Technology

It’s the morning before I leave for 18.5hrs of travel. Stating the obvious, Australia is a long way from America (and I’m only going to the West Coast). But I’m beyond thrilled to have been given this opportunity.

To my non IT friends and family, I’m going to Silicon Valley for a conference.

That conference is Tech Field Day’s Virtualization Field Day 6 http://techfieldday.com/event/vfd6/ If you’re awake during San Jose’s day, you can even see live video streaming of the day on that page. If you have twitter, play along with the hashtag #VFD6

It�s not like me to rush out a blog post. I don�t leap to my keyboard everytime something in the media has people crying out against it. But today I just felt so compelled to write about TitStare.

At TechCrunch�s �Disrupt� event in San Fransisco, audience members were presented with the TitStare app by two guys from Sydney, and another app called Circle Shake by a guy in Adelaide where he pretends to jerk off. Part of that audience was a 9 year old girl. Part of that audience was female. Part of that audience was self-respecting men who couldn�t believe what they were seeing. And yeah, it was a little bit funny, but totally inappropriate for a professional industry event.

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.

If you�re thinking about starting a business (congratulations!!), then technology might be the very last consideration on your mind.� With a long list of tasks in front of you (like getting a logo and stationery designed, finding an office, and working out your marketing plan), you may just requisition your home computer to start running your new business.��Let�s�look at some of your very first technology decisions.

New computer or your home PC?�� For a while, your home computer may be adequate to handle the necessities of your business.� However, if your computer time is conflicting with the children�s need to surf the internet for their homework, it may be time to consider a dedicated business computer.� Study any system specifications carefully and check the manufacturer�s websites.� Many �cheap� retail deals are superseded models, cannot be upgraded easily or may not connect to a bigger computer network, which will all be important as you grow.� Also, talk to your accountant about any tax benefits that may be gained from leasing instead of purchasing your IT assets.

Written for the Computer Troubleshooters franchise for distribution to our global client base:

Microsoft�s release of Office 2010 has been somewhat overshadowed by the recent Apple iPad release, however the new version of Office has some fantastic improvements that are worth shouting about. This month, we highlight a few of the features that will make your life easier.

Work better together�� Do you e-mail files for people to review, managing revision numbers and tracking editing changes? Or do you use technology like Google Apps for internet-based sharing and collaboration? With Office 2010, your document can now be shared easily on the internet and edited by multiple people at the same time (for real-time co-authoring). This feature alone may change how teams work together internally and how businesses work with their customers.