If someone asks you a question that you don’t know the answer to, the common reply is, “I don’t know, Google it.” Google’s search has become our go-to source for nearly everything. Want to know what the weather’s like outside? Don’t bother looking out the window, Google it. Despite how much we use it, at times we can be inefficient with our searches.

Here are seven tips to help you Google like an expert.

• Exact phrase. If you’re looking for a specific topic, Mobile Internet for example, it’s easier to put the search into quotations i.e., “Mobile Internet”. This will tell Google to return results that match the words.
• Exclude words. When you conduct searches for general information, you’ll often get unwanted results. Let’s say you are looking for marketing information and don’t want results that have the term “sales” in them. Type in Marketing -Sales, and Google will return marketing results without sales. Note: don’t have a space between – and the term you want to exclude.
• Search similar. If you’re looking for a topic and would also like to search for similar words, put a ~ in your search. e.g., “~Business”. Google will return business results as well as results for synonyms.
• Search between dates. To find results for something over a period of time put the dates separated by “..” (two periods) e.g., “1999 ..2012”
• Wildcard search. A wildcard is used to substitute a word in your search. Google has designated * as the wild card. When you enter a wildcard, Google will essentially fill in the blank.
• Define:. For words you don’t know the meaning of, you can have the definition comeback as the number one result by entering “define: word”.
• Think like a website. It’s best to not ask questions when you’re searching for something. Rather, look for the results. If have back pain and enter, “My back hurts. What’s a good pain reliever?” You’ll find the result, but it may take a few pages of searching. You should instead enter: “Back pain reliever”.

With these search methods you’ll be able to find the information you want quicker. For more tips on how to use Google Search, and other Google apps, to their maximum potential please contact us.

Undertaking an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementation is a big step for any company. Even a limited ERP project can create concern about job security and the “real” intentions of implementing the system. Office “myths” and rumors can cause unneeded anxiety within your team. Head off those concerns by addressing them early and often.

Myth #1: ERP will cause people to lose their jobs
Employees often worry that the business process changes of an ERP system will eliminate the need for their expertise and automate all processes. To the contrary, ERP can add jobs by making the company more competitive and successful. Employees can expand their contribution to the bottom line when administrative tasks are automated.

Debunk Myth#1 with clear expectations and assurance that employees will be able to spend more time producing value, and less time on repetitive tasks.

Myth #2: Users will be expected to figure it out rather than receive training
Learning a new ERP system, no matter how intuitive, takes time and practice to help users make the most of the solution. Companies that don’t invest in training often end up wondering why people work around the system. The entire organization from top to bottom should receive formal training followed by practice sessions using company test data. Allowing users to focus time and attention on learning the system will help with user adoption and acceptance.

Avoid Myth #2 by scheduling formal training for employees – away from their regular job – that includes hands-on training.

Myth #3: Once the implementation is done, it’s done
An ERP project is not over simply because the application has been deployed. ERP is an evolution that supports the change and growth of an organization. As users become more familiar with the system, they will find new ways to expand the functionality to solve problems, and improve business processes.
Phased implementations can focus on high priority operations and roll out over time to minimize disruptions. Revisiting the uses of ERP on a regular basis will ensure that the organization is making the most of their investment.

The whole point is to make the company more adaptive to change by improving productivity and delivering more insightful information to decision makers. Based on those goals, progress should be continual.

Debunk Myth #3 by incorporating ERP as a strategic component of all business planning activities.
Ready to make the move to ERP? Let’s talk about the cost effective options that can take your company to the next level.

If you were to turn your daily schedule into a pie chart, there’s a pretty high chance that meetings take up a large portion of the pie. Love them, or hate them, meetings are an essential part of business that are going nowhere. A major shift from face-to-face to computer-computer meetings is taking place, with many companies now using Microsoft Office 365 to conduct meetings.

If you use Office 365 in your company, you can have online meetings through Microsoft’s messaging tool, Lync. Here’s how to start a meeting, and some features that make face-to-face meetings unnecessary.

How to start a meeting
In Outlook’s calendar, schedule a meeting and invite the participants. When it’s time for the meeting, simply log into Lync, go to your calendar and select the meeting. You’ll have the option to Join online meeting, click it and the meeting will start. If a colleague is online and you would like them to join the meeting, click on their name and drag them over to the meeting window.

Features you can use during the meeting
There are a number of useful things you can do in the meeting including:

• Video calls. If you and the attendees have webcams, you can turn the meeting into a video call by pressing the webcam button beside the attendees’ names.
• Share and share alike. Press Share (beside video) in the meeting window to get a dropdown menu with a number of things you can share with the participants. Say you are going to do a demonstration on your screen, you can share it with the attendees by selecting Main Monitor. You can also share presentations or programs.
• Change the presenter. If an employee would like to show something from their screen, or is going to present something, you can give them presenter status by right clicking on their name and selecting Make a Presenter.
• No interruptions. If one person is presenting, and another has a question, they don’t have to stop the presentation to ask a question, they can simply select IM and type the question. All participants will see it, and the presenter can answer the question when they are finished.

If you’re looking for an alternative to physical meetings, Office 365 has a great set of products that will allow you to do just that. To learn more about Office 365 or any of Microsoft’s other products please contact us, we’re ready to assist you.

If you’re like other managers you’ve sat through or given more presentations then you can remember. While presentations are an important part of business, many presenters fail to get their message across because of their slides. If you don’t have good slides, the probability of your presentation going well is pretty low.

Here are nine tips on how to prepare a good Microsoft PowerPoint presentation.

1. Choose a relevant layout. When you choose the layout or template for your slides, pick something that’s simple and non-distracting. If you’re presenting yearly earnings, a background of flowers probably isn’t the best choice. Under no circumstances should you put your company’s logo as a background, this can make slides incredibly distracting. Put it in the header or footer instead.
2. Colors. It’s important to pick a good colour scheme for your slides. The keyword here is, “contrast.” Pick colors that contrast and are easy on the eyes. A white background with black text is good, a red background with black text is bad. If you want to use your company’s colours and they don’t contrast well, pick one of your colors and another that’s a good contrast.
3. Images. Pictures and graphics capture our attention, text puts us to sleep. The general rule of thumb is to have more visuals than text. Don’t have images for the sake of images, instead pick ones that convey what you want to say. Many good presenters will have a slide with nothing but an attention grabbing image, and use it to talk about their main idea.
4. KISS your text. KISS stands for Keep It Stupidly Simple. Text should be kept to a minimum, at most five lines or bullet points per slide. The best presentations use only keywords or showcase the utmost important data and save explanations for the presentation.
5. Eliminate animations. It can be tempting to have text or images pop up every few seconds. Resist the temptation, as it’s incredibly hard to match your presentation speed with that of the animations. Having to speed up or wait for animation will make you look unprofessional.
6. Remain consistent. If there’s one key rule with presentations, it’s remain constant. This applies to everything in your presentation. Keep the font size, font, image type, colour scheme and layout the same throughout the presentation. If you put your logo in a header on one slide, it should be in the header on all the slides.
7. Audience. When developing a presentation you should always keep in mind who your audience is. If you’re presenting to a marketing firm, they probably don’t need to see more than one or two slides with financial information. Beyond that, be sure to prepare a version of the slides for your audience. Any explanations and extra information should be put in here as well.
8. Keep the file size down. If you’re presenting on another system or will be emailing the slides, it’s a good idea to ensure the file is as small as possible. The bigger it is, the slower it’ll load and the higher the chance it will stutter or crash.
9. Practice. Go over the slides ahead of time and be sure you know the content inside and out. Another benefit to practicing is you will often catch mistakes and knowledge gaps that you can fix before you present.

By following these tips, you should be well on your way to producing a good presentation that will captivate your audience and make you look like a star. If you have any other questions regarding PowerPoint, or any of Microsoft’s other products we are here to help, please contact us.

The iPad has become one of Apple’s most successful devices with each version improving on the last. The latest version, the new iPad, has some pretty nifty features that include popular elements from the iPhone. Did you know that if you have a new iPad with a data connection you can share it with up to five other devices?

Here’s how you can share your data connection.

Personal Hotspot
Apple calls this feature a Personal Hotspot, the community calls it a hotspot or tethering. In technical terms, a hotspot is any area you can connect to the Internet through Wi-Fi. In other words, Personal Hotspot turns your iPad into a router that can broadcast a Wi-Fi signal using your data plan.

This is beneficial to businesses with employees who spend time on the road, as they may not be able to connect to a traditional Wi-Fi network when they need to. As many wireless carriers provide near nationwide data coverage, it makes sense to use your cellular data plan to connect to the Internet.

How to turn your iPad into a hotspot
You can set up a hotspot on your iPad by:

1. Going to Settings and selecting General followed by Network.
2. Tapping Set Up Personal Hotspot at the top of your screen. Your iPad will check with your cellular carrier to see if they allow this feature. You’ll receive an error message if they don’t.
3. Selecting Personal Hotspot from the Settings screen.

To establish a hotspot, press Personal Hotspot and select Off/On. You have three different types of hotspots you can establish: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or USB. If you choose to use Wi-Fi, you’ll be given the option to set a password that users will need to enter to connect to the hotspot. To connect via Bluetooth or USB, follow the instructions on the Personal Hotspot screen. To turn off the hotspot, navigate back to the Personal Hotspot page and select Off/On.

It’s important to note that your cellular provider tracks how much data you use, this includes any devices connected via the hotspot. If you don’t have a plan with unlimited data you should monitor your data usage.

Personal Hotspot is an useful feature that provides you with another way to connect with the office while on the go. If you’re interested in ways you can leverage other features of the iPad to make your job easier, please contact us.

Android Tablets have a lot to offer to businesses, they are a versatile platform that are essentially an extension of your office. Many software vendors have realized this and have started to develop business software that will make your tablet even more useful. As with most computers, there are a wide variety of tablets out there with somewhat confusing specifications.

Here’s an overview of what the main technical specifications of tablets are, and what they mean.

Screen
There are two important screen measurements: size and resolution. The majority of Android tablets feature the screen size in the name e.g., Asus 10.1”. What this means is the screen is 10.1 inches diagonally. The resolution is given as two sets of numbers e.g., 1280 x 800. This is the number of pixels that make up the screen. The general rule of thumb is: the higher the resolution, the higher the viewing quality. It’s important to actually look at the screen before you purchase the tablet.  

Processor
The processor is the tablet’s brain, and is measured in megahertz (MHz) or gigahertz (GHz). A higher number will result in the tablet being able to run more applications and a smoother operating experience.

Many companies are marketing “dual core” processors. This means there are two processors acting together. Generally, the higher the number of cores, the faster the tablet will run. If you’re going to be using applications that require a lot of computing resources e.g., presentation apps, you’ll want a device with more processing power. Most users will be fine with a processor speed higher than 1 GHz.

Memory
Memory is often confused with storage. While they are similar, memory relates to RAM which is used to run apps and execute commands given by the user. Most new tablets will come with 1 GB (Gigabyte) of RAM, which is more than enough to operate.

Internal/expandable storage
Storage is where your apps, pictures, music, etc., are installed and stored. Many Android tablets have both built-in and expandable storage. Built-in storage is inside the tablet, and can’t be expanded. Manufacturers often include the amount of built-in storage in the tablet’s name e.g., Asus 10.1” 64GB. This means there are 64 gigabytes of space or about 16,000 songs. Keep in mind that this amount is before the operating system and essential programs are installed.

Expandable storage is in the form of memory cards that can be removed, much like your digital camera. The most common form of memory card is the SD or Secure Digital. Be careful though, as not all tablets have expandable storage and those that do have a limit on the storage capacity of the card, typically a maximum of 32GB.

Battery
Android tablets are notoriously power hungry, especially with devices that have faster processors and bigger screens. Batteries are measured in mAH and the higher the number is, the longer you’ll be able to use the device.

While at first glance the technical specifications of a tablet can be a little overwhelming, they are actually fairly easy to understand. The important thing is to not be sucked in by sheer numbers alone. Take your time, read reviews and actually try the tablets before you buy. If you have any other questions about the Android platform, please contact us.

Business Intelligence (BI) has traditionally been the domain of big companies. It was costly to implement, required highly skilled employees who were in short demand to conduct it, and the software was incredibly complex. That’s all changed in the past few years due to the advancement of cloud technology. Many vendors now offer Software as a Solution (SaaS) apps that small businesses can use to conduct BI in their organization.

Here is an overview of four Business Intelligence SaaS apps that you could use in your business:

KPI
KPI (Key Performance Indicator) is a company that offers a cloud based dashboard that integrates with your CRM or ERP software. It provides a way for businesses to visualize, analyze and report real-time data from your business’s key metrics. All the results can be viewed on your computer or on your mobile device.

GoodData
GoodData is an on demand BI provider that offers users a base service that they can add apps to as and when needed. The whole service and dashboards are stored and run in the cloud, and are considerably cheaper than traditional BI services.

Bimotics
Bimotics offers an on demand BI service for businesses in almost every major sector. They offer one suite that has data connectors, an established BI engine and analytical tools that should meet most small businesses’ needs. The suite can also be accessed by almost any mobile device.

Tibco Silver Spotfire
Silver Spotfire is a cloud based SaaS aimed at individuals and small businesses. It lets users create interactive dashboards and visual analytics without the need of costly infrastructure. This app also integrates with major social media services, allowing users to put live dashboards on their blogs.

These are just four useful apps that you can use in your business. If you’re interested in how you can integrate BI solutions into your business, please contact us.

The mobile phone has become the main tool that people use to connect with their work and personal lives. With more power than the mainframes that helped launch the space shuttles in the 60s, these phones are more computer than communication device. The only downside is that they are often chained to one OS, which can make it hard for companies to manage personal devices. One solution to this is mobile virtualization.

While not the newest trend, mobile virtualization has a promising future.

What is mobile virtualization?
Mobile virtualization is the application of multiple virtual operating systems onto one physical device. Imagine having a phone made by Samsung that, through a virtual system, has both the Android and Blackberry operating systems. These systems aren’t stored on your phone, they’re stored in the cloud and can be run simultaneously on your phone.

Will mobile virtualization be good for my company?
Managers and employees either carry around two phones, one for work and one for personal use, or they use a personal phone for work related activities. This has caused a bit of a technical dilemma for employers as they can’t really control work activities conducted on personal phones. Mobile virtualization is a solution. As the employer, you can customize an OS to meet your needs and security, and employees can access it on their phone. Think of it as two separate phones in one.

Your IT department will be able to access and control all functions of the work related OS, including installing updates and selecting which apps can be used. The employee will also have their personal OS that runs in a completely separate instance. A win-win for both parties.

While this is still a relatively new aspect of virtualization, it’s growing in popularity and could become the norm in a few short years. If you’d like to learn more about virtualization solutions for your company, please contact us.

Security of data and networks, an issue that companies are taking seriously. They’re going to great lengths to protect themselves from external threats and are, for the most part, safe from them. And yet, there are still stories about how businesses are being infected by malware. If they’re safe to the external environment, where’s the threat coming from?

In recent years the majority of security threats and compromises have come from within the company. A common threat to companies is the logic bomb – malware that targets IT systems and deletes data. As a logic bomb is introduced from within the network, the blame often lies with a disgruntled employee with full access to internal systems.

Insider threats
Giving employees full access to the network when they don’t need it is a common mistake often made by companies. There’s little need for an employee who does graphic design to have access to weekly sales records. This practice could set your company up for a considerable security problem in the future.

Dawn Cappelli, an insider-threat expert at the Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute stressed, “These types of insider attacks happen to businesses of all sizes, from small companies to very large corporations.” This is an important issue businesses should be aware of if they want to remain secure.

Take Precautions
Security threats can be a particularly harsh nightmare for small businesses, as many don’t have an IT department or staff with the technical expertise needed to maintain a secure network. If you’re one of these organizations, it’s a good idea to hire an outside consultant to help you with your network security. With consultants, it’s important that you maintain close contact with them to ensure any issues that crop up are dealt with expeditiously.

If you don’t work with an external company there are a few things you should do when you have an employee leave the company. First, their accounts should be deleted immediately and their access privileges should also be revoked. Second, if you have accounts with shared passwords, you should change them to ensure an ex-employee can’t gain access to the system.

If you’d like to learn more about internal security, and measures you can take to ensure you are safe, we are ready to help you. Please contact us.

Business Continuity Plans (BCP), plans on how to provide a stable service, or recover after adverse actions, have become top of mind with many managers. Businesses have adopted such plans, or are in the process of implementing one, but owners may have missed some crucial elements that could result in an ineffective plan.

Here are six key non-IT functions and processes that need to be in place to ensure your company is ready to effectively execute your BCP.

Easy to use plans
Many continuity plans have been developed mainly for the IT department, as such, they can be a little complicated to understand and follow if employees don’t have a technical background. You should aim to have a plan that’s easy to follow and can be understood by all employees.

Communicate plans
Remember that your plan encompasses all facets of your organization. It’s crucial that every employee knows their role and the relevant actions to take when the plan is executed. To do this, you need to ensure that all employees have access to a copy of the plan and any changes or updates are clearly communicated.

Test plans
Beyond communication, it’s important to conduct regular tests, with every quarter being sufficient. The tests should be as real as possible and span all departments within the organization. This will ensure that employees are aware of how they, and the systems, will react under duress. It’ll be beneficial to your business if the first time the employees execute the plan isn’t during an emergency.

Short term and long term plans
Your BCP should consist of both long term and short term elements that can be easily adapted to meet changing business environments and the emergence of new threats. You should aim for an even mix of short and long term solutions that cover as wide a variety of situations as possible.

Ensure buy-in from all levels
If you’re in the process of instituting a BCP you should ensure that the whole organization is onboard with the plan. If an employee is unsure about the validity of a part of the plan, take the time to find out why and ask for suggestions. An uninformed or uncooperative employee could be the difference between survival and failure in a disaster situation.

Update and Review
After every test, staff turnover and technological update, you should review the plans and make changes if necessary. Essentially, if anything in the company changes, review and update the plan. Remember: just because you have an effective plan this month, doesn’t mean it’ll be so in the future.

Continuity plans are only as strong as the weakest link. In an emergency, the last thing you want is an employee following the wrong process or be unsure of what they should be doing. If this happens, you could see an exponential growth in recovery time and costs. We’re ready to tell you more, so please contact us if you would like to talk continuity planning.