Think fast
Thoughts and ideas on how to build tools, automate workflows and speed-up the workplace.
What is an API Call?
API calls are one of the basic tools we can use for all kinds of development, integration, data sharing, and digital transformation projects. Whether we’re building solutions from scratch or simply hooking up a couple of SaaS tools - we’re probably going to need to make API calls. Today, we’re going to guide you through everything you need to know. We’ll start with what API calls are, what they’re used for, and how they work.
Ronan McQuillan
Jul 28, 2023
What is Workflow Integration?
Workflow integration is at the center of how modern businesses operate. Indeed, achieving efficient, secure, and performant internal ops is all but impossible without fairly extensive integration. Today, we’re exploring the practical side of this. Specifically, we’re diving deep into everything you need to know about integrating workflows. We’ll start with the basic principles and core business benefits of integration - alongside some of the common challenges. Then, we’ll move on to some concrete examples and the strategies you can implement to create seamless workflows for your team.
Ronan McQuillan
Jul 28, 2023
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