Archive for September, 2010
September 15th, 2010 by admin
Summer Sizzle Brings Blackouts, Sags and Spikes to Your Computer Systems
Why tempt fate ?
Summer weather can not only zap your newer computer systems but also your vintage computer as well as irrereplaceable vintage computer software as well as the time and energy spent in setup, hardware replacement and running computer systems.
Why does the summer season bring so much trouble brownouts, sags and electric currents spikes?
Summer heat does wonders. Not only does it allow you to acquire a lovely tan but if causes utility grids to be strained beyond their capacity due to the increased use of air conditioners. In such cases power utilities adjust their voltage output, sometimes causing erratic power sags and spikes, which are extremely dangerous for computer hardware as well as software. And you can expect utilities to be more conservative to avoid another outage like that which happened in the hot August summer of 2003.
On Aug 14, 2003 it was estimated that due to a summer electric heat surge 50 million people and businesses were plunged into the dark and heat.
The summary cost was an estimated $ 6 billion.
Similarly it is estimated that in the United States that smaller outages cost the U.S. economy in lost productivity the not unsubstantial cost of $ 50 billion.
So says the IEEE the Institute of Electronics and Electronics Engineers. The worlds leading professional organization for the advancement of technology.
Secondly the unique geography of the U.S. produces favorable conditions for tornadoes, resulting in about 1000 tornadoes every year according to the weather channel.
Tornadoes are highly unpredictable with wind speeds reaching 300 mph, a tornado is the most destructive storm of all, ripping up utility lines and leading to lengthy, unexpected blackouts.
As well last years hurricane season was a record breaker with more than an alphabets worth of named storms, causing the National Hurricane Center to resort to the Greek Alphabet ever. It was also the first season since 1851 to have three categories of five storms. (Katrina, Rita, Wilma).
Lightning is always the most obvious concern of most computer enthusiasts. Each lightening flash typically contains about 1 billion volts and between 10 and 20 thousand amps of current. Currents can transfer through wiring or plumbing and destroy everything in its path, of course including your irreplaceable Computer and Software Collection.
This damage is entirely possible. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAAA) reports an average of 20 million cloud to ground flashes have been detected every year since 1989.
How can you protect yourself?
First of all purchase proper surge protection and have it in place.
There are various levels of surge protection devices.
1) Power bars with a simple switch. These are the choice of most as they are readily available and inexpensive. However the switch is just that a switch not a surge protector. The appearance of an electronic device fools many into believing that they are protected. Sadly they are not.
2) Inexpensive Surge Protection devices. This is a better step than the first. However the protection is limited by the fact that the surge protection is afforded by simple Silica sand. With time and moisture (usually no more than a year) the surge protection is highly diminished.
If you use these inexpensive Silica sand based surge protectors replace them on a yearly basis. As well note the capacity of the surge protector. It does no good to have a very inadequate surge protector.
Read the labels and descriptions on the packages.
You can not protect a large computer system with a surge protector designed for one simple computer or laptop.
3) More expensive electronic surge protection units. A wise choice. However as noted above ensure that your protection is well rated above PEAK power use not a lower power use
4) Lastly you may well consider a more expensive though very safe solution an Uninterrupted Power Supply.
An uninterruptible power supply, or UPS, (sometimes called an ‘uninterruptible power source ‘) is a device which maintains a continuous supply of electric power to connected equipment by supplying power from a battery when utility power is not available. A UPS is inserted between the source of power (typically commercial utility power) and the load which is to be protected. When a power failure or abnormality occurs, the UPS will effectively switch from utility power to battery power .While they are not limited to any particular type of equipment, they are typically used to protect computers.
Remember why tempt fate when it comes to your prized vintage computer system .
Fire departments not only fight fires they are most effective in preventing fires.
Remember at the very worst you can always unplug your computer and devicesto be safe . And as well remember to unplug the phone or broadband cable connection as well.
September 13th, 2010 by admin
New technology is now making it possible for viewers to record and store high definition programming onto DVDs. Blu-ray Disc is one method of recording HD content onto an optical disc. A blue-laser optical disc (MPEG-2 or MPEG-4) is used. Systems that use this technology will be able to play traditional DVDs, but the goal of Blu-ray is to create an image that’s as close to the HD format as possible. The name Blu-ray comes from the blue laser that decodes and copies information to each disk. Blu-ray technology may very well revolutionize the world of high definition programming. The Blu-ray disc format offers greater potential for storage, usually 25 gigabytes, which exceeds that of a standard DVD (15 gigabytes). One single-layer Blu-ray disk can hold about four hours of high definition content. A two-layer disk can contain eight hours of HD content. Four- and eight-layer disks are now in the works. These disks would have storage capabilities of 100 and 200 gigabytes. The Blu-ray recording system utilizes a shorter wavelength for recording information than traditional CDs and DVDs, and this is part of what allows it to hold more content on a single disk.
Blu-ray has also influenced the computer industry, specifically in terms of data storage capability. A number of major companies have come out in support of Blu-ray, including Apple, Dell, Hitachi, Pioneer, and Sony. Hewlett Packard plans to market desktop computers and laptops that utilize Blu-ray technology. Sony has announced that it will introduce a Blu-ray component in PlayStation 3, which is expected to appear in November of this year. Microsoft has also said that it may add a Blu-ray component to its Xbox 360. Currently, Blu-ray is only available in Japan, but it will appear in the United States in May, in video games and a DVD system that recreates a high definition effect on a viewer’s TV.
Many movie studios have Blu-ray films planned for future release. In 2005, Sony Pictures cornered the market on the first Blu-ray feature-length movie disk, which was none other than Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle. Studios that support the technology include Walt Disney and Twentieth Century Fox.
Competing with Blu-ray in the area of HD storage is HD DVD. HD DVD disks have less storage capability, but they’re cheaper to produce. Other big-name companies are showing their support for this option, including Microsoft, Intel and Toshiba, as well as Universal Studios. In what may be the smartest move, some companies are backing both types of technology, ensuring that their products support both Blu-ray and HD DVD. These companies include Samsung, Paramount and Warner Brothers.
Blu-ray is facing challenges from other competitors in the HD market: the Enhanced Versatile disk, the Digital Multilayer disk, and the Holographic Versatile disk are a few alternatives to Blu-ray. But at the moment, Blu-ray has a strong lead in the HD race. Check out New Technology TV for more information.
September 13th, 2010 by admin
More and more, our lives have gone digital. We’re quickly filling up our hard drives with digital photos, music, videos and documents, and in doing so we’re flirting with digital disaster.
Think about it: What would happen if you lost all that data on your hard drive? In a millisecond your family photos, home movies, years of work, and digital music collection could vanish forever. It could cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars to have a data- recovery service attempt to get the lost data back, but there’s no guarantee they’d be successful.
This is a disaster that doesn’t have to happen.
With today’s advances in external storage and backup solutions, backing up your digital assets can be done easily and automatically. With an external hard drive such as the Maxtor OneTouch™ solution, you won’t be forced to rummage through a pile of CDs/DVDs if you need to restore something. It’s all stored in one location. Just supply power to the drive, plug it into a PC or Mac via a USB or FireWire port, pop in the included disk, and follow the simple setup wizard. In just a few minutes, you’ll be able to automatically back up your entire hard drive every night. If new data can’t wait, press the glowing button to start an immediate backup.
If you’re connected to a home or small business network, look for a shared storage device, such as the Maxtor Shared Storage Plus solution that plugs into a wired or wireless router and can automatically back up everyone’s computer data on the local network to one location.
The good news is that getting started on a backup program is simple.
• Develop a backup schedule-back up data daily or, at a minimum, weekly.
• Back up everything-no need to sort through every file and folder. Invest in a storage solution that’s twice the size of your internal hard drive to give your system room to grow.
• Do it automatically-set it and forget it. Use a solution that’s easy to set up and provides automatic backups.
• Rotate backups-for added protection in case of theft or natural disaster, use two drives and rotate one off-site.
• Don’t procrastinate.
Unfortunately, the need to back up data is often a lesson learned from a bitter experience. Don’t let it happen to you.
Modern technology can help you be sure your digital family memories are safe.
September 11th, 2010 by admin
A typical IT Equipment Room has around eight different types of machinery as part of the rooms infrastructure. The operation of the computers and systems within the IT room, is dependant upon all of the supporting systems operating correctly. Most, or all of the systems will be sold with a Maintenance Contract covering routine maintenance and breakdown cover.
The infrastructure equipment supporting an IT Equipment Room can be made up of some or all of the following:
Standby Generator, UPS system, Electrical Switchgear and distribution, Fire Suppressant system, Air Conditioning, Building Monitoring System, Data Cabling, Building Services and general cleaning.
The handling of the day-to-day administration of all of these maintenance contracts, placed with different suppliers, is time consuming and a distraction from the individual’s role within their organisation. Contract renewals, maintenance visits and break down situations, for each supplier need to be arranged and supervised. Most site visits are usually outside of normal working hours.
This is the reason that companies are increasingly outsourcing their IT Facility Management. A good contractor will be able to carry out all of the above on your organisations behalf. You should be given a 24/7 single point of contact for all of your maintenance and break down contracts.
The outside contractor assumes responsibilities for existing contracts, or will be able to recommend a Service Provider from their database of approved suppliers.
Take, for example the UPS system for the computers. The external IT facilities management contractor will help you specify the correct level of protection for your system
Modern processors in computers are very vulnerable to voltage spikes in the mains power supply. The processor may even fail, through overheating if a properly regulated supply is not in place.
People think that because they are paying for a 115v or 230v (UK) supply that that is what they get. No way. The quality and consistency of the electricity supply depends on the load and load variations being placed on the supply by local businesses.
You can protect your computers and the systems that depend on them by fitting a Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) System. UPS systems range from a simple plug in device for a few dollars to complete standby generators for many thousands.
The simple plug-in devices are a waste of time and money if your business computer crashes. These low cost “UPS” systems are really just basic mains filters that remove the worst of the voltage spikes.
If you want any protection at all you need to consider a system that has sufficient battery power as a backup to allow you to close your system down manually if the power fails. The cost of UPS systems largely varies with the amount of backup battery power available.
September 7th, 2010 by admin
Big Brother Is Not A TV Show
Monday, 1 Oct 07
As an old cop, I have witnessed George Orwell’s “1984″ come of age. I recall an incident in 1970 when an agent had gotten some particularly juicy information on a target. A chill went up my back as he proudly and boldly proclaimed “big brother is here” as he strutted down a corridor laughing.
I thought, ‘boy the people just don’t know’. Truth was, little did any of us know. Most of us did not know when Martin Luther King, Jr was under surveillance for political reasons nor when Brit Hume of Fox News Channel was being shadowed for political gain.
Big Brother thinks of us in real simple terms as pigs. Let the Tennessee Mountain Man tell you how to catch wild hogs. First you find a trail where they travel or a place where they feed. Second you plant some food there everyday. At first the hogs will avoid the area because of the human scent and free food. After all they are bred to forge for themselves, and smart enough to fear people.
After a few days they can resist the easy food no longer despite the danger. Now you put up a short stretch of fence. The pigs are again standoffish for a few days but not long. Now you build a stretch of fence at a 90 degree angle appended to the first. Give the hogs a few days to become acclimated and build another stretch of the fence.
This is done until there is only a small opening for the pigs to get in and out and they will. Finally on a pre-selected date close the gate and you have a enough wild ham, shoulder, bacon, sausage, and pork chops to feed your family and all your friends for awhile.
Long before President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society there were other men with similar dreams stoking the feed lots, dangerous men like Mussolini, Marx, Hitler, and Stalin. There are equally dangerous men today like Bin Laden and Ahmadinejad operating under the guise of fundamentalist religion
.
Someone has said we must learn from history or we are condemned to repeat it. So the question becomes have we learned.
Have we learned anything when we quietly endure our own government stripping away our personal rights and civil liberties in the name of national security while the highest court in the land stands idly by? Have we any privacy when Google can photograph us almost at will and claim it is their right to do so? When our cell phone company knows where we are within a square mile or so right now? When the black box in our car records where our vehicle has been and when and more?
Do you feel secure in your home when your ISP monitors your e-mail and your surfing, and Microsoft clandestinely enters your computer and does who knows what? When the satellite positioning device in your hand, in your car or in your boat can and will tell anyone where you are at given anytime? When traffic cameras and even highway toll centers record where you are, when , and what you are doing? Such data is being subpoenaed and used in civil court today.
How about when you go into a lounge, casino, mall, large office or residential building, store or church and realize you are being monitored by people watching your every move on hidden cameras. Those cameras are recording what they see…you and me. When you walk down the street or go for a walk in the park do you ever consider your every step is being recorded by cameras in police cars, cell phones, and private businesses and residences as well as the police department where staff monitors those cameras 24/7/365?
Do you really think that is bad? Consider the poor souls who became trapped in the pig pen and forgot how to care for themselves. All too often those forever uneducated folk trapped in poverty in the public housing projects skeezing and pleasing skeezers while chasing their next fix know only how to take what they want at the point of a gun. Especially when the nanny state cannot or will not provide.
Now that you are sufficiently paranoid about Big Brother maybe it is time to seriously reflect on what kind of world and country we want to live in tomorrow, and how we get there from a land adrift so far away.
tmm
September 7th, 2010 by admin
When you start an online business, one of the most important decisions you can make is which server to use. A web server is what makes an internet site run. It takes a web page request, finds the URLs file, and loads the file onto the requesters browser. The base of any online business is the server, and the key to choosing the right server is knowing the needs of your business and understanding which server will provide the most benefits.
If you own a small business, Virtual Hosting is a popular choice. You can open an account for somewhere between 20 and 50 dollars a month. Youre only allowed one site per account, so if you decide to create a second website, just open a second account. Because its a single server with numerous users, it is controlled by an administrator. If you want to change your settings, you must contact the administrator and leave it to him/her to decide what to do. The good side of this is that you dont have to worry about knowing how to work the program; the bad side is that you dont have as much control. However, if you own a small business with just one or two websites, its a smart decision.
If you own a larger business with more websites, a Virtual Private Server may be a better option. It is a single server that branches out, which means you share expenses with other users while maintaining your freedom. Its best if you have some knowledge of the program, as you are your own administrator, controlling the settings with the help of a manual. However, even if you dont know the program, youll do well as long as you feel comfortable with the manual. Because a Virtual Private Server lets you have up to 50 websites at just over 100 dollars a month, this is the wisest choice if you own a big, complex business.
You must also know which web server software to choose. Sometimes youre not given a choice, but in case you are, know the pros and cons of each option.
Two popular types of web server software are Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) and Apache. You can only use IIS on NT-based server systems – basically, Microsoft with Microsoft. However, it is easy to use, heavily backed, and has crash protection. Apache, on the other hand, doesnt have any support, but its free and is therefore the most popular web server software in the world. It is updated all the time for your convenience.
There are many other servers and software to choose from, but these are some of the basics that will help you make your choices. Online businesses are hard to manage, so you dont want to choose the wrong server and spend all your time worrying about it instead of profits. Taking into account costs, safety, and preferences, you can choose your server wisely and make your business a success, starting from the base and working up.
September 7th, 2010 by admin
A typical IT Equipment Room has around eight different types of machinery as part of the rooms infrastructure. The operation of the computers and systems within the IT room, is dependant upon all of the supporting systems operating correctly. Most, or all of the systems will be sold with a Maintenance Contract covering routine maintenance and breakdown cover.
The infrastructure equipment supporting an IT Equipment Room can be made up of some or all of the following:
Standby Generator, UPS system, Electrical Switchgear and distribution, Fire Suppressant system, Air Conditioning, Building Monitoring System, Data Cabling, Building Services and general cleaning.
The handling of the day-to-day administration of all of these maintenance contracts, placed with different suppliers, is time consuming and a distraction from the individual’s role within their organisation. Contract renewals, maintenance visits and break down situations, for each supplier need to be arranged and supervised. Most site visits are usually outside of normal working hours.
This is the reason that companies are increasingly outsourcing their IT Facility Management. A good contractor will be able to carry out all of the above on your organisations behalf. You should be given a 24/7 single point of contact for all of your maintenance and break down contracts.
The outside contractor assumes responsibilities for existing contracts, or will be able to recommend a Service Provider from their database of approved suppliers.
Take, for example the UPS system for the computers. The external IT facilities management contractor will help you specify the correct level of protection for your system
Modern processors in computers are very vulnerable to voltage spikes in the mains power supply. The processor may even fail, through overheating if a properly regulated supply is not in place.
People think that because they are paying for a 115v or 230v (UK) supply that that is what they get. No way. The quality and consistency of the electricity supply depends on the load and load variations being placed on the supply by local businesses.
You can protect your computers and the systems that depend on them by fitting a Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) System. UPS systems range from a simple plug in device for a few dollars to complete standby generators for many thousands.
The simple plug-in devices are a waste of time and money if your business computer crashes. These low cost “UPS” systems are really just basic mains filters that remove the worst of the voltage spikes.
If you want any protection at all you need to consider a system that has sufficient battery power as a backup to allow you to close your system down manually if the power fails. The cost of UPS systems largely varies with the amount of backup battery power available.
September 6th, 2010 by admin
Introduction
Mission Critical Data is just what its name says: critical to the core functioning of an enterprise. Mission critical data must be available 24×7 and fully backed up for immediate recovery in the event of disaster. Enterprises are constantly seeking more reliable, more efficient, more convenient and more affordable ways of meeting these needs. SANRADs V-Switch 3000 uses Iscsi technology to centrally consolidate, manage, backup and restore mission critical data at a fraction of the cost, in capital and human resources, of existing FC SAN technologies
Mission Critical Requirements and SANRADs Solutions
Storage Area Networks (SANs) are used to manage mission critical data and, as they have developed, storage and network administrators have identified three main requirements on a SAN to manage this critical data:
High Availability: Storage systems and their mission critical data must be available 24×7. There is no leeway for downtime. Every minute of downtime equals a loss of revenues and credibility for an enterprise.
Remote Backup and Recovery: Data must be backed up off site to enable remote recovery in the event of disaster. Experts estimate that 30% of companies could not recover from a catastrophic loss of data and having backups on premises is of no use if the premises are destroyed.
Manageability: A SAN management system must be able to be centrally managed and provide a consolidated storage solution accommodating different storage subsystems and infrastructures. In addition, the SAN management must not exert added strain on the network and storage
administration staff.
Dynamic Expandability: Storage networks must be able to grow with an enterprise. Systems cannot be taken offline to accommodate this growth and no one wants to search for new storage management solutions every time there is a growth spurt. SANRAD has taken these requirements and provided comprehensive solutions in a single centrally managed platform using iSCSI technology.
SANRADs High Availability: The V-Switch 3000 hardware is fully redundant to weather power, processor and fan failures. The V-Switch 3000 configuration database is written to both flash and compact flash memory. The software IP-based SAN configuration provides automatic V-Switch 3000 failover and failback as well as data mirroring. No single point of failure ensures high availability.
SANRADs Remote Backup and Recovery: The V-Switch 3000 can create global IPbased storage networks to allow mission critical data transfer to remote sites within the IP SAN.
SANRADs Manageability: The V-Switch 3000 enables storage pooling across multiple platforms and infrastructures and eliminates the need for host agents. The V-Switch 3000 functions at the network layer and is therefore independent of host OS and storage vendors. The V-Switch 3000 provides storage virtualization and precise LUN carving of the pooled storage,
supporting volume concatenation, mirroring and striping. The locally accessed GUI-based Storage Pro management server is used to centrally configure volumes, monitor status and manage the storage pool.
SANRADs Dynamic Expandability: The V-Switch 3000 uses existing adapters, network and disk subsystems to form a sophisticated SAN solution ranging from 72 GB to 16 TB. New storage devices can be added dynamically and their volumes virtualized in real time without taking the system offline or impacting on functioning volume performance. Two V-Switch 3000s can be combined in a SAN to form a cluster to provide inter-V-Switch 3000 load balancing and failover.
Benefits of iSCSI SAN over FC SAN
When creating a SAN, enterprises find that the traditional answer is FC SAN. However, the investment required to implement an FC SAN is often beyond the means of a young enterprise. As a result, growing enterprises may find themselves delaying the inevitable upgrade to a SAN and, therefore, gambling with their mission critical data store.
The FC investment comes from four fronts:
Infrastructure: An FC network demands FC switches, hubs and bridges along with specific GBICs and cabling. In addition, each host requires dedicated FC HBAs.
Storage Devices: The storage devices must be costly FC RAID arrays. If an enterprise wants to maintain its JBOD stores, it must purchase virtualization appliances to convert the JBODs for use in an FC SAN.
Software: A variety of software tools is needed to manage all of this new equipment as well as the dedicated FC HBAs.
Human Resources: dedicated group of FC storage and networking IT administrators is needed to manage all of this. For a growing enterprise, this represents a sizable investment in capital and human resources to acquire,
implement and manage only one aspect of the enterprises data flow.
SANRADs V-Switch 3000 provides a single integrated hardware/software solution to SAN management:
Infrastructure: The V-Switch 3000 uses an enterprises existing IP infrastructure including existing Ethernet switches, cabling, GBICs and SFPs. A hosts existing NIC is all that is needed to connect to the SAN.
Storage Devices: The V-Switch 3000 supports existing legacy storage devices, both FC & SCSI, RAID & JBOD, so there is no need to purchase new storage devices. Due to the V-Switch 3000s storage pooling capabilities, enterprises may have an increase in usable storage space.
Software: The V-Switch 3000 has both hardware and a software component. There is no need for additional software beyond the included Storage Pro storage management tool.
Human Resources: Because the V-Switch 3000 operates over the enterprises existing Internet network, minimal additional knowledge or training is needed to implement or manage the SAN. The existing network or storage administrator is readily qualified to manage SANRADs Iscsi SAN.
Business Case: V-Switch 3000 vs. FC
Typical SAN topographies can be divided into 5 groups according to the number of servers accessing the
SAN and the net storage capacity of the SAN.
Small: 8 servers accessing a net capacity of 500GB.
Small Medium: 12 servers accessing a net capacity of 1TB.
Medium: 16 servers accessing a net capacity of 1.5TB.
Medium High: 24 servers accessing a net capacity of 2TB.
High: 32 servers accessing a net capacity of 3TB.
To best understand the budgetary impact of implementing an FC SAN compared to a SANRAD iSCSI SAN, consider the costs of each for a medium enterprise with sixteen hosts accessing a storage pool of 1.5TB.
In an FC SAN, this would require two FC switches. Upstream of the FC switches there are five server clusters, including Exchange, SQL and file servers, plus six individual servers. Each server requires FC software and each server has two HBAs, each connected to a different switch for a total of thirty-two HBAs. Downstream of the FC switches is a RAID system with RAID 5 and hot spare capabilities and a net capacity of 1.5TB.
In a SANRAD V-Switch 3000 SAN, this would also require two V-Switch 3000s. Upstream of the V-Switch 3000s there are two multi-Gbit switches but no special host software or HBAs are required. Downstream of the V-Switch 3000s are the legacy SCSI or FC JBODs with a net mirrored capacity of 1.5TB.
For a medium enterprise, implementing an FC SAN for Mission Critical Data is more than two times as expensive as a SANRAD iSCSI SAN. This expense does not take into consideration the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), e.g. FC cabling installation costs; cost of human resources to regularly upgrade FC
software and maintain two separate networks or the cost of replacing an FC RAID unit compared to a JBOD disk. As the size of an enterprise grows, the cost par between FC and iSCSI SAN grows.
Conclusion
SANRAD iSCSI SAN provides all of the key SAN requirements needed to manage, backup and restore mission critical data with added benefits over FC SAN. SANRADs V-Switch 3000 represents a single integrated hardware/software solution to SAN management, including storage pooling, virtualization, mirroring, striping and remote backup. The IP-based iSCSI SAN permits remote storage access and provides greater flexibility in the location of network and storage components within an enterprise and it
does so at a fraction of the cost of an FC SAN.
September 6th, 2010 by admin
If you run or manage a busy property rental agency, then you may be considering buying some software to automate the lettings process making your office more efficient and cost-effective. There are many different software packages on the market, so how do you choose which is right for you? When you are looking at software suppliers, ask the following questions:
1. Do you offer a free trial?
Software developers and suppliers who are confident about the quality of their software will usually offer a free trial. This lets you see exactly how the software would work in the context of your business, and allows you to compare it with other packages you may have worked with or trialled previously. Software can be expensive, and you should always try and see it in action before you buy.
2. What about staff training?
It can be difficult to get to grips with new software, particularly for staff who are used to working with a different package, or who are not confident using computers. A good property rental software company should offer training to everyone who is going to be using the system. That way, the company can be sure that the software is being used in the right way, and the letting agents are confident that staff are happy using the system.
3. Is it flexible?
There may be elements of the standard software package that arent applicable to your agency; or you may have additional requirements that arent included. Ask the software company if their package can be tailored to your needs and those of your business.
4. Do you provide software support?
Most software packages have times when they dont do what the users expect them to. As the manager of a busy agency, you need to know that if something goes wrong with the system, there will be telephone and on-site support from the software company. In some cases, support will come as part of the package and in others you may incur a fee. Find out how your supplier works.
A new software solution is an expensive commitment for any agency. Before you decide to buy, make sure youre confident that what youre getting is right for you.
September 2nd, 2010 by admin
Les Soires Entreprises:
Marre des traditionnels restaurants sur des pniches, ou dans des cabarets traditionnels pour essayer de contenter tout le monde? Pourquoi ne pas raliser alors organiser une journe casino au sein de l’tablissement.
Pour cela, rien de plus simple. Loption premire consiste faire appel des animateurs de soire casino qui, en plus dapporter le matriel, vous serviront de croupier pour lensemble de vos jeux pour prs de quatre heures de rire et de dtente. L’avantage, ces jeux resserrent les quipes et permet de dcouvrir la face cache de chaque employ.
Les cadeaux traditionnels:
1) Les Objets Publicitaires
On y retrouve du plus classique la perfection du Hi-Tech tels les quipements portatifs de tlphonie, les MP3, les DvX, lecteur CD, radio-rveil, sans oublier les vtements ou chapeaux personnaliss, ou encore les clbres stylos plume ou plus original, un livre sur le thme professionnel de votre choix comme comment s’panouir au travail. Eux aussi on la part belle. On en trouve pour tous les budgets et pour tous les gots. Ces derniers sont d’excellents supports publicitaires pour afficher la marque de votre entreprise. Bien que la plus part des personnes soit dj pourvues de ce genre d’accessoires, ces derniers restent banals.
Ce qui est sur d’atteindre votre but, ce sont tous les cadeaux de maroquinerie. En effet, sur le cuir, vous pouvez inscrire ou encrer votre logo d’entreprise discrtement et tre sur que l’employ l’utilisera. Cela va du simple portefeuille en cuir au porte-documents, sans oublier le confrencier et le kit de voyage.
2) Pour Noel
Traditionnellement, l’entreprise se fixe sur des corbeille d’assortiments gastronomiques composs de foie gras en boite, avec une mini bouteille de champagne et ou de vin. N’oublions pas non plus les boites de chocolat, re-designer pour l’occasion mais gare la date d’expiration car combien d’employs ont dj reu un “chocolat empoisonn” du fait de la premption?
Alors pourquoi ne pas innover? Pourquoi ne pas offrir vos employs des places de thtre, autre que celles proposes par votre Comit d’Entreprise. En prix de groupe, cela vous reviendra moins cher et pourrez profitez de cette conomie en proposant par exemple un dner gourmet dans la cantine redcore pour l’occasion.
Ou encore, pensez aux articles de cuisine, l’art de la table, la salle de bain, autant de lieux “visits” rgulirement par les consommateurs, et o il est donc judicieux de vouloir “placer” des objets publicitaires leur marques et messages. Citons aussi les outils de jardinage, les plantes, les sets de table, les horloges etc.
Autres Ides Cadeaux:
D’autres ides cadeaux sont prsentes pour vos employs. Tenez, par exemple le secteur de la bagagerie publicitaire, les t-shirts et casquettes personnaliss qui sont de trs bons supports pour afficher votre marque de manire bien visible.
Pour vous rendre encore plus original, pensez vacances. Quel est l’lment qui vous sera utile pendant vos voyages? Des jumelles? Pourquoi pas? Ou alors un rfrigrateur rchauffeur? Un quipement de volants et raquettes de badminton pour les remettre en forme?
Vous voyez les ides ne manquent pas.
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