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July 2009
In this issue:
● Do You BING?
● Thinking About Hiring
Internal IT Staff?
● Social Networking
● Office Secrets
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Social Networking:
Is Your Identity at Risk?
reprinted with permission from HP
The total number of users on the social networking site Facebook has now soared above the 200 million mark. Just to put that into perspective: if Facebook were a country, it would be the fifth largest on Earth, after China, India, the U.S. and Indonesia. According to a recent report by ComScore, the number of European Facebook subscribers has grown by 314% over the past year to nearly 100 million users.
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Just for Laughs
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Quote of the Month
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“Freedom is never free”
— Author Unknown
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Do you BING?
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 Of course we all Google, it has become ubiquitous, it has become its own verb. I have been telling folks who are looking for specific knowledge about a subject to “Google it”. But of course, Google has its draw backs . . . I won’t go into depth here on the wonders or shortcomings of search engines in general, but I do recall an article I read a few years ago and the author predicted that search engines would become similar to having a TV camera outside a stadium after a big event like a world series or Super Bowl, where fans crowd around behind the reporter, shouting and holding up signs to get their message across, sometimes making it impossible for the real information to get out.
You see this phenomenon when you go looking for something but get everything you don’t want, my pet peeve are the rating sites, “no one has rated this restaurant yet, you can be the first” sorry, I was looking for a menu.
With that said, I believe it’s just time before search engines get better at weeding out the “non-informative site”. BING (http://www.bing.com) is doing an excellent job of this.
Based on my initial skepticism of using another Microsoft attempt at search, I have been pleasantly surprised. I even set it as my default search on my Phone (MotoQ9c).
I am committing to spend the next 30 days using only BING. I am doing this because I have found as I use it I become more and more addicted to the little things BING does. For example, put something in the search (BING) box and click on Images on the left. What you’ll notice is that there is only one page of images that will scroll seemingly forever if you pick something like Atlanta or Michael Jackson I let you know more next month about what I find.
Are you backing up your corporate data to a safe secure offsite location? If not we can help, call me 678-353-3222.
Mike
mikego@sf-it.com
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Thinking About Hiring Your Own Internal IT Staff – Think Again!
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Outsourcing your IT brings additional business value
by Stuart R. Crawford, V.P., IT Matters, Inc.
 Businesses today wrestle and grapple with the thought of hiring their own technology support staff to support their daily need for IT support without fully understanding the risks and the costs associated with having their own team of technology professionals.
Business owners, C level execs and Managers are attracted to the idea of having a team or a consultant readily available within shouting distance down the hall, basically having an IT resource committed to them 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. However, many of today’s business owners across the country are not aware of the total risks their business is exposed to by electing to bring their technology support in-house.
More often than not it is purely a cost based decision, on the surface it may appear to be more cost effective to hire a consultant or employee who is committed as a full time employee. CFOs and Accounting Managers often look only at the cost of having their IT outsourced and or attracted to hiring someone for a few thousand dollars a month as part of their staff will save their company in the long run. This is not the case in reality and by having a full time employee will actually end up costing business today more in the long run.
So what are the advantages of having an IT Partner who focuses on delivering a complete managed technology solution? There are a number of immediate benefits over having a full time employee.
Read on for these benefits.
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Do You Know Office Secrets?
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By Alan R. Earls
Reprinted with permission from Microsoft Small Business Center
 Microsoft Office 2007 has a wealth of features that you may have overlooked that could help your business. Here are four you may want to learn about.
In Summary:
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Microsoft Office 2007 is chock-full of useful features you may not be aware of.
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Read these tips on using SmartArt, the Outlook To-Do Bar, Document Inspector, and ScreenTips.
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At the core of every business are the fundamental office productivity applications that support nearly every business function. The Microsoft Office suite of applications is so familiar that many managers probably assume they know everything they need to know about its capabilities.
But according to Monica Robinson, Microsoft Office 2007 senior product manager, there are numerous new features-some subtle, some dramatic-that can make a significant difference for businesses. “With the right software tools, employees are better able to impact the business,” she says.
Many businesses are recognizing an increasing need for employees, customers, and partners to collaborate effectively, says Robinson. Office 2007 has several features designed to address this and other business challenges.
Read on for these features. |
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