Blog
Field notes.
Plain-English writing on websites, security, performance, and building software that earns its keep.
Custom Websites & Web Development
The Website Decision Framework: Template, Headless CMS, or Full Custom Build
WordPress, Wix, headless CMS, or full custom build. The right choice depends on where your business is, where it is going, and what your website actually needs to do. Here is a framework for making that decision based on facts, not vendor marketing.
Shane Fredericks · 5 min read
Custom Websites & Web Development
Why WordPress Sites Get Hacked 90,000 Times Per Minute (And What the Alternative Looks Like)
WordPress faces 90,000 attacks per minute. In 2024, researchers documented 7,966 new vulnerabilities, and Sucuri observed over 500,000 infected websites. The problem is not that WordPress is poorly built. The problem is architectural, and the alternative eliminates it at the foundation.
Shane Fredericks · 5 min read
Custom Websites & Web Development
Why Page Speed Is a Revenue Problem, Not a Design Problem
Every 0.1-second improvement in page speed increases customer spending by up to 10%. Yet more than half of all websites fail Google's Core Web Vitals assessment. Speed is not a technical nicety. It is the difference between capturing revenue and handing it to a competitor.
Shane Fredericks · 5 min read
Custom Websites & Web Development
The WordPress Tax: Security Patches, Plugin Bloat, and the Real Cost of 'Free'
WordPress powers 43% of the internet. It is also responsible for 7,966 new security vulnerabilities in a single year. The platform is free to install, but the ongoing cost of keeping it secure, fast, and functional tells a very different story.
Shane Fredericks · 5 min read
Industry Insights
Why Your Marketing Agency Needs Its Own Tech Stack (Not Just Client Ones)
Marketing agencies build sophisticated tech stacks for clients while running their own operations on duct-taped tools. With martech utilization at just 49% and tool sprawl costing firms 10-13% of resources, it is time agencies invested in themselves.
Shane Fredericks · 5 min read
Industry Insights
What a $50K Custom Platform Does That $500/Month in SaaS Subscriptions Cannot
The average organization wastes $135,000 a year on unused SaaS licenses. Over five years, subscription costs typically exceed custom development by 72%. Here is when building your own platform makes financial sense.
Shane Fredericks · 5 min read
Healthcare Tech
What HIPAA-Compliant Software Actually Requires (And What Most Agencies Get Wrong)
In 2024, the average healthcare data breach cost $9.77 million, and the damage goes far beyond money. Peer-reviewed research shows breaches measurably increase patient mortality. Here's what compliant software engineering actually demands, and why most agencies aren't even close.
Shane Fredericks · 5 min read
Industry Insights
What Defense Contractors Should Expect From Their Software Partners
CMMC 2.0 enforcement is live, ITAR obligations are tightening, and the DoD is watching. Here is what defense contractors should demand from every software partner they work with.
Shane Fredericks · 5 min read
Industry Insights
The Construction Tech Gap: Why a $1.3 Trillion Industry Still Builds Software Like It's 2005
Construction is the second-least digitalized major industry on the planet, spending less on IT than almost every other sector. Here is what that gap is actually costing contractors and how to close it.
Shane Fredericks · 5 min read
Healthcare Tech
What Healthcare Providers Should Demand From Their Dev Teams
Between 50% and 70% of healthcare software implementations fail. The root causes are not technical mysteries. They are predictable failures in accountability, communication, and engineering discipline that providers can prevent by knowing what to demand before writing the first check.
Shane Fredericks · 5 min read
Mobile Applications
React Native vs Flutter vs Swift: An Honest Comparison
The framework debate generates more heat than light. Here is what actually matters when choosing between React Native, Flutter, and native Swift for your next mobile project.
Shane Fredericks · 5 min read
Healthcare Tech
How Ransomware Is Reshaping Hospital IT Budgets
Healthcare experienced more cyberthreats in 2024 than any other critical infrastructure sector, with 444 reported incidents. The average breach now costs $9.77 million. Hospitals are finally spending more on cybersecurity, but most are still investing in the wrong places.
Shane Fredericks · 5 min read
Mobile Applications
The MVP Trap: Why Minimum Viable Products Fail Without a Roadmap
The MVP concept was supposed to reduce risk. Instead, most teams use it as an excuse to ship half-finished products with no plan for what comes next. That is not minimum viable. That is just minimum.
Shane Fredericks · 5 min read
Healthcare Tech
Why Most Patient Portals Fail (And What Good Ones Do Differently)
Patient portal usage has more than doubled since 2019, but adoption alone doesn't mean the technology is working. With healthcare IT project failure rates reaching 70%, the portals patients actually use share a set of engineering decisions that most agencies never make.
Shane Fredericks · 5 min read
Mobile Applications
Mobile Security Beyond SSL: What Enterprise Apps Actually Need
SSL is table stakes. Enterprise mobile apps face threats that encryption alone cannot stop, from hardcoded credentials to supply chain attacks. Here is what real mobile security looks like.
Shane Fredericks · 5 min read
Mobile Applications
Why Most Business Apps Die Within 90 Days of Launch
The average business app loses 77% of its users within three days and 90% within a month. The problem is not the market. The problem is how most apps get built.
Shane Fredericks · 5 min read