Archive for July, 2010

Lights Out – Did you Survive the Outages?

Thursday, July 29th, 2010

This has been a trying week for many of us. Personally, I lost power on Sunday afternoon and it did not come back until Wednesday morning. I know that many of our customers lost power at home and work and i thought it an appropriate time to discuss the reliance that our businesses have on electricity.

On Sunday night I tried to go to dinner in Bethesda – along with the rest of the world. Those restaurants had record sales. Similarly, I went to the local grocery store yesterday to restock, and found them restocking as well. Three days of no power cost them all their Rosen and refrigerated food – talk about record losses.

At CNS, we were lucky. We had power for the duration, and our distributed workforce makes it easy to keep the business running when one facility is not available. However, what if our main office had lost power for three days? A good portion of our staff was in the dark as well. The point here is that our business continuity plan would not have covered this type of event. Does yours?

Right after a major event, whether your fared well or failed miserably, is the best time to evaluate your continuity plan. Right now, schedule a 30 minute meeting with your management team to chat about your plan, this event and what needs to be changed.

How did you fare?

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Pomerantz Agency

Thursday, July 29th, 2010

I had a lunch meeting with one of my new favorite partners, Kathy Floam-Greenspan of Pomerantz Agency. It was the first time that I met her face to face, but she has done plenty of work with our marketing department, specifically, Karen Kalantzis. In the past two years Pomerantz has helped us release two of our web sites into the wild. Corporate Network Services, Inc., which you are viewing now, and Anvil Dataworks, our FileMaker spinoff site. I love them both. They are both set up to be content management sites, which means that you don’t have to know any web programming to make changes to the content. Both are very Web 2.0 with the ability to blog, tweet, and play the SEO game. When you are trying to get the attention of potential and existing customers, nothing is better than a clean web site that clearly states your message. Coming up on the first page of results in Google or Bing is the holy grail of SEO.

But none of this is why I like Kathy. Our meeting today was about the Phase II additions that we could make to both our web site and our marketing efforts. I was specifically impressed with how Kathy was able to relate other client problems and how she solved them, to our situation. She used the language of business, not the language of Web coding to describe how she would be able to help us. The best part of the conversation was that she really understood her clients business. This resonated with me because that is EXACTLY how we approach our clients. Instead of talking about the technology behind the solution, we talk about the solution itself. Specifically, our goals for every recommendation are to make or save you money, retain existing clients or gain new ones. Like Kathy, our only goal is your business success. If you are tired of talking technology and just want to work, talk to us. If you want some of that work to be done by your web presence, talk to Kathy.

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Favorite iPad Apps

Wednesday, July 21st, 2010

I’ve written about my iPad before, so we all know how much I love it. After spending all of conference season with the iPad, I have found that being on the bleeding edge means that people want to talk to you about your technology. One of the most popular questions is “What apps are your must have apps?”. So here they are for all to see!

1. Jump Desktop. This is a paid remote desktop app. It let’s me quickly and easily access my terminal server to access Windows only applications.

2. Pages. Another paid app, provides complete word processing power from the iPad. I use this all of the time to write blogs or other documents. I can export them to an email in Microsoft Word or PDF format.

3. This free app let’s me sync my files between my laptop and my iPad – allowing me to have east access to my working files.

4. USA Today. This is my favorite app. It’s free and like reading the newspaper.

5. Evernote. Another free app, this let’s you keep track of your notes and audio recordings and syncs them to the cloud or email. Quick and easy note taking.

6. Cydia. I’ll admit to jail breaking my iPad. This has its pros and cons and definitely violates warranties and support. However, it opens up a whole new world of apps that are otherwise not available. It’s great for me, but if you cannot support it yourself, don’t give yourself the headache.

What’s your favorite app? Post a comment and let me know!

Posted by in Technology, Tips and Tricks | 2 Comments »

VMware Cuts the Price and Tries to One Up Microsoft

Thursday, July 15th, 2010

I know that I’m at a Microsoft conference right now, but VMware just took a major shot at Microsoft – and it only benefits customers. Today, VMware announced that it has permanently reduced the price of it’s vSphere Essentials 4.1 package to $499.00. This permanent price drop means that the basic entry point for full VM management is now equal on both the Microsoft and VMware platforms.

VMware has also announced that the vSphere Essentials Plus package will now include full vMotion capabilities. While this does not match Microsoft’s free price point, it does drop the price by about $12,000 and pretty much removes cost as a barrier to anyone seriously interested in setting up this kind of environment.

To add the Microsoft kool-aid that I’ve been drinking all week. Microsoft is preparing for a major offensive as a large majority of VMware’s three year service agreements are set to expire. This price drop hurts that campaign.

All in all, this helps each and every one of you. If you’ve been thinking about virtualization, now is the time to jump in, whichever vendor you choose expect more enhancements and better technology as these two fight it out.

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Outlook and Facebook – Together at Last

Wednesday, July 14th, 2010

If you haven’t figured it out yet, Microsoft likes to wait until a major conference to make announcements (to be fair most vendors do) and this years’ WPC is no exception. The Facebook plugin for the new Outlook Social Connecter is now available (finally!). The Outlook Social Connector is a plugin for Outlook 2003, 2007 and 2010 that allows you to get status updates and other information right from your Outlook screen. Up until yesterday, it came with plugins for SharePoint 2010 servers, MySpace and LinkedIn. This latest update includes support for Facebook and Windows Live.

If you haven’t tried it yet, what are you waiting for, click this links to download and install:
http://blogs.office.com/b/office_blog/archive/2010/07/13/connect-to-facebook-and-windows-live-with-the-outlook-social-connector.aspx

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Microsoft’s Cloud Strategy

Wednesday, July 14th, 2010

This morning we heard from Microsoft COO Kevin Turner. He spent his time evangelizing about the companies investment in cloud based technologies and really reiterated the message that Microsoft is betting the farm on the cloud. He shared that today, 70% of all developers at Microsoft are working on cloud bed technologies. This time next yea, that will rise to over 90%. This means that Microsoft will develop for the cloud, and then port the technology to on premise software – for now.

Traditionally, applications are written for a specific system and all data is stored inside that application. Typically, the data can be shared across workstations by purchasing licensing, but the data can only be managed in that applications. The cloud is changing that dynamic. Data is not meant to be locked into a specific application, it is meant to be shared. Applications should be available ubiquitously – not from a heavy client installation but from a web browser. Untie the software from the device and the data from the software and a whole new generation of accessibility is available.

Overall, the message is being heard loud and clear. All areas of Microsoft are releasing cloud products – from the XBox to Windows Server. This year will see the end of its recent product refresh cycle and every single product has either partial or complete cloud integration.

The message to you? Start thinking about how the cloud could benefit you. Teleworkers? Branch Offices? What does it mean to you?

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The Next SBS is Official – Including a New Affordable Version for 5-15 Users

Wednesday, July 14th, 2010

I love it when I am right! I wrote on Monday morning about how I anticipate that Microsoft will FINALLY make some announcements about the next version of its’ Small Business Server suite (SBS). I also mentioned that there were some cloud rumors swirling around the products evolution. Well, I am pleased to say that Microsoft has made a very big announcement! There will be TWO versions of SBS, one a “classic” version which updates the SBS we all know and love, and another cloud-based version (codenamed Aurora) that combines local file sharing, PC backup and the BPOS cloud based suite (hosted Exchange, SharePoint, LiveMeeting).

Today I had the opportunity to meet and chat with some of my favorite industry bloggers about these new versions. Most of them are Microsoft MVP’s who have been under NDA for quite a while and are relieved to finally be able to discuss the software. We should look to see a public beta in the next few months and a full release late this year.

Microsoft is really pushing its customer base to the cloud, but realizes that many small business are not willing to make the leap just yet. With that in mind, Aurora is really positioned to be the first server for the less than 15 person office. Keep your databases local, while putting your web-enabled applications in the cloud.

The full feature breakdown of the products is as follows:

  • Windows Small Business Server (SBS) “7″ Preview: The next version of Windows Small Business Server will include a richer remote access experience, as well as updates to all of the component software in the suite to the latest versions (Windows Server 2008 R2, Exchange Server 2010 SP1, SharePoint 2010 Foundation, Windows Server Update Services 3.0 and SQL Server 2008 R2). As a result, small business customers will find significant security and management enhancements as well as much richer features for providing file-and-print, email and Internet services to employees. SBS 7 will support up to 75 users.
  • Windows Small Business Server (SBS) Code Name “Aurora” Preview: A new edition of Windows Small Business Server, Aurora is an affordable, easy to use “first server” option for small businesses that will be the company’s first to deliver both traditional and cloud capabilities. With SBS Aurora, customers will be able to better protect their business data through automated backup and restore capabilities, easily organize and access business information from almost anywhere and run a variety of business tools and software. SBS Aurora will support up to 25 users.

CNS is on the beta user list and we look forward to working with both version. Keep your eyes peeled to this page for more information!

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Posted by in Technology | 1 Comment »

Good Morning from Microsoft WPC

Monday, July 12th, 2010

It’s a bit early for me to be up and about, but keynotes begin at 8:00 AM and tradition holds that missing the opening keynote is a pretty bad omen for the rest of the week. So, how does Microsoft address 13,000 of its most dedicated business partners from across the globe? Why, get rent the Verizon Center, of course.


That’s right, we are still 30 minutes away from the start of the presentations, and I’ve seen a less crowded arena for a Wizards game! This morning, we will be hearing from some three of Microsoft’s most senior leaders. Steve Ballmer, Allison Watson and Bob Muglia. Together, they will share their strategy for the next year and hopefully make a big announcement or two. Rumors are swirling about an updated Small Business Server. There’s even reason to believe that we might hear about the next version of Windows Server. Keep your eyes on this page for all the news from Penn Quarter all week – and let me know if there is something you’d like me to research at the show.

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Save time with keyboard shortcuts!

Friday, July 9th, 2010

I recently complete a Windows 7 training session for one of my PROSuite customers. After the training session, they asked for a copy of my slides. I opened a new email message and proceeded to drag the PowerPoint file into the message window. I then looked as the jaws of every person in the room dropped. No one knew that they could simply drag a document into the message. They all went the long way of six mouse clicks and a browse window.

It got me thinking that perhaps there are a LOT of shortcuts that people aren’t aware of. To the end, I present a pretty complete list of keyboard shortcuts for Microsoft Outlook!

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook-help/keyboard-shortcuts-for-outlook-HP001230396.aspx

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Welcome to our blog!

Thursday, July 8th, 2010

I am pleased to present the next generation of the PROSuite eNews – the same great content as the monthly newsletter, but delivered in real-time and in a more meaningful way. The purpose of transitioning to a blog is to allow our customers and followers to have a one stop resource for all things IT and small business ownership. For years our customers have benefited from our consultative, business-minded approach to IT and now the management team at CNS has a place to share our thoughts and help small businesses succeed through technology.

As you browse through some of the blogs we’ve already posted, you’ll see topics ranging from how the new iPad can fit into your small business to new features of Outlook 2010 to how dressing for success can improve your overall image and self-esteem. There really is something for everyone!

This blog is just one part of our new online social strategy. You may have noticed our brand new website that allows for easier access to information about all of our programs and soon we will be launching our new Facebook fan page were we will share information about the people behind the programs. Our goal is to build a strong community that we can use to define best practices and industry realities. What we discover will enable CNS to help the entire community in a very organic fashion.

Please bookmark our page as we plan to update often – and feel free to comment! We welcome all of your comments and feedback – including your ideas for future post topics.

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