InnerWorkings Blogs

Pleasanton, CA - June 16, 2006 - This month sees the release of a number of significant updates to the InnerWorkings product family. The administrative features of the InnerWorkings Platform have been boosted by new functionality:

• coding challenges can be assigned at individual Drill level
• administrators may assign multiple Drills to multiple developers
• enhanced progress information provided in reports

With updates to the Developer Interface, developers also have access to a range of new benefits associated with Drill level activation and Personal Tutor interaction. All of these features, which will be rolled out on Monday June 19, are described further below.

Benefits for administrators
Greater flexibility with Drill assignment capability
The new Platform functionality provides greater flexibility in assigning coding challenges. Administrators can manage the allocation of learning materials to a finer degree. For example, it is now possible to allocate just one Drill containing approximately 2 hours of coding time to a particular development team.

Easier to assign multiple items to multiple users
The new functionality also makes it much easier to assign multiple Drills to multiple users. Administrators can allocate several Drills to multiple developers in one simple action. Furthermore, new filters on the interface make it faster to locate the particular Visual Studio version, language, and type of Drills needed.

Report information enhanced
The new Platform update also includes a number of Drill-related report enhancements. In particular, all Developer Activity Reports are being modified to display results based on Drill completion, giving administrators a clearer insight into developer progress. All of these changes will be implemented seamlessly with no additional intervention required from administrators.

Benefits for developers
Drill level activation
Drill level activation enables shorter, more achievable goals for developers. Each Drill represents a block of learning and reference material which runs to approximately 2 hours of coding time. This is significantly less than the time required to complete a Practice Set (averaging a minimum of 8 hours), so represents a more achievable learning goal.

Faster installation of content
Developers no longer need to install a complete Practice Set. Instead, you can quickly install just the Drill(s) required for more economical, targeted learning. Because you only install the Drills needed, you can focus on the tasks of particular interest to your daily workflow.

New Personal Tutor improvements
The new Personal Tutor feature now allows developers to attach task code files to any Personal Tutor query. This makes it easier for the Personal Tutor to analyze and resolve each developer’s problem, and promises a faster turnaround on technical queries.

Access to greater variety of subject matter
Because InnerWorkings can release Drills faster than was previously the case, developers will now get access to a greater variety of topical subject matter including Drills on WinFX, Atlas, VSTS, and Enterprise Library to name but a few!

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