Technical discussions – platforms, languages, infrastructure issues etc.
Data scraping using Python
In an earlier post, I mentioned a piece of work we had done for a part of Oxford University, in which we extracted details from a number of documents […]
In praise of micro-IT
Sometimes small investments in IT to ease the flow of data around a business can have transformational effects. In terms of pure ROI, such 'micro-IT' is hard to beat!
Running a python website using Microsoft IIS
Python has proved itself to be an extremely useful and multi-faceted tool. We’ve used it with libraries such as pandas and numpy in the Data Science arena, working with […]
Backing up an entire WordPress site
We use WordPress to power our company website. It gives us an excellent platform for managing and publishing our site content; we have been very happy with it, and […]
Working with Oracle from python on a Mac
A recent disk failure left me having to reinstall the software I use on my Mac laptop. I took the opportunity to clean-install Yosemite on the machine, then set […]
Big Data for the smaller business – TFM&A 2015
On 25th March we addressed the Technology for Marketing and Advertising show (TFM&A) in Olympia, London on the subject of ‘Big Data for the smaller business’. The talk formed […]
When essential software no longer meets your needs
Here’s a situation many companies face. Long ago, your company set up some software to support your business. After years of largely trouble-free operation, you need to make changes […]
Managing the evolving requirements of version control
All serious software development companies use version control tools to help with their work. These tools have evolved substantially in the last few years: we needed to update our arrangements to make them work well […]
Using ASP.NET with Oracle OLAP
We have been using a combination of ASP.NET and Oracle OLAP for some years to build sophisticated planning and reporting tools and found them to work very well together. […]
Promotional planning and evaluation
Running effective trade promotions is essential to success in today’s FMCG marketplace, accounting for around half of total marketing spend. For Unilever UK, we developed a system to allow […]