The Communications Vault

You cringe as you open the company website and are greeted by a number of rapidly flashing images. You click and the page explodes into kaleidoscopic text that pulsates with different colors. The phone rings and your e-mail dings, but you already know what they are going to say: The company site has been hacked. This is a corporate nightmare and to think…it all could have been avoided.

There is no question that a hackers’ post can easily ruin a perfectly good day. And it never fails to amaze my clients that their 24-7 billboard to the world is so widely visible. The smallest company can be inundated by phone calls when a security breach takes place. SQL Injection is one of the many web attack mechanisms used by hackers to gain access to the data held within your database.

SQL Injection allows a hacker to pass SQL commands (statements) through a web application for execution by the backend database. If not setup properly, SQL Injection attacks allow hackers to view information from the database and/or even wipe it out. Older sites that take advantage of dynamic scripting languages, such as ASP, PHP, JSP, and CGI are especially vulnerable. A hacker merely needs a web browser, knowledge of SQL queries and creative guesswork to wreak havoc. (more…)

It’s been a long overdue task posting here on the Vault and I welcome the invite! I’m a geek by trade as most of you know (or are about to find out). Actually we spell it G33K - the 3’s make it geekier by nature! I’ll try to tone it down a bit, but consider this your warning prior to reading on that this is a g33ky entry.

Often in a normal work week I get asked many questions regarding web development. These questions are on a wide range of topics including Flash, Accessibility, XHTML, CSS… you get the idea. With more and more companies becoming enlightened in the ways of existing content management frameworks, a question that comes up often is: “Which is the right solution for me, a pre-built content management system like Joomla!, Drupal, WordPress (for blogging), or Ektron…or a custom tool that JPL would code specific to my needs?”

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Learn how to create a people-driven brand experience by conducting web strategy before you create or redesign your next website. Strategists from JPL Productions have the answers to getting the most ROI from your website.

 

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Week One: The president calls, he’s just noticed there is a typo on the main page of the company website. You scramble to have your web development company fix the error.

Week Two: Fran, over in Accounting, e-mails to let you know that her extension is incorrectly listed in the corporate directory. How is she ever supposed to get a date if her number isn’t listed properly in the corporate directory?

Week Three: Microsoft releases a new browser and suddenly the site is displaying gobblygook. There’s a mad dash to patch the problem.

Week Four: Someone just hacked into the company website and posted a compromising photo of Bob from last year’s Christmas party. A quick call into your web development company reveals a massive security hole that needs to be fixed asap.

When you’re in charge of the corporate website, these problems are more common than not. Technology is constantly changing and new problems are always cropping up. A text change here, a security patch there, and yet another text change and page addition; if you’re not careful, these problems can end up nickel and diming your company. But you can work to eliminate some of these costs by having a web maintenance plan in place.

A web maintenance plan, like the one we offer at JPL, is a contract for clients who need to make frequent updates and changes to their website. Web maintenance plans are similar to web hosting plans, in that you are charged a monthly fee based on your individual needs.

Benefits of a Web Maintenance Plan

• Work is done at a reduced rate. Unused time rolls over to the next month, until you get to the end of the year. It’s like a cell phone contract; you don’t lose any time until you get to the end of your contract.
• Plans include monthly stats, which are delivered to your e-mail address on the 1st of every month.
• A maintenance plan allows you to easily budget maintenance and improvement costs for the year. This is great for companies that need to secure a yearly budget.
• Best of all, a maintenance plan assures that you can make changes to your website at any time.

Of course a maintenance plan isn’t right for everyone; however if you are consistently making changes to your site, or simply want to secure your web budget and receive a discounted rate, a web maintenance plan may very well be the way to go.

I know that a few of my coworkers will be throwing stuffed penguins at my head after reading this, but I’m going to say it loud and proud: I love Microsoft! No, I don’t love the blue screen of death and yes, I’m well aware that they knowingly ship buggy overpriced software. But, as a web developer, I love Microsoft technology because it’s really easy to create really awesome web applications really fast. And that’s why I’m excited that JPL is now a Microsoft Certified Partner.

The biggest benefit that we’re going to see right away is 5 free MSDN Premium subscriptions. An MSDN Subscription is more expensive than buying a grande light macchiato latte with whipped cream every day for a year! So now, more than ever, we’ll be staying on the cutting edge of the most popular web development platform that exists.

I’m stoked about our Certified status because JPL has decided to go for the Gold! Gold Certified Partner, that is. One of the requirements to become a Gold partner is that individuals in the company need to achieve various Microsoft certifications, and I’ve been asked to become a Microsoft Certified Professional Developer. The company will pay for my study materials and exams, and then I’ll have an excellent credential that will show off my expert development skills.

Membership in the Microsoft Certified Partner Program will provide JPL with resources to help it develop and deploy robust Microsoft solutions that will help speed our customers’ time to market and reduce costs.