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Microsoft Launches Office365 Cloud Offering beta April 30, 2011

Posted by Kelly Brady in : Technology Solutions , comments closed

Microsoft Office 265 Logo

Microsoft recently made their new “Office 365″ cloud bundle available to public beta testers. At first glance, this looks like an attractive, web-based bundle of core applications including their latest version of the Exchange email server. Exchange 2010 is much improved, both from a performance and feature standpoint.

Office 365 will be subscription based, with the price beginning at $6 per user/month depending on services selected. The offering is designed around Office 2010 Professional Plus, and depending on the plan selected may include locally-installed version rights to Office 2010 Professional Plus, or only web-based access via a browser. All of the server functionality is on the Internet in Microsoft’s data centers – there is no hardware required (other than the PC’s needed to access the services).

The full edition of Office 365 includes the following:

(more…)

Should your small business get a CRM system? December 9, 2009

Posted by Kelly Brady in : Small Business Technology, Technology Solutions , comments closed

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems are now within the reach of medium and small businesses. Just a few years ago, these were 6 and 7 figure investments. But now, there are many choices that enable even a very small business to benefit from CRM.

I think CRM systems are great tools, perhaps essential to maximize profitability and success. But, I also believe that many businesses overlook the business process changes that a CRM system requires in order to justify the cost and produce a real return on investment.

Fundamentally, a comprehensive CRM system gathers everything you know about your customers and stores it in one place. Typically a central contact record links sales activities, services, responses to marketing campaigns, and all communication activities together. You can run reports to see what worked in the past, who fits a new marketing campaign, or who may need a followup contact.

Key Considerations for a CRM Implementation

1. Look at your business strategy first; do you already know exactly how you want to manage your relationships with your customers? If not, figure that out first before taking the plunge into a customer relationship management system.

2. Look at your staff; do they have the discipline to recognize the value of the system and be willing to use it? For instance, will they log nearly all customer contacts (phone & email) into the system?

3. Look at your business processes for marketing, sales, service requests and problem handling. Can you articulate them? The CRM system should help you standardize and create consistency in following your own business processes. If you can’t articulate what they should be, CRM won’t help you fulfill them.

4. Will you actually use the analytical capabilities of a CRM system to understand past customer activities, sales patterns, marketing campaign results to develop new strategies and tactics? This may provide the real value of CRM for most companies, but will managers use this tool or keep doing what they’ve always done before?

I have seen small and large businesses embrace the CRM concept, purchase and implement a system, but then fail to get everyone on board and use the system effectively. Simply buying a system will not improve your customer relationships or result in more sales or happier customers. It will only provide a framework upon which to manage the processes surrounding effective customer relationship management. If you know how you want to relate to your prospects and customers, and can commit to making the necessary process changes, a CRM system might be the best investment you ever made.

Information Security Hot Tips for PC’s & Small Business November 14, 2009

Posted by Kelly Brady in : Information Security, Small Business Technology , comments closed

In my experience, most information security breaches are not caused by lack of elaborate, expensive security software, hardware and consultants. More often than not, they are caused by a simple failure to create and maintain a basic (and nearly free) security foundation.

Get the latest software patches
Always download the latest critical and security related updates from Microsoft, Apple, Firefox, Adobe etc.; as well as seek updates for other major applications you use.

Use a (Commercial) Anti-Virus Solution
Use a commercial anti-virus solution and make sure it is receiving daily updates (I just don’t trust freebies). Make sure it is performing real-time scanning and periodic full PC/hard drive scanning. Many business editions of commercial anti-virus products allow employees to run a free copy of the product at home.

Separate Physical Firewall
Add a layer of defense with a separate physical firewall in addition to your PC’s built-in firewall. Example brands: Linksys, Netgear, Sonicwall (for small businesses). For most businesses, a $79 Linksys or Netgear router/firewall is really not sufficient, but still better than nothing.

Test your firewall for free
Visit GRC’s website and find Shield’s UP, a fast, free service that will perform some basic firewall tests from the outside world…see what a hacker sees.

Encrypt Sensitive and Portable Data
Encrypt sensitive data on laptops and portable/USB drives. Look into PGP, McAfee Safeboot, Checkpoint. Also look at Bitlocker/Bitlocker-To-Go which comes with Vista & Windows 7 Ultimate & Enterprise editions.

Don’t Warn Your Friends!
Don’t warn your friends about a “particularly dangerous” virus that they need to be careful about. They should always be vigilent. If you feel the need to do this, you are probably a victim of a virus hoax and are propagating it! Thousands of new viruses and hoaxes come out each month…your friends don’t want to receive an email from you for about each one.

Phishing and Email-based Trickery
Avoid “phishing attempts” and other email-based exploits; antivirus and firewalls may not protect you.

Seriously, Don’t Use Weak Passwords
Don’t use weak passwords – you’d be surprised how easy they are to guess or crack (remember Sarah Palin’s Yahoo Account?)

Actively Test Your Security
How do you know you are secure, if you don’t test your security in some way? There are lots of tools out there; many are free. A good one for small businesses is the Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA 2.1). There are also more comprehensive services out there, such as the Qualys vulnerability scanning service. These services can be pricy, but most will perform an initial or basic test for free as an incentive to sign up for their service.

Have “offline” backups of critical information
If you compute long enough, you will probably have a virus, malware or system failure that will cause loss of data. There just sin’t any excuse for making copies of important information. Keep it offline – on a powered of hard drive, DVD-R, USB etc so that it is protected from an outbreak.

Clever Microsoft Server Bundles for Small Businesses November 10, 2009

Posted by Kelly Brady in : Small Business Technology, Technology Solutions , comments closed

Microsoft has some lesser-known editions of their core Windows server offerings, packaged and priced for small businesses that range from 1 to 300 users. These products are less expensive than buying traditional full server editions, and come with additional administrative features that reduce the cost of ownership. These special offerings are either preinstalled or relatively easy to install, and are tightly integrated “out of the box”.

Windows Home Server is targeted to home users with multiple PCs in their home. However, many SOHO businesses with 10 or less PC’s find it a cost-effective way to have basic server technologies, with the bonus of a very effective backup solution for their PC’s.

Windows Server Foundation is an entry-level server for small businesses with up to 15 users. Foundation is inexpensive, easy-to-deploy and will allow small businesses to run most common business applications, as well as share information securely and access their data while traveling.

Windows Small Business Server 2008 (SBS) is an all-in-one server solution that provides many of the features typically available only in larger companies. These features include Microsoft Exchange email, internal websites, remote access, support for mobile devices, file & printer sharing and backup for up to 75 users. The Windows Small Business Server 2008 Premium edition contains everything in the standard edition, plus the right to install a 2nd server running the Microsoft SQL database.

Windows Essential Business Server 2008 (EBS) is an integrated three-server solutions designed for mid-sized businesses of up to 300 users. Powered by Windows Server 2008 technology, Windows Essential Business Server 2008 combines software for management, messaging, and security into one integrated server solution that is designed to dramatically reduce IT complexity and improve efficiency across the business.  The Windows Essential Business Server 2008 Premium edition contains everything in the standard edition, plus the right to install an additional server running the Microsoft SQL database.

Comparison of Microsoft Servers for Small Businesses

Max. users # of Servers Email Database Remote Access Server Backup
Home 10 1 Y
Foundation 15 1 Y Y
SBS Standard 75 1 Y Y Y
SBS Premium 75 2 Y Y Y Y
EBS Standard 300 3 Y Y Y
EBS Premium 300 4 Y Y Y Y
Note: This table has been simplified in order to provide a quick and easy comparison. There are additional differences between the editions so check out the product pages linked above.

Curious Fitness Product at the Microsoft Store November 5, 2009

Posted by Kelly Brady in : Gadgets and Gizmos, Technology for aging , comments closed

While visiting the new Microsoft Store in Scottsdale, Arizona, I was curious to see what accessories made the shelves, thinking Microsoft carefully selected products for the limited space available. A device called a ‘Fitbit’ caught my eye; at first I thought it was a Bluetooth headset. Then I noticed the words “Wireless Personal Trainer”. 

What is the FitBit Wireless Personal Trainer?

fitbit

The Fitbit is a small wearable pedometer/accelerometer that records how many steps you take in a day. The unit can even be worn on an included wristband while you sleep to log how effectively and how long you sleep. It wirelessly sync’s itself to your PC and the Internet every 15 minutes using the included USB charger/wireless receiver. Battery charge is excellent – I have been wearing it daily for two weeks and still have 35% charge left. 

Easy to use and setup

I’m not going to provide a complete product review here – there are several others you can read such as one on engadget (although I don’t agree with some of the author’s conclusions).   However, I think that this is a really nice product that is very easy to use and learn.  You can push a button on the front of the device to see how many steps, miles or calories burned, as well as a graphical effort scale. You can also hold this button down to activate and deactivate the nighttime “record my sleep patterns” mode. The unit automatically resets the counter at midnight so there is virtually no user-required management of the unit – just wear it! It actually comes with almost no instructions – see the following photo for the instructions included in the package:

Fitbit's Instruction Manual

Fitbit's Instruction Manual

To be fair, there is a full and detailed user’s guide on the Fitbit website. 

The are no activation fees or monthly charges to upload data and access the website. The website is very simple to use and actually has a lot of features including food logging, calorie tracking etc:

fitbitsite

 

FitBit, Sportbrain and Venture Capital

I think it is significant that Fitbit made it into the Microsoft Store; they are not the first company to market a digital, computer & internet linked fitness device built around a pedometer function. Both Fitbit and several similar products have attracted venture capital recently and years ago. Has the Wii and Wii Fit created a new frontier of health & fitness technology that can attract venture capital even in this market?  In 2004/2005 I was a member of the Center for Aging Services Technology (CAST) Commission, headed by Eric Dishman, a senior researcher at Intel Labs. Erik was studying technology applications for Alzheimer’s, and showed up for a meeting wearing his “Sportbrain” activity monitor/pedometer. He often referred to in during presentations as a simple example of how technology can impact health in a non-invasive, even positive ways.  Erik would illustrate that a product like Sportbrain, which appeals to all ages (particularly the young, active culture) could get funding, but that products designed for aging & seniors could not – there was a stigma to aging even though the market for these products was rapidly increasing due to the baby boomer retirement wave.

I decided then not to buy a Sportbrain. They charged a monthly fee and the company had recently come out of bankruptcy.  Even now, Sportbrain products are hard to find and the website and product line are confusing. Visiting their website you’ll have trouble determining what they sell, which model to buy, what it does, and how to use it. Their product has not evolved, and still does not sync wirelessly.

Sportbrain and Fitbit clearly approach their market differently. Sportbrain as a company seems to have stagnated. They certainly are not showing up in high-profile places like the Microsoft Store, Sports Authority, Dick’s Sports etc. Unlike Sportbrain, Fitbit comes across with a simple and clean appearance for their product and website. They invite direct communication with staff via forums, have a Flickr photostream, a blog and of course, they Tweet. There probably is a clever name for these new era entrepreneurial startups that embrace social media, open their doors and are not afraid to share the behind-the-scenes activity.

Now I need to go take a walk…Fitbit tells me I’ve only reached 7% of my goal of 10,000 steps today…

Disaster-Proof Hard Drives (almost saved the day) October 31, 2009

Posted by Kelly Brady in : Technology Solutions , comments closed

A client needed to quickly, easily and inexpensively back up some new servers being installed. They were not ready to invest in an enterprise backup solution, and were in the process of switching internet-based backup providers.

Given the lack of redundancy and fault-tolerance in this situation, I recommended the client purchase “Disaster Proof” external hard drives by Iosafe. These unique external USB drives come with the following features:

Iosafe Solo External Hard Drives

The client liked this idea, as these drives are only a little more expensive than non-disaster proof drives. We ordered two of the 1.5TB models which would be used to hold alternating full daily backups.

I love it when I make a specialized purchase recommendation, and then something happens afterwards that emphasizes how good a recommendation it was.

A few weeks after the drives were installed, some high voltage equipment was being replaced. The equipment had been incorrectly installed, and was literally hanging from its AC wiring…which was fraying from the load and had become a serious fire hazard.

There was no reason to believe this new, state-of-the-art facility would have any fire risks. Yet, aside from theft or vandalism, fire (or water from sprinklers or firefighting), is probably the most likely disaster this particular facility could face.

* The data recovery service provides overnight shipment of a “destroyed” hard drive to Iosafe, who will recover the data and load it on a free replacement unit.

First Impressions of First Microsoft Store October 31, 2009

Posted by Kelly Brady in : Retail , comments closed
Microsoft NOW OPEN banner in the food court at Fashion Square Mall Microsoft banner in the food court at Fashion Square Mall

Microsoft opened their first retail store yesterday, in the largest mall in Arizona, in the 12th largest metropolitan area in the US. Today I visited the store at Fashion Square Mall in Scottsdale, AZ. In a word: NICE. The staff seemed happy, excited and falling all over themselves to be helpful. The staff told me that sale’s yesterday were heavy; laptops, Windows 7 and a little of everything was selling briskly.

 
The store is visually stunning, with brilliant large screen displays running end-to-end down both sides of the entire store. A giant 109″ touch screen TV on the rear wall in the “Theater” area was displaying Microsoft Worldwide Telescope, an interactive celestial viewer that receives imagery from real telescopes worldwide. A glimpse into the store immediately conjures up images of your last visit to an Apple Store. Clearly, Apple has created the current design pattern for upscale, user-centric computer retailing. But I think Microsoft has clearly iterated the concept and tailored it to Windows PC users.
Inside the Microsoft Store Inside the Microsoft Store
Everything in the store is for sale: PC’s, software, Xbox, monitors, Zune & even Microsoft Surface units (more on that in a moment). PC’s brands for sale included HP, Dell, Alienware (now part of Dell), Toshiba and Lenovo. There were even a few Acer models.  Like the Apple Store there was a modest selection of peripherals, laptop bags, external drives, Bluetooth headsets and Microsoft mice – but not the full product line. I was pleased to see a number of unusual and creative product offerings and accessories; things I would not expect to find. And you can even buy some things that are NOT in the store….
 
Software on Demand
In the rear of the store, with little fanfare or signage sits an unimposing pedestal containing a fairly simple touchscreen kiosk. Enter a software title, and if available, you can purchase it and the disk is burned and manual printed while-you-wait. Common in Europe, this may be the first major retail outlet to offer such a service in the U.S. Currently there are about 300 Microsoft and non-Microsoft titles available, with plans to increase that number to 3,000.
 
Microsoft Answers Bar Microsoft Answers Bar
Answers
Comparable to Apple’s Genius Bar is the Microsoft Answers desk, centered deep in the store near the back. Here is how it works: At no charge, you can sign up for a 15 minute consultation with a Microsoft “Technical Advisor”. They can answer questions about your PC, Windows, Xbox and Zune, perform diagnostics and generally help you out. If 15 minutes isn’t enough, you can purchase flat-rate “Premium” support for $49 or $99 depending on the service needed.
 
Microsoft Store Services
In addition to Answers, Microsoft offers a number of other services, conveniently featured in a small booklet you can take. These services include:
Making A Purchase
There are no cash registers or check-out lines in the store. Some of the employees carry small portable registers and can ring up your sale anywhere in the store. Interestingly, these point of sale units are running Microsoft Dynamics software (Microsoft’s line of enterprise business CRM, ERP & POS solutions).  It is good to see that they are running the store with their own enterprise back office software. Of course, it was so busy in the store that I had to wait about 5 minutes to make my purchase while the staff ran around looking for an employee with an available terminal.
Microsoft Dynamics P.O.S. terminal Microsoft Dynamics P.O.S. terminal
There has been a lot of attention to detail, and focus on the customer shopping and purchasing experience. I wouldn’t be surprised if Microsoft won a design aware for the shopping bag, a heavy laminated canvas bag with cloth handles and a button closure:
Microsoft Luxury Shopping Bag Microsoft Luxury Shopping Bag
 
Microsoft Surface
To me this is by far the most interesting, beautiful and expensive thing in the Microsoft Store. Surface is “multi-user, multi-touch” experience…similar to have an iPhone or iTouch, but the size of a coffee table. I’ve been watching the development of Microsoft Surface for several years, but have never gotten to play with it. There are 3 or 4 of these units in the store, with benches around them to allow you to sit and play.  I don’t know how to briefly describe it – you have to play with it yourself. The cool factor is WAY out there. The first commercial units sold can be found in Disney’s Tomorrowland exhibit, the Hard Rock Cafe and Rio iBar in Vegas and a few Sheraton hotel lobbies. The unit was featured on MSNBC during election coverage. The surface shimmers like a pool of water that reacts to your touch. Besides some of the games that run on it, working with photos is amazing. You physically size and organize them using your hands & fingers, sliding them around on an intelligent desktop. Did you see the Tom Cruise movie Minority Report? Surface is about as close as you can get to the hand-gesture system used in the movie to organize computer data & images.
 
Infinite Possibilities
 ”Possibilities” is one of my favorite words and concepts. At the front of the store, on the right wall is an eye-catching branding poster with a really cool tagline that deftly articulates Microsoft’s Windows positioning:
Infinite Possibilities Infinite Possibilities
I think this is going to be a win-win for Microsoft and users. Windows users have needed access to a consistent (and free/low cost) support channel for Windows PC’s, and may prefer this buying experience to the mass-market stores like Best Buy.

CDW incapable of selling enterprise solutions! October 31, 2009

Posted by Kelly Brady in : Venture Capital , comments closed

I have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars with CDW over the past 15+ years as an employee of several companies. I recently needed pricing on 5 HP servers, Microsoft licensing and a firewall appliance, as part of an infrastructure upgrade project. I called up CDW as a new account, provided detailed written specs and asked for quotes on everything. After waiting 3 days with no answer, I finally go through to the rep. He told me he couldn’t get anyone inside that “area” of CDW to respond to his configuration request. He didn’t seem concerned, apologetic or interested. Here was $50,000+ in business dropping in his lap, and he could care less.

CDW is one of a handful of large, national resale partners with HP. One of their competitors is Insight, a company I had bought hundreds of PC’s from in the mid to late 90′s when they used to make clones. I remembered Insight, called and got a very friendly and eager rep, who took my specifications, listened to the goals I was trying to achieve, and promptly got me quotes within an hour. Insight is publicly traded (NSIT), and part of the Fortune 500.

I have heard reports of CDW’s decline from another unsatisfied customer who is in their “Platinum Circle”, an account with their highest level of service. CDW is now privately held since it was acquired by Madison Dearborn Partnersin 2007 for about $7 billion. Almost all of CDW’s sales come from businesses and the public sector. Yet, MDP categorizes them in their “consumer” portfolio which mingles B2B & B2B companies.

It’s surprising that there would be such a decline of an otherwise good company that coincides with this acquisition. One wonders what happened…does MDP misunderstand CDW’s customer base? Did key players at CDW cash out?