iPad for Productivity…. IT Perspective. Post #2

The mobile web… An undeniably central portion of any good modern on-the-go worker’s toolkit.  It really doesn’t matter what your job or business is, it seems there is always a need for the mobile web in an average modern day.

Once I got used to using the Safari browser on my iPhone, whether on wi-fi or 3G, there was no going back.  Despite the limitations and frustrations of mobile browsing, being able to almost instantly pull up a Google search, map directions, product information, store hours, technical walkthrough, or any number of web uses while on the go for work is no longer a luxury.  It is a necessity on the majority of my days away from the office or home.

However, mainly due to the constant pinching and zooming required on many smartphone browser sites, the idea of an iPad as a step up from the smartphone that is still more convenient than pulling out a full laptop is one of the categories of testing I set out to conduct in this new technology model I’ve forced on myself.

And I have to say, it has been a largely pleasant experience.  

PROS

Screen Size

The version of Safari for the iPad is really no different than the iPhone – they are both the iOS version.  At first thought, I felt there would be little difference in experience.  But the extra few inches of screen real estate make quite a difference in many ways, the web being one of them.  Not having to do as much zooming in and out, and crisper, larger text make for a big difference when doing mobile web activities.  This larger screen size translates into a larger virtual keyboard as well, which pays dividends.  Lastly, tabbed browsing is more efficient as you can see and switch tabs without having to bring up the separate screens and scroll left and right between them as you do in the iPhone browser.

Dedicated Browsing

What I mean by this is that many times the mobile web searches I am conducting on the go happen while I am using my iPhone for a business call as well.  Having to switch back and forth between apps and screens on the phone while in th call can be tedious and cause accidental hang-ups, etc.  Having the iPad to use for full-screen multi-tabbed browsing while simply using the iPhone for the call itself or even other kinds of multi-tasking not involving the browser enhances the experience and efficiency.

Hands-Free

With the Apple screen cover for the iPad that doubles as a stand for the iPad, I can set it up on a counter, table, desk, whatever and have a vertical hands- free browsing experience while holding a phone or using my hands for other necessary work.

Bluetooth Keyboard

Freeing up even more screen real estate with one of the bluetooth keyboards made for the iPad makes the experience even more pleasant, especially for things like filling out forms, blog and forum posts, etc.

Battery Usage

The iPad battery life is much longer than the iPhone for browsing, especially as my phone battery drains due to voice calls and other usage throughout the day.

CONS

Browser/Site Incompatibilities

There are some websites that don’t play well with Safari.  The solution to this is to download one of the other browsers, such as Opera or Atomic, available for the iPad, and test those until I find the one that works best with a particular site.  This is more pronounced than in Windows or OS X as some pages want to load a mobile version and others don’t, and certain site functions don’t work as well with the iOS.

No Flash

For me, this is rarely an issue as I generally don’t rely on much Flash content, especially for work.  Occasionally there will be a walkthrough video I would like to be able to view for a task I am trying to complete, but this is quire rare, and more and more sites are providing HTML5 or other alternatives to Flash for this very reason.

Wifi Only

My particular iPad is wifi only, so I don’t have as much freedom browsing as with the 3G option on my iPhone.  However, this is only because I didn’t want to double-pay for an additional 3G data plan for the iPad.  Instead, I am going to wait until the data plan expires on my current Acer netbook and then look into one of the 4G portable hotspots that power multiple devices, which will include the iPad.  This shouldn’t be taken as a real Con, as it is specific to my situation.

Summary

For mobile web activities related to IT support and productivity (as well as many other business tasks and uses), the advantages of the iPad seem to greatly outweigh the cons.  The tablet gets a Win for this category of mobile productivity.

Next Week: Email Solutions

iPad for Productivity? An IT perspective… Post #1

One of the exciting and sometimes challenging/frustrating aspects to my job with NSI Partners is the review and testing of new technologies.  When this is software- or browser-based, it is relatively easy to do these tests from my existing computers and devices.  From time to time, though, it is the primary computing devices and models themselves that I have to be willing to test and play with.

ipad (Photo credit: Sean MacEntee)

Such is the case with a recent experiment: restrict my mobile computing solution to an iPad and iPhone, ditching the powerhouse laptops I’ve gotten accustomed to in lieu of a desktop computer solution for the home office.  Why torture myself?  To see how successful I can really be performing a wide range of computing tasks while away from the office using a “truly mobile” device — one with a mobile operating system and size/design as opposed to something like a Netbook – which is just a low-powered Windows laptop with the full OS.

So for several weeks now I have been working (and studying) with this device model:  iPad 2, iPhone 4s, and powerful iMac at the home office.  The experience so far has been both liberating and frustrating, providing a benefit in some scenarios and lots of pain in others.

For the next few weeks I will write about various aspects of this experience, making the rounds on a variety of produuctivity and software categories, detailing the apps I have tested, the ones I have rejected, and what solutions are both liberating and compromising.

 Ultimately, there are 2 answers to the basic question of qhwther the iPad can be a mobile computing solution.  If you perform complex computational tasks while on the road (graphic editing, video conversion, detailed document/spreadsheet/presentation design), the iPad is not for you – at least, not as a full mobile computing solution.  On the other hand, if you tend to spend most of your mobile computing time in email, web browsers, performing limited or simple document creation, or doing a lot of remote machine access, then the iPad may well provide you a lightweight, compact, successful mobile computing solution.

Read as I post the next several weeks if you care to learn more about my experiences in this odd IT challenge…

Case Study – Small Business IT Services

The Challenge

Move from an aging and poorly-performing Customer Relationship Management (CRM) program (Goldmine) housed on a dedicated server rented from a third-party provider to a state-of-the-art, cloud-based CRM + product. Identify and migrate gigabytes worth of data, and ultimately save money if possible.

The Solution

After conducting detailed research, we identified the Group Edition of Salesforce.com as being ideal for the number of subscribers required. There was a one-time cost to assess and migrate all the data from the old Goldmine server into Salesforce. After this initial transition, users warmed quickly to the new platform and Web 2.0-centric interface and features. Migrating to Salesforce also substantially reduced annual CRM costs.

Migrating to Office365 from onsite servers

Image by Microsoft Sweden via Flickr

This week our team will be doing another “move to the cloud” for one of our clients.

Small and Medium Organizations who have previously installed onsite Windows Servers in order to run Microsoft Exchange for email, contacts, and calendars can benefit from the new cloud services Microsoft is offering.  This is a particularly well-timed decision when you might be considering upgrading an aging Small Business Server 2003, or other aging Server platform running Exchange.

Why?  Because the cost of migrating a smaller organization to Microsoft Office 365, plus the ongoing annual cost of a relevant subscription tier, can be less than

or equal to the cost of a new server and associated costs.  The added advantage of much lower ongoing maintenance and upkeep costs (as Microsoft staff do 90% of that work at no additional cost) can be a very wise choice in today’s business and technological marketplace.

Beyond email, as I have written about previously, Office 365 offers online, browser-based versions of Office applications for document creation and editing on-the-go, and also features the newest Microsoft SharePoint cloud interface for online document storage and sharing (as well as other intranet-related features).  The newest addition to the offerings is Microsoft Lync, which replaces the older Office Communicator and Live Meeting products and empowers instant messaging, real-time voice chat, screen-sharing, and other cool communication tools.

A small business or organization without an on-premise Windows Server or Exchange environment can easily setup new accounts and enable better email, calendaring, contact management, document sharing and storage, and IM and collaboration tools than they have previously had available.

All this can be had at around 6.00 per user per month for the features I have described, a price competitive with Google Apps for Business but which integrates much more organically with Windows operating systems and Office products.

More and more of us are moving to the cloud for essential services for our agencies andy businesses.  Office 365 provides a cost-effective and very useful set of tools for any organization today.

If you are interested in learning more or want to receive a free quote on how NSI Partners TechConnect can assist your organization with cloud-based technologies, contact us today at tech@nsipartners.com !

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Running Windows Applications in OS X Lion with Parallels 7…

Lately I find myself in what I would normally have thought of as an awful IT scenario:  figuring out how to run Windows and OS X side-by-side, or at the same time.  In my mind, it seems somewhat counterproductive to bog down a nice Apple hard drive with a Windows client.  Microsoft Office for Mac already has a poor reputation for performance in MacBooks.  But the idea of running a full-blown edition of Windows, whether via BootCamp or virtually, seems scary in some ways.  Didn’t I switch to OS X to avoid all the problems I’ve had for years with Microsoft OSes?  Why would I invite the trouble back?  Well, generally, I wouldn’t.  There is part of me that cringes at the idea of what could happen, given my history with Microsoft’s unpredictable software environments and designs.  That being said, what if you really want to get your agency or small business over to Apple computers for all their greatness, but there’s a few people who just can’t stand the thought of living without some Windows-only software?

Parallels to the rescue!

With the most recent version offering new OS X Lion – integrated features, this program is really a great option for organizations or users in the scenario I describe above.  Whether you install a copy of Windows to Boot Camp or simply a virtual version within Parallels, there are a host of appealing touches to this popular and well-designed app that make it the one to beat in my opinion.  With the ability to share drives and profiles between your OS X and Windows user accounts, map Windows program shortcuts to the Lion dock, access the Windows Start menu and taskbar from INSIDE OS X, and vice versa from inside your Windows environment, the solution seems the best of all possible worlds.

While there are a lot of menus and features to play with in order to turn on and off the more advanced features, it took me all of four hours to get the app installed, partition a virtual drive, install Windows, download and install needed Windows updates, a full version of Microsoft Office, and learn enough about the way Parallels enables “co-existence” of the two OSes to convince me it would be a decent solution for some of those in my company fitting the scenario I described earlier.  No longer do I have to tell them their best option is to just stay on a Dell or HP laptop.  I can now offer them the security, OS, user interface, stability, and other great features an Apple computer offers, while still enabling them to run those Windows-only apps they feel tethered to.

For any other IT folks, or business/non-profit organizations in a similar place, wanting to move to Apple computers but still connected to a few pieces of Windows-only software, Parallels 7 is my recommendation!

Browsers….IE vs Chrome vs Firefox vs Safari….and we can’t forget Opera!

Image via Wikipedia

Browser battles are ongoing regularly these days.  Mozilla is releasing new versions of Firefox with increasing rapidity, and market share has definitely changed, but a comment from one of my co-workers this past week made me ponder why so many are still using Internet Explorer when it is still having more problems than most other browsers.

To be fair, IE has made major progress from 7 to 8 to 9.  Regularly rotating into the top position in terms of speed and security features, Microsoft is doing their best to keep up with the competition.

New features, such as HTML 5 support, hardware acceleration, best plug-in libraries, and now RAM optimization (Firefox) must be emphasized by browser manufacturers in order to try to differentiate themselves.

One thing I have noticed is that, in most cases, speed is now the least relevant item to use to distinguish one browser from another.  All recent benchmark reviews I have seen, really over at least the last year, show no “human-discernable” difference between browsers.  However, one area where IE seems to consistently lag behind the other browsers is in Java-scripted site content, where it continues to struggle.

All this, and regular usage of all browsers, has led me to realize that the “look and feel” and feature-set are more important to me than raw speed, stats, or behind-the-scenes security settings that aren’t exactly visible.

For instance, the RSS-feed-aggregation in Safari I wrote about in my last update.  As an IT professional I regularly need to be seeing and digesting industry news, updates, tips, etc.  This method of adding feeds in Safari, and the built-in tools and sorting methods it provides, represent a real improvement in efficiency AND my own experience/perception.

All else being equal, it seems the individual user experience, which is NOT measurable in the way most benchmarks work, makes the biggest difference for individual selections.

Some of my co-workers like Firefox because they are used to the larger library of plug-ins.  Chrome, the first to introduce search in the address bar, with a more-streamlined UI and behind-the-scenes updates, impressed others and hasn’t done anything since then to convince them to switch.  Opera, long considered the “geeks” browser, actually won the latest round of speed tests done by Lifehacker, and continues to add new and interesting features, some of which are not immediately apparent.

However, looking at the stats, it seems the overwhelming issue for users is which browser is the default for their OS.  Even though I can and have installed Firefox and Chrome for Lion, I rarely find myself opening them because Safari does everything to my satisfaction and I really enjoy the minimalistic interface.  Since Windows still ships with the largest percentage of computers sold, and IE is the built-in, default browser, the majority of people still use IE. Despite its’ lag, bugginess, and lack of some features and UI design elements compared to other browsers, most users seem content to use it.  Maybe because they don’t need to spend extra time researching, downloading and installing other browsers, configuring and migrating favorites, plugins, etc?  Or maybe because a high percentage of the computer-using world doesn’t even realize other browsers are options, and might provide them value?

Regardless of the causes, I must say that when it comes to browsers, it is one area where ignorance is NOT bliss, and I am glad to have the time to regularly review, test, and experience the various products.

What are your experiences?

Operating Systems…Windows 7 vs. OS X Lion

Image via Wikipedia

I had been a stalwart user of Windows on all my computer hardware for most of my adult life.  When I was much younger, I did enjoy the Apple 2 computers.  And last year, NSI Partners bought me an iPhone 3GS to learn and compare with other smartphones in the market.  However, I had never really thought I would go to an Apple laptop or desktop device.  Until now….

Having quickly learned to navigate the OS X Snow Leopard with a guidebook I purchased, and then upgrading to OS X Lion on release day, I can confidently say there are some amazing features in Apple’s modern day operating systems and hardware that are compelling, even for this veteran Windows user.

As an IT professional, one of the issues I have always struggled with is screen real estate for all the applications and windows I needed open to do my work.  In Windows, multiple monitors is better than one for productivity.  I also researched and tested several of the “virtual desktop” applications available for Windows 7, but none really pleased me.  Switching to Snow Leopard and Lion and learning Spaces and now Mission Control has made me a very happy worker.  Having multiple virtual monitors all available to me at the same time in addition to the ability to “pin” program locations to individual virtual monitors is a wonderful experience.  In addition, with OS X Lion’s new multi-gestures and full-screen mode, moving around between virtual monitors and programs is easier and more intuitive than ever.  This feature alone is enough for me to really like Apple’s OS vision.

Another feature of the OS I have come to love is Mail.  How is it that Apple makes the only operating system with built-in mail client support for Exchange messaging out of the box?  Microsoft’s products don’t give you this capability until you buy Outlook, most often as part of an Office suite costing several hundred dollars.  I have been able to replicate all my needed work productivity with Apple’s free Mail, Calendar, and Address Book without needing to buy other software.  And Mail’s new design in OS X Lion is even more streamlined and forward-thinking.

One other area I wanted to mention is my web browsing experience on my MacBook Pro.  I must say, as much as I wanted to like and use Internet Explorer exclusively when I was a Windows user, I found myself always wanting to download and install the newest versions of Firefox and Chrome due to their advantages over IE.  Oddly enough, I never let myself try out Safari for Windows.  However, having switched to OS X, I was forced to learn Safari out of the box.  At first I was concerned this could be a pain point.  Nothing is further from the truth.  Having mastered Safari’s custom-RSS-feed-menu-bar collection feature has been a wonderful experience.  The tabbed browsing and overall minimal interface has become visually comforting to me, and the new back and forward style of navigating with Lion is really beautiful.

There is so much more I could discuss, and maybe I will talk about more of this in future posts.  I haven’t even mentioned the hardware components and design, or the way programs install, uninstall, and launch, or the Dock, the Dashboard, iTunes and DVD Player, etc. etc.

I do have one last thing to say about something Apple has taught me:  Windows wastes so much screen real estate by putting bars and borders around every program Window!  The way that Apple implements this is so much more useful, efficient and visually appealing that when I look at a Windows interface now, it feels a century old

I am challenging everyone I know who is a big computer user to think seriously about buying an Apple next time around; it is well worth the extra cost.

Wide Area Network Solutions for SMBs through Software, not expensive Hardware

One of the exciting things about the TechConnect services we provide here at NSI Partners is being able to constantly innovate technology solutions for the Small-Medium Business (SMB) universe.  From software to hardware to smartphones, technology is often fluid, and one of the advantages of smaller organizations is being able to move swifter with less cost and investment than large enterprises.

Image via Wikipedia

A great example of this is a business with multiple locations in one city or regional area that relies on software solutions designed for the more-traditional Local-Area-Network (LAN) architecture.  For instance, let’s say your business wants to use a time-sheet program that allows employees to log in and out for the workday and track hours , as well as enabling reports and calendaring features for the admin staff.  One such example of this type of program is ShopClock.  Designed to work with a Microsoft SQL back-end database residing on a computer in the LAN designated as a server, then allowing workstation or client installs on multiple computers for employees to access and sign in and out.  Problems start to appear when you want to have one server at one business location but install licensed copies at other store locations that need to reach out to the server across the internet.

One traditional solution to this problem is from a hardware perpective:  work with your ISP to create a tunneled VPN via routers and switches, or get your own routers with VPN features that tie your public IP addresses together into a Wide Area Network (WAN) allowing the devices at each store to communicate with each other as if they were on the same network.  Thousands of dollars can be spent successfully implementing such a solution.  A second option that is less than desirable is to install stand-alone server/workstation setups at each location.  However, this can cost more as often additional licenses are required, and the stores don’t communicate with each other.



A third solution, and one we enjoy recommending and implementing for our TechConnect SMB clients, is LogMeIn Hamachi.  A great product that allows us to do a simple software install at each computer needing access to the WAN, and viola!  Instant connectivity between multiple geographical office locations for the purpose of connecting workstations to a server as in the case of ShopClock.  This has other obvious uses too, such as file sharing, remote printing, and even includes chat functionality.  For a handful of dollars a month, it could take over a decade for the costs of this option to catch up with some of the hardware solutions (not to mention saving on electricity bills and space not being used for additional hardware).

This is just one example of a creative, cost-effective technology solution for a small or medium business that enables the business to focus on growing and servicing customers with excellence, without sacrificing lots of time, energy and money on enterprise-type solutions.  If you work with a small or medium business needing better support and implementation of technology, feel free to contact us at tech@nsipartners.com.

Smartphone Apps and the “New Workflow”

Image via Wikipedia

Reasons to Choose Microsoft Exchange Online for Email Hosting

Traditionally only larger organizations and companies have utilized Microsoft’s Exchange technology for hosting email servers, which linked to Outlook clients provide some significant feature sets and productivity benefits not found on POP and IMAP email servers. A few years ago, companies started offering shared Exchange server hosting environments for monthly fees so that small-medium businesses that didn’t want the extra cost and hassles of their own in-house Exchange server could still benefit from the technology and utilize Outlook the way it was designed to be used.  Even more recently, Microsoft took that over themselves, providing the servers and improving the features and costs with Microsoft Online Services.  I have written about this previously in its’ several forms, from Exchange Online only up to and including the full Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS).  I have yet to publish a simple list of the advantages and features small and medium businesses can expect when transitioning to Exchange Online for email hosting….Here is that list!

1.  More than email: Exchange adds a robust Contacts database, Tasks/To-Do Lists, Calendaring, and Public File Sharing

2.  Access methods:  from any web browser with Outlook Web Access, from smartphones with data and ActiveSync, from Microsoft Outlook

3.  Advanced scheduling tools, the ability to see multiple calendars within your organization, the ability to edit other’s calendars, the capability to share documents with others online easily, complex task database and task management, categories

4.  Reduced costs and complexity with all the productivity enhancements of a traditional in-house server

5.  Built-in backup of data, enhanced spam filtering and security tools compared to many other email hosts

If you add Microsoft Outlook 2010 to the mix as part of the email solution, there are additional benefits: Task Delegation (create and assign tasks to others); Enhanced Scheduling and Calendaring Features (Overlay mode for multiple calendars, scheduling assistants to suggest meeting and appointment times, plugins for services like GoToMeeting); and now the Social Connector (see updates from social networks like Facebook and Linked In for your contacts right inside Outlook).

At prices per user per month that are only a few dollars more than POP and IMAP email options, and new features coming with Office365 in 2011, there is little reason for any small to medium business NOT to give Exchange Online a try.  You may find it changes the way you do business and enables some exciting changes for your organization.

Contact tech@nsipartners.com if you’d like to work with NSI Partners for a free trial of any Microsoft Online product, or for support in transition from your existing solutions.