Software and AI Guides for IT Leaders
Free eBooks, white papers, and recorded webinars from the JBS Dev team, plus a terminology table of the AI, data, modernization, and staffing terms IT leaders run into before a project.
WHAT THEY COVER
What Our Guides Cover
JBS Dev's guides are eBooks, white papers, and recorded webinars from our team, plus a terminology table of common AI, data, modernization, and staffing terms.
The eBooks and white papers cover retail and ecommerce, cloud, microservices, mobile apps, and EdTech. The webinars run from 18 to 90 minutes, and several include guests from AWS, BigCommerce, and the education community. The terminology table gives a plain definition of each term and links to the service page that covers it.
Downloads and webinars
eBooks and white papers are free downloads with a short form. Webinars play on their own pages with no form. The terminology table is on this page.
EBOOKS
Free eBooks
Contact JBS Dev to request a copy of an ebook on retail, cloud, mobile, or EdTech.
Retail
Getting Started with Machine Learning in Retail
Where retailers can apply machine learning on AWS, common use cases, and how to pick a first project.
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Cloud
Unlock Your Innovation Potential With the Cloud
How small and midsize retailers use AWS cloud services to work more efficiently and serve customers better.
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Retail
The What, Why and How of Headless Commerce
What headless commerce is, how to decide if it fits your business, and what to expect from the migration.
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EdTech
EdTech: Creating Interactive Digital Learning Experiences That Engage
What school systems need from an EdTech platform, and how EdTech companies can close the gaps.
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Mobile
The Mobile App Advantage
What to plan before building a mobile app, and how to launch it.
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Retail
Agility: What Every Retail Digital Transformation Truly Needs
Why retailers need flexible systems and agile development to add services such as curbside pickup and inventory management.
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Retail
For Today's Retailers It's Innovate or Fail
How retailers can stand out on customer experience and build loyalty across every channel.
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Innovative and Vetted AWS Technology to Consider for 2022
The best technology to prepare data for analytics, machine learning and to set up data lakes.
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TERMINOLOGY
Software and AI Terminology
Plain definitions of the AI, data, modernization, and staffing terms that come up before a project. The last column links to the page where we cover each one in depth.
| TERM | WHAT IT MEANS | WHERE WE COVER IT |
|---|---|---|
| Agentic AI | AI that plans and carries out multi-step tasks across software systems. Generative AI, by contrast, writes text, images, or code in response to a prompt. | AI Agent Development |
| RAG | Retrieval-augmented generation. The AI searches a set of documents first, then writes its answer from what it found, so the answer can cite its sources. | Generative AI Development |
| Prompt injection | An attack where instructions hidden in a document, email, or web page make an AI tool ignore its rules or take an action it shouldn't. | AI Governance & Security |
| Hallucination | A confident AI answer that is wrong or made up. Language models predict likely text and don't check facts unless the system around them does. | AI Governance & Security |
| Human in the loop | A design where a person reviews or approves AI output before it takes effect, usually for actions that are costly to get wrong. | AI Agent Development |
| AI governance | The policies, access rules, logs, and review steps that set which AI tools a company uses, on what data, and who answers for the results. | AI Governance & Security |
| AI data privacy | The rules for what data may go into an AI tool, where the provider processes and stores it, and whether the provider may train models on it. | AI Governance & Security |
| Code ownership | Who holds the rights to the code and other work a vendor delivers. The contract should settle it before work starts, including for code written with AI tools. | Custom Software Development |
| Tokens | The units of text a language model reads and writes. Providers bill usage by the token, so prompt size and call volume drive the cost. | Cloud Cost Optimization |
| AI use case | One specific task where AI does part of the work, such as reading invoices or drafting support replies, weighed by its value against the cost to build and run it. | AI Readiness Assessment |
| Build vs. buy | The choice between adopting an off-the-shelf product, extending a system you already run, or building custom software. | AI Readiness Assessment |
| Predictive analytics | Analytics that forecast a future value, such as demand or lead time, from historical data. Prescriptive analytics goes a step further and recommends what to do about it. | AI-Powered Analytics |
| Technical debt | The extra work a codebase builds up as shortcuts and quick fixes pile up, which makes each later change slower and riskier. | Technology Due Diligence |
| Application modernization | Updating an older application's code, architecture, or hosting so it is easier to change and run, through paths such as rehosting, refactoring, or rebuilding. | Legacy Application Modernization |
| Staff augmentation | Outside engineers join your team and work under your direction. In a managed services model, the vendor owns delivery of an agreed scope instead. | Staff Augmentation |
| Nearshore | Engineers in nearby countries with similar time zones. Offshore teams work from distant countries, often with little overlap in the workday. | Custom Software Development |
WHITE PAPERS
Free White Papers
Shorter reports from the JBS Dev team on ecommerce platforms and microservices. Each one is free, with the same short form as the eBooks.
Ecommerce
Three Proven Strategies for Successfully Implementing an Ecommerce Platform
Three ways to put an ecommerce platform in place: off the shelf, a custom build, or a hybrid of buy and build.
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Modernization
Microservices: The Good, the Bad, and the Better
Where microservices help and where they fall short, and how to break up a monolith by wrapping it in new services.
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Ecommerce
eCommerce Platforming Showdown: Saas vs On-Premise
SaaS and on-premise ecommerce platforms compared on cost, integration, customization, scale, upkeep, PCI compliance, and time to launch.
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FROM GUIDE TO PROJECT
Services Behind the Guides
When you're ready to act on a topic, these practice areas do the work. Each one has its own page.
Agentic AI, Generative AI & Machine Learning
We put AI to work in production: agents, automation, and machine learning built into the systems you already run, with people approving the actions that matter.
Learn moreCloud & Modernization
Modernize aging applications and data in stages, move workloads to the cloud, and keep cloud costs under control.
Learn moreData, BI & Reporting
Pipelines, data warehouses, and reporting that bring data from several systems into one place, so leaders work from one trusted set of numbers.
Learn moreCustom Software & Integration
Software designed around how your business actually works, connected to the ERP, CRM, and data systems you already run.
Learn moreHow We Engage
Ways to work with us when you need more than a single project, from managed delivery to ongoing support.
Learn more
VIDEOS & PODCASTS
Videos & Podcasts
Recorded webinars and panel discussions from the JBS Dev team, some with guests from AWS, BigCommerce, Wine Access, and the education community. Each one plays on its page, with no form.
Retail
A Perfect Pairing: SMB retailer Wine Access scales 400%, reduces costs by 50%, with ML personalization on AWS
An 18-minute webinar with AWS and Wine Access on moving to AWS Lambda serverless architecture and adding Amazon Personalize recommendations.
Watch the webinar
EdTech
Education Post-COVID: What Did We Learn?
A 90-minute EdTech Maryland Meetup panel on how schools can evaluate, roll out, and keep refining classroom technology.
Watch the webinar
Retail
The Power and Flexibility of Headless Commerce
JBS Dev and BigCommerce on how headless commerce compares with custom and off-the-shelf software, and what a migration involves.
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EdTech
Using AI to Move Beyond Individual Mastery
An EdTech Maryland Meetup session on AI techniques, such as natural language processing and adaptive instruction, that help students learn together.
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Mobile
Tapping Into Mobile Apps
How a retail mobile app differs from the website, extends the in-store experience, and brings customers back with push notifications.
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EdTech
EdTech: Get Your Initiatives Back on Track
Delivery guidelines, microservices patterns, and automated development environments from JBS Dev's work with one of the largest EdTech companies in the world.
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Retail
ML Applications In Retail
Where machine learning helps retailers with product recommendations, demand planning, buyer segmentation, and fraud detection, and where people should make the call.
Watch the webinar
FAQ
Guide FAQs
What are JBS Dev's software and AI guides?
They're the free resources the JBS Dev team has published for IT leaders: eBooks, white papers, recorded webinars, and the terminology table on this page. The downloads and webinars cover retail and ecommerce, cloud, microservices, machine learning, mobile apps, and EdTech. The terminology table defines common AI, data, modernization, and staffing terms and links to the service page that covers each one.
Are the eBooks and white papers free?
Yes. Contact us to request the full eBook or white paper. Choose a title on this page, then send us your name, email, and request. The JBS Dev team will follow up with the resource. Company and phone are optional.
Do I need to sign up to watch the webinars?
No. Each webinar plays on its own page, with no form. They run from 18 to 90 minutes. Most feature JBS Dev leaders, and several include guests from AWS, BigCommerce, Wine Access, or the education community.
What does the terminology table cover?
It defines 16 terms that come up before an AI, data, modernization, or staffing decision, such as agentic AI, RAG, prompt injection, tokens, and technical debt. Each definition is plain and general. The last column links to the JBS Dev service page that covers the topic in more depth.
Can you help us apply what a guide describes?
Yes. The services section on this page links to each JBS Dev practice area. Many engagements begin with a Quick Launch Lab assessment, free for qualifying organizations, with no obligation to continue. The assessment reviews your systems and recommends where to start, including what to leave alone.
