True Meaning of Scrum and Pitfalls to Avoid At All Costs

Scrum, having its roots in Agile methodology, can be effectively employed for almost any type of project.

However, scrum is most preferred for software development purposes. The scrum process is ideally suited for rapidly changing project environments. It is most useful, and its potential can be tapped in the best manner, when the user related requirements are changed frequently, or randomly, due to various reasons. The methodology makes it possible to incorporate the changes easily and effectively within its development cycle, and still generate positive outputs.

The true essence and working of scrum

According to scrum methodology, development occurs in short bursts of activity known as "sprints". Each sprint can generally last from two to four weeks. Each sprint begins with a meeting, known as a "sprint meeting", and typically concludes with clearly defined and set out development objectives. Sprint meetings are very brief, and occur daily before the commencement of the sprint for that particular day. The main objective of the meeting is to apprise everyone about how much development progress has been made since the previous day, and what objectives are to be achieved on the particular working day. The main purpose of scrum is to aid the team members in inspecting and adapting to the changes, and providing transparency with regards the working of the project. Another main advantage offered by scrum framework is to increase the involvement, and the interaction of the client with the team members. The client remains apprised about the most recent development status, which helps him or her to undertake informed decisions about what further development activities are required to complete the project in totality, and what features and functionalities need to be omitted, or which have become redundant during the development cycle.

Pitfalls while implementing scrum

Scrum is a framework, a methodology based upon an organized thought process developed specially to cater to changing development requirements, and the main issue with Agile and scrum is that the methodology is to be implemented, or its rules enforced in a proper manner. Many a times, when organizations are not properly trained in the implementation of the methodology, there is a tendency to fall back upon old development methods, consciously or unconsciously, thus making scrum redundant.

Traditional development methods such as Waterfall have been in existence since a long time, and people are more familiar with them. Project managers have practiced these methods for a long time, and they are more conversant with them. Scrum can be difficult to implement, and if the manager is not properly trained, he or she may substitute some of the scrum related processes with Waterfall methods. The objective is to provide a specific solution during the development cycle, and when the person fails to implement scrum in a particular development related process, he or she "patches" up scrum implementation process with a Waterfall technique. This should be avoided at all costs. Scrum should be implemented in totality for it to be effective.

Different Modes of Obtaining Support for Your AOL Account

AOL is a popular email service that is also accredited by many as being one of the first email services to have come into existence. The company had started back in the 1980s as a provider of a downloadable game playable on a gaming console. With time, the company introduced several other aspects into its business, email services being one of the major ones amongst them. These services used to be a paid feature when AOL enjoyed a sort of monopoly over them in the beginning, but with competition joining in and offering their email services for free, AOL too had to make its email services free for all.

The company has also integrated its email services with several other features of its own, such as AOL Messenger, Lifestyle updates, News section, Entertainment and many more. Such is the warmth in the company's services that people from all across the U.S. who have AOL email accounts feel as if they too are a part of the company. AOL makes their email service experience even better by offering them a dedicated web page from where customers can easily get assistance with any kind of issue that they may face at some time.

However, AOL Customer Service does not include live support services. Its online page is the only support that is officially available to all. It is well-equipped with almost every bit of information that one may seek to deal with some sort of situation causing trouble for him. However there are still many who may find this support page to be a bit too complex to understand, which will make them look for alternative options to have their issue resolved.

At such a stage, a customer usually can make use of any of the below given means that are the most commonly used alternatives for AOL Customer Service:

• Take assistance from someone around who has knowledge about AOL
• Take help from some nearby professional who provides email support services
• Take assistance from an on-call professional who offers such services

For availing assistance from a technician who lives around, you usually would be required to shell out big bucks however you would also be assured of a certain resolution. Assistance from an on-call technician again would provide you with a definite resolution, but at a much lower fee than the former one.

But then not all on-call technical support provider companies can be relied upon in the first go. There are quite many fake ones as well. This is why you must always try to find out reviews about the firm you have chosen online, and read what their past customers have to say about them. Reading through such reviews can give you a better idea about their resolution rate, after which you can determine if you really needs services from it or not.

Different phone support firms also offer different price plans, and so you must also try to compare those from different companies, in order to find the one that would suit your needs the best.

Diverse Uses of Electronic Signing

They are to ensure the authenticity of the document to the receiver. Signatures are also used to ensure that the document has not been altered in any way. But with the advent of technology, hand written signatures are not a very authentic mean of ensuring the authenticity of a digital document. For this purpose the concept of online Signing was introduced.

A online Signing, to be more precise, is an electronic signature used to make certain that the content of the message has not been tempered with in transit and the sender of the message is a genuine person, who is also known to the receiver. Even the sender of the message cannot alter the message once it has been sent. It cannot be initiated by another person, are transportable, and can also be time-stamped automatically.

It is based on the concept of public key cryptography. The public key cryptography requires two keys, one that is public and known to all concerned parties and the other one that is secret and is known just to the sender. Both keys are linked together mathematically. One key is used to encrypt the message while the other decrypts the encoded message. Different methodologies are used for this purpose.

Benefits of Electronic Signing

Authentication: At times it is difficult to identify whether the message received is from authentic source or not. But with the usage of Electronic Signing the source can be authenticated. This will ensure the receiver that the message was sent from the intended sender. They are highly used in financial context because of their reliability.

Integrity: It prevents the alteration of message. A regular message is usually in the danger of being altered before reaching its desired destination. To ensure that this does not happen, Signing becomes crucial. The encrypted cipher will not be easily understood and therefore will not be tempered.

Use of Electronic Signing in the Business World

The advancement in technology all over the world has resulted in the termination of excess paper work and has reduced the usage of traditional signatures as well. Most of the contacts and documents are sent over the internet rather than through the post. Hence, the organization opting to go digital also needs protection for their documents.

The contact executed online should be as ironclad as the contract signed in the presence of both the parties. So they opt for electronic version of traditional signatures by using the Electronic Signing methodology. There are plenty of authentic software available in the market that are used by organizations to generate public and private keys and hence encrypt their message.

It is widely used in online financial transactions, e-commerce businesses, banks, hospitals, partial e-commerce businesses and almost by all the organizations conducting their business online.

Making Your Home More Personal to You

When people first move into a new home, they tend to spend a lot of time making it look the way that they want it to look. The same can be said for people who have lived in the same house for years. Everyone is always looking for ways to make a building more personal to themselves.

A good way to personalize a home is to add on. This could mean putting an extension on the home, or even a conservatory. Those are the more expensive ways to change the home, but there are cheaper ways.

When compared with the cost to actual building work, one of the cheapest ways is to redecorate or change the furniture. This is more affordable and could be done more than once a year. However, if you change the home every few months, then the price is going to build up.

Designing

If your heart is set on getting an extension or a conservatory, then you should have a bigger budget and you should be prepared to find someone who can do the designing and then co-ordinate with the builders.

Once you have found a designer, you should ask them what software they use to do their plans. The industry accepted design software. Companies who use this software should be given priority over others because they have thought about their own budget for doing design work.

Using such software they will be able to keep design costs down. If they have a separate computer to run their software, then the cost of their service will be more expensive, and therefore the cost of the extension will be less for you.

Work with the designer

Even though you have hired a designer to do the work, that doesn't mean that you have no say in the look of whatever you are having done. There could be times when you don't like the look of the design, or you don't think it matches the rest of the property. If this is the case, then you have to tell the designer.

A good designer will have no problems showing you print outs of designs, or making sure you like the design and making changes, before they hand the plans over to the builders.

If you want something done that is a bit out of the norm, a good designer will have access to programs, so that they can make things that might not have been used before. You will want a designer that is imaginative and can make changes, as well as listening to your needs and being practical.

Cost

You should include the cost of the designer, in the budget of your extension. This will be easier for you to keep track of the cost. When you are contacting designers, ask them for quotes before they start looking into your project. There is no point falling in love with a design if you can't afford it.

Ask them to see a design once you know that you can afford their services. If don't get the full picture from their design, then ask them if they can do you a 3D version of what the finished product will look like. They should be able to do it without too much fuss or extra cost to them.

Once you have the house the way that you want it you will feel more at home and you will be less likely to spend more money changing the house again. Just make sure you can afford the work if you are making a big change, and you have a designer who cares about the work because you may not be able to make sure a massive change, again for a while.

Ways To Improve Your Business With Technology

When people have businesses, they think that they can just buy the technology and then get on with their lives in the business. However, there is a point when the technology becomes a hindrance. If you are in competition with someone else and they have better technology than you, then that might result in them getting more business than you.

Therefore, buying the technology is not just the end of it. You need to know how to use it and you need to know how to maintain your success with it. This might seem like it doesn't make sense to you, but think about it - If you were to walk into an office and they were using the old fashioned monitors and they were still using Windows XP would you hire them over a company that was using iMac?

Look Successful

The key to being successful is looking professional and successful. Even if you have made millions, if you look like you are operating on the bare minimum, a potential customer will think that you will be going out of business soon. They might be looking for a long relationship with a company and if they don't get that vibe from you, they will go somewhere else.

First Impressions count, just like when you walk into an interview in a suit. Their first impression of a person in a suit is that they are professional and have high self-esteem. If you were to go to a job interview in jeans, then they will think that you don't care and you haven't made an effort with them.

Update the hardware

When you have a business, you have to make sure that your hardware is updated. If you are in the stock market and you have to sell certain stocks, at certain prices. If you have a faster computer, it will make the job easier for you. If you have a slower computer, then you are going to struggle to get a better price. Your competition will beat you to punch because their computer is faster than yours. Some things aren't quite as simple as that, but you get the point.

If you are unsure if you can afford all new hardware, you can ask your supplier if they have any payment plans, otherwise you are going to have to save up and when you have made a profit, you can invest in some new computers.

Software

The same goes for software. You should keep it updated at all times. This is about more than making money though. Sometimes when companies give you updates for new versions of the software you use, it is because they are stopping the support for the old version. If you have stuck with the old version and something goes wrong, then you might not be able to get a technician to help you fix it.

The only fix that they might have is to get the updated version. Furthermore, if you are using a piece of software like Autocad, then the updated version might have something that you can use, than was lacking in the original version. Like some companies will release their software without the components because they aren't ready yet. They will release them later and give them to you as a free update. You might be doing yourself out of a new feature by not updating.

Updates are always in your best interest but it is your choice to update or not. It won't prevent you from working if you don't update, but it might put you at a disadvantage against your competition, if you don't.