Replacing expensive software on your desktop with free (or less expensive) software can save you hundreds of dollars and at times will give you a better solution than you think.  It’s like buying that off-brand detergent or loaf of bread.  You might think you have to sacrifice quality but then you find out it’s as good or better than the major brand.

There are several applications that are free or inexpensive that you should consider before
you drop coin on a new software purchase or upgrade and Apache’s OpenOffice Suite should be at the top of that list.

Apache’s OpenOffice is worth a hard look.

Open Office is a great (and free) replacement for Microsoft’s Office Suite and it’s no slouch either.  It is produced by the same guys that have developed the #1 leading web server application in the world, Apache.  OpenOffice features a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation manager, database manager, drawing and mathematical editing applications. It’s compatible with many of the Microsoft Office document file types.  Now you might have noticed that I didn’t mention an email client to take the place of Outlook.  That’s because it doesn’t have one.  But I can think of several different solutions and I have found a great article describing the top 3.  You can read it here.

Most of us won’t ever use anything near the full range of features built into the Microsoft Office Suite and Outlook alone doesn’t justify buying the whole package.  For the most part we write documents, create spreadsheets, run mail merge, create a Powerpoint presentation and build the occasional access database.  And honestly, that’s pushing it.

I have used it for several months and I have been very pleased about how well it converts Word docs and Excel spreadsheets into and out of the OpenOffice system.  I have even rescued some excessively large, very corrupt Microsoft Word docs with it.  It produced a 100% recovery.  The presentation manager “Impress” is robust and I have produced a couple of nice slide presentations with it.  As for the database, I was able to convert tables over from a Microsoft Access database but had limited success in pulling over other components of the database.  But it function well enough for what I do.

All-in-all, with Microsoft’s Office 2013 Professional listed at $350 per user, its worth a hard look, so take it for a test drive.  I mean what can it hurt?  It’s free to try and free to own.  I have provided a link to the latest version of OpenOffice, you can download it here.

There’s really no reason not to give OpenOffice a try.  It only takes a little time and drive space.  You never know, you might just save a buck or two…or if you decide to outfit your whole company with it, a thousand or two.  Wouldn’t that be nice!

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Is that a wise move?

We all understand that technology is forever evolving and with it we have to learn new things.  Most of the time we enjoy the journey of learning and discovering what the big tech guys are bringing our way, but there are times when the new technology or idea is to broad a jump for us to make in our business lives.  It hurts our production, our work flow and our profits.  We don’t like that.

Enter Microsoft’s new operating system – Windows 8

Windows 8 Metro User Interface

Microsoft’s new Windows 8 is being released in less than a month and there are strong views on both sides of the fence about its new user interface.  The techies like it because its fun to learn and play with while they discover its hidden gems.  The old guard hates it because they just want it to work so they can work.  Time equals money…Period!

The problem with Windows 8 is that it is a complete departure from earlier versions of Windows.  Many experts say that the new “Metro” theme is Microsoft’s farewell to the desktop.  It’s a bold and risky move.  I just can’t wrap my head around why they have taken such a sharp turn from their existing user base while having such a small hand hold on the mobile market?  The Metro interface was designed with mobile devices in mind.  Desktop PC and laptops were obviously given much less consideration.  I think Microsoft could lose it all.

Users with years of familiarity with the older XP interface are going to be very frustrated with Windows 8’s re-designed UI.  And I don’t mean a little frustrated.  I mean completely frustrated to the point that they will leave Windows. There are many suitable operating systems available for free that work and feel much like the old Windows XP.  In the interim, user will stay on their current Windows operating systems for as long as possible.  This could go bad for Microsoft.

Upgrading to Windows 8: What you need to know (faq)

Five ways to skip Windows 8

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For most of us the corporate network is still a magic box that holds our work for us.  The core of it sits in the corner of some dark closet where it serves up our Word docs, Spreadsheets, Email and our much needed internet access among other things.

Being the mysterious oracle that it is we tend to believe it will always be there when we need it…until it isn’t.  And when it’s “Down” we look around and ask the obvious questions.  “What’s going on with the computer? or How come I can’t get to anything?”

Most network issues are easily and quickly solved by a simple reboot of the server, network switch or router.  But what about the big crashes? The ones that cause the network to go down and stay down for hours and sometimes days?  Such things happen that could have been avoided if only we could have seen what problems were brewing inside that magic box that holds our dear oracle.

If you had a way to monitor “24/7/365” the health of your network and in doing so could help to avoid downtime by alerting you to the potential problem before it crashed your network, what do you think it would cost you versus what it could save you in bottom line dollars?

Remote Network Monitoring to the Rescue.

The answer is pennies compared to the thousands of dollars it can save your company in revenue due to downtime or lost data.  Outsourced remote network monitoring services can be brought in for as little as $200-$300 per month or $7.00-$11.00 per day.  That’s 24/7/365 monitoring and reporting.   A well managed remote network monitoring software will watch and report on everything from printer toner levels and desktop hard drive performance to Exchange Server health.  It’s amazing what it can track!

Spiceworks is my favorite remote network monitoring software and we have it installed at all of our client sites.  It is actually a prerequisite to us entering into an I.T. support services agreement.  We rely heavily on its ability to watch for and discover hundreds of potential hardware and software problems long before they affect the network’s health and performance.  But, it takes some configuration and is not for the faint of heart to manage.  It, like all similar network monitoring apps, is designed for I.T. professionals to manage networks making it a hard read for non techies.  Oh…and did mention?…Its free.  Yep FREE.  For a list of Spiceworks’ features click here.

If you have in-house I.T. or are outsourcing it, you should make sure they are including remote network monitoring as part of their list of services.  If they don’t, then demand that they do or make a switch to who does. Network problems are inevitable but most are avoidable.  You need to suffer through a catastrophic crash because a potentially large network problem begins to manifest within your network.

Take a proactive approach to protecting the backbone of your business because like it or not your business counts on that magical box in more ways than any of us like to admit.

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If you are like me and most other mobile users, your Android device is quickly becoming your primary computer and chances are you have financial and personal information on your phone that you would like to keep private, held safe from the rest of the world.

Have you considered just how safe the data on your smart phone is?

Take a minute and consider what information is sitting on our phone and what could someone do with that information if they got their grubby little hands on it.  Many of us manage passwords and credit card information on our phone.  We use our phone for, email, online purchases, social networking and a myriad of functions.  Because of the device’s constant connection to the internet, it’s portability and small size, it is vulnerable to hacking, malware, theft and loss.  So how do we help protect it all?

Here are some great Android Security Apps that can safeguard your information and even some that can help you to retrieve a lost or stolen phone, or wipe it clean before a thief can get to the data.

Lookout Security & Antivirus

This is my preferred Android security software.  The Lookout free version provides anti-virus, anti-theft and data backup. The “Premium” version ($29.95 per year), adds a Safe Browsing feature and a Privacy Adviser.  The privacy adviser gives you insight into which apps access private data and helps you keep track of the apps installed on your device.  I use the free version.  It is easy to set up and is a minimalist type application.  Install, configure and forget it.

Avast! Mobile Security

Avast! makes a good desktop security application and they now offer a great, free security app for your android device.  Avast! is full-featured and highly configurable. If you want an all-in-one app for your Android phone this is it.  In addition to the anti-virus, anti-theft and privacy advisor, Avast! also has, SMS and call filtering, application management, a network meter and firewall.  With all these option it’s a bit more to set up and manage, but if you are serious about security for you phone give Avast! a try.

AVG Mobilation Anti-Virus Free

I like the AVG Mobilation Anti-Virus Free application although I don’t think “mobilation” is a word.  But the app is solid and free.  Two of the top check marks on my list.  It comes loaded with Anti-Virus, Anti-Malware, SMS/text, device location alarm, locking and wiping.  It also has a task killer and tuneup utility.

The post Android Security Apps Review appeared first on Managed IT Services Las Vegas | Technology Mechanics.

There are now 955 million users on Facebook, Twitter has 140 million users and YouTube receives 4 billion views per day.

Market to 1 Billion People.

These are staggering statistics and if you are a business owner or professional you have to consider what impact these social networking sites can have in terms of marketing your business.Social network marketing has seen an increased value in term of web marketing and Search Engine Optimization (SEO).  Search engines such as Google, Bing, Yahoo and others have placed a greater emphasis on the level of engagement your website has with social networks.  Your site’s search relevance and thus page ranking will increase as your site’s social network engagement increases.

Successfully engaging customers, B2B partners and other professionals in your market niche will have a profound effect on your bottom line.

Here are a few ways you can start to reach out and get them engaged with your brand, products and services.

• Build a Facebook page for your company.  Its free!  Here’s how.
• Setup a Twitter business account for your company.  Its free! Here’s how.
• Setup a LinkedIn account for yourself, key staff & company. Its free! Here’s how.
• If you want to really make an impression, post how-to videos or commercials on YouTube.  Its free!  Here’s how.
• Setup accounts with Digg, Pinterest, Google Plus and others.

If you or an outside consultant are doing web-based marketing and SEO for your brand or company, make sure you have a strategy in place that involves using social networks.  The people on social networks are highly accessible and easily engaged.  Best of all most of your existing clients are these very people so you already have a base from which to start getting your brand out and visible. So go out there, toot your horn and get noticed.

If you would like to know more about what SEO is and how it is important to your business, click here.

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The Benefits of SEO For Your Business

Search Engine Optimization is #1 in Marketing ROI.

Top Benefits of Search Engine Optimization

The post SEO for Your Business appeared first on Managed IT Services Las Vegas | Technology Mechanics.

It is mind boggling that people are paying that much for a device that will most likely be available to anybody with a few weeks or less.  Most major carries will have the phone available in their stores on September 21st.  A call to Verizon verified the iPhone 5 would be on shelves at 8a.m. on September 21st.

It is a beautiful phone with beautiful specifications. The peeps over at Apple, Inc. have indeed provided substantial upgrades to their newest flagship device.  The unit has a much sleeker design touting a 4″ diagonal Retina display, A6 processor, 4G LTE capabilities and is running the new iOS 6.

But $2000 for a phone?…That’s just wild!  Typically iPhone 5s are going for $199 (16GB), $299 (32GB) & $399 (64GB) with new or renewed contracts. Regular retail is $649.99, $749.99 & $849.99 respectfully.  I wonder if the marketing department is wondering if they are under pricing their gear?  

Whoud you be willing to spend over double the retail price?  Leave a comment and let me know what you think?

• Apple: preorders for iPhone 5 have been incredible
• iPhone 5 vs Galaxy S3 comparison featured in Samsung “It doesn’t take a genius” Ad
• AT&T, Verizon officially out of iPhone 5 launch stock

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As rumored the new iPhone 5 gets a physical makeover in the way of a sleeker design, a taller 4″ diagonal Retina display, 4G LTE capabilities and will run the new iOS 6.

Apple’s Official iPhone 5 Video

Specs:

• 4-inch touchscreen Retina display (326 PPI) with 1136 x 640 resolution, 16:9 aspect ratio and integrated touch support
• Weight: 112g
• Size: 7.6mm
• A6 chip: twice faster than A5, 22% smaller
• Graphics: twice faster than predecessor
• 16/32/64GB memory
• 8-megapixel camera with five-element lens, backside illumination, hybrid IR filter, f/2.5 aperture, dynamic low light mode, precision lens alignment, sapphire crystal, panorama mode (28-megapixel photos), 1080p video recording, improved video stabilization, face detection, photo-taking while recording; size: 25% smaller
• A6 chip Photo features: next-gen ISP, spatial noise reduction, smart filter, better low-light performance, faster photo capture
• FaceTime HD front-facing camera with backside illumination, FaceTime over cellular, 720p video recording and face detection
• HSPA+, DC-HSPA, support
• LTE (single chip, single radio, dynamic antenna)
• LTE global support for Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, Bell, Telus, Rogers, SingTel, SmarTone, SK Telecom, KDDI, SoftBank, Deutsche Telekom, Everything Everywhere
• Wi-Fi: 802.11 a/b/g/n, 2.4GHz and 5GHz on 802.11n
• GPS with turn-by-turn directions
• Three microphones, bottom, front and back – improved speaker design: five magnet transducer, 20% smaller
• Wideband audio, Noise-cancelling ear-piece
• HD voice
• Battery life: 8 hours for 3G talk, 3G browsing or LTE browsing; 10 hours for Wi-Fi browsing and video playback, 40 hours for music playback and 225 hours standby
• New 9-pin connector called Lighting: all-digital 8-signal design, adaptive interface, improved durability, 80% smaller
• Siri support
• iOS 6

Release info:

 Apple has slated the initial pre-ordering of the iPhone 5 in the USA, Canada, UK, France, Germany  Australia, Japan, Honk Kong and Singapore for September 14, 2012.

Contract pricing will range from $199 to $399 depending on the memory configuration your choose.  Verizon, Sprint and At&T will carry the new iPhone 5 but T-Mobile will be left out.

 Apple announces worldwide carriers for iPhone 5: Sprint, AT&T and Verizon will support LTE in the US (update: No AWS HSPA+ for T-Mobile) — Engadget

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Here are four great cloud computing applications I use to stay connected to my data and office regardless of where I am and what I am doing.

Evernote:

Cost: Free for basic version.
Keep all of your notes organized and synchronized between your smart phone and your PC. With Evernote you can create, categorize, and search notes. It even allows you to capture and attach pictures, audio or video files. Synchronization to your PC or laptop is a simple as 123. Install the application, sign in and your data will then sync automatically. I use Evernote to manage everything from shopping lists to client project details. It is simply a great tool.

Dropbox:

Cost: Free for basic version.
Do you remember the old File Transfer Protocol (FTP) way of copying a file across the internet to a remote computer? That used to be the de-facto standard of file sharing. It was very difficult to get right. Well, Dropbox is the new kid on the block when it comes to sharing a few files with friends, colleagues and most importantly yourself. Dropbox allows you to synchronize files of any type between all of your devices by just placing the file in the dropbox folder. Once the file is there it is then copied to every device under the account. There is also a neat feature that allows you to share files securely. Just place the files you want to share in the “public” folder in your Dropbox and email them a direct link. It’s easy and secure. Watch their introduction video and you will be convinced it is a must have tool.

Google Mail: 

Cost: Free for personal account.
Gmail is the standard and may seem an obvious choice for web based email but I think it needs a mention here and is definitely worthy of this list. Gmail synchronizes and manages your email, calendaring and contacts seamlessly between your desktop, laptop and mobile device. It is of course tightly interacted with the Google Android OS that has reached critical mass and is taking over the mobile operating system market. If you have yet to setup your own Gmail account I would highly recommend you at least take a look at their page and see what it offers.  Also checkout Google Apps for Business to see more of what Google has availible for managing and connecting your buisness, data and employees.

Splashtop:

Cost: $4.99 for standard version.
Remote access to your desktop from any device is what Splashtop is all about. Have you ever needed to run a report, drag a file into your dropbox or open a program that only runs on your PC back at the office? Log onto spashtop.com and watch the demo to see how you can stay connected to your desktop when you are away.

Give them a shot and see what virtualization, even on a small scale, can do for you. I think you will be glad you did.

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Cloud Computing – Since the internet first began picking up popularity (thanks to access systems like Compuserve, AOL and other earlier bulletin board services) we have periodically experienced massive shifts in how we use the internet.  Newly developed technologies like cloud computing have by far outgrown our ability to socially or lawfully manage them.

Currently we are embarking onto two new Internet paradigms…Social Networking and Cloud Computing.  These shifts are testing our ability to manage both our businesses and personal lives.  These paradigms will prove to be the most profound and enormous technological chalenges we have yet faced.  This newest technology gives us the ability to be everywhere, share everything and connect to everyone, instantly and forever.  If we survive the takeoff we will find ourselves in a land of business and social utopia!

For business, it’s email, calendaring, collaboration, virtualization of the office, applications and more.  Socially, it has expanded our world a hundred fold.  It bridges distance, bringing together our friends and family, which in any previous life would have been left worlds apart. It has allowed us to connect in ways never heard of only 15 short years ago.  We are entering our technological adolescence.  We have only scratched the surface as to what we can do in this new dimension we have created.

Without getting philosophical on the topic, I think you get my drift.  It’s new, it’s exciting and it holds treasures beyond our current imaginations.  But it is also spilling out of our hands and that translates to out of our control.  Which brings me to the point I want to make about cloud based computing.

Cloud based computing is completely out of our control.  I mean it, literally.  Cloud computing in a nutshell is this…We take our data and we store it on someone else’s computer.  Read the previous sentence again…We take our data and we store it on someone else’s computer.  Being the control freak that I am makes this a completely ludicrous business concept to me.  Handing the most important business commodity I have over to someone else, somewhere I don’t know.

I have been supporting small to mid-size companies for 15+ years as an I.T. consultant.  One thing I have learned is that the company data is pretty much the company itself.  I know they say the “people” make the company and I get that, but operating from my business experience, it’s the data.  CEOs come and go, but the data remains.  Lose the data and the company can tank.  It can happen almost overnight.  I’ve seen it.  It’s because we over-leverage the technology.  We feel we have to. It’s become one of the supreme laws of business.  Push the technology until it pushes back.

There are a lot of companies that are moving their critical business data out to the cloud. They are moving all of it and leaving it up to the professionals to manage it.  The companies are doing their due diligence and thoroughly investigating the service providers.  Making sure the SLA’s are solid and the data is safe in their hands and application up time is at a maximum.  The Service providers are running their business with their own diligence and with best intentions.  But inevitable is going to happen…It has already happened…To Amazon, Microsoft, Apple and others.  The rock solid names failed to maintain the systems and the clients paid dearly.  It will happen again and again.

Here is one quick example. In April, of last year, Amazon’s highly touted cloud service busted.  And it busted hard!  Not only did their cloud service go off line, they lost client data.  That was a catastrophic failure.  Some of Amazon’s cloud service customers reported being down for over 72 hours.  Many of them reported large chunks of their data that were never recovered. There are dozens of articles that report similar disasters with services like Microsoft’s Hotmail, Google’s Gmail, RIM’s Blackberry, Apple’s Mobile Me, Go Daddy Hosting Services and other cloud based services that we entrusted to hold and preserve our data and application systems.

Be smart, do your homework and be diligent not just in your investigation of the service providers, but in all aspects of housing, securing and managing your data.  It’s the life blood of your company.  I promise that you will thank yourself at some point.

Here are some pointers for looking into cloud based services.

• Use cloud computing for what your company can benefit and never over leverage this technology. If you can do it better on local systems then keep it local.
• Always have a backup plan.  Generate and document a Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) to help protect you from the inevitable outage or data loss.  I provided you proof that it happens so plan for it.
• Maintain, review and update your DRP quarterly.
• Maintain redundant, tangible and verifiable backups of your important company data. Store it online and near-onlinewithin the walls of your business.
• Test and verify your backups monthly and review your backup procedure quarterly.
• Make sure at least two members of your organization fully understand the workings and nuances of the cloud service(s) and the backup procedures you are employing and how to administrate them. Don’t rely on customer service’s help.
• If you don’t have in-house personnel to provide these essential services, train someone or hire a qualified I.T. support company to manage it for you.  Its pennies on the dollar compared to what you will lose if you don’t.

When you are shopping for cloud based services:

• Look up track records and read reviews of the service provider.
• Read the Service Level Agreements (SLA) thoroughly and ask questions until you are fully satisfied with your understanding of it.
• In the instance of data storage services, make sure the service plan you select has local data synchronization capabilities so you can maintain data redundancy on your premises.
• Test before you commit. Don’t push your data or applications to a cloud based service without giving it a good hard test drive.  Try and break it to find the weak points.
• Consider your future needs when assessing a provider and their services. Make sure they can accommodate your needs as you grow or change.
• If you don’t have someone in-house that fully understands what you are looking for in cloud based service, hire a consultant to bridge the gap.  It’s a good idea to have someone on your side that can represent your interest.

Thank you for reading and please share any comments, suggestions or insight you have on this subject. They will be most appreciated.

The post Walking in the Clouds – A Case For and Against Cloud Computing for Business appeared first on Managed IT Services Las Vegas | Technology Mechanics.