Partnering with agencies happen in various ways but benefit from a common goal to stick to core competencies
By applying our experience, libraries and know-how we have come up with some solutions that stand on their own
About Martin
Multi-disciplinary background, with experience in financial, creative, software and communications firms. Releases the power of information through structured information architecture, providing the data models allowing firms to improve their information flow and visibility. Improving marketing efficiency by crafting metrics to display ROI and breaking down user journeys.
An expert in marketing, information architecture and online strategies, clients have benefited from improved organisational data quality, enhanced internal and external communication and improved information lifecycle management..
Specialities
Management skills: Organisational Change, Internal Communications, Change Management, Information Architecture, Online Marketing Strategy, Social Media Strategy.
Expert technical skills: Data Modelling, Data Warehousing, Metric Generation, User Journey Profiling, Object Relationship Modelling, Framework Construction, Web Programming (PHP, PEAR, Zend, PECL), Rich Application Creation and Deployment (MVC, RAD, ORM, OOP), Database Architecture (MySQL, Oracle, PDO, ODBC, Replication)
Recent posts
Choosing a business SaaS solution for our own...
Published on 05th June 10 by Ollie Maitland
As a software company you might think that we tend to write all our own internal business applications to manage finances, customers and projects. However, just like finding time to update the website, we find ourselves immersed in our core products and business software solutions. As a result we go shopping from time to time...
Tagged with : web applications, web applications
Zimbra and Spam Assassin Y2k10 bug...
Published on 25th March 10 by Ollie Maitland
All the Y2K issues were after all quite a let down yielding almost no exciting failures or blue screens of death.
I did however come across a minor bug in Zimbra and Spam Assassin today which was slightly confusing and an example of some pretty bad programming. Spam Assassin has a number of rules which determine whether an email is valid or not; one such rule is whether an email is dates "grossly in the future".
Senior PHP Developer London
Published on 13th March 10 by Ollie Maitland
Shoreditch (London) based web technology company, Byng Systems, is looking for a Senior PHP Developer to take on a lead programming role on business and enterprise web application products. Candidates must be proficient in object-oriented and ORM PHP or Java development with evidence of previous experience of working in team environment and experience in LAMP technologies.
Tagged with : recruitment, developer
Lead PHP Developer to be based in Shoreditch
Published on 24th December 09 by Ollie Maitland
Shoreditch based web technology company, Byng Systems, is looking for a Lead PHP Developer to take on a lead programming role on business and enterprise web application products. Candidates must be proficient in object-oriented and ORM PHP development with evidence of previous experience of working in team environment and experience in LAMP technologies.
Tagged with : recruitment, developers
When does a website become a web application?
Published on 22nd December 09 by Ollie Maitland
Many hardened web developers get upset after they have spent years honing their software development skills making slicker, sicker and faster web applications only to find themselves confused being a graphic designer. To a programmer this feels like a painter confused with an architect and when vice versa a seamstress confused with a fashion designer!
Tagged with : web applications, ria
MooTools 2.0 JavaScript framework on its way
Published on 30th September 09 by Ollie Maitland
Probably the most important part of that post is that link to a decent MooTools date picker (or calendar) as this has been so lacking. Enter (weird name) MonkeyPhysics who has developed a slick object orientated component.
Until the MooTools Forge materialises there are a handful of plugin sites around to find your widget: http://www.esteak.net, http://www.clientcide.com or http://www.mooforum.net
At Byng Systems we have our very own MooTools repository but I'm afraid until the day arises that is not under GPL and remains under lock and key (hint: or on our public web applications!).
Back to the Aptana workbench for some more web application development on our new product, Contractiva...
Tagged with : javascript, mootools, jquery, javascript
Byng Systems explores the network effect of...
Published on 31st July 09 by Ollie Maitland
We hear about the network effect around web technologies and especially related to social media as the value of the network is correlated with the number of users registered. In the case of pure social networking websites (Facebook, Bebo, Hi5, LinkedIn) there is a race for numbers -- there success is inextricably linked to the number of users on their network so it's no wonder that the bubble in starting new "Facebooks" burst some time ago (along with the rest of new media investment)
Tagged with : network effect, social networking, coachweb
Recuiting PHP, JS Developers, & PMs!
Published on 17th February 09 by Ollie Maitland
Due, we're sure, to some alignment of the planets, combined with our great clients and superb software, we're growing, and quickly.
To service these clients in the manner to which they will become accustomed, and to keep our PHP and JavaScript development in its current industry-leading position, we need to take on staff in the following roles:
- Project Manager
- Javascript Developer
- PHP Developer
Tagged with : javascript, recruitment, php, javascript, developer, js, projct, manager
Choosing betweeen Mootool and jQuery
Published on 25th January 09 by Ollie Maitland
A question I often get asked is whether Byng uses the jQuery JavaScript library and another popular follow up question is why not. Source of much self reflection and questioning I often found myself wondering why I don't feel at home with jQuery as much as Mootools. That is until I read an excellent blog post on Clientcide explaining some of the theory behind Mootools.
Without summarising the article (which makes some generic points applicable to many JS frameworks) several key points really stuck out and apply aptly to Byng's company philosophy on software development.
Tagged with : javascript, mootools, jquery
Service Oriented Architecture in Business...
Published on 15th November 08 by Ollie Maitland
Cost Effective Web Development
"Want not, waste not" is a fitting maxim for the latest breed of Web2.0 application developers being called to meet fantastical expectations with slashed budgets. From vendor of dishwashers wanting a "quick forum community" to "party hard" accountants launching a photo gallery; all and sundry would love to have the latest must have module on their website whether they have a need for it or not.
Fortunately for software developers, many of these "must have add-ons" are ripe for cherry picking from the multitude of SaaS (Software as a Service) providers that exist online today. For instance our ByngGallery component running through our ByngControl content management framework can now tap into a free Flickr account saving our clients on development, training and storage. Another example might be shipping off customers to hosted forum software using our Single Sign-on connector in the BaseCode. All these tricks help us meet our goal of satisfying our clients' needs and budgets whilst maintaining a high service level.
Tagged with : APIs, SaaS, SOA, BaseCode, standards
LinkedIn Release their OpenSocial Application...
Published on 05th November 08 by Ollie Maitland
LinkedIn Applications
After a torrent of investments, LinkedIn have sharpened up their features set with a new application development platform designed to bring services from the outside into the LinkedIn network.
Shielding their corporate membership from an influx of useless applications and social networking widgets that have troubled Facebook, LinkedIn have sensibly launched with a handful of carefully selected and established applications from SaaS providers London to Tokyo.
Tagged with : linkedin, opensocial, platforms
Tag clouds for brand identity
Published on 14th July 08 by Ollie Maitland
At Byng Systems we're all about collaboration and communication for enterprise web applications but our technology is just as adept at representing a brand or identity. Take the example of generating a tag cloud for our website...
Tagged with : tagging, brand, visual
Collaborative filtering in business applications
Published on 12th July 08 by Ollie Maitland
The web grows at a speed and with it volumes of blogs, articles and user generated content compound forming an intricate and chaotic web of pages, images and more recently video. Google changed everything by not only offering the tool to search through all this content but crucially a way to rank its importance through PageRank™.
So, ten years on is PageRank serving us well? For example a search for "Yoga London" in Google brings up no less than 440, 000 results the first 3 results being Camden Council, View London and Yoga Holidays. The first thing this alludes to is that Google knows of places that "know" rather than the answer to my question rather than point directly to studios and gyms which offer yoga in London.
What does this mean for Google and PageRank? The answer is simple and has been bandied around for a while now - semantics...
Tagged with : collaboration, web2.0, semantic web, tagging, syndication, google
Byng Blog Is Go
Published on 08th July 08 by Ollie Maitland
Taking a break from industrious information systems, we decided to use our tools for good, trying our hand at building a blog platform, to see just how tricky it actually was.
The verdict: tricky being an understatement. The simple type-post-view architecture is simple, that much was a given. The unknown quantities were tagging, viewing, archiving and the ever-present feed issue.
Still, some deft database querying, a bundle of expletives and a few hundred lines of code later, we have our baby, a blogging system with search-engine-friendly URLs, full RSS support and automatic archiving.
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