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Data of over 267 Million Facebook Users Exposed
Microsoft Announces 500 new Jobs in Morrisville, NC
What that means for smaller companies in Raleigh seeking Technology Talent
Today Microsoft announced they will be adding 500 new technology jobs (paying an average of $125,000 per year) into the Raleigh suburb of Morrisville, NC. In exchange, the state of NC is offering Microsoft an incentive package valued at $14.8 million.
It’s definitely great news for the Raleigh, NC area overall, but what does it mean for smaller companies trying to compete for technology talent?
The reality is that a concentrated influx of these types of high-paying jobs, especially when they are coming from such a high-profile employer like Microsoft will wind up raising a business' costs for employees, increases the demand and decreases the supply of talent. Certainly, some market forces will play a role in increasing the talent supply through relocation and new training/education opportunities as supply tries again to catch up with demand in the technology industry.
And though the market undoubtedly will go to work on this balance, inevitably there is a significant lag as the talent supply tries to catch up with the demand for technology talent. Keep in mind, we are speaking about an understaffed industry that is constantly struggling to add more people to the mix. Even huge technology markets like Raleigh struggle to get supply to keep up with demand.
For PS Solutions, we see this as both an opportunity to help technology customers in need of talent and also a potential threat.
The opportunity: we supply software solutions to help companies deal with the talent gap in technology. Our developers are all US based and we keep costs down by keeping our development centers in lower cost areas away from immediate economic pressures caused by a big influx of demand by some huge conglomerate. Our software development centers are located and designed on the premise that your zip code does not equate with your intelligence. In other words, the software developer sitting in Altoona or Wilmington is just as capable as the higher-priced person sitting in more expensive office space in a major metropolis.
The threat: unfortunately, sometimes companies facing a talent shortage and increased costs react by shipping projects off-shore to some company (or somebody sitting in a basement office) halfway across the globe promising software development at a lower cost. Why take the risk? Why worry about where your code is going, if it’s coming back or if it is being sent somewhere else? Why wonder about quality, reliability, time zone issues, cultural diffences? Sure, you have a “low” bill rate, but what’s the quality of the work and who is keeping track of the hours?
We deal with the threat of off-shoring by pointing out that our work is done in America, at competitive rates with talented, experienced developers who understand the culture in which your business is running. We will constantly work to get the word out that when things are getting tough (even as a result of good news like a major employer moving into a market), there are smart affordable options to solve your software development problems. It just takes a little bit of creative thought and the solutions become pretty obvious.
Wayne Hippo is an owner and managing partner of PS Solutions, a custom software development and consulting business with development centers in Wilmington, NC, Altoona, PA and Forest Hills (Pittsburgh), PA.
Wayne can be reached at whippo@pssolutions.net.
Extra Pepperoni May Force you to Change your Website
Domino’s Pizza has been sued by a blind man who couldn’t order a custom pizza from the Domino’s website. Domino’s has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to take the case and deliver a decision.
First, some background.
I have friends who have met through online dating apps. Over coffee last week, another friend was raving over the convenience of using an app to order groceries, then having them delivered to her car. On election night, I can sign in and watch the vote tabulations on our county’s election web page. And the last – who knows how many – pizzas I’ve ordered came through Domino’s online app (thin crust, pepperoni and banana peppers).
The point is that these types of online spaces have changed almost every aspect of our lives…
…all within the past 20 years or so….
…all happening AFTER that day in 1990 when President George Herbert Walker Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act.
In short, the online world that now influences a HUGE part of our lives, barely even existed in 1990, and its degree of impact wasn’t even contemplated when the ADA came to life.
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The law that was designed to assure equal access to public accommodations for those with disabilities, never contemplated the conveniences and access created by online spaces.
Many persons with disabilities are effectively shut out of many online spaces because the websites or apps that allow access are not designed with appropriate accommodations for disabled persons.
It’s not a new issue – in 1998 Congress amended the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to require Federal agencies to make their electronic and information technology accessible to people with disabilities. But as the impact of the online world grows greater in our lives, the issue of online access for the disabled is growing dramatically in the courts.
According to Domino’s lawyers in 2018, plaintiffs filed over 2,250 federal lawsuits claiming ADA violations alleging website inaccessibility (three times the number of suits that had been filed in 2017).
The issue certainly seems ripe for the Supreme Court to decide. The Circuit court decisions are split and range from finding that the ADA requires compliance to finding that the ADA only applies to physical places of business, not those on the internet.
So, while we wait to see if the Supreme Court takes the case, and if they do where the case will go, litigation will continue and more and more companies will be having their websites challenged as inaccessible and in violation of the ADA. Companies with government contracts face scrutiny of website accessibility under Section 508c of the Rehabilitation Act.
Regardless of the outcome, the right thing to do is to make sure that your website is compliant. Nobody wants to deprive potential customers of access to their business. Oftentimes, simple changes can be made to improve access. Those planning new apps and redesigned web pages should look at those events as opportunities to bring their online space into compliance.
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At PS Solutions, our Onshore America development team can access your site and let you know where you stand on compliance, as well as what can and should be done to allow everyone access to your online space.
Keep an eye out, no matter what happens with Domino’s litigation, a lot of change is likely to be coming in the online marketplace.
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Wayne Hippo is an owner and Managing Partner of PS Solutions, a software development and consulting firm with offices in Altoona, PA, Pittsburgh, PA and Wilmington, NC. You can reach Wayne at whippo@pssolutions.net
PS Solutions Codes For Growth - Greater Wilmington Business Journal
After growing PS Solutions in Pennsylvania, founder Wayne Hippo came to Wilmington with the goal of replicating the company’s growth in the Cape Fear region and its focus on keeping software development local.
When the software development company opened in Wilmington in 2018, it had one worker and was housed at the University of North Carolina Wilmington’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Now, it occupies office space at 2109 Capital Drive with five employees.
PS Solutions was founded by managing partners Hippo and Joe Merilli in 2009 in Altoona, Pennsylvania, a city about 100 miles east of Pittsburgh. At first, the company focused on staffing software developers but then expanded to provide outsourced software development for companies.
“We wanted to be in the Carolinas somewhere,” Hippo said. “We considered three or four other cities, but we were just really impressed by the growth in Wilmington and the opportunities that we saw here.”
PS Solution works with all sorts of companies, not just tech-related ones.
“We’re under a lot of NDAs about who we work with, but I can say that our industries are so varied,” he said. “We have companies that do oil cleanups. When people think of technology, you think of the obvious tech companies, but the need in our client base extends well beyond that.”
Through a partnership with Cucalorus Festival, PS Solutions hosted a children’s coding workshop at Snipes Academy of Arts and Design, Wrightsboro Elementary and GLOW Academy in November.
With the firm’s recent expansion to Wilmington, officials plan to grow its footprint in the Cape Fear region by hiring additional sales personnel, expanding to larger office space and eventually establishing a development center.
“We’ve never been afraid to take on a new challenge,” Hippo said. “Next stop will probably be a much larger development center in Wilmington and with that success, probably a sister center somewhere nearby, and then it’s onto the next opportunity.”
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Special thanks to the Wilmington Greater Business Journal for featuring PS Solutions
Pittsburgh’s 3 Rivers Arts Festival Benefits from Volunteers
It’s free. One of the biggest and ostensibly most creative music and arts fests in the country, and still… it’s free. From day one – that’s June 7th this year – and for ten straight days, the Three Rivers Arts Festival will entertain hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the globe. And in case you missed it, it’s free!
This year, stars like India.Arie will be added to the long list of those who performed or presented at Three Rivers. Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles, Wilco and the Black Keys are in the books alongside Allen Ginsberg, Spalding Gray, Keith Haring and Nam June Paik as those who helped make it the festival it is today. As a matter of fact, #TRAF has been delivering world-class visual and performing art since 1960.
How can Pittsburgh do that? They have a lot of help. Sponsors, such as title sponsor Dollar Bank. Add donations and the government money that goes to Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. But the biggest reason they can keep it free and do such a great job?
Volunteers.
Volunteers are at the heart and soul of almost every great festival. There are parking lots to manage, guest questions to answer, artists to assist and children to entertain. But those are only some of the jobs done – during the event itself. Many, many volunteers are added to the staff throughout the planning year, helping recruit vendors and determine which food truck goes where on the site. With three locations across downtown Pittsburgh, it’s a big task.
People volunteer for a number of reasons – giving back, getting free tickets, camaraderie, experience – you name it. When organizers are looking for volunteers, there’s one kind of person that sticks out: the ones that want to do this year after year. That’s because volunteers are entrusted with a lot of information and having to retrain a new team can be costly.
Worse yet: when data leaves with the person who donated their time. It can take days or weeks to try and recreate the knowledge that departs when the person does. That’s why PS Solutions created an inexpensive system to manage the entirety of what’s happening on the back-end of a festival.
It’s called Chute Festival. And if you are a volunteer, ask the team if they use our system. It can save a lot of headaches and help them operate more efficiently. Because if you care enough to donate your time, you care enough to ensure that the festival survives and remains healthy.
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Festival Season: Pennsylvania and North Carolina's Biggest
We love festivals. We love them so much we wrote a software system for managing them. More on that later, but as we enter June, the number and variety of festivals that happen across the US sky rockets.
We’ll be talking about festivals often over the summer, but we recently ran across a great list that identified the largest festival in each state. So, while we gather great stories about smaller local festivals we’ll highlight, we decided to get to know more about the big guys and share a couple that are near and dear to us.
Our home state of Pennsylvania hosts Musikfest in Bethlehem from August 1 - 11. Voted Best Music Festival in the USA Today Reader’s Choice Awards in 2019, more than 1.1 million people crowd into this historic city near Allentown to hear music – free and paid – over the course of ten days. It claims to be the largest free music festival, but it also features comedy and dance performances and a series of art installations. Some say it might be the best bargain of all summer events.
As we expanded into North Carolina, we began looking for the biggest event in our new state. We assumed it was the Azalea Festival in Wilmington. But no … it’s not flowers but food that draws southerners. The North Carolina Barbecue Festival is in Lexington, which falls between the Triangle and the Triad. Lexington has a population of about 20,000 – which blossoms 10-fold when chefs from across NC converge to demonstrate their BBQ acumen. It all happens in just one day – the last Saturday in October – but is a culmination of an entire month of BBQ festivities. A series of competitions, from the Tour de Pig cycling race to golf, fishing tournaments and a 5K run keep people flowing into town.
What these two festivals have in common is their reliance on volunteers. From planners to ushers, parking to ticket sales and set up/clean up, volunteers are what makes festivals work. That’s why so many organizers are turning to our newest software product, Chute Festival. It not only manages the schedules for volunteers, but it manages the information they come in contact with.
Who are your vendors? What’s the map of the site look like? Where are the closest parking options? And how do you manage your performers, livestock, and food?
Often, it’s in the heads of those who volunteer. But with Chute Festival, organizers keep the data that remains in the minds of volunteers. Volunteers come and go – they are committed, until they’re not. In order to keep the information about every last detail, it needs to reside – accessibly – in the Cloud so that future events run as smoothly as the last.
If you’re interested in learning more about how Chute Festival can help, email us at info@chutefestival.com
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The Empty Chairs: Honoring the Families of Lost Troops
Who among us has not been deeply touched by those who fight for our country?
We asked the employees and partners at PS Solutions and found that there is hardly a single person who hasn’t had a relative who served in the Army, Navy, Air Force or Marines. There are both veterans and active duty personnel, and family who served who have gone on before us.
With Memorial Day upon us – and indeed all of May as it is Military Appreciation Month -- we at PS Solutions are taking the time to honor military men and women who’ve lost their lives. We are also looking into how the families of those who have been taken from us are being honored.
Our Armed Forces have systems in place to help the families of those we’ve lost. There is financial support available, counselling, and a series of manners in which they are honored, from gun salutes to gatherings. On behalf of American citizens, the Department of Defense has established access to a series of resources they call Families of the Fallen. Each division of the armed forces has their own set of support systems. For example, the Army has posted resources on the site created by their Chief of Army Public Affairs, including a Facebook page for the Survivor Outreach Services.
If you’re inclined to help as a part of your celebration of this upcoming holiday weekend, here are a series of resources that you can donate to, and help support the families of our lost patriots:
Snowball Express: a program of Gary Sinise Foundation, this organization finds a myriad of ways to serve the children of fallen military heros.
Fallen Patriots: College for the children of those who lost their lives while in service can seem unattainable. The folks at the non-profit Fallen Patriots work to help families send their kids to college.
Johnny Mac: This scholarship program is in honor of a fallen soldier who graduated from West Point in 1986. By identifying Johnny Mac Scholars, children of those who have lost their heroes as they served our country have an opportunity to march on and fulfill their career goals.
TAPS: The Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) offers compassionate care to all those grieving the loss of a loved one who died while serving in our Armed Forces or as a result of his or her service. Since 1994, TAPS has provided comfort and hope 24/7 through a national peer support network and connection to grief resources, all at no cost to surviving families and loved ones.
There are numerous other organizations that help families, from the Red Cross to the USO and many others. We at PS Solutions believe everyone should do what they can. In addition to our individual donations, will be joining so many other Americans by leaving an empty chair open at a table for one, honoring those we wish could be with us, and thereby honoring the families they’ve left behind through their service. We hope you will join us in some small way to honor military families this weekend.
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How Smart Startups Stretch their Funding
When startups reach the key milestone of securing Angel or Venture Capital, their new partners are looking both for a series of deliverables but also a great return on their investment. One of the many questions they ask during the pitch process is generally ‘how long before you’ll need another infusion of capital?’ They love it when the response is … “a long time.”
Once that infusion is safely secured, how do smart entrepreneurs make the most of it? STRETCH. Find the best value for the money on every project. And that includes custom developed software.
In the early 2000s, the key to this savings was to off-shore development. Fast and inexpensive services sprung up across Asia and Eastern Europe, putting hundreds of thousands of software engineers to work… outside of the US.
“Americans are just too expensive,” was the cry.
What we learned, however, was that it’s not really American developers that are so untouchably expensive, but the US major cities that pushed up the prices. The developers in rural areas and small cities are actually quite affordable. Plus – they speak your language, understand your culture, and live somewhat near your time zone (if not in your time zone).
The Whole
Entrepreneurs often judge the viability of outsourcing based on hourly rates they are paying. This can be misleading. When you pay for the least expensive person to do the job, you seldom get the best. Then you wind up paying more for senior team members to work through the problems created by the less-experienced.Here are three other ways that the whole can end up bigger than the sum of its parts (ie: it’s more expensive to offshore than it looks):
- Miscommunication = Time Lost: Yes, they speak English. No, they don’t understand your colloquialisms, the cultural impact of the work or how it relates to the industry as a whole. So when the project is delivered, it’s wrong or incomplete. Re-scoping, re-scheduling, re-writing. All take more time, and as a start up it could cost you that window you have to beat your competition to the market
- Intellectual Property in Lost & Found: When a team of developers works on your project, they get to know your business and understand how the software gives you a competitive advantage. More profoundly, they are actually creating some of your intellectual property. It appears to us that keeping your IP in the US is pretty critical.
The Where
Where you are does make a difference. If your developers are in major cities with high cost of living, you’ll simply spend more than you will when the teams live in places where the cost of living is lower. It’s just logical. And it’s been proven out time and time again on projects we’ve delivered.But it’s not just the cost of the developer. It’s the cost of your time. That’s why we encourage you to take advantage of our US-based developers, and keep from going:
Just because you need to stretch your investment dollars, don’t cheap out on software development. Be responsible. Keep development in the US by working with rural and small city teams. Consider the whole of your investment, and give us a call.
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Sales and Solos
Strummer Bob Fields Heads Up Sales in Pittsburgh
When you’ve been serving the IT industry since 1981, have deep roots in your region and throughout the Midwest, and, to quote Chuck Berry, can play guitar like ringin’ a bell, well, you’re bound to be a rockin’ success.
PS Solutions’ Robert (Bob) Fields may have taken a brief hiatus from IT during the Y2K hangover, but we’ll forgive him for that and chalk up 35 years to his investment in the tech industry. He actually started in IT recruiting for an IT consulting firm, but they soon uncovered his true talent.
“I still remember the day, sitting in Pittsburgh, when I sold the highest billing rate for a consultant in the history of the company to a client in Washington, DC,” reminisces Fields. “I found that I really enjoyed the sales side of the house and spent the next ten years with that company advancing in that role.”
He joined PS Solutions in November of 2015. It was a great fit from the get-go, with IT services and the oft-desired tech recruitment. Earlier positions with big companies kept pigeon-holing him into doing things he was good at but didn’t love. He loved account management and the people/problem solving balance it offered. And that’s the role he was looking for.
“Moving to PS Solutions gave me that opportunity,” he said. “It also provided a bit of a homecoming back to a more agile, entrepreneurial, smaller, quality-oriented, regional IT consulting firm. The strong values make such a difference, in my happiness and in the satisfaction of our clients.”
The Bob Special Sauce
What is it, really, about being an account manager that Bob loves? It’s solving problems for the people within the companies he serves. When we asked him why he thought he excelled, he told us it came down to one thing:
“I listen,” he said. “Many people are too quick to talk, to sell what they want to sell. But if you develop the skill of listening, you’re more certain to understand what is needed. If you have listened, your questions are much more on point, and the client knows that you get it.”
Of course, you have to get to that meeting, right? The one where you get to listen? Opening that door can be a tough nut to crack.
“I have been told by clients that they have given us a chance because of my persistence. In some cases, it was persistence over the space of years,” he says with a smile.
The Band Behind the Man
He may have spent his first three years in Erie, but Bob’s a Pittsburgher through and through. In high school he fell in love with writing, and only became a guitar player at 17, once he realized he would like to be able to play the music he wrote. Like every good teenage guitar player, he formed a band, and like every good sales person, he stays in touch. After all these years, and across a myriad of time zones, Bob stays in touch with different members of the band.
Even with more than 30 years of teaching, recording and live performances under his belt, Bob still finds the magic of playing for a crowd. At one particular performance at PPG Paints Arena, PPG Place, he performed for about 500 people during a summer arts festival. “It’s like a glass castle, and when you catch it at sunset, with fountains reflecting the colors, it’s just magical.”
Sometimes it seems that magic is his middle name. It’s actually Boyle, however, which leads him to play a lot of Irish tunes. This means that St. Patrick’s week can be especially busy, as he tries to give back to people of all ages. He developed a way to use new music technology, using a loop pedal to record and play rhythm parts and guitar synthesizer to represent the bass, fiddle, bagpipes, pennywhistle and other instruments. He involves his audience, looping in the seniors at retirement homes and the partakers at the bars. And getting them to sing along is half the fun!
He especially enjoys serving the underserved. “It brings validity to what you’re doing. When you’re playing music it’s not about you – it’s what can you do for others.”
You’ll often find him playing in contemporary music services at church, but he can play classical, rock and folk. He finds what his audience is hungry to hear, and that’s what he delivers.
You could say that Bob is a listener and a problem solver, whether he’s at work or performing. It’s what makes him great at what he does, at home with this family, in the clients’ offices, or on the stage. To Bob, what you can do to make others’ lives more rich is the thing to do.
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Impacting Wilmington’s Tech Growth
Trevor Hughes Joins the PS Solutions Wilmington Team
PS Solutions has increased their Wilmington headcount… and it’s about to get much bigger if Trevor Hughes has anything to say about it.
After five years in sales and business development for technology companies and recruiters, Trevor is putting his love of helping individuals and businesses achieve success to work for PS Solutions. Most recently with Proficient Learning, one of Inc. 5000’s fastest growing companies in 2018, he’s anxious to put the Wilmington office of PS Solutions on the tip of every North Carolina company’s tongue. After all, PS Solutions was also on the Inc. list before they opened the Wilmington office two years ago. He’d like to seem them regain that listing in the next year or two.
“It’s exciting to be in a position to help young companies grow, especially focusing on the Cape Fear region,” said Hughes. “I’m researching all the companies from startups to those over $2 million in annual revenue, because that is where I think the software development services offered by PS Solutions can have the greatest impact.”
Hughes will be focusing on three areas: recruiting technology talent; connecting PS Solutions’ developers with companies that need custom software; and promoting a new software product that the company is launching this spring, called Chute Festival. “I was drawn to the position because I love recruiting and selling technology solutions; both are needed in our region,” he said. “It’s rare to have a chance to also help launch a new product, so I’m really excited to reach out to the festivals across the southeast, too.”
Chute Festival is a Cloud-based service that makes it easier for people who run fairs and festivals to be more efficient, managing their vendors, customers, team and invoicing. PS Solutions is officially introducing it this spring, with Hughes being at the center of the sales activities. He pointed to the incredible number of festivals in the Carolinas as a huge opportunity.
When not networking, you’ll likely find Hughes where you find so many of Wilmington’s transplants: on the beach. Along with surfing, Hughes is a competitive open water swimmer. He regularly competes in the Pier to Pier swim on Wrightsville Beach, and takes part in the Swim the Loop event, which is 3 ½ miles of open water.
“Like most people who choose to make Wilmington their home, I’m really excited to help keep it a great place to live,” said Hughes. He has two sons with his wife, who is a special education teacher in a Topsail Elementary School.
“Wilmington is a great place to raise a family. We see more and more people choosing to want to live where they vacation, and the quality of life here is outstanding. I’m looking forward to helping PS Solutions offer more people a high standard of living through technology.”
PS Solutions takes a creative approach to solving companies’ technology problems, employing a diverse group of software and project management professionals to keep software development in the USA. They focus on growing cities as a way to keep costs down without having to off-shore.
For more information, contact info@PSSolutions.net
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Fairs, Festivals, Conferences: Plan and Manage Vendors and Volunteers with Chute Festival
Trade shows, County fairs. Film festivals. Street fairs. Flea Markets. Job fairs.
Events like these are a compendium of thousands of details. Vendors, payments, marketing, invoicing… keeping it all organized and easily accessible can be exhausting.
PS Solutions to the rescue! We’ve recently released our own vendor management system, and we call it Chute – as in, parachute – because it eases your entry into the event. We were working with a Pennsylvania County Fair which faced problems when volunteers left the organization. The result was increased difficulty tracking and managing billings. The team at PS Solutions saw an opportunity to help event managers across the country easily organize, communicate about and manage their interaction with vendors.
Here are just a few things we took into consideration when creating our event management system for festivals:
A Bird’s Eye View: Event maps
Chute Festival provides you with a computerized interactive version of your festival or fairground layout. It’s easier than ever to determine which spaces are still are rented and quickly pinpoint where each vendor will reside. Of course, it’s also easier to show which spaces are open and left to be sold, allowing you to quickly close the deal. Vendor reservations are laid out in color, making it a snap to identify who’s where.
Better Communication: Email Systems
Keep up communications with potential, current and even former vendors through our simple email management system that ties directly to the data in your system.Get Paid Faster: Cloud-based Invoicing
Let Chute Festival take the stress out of billing. Generate customized Invoices on the fly to track and manage payments and accounts. With a few clicks, you can generate all invoices for a given event. And all the information is tied back to each vendor, giving you greater insight into where you stand financially.And if you use a different accounting – or event database -- package, that’s no problem either. Chute provides easy export into PDF, .xls and CSV. With only a few clicks you can export an entire section of data in a pain-free process.
Always On: Cloud-based Software
There are so many advantages to having a cloud-hosted software solution. For example:- Any device, anywhere: with Chute you aren’t tied to a specific machine, so you can access information from your phone when traveling, your tablet on-site, or your desktop in the office.
- Team-Driven: We don’t limit the number of users, and there’s no extra charges for access from multiple devices. Keep your team focused on success, not worried about the technology.
- Secure and Off your Mind: The software itself and all of your data is hosted offsite in a secured environment, so you no longer have to worry about system failure, hard-drive crashes or obsolete technology. Leave maintenance and upgrades behind and focus on what makes your festival work.
No Limits: Host Scores of Events
We don’t believe in capping your creativity or your success. So, go ahead. Host two events this year. Or three. Even if you want to expand your mapping footprint or layout, the costs for new maps are available at extremely low rates, allowing you to expand or reorganize without worrying about excessive costs. Whether you host one event or a dozen there are no caps when you use Chute Festival to manage your projects.Feel confident. As you grow, Chute Festival will grow with you.
Want to learn more about how Chute can help you? Connect with us at info@chutefestival.com
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PS Solutions Delivers Columbia Protocol App for Suicide Prevention in NC
Wilmington, NC – April 9, 2019 -- PS Solutions, a software development firm with offices in Wilmington, NC, as well as Pittsburgh and Altoona, PA, last month released a new app designed to help identify those at risk for committing suicide which utilizes the renowned Columbia Protocol. This free smartphone app provides instant access to simple questions which have been successful in helping identify suicide risk. Blair County, PA was the first to develop an app using the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS) and provide local contact information to nearby crisis centers. The app is now offered in North Carolina and can be customized to connect directly to local crisis centers.
“North Carolina’s suicide rate is higher than the national average,” said Wayne Hippo, co-founder of PS Solutions. “That’s one of the reasons we wanted to bring this free app to the attention of our citizens and those who serve this community. It’s a way to help members of our community who need it most.”
The free iOS and Android app provides access to the C-SSRS, which prompts a few simple questions that gauge when an individual is at risk for suicide then recommends an appropriate level of mental health support. The list of questions can be answered within a few minutes. App users are also offered contact information for crisis centers, which can be customized to include local contacts.
“We need to get everyone in our communities asking these questions,” said Dr. Kelly Posner, Director of the Columbia Lighthouse Project, “Just think of how many lives we can save if every parent, police officer, teacher and neighbor downloaded and used this app.”
More than 20 years of research validates relevance and effectiveness of the C-SSRS. Seen as the gold standard in assessing suicide risk, it is globally. For people who have thought about suicide, simply being asked these questions can come as a relief. One study found that asking the questions reduced distress in depressed respondents.
According to a March 2019 study conducted for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the increase in the national suicide rate from 2016 to 2017 was the largest annual increase in nearly 20 years. Suicides rose by 4% from 2016 to 2017 and 22% from 2008 to 2017. Worldwide, almost 1 million people die by suicide each year; one life lost every 40 seconds.
The idea for the app came from Blair County Pennsylvania, and it is the first county to offer customized local information. Other regions are encouraged to provide local crisis centers contact information, which is based on a user’s phone location. Information on app customization is available through email: info@PSSolutions.net.
PS Solutions is a software development firm headquartered in Altoona, Pennsylvania, with offices in Pittsburgh and Wilmington, North Carolina. PS Solutions takes a creative approach to solving companies’ technology problems, employing a diverse group of software and project management professionals to develop software in the U.S.
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PS Solutions’ Merilli Brings Leadership to Penn State Altoona Women’s Softball
Seems baseball can really influence a lot. It’s been known to develop more than one leader – and more
than one leading developer. It requires a clear understanding of math, statistics, teamwork and a keen
eye for those who can be coached.
PS Solutions’ co-founder Joe Merilli has had baseball in his blood since he was in Little League. He
wanted to pass along his love of the game once he had kids, but with three daughters he switched to
softball. One of his daughters (Miranda) started playing t-ball when she was four years old and later
started pitching with Dad in the back yard. Dad coached the t-ball team and went to coach’s clinics to
make sure he was teaching the correct softball mechanics to his teams as instructed by the best college
coaches in the game.
Eventually, Joe started one of the first local travel teams (Altoona Express) for 10u, 12u and 14u players.
The Altoona Express allowed the players to see a higher level of competition and travel all over the east
coast. Altoona Express teams traveled as far as Disney World in Florida to compete. Miranda
eventually out grew the local scene and the decision was made she would try out for a larger travel
organization in Pittsburgh and she made it. Dad eventually was asked to coach one of those teams and
they traveled from Michigan to Florida to tournaments.
By the time high school came around, Merilli was hired to coach that team and took a perennial losing
team to winning 59 out of 71 games and a date in the Western State Finals and were among the best
teams in the State in their Division. Miranda finished her high school career as one of the most
decorated pitchers in Blair County History.
On to College: The stakes grow
When Joe’s daughter went off to pitch for NYU Polytechnic’s softball team, he stayed home coaching his winning Bishop Guilfoyle team. But that wouldn’t be for long. The head coach at NYU Polytechnic had lost one of his coaches and asked if Joe would be interested? “You’re asking the wrong guy,” Joe replied. “You really should ask your star pitcher.” When she said yes, he became NYU Polytechnic’s pitching coach. After a couple of years there, and while being courted by Hunter College to be their pitching coach, Guilfoyle called to request he return. Apparently, they hadn’t won since he left, so Joe stepped in for a season and lead the team back to playoffs, losing only by one run in the District playoffs. During that year, the Head Coaching Position had opened at Joe’s alma mater – Penn State Altoona -- and it didn’t take long for the two to get together and announce that Joe would be the next head coach of Women’s Softball at the school. In his first year at PSU Altoona, the team surprised everyone by finishing tied for first place in the conference with a 15-3 record. Over the past 4 years the team has been regularly at the top end of the conference and this year looks very promising also, even with four first year pitchers.Technology and Baseball
When asked why he’s such a good softball coach, Joe always starts with the love of the game. But in college coaching, he swears that success is about recruiting the right players. It’s about getting the right talent, those that understand team play. Interestingly enough – that’s what he does at PS Solutions, too. Joe says that team sports are different today than they’ve ever been, that technology and social media play a huge role now. It’s not all the bad stuff – like having the discipline to put down that phone when you’re in team-time. Merilli has a strict rule: no cell phones at practice, when eating together, nor at games. He swears that no team can win if they don’t talk to each other, creating relationships and bonding as a team. But technology also helps them win. It’s about the strategies developed – and about the data generated, tabulated, and analyzed. “I always have used spreadsheets and charts to know my team and my competition,” said Merilli. “I chart every pitch we throw. We know how every batter we face hits. We take that data and determine what pitch to call against every batter. It’s a combination of teamwork, talent and data that lets us have fun while attempting to outmaneuver the other team.”There’s no crying in this baseball
In A League of their Own, Jimmy Dugan (played by Tom Hanks) ‘coaches’ the girls to tears. Joe used to coach a lot like Dugan…especially with his daughter and the talented high school teams he had. But times are changing and Joe will regularly tell you that he has mellowed a bit on the field. He still expects a lot from his players, especially from the most talented ones. He will tell you that he loves a well pitched, well fielded game. But this year, the team is scoring more runs and winning some games with the bats. “We have a really good team this year, with four really good first year pitchers. But this may be the best hitting team we have had a long time. We won six games in a row in Florida, because we hit well all week.” For Merilli, the game looks at all sides of the players, and lets everyone develop strong skills in new ways. Just like the developers he works with all day, who might be great at Java but surprising him when they take on other object-oriented systems. From all of us at PS Solutions, we wish the Penn State Altoona Lions 2019 roster a world full of luck. Go Lions!Follow #PSSolutions on social media LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook
Want help to teach kids to code? Go Ask Alice
When you own a software development company and you lead a foundation that encourages young
girls to learn to code, you’re often asked about how we can get enough coders among our population. In
fact, it seems that at most dinner parties we attend there’s at least one parent in the room that asks
about how to help teach their children to develop technology skills. One team at Carnegie Mellon
University (CMU) must have been asked the same thing, as they’ve come up with one option. They call it
Alice.
According to their website, Alice is designed to teach logical and computational thinking skills,
fundamental principles of programming and to be a first exposure to object-oriented programming. It’s
used by teachers but can easily be led by parents-as-teachers as well. Most start at middle school level,
although it has regularly been used with younger children – and even those at university level.
Designed to provide the basics coding and software design, it includes game development but is also
used to expand understanding of both logical and creative thinking. Studies done at CMU found proven
benefits in engaging and retaining diverse and under-served groups in computer science education.
In and of itself, Alice is a fabulous teaching environment. The Alice Project as a whole, however, also
provides supplemental tools and materials for teaching using Alice across a spectrum of ages and
subject matter. They have established an active community, wherein teachers of all sorts interact to
provide ideas and applications and talk through concerns or questions.
Alice starts with a simple drag-and-drop approach, to make the concept of programming less daunting.
Students (and teachers!) progress quickly to develop stories through animation and sound, and
ultimately even build games.
Why is it called Alice?
If you’ve ever had to name a product or a company in the past 20 years, you know how difficult it is to settle on something that’s not already taken. While many girls could be Alice Smith, there’s only one alicesmith.com, and acquiring the registered trademark is a complex process. As the creative folk at CMU tried to express this program, they thought, of course, of storytelling. Who better to embody the idea of Alice in Lewis Carroll’s The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland. Carroll, a mathematician, novelist, and photographer, could do intellectually difficult things but also realized the most powerful thing was to be able to communicate clearly and in an entertaining way. This inspired CMU’s efforts to make something complex (programming) easy and fun. As they describe on their site, the name is also a very practical choice. The artwork associated with the Alice books is now in the public domain, its copyright having lapsed. Also, the name “Alice” has several other advantages: easy to spell and pronounce, it shows up at the top of alphabetized lists. Great marketing forethought!
What does it cost?
It’s so important to offer programming as a key still today that CMU has found a way to make this project a gift. In other words, it may cost you in time and energy, but there is no financial outlay. It’s free.
So, no matter the age of your children, go take a look at Alice. There may be a great storyteller inside your child’s mind, once they have the tools. You’ll find a link to it on our Foundation website, under Classroom Materials.
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Software in a Different Language
In an earlier blog post we discussed the benefits of custom software to help businesses establish a
competitive edge. Yet designing, testing, installing and training can be a significant battle for the team
leader.
Organizations quite often conclude that their in-house development team is either already overworked
or that they don’t have the necessary skills required to complete the project. Coders and app developers
have specialties, generally in different languages like HTML, Java Script, C++ -- the list goes on. If the
new system calls for Python and that’s not in the programmers’ wheelhouse, you’ll likely outsource the
work.
Outsourcing in the US likely means the computer language is the primary concern. Outsourcing offshore,
however, will invariably add a few layers of complexity to the project, including the spoken and written
language. Having your team work in different development languages is one thing. Having them try to
understand a second language and envelope that into the system may be the breaking point for a
successful endeavor.
Dialect, Accent, Colloquialisms
When folks from the northeast move to southern states, they often found themselves having a hard time understanding the accent, especially in the deep south. Are they hearing a foreign language? Even those with a rather well-developed ear, who’ve traveled extensively ask people to repeat themselves. There are so many English dialects that misunderstandings occur regularly. Accents among Americans are difficult enough but add accents of English speakers from across the globe and it’s likely that the work to decipher meaning can confound situations. Non-native speakers often slip into the sentence structure of their native language and confuse inferences due to colloquial speech and slang that dominate today’s communication style.Tech Translation
A friend of one of our co-workers lives in Poland. His Facebook feed recently had a cute picture of a child and a description written in Polish. Not speaking Polish himself, he decided to use one of the many translation apps available. Apparently, the way it was translated made our colleague shudder that his Polish friend was speaking so negatively about his son… Of course, when asked directly, the translation software had not interpreted the comment correctly. Imagine a situation like that when teams are trying to work on projects as complex as a software system. It’s not enough to outsource to an English-speaking team. Communication among those working on the project can make or break its success, so consider the clarity of working with an astute team here on US soil. Don’t let any part of your system get lost in translation.Follow #PSSolutions on social media LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook
Columbia Protocol Suicide Prevention App, Connecting Pennsylvania Residents with Local Support
America’s first app designed to help save those with suicidal thoughts has been developed by PS
Solutions and introduced first in Blair County, Pennsylvania. Based on the Columbia-Suicide Severity
Rating Scale (C-SSRS), the Columbia Protocol App provides instant access to a few simple questions that
can help save the life of someone considering suicide.
“Our county’s crisis line has 200 to 400 calls every year,” said Jim Hudack, director for the Blair County
Department of Social Services and person responsible for the initial idea. “This app is another way to
offer help to the members of our community who need it most.”
Users download the iOS or Android app to access questions that gauge when an individual is at risk for
suicide; it then recommends an appropriate level of mental health support. The list of questions can be
answered within a few minutes, after which users are offered contact information for local and national
crisis centers.
“We need to get everyone in our communities asking these questions,” said Dr. Kelly Posner, Director of
the Columbia Lighthouse Project, “Just think of how many lives we can save if every parent, police
officer, teacher and neighbor downloaded and used this app.”
With over 20 years of research to validate its relevance and effectiveness, the C-SSRS is seen as the gold
standard in assessing suicide risk and is used by governments, schools, and communities across the
globe. For people who have thought about suicide, simply being asked these questions can come as a
relief. One study found that asking the questions reduced distress in depressed respondents.
Blair County operates one of the busiest crisis centers in the state of Pennsylvania, despite having a
population of 124,000. In Blair County, 23 residents took their own lives in 2018, a 64% increase from
the 2016 total and above the national average of 14.5 deaths per 100,000.
According to a March 2019 study conducted for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the
increase in the national suicide rate from 2016 to 2017 was the largest annual increase in nearly 20
years. Suicides rose by 4% from 2016 to 2017 and 22% from 2008 to 2017. Worldwide, almost 1 million
people die by suicide each year — equal to one life lost every 40 seconds.
PS Solutions, headquartered in Altoona, Pennsylvania, with offices in Pittsburgh and Wilmington, North
Carolina, was chosen by Blair County to develop the app. The app will work as-is nationwide, sending all
callers to the national hotline; it can also be customized by PS Solutions to include contact information
for hotlines in other counties, cities, and states, which would be delivered based on the user’s phone
location.
TO DOWNLOAD: Search the app store for Columbia Protocol. It will say it’s by "PROFESSIONAL STAFFING SOLUTIONS, LLC.".
It can be found on the Play Store for Android or the App Store for iOS
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Offshore USA: 7 Reasons to Outsource in America
Every growing company needs software. Technology is what drives efficiencies that lead to greater
profit, and therefore most corporations will turn to creating proprietary software to sharpen their
cutting edge.
But when software is not your core competency, you look to outsource the development of your grand
ideas. This is what has worked for millions of firms the world over. Often, sacrifices are made when it
comes to saving money by shipping development overseas. Some of the sacrifices are clear; others are
discovered when you are waist high in the project.
Let’s take a serious look at the top reasons we hear from our clients that have off-shored
overseas, then done a u-turn and offshore to small-town USA:
Cost
While it may appear at the outset that you’re saving significantly when you compare a $20/hour coder in Asia to a $150/hour coder in the US, you can bet you’ll be getting what you paid for. Many of our clients have pointed out that other non-price issues added so significantly to the overall cost of the project that they would have been better off just keeping the project on- shore and perhaps paying a bit more in wages.Security
Offshoring development overseas can expose companies to data leaks. Some reports show that 30% of companies that have offshored development have security breach incidents. Even those with NDAs suffered IP loss. Your company’s USP could be littered with more than just bugs – and the resulting court and litigation costs could put your balance sheet at risk.Language
Someone once described software development to me as a complex social process where people share complicated ideas and abstract concepts. While many eastern Europeans and Asians speak excellent English, there can still be a lost-in-translation opportunity that is further heightened by electronic communication. Intermingling development-speak with English and a third language can spell disaster.Culture
The industry your business targets might be a particularly perplexing one for those outside of the American culture to truly understand. Take healthcare, for example. The American system is unique and comes with a plethora of acronyms and processes that most could never understand. How, then, could they possibly write code that enables the American healthcare system to work better? You can apply that concept to other industries as well – finance, law and insurance spring to mind.Time
It’s not just the time zone that will get in your way, but the approach to both time management and length of time to complete a project that could make the difference between a successful outsource and a complete failure.Impact on Jobs
The more we offshore tech jobs, the more our economy takes a hit. “But I’m not responsible for our economy; I’m responsible for my company’s bottom line.” Fine, but don’t take a short-term approach to saving a few bucks. As we noted above, sending your development to Asia is going to cost you more than you expect it to. And that’s just the money. Imagine to whom your company will sell its products when the highly experienced American developers are out of work…The Investor’s Perspective
Developing your competitive advantage is the real reason behind owning your own software instead of relying on off-the-shelf systems. We’ve heard of late that many angel investors and venture capitalists will not invest in entrepreneurial endeavors that have off-shored their software development. Certainly, that is not true in all cases. But do you need to make that the factor that determines your ability to secure funding?It’s critical to find a partner that works with you to determine the feasibility of key features, to create a timeline that works for you and your project, that delivers and is easy to communicate with. It’s also important to take a longer look at the impacts on your business and your community. Over the next few months this blog will dive more deeply into the above reasons. Keep your eyes on this blog, and if you have questions in the meantime, don’t wait a single minute to give us a call. We’d be happy to explain how PS Solutions addresses each of the above concerns – right from the USA.
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A Decade of Delivery
Sometimes opportunity is subtle, sometimes it hits you over the head, and sometimes it actually seems to worm its way into your consciousness. PS Solutions might be any one of those, depending on the time frame. But in January of 2009, it was as though the clouds parted and said: “NOW!” Wayne Hippo and Joe Merilli had bantered about the idea of starting a business 10 years earlier, but somehow the timing just didn’t seem right. Jobs, civic commitments, family affairs all weighed too heavily. But in late 2008 they revisited the idea. After more than 20 years in technology and human resources, Joe watched his employers as they scaled and grew. Wayne had spent 20 years advising businesses, municipalities and working in employment law. They were both in the ‘Rolodex’ business, having built strong relationships for years across technology industries. It was time they built this for themselves. The start was easier than they thought, with connections that spread across southwestern Pennsylvania. They began simply as an extension of companies’ HR departments, placing technical experts in organizations, finding the right skills and the best personality match.
Internalizing the External
Shortly after the business started growing, they noted that the demand for outsourced software continued to grow. As Joe is, first and foremost, a tech guy, this part of the expansion came very naturally. After identifying some projects with their current clients, they hired contractors for PS Solutions, becoming their own customer. Soon there was so much work they were directly hiring software developers in full time positions on the PS Solutions team. “We are fully committed to our team,” said Hippo. “They are the ones that make our company work, so we take care of them not just with salaries, but also with the best benefits package we can assemble.” It works. The employees appreciate the opportunity to have a solid place to work with challenging projects. And it helps that they are truly impacting the American employment landscape. In fact, PS Solutions now has three very different offices: Altoona, Pittsburgh and now Wilmington, NC. “We watched as company after company outsourced their software development, taking jobs away from Americans because it was cheaper overseas,” said Merilli. “We found a way to ‘Offshore America’ – to build a strategy where we employ really smart people in smaller towns where the cost of living is lower and the quality of life higher. It’s really win-win-win-win… for the employees, the small cities our clients and America.”Forward!
So, where does PS Solutions go from here? As pragmatic as Merilli and Hippo are, you can guess: it’s the next logical step. PS Solutions is developing their own software and application packages. Within the month, PS Solutions will launch their first app, becoming a software vendor themselves. And given their propensity of community focus, the app will be consequential: nothing short of helping prevent suicide. Keep your eyes here on this blog… We’ll continue to bring you the stories that paint with clarity what the next decade will deliver.Follow #PSSolutions on social media LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook
Blair County Commissioners Award Suicide Prevention App Development Contract to PS Solutions
It’s a sobering fact: Suicide is the number 1 killer of adolescent girls. It is the second-leading cause of death among all people ages 15 – 29. It is no wonder, then, that the Blair County (PA) Commissioners are anxious to find a way to curtail this threat to our next generation.
During the Blair County (PA) Commissioners meeting on January 8th, 2019 (watch the TV report), the commissioners voted to fund a new app to help first responders and county social workers determine the risk level for suicide. PS Solutions was awarded a contract to develop an app that utilizes the Columbia Lighthouse Project’s protocol, which establishes a series of guidelines for helping those at risk.
The app, which will be operational on both Android and Apple devices, is being developed by PS Solutions. The concept, however, came from the Blair County social services director.
“We spent years carrying around little cards with questions and color-coded answers on them,” said Jim Hudack, Director of Blair County Social Services. “What happens when you can’t find that little card? I’ll tell you – I’m never without my phone, so I asked Joe if creating an app would be possible.”
The Columbia Lighthouse Project’s Suicide Prevention App provides a list of questions to ask, ranging from “have you ever felt like taking your life” and “if so, have you ever thought about how you would do that?” There is a color-coded system for responses, helping to alert the person asking the questions to whether there is an urgent need for help (red) to if it’s a typical situation (green).
The app will provide a resource primarily for first responders but is available for use – for free – by anyone. It is currently in development, with delivery expected by early February. For more information, call PS Solutions at 814-942-7888.
The Joy of Holiday Lights
Both calming and stirring, the sight of Christmas Lights brings out the kid in most all of us. Way back in the ‘60s and ‘70s we used to hop in the car while dad drove us from neighborhood to neighborhood to see the lights. When my kids were young, certain blocks would be uber-lit, with music (sometimes live) and popcorn or cookies for the kids who visit.
The competitive nature in some folks can turn blocks into tiny versions of National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. But the geek inside some of us has learned that a little computer savvy can deliver a very fun and entertaining holiday experience.
Earlier this month, Techspot published an article that can help anyone (with the notion) develop a holiday light show at their own homes. We’re not talking just LED projections. We’re talking creativity with the help of RGB (no not Ruth Bader Ginsberg – that’s RBG!) lights, some control circuitry and unique sequencing. Yes, you can even have audio play along with the dancing lights through FM frequency.
Light shows are awesome. Seriously. Look at Vegas, baby! How about Niagara Falls? People stare for hours… intrigued and awed by the work you did purely for entertainment purposes.
So, if you find that your neighbors are winning the neighborhood contest, start planning for next year. No more boring white icicle lights or flashing on/off blue/green colored strands. Think about how impressed your kids will be…
Yeah. The kids. (But really – think about how impressed your co-workers will be!)
It will make for a new tradition… one you started.
Here’s wishing our entire PS Solutions network a joy-filled and awe-inspired holiday season.
Team hosts computer workshops in schools
Cucalorus, PS Solutions reached 90 students, mostly girls, ages 8-14.
The Cucalorus Festival brought a digital literacy program to local elementary and middle school students with a mobile Kids Coding Workshop. Students at Snipes Academy, Wrightsboro Elementary and GLOW Academy were given an opportunity to write simple codes that programmed and controlled super-small computers, or Arduinos. The program was sponsored by the PS Solutions Foundation.
“Coding is the language of computers,” explained Rob Hill, a filmmaker and Cucalorus outreach educator, as he led students at Snipes to engage in the programming exercise. “A computer program, or code, is a set of instructions that a computer follows to complete a task.” Leading the students through the coding program, Hill provided guidance to connect a circuit board to the computer and then program the computer to tell the circuit board to light up.
The workshops were scheduled over three days reaching some 90 students, mostly girls, ages 8 to 14. According to Wayne Hippo, managing partner of PS Solutions, “the girls tend to flourish and engage more readily without boys in the room. We want girls to see that computer science is a fun and gratifying field of study, and workshops such as these give them a good hands-on opportunity to learn and grow confident with new skills.”
Indeed, the girls showed immediate delight when lights flashed as a result of their coding exercise.
There is urgency to drawing more girls into fields of computer science. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment of software developers is projected to grow 24 percent from 2016 to 2026, much faster than the average for all occupations. A tech talent vacuum means many of the jobs go unfilled, so broadening the pool of candidates is critical to U.S. competitiveness.
“Ultimately, we hope by providing young girls with experiences such as the Cucalorus Kids Coding Workshop, they might later consider studying for a career in computer science or programming,” Hippo said. “You never know when you are opening a door to possibilities that might otherwise never have been considered,” he says.
PS Solutions’ Foundation is a nonprofit committed to developing young girls’ interest in software engineering.
The coding workshops were part of Cucalorus Connect, an interactive convergence of technology entrepreneurship and creative arts. Expanding the festival’s media literacy programming, the digital literacy outreach works to draw people into the world of digital sciences, arts and communications.
PS Solutions is a software development firm that recently expanded to Wilmington from its Pennsylvania headquarters.
Team hosts computer workshops in schools
Outsourcing While Onshoring: A Better Option for Software Solutions
Hiring programmers a world away has long been a desperate option for those looking to fill their need for tech talent. The argument was simply that American programmers weren’t available or affordable, and going off-shore promised lower costs and a tech team who worked while you slept.
Over time, American C-suites learned that there were hidden costs to the overseas solution. The time zone differential left small windows for communication and problem-solving. And English fluency, together with other cultural understandings, have grown from “nice-to-haves” to essential factors. These ‘soft’ attributes had a major impact on internal project management.
Such real-world lessons now collide with a growing concern of American jobs versus foreign jobs, and the real possibility that bad actors could comprise your offshore team and compromise your software integrity.
Indeed, when offshoring one loses certain control of the project which frequently translates into losing control of the money spent on that project; some companies spend millions without reaching a satisfactory solution. We’ve all heard those nightmares.
While acknowledging the cost savings companies cite for offshoring entire IT departments, what about the occasional, but necessary project updates, system and deliverable alignments that in-house software development teams inevitably face?
Because hiring a full-time developer — or team — requires an extended search, considerable overhead and the moral fiber (or lack thereof) to eliminate staff when the project is complete, companies look to what seems to be the easier and cost-sensitive solution of outsourcing via offshoring.
The alternative is onshore outsourcing. Assembling a stateside team to support and solve urgent software solutions invites creative collaboration, assures accessible control and eliminates the angst that comes with the “long-term commitment” of a new employee.
At PS Solutions, we thrive on providing creative onshore solutions for companies hitting roadblocks with their technology. We assign skilled developers to work onsite with in-house teams, or offsite but easily accessible. Either way, you meet the designers and developers working on your project; you can see the progress they are making and engage as frequently as you like. You’re in control.
Our capacity to scale, staff and site solutions according to client projects is what distinguishes PS Solutions. We match talent to task and temperament to team, assuring project needs and corporate culture are equally considered.
The result is ten years of satisfied clients who have avoided or at least augmented the offshore approach. For major corporations or mid-sized companies alike, onshoring is a welcome alternative to the overseas and often over budget offshore solution.
Are you 508c Compliant?
As of 2015 there were 40 million Americans with disabilities. That’s a lot of people who should be able to use your website – or the technology you offer – but may not be able to do so. It’s helpful to them if your site is easily accessible, but if you want the federal government or even its employees to have access you may need to make a few tweaks.
Section 508, an amendment to the United States Workforce Rehabilitation Act of 1973, is a federal law mandating that all electronic and information technology developed, procured, maintained, or used by the federal government be accessible to people with disabilities.
What, exactly, is “accessible”? Essentially it means that whatever you offer needs to be as easy to use by those who have disabilities as it is by those who do not. When it comes to websites, the good folks at Essential Accessibility have developed a checklist to help you determine if you need to make changes. It includes things like:
- Text equivalents for every photo, image, logo or other non-text element.
- Flickering only at a frequency of more than 2 Hz or less than 55 Hz to reduce seizure risk.
- Online forms should be able to be completed using assistive technology or just the keyboard, just a mouse.
- High contrast between the information and the background color, to support limited vision.
- Limit scrolling to get to the core elements.
We’ve fixed websites and even software for many companies. If you need a hand, don’t hesitate to call on PS Solutions.
Hurricane Florence
While we are happy to report our employees in the Wilmington, NC area have been safely evacuated, our thoughts are with our friends, coworkers, and those who may be impacted by Hurricane Florence.
You Know PHP... But How's Your .NET?
For years your team has developed hypertext-based solutions. For both internal and client applications, you guys can rock you some PHP.
But the challenge has changed – and now you need to develop for Windows. You look into a framework that will support a series of different languages – you need access to a huge library that can share with multiple applications.
You need .NET.
But you don’t know .NET, and neither does your team. You can learn it… it’s not rocket science and your team knows C# and VB... besides, they’re really keen. But, you don’t have an extra month.
You need a .NET expert. Someone that will know how to get the Framework right, how to apply the appropriate tools.
What you don’t need? To go through a hiring process. To sign someone on who has the skills you need for a short-term project. To get the project clearly laid out.
One of the great things about having PS Solutions as a partner is that we’re ready to help. We have a hefty team that’s facile with:
• Java
• .NET
• Python
• C#
• Android
… and a whole lot more.
We’ve worked in manufacturing, healthcare, finance, retail, transit, HR… you name the industry, we’ve likely coded for it.
So don’t stress. Just call PS.
Software firm PS Solutions opens in Wilmington
Company could bring on 15 employees, official says.
WILMINGTON -- A software development firm has opened in Wilmington, hoping to tap into the region’s growing fintech hub and other industries.
PS Solutions, an Altoona, Pennsylvania-based firm, is operating out of the University of North Carolina Wilmington’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. This is the first PS Solutions location outside of Pennsylvania, where it also has an office in Pittsburgh.
Managing partner Wayne Hippo said the company develops software solutions for a variety of clients, from mid-size landscaping businesses to convenience store chains to national healthcare and corrections companies. He anticipates PS Solutions having its own Wilmington space and about 15 employees within the year.
“We’re pretty excited about it; it’s certainly the type of community we have been looking for,” he said. “Wilmington seems to be a growing community, willing to take on a lot of tech development.”
In addition to IT support, PS Solutions can develop software and provide programming to clients. Hippo said many of PS’s clients have been fintech -- or financial technology -- companies, an industry that’s growing roots in Wilmington through companies like nCino and the
recently opened Apiture.
Live Oak Bank is building space at its Wilmington campus
that will house future fintech companies doing business with the bank.
Hippo said the presence of those and other tech companies helped draw PS Solutions to the Port City. Rather than locating in the Reasearch Triangle or Charlotte, Hippo said PS was looking for a North Carolina home that would offer future employees an attractive lifestyle.
“Not everyone wants to be in the heart of the big development areas,” he said. “There’s plenty of talent out there that thinks, ‘maybe there’s a better way of life’.”
PS plans to do business with clients throughout the Carolinas, and Hippo said the company is excited to keep tech talent in the Wilmington area.
“I think we’re really pleased at the reception so far, and we’re looking forward to a long-term partnership,” he said.
http://www.starnewsonline.com/news/20180612/software-firm-ps-solutions-opens-in-wilmington
Altoona Mirror Article: Altoona tech firm opens NC Office
PS Solutions of Altoona and Pittsburgh is opening a Wilmington, N.C., office, bringing software development solutions to companies in the Carolinas that are hitting technology roadblocks.
PS Solutions offers a staff of software and project management professionals and serves major corporations and mid-sized entrepreneurs, providing programming and software development, contract IT services and onsite placement of IT professionals.
The company employs a diverse group of technology professionals with a commitment to solving the tech talent vacuum and keeping technology from moving off-shore. The company looks to grow its Carolina-based staff throughout the year.
“Wilmington offers an important new business landscape for us, opening avenues to RTP and the southeast region,” Wayne Hippo, managing partner of PS Solutions, said in a statement. “We look forward to serving the growing fintech, health care and service sector economy, all of which rely on secure, scalable and state-of-the-art software solutions.”
“Ours is a team of creative problem solvers,” co-owner Joe Merilli said in a statement. “We are very adept at finding innovative solutions, whether our clients are facing changing technologies, expanding services or are even entering the technology/software world for the first time. We pride ourselves in working alongside our clients to solve their technology and software problems.”
Below is the link to the article:
http://www.altoonamirror.com/news/local-news/2018/06/altoona-tech-firm-opens-nc-office/
Software Development Firm PS Solutions Opens Wilmington, NC Office
PS Solutions fills regional skills gap and provides on-shore solutions for
companies facing technology roadblocks
Wilmington, NC – May 29, 2018 -- PS Solutions is opening a Wilmington, NC, office bringing creative solutions in software development to companies in the Carolinas that are hitting technology roadblocks. PS Solutions offers a staff of software and project management professionals and serves major corporations and mid-size entrepreneurs alike, providing programming and software development, contract IT services, and onsite placement of IT professionals. With offices in Altoona and Pittsburgh, the company employs a diverse group of technology professionals with a commitment to solving the tech talent vacuum and keeping technology from moving off-shore. PS Solutions is currently working out of UNCW’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship on College Road and is looking to grow its Carolina-based staff throughout the year.“Wilmington offers an important new business landscape for us, opening avenues to RTP and the southeast region,” said Wayne Hippo, managing partner of PS Solutions. “We look forward to serving the growing fintech, healthcare and service sector economy, all of which rely on secure, scalable and state-of-the-art software solutions.” The company works for a broad range of clients who need help with .net, Java and Android platforms, providing creative and cost-saving solutions to support their growth.
Creative Solutions to Technology Problems PS Solutions can scale its expertise for Fortune 500 and multi-national corporations, mid-size companies and start-ups, alike. Clients have included:
- A convenience retail chain of 500 stores that required an enterprise-wide platform for HR systems
- A landscape design company working to update its web portal and develop an app for real-time field-staff communications
- A national education organization that, having invested nearly $2 million in a failed offshore software re-write, turned to PS Solutions to transition proprietary but outdated user-facing technology to a web-enabled standard.
Keeping IT Stateside The trend of off-shoring technology development and IT support is a critical driver for Mr. Hippo and his partner, Joe Merilli. The two are committed to providing an accessible solution to companies who wish to keep their technology in the US. “Technology affects every aspect of our lives, so it is important that we, as a country, control how it is developed and applied,” explains Mr. Hippo. With comparisons to America’s furniture and textile industries, he asks, “Do we really want to offshore our banking and healthcare technologies? Keeping software development here at home is a matter of national security,” he says.
About PS Solutions PS Solutions, a software development firm headquartered in Altoona, PA, with offices in Pittsburgh and Wilmington, NC, uses US-based developers to alleviate the technology talent vacuum. The company’s creative approach to software development services earned them a position on the Inc. 5000 list, in the top 150 fastest growing IT Services Private Companies (133) and ranked 7th in Pennsylvania.
Inspire Act
On February 28, 2017, the President signed the “Inspiring the Next Space Pioneers, Innovators, Researchers, and Explorers (INSPIRE) Act” into law. The primary aim of the bill is to compel the director of NASA to encourage women and girls to study within the STEM fields. The purpose of this act is to support NASA and help women to consider and pursue a career in aerospace. NASA will use three initiatives to support the efforts; the NASA GIRLS AND NASA BOYS programs, Aspire to Inspire, and the Summer Institute in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Research.
The INSPIRE Act is one additional step in what needs to be a comprehensive approach to break down the glass ceiling for women in many STEM fields. We currently have a tremendous shortage of US trained personnel to fill the many opportunities in STEM fields. The US is currently losing thousands of jobs overseas, simply because we don’t have trained people to do the work required. While not anywhere near a cure for the problem INSPIRE is a step in the right direction. The fastest fix to this problem is to make sure that women are given every opportunity to go after what are often traditionally male opportunities in the STEM fields.
PS Solutions Foundation is dedicated to helping young girls get exposure to STEM opportunities, particularly software engineering in the hopes that they will be encouraged to pursue the field as they work through their educational path. PS Solutions Foundation has provided scholarships for girls participating in science camps at Penn State Altoona.
Promoting Women in Entrepreneurship Act
The Promoting Women in Entrepreneurship Act was signed into law on February 28, 2017. It was one of two bills designed to encourage woman to pursue careers in science and business fields. This Act allows the National Science Foundation to encourage entrepreneurial programs for women. These programs will allow women the opportunity to strive for careers in the STEM fields from the lab to the commercial world.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, while women make up 47 percent of the U.S. workforce, they only hold 25.6 percent of computer and mathematical occupations and only 15.4 percent of architecture and engineering occupations. At the college level, women only earn 18 percent of computer science degrees.
Founded in 2012, PS Solutions Foundation focuses local efforts at encouraging young women to develop an interest in software engineering. The Foundation partners with educational providers to engage the young women so they can explore Computer Science and hopefully one day strive for a career within the field. There is a large opportunity for women within the STEM fields and this Act will hopefully be only one step in a comprehensive plan to help grow those opportunities for women.
News on Latest Cyber Attack
The most recent attack on Friday, May 12 affected 200,000 victims across at least 150 countries worldwide. The latest attack comes from ransomware known as WannaCry. Ransomware is software that blocks access by encrypting your data until a ransom is paid. It displays a message that requests money to unlock access. There has been an international search for the perpetrators behind the attack, being led by the Europol, the European Union’s Police Agency. Luckily, there has been no second wave of attacks with many watching to see what the start of the new workweek brings.
The WannaCry Ransomware takes advantage of a vulnerability in Microsoft Windows. Microsoft released a security patch in March to correct the problem. However, there are many companies that do not automatically update their systems to incorporate the Windows patches. A prime reason for not wanting to do so, is that often the newer releases or patches cause problems with companies operating legacy software programs. Essentially, these companies have been running the gamble of not upgrading the security patches so they don’t have to spend potentially significant money to upgrade the legacy software.
If you are considering doing a rewrite of your software systems, consider contacting PS Solutions for a quote. Our rural outsourcing program allows you to save thousands of dollars by utilizing our Altoona-based software engineers. You save money, keep jobs in the USA, and avoid the risks of the unknown results of gambling on using overseas development companies.
PS Solutions Makes Recommendations in Light of Latest Cyber Attack
While companies need to make the decision about investing money to upgrade legacy software, everyone should be considering the following steps to reduce the risk of downloading ransomware:
- Do not open emails from someone you do not know or trust.
- Never open an attachment within an email from a company or person you do not know.
- Never click on a link inside of an email.
- Never reply to SPAM emails.
- Always use a SPAM filter/ Anti- Virus software.
PS Solutions continues growth and announces hiring of new Senior Account Manager
Altoona-based PS Solutions is proud to announce the hiring of Robert Fields as the company’s new Senior Account Manager. Fields will be heading up the PS Solutions’ Pittsburgh office on the North Shore. He is responsible for continuing growth of PS Solutions’ mission to help businesses fulfill their software and web development needs while keeping technology jobs in the USA.
Robert Fields joins PS Solutions with more than 25 years’ experience in the Information Technology Consulting industry. Fields brings extensive experience developing innovative product, project and staff augmentation solutions to complex client problems, consulting with Fortune 500 manufacturing firms, insurance companies, and educational and financial institutions, sourcing and retaining key resources.
PS Solutions employs Software Engineers and Web-based developers in its downtown Altoona and Pittsburgh offices to create, design, and re-engineer software for clients throughout the eastern US.
Questions should be addressed to Joe Merilli or Wayne Hippo at PS Solutions 814-942-7888
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