For small businesses, Cloud solutions seem to deliver innovation, productivity and profitability with ease.
You don’t have to sit around and wait for the “I.T. guy” to install something on a server, then install something else on your computer. It’s all enabled by just signing up to a service in your web browser and entering your credit card number. The secure access, reliability and backups are all handled behind the scenes.
As part of the?Tech Field Day Extra?crew at?Interop 2016, I got to sit in on a great presentation by?Avi Freedmanfrom?Kentik.
I?d?never heard of them, which is not surprising given my Australian-based SMB world, but I sat with an open mind as Avi talked about Enterprise (and larger) networking concepts. It?s always so great when a presenter makes it ?real world? enough that you can see the benefits, without necessarily understanding all the tech under the hood. Seems that the world is hearing about Kentik though as their customers already include yelp, Pandora, Box, and openDNS.
As part of the?Tech Field Day Extra?crew at?Interop 2016, I got to sit in on a great presentation by?Avi Freedmanfrom?Kentik.
I?d?never heard of them, which is not surprising given my Australian-based SMB world, but I sat with an open mind as Avi talked about Enterprise (and larger) networking concepts. It?s always so great when a presenter makes it ?real world? enough that you can see the benefits, without necessarily understanding all the tech under the hood. Seems that the world is hearing about Kentik though as their customers already include yelp, Pandora, Box, and openDNS.
Today I upgraded my laptop to Windows 8.1 Pro. By �upgrade� I actually mean backed up, formatted & installed Windows cleanly. It went surprisingly well and was pretty fast. The only Microsoft glitch I had were some updated that failed to install until after I rebooted, then away they went (though they gave me no indication that a restart was needed).
I�d been running QuickBooks Pro 2012/2013, so it was time to install the new version � Reckon Accounts Pro 2013. And this is where I went around in circles.
The product is supported on Windows 8, but the installation failed with �Error 1920. Service QuickBooks Database manager Service (QBCFMonitorService) failed to start.� The installation would then roll back.
This kb was hopeless:http://www.quicken.com.au/kb/issue_view.asp?ID=4906
And another kb was hopeless that told me to delete a bunch of folders (that hadn�t been created) and try it again. It mentioned that my installation was having trouble connecting to the company database file, which made no sense seeing as I�d pick the stand-alone client option (as our company file is on our file server, no my laptop).
Windows XP laptop with a DVD writer not working � can�t see or play CDs or DVDs, not even appearing as a drive letter.
Device manager shows the drive with an exclamation mark and the error:
�Windows cannot start this hardware device because its configuration information (in the registry) is incomplete or damaged. To fix this problem you should uninstall and then reinstall the hardware device. (Code 19)�
The troubleshooter suggest uninstalling & reinstalling the device, which gives exactly the same error. Updating drivers & windows etc didn�t help. It was hard to find any information on this message that actually related to the registry.
I had the pleasure of showing a team the features of their new CRM software. Have I lost you yet with how boring that sentence is? Fortunately the reality was far from boring.
To me�� the CRM system is a plugin to a Joomla website. There are some bits I can configure & some bits I can�t (especially as I�m not the Joomla site admin nor do I ever ever want to be.
To the business owner�� the system means no more monthly fees to a Cloud CRM system. This one off purchase will last her for at least 3 years and will handle the growth she is expecting. It�s also one place to see how her sales pipeline is looking & to get instant access to the conversations had with & information that�s been provided to her customers & prospective customers.
To the team members�� this is a �central console�, one place to get a picture of what they have on the go and what others are working on too.
Brace yourselves � this is a rant.
In my opinion, mobile phone companies are right down their with real estate agents and used car salesmen. But let me lay out the facts and you can decided for yourself.
After receiving a wedding invitataion, we decided to pack up the kids and head to Wellington for a 10 day holiday. We�re self-employed with clients who rely on us, so by �holiday� I mean �time away from the office�. We accept that our lifestyle means our phones come with us and so does the laptop. Then again, we didn�t have to get annual leave approved.
The latest scandal to hit Facebook is from users reporting that old private messages (circa 2007-2008) have now been made public on their timeline.
Facebook is denying this, saying they aren�t private messages at all, just old wall posts.
Despite Facebook engineers knowing what they are talking about with their own software (or do they?), users �saw it with their own eyes� so it must be a privacy breach.
Let�s back the truck up for a minute and find some evidence. Remember that? Facts that may help explain what has actually happened and an prove or disprove a theory?
Over the last few days, a few articles have come my way (including one I wrote myself) about smartphone addiction and the impact of our �always connected� society. My favourite so far has been this fromm Joe Kraus at Google Ventures:�http://joekraus.com/were-creating-a-culture-of-distraction
Hi, my name is Sonia and I�m addicted to my smartphone. Except it�s not my phone itself per se, it�s that feeling of knowing what is going on right now and what my internet friends are talking about. I�ve reverted to my teenage self and I don�t want to miss out, on anything, even for an hour.
This isn�t intended as a comprehensive argument on how to evaluate if Cloud Computing is right for you or not. �I�ve written it to show where we use Cloud Computing in our own business, and where we don�t. �As most of my readers aren�t IT Providers, you may find something relevant in this, or you may not. �But I�m a firm believer in recommending the best solution to a client for their individual needs, so our own decision on Cloud Computing has been based on our current business needs.