Rethinking the Consultant Developer because of the Web Modeler

Rethinking the Consultant Developer because of the Web Modeler

Recently I was onsite with a potential customer and a few folks from Mendix to describe the value proposition of their platform combined with our service delivery model. Often, I will perform the demos, but in this instance, we collectively decided to give that responsibility over to Michael Schiraldi, Solutions Architect @Mendix. Like the client, I, too, learned things that I didn’t know! I’ve been at this for quite a while, and the learnings I had centered on Mendix’s Web Modeler and the roles of my team and how we train. If this interests you, please read on!

Extending SAP: Fiori or Mendix?

Extending SAP: Fiori or Mendix?

“With SAP tools like Fiori and UI5, why would I need Mendix?”

As a practitioner who directs our architecture and development of Mendix applications alongside SAP developers, I get asked this question a lot. Rapid Application Development (RAD) tools like Mendix are on the rise because as businesses begin their journey into digital transformation, they realize that the agility necessary to respond to rapidly changing competition and value perceptions require focused teams that combine business leadership and IT to design and deploy solutions just as rapidly. Waiting for a waterfall, stack-developed project to get scoped and developed will typically miss the mark, come out behind the curve of the transformation, and be dead in the water by the time it hits the market or the business.

EPI-USE CAB and Mendix Hackathon

EPI-USE CAB and Mendix Hackathon

This past week I had the pleasure of sponsoring some of our Mendix clients at our annual Client Advisory Board (CAB) in Scottsdale, AZ. We bring key members of our client teams to this event as a “Thank You” for the opportunity to service them over the previous year, allow them a chance to relax and unwind a bit in the beautiful venue at Sanctuary on Camelback Mountain, and attend some general and breakout sessions geared at equipping them with information we have gathered that we think might benefit them. This was the first year where we really explained how we use the Mendix platform to help solve business problems as well as how we have learned to establish and equip our teams for success, as well as a Hackathon competition between two small groups made up of our US Mendix practice.

How To Build a Mendix Module Security Plan

How To Build a Mendix Module Security Plan

Let’s face it: Application Security Modeling is a difficult topic. I’ve seen (and built) numerous attempts and security models using the Mendix framework, and they are rarely consistent and often misunderstood. I’m going to attempt to document my processes and procedures that I have determined to be best practices to hopefully help some developers out there struggling to find a “best practice security Mendix” search on Google. There are many ways to approach it so by no means is my approach the only way to do this, but I do know it works to ensure each element is considered in the modeling

Augmented guide to deploying Hybrid Mendix app on iOS using Windows

Augmented guide to deploying Hybrid Mendix app on iOS using Windows

I’d like to share some knowledge I picked up along the way when working to deploy a Mendix app with custom widgets that required a build in PhoneGap (not the standard “Publish” method in the Mendix Dev Portal) and the steps not articulated in the current guide as a supplement to help anyone else with some of the steps I initially struggled with. Hopefully it saves others the trials and time it took me to figure out.