitors can be created to allow real-time monitoring of MIGTurbo performance along with other functions that require deeper interaction with the operating system. Configuration is also made easier as IIS dependencies are reduced to only those services required to support the user interface.

Profiling MIGTurbo using Windows Performance Monitor

We believe that this change will form an important platform to allow us to take MIGTurbo to a new level. MIGTurbo has been growing with your business since v1.8, now it can grow with your IT hardware policy to maximise performance for individual users.

These posts discuss features of MIGTurbo CRM 2. While we have every confidence that these features will appear and work as discussed, these blog posts do not represent a final product specification. We will release final product specifications at launch.

Nathan MIGTurbo, MIGTurbo CRM 2 MIGTurbo 2.0, Virtualisation

Yesterday saw the Isle of Man section of the British Computing Society host a talk by Gabriel Karawani on Sharepoint and the benefits it can bring as a Document Management  solution. The BCS regularly host events such as this, which range from soft-skills to harder, technical topics. Overall, a wide mix that should suit most tastes.

As a regular attendee, I was keen to invite Charles down to the presentation to see how other people implement and use Microsoft SharePoint.

The presentation consisted of a fair chunk of marketing-speak, with a brief case-study thrown in. I found it interesting when Gabriel (the presenter) asserted that most people spend a lot of their day interacting with Microsoft Outlook. To this end, he demonstrated SharePoint as an add-on to the standard Outlook interface.

The question is, do people use Outlook because it is a reliable and effective interface for working with other applications such as document management, client management, etc., or because as Outlook is a de-facto business standard which leaves them feeling as if they no have other choice? The interface that was demonstrated felt a little clunky as a result.

What became clear from the presentation is that utilising SharePoint is hardly a case of  ”turn it on and go”. The product represents the foundations of what you could accomplish, given sufficient time and allocation of IT resources whether internally or externally.

When you put it alongside other, more feature complete, systems we deal with such as our own DocuMentor product which comes as part of MIGTurbo CRM, or the Laserfiche Document management solution, it becomes clear that businesses don’t necessarily work the way Microsoft think they do - or should. Nor do they have the resources required to “complete” the job.

We’ve had a number of discussions within the office about the MIGTurbo experience, and where it should lie. Should we leverage the existing power and user experience built around the Microsoft Outlook/Exchange product, or develop a product alongside it that itself would form the hub of a user’s day? The answer is a mix of these. What is key, however, is being able to draw on our experience with working with businesses to facilitate a working procedure that mirrors their business processes and requirements.

In moving forward, we’re certainly going to maintain our focus on the MIGTurbo CRM product as being the force mejeure behind many of our client’s businesses, but we will keep a keen eye on what infrastructure is already within the business, such as Microsoft Exchange for working with scheduling and communications and Microsoft SharePoint when working with documents. It seems to be a logical move to be able to provide users with the option of combining MIGTurbo with their existing infrastructure, which may have its own eco-system of plug-ins and processes essential to the business. MIGTurbo CRM 2 is certainly going to be an exciting product.

Nathan MIGTurbo Document Management, DocuMentor, Exchange, LaserFiche, MIGTurbo 2.0, Outlook, SharePoint

The reason for the title is the number of diaries people seem to use. In our office, the main diary is MIGTurbo, however, colleagues also use Google, various Mobile phone diaries and even Outlook! Absolutely mind blowing when you consider how difficult it is keeping just a single calendar in sync with birthdays etc.

Personally, I have never used the Outlook Diary, nor a diary in my mobile phone, personal organiser or any one of the many web based freebies! I used to use an A4 diary, until I tired of replicating information into my primary electronic diary - the one within MIGTurbo that is. Fortunately I can access this from any mobile phone or browser with an internet connection so I am usually always where I should be when I should.

Fortunately, there is a technology that enables you to synchronise all your different diaries within in a single diary of your choice.  iCalendar is a file-format that allows calendar items to be sent/received and used between different calendar programmes that support files with a .ics suffix .

So, now you know, if you’re ever asked how many diaries you need, your answer should be - only one!

Charles MIGTurbo Diary, MIGTurbo 1.9, Outlook

With the new user interface in MIGTurbo 2 coming together, we were faced with the daunting task of replacing the existing set of icons.  In older versions of MIGTurbo we have been using pixel-based 16×16px icons, just like the ones you find in older versions of Windows (pre-XP).  Whilst they’ve been serving us well, we thought a new set of vector-based icons would suit the new Graphical User Interface (GUI) better.

So, considering we’re currently using more than 350 icons in MIGTurbo, how to go about getting a replacement set?

First we looked at commercially available icon libraries, but we soon hit a couple of problems. To start with, existing libraries are subject to a range of complicated licence schemes, where you might or might not be able to use the purchased icons in distributable software products (whilst it’s true that MIGTurbo is a web based solution, it’s not after all a single hosted web site).  Secondly, finding a set of icons in a suitable style catering for our rather specific needs proved to be difficult.

In the end we found it more convenient to create the replacement set ourselves.  This gave us full control to add and/or modify icons to suit our needs, and obviously licencing wouldn’t be an issue either! Also, it was quite rewarding to get an opportunity to work in Illustrator again.

So, what at first seemed to be a daunting prospect turned out to be the easiest solution - with the added bonus of getting a unique one-of-the-kind icon set!

Below you can view a small subset of the new icons - I think they turned out quite well!

Andreas MIGTurbo Graphical User Interface (GUI), GUI, icons, MIGTurbo, MIGTurbo 2.0, User Experience (UX)

What a sunny place Brighton is. I had the good fortune to attend a conference there last week, glorious sunshine and very clean. What I learnt however, was nothing to do with the resort itself, it was more about records management and the challenges organisations face trying to keep on top of the Freedom of Information Act.

Basically, there appears to be a lot of systems out there that enable you to track and manage documents held, however, cracks appear where you have an organisation with multiple systems. This is compounded by different systems’ use of different references to identify the individual about whom the stored documentation refers.

I have a solution: CRM. By managing all this information in a client/customer centric manner, we can provide a mechanism that enables businesses/organisations to keep information on their client/customer; maintaining security/integrity of data (where necessary) between departments/divisions etc., and still enabling a single point of reference so the records manager can swiftly identify which systems contain information relating to the which client/customer.

No more rainy days for me!

Charles MIGTurbo CRM, Document Management, Freedom of Information

Microsoft have released their latest service pack for Microsoft Office, which includes Microsoft Outlook. The service pack comes with a number of improvements and fixes, including some interesting improvements to Outlook itself including improving start-up and shutdown speeds.

We’ve put our own MIGTurbo CRM Outlook Add-on toolbar through its paces under the new Office 2007 Service Pack 2 and are pleased to say it passes with flying colours!

If you run MIGTurbo from a managed corporate network, your systems administration team will no doubt update your software for you in due course.

For more information about Office 2007 Service Pack 2, visit Microsoft’s Support site:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/953195

If you don’t have your installation of Microsoft Office downloading updates using Windows update, you can download the service pack using the link below:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/968170

Nathan MIGTurbo MIGTurbo Outlook Toolbar, Office 2007, Outlook

In February we released a new version of the MIGTurbo CRM Toolbar for Microsoft Outlook users. Development of this ‘all new’ version has been undertaken in-house to ensure that we can provide clients direct support and actively incorporate their feedback into the development process.

Since February, we have released a number of updates to the new toolbar based on client feedback of the toolbar “in the wild”.

Change your mind on sending emails when filing

The MIGTurbo CRM Outlook Toolbar seamlessly integrates into your Microsoft Outlook application so that you can choose to file items manually or automatically when you send emails. But what if you have second thoughts on sending an email? If you have your toolbar to file outgoing items, when you are prompted to confirm the filing details you now have an extra button: “Do not File or Send”. This allows you to cancel sending and filing the item, useful for saving blushes later!

Outlook Distribution Lists and Groups expanded

When sending to many people, Outlook provides a useful feature of grouping contacts together. This is ideal for sending to anyone involved in a team. We’ve improved the toolbar to take this into account and “expand” the Distribution List or Group to file against one of its member contacts.

Added Template Fields

We’re very concious of our clients’ security and privacy requirements, particularly when working with recruitment or financial data. To further improve on our extensive security and privacy considerations within MIGTurbo, we’ve also added three additional fields that allow you to include just the To, CC or BCC fields when you’re filing messages away in MIGTurbo. This way any project managers, stakeholders who may be copied in on a message will retain anonymity within MIGTurbo CRM.

If you’re already using the MIGTurbo CRM Outlook Toolbar and want to benefit from these new features, be sure to contact us and we’ll be happy to introduce your organisation to these improvements.

Nathan MIGTurbo MIGTurbo 1.8, MIGTurbo 1.9, MIGTurbo Outlook Toolbar, Outlook