Jan 11
27
Google Apps Collaboration
Your business can achieve a new level of successful interpersonal communications and effective collaboration by converting your business email to Google Apps. The free version enables your small organization to begin the experiment. But, Google Apps for Business at $50 per user per year brings 25GB email storage per user, BlackBerry and Microsoft Outlook interoperability and much more to the table. Check out this video.
When you find yourself ready to loose your current email provider or ready to quit throwing money at Microsoft Exchange or Small Business Server, consider discussing Goggle Apps with me.
If your small business has ten or less computers, you can now install Microsoft Security Essentials for free.
Microsoft Security Essentials provides real-time protection for your home PC that guards against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software.
Microsoft Security Essentials is a free* download from Microsoft that is simple to install, easy to use, and always kept up to date so you can be assured your PC is protected by the latest technology. It’s easy to tell if your PC is secure — when you’re green, you’re good. It’s that simple.
Microsoft Security Essentials runs quietly and efficiently in the background so that you are free to use your Windows-based PC the way you want—without interruptions or long computer wait times.
I’ve used Microsoft Security Essentials for some time now and have had good success with it. A ten computer license for ESET Smart Security costs $509.90 for one year. Microsoft just handed you enough money to purchase a new desktop computer every year. Sounds like a great offer to me.
I’m forever amazed at the ingenious and creative ways that people strive to make a living. Steve Appel represents the kind of folks that with their own unique vision, can turn the eyes of all of us to a stronger appreciation of life’s nuances. Steve sells his works of art through his website as well as arts and crafts shows.
The Beginning of Steve Appel’s Bolt People® . . .
“I was just playing around with all these discarded machine parts at the shipyard.”
Steve began giving these metal sculptures as gifts to friends and coworkers. They are the ones who told him to start selling them. So, he began selling his Bolt People® at craft shows on the weekends, still holding onto his job at the shipyard.
“At the time, I was one of those guys who just planned to work my 20 years or so, have the security of good benefits and then retire.”
That plan changed when Steve was laid off in 1989. He decided then to make his hobby a full-time profession and broadened his market by doing shows around the country.
Steve did over 40 shows his first year as a full-time entrepreneur, and he took a business class through SCORE. Orders started pouring in and the business has grown steadily ever since.
Check out Steve’s art at http://www.boltpeople.com
Nov 10
9
Virtual Reality Cycling
vrcycling.org redirects to this page because I’ve found it more effective to post my cycling articles here. After 20+ years off a bike, virtual reality cycling helped condition me to return to road cycling. I train at Steve Elliott’s VR Cycling Studio.
I commercially install and support video intensive virtual reality cycling simulation for indoor training with RacerMate’s CompuTrainer and VeloTron, utilizing Virtual Reality Cycling simulation software from ErgVideo and RacerMate, for home and commercial studios.
If you own or run a large fitness center, you should consider adding a Virtual Reality Cycling module. The overall performance increases over dedicated spinning type systems will keep your cyclists returning for repeat business. When you add coaching and training plans to the mix, you achieve a blueprint for high margins and growth. Let me guide you down the VR Cycling path. Contact me today.
“Today, CompuTrainer is widely recognized as the leading electronic bicycle ergometer for maximum performance improvement, testing, and enjoyable indoor training. For testing and training their athletes, the Canadian Cycling Association coaches and national team members have officially adopted CompuTrainer, as have USA Cycling Coaches Association, USA Triathlon and USAT Coaches Association.” From RacerMate
Posted in Cycling by .
I’ve read some very interesting articles recently. all driven by the information technology changes detailed by Gartner’s Predictions For 2010 and beyond. Typically, Gartner directs it’s information to the corporate sector, but without a doubt, corporate information technology trends either filter down to small and medium sized business or result from the influence of nimble and highly competitive SMBs upon corporations.
Gartner predicts “40 percent or more of an organization’s work will be “non-routine,” which is up from 25 percent in 2010” and “growth in the number of organizations that create groups specifically charged with detecting divergent emerging patterns, evaluating those patterns, developing various scenarios for how the disruption might play out and proposing to senior executives new ways of exploiting (or protecting the organization from) the changes to which they are now more sensitive.”
I see a similar parallel to what I used to call systems driven exception management where only transactions or processes outside of well planned and configured norms require investigation and resolution in the day to day business flow. Highly structured in policy, system driven exceptions define day to day “non-routine” business activity and should never be confused with human driven exceptions, as the later is subject to manipulation and under or over statement.
Over time, “non-routine” business activity patterns emerge that if not dealt with by managers or “groups” of managers can negatively impact business. For example, one of those patterns can often be related to customer attrition that can lead to lost sales and lower margin. Increase in “non-routine” business activity is most certainly a reflection of our less than routing economic times.
So how does all of this translate to QuickBooks processes and QuickBooks infrastructure?
The Small and Medium Business sector and SMB Decision Makers need less technology complexity. Over the next several years, the SMB marketplace will push for that end result. That realistically translates into no data closets with servers, no on site infrastructure management and no IT employees as well as reasonable software licensing fees and reduced costs, all while embracing only the latest business information tools that produce turn-on-a-dime responsiveness and improved productivity.
If you’ve read my article, QuickBooks Server Remote Applications On A Shoe String, you know that I’ve made the case for a QuickBooks server device that reduces cost and complexity for a small business, a solution that you can actually build yourself. Taken one step further, one can deploy this solution, not on a physical computer, but on a virtual Windows computer in the cloud, affording SMB folks the luxury of geographically distributed work environments and improved productivity. This represents a clear migration path for SMBs with on site servers.
This cloud QuickBooks environment coupled with cloud based business intelligence, customer relationship and business organization tools can achieve the turn-on-a-dime responsiveness necessary for small and medium business success all within reasonable price points. As change occurs in your business, I would urge you to think about the bigger picture and migrate your business processes to the cloud. If you need help, contact me. Otherwise, please tell me what you think about Gartner’s Predictions
