Business Productivity Posts
Recently I read that Google is trying to stop using Windows due to security concerns.
photo credit: Las Valley 702
For more details on this news, read Google ditches Windows on security concerns.
But here are some interesting points on the initiative:
- Employees who still want to use Windows must get approval from the CIO
- New hires are given an option to choose either Apple Mac’s computers or PC running Linux OS.
The article got me thinking. Can organizations or small businesses not use Microsoft software products and still be productive and effective at work?
I remember the days when I was using Windows 98 on my 486 machine, it felt quite good. I played games on it and used Office 95 for word processing and spreadsheets. Microsoft Word definitely beats using Wordstar at that time.
Back then, we didn’t have much alternatives as compared to now. These days, more and more people are opting for Macs and Ubuntu powered machines.
But let’s take a look at some of the other possible alternatives. Continue Reading »
Is your organization still using Microsoft software?
Being able to provide your customer with a proper support is a key to success in today’s business. photo credit: Iain Farrell
If you’re an IT guy and don’t want to rush to your clients each time a minor problem arise, a simple telephone call or email may just not be enough.
You may require aiding your customer with remote desktop support, which in such cases is beneficial for both parties.
If you’re looking for a solution for simple web presentations or a way to collaborate with your coworkers from different locations, look no further, Mikogo is the right tool for you.
Mikogo is advertised as a free screen sharing tool for people and business.
You may wonder: where’s the catch? Well… there’s no catch, it’s really free for personal and commercial use.
There are a lot of web conference tools out on the market, but majority of them is really expensive, and as such they are not a good choice especially for small business owners.
In comparison, Mikogo provides its users with the same functionality and a great ease of use and no unnecessary expenses.
The only true limitation I could find is that it allows you to share your desktop with up to 10 participants simultaneously. But in fact, for many users this is not a limitation at all.
This is an excellent piece of software that presents itself with plenty of ways to use it. Continue Reading »
WebEx free alternative – Mikogo for online meeting & more
When it comes to entering data whether it is sales forecast or IT budget, we usually enter the data into a spreadsheet software like Excel or Google Docs. photo credit: GrapeCity
The other day, a friend of mine asked if I know of any alternative to using Excel for budgeting and forecasting purposes.
Every beginning of the month, when it’s time to generate a budget and sales forecast report for the higher management, his IT staffs would panic because they had to consolidate many Excel spreadsheet data submitted by various branches from all over the country.
Having to open up Excel documents, then copying and pasting the data into a master Excel sheet can be very tedious. Imagine if they have 100 branches, the IT personnel needs to open up 100 documents. Never mind the work being tedious, it’s vital that he consolidates the data without any error. Otherwise, the stakeholders could be looking at inaccurate information simply because an IT staff had to work on too many Excel spreadsheets.
He asked if I know of any web based spreadsheet software which works just like Excel and allows the data to be entered directly by the users themselves into a database and once data is entered, the data can be analyzed by analysts and reports can be generated for the bosses.
I told him to check out this solution by Adaptive Planning – budgeting, forecasting & reporting made easy.
With Adaptive Planning, organizations can now have a better and more efficient way to create budgets, forecasts and reports. Continue Reading »
An alternative to using Excel for Budgeting and Forecasting
As a technical consultant, do you sometimes struggle when it comes to consulting a client. photo credit: Lars Plougmann
Some clients would complain when they don’t understand your technical jargons. They would say that you’re being too technical and trying to confuse them further with your tech talk.
But being a technical person, we can understand that it’s easier to mention ITIL than Information Technology Infrastructure Library or to mention ERP than to Enterprise Resource Planning.
Whether you’re a technical consultant or a business consultant, I strongly believe that consulting is a skill which can be acquired and mastered by learning the fundamentals, best practices and common mistakes made by consultants.
I remember once our Managing Consultant told us to never say these 3 words to the client: “I don’t know”. Because once mentioned, the credibility is gone. Instead there are many ways to let the client know that you’re not very sure on a particular topic area and would rather not comment.
These are some examples:
- With some additional research, I can get back to you with a better explanation… Or
- Our consultants have experienced this before, perhaps I could arrange for us to meet…
Some would say that most consultants are trying to confuse instead of consult. Whatever it is, consultants can get the right consulting skills to enhance their credibility and gain the right consulting methodologies.
If you’re currently a working consultant, attending classes right after work could be a hassle.
Instead you could op for online business training such as those offered by BusinessTraining.com Continue Reading »
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