Think fast

ITOM vs ITSM

ITOM and ITSM are both fundamental to the way we provide technical resources, assets, and services to colleagues across all departments. But, there are important differences between the two that can come into conflict if we’re not aware of them. Confusingly, there’s also a lot of overlap. Today, we’re going to cover everything you need to know. Specifically, we’ll check out what each one is, what it achieves, the challenges you’ll encounter, how they differ, and how you can align them with one another.

Ronan McQuillan

Jul 21, 2023

REST API Authentication | 4 Methods

Understanding the different methods of API authentication is a core competence for any would-be developer, data professional, or anyone else who wants to connect to external tools, data sources, or other resources. Nowadays, APIs are fundamental to the way we build, integrate, and use all kinds of digital tools - whether this is building custom software from scratch - or simply connecting existing SaaS platforms to create streamlined workflows. So, you need to know how to use the different authentication methods that vendors could implement for their APIs.

Ronan McQuillan

Jul 21, 2023

Top 10 Data Transformation Tools

Selecting the right data transformation tools is a critical decision - with far-reaching consequences. Nowadays, the idea that data is your business’s most valuable asset is a bit of a cliche. The real challenge is getting this data in the hands of the right people, with the right tools, in a usable form. This is especially tricky in a context where we’re increasingly dealing with diverse, varied, and large-scale data sets.

Ronan McQuillan

Jul 21, 2023

Workflow Management Database Design

Today we’re going to guide you through exactly how to create a workflow management database design - from scratch. This can form the basis of all sorts of solutions - including workflow management tools, approval apps, automated solutions - and a whole raft of other internal tools. See, most internal tasks and processes aren’t that complicated. In fact, most management or administrative tasks can be expressed as chains of requests and decisions.

Ronan McQuillan

Jul 21, 2023

Integration for Digital Transformation | 6 Methods

Integration is one of the central building blocks of digital transformation. In fact, it’s very rare that we’ll encounter transformation solutions that don’t rely heavily on integration. See, many transformation projects aim to get the most out of existing assets - whether these are internal tools, data sets, or SaaS platforms. Specifically, we can achieve huge efficiency improvements by simply getting these working together more effectively. Of course, custom solutions play an important role too.

Ronan McQuillan

Jul 14, 2023

What are API Headers?

API headers are central to how your request is received by the target server - and the response it produces. These can be used to provide extra context for our request, prove our permission to access resources, or for other important metadata. As such, knowing how to use request headers properly is a vital part of accessing external data via APIs. Today, we’re going to cover everything you need to know - from what API headers are, what they do, and how they work - to concrete real-world examples of how you can leverage them to build integrated solutions.

Ronan McQuillan

Jul 14, 2023

What are the Components of an API?

Knowing the components of an API is obviously important for setting them up to do what you want. Otherwise, how can you ever expect to use them correctly? Today, we’re covering everything you need to know. We’re going to take each of the constituent parts of an API in turn and explain exactly what they are, what they do, and how you can use them. Along the way, we’ll think about real-world examples of why each one is important, and the specific scenarios where they’re useful.

Ronan McQuillan

Jul 14, 2023

ACID vs BASE Databases

Data has never been so fundamental to the success of your business - but nowadays we have more options than ever for how we store and manage information. Today we’re checking out two of the most common approaches, by examining ACID vs BASE databases. See, we’re always constrained by some core computer science principles. Specifically, there’s an inherent tradeoff between availability, consistency, and partition tolerance. No database system can guarantee all three.

Ronan McQuillan

Jul 7, 2023