Apple is a company that in recent years has released a number of excellent products and has gained a following of incredibly devoted fans. One of the most popular products Apple produces is the Apple iPad, and in early March they announced the next version of the iPad, the New iPad. Does it live up to the hype? Will it be useful for your business?

The answer: yes, and no. The New iPad (that’s the actual name) takes the good parts of the iPad 2, and adds a few improvements including a new 5 mega pixel camera. The biggest change is the New iPad has the Retina Display, with a screen resolution of 2,048 x 1,536 pixels, making it one of the best Tablet displays on the market. Other changes include a new, slightly faster processor, and a slightly heavier (by 10 grams) body. Changes aside, the New iPad looks exactly the same as the iPad 2.

Apple has stated that the price of the New iPad will start at USD 499 for the 16 GB Wi-Fi version. There will be a version that connects to 4G mobile data networks, and the price for that version will start at USD 629 for the 16 GB version.

What Does this Mean for My Business? In truth, the New iPad means whatever you want it to for your business. Apple has said on many occasions that they want to bridge the gap between interaction and creation with the iPad. The New iPad is a step toward this goal, but it won’t be very useful for users who work with spreadsheets or other data-heavy programs. If you or your business gives lots of presentations, and doesn’t need to use the advanced functions of programs, then the New iPad could be a useful tool. It really comes down to how you, as a manager and company, operate. You can pretty much guarantee you will find some use for the iPad, it just may not be a Key Success Factor.

The one downside is the price. As a small business it can be hard to justify spending over USD 600 per iPad with data connectivity, when the iPhone costs far less with a plan and can do pretty much the same stuff, if not more.

Scam Warning As with most other Apple products, there is sure to be a number of scams surfacing over the next few weeks saying that you’ve won a free iPad, can get a free iPad, or any number of similar come-ons. It is a good idea to let your employees know that Apple doesn’t normally give away its products, and will definitely not post on people’s Facebook pages or put banners on websites advertising such a thing.

Apple has taken steps toward giving businesses a new way to operate, and the New iPad offers some great functions for businesses. If you’re thinking of adopting the iPad into your business, or would like to know more about the New iPad or Apple’s products, please contact us.

Many business owners and managers use Microsoft’s spreadsheet program, Excel, on a daily basis. It has become the go-to program for basic book keeping, forecasting, scheduling, chart making, and much more. It’s safe to say we are comfortable with it, and some may even call themselves experts. For those who are less comfortable, there are a number of errors that can cause confusion. Read on to learn about the most common ones.

While most of us are comfortable with Excel, there are many times when we have had an error pop up that is more or less confusing. Let’s face it, when we see “!#%&” characters many of us are at a loss. Here are some of the most common errors you come across in Excel, what they mean, and how to fix them.

####### This is one of the most common errors, with the # sign filling the cell. This error means that you have entered data in the cell that is longer than the cell’s size. For example, 1234567890 will show up as ##### if that column is not wide enough to fit all those numbers. This error will also show up when you have formatted a negative number as a date.

To fix this error, simply re-size the column (A, B, C, etc.) by clicking the edge of the column and dragging to the right to make larger. Or check to see if you have a negative number that is formatted as a date, and if so format the cell as a negative number instead..

?Name# This error means you have have an error in the formula or range. For example, =counif(!6:B99, “Y”) In this case, “counif” should be “countif”. Also, the “!6” should be a column letter and 6 (i.e., B6).

To fix this error, click on the cell with the error, and look at the formula in the formula bar, usually located above the spreadsheet, and correct the formula like this: =COUNTIF(A6:B99, “Y”)

#REF! If you have a formula that refers to other cells in the spreadsheet, and then you change one of those cells to data that does not compute in your formula, you will get the #REF! error. For example, if your formula for C6 is: =SUM(A1:A5, B1:B5, C1:C5) and you delete B1, you will get #REF! in C6.

The easiest fix to this is to hit: CTRL+Z, or Undo under Edit. If you made the error a long time ago and Undo does not work, then make sure all cells referenced in the formal contain valid information.

Circular Reference You get this error when you have entered a formula that includes the cell where you have entered the formula. For example, the formula =SUM(A2:A5) is entered into A5. Excel is essentially telling you that it is chasing its own tail, and can’t catch it.

The easiest way to fix this error is to simply click on the original cell, and remove the reference to the cell that the formula is entered in.

The Little Green Triangle in the Cell If you see a little green triangle in the top left corner of a cell, Excel is telling you there is an error with the formula. This is useful if you aren’t sure about what the error means. If you click on the arrow, you will get an ! with Trace Error. Click this, and Excel will give you a drop-down menu with options.

What if I Can’t Find the Error? If you are having trouble locating the error, or do not want to spend time searching for the error in a long formula, click the Formula tab and the arrow beside Error Checking. You can click either Trace Error or Circular Reference and Excel will point out the error, or provide the cell name with the error. From there, select the cell and look at the formula or data entered to determine the problem.

We all use technology, and many of us are comfortable setting up and using multiple programs, but what happens when a product stops working? Most business owners or managers will be on the phone to support looking for answers, or wading through hundreds of search results for a fix. Does it have to be so hard?

The answer is: No, it does not have to be. Microsoft Office 365 is a good example of a suite of programs with a strong background of troubleshooting and support resource data bases. If you have a question or problem while using Microsoft Office 365, there are a number of ways you can get the problem solved.

• Troubleshooting Tool:  This tool should be the first place you look when you have questions or need support. When you go to the page you will asked four questions and presented with links to solutions based on the answers given.
• Office 365 Community: The community, run by Microsoft, provides information on all aspects of Office 365 with the majority of the information being provided by users of the various products. This community also has information on updates and commonly asked questions. It’s a good idea to check with the community to see if there are any other users who have had the same questions or issues as you.
• Office 365 Technical Blog: If you can’t find answers on the Community page, try looking at the Technical Blog. The blog is run by Microsoft engineers and is a direct link to the developers of the product you are using. Any answers to questions on this blog will often be straight from the source with the answers usually being more on the technical side with lots of explanations or update information.
• Tools and Diagnostic Wiki: This is a wiki article that covers products in the Office 365 suite. Think of this as the umbrella section that covers troubleshooting of all issues, while providing you with links and updates related to troubleshooting. You can search issues based on product plan, specific products, services, and more. If you are having a problem not covered by the other resources, chances are you will find the answer here.

With comprehensive coverage and a number of different places to go to when you have questions or a problem, you should be able to get back on track in no time. Please contact us if you would like to know more about Office 365 or any other Microsoft products.

Do you need to save money on your IT costs? If so, here are five things you can discuss with your IT provider: be practical, be creative, invest in training, consider enterprise-directed IT, and consider long-term costs and benefits. Below we discuss each in more detail.

1. Be practical. Extend the life of existing systems to help you get the most out of their value.

2. Be creative. Think outside the box. You might allow doctors and nurses to use their own smart phones and tablets on the job, foster development of your own apps, and leverage inexpensive cloud services, such as Google Apps.

3. Invest in training. It's easy to underestimate the cost savings associated with training—and the easier a system is to use, the less training you'll need to provide.

4. Consider enterprise-directed IT. Much of the technology that's interesting and cost effective right now isn't consumer directed – it's enterprise directed.

5. Consider long-term costs and benefits. With new technologies popping up left and right, choosing the right ones is critical. Those that protect against data breaches, for example, may be the most important given that a recent ID Experts and Ponemon Institute report found data breaches in U.S. healthcare organizations have cost providers more than $6 billion a year.
   

   Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.

Most medical practices that implement Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) see a significant financial return on investment (ROI). Here are five ways that happens: You can see more patients; you'll reduce missed appointments; your claims processing will be more efficient; you'll spend less on hard technology costs; and you'll improve reimbursements. Below we discuss each in more detail.

1. You can see more patients. Once you've implemented an EMR and established good work flows, you'll spend less time documenting, allowing you more time to see more patients.

2. You'll reduce missed appointments. Cancelations and no-shows are key performance indicators. An EMR can reduce them by issuing appointment reminders, and a reduction in missed appointments can improve your bottom line.

3. Your claims processing will be more efficient. Once you've implemented an EMR, you'll spend less time filing, faxing, and retrieving charts and moving documents, which will allow claims to be processed faster.

4. You'll spend less on hard technology costs. Once you've implemented an EMR, your technology will be centralized, so you’ll make fewer ad hoc purchases. Moreover, if your EMR is cloud-based, you'll spend less on equipment overall.

5. You’ll improve reimbursements. Many EMRs have alerts that make sure you're using the correct document to satisfy reimbursement requirements—and improved legibility is a bonus.
   

   Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.

Hackers have gotten pretty advanced in the past few years, and one of the most complicated hacks talks to you while it goes about its business. There is a new hack targeting businesses with the aim of stealing banking information. Be on the look out as this is one of the most devious hacks yet.

The hack, a variation of the Man-in-the-browser (MITB) hack, is a form of Trojan horse that mainly infects a Web browser and has the ability to change a Web page, insert orders or transactions covertly. The user will not notice any change to the website. This particular hack infects user’s computers with a Shylock malware program, a new form of malware that focuses on bank accounts and financial transactions.

The user goes to a banking website, attempts to log in and is given an error message stating that security checks are being undertaken. After a few minutes a window pops up telling the user that a representative from the bank will be contacting them to go over their account details. A chat window will open up and the “representative”, who is really the hacker, will ask the user for their account information. While the user and hacker are talking, the hacker will log into the account and proceed to go to town, so to speak.

At this time, it seems like the hack is not widespread, but it is spreading, and it is one of the more sophisticated programs out there. To learn more about this or any other security threat that may have you worried, please contact us.

Hey, it's nowhere near the gargantuan status of Facebook or Twitter, but lesser-known Pinterest has a following, and especially if your target market is females, it can be a very versatile and unique online marketing tool – that is, if you use it the right way.

What is Pinterest? In a nutshell, it's something like a social media scrapbook, album, and bulletin board combined. Each interest / theme has its own 'Pinboard' where you put photos, videos, or other media that interest you.

What makes Pinterest unique is its concept, which has been consistently growing in popularity, especially with female audiences. And while Facebook and Twitter are more open to overt advertising, Pinterest takes a more conservative stance. While advertising isn't exactly prohibited, the marketing should definitely be more subtle and more consistent with a personal Pinterest profile. Here are some basic tips that will help you utilize Pinterest to your advantage.

1. Understand your market. The first question you should ask yourself is if Pinterest is something worth your time investment. Since the majority of Pinterest users are female, ask yourself if your products and services appeal to them directly.

2. Invest time. As in many other social networking sites, you need to put a personal and human touch to your Pinterest profile and in the way you interact with your audience. Log in often, update regularly, and respond quickly to any kind of feedback. Let your audience know that you're there.

3. Use other social media to augment Pinterest. Since Pinterest is less known, use your other social media accounts to point people your way in Pinterest, such as Tweeting or updating your Facebook status with your most recent Pinterest profile update.

4. Talk about what you represent. As mentioned earlier, since Pinterest isn't big on overt advertising, you need to market yourself in a different way. Talk about what your brand is all about. What do you represent? What content can you provide that would inspire your audience to share on their own Pinboards? If you're a furniture company, for example, you can try giving some tips on basic interior design and picking the right furniture pieces for spaces, with pictures or videos. What's good about Pinterest is that it challenges you to be more creative, and thus, more appealing to potential clients.

If Pinterest interests you, give us a call so we can discuss how you can maximize this new social media platform for your business.

Have you checked out your business’s online reputation lately? What you don’t know can hurt you! But with a little time and effort, you can take steps to manage your reputation online and use it to grow your business.

Reputation is important to all businesses. If your business does not have a good reputation, it’s almost certain that you are scaring away customers. In the past it was easy to judge the reputation of your business: all you had to do was ask the local population what they thought. With the advent of the Internet and, more specifically, social media, your reputation has gone online, and is easily observed and influenced by many millions.

Your online reputation can be tricky to measure and manage, but it can be done effectively. Here are some tips for getting started.

Be Aware of Your Internet Presence Many companies have pages on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and more. The only problem is that they don’t spend time maintaining them. It’s a well known fact that when a customer wants to find information on your company, they are not going to call you. They will Google you, or check you out on Facebook, Linkedin, or another social media outlet. It’s important that you know exactly where and how your business appears on these websites.

How to Assess Your Presence It’s a good idea to do a web search using keywords pertaining to your business on the major search engines. Simply enter these keywords into the search engine:

1. Your name
2. Your company’s name
3. Your main product or service
4. High profile employees, past and present
5. User names

Record the results of each search. It’s important to look for the number of negative responses, indifferent responses, and responses in which your company is not mentioned. If you have a large number of negative responses, especially in the top results, you need to work on improving your reputation. If you have lots of results with no information, it’s time to start getting your name out there.

When searching, take note: Due to the increasing personalization of search engines it’s best to log out of all your accounts, and turn off personalized search. When searching for your company, the majority of users will enter a keyword and normally only look at the first few pages of results, so be sure to review the first three pages of your search results.

Protect yourself You may have the Social Media side covered, but what about your URL? Be sure to buy not only the direct URL of your company’s name, but also any related URLs for your company. For example, if your company has a unique product, buy the URL under that name. This is important not only in helping people find you, but also in preventing a disgruntled customer or employee from buying a similar URL and creating a website to slander you and damage your reputation.

Be Proactive With Your Presence It’s important that once you know your reputation, you are proactive about monitoring and improving it. This doesn’t mean you need to spend hours each week searching for your company online. Tools such as Google Alerts help you automatically track result changes based on keywords, and website such as Technorati allow you to quickly search for keywords across many blogs and set up alerts for new mentions.

You should also be involved in industry blogs, monitoring them regularly and becoming part of the “conversation” in your industry. Try to establish a strong presence in your industry by showing how knowledgeable you are. You can also encourage employees to share company news and act as brand ambassadors by empowering them to be open with their thoughts on the company. With careful management, they can be a powerful brand tool.

Be Accountable If you come across negative reviews or posts about your company, consider objectively what is being said. While some people are simply out there to harm the company, many others will be more than willing to discuss what you have done wrong, or at least provide some feedback. It’s also a good idea to be proactive and set up a FAQ section on your website that covers the most commonly asked questions as well as negative issues, such as: “What do I do if I am unhappy with my product or service?”

Use a Social Media Management Company Small business owners like yourself may not have the time to manage your reputation effectively, or the money to hire a full-time staff member to manage it for you. What you can do is to work with a company that specializes in reputation management, allowing you to concentrate on your business. Online Reputation Management has become big business, and will continue to be a major trend in 2012 and beyond.

It’s important to keep up with your reputation management because the success of your company is directly affected by it. There are many ways to improve and manage your reputation, but positive changes won’t happen overnight. If you have questions about reputation management and would like to learn more, please contact us.

Disaster: it could be as small as deleting a critical file or as big as the natural disasters that have been striking with more intensity in the past few years. Any way you look at it, disaster will strike eventually, in some form, leaving you with a problem to solve. It’s important to have a plan for when something happens. Do you?

Most companies have at least basic protection from emergencies and disasters in place. The most common forms of protection are insurance, server and computer backup, and basic preparations as required by law. While these protective measures are considered adequate for most companies, there is still a chance a disaster will strike, leaving your company in the lurch.

In the recent months and years an increasing number of occurrences, such as the earthquake in Japan and flooding in Thailand, have caused widespread disruption to businesses. To counter this, two business initiatives have risen to the forefront: Disaster Recovery (DR) and Business Continuity Planning (BCP). In fact, these two terms have become common buzzwords, a quick internet search returns over 53 million hits on business continuity alone. The problem is that many professionals are unclear on what each really is. It’s important to be clear on each topic and the basic steps to take to be prepared for any disaster.

What is a Business Continuity Plan (BCP)? BCP, first seen during the Y2K scare of the late 90s, is a plan that covers the way an organization prepares for and maintains all critical business functions. BC planning is comprised of activities that ensure maintenance, stability, and recoverability of service before, during, and after a disaster. The plan is typically set up on a day-to-day basis, and covers the whole organization.

It’s important to have a BCP for your organization because if something happens and you can’t deliver to your customers, they will go to another company.

What is Disaster Recovery? Disaster Recovery is considered a part of the overall continuity plan that focuses on the technical side of the business, including components such as data backup and recovery. Think of BCP as an umbrella and DR is under the umbrella — if you don’t have a disaster recovery plan, the overall umbrella is more or less useless.

What Should be in Your DR and BCP Plans? These plans both share a number of similarities, generally following the same steps involving the same elements. Both plans should include:

1. An operational plan for a number of disasters that could happen in your geographical area. The plans should cover occurrences as small as computer hardware errors and as large as massive natural disasters.
2. A succession plan for you or your top management.
3. Training for substitute employees on important tasks.
4. Cross training of your employees on the basics of different roles so they will be able to take over if need be.
5. A communication plan focused on different crises, including ways of communicating if networks are down.
6. Off-site meeting places for staff and managers.
7. A focus on safety. Foster partnerships and communication with local and emergency response services: Fire, Police, National Guard, Search and Rescue. Ideally, all employees should at least know basic first aid. If you have employees who are volunteer members of local Emergency Response Services, ask them to be responsible for teams.
8. Daily plans to backup your Enterprise systems, along with training and testing of recovery of systems.
9. Training and testing of all employees to practice recovery activities in situations as realistic as possible.

It’s important that you conduct regular tests of your systems and processes, and make changes as needed. Be aware that your business is always changing and so should your Business Continuity and Disaster Recover Plans.

With a carefully prepared and practiced plan, your business should be ready to face a variety of disasters with minimal downtime. If you would like to know more about Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery please contact us.

The IT industry is primarily based on projects, and even companies that are not IT related will at some time need to instigate an IT-related project. These projects could be small or large, but they all need to achieve something. Unfortunately, there are all too many stories out there of mistakes made, causing the goal of the project to be missed.

How many times have you started a project only to have it spiral out of control? Mistakes, delays, and other problems can be costly - both to you and your company. Here are some common reasons projects fail, and ideas to be aware of before you start your next big project.

No plan Possibly the biggest mistake any company can make is to not have a plan. A project without a plan is like a football team without a quarterback - it just won’t work. The most common plan used by businesses is a “project plan”: a plan that outlines your final goal, your plan to get there, and what resources are needed along the way. It is a good idea to involve all project team contributors in the planning phase. This will help encourage your team to stay on track.

Unrealistic budget An equally important mistake to avoid is having an unrealistic budget. All managers know they have to set and stick with a budget. However, few managers really know how to set a proper budget, and many projects end up being over budget. The easiest things you can do are:

• Determine the knowable costs. These can include software, parts, wages, fixed costs, etc. Be sure to include costs like shipping and tools needed for the project.
• Consider different parts of the project separately. Try to think which are more likely to have problems. Budget an extra percentage of the total costs based on how risky that aspect is.
• Look at budgets from similar past projects. These will help you judge whether you are on the right track.

Poorly defined expectations Many projects suffer from members not really understanding the expected outcome of efforts made. This could cause a decrease in morale among your employees. It’s best to review and update goals regularly, and tweak the scope or timelines as progress is made. It’s also equally important to involve employees in this process.

Scope creep While some change in the focus of the project can be good, beware of scope creep - uncontrolled or big changes to the original plan of the project. This can happen when the extent of the project is not properly defined or controlled. It is important that you clearly define the scope of the project with both yourself and your employees, and try to make as few changes as possible.

Poor communication This cannot be stressed enough: communication is very important. Many projects fail due to lack of good communication and interaction between the parties involved. We recommend that you stay in constant contact with all parties to ensure understanding of the project. Encourage an open communication environment where any employee can talk about anything and suggest ideas.

With good communication, a clear focus on the project and a solid plan your next IT project is on its way to be a successful one. For more information on project planning, please contact us.