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Internet Mission Office System Update
ter, 12/23/2008 - 08:24Development continues on the Internet Mission Office System (iMOS), a new Web application that allows mission office staff to manage their organization and perform financial tasks. Project 2 has ended, and Project 3, which will complete the main finance features and enhance existing finance and mission organization sections of the application, is in progress. Currently, about 30 missions are using the system’s mission organization functionality in a beta testing stage of the application rollout. Three of these missions are using the finance features. The Missionary Department expects to add more missions to the beta testing group soon and will begin a general rollout in January 2009. Visit the LDS Tech Forum (http://tech.lds.org/forum/showthread.php?t=2483) to discuss this article. Aaron Chomjak is a technical program manager for the Church.
Web Site Feedback Management
qui, 12/18/2008 - 12:41“If you want to make a correct decision or solve a problem, large groups of people are smarter than a few experts.” —James Surowiecki A Problem for Consideration The goal of increased efficiency and lower costs is nothing new in the tech industry. At the Church, those pressures are acutely felt, along with the moral obligation to wisely spend the widow’s mite. I’d like your help and suggestions on the best approach to solving a problem. The Church sponsors and supports multiple outward-facing Web sites, such as LDS.org, Mormon.org, Provident Living.org, and stake and ward Web sites, to name a few. Most of these sites provide a way for site visitors to offer feedback. We need the capability to uniformly and consistently track, route, and reply to feedback from member and nonmember visitors to the various LDS sites we now support. The problem is this: the existing process for screening, routing, and responding to submitted feedback is slow and labor-intensive, will not scale to the future needs of the Church, and is incapable of supporting multiple languages. Please consider the following questions: What options should the technical staff here at the Church consider in the next version of this service? Are there credible existing commercial solutions? Is a custom application the best alternative? Is a mix of custom code and existing commercial applications an appropriate approach? How would you solve the problem? Read more. (http://tech.lds.org/index.php?option=com_content task=view id=378 Itemid=1)
IT Should Be a Toaster
ter, 12/16/2008 - 13:56When we design and write systems for our customers, do we look toward helping them accomplish their work, without getting in the way? We need to look critically at our systems to decide if they are too feature-laden and whether they just get the job done. There are many things that we use every day that we don’t notice because they completely blend into the actual task we are performing. Read more. (http://tech.lds.org/index.php?option=com_content task=view id=376 Itemid=1)
Preventing IT From Becoming a Procrustean Bed
qui, 12/11/2008 - 19:46Procrustes was the ancient champion of enforced conformity. In Greek antiquity, he was a legendary highwayman who lived in Attica. He had an iron bed, which he regarded as the standard of length. Because it just fit him, he concluded that everyone should fit it. He stopped every traveler and tied him to the bed. If the person happened to be too short, Procrustes stretched him until he attained the correct length. If he happened to be too long, his legs were cut off until he met the proper requirement. Thus, everyone was made identical in size. The iron bed on the highway of Attica has been supplanted by one on the highway of information technology. It operates now in the field of technology, rather than in the physical realm. Every technology provider has its own bed, and all who would sojourn among them must be expanded or contracted, distended or diminished, enlarged or compressed, according to the product. Read more. (http://tech.lds.org/index.php?option=com_content task=view id=374 Itemid=1)
Twitter and LDS General Conference
ter, 12/09/2008 - 10:22You know the scenario: as General Conference begins, you gather pen and paper, tune in to KBYU or LDS.org, recline back on your couch, and then try to stay alert for the next two days. October’s conference was a little different. About 150 people participated in an online conversation on Twitter, using the #ldsconf hashtag to share thoughts, comments, and other feedback throughout General Conference. For the uninitiated, Twitter (http://twitter.com/) is a microblogging service akin to group instant messaging. People post little reflections (“tweets”) about what’s going on in their lives, and they keep up with tweets from other people they choose to follow. You can follow thousands of people, or just a few. When participants add hashtags to their tweets, such as #ldsconf, Twitter enables a community of people to gather virtually during an event. Through the hashtag, you can connect to a community of all other twitterers adding the same hashtags in their tweets, regardless of whether you’re following them or whether they’re following you. Read more. (http://tech.lds.org/index.php?option=com_content task=view id=375 Itemid=1)
The Road to Agility
qui, 11/06/2008 - 10:56The common metaphor for building software systems has traditionally been the construction industry. People knew a lot about constructing buildings. They had been doing it successfully for thousands of years. Anything bigger than a simple shed required a complete blueprint before a single shovelful of earth was turned or a single nail was driven. The implementation of the construction metaphor in the software industry was the waterfall methodology. The waterfall approach called for a complete and detailed documentation of system requirements, followed by a set of program designs and specifications from which programs were written. When all the programs were written, they would be tested. The final product would then be turned over to the customer. However, in the 1980s industry experts began to see a trend – software projects were failing more often than they were succeeding. While the development tools, languages, and technologies were getting better, most of our projects were not seeing the promised benefits. Software systems took too long to build, cost too much money, and did not deliver what the customer needed. Read more. (http://tech.lds.org/index.php?option=com_content task=view id=367 Itemid=1)
The ICS Field Team
ter, 11/04/2008 - 06:36I came to Church employment late in my career. It was something I had never contemplated and it took me by surprise. I am a convert to the Church and was born and raised in the suburbs of Glasgow, Scotland. As a teenager, I joined the Royal Air Force, and spent the next four years at school studying communications. When I returned home on a recess, I found that two missionaries had moved into my parents’ home, and I was introduced to the Church. With business trips and assignments throughout my entire working life, in all the continents of the earth, I have come to appreciate that no matter how deep or divided the fascinating cultures of this planet are, there is a predominant culture that belongs to the Church, wherever its members are to be found. The Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ has truly and consistently brought about a “restitution of all things,” (Acts 3:21) and that includes a culture of its own. In the early Christian Church, Paul stated to some new converts, “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God” (Ephesians 2:19). That cultural shift is as true and evident today as it ever was in Paul’s time. Somehow, these fellow citizens put first the kingdom of God, while still retaining their distinct national heritage and culture. One only has to participate in general conference to witness the total absence of borders and boundaries, to see and feel the veritable brotherhood and sisterhood that exists in members from across this troubled globe—and this, in these turbulent times. Read more. (http://tech.lds.org/index.php?option=com_content task=view id=365 Itemid=1)
Employee Spotlight - Jimmy Smith
qui, 10/30/2008 - 07:19Question What is your current position at the Church and what are your responsibilities? Answer I am the Web Analytics Product Manager. My duties include: Managing the relationship with our Web analytics vendor Producing enterprise-wide analysis of the performance of Church Web sites(about 100 of them, 35 domestic and 65 international/country sites) Training Church employees to use Web analytics Setting Web analytics best practices Helping Web site owners as they take the lead on analytics for their individual sites Read more. (http://tech.lds.org/index.php?option=com_content task=view id=364 Itemid=1)
Time Management
ter, 10/28/2008 - 11:35As technology changes the way we work, it also changes the way we spend our time at work. Recent technologies, such as cell phones, BlackBerrys, e-mail, remote access, and video conferencing, have changed the traditional boundaries of working and learning. In the past, the culture we were raised in largely defined our perception of time. I have recently become acquainted with two words that help define a modern attitude toward time: Monochronic and Polychronic. Read more. (http://tech.lds.org/index.php?option=com_content task=view id=363 Itemid=1)
Where in the World are LDS Tech Users?
sex, 10/10/2008 - 06:21With the recent addition of a mandatory location field for LDS Tech forum user registration, over 1,000 user locations were collected. The LDS Tech administrators thought it would be fun to create a Google Earth file (/pics/misc/LDSTechUsers.kmz) using the data. We felt it was important not to force too much detail in the information in this field. Some people entered their complete address, while others only entered their country. Each user’s location is only as accurate as the information we received; however, if the user included a street address, the map only shows the city to protect privacy. If you would like your information to be included in this file, please fill out your profile. Thank you for being a part of the LDS Technology community.
Introducing the LDS Tech Wiki
qui, 10/09/2008 - 05:55Have you ever wondered how you can get involved with Church technology? We know that many of the visitors to...
Working for the Church
ter, 10/07/2008 - 10:58I am often asked, “What’s it like to work for the Church?” The short answer is: it is awesome...
Patriarchal Blessings Meet the Digital Age
qui, 10/02/2008 - 05:23Patriarchal blessings have traditionally been preserved on paper and also archived on microfilm. For the past few months, I have...
The Church Runs PeopleSoft Applications
ter, 09/30/2008 - 04:32If you’ve picked up an IT magazine within the last eight years or so, you’ve probably noticed an advertisement...
Technology Lessons From Women in the Church
qua, 09/24/2008 - 21:00I grew up in a home without a dishwasher or microwave. They existed, but my family never bought them. Our...