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Thoughts and ideas on how to build tools, automate workflows and speed-up the workplace.

Build MySQL Admin Tools in 6 Steps with Budibase

MySQL admin tools are some of the simplest applications around - but they can play a vital role in all kinds of daily workflows. The unfortunate reality is that the kinds of colleagues who are responsible for most admin tasks don’t have the technical expertise or time to sit around writing custom queries all day. Therefore, we often need custom solutions to bridge this gap. IT teams are tasked with outputting huge numbers of internal tools for managing data sets.

Ronan McQuillan

Jun 23, 2023

IT Operations Analytics | In-Depth Guide

IT operations analytics is a central part of how we make sense of complex, busy internal IT processes. Honestly, the role of the IT team has never been as varied or mission-critical as it is today. With rapidly changing technology, growing demand for digital solutions, emerging threats and risks, and ever-increasing budgetary pressures, it’s absolutely vital that we know exactly what’s going on across our entire organization’s IT. This means first gaining insight into how our IT processes work in practice and secondly assessing how these perform in terms of contributing to our wider operational efficiency and effectiveness.

Ronan McQuillan

Jun 23, 2023

Digital Transformation UX | In-Depth Guide

Far too often, user experiences are an afterthought when businesses digitalize processes. It’s easy to fall into the trap of focusing too much on shiny new tools and forgetting about human users. Today we’re exploring why your digital transformation UX is vital to creating streamlined, effective internal processes that actually drive real-world value. See, it’s not inevitable that your digital transformation projects will bring results. Even the most technically sophisticated solution in the world isn’t going to do you much good if it’s not built to provide value to actual customers and colleagues.

Ronan McQuillan

Jun 16, 2023

How to Migrate Google Sheets to Postgres in 6 Steps

Moving data from Google Sheets to Postgres - or the DBMS of your choice - is one of the fundamental steps toward achieving modern, effective data management. See, huge numbers of teams rely on spreadsheets for use cases where they just aren’t really suitable. Obviously, spreadsheets are so dominant for a reason - there’s no disputing that they offer a huge degree of flexibility, power, and usability. But - when it comes to securely scaling data operations while maintaining accuracy, reliability, and interoperability, they leave a lot to be desired.

Ronan McQuillan

Jun 16, 2023

System Integration vs Software Development

When we’re adding new technical capabilities, the first challenge is figuring out what our most cost-effective option is. More often than not, this means weighing up system integration vs software development. Specifically, we need to make a decision based on what we’re trying to achieve, the technical resources we have available, and what our current tool stack is capable of. Custom builds aren’t cheap - so it makes sense to get the most out of our existing tools.

Ronan McQuillan

Jun 16, 2023

Data Entry Automation | 5-Step Guide

Data entry is one of the most accessible routes to major efficiency savings. See, data entry is about the most repetitive, menial admin task there is. Despite this - it’s also one of the most common admin processes in all kinds of organizations. In a lot of cases, if you have colleagues entering data manually all day, it’s indicative of a bigger problem with your data ops. At least, it’s rare that manual data entry is the optimal solution - except in very specific, limited situations.

Ronan McQuillan

Jun 12, 2023

How to Implement Agile in Operations

Understanding how to implement Agile in operations teams is one of the most valuable skills for any modern organization. Once upon a time, Agile was more or less exclusively a software development methodology. Nowadays, it’s quickly becoming the norm across all kinds of teams and departments. In particular, IT and operations teams are increasingly turning to Agile to take advantage of quicker turnaround times, lower overheads, and enhanced ability to meet real-world business challenges - among plenty of other benefits.

Ronan McQuillan

Jun 12, 2023

IT Operations (IT Ops) | In-Depth Guide

The IT operations team are the unsung heroes of just about every medium to large organization. Indeed, the reality is that - without effective IT ops - it’s unlikely that your wider team will ever reach its potential. Actually, the chances are that you’ll quickly find yourself struggling to keep up with your competitors. Today, we’re delving into everything you need to know at a practical level. We’ll cover all of the important theory around what IT operations involves, what it achieves, who is responsible, and how it’s managed.

Ronan McQuillan

Jun 12, 2023

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