Cloud Computing & Solutions

Law Firm Migrates 100% to the Cloud

2011-11-29T00:39:00.001-08:00

Wyse T50 Cloud Computer

November say me working on a project to migrate a local law firm 100% to Cloud Computing. No data or servers remain in their office. All desktops are hosted on servers in the Cloud along with their email server and document management system. All accounting systems used by law firms are also hosted outside their office.

Their Exchange server was migrated to Google Apps. Along with this move additional tools were adopted to remove the need to generate paper forms for administration purposes.

Electronic forms and electronic signatures were implemented to support their Cloud environment and digitally signing Word, Excel and Microsoft Outlook files. On line forms included Leave Requests, Expense Claims, New Client Opening Requests and more.

The new T50 Wyse Cloud computer was supplied and installed with a large number of staff using dual monitors.

It is great to see a law firm move with the times and embrace the latest technology and profit from it. The firm's computer systems and business are now more secure than ever and they can grow without technology restrictions.

Use QR Codes in Your Resume

2011-11-21T05:09:00.001-08:00

Smart up your resumes with a QR Code. This allows a paper documents to have a link to content on the web. Demonstrate your English or Mandarin language skills!

Try for yourself!

QR Code Software & Applications

2011-11-15T15:26:00.001-08:00

Some tips on tools to use to QR codes on your computer.

Bar Capture - Capture and decode QR Codes from your computer screen

Online Decoder - Decode QR Codes online via direct image file URL or image download

Wordpress QR Code Plug-In

InDesign CS3 QR Code Plug-In

Firefox Mobile Barcode Add-On

Facebook QR Codes application

QR-Code Tag - Google Chrome QR Code Plug-In

Virtual Desktops - Are You Ready?

2011-10-29T00:55:00.000-07:00

So you've made the decision to deploy a desktop virtualisation solution to:

Increase flexibility, enabling users to work from anywhere on any device
Improve business agility and the ability to quickly deliver IT to new employees, remote offices, or recently acquired companies
Free up valuable IT resources to focus on growing your business vs. managing your desktops

Desktop virtualisation typically involves running virtual machines on a hypervisor in a datacenter, instead of running individual desktops at the client device level. The centralised nature allows users to access their data and applications from almost any remote device (e.g.. desktop, laptop, tablet, ipad, smartphone, etc.). This helps your IT department to:

Maintain corporate compliance
Quickly add new users profiles to the network
Address corporate security and user storage concerns

I am currently involved with a number of projects that provides for Cloud based email services from Google and virtual desktops. This level nothing in the client office accept some Cloud PC's or Thin-Clients.

If you wish to explore this for your business let me know. We have now performed this work more than once!

Future of Retail - cashless?

2011-10-20T08:52:00.001-07:00

This is worth a review. This is where PayPal is getting to using MobilePhone payments using QR-Codes.

QR Codes for Wifi login

2011-10-18T02:35:00.000-07:00

You may have started to see QR codes around town or in glossy magazines. QR codes are a two dimensional bar-code. But how you can apply them to business and web based content is where the benefits come into play.

Did you know you can generate a QR code for your office or restaurant wifi login? This works for Android phones at the moment. Simply scan the QR code and the wifi settings including password are past to the network and your phone can login.

There are many ways codes can be used. If you wish to discuss please contact me as I have now worked on a couple of QR projects.

5 Chrome Extensions Recommended

2011-10-15T07:42:00.000-07:00

Google Chrome is growing in popularity as the browser of choice. Last month's statistics put it at 2nd place with 30.5% market share compared to Firefox at 39.5% and Microsoft's IE now down from 1st to 3rd place with 22%. As a Google Apps user, Chrome offers some great tools to enhance our daily life. To install extensions click on the spanner in the top right corner of your Chrome browser, then select Tools | Extensions. Bottom right normally displays Get More Extensions.

Here are a five I recommend:

Send to Google Docs. This extension allows you to upload a PDF version of the current web page you are viewing and saves it into Google Docs.
Google Chrome to Phone Extension. Enables you to send links and other information from Chrome to your Android device. For example a Google map reference.
Chrome Remote Desktop. Allows you to remotely access another user's computer through the Chrome browser for support or may be accessing your home computer from the office.
Web Clipboard. This extension will allow you to use the Google Web Clipboard to store text and HTML content. It uses Google Docs web clipboard, so you can access all your data directly in any Google Apps!
Print via Google Print Cloud. Now you can print any doc/pdf/txt/jpg/jpeg file, Gmail email, attachment or Google Docs document using Google Cloud Print™.

Keeping Google Apps Data Safe

2011-10-11T07:13:00.000-07:00

Backupify for Google Apps

This week I had two situations when customers contacted me about their Google data being deleted. The first was a real disaster as a IT provider deleted all the company accounts because they were upset because the customer terminated their IT contract. This put 30 staff and two companies out of business. Did they have a backup? No.

The second was a case where a user telephoned me to say they had deleted some documents and now wanted them back. Did they have a backup? No.

For the first case we had some luck as I worked with Google and was able to recovery everything for the customer. They now owe me a very big dinner! I also have a new client. In most cases Google can restore data within 5 days of it being deleted.

Backupify Snapshot - Download Google Apps data

The second case, well nothing we could do. I recommend customers implement Backupify for Google Apps. For US$3 a month how much time and effort is that going to save? Call me if you would like to try a test account.

Employees Leave
There is one other scenario users should appreciate, if a staff member leaves your employment an you wish to use their active license and not purchase a new one, simply deleting their account may not be the right approach. If you delete their account all documents that are owned by the user would be gone. So if that person had shared pricing documents or marketing information with everyone, it will be all lost.

To fix this there are a couple of tricks. First up, Backupify will allow the administrator to download and export an entire Google Apps Account with Backupify’s Snapshot tool. Backupify Snapshot— a new tool that enables people to archive Google Apps data by downloading and storing it locally, so they can delete or re-use ex-employees’ accounts. Once this is done you can use the Google tools from the Admin Console to reassign ownership rights to another users. Also consider using tools from Cloudlock.com

Google Releases Gmail Off-line

2011-09-03T03:08:00.000-07:00

This week Google released the much awaited off-line mode for Gmail and Google Apps for Business. This application is free and an extension within your Chrome browser. Gmail off-line manages a local cache of your emails so when you no longer have an Internet connection, you can continue to read your messages and create new messages which will be sent out once an Internet connection is available again.

To enable off-line mode visit the Chrome market place which is available under your Chrome settings, select Tools, Extension. Then search for Gmail. Once installed your email will start becoming visible within moments.

The client is designed to be easy to use and the search engine is lightning fast. We recommend companies use off-line mode when their Internet connection is not reliable. This will allow staff to continue to work no matter the Internet line is up or not.

We expect Calendar and Docs off-line to be released later this month.

Wyse T50 Cloud Computers in Hong Kong

2011-08-27T08:10:00.000-07:00

This past week I spent an afternoon installing the new Wyse T50's for a client. They are very impressive. The units are compact and well designed.

The T50's offer various connections including Web, Citrix, Microsoft and VMware VDI.

The T50's had Linux Ubuntu as the operating system and included Chrome as the browser. I configured the T50 to connect to a Microsoft Terminal Server via RDP and things were up and running in no time. Wireless, Network and VPN all supported.

The staff were very impressed with the performance of these units and priced under HK$2,000 each. REAL VALUE.

With Rackspace about to release their Virtual Desktops in Hong Kong, Wyse offer an excellent solution for the company that wants to adopt Cloud Computer right down to the hardware!

Ginbox for iPad and iPhone

2011-08-14T07:55:00.000-07:00

Ginbox (formerly know as MultiG) is specifically designed for people that have multiple Gmail or Google apps accounts. It was designed and implemented for both the iPhone and iPad.

Cloud Backup Options for Servers, Laptops and Workstations

2011-07-16T16:06:00.001-07:00

I am often asked about better ways to backup workstations, laptops and servers. With the Cloud now offering unlimited storage there is some very good options to organise and manage your backup files. Pricing starts as low as US$3.95 per month.

Typically the solutions available replicate or copy your data to the Cloud which provides an off-site backup. Which technically is the best type of backup. No need to use tapes or local USB drives. This also makes it very easy if you have a new computer to simply copy all your files and folders onto that computer without taking hours of work.

Within the backup area solutions generally fall into a couple of areas:

replication, synchronisation and backup tools
backup and restore only

My advice to customers is to first consider what service you require and then second, what type of computer are you considering, e.g. is it a workstations, laptop or server. The solutions below all have their purposes and each product is a little different.

Nomadesk - a replication and synchronisation solution which is recommended for laptops. This supports Cloud backup, daily snapshots and replication to another location. This would allow a laptop to be in sync with your workstation in the office. So when you go on a trip and take your laptop all data on the laptop would be the same as your workstation and vice versa, as well as a backup being available in the Cloud. The Cloud offers the user the ability to also access these files from any browser or iPhone if you did not have access to your own computer. The key feature of Nomadesk for laptops is security. Nomadesk encrypts all data on the laptop in a virtual drive so it cannot be accessed or read by anyone that does not have the password to load the Nomadesk client. This is important if you lost your laptop. The addition of a feature called Theft Guard allows the user to send a remote delete command to the laptop so the next time someone tried to connect to the Internet the data will be wiped. Some of my clients have installed DropBox however I prefer the security features and pricing model of Nomadesk. Pricing is US$35 per month for unlimited users and data storage.
LogMeIn.com - Logmein Backup offers an interesting approach to backup. It allows computers located anywhere in the world to be backed up to a storage server or backup server anywhere. This could be a Cloud based server and storage from say Rackspace or it could be a physical sever in your office. The fact it is now easy to backup a user's PC in your office in China and send the files back to your office in Hong Kong is very useful. This works for servers, workstations and laptops. Pricing starts around US$3.95 per month per computer.
Mozy - Mozy is a backup and restore solution, like your traditional backup systems. However no backup tapes are required as the data is sent to the Cloud. Mozy also offers the ability to retain an additional copy locally, e.g. may be to a USB drive attached to your workstation, thus providing a Cloud (off-site) and local (on-site) backup copy. Mozy belongs to the EMC group of companies so their backing is strong. Mozy I recommend for home PC backup and office workstation backup. Mozy allows the user to define what needs to be backed up and does a good job of presenting the key options including Documents, Photos, Music, and Browser Favourites. Cost effective solution at around US$30 per user per year. Android is also supported allowing access to your backup files on-line which is technically the same as accessing your workstation or home PC.
Backupify - Backupify is Cloud backup to the Cloud. I strongly recommend Backupify to those companies (like myself) that have embraced the Cloud 100%. Backupify backs up your Cloud data with connectors available for Google Apps plus all your social networks such as LinkedIn and Facebook. Read my earlier Blog posting on Backupify.
Syncplicity - Worth a mention. Provides a mix of features however is best suited for file sharing and data sync with the added feature it can sync documents between your hard drive and Google Docs. So all your Cloud stored documents can also have a local copy on your hard drive. This is different to backupify as their solution is backup to the Cloud and not your local drive. The product has features similar to Mozy and provides replication and sync features like Nomadesk. Syncplicity offers an easy ability to share one folder only with a team member without the need to have the complete dataset replicated to that user, something Nomadesk does not provide.

Google Takeout Launched

2011-06-29T05:48:00.000-07:00

In a nut shell, Google Takeout allows you to take out your data from specific Google Services. Each of the services will be tidily backed up to a zip file in open formats that can be imported into other, non-Google web services if required. First up Takeout only supports the easy exporting of Buzz, Picasa, your Google Profile, Contacts, and Circles — but the eventual plan is to provide easy exporting for every Google service.

Me on the Web - Monitor the Web

2011-06-21T06:23:00.000-07:00

Google's Dashboard gets Me on the Web. This is a sort of identity management tool to help users see and control what others are saying about them in social media Websites. To do this you use two new tools available under your Account detail, these are "Me on the Web" and "Alerts".

Alerts can be used to monitor the web for news items and anything you have interest in. A message can be sent to you once a day with a summary of all items or whenever they occur. With the integration of Me on the Web and Alerts, you can configure your name and any of your emails addresses to be monitored and you will be notified.

GPS Location and Google Maps

2011-06-21T02:44:00.000-07:00

How to get GPS coordinates by using Google Maps.

Open Google Maps to the vicinity of where I would like coordinates.
Right click mouse button and select "center map here" from the drop down button.
Paste the below javascript into the browser's URL address window.
Click the "go to the address in the location bar" button usually to the right of the address.
A popup appears showing the coordinates of the center of the map like this: (22.306989047453026, 114.17129248380661)
Copy and click either "OK" or "Cancel"
Paste the coordinates into Google's "search maps" text box after you remove the parenthesis and click "Search Maps" - this will prove it is right.
A popup appears with a marker for the centered spot. The popup has the coordinates in both Decimal Degrees and Degrees, Minutes, Seconds.
Refine as and if necessary, now you can insert into your GPS device.

code: javascript:void(prompt('',gApplication.getMap().getCenter()));

Backups in the Cloud - All in one place!

2011-06-11T06:56:00.000-07:00

Many companies that venture towards the Cloud have concerns about backup. How do you backup your data when it is in the Cloud?

It is a good question. Some would argue there is no need to backup your data as vendors like Google or Zoho have very good hardware environments which include backup systems. However one may wish to have an independant solution to ensure this is being done and the data is in a second location, just in case.

If you are using Google Apps, Backupify offer an excellent solution for less than US$5 per month for 5 Google Apps accounts. Daily backups will be scheduled by Backupify including your Email, Contacts, Calendars, Sites and Documents. And for all your social network information who is backing up your Facebook Fan pages, or your 500+ Linkedin contacts? Backupify has your backups covered for social networks with integration offered for Facebook and Linkedin.

Google and Zoho do perform backups to protect your data residing on their systems, this protects you from their hardware failure. However, what happens when the error is you and not the SaaS provider? What happens when you delete something and later need to recover it? How do you do that? Call Google? Don't think so.

For those Google Apps customers using Google Postini Archiving Services then you will be protected as email can be recovered. However whatabout your personal or project calendar? How do you recover a calendar if you delete it in error? What about a document in Google Docs?

One-Click Google Docs Restore by Backupify from Backupify on Vimeo.

So you see, even in the Cloud it is worth having a second copy to ensure you don't waste time if something is accidently lost. Backupify is easy to use, simply select the services you wish to backup and a nightly schedule will run to ensure a backup is made of your data.

You can also add in your Picasa holiday photos for good measure. Those family holiday photos are worth more than a few documents right?

Contact me if you wish to try out Backupify - who aim to be the single location for all your Cloud apps backups. A good idea.

Do You Really Need Microsoft Office?

2011-06-05T01:09:00.001-07:00

I stopped using Microsoft Office 4-5 months ago. Do I miss it? No.

Companies spend a lot of money on Microsoft Office and it is certainly a huge money spinner for Microsoft. When most communications are performed in Email today, what do people use Word for anymore?

Let me tell you how I operate.

Firstly I am 100% in the Cloud. So I use Google Docs for all of my document requirements. Is it as good as Office? Feature for feature, no. But I don't even know how to use most of what Word offers. If I need to write a formal letter then Google Docs meets all my requirements. And this is FREE!

Does Google Docs do any thing Word can't do? YES. You can edit a document in the cloud with up to 50 people simultaneously! This is a huge feature that saves a load of time when the alternative is 10 versions of a document being sent around your company via email and then someone having to consolidate everyone's comments into one document. I have had customers in two-minds about moving to the Cloud until the moment they saw this feature. Then the penny drops. There is no turning back. Read more about this.

What happens if I must read a Word or Excel document? I can upload them to Google Docs and they convert to Google Docs format. While the conversion is sometimes not 100% I have a backup process by using Microsoft's viewers. Microsoft offer FREE document viewers. It can be downloaded here. You can view and print Microsoft documents without any trouble.

If I am off line and do need to use a Windows installed word processor then I have started to use LibreOffice Writer. This is also free along with Open Office which both support the Open Document format standard as well as Word or Excel for their spreadsheet version. You can download the free version of LibreOffice here.

Google will offer off-line mode for Google Docs by the end of the summer. Then you can edit all those documents off-line as well.

Google Docs, Open Office and LibreOffice can save documents as Word or PFD so you can still share documents in that format if required. But I really question a company spending so much money on Microsoft Office licenses when it offers almost no value over the FREE alternatives in the market.

If one or two users are power users then you are justified to spend the money.

If you are using unlicensed software then none of this will matter to you however to put things in line you can simply replace your unlicensed software with valid licensed software and protect your business in doing so - all for FREE. If however you are using old licensed software then you can stay where you are or if you are considering an upgrade, think twice. Consider the free options available. A 10 user company could say as much as US$5000.

Cloud Identity Management

2011-06-04T19:43:00.001-07:00

OneLogin enables users to sign in once – to their local area network or OneLogin – and gain one-click access to all their web applications without having to enter a password again. OneLogin integrates with all your company's web applications, in the cloud and behind the firewall, using SAML, OpenID, form-based authentication and proprietary protocols. And you can easily integrate in-house applications too.

A few features of this solution and technology I like include:

ability to generate complex passwords for each application to increase secrurity levels for access to web applications. The passwords are complex in format; an example is 3$,{73zLL>hz#j
integration with directory services from Microsoft (AD), LDAP, and Google Apps for user name synchronisation and login authentication
restrict an IP range, this will allow a company to only allow staff to access the applications from their office network
full reporting on who is using which application
easy to roll out a new application by simply placing it on the OneLogin application interface
support is provided for a "one-time password" generated by a token, this is installed on my mobile phone from VeriSign. I have set this just for administrators and people that need to access bank accounts, this adds an additional security level similar to what HSBC offer their customers
SAML integration for Google Apps and Zoho for full security control of these applications, this will mean access to Google Apps can be control and not used outside of the office, a combination of SAML and IP addresses settings will achieve this
roles based security grouping of application access
organisation of applications under tabs
user can add their own additional applications
US$5 per user per month

Corporate Data Protection from Phishing

Many technical solutions have been proposed to combat phishing, but none of them are fool proof. The only effective ways are educating users about how to detect phishing as well as eliminating passwords and this is where identity management tools like OneLogin can help.

If your users only have to remember one password, i.e. to their Single Sign On (SSO) portal, it will be easier for them to detect phishing attempts. Plus, if none of your users have a Paypal password, they can't be tricked into entering it on a fake PayPal login page.

Google Cloud Print support for iPhone & iPad

2011-05-14T04:43:00.000-07:00

PrintCentral Pro 2.0 for iPhone and iPad, now offers support for Google Cloud Print. Cloud Print allows users to register their printers with Google’s Web services and wirelessly print documents from Gmail, Google Docs, and other sources. Yes, this means that you can print from an iOS device over Wi-Fi, 3G, or even EDGE to any printer anywhere in the world, as long as it’s plugged into the Internet and Google. PrintCentral Pro 2.0 should also convert Web pages, documents, and e-mails into PDFs much more quickly. Print SMS messages and more.

New Features for Online Appointment Scheduling

2011-05-13T19:39:00.001-07:00

18 months ago I discovered the SuperSaaS appointment scheduling system.

This is an excellent add-on to any web site where seminars or meetings can be arranged by the public. This can also be used for booking conference or meeting rooms. This includes the ability to PAY on-line using Paypal. So seminar bookings can be sold and controlled so only 20 seats are sold.

Suggestions include:

Business Centre for meeting room booking and payment
Parent / Teacher bookings
Financial Education Services seminars
Language Training Centres
Fitness Instructors
And more

A recent update includes:

Coupons. You can now let your users enter a coupon code that results in an automatic discount. Coupons can be limited to a particular date or other prerequisites such as "only valid on the first appointment". It's also possible to upload a batch of single use vouchers, which is useful for Groupon-type deals. (More info)
Advanced pricing rules. The ability to set prices has been greatly expanded. You can now change the price of an event based on how much room is left or how many days are left until an event takes place. You can also add surcharges for optional items. (More info)
Enhanced encryption. SuperSaaS has always encrypted sensitive information such as credit card numbers. However, if the information in your account is particularly sensitive then you now have the option to encrypt all communication with our server, including all pages viewed by your users. (More info)
Single sign-on plugins. If your users already log in on your own website we have plugins available that can automatically log users into you SuperSaaS schedule. The registration information from your site is used to create or update the user information on SuperSaaS as needed. The plugins are available for the systems "Joomla", "WordPress" or "Drupal" and are free to download and use. (More info)
Expanded autotext. The number of "magic words" that you can use on the schedule and in e-mails has been greatly expanded. For example, there is now an option to display a specific message to mobile users, and one to automatically include an HTML form with the confirmation e-mail. (More info)
Lots of small tweaks. For example: Show multiple different opening hours in one schedule. Give preferred customers a permanent discount. Display the month calendar horizontally instead of vertically. Improved tutorials.(More info)

Cyberslacking - a real drag on companies

2011-04-05T03:05:00.000-07:00

The solution for many firms seems to be to simply block the websites on which they believe their employees will waste the most time. Studies have shown social media to be a major time sink, as well online games and personal email.

A study from DNS-resolution service OpenDNS, "2010 Report on Web Content Filtering and Phishing" details just what sites companies were most likely to block last year, be it social networking websites or sites that have a reputation for fostering procrastination.

Top Ten Blacklisted Websites
Blacklists are typically used when there is no desire to block an entire category in principle, but there is a focus on preventing traffic to specific websites based on a combination of their popularity and content.

Facebook.com —14.2%
MySpace.com — 9.9%
YouTube.com — 8.1%
Doubleclick.net — 6.4%
Twitter.com — 2.3%
Ad.yieldmanager.com — 1.9%
Redtube.com —1.4%
Limewire.com — 1.3%
Pornhub.com —1.2%
Playboy.com — 1.2%

Google Cloud Print

2011-04-02T02:43:00.000-07:00

Google Cloud Print is built on the idea that printing can be more intuitive, accessible, and useful. Using Google Cloud Print you can make your printers available to you from any Google Cloud Print enabled web, desktop or mobile app. To get started printing using Google Cloud Print, connect a printer to your account. Google supports both cloud ready and classic printers.

Visit: http://www.google.com/landing/cloudprint/

Google Apps Growing Fast in Hong Kong

2011-03-29T16:38:00.001-07:00

An update on the market from Cloud Solutions. Our level of enquiries for Google's hosted email business suite is growing fast in Hong Kong. With enquiry levels six times higher than 6 months ago with a minimum of one conversion a week being confirmed.

One of the areas we have seen changing in the past 2 months is the size of the companies serious about moving away from Microsoft Exchange. During 2010 companies under 50 employees were keen to migrate where at the start of 2011 we are seeing companies with 200 to 800 employees planning the migration.

Hong Kong's demand is strong followed by Singapore, Malaysia and Phlippines.

Discussions in Google Docs

2011-03-19T06:25:00.000-07:00

Google has released discussions in Google Docs, replacing its existing commenting system with "rapid and seamless discussions" that integrate with email. Improvements include the ability to resolve comments to remove them from the visible document, the addition of timestamping and profile pictures to each comment, and @mentions to email and include new people in a discussion.

Skype To Go for Business Travellers

2011-03-10T06:49:00.000-08:00

Skype has just become an even better tool for business travellers with the Feb 2011 launch of ‘Skype To Go’, which lets you make calls at Skype’s low rates from any mobile phone or landline to any other number.

Skype To Go works by assigning a ‘Skype phone number’ to any mobile or landline you nominate in a dozen countries (including Canada, the UK and Ireland, the USA, New Zealand plus a host of European countries).

The Skype To Go number is a local number for your location. For example, if you’re based in Singapore but regularly call partners in UK, you could assign a unique Skype To Go number with a Singapore (65) country code to their UK number.

How Skype To Go can work for travellers

For the traveller, if you were in Singapore and travelled to UK or Australia, then the Singapore office phone number could be assigned to a local number in the UK. Buying a local SIM card then makes calls via a mobile phone in the UK cheap, if not free depending on the cell phone package.

Google Message Continuity now supports Exchange Server 2010

2011-03-07T21:19:00.000-08:00

Google's new Postini service called Google Message Continuity now supports Exchange Server 2010. The service allows administrators to backup their on-premise Exchange servers to Gmail, so that in the event of an Exchange outage users can still access their e-mail.

Service Levels from Google.

2011-03-07T21:15:00.000-08:00

Google's SLA will no longer have an "out" for planned downtime. Customers will receive SLA credits for any downtime - planned or unplanned. Google claims to be the first major cloud provider to eliminate maintenance windows from its service level agreement.

Previously, Google did not count periods shorter than 10 minutes as downtime. That meant that even though short outages could add up to hours over a long enough period of time, the company had no obligation to compensate users. Google is ending that policy and will now credit users for any amount downtime, no matter how brief.

Google Cloud Connect for Microsoft Office

2011-02-26T23:01:00.000-08:00

Google continues to target Microsoft customers, to help them move from their legacy Microsoft applications, Word, Excel, Outlook etc to the Cloud where productivity gains are not just words, they are a reality. My experience in Hong Kong is there is a need to offer a transition period rather than going "cold turkey". Users have been happy with the OutlookSync already offered from Google, and now Office Connect is here, this will be a big plus in helping the adoption of Google Docs and what it has to offer.

Google Cloud Connect for Microsoft Office brings collaborative multi-person editing to the familiar Microsoft Office experience. You can share, backup, and simultaneously edit Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel documents with coworkers.

To learn more about this great tool and to download a copy check out ...

http://tools.google.com/dlpage/cloudconnect/index.html

Features:

- Simultaneous editing for Word, PowerPoint and Excel files when using Microsoft Office.
- Google Docs sharing URLs for each Microsoft Office file.
- Revision history for Microsoft Office files, stored in Google Docs.
- Offline editing with smart synchronization of offline changes.
- No Microsoft Office upgrade or SharePoint® deployment required.

For $50 a year for Google Apps for Business, we’ll get the functionality of SharePoint and BPOS and you get to keep that Office 2007 software you’ve grown to know and love. Learning curves are for the weak-willed but a necessary in larger organizations.

Been a while ...

2011-02-26T22:58:00.001-08:00

It has been a while since I have been updating my blog. And I am pleased to say, this is because I have been busy. I appreciate this is nothing new for Hong Kong people however busy being productive is different than busy do manual stuff of filling in spreadsheets and doing so much boring working you wonder why sick leave is often required.

I will being you up to date with some of the offerings in the Cloud that local companies are adopting.

Customised Gmail Addresses Allows You to Fight Spam

2010-11-14T05:16:00.000-08:00

You may have heard of this trick or seen it in action, basically you can customise your Gmail and Google Apps Email address by adding +’s and .’s to your email address and still receive emails sent to that address.

For example, if your email address was ilovehk200@gmail.com, you can still receive email at ilovehk200+newsletters@gmail.com or i.love.hk.200@gmail.com. Of course if you are using Google Apps gmail.com would be your own domain name. When the email is received the "+newsletter" remains with the email address you receive.

Now why is this useful?

Well every time you enter your email address to sign up for a web based service you are open to spam as we all know in Hong Kong you cannot even trust the largest companies in Hong Kong not to sell or distribute your email address, e.g. the distrusting behavior of Octopus in 2010. So using something like ilovehk200+octopus@gmail.com, you can achieve a couple of things:

track where your email address was sourced from, e.g. you could prove Octopus actually shared your email address.
you can use filters in your Gmail inbox to file the emails or just delete them.

Get creative with your customized email addresses—but don’t create so many that you can’t remember how to log in to your frequently visited websites. Here are some ideas to get you started:

* username+bills@gmail.com
* username+newsletters@gmail.com
* username+socialmedia@gmail.com
* username+notifications@gmail.com
* username+contact@gmail.com
* username+donations@gmail.com
* username+notes@gmail.com
* username+contests@gmail.com
* username+websitename@gmail.com
* username+evite@gmail.com
* firstname.lastname@gmail.com

So this is a great technique to remember to help manage your incoming email weather it is unwanted spam or subscribed services. Use the "+" and the"." more often!

Google Updates Blackberry BES Server

2010-11-07T06:05:00.000-08:00

Google recently pushed out a nice update for their Google Apps Connector service for the BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES). Version 3.0 of the Apps Connector is a good jump from version 2.2.307 and includes the following changes:

Support for BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5.0.2.
Support for BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express.
Support for both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows Server 2008 SP2.
Improved Dynamic GAL synchronization.
Improvements to some calendar synchronization components to provide enhanced robustness and accuracy.

The Google Apps editions included in this update are Premier, Education and Google Apps for Government. For more info and to get the update go to tools.google.com/dlpage/appsconnector.

Hotmail links up with Gmail and Yahoo

2010-11-03T04:11:00.000-07:00

Microsoft has announced that it is making Hotmail that little bit more ubiquitous, revealing you can now use features of the service with other email accounts. This new feature utilises POP, allowing you to import non-Hotmail data on to Hotmail. What you do need is a Windows Live ID, but once you have this you can use Hotmail-specific features.

Skype to SIP

2010-11-01T05:44:00.000-07:00

Using your telephone rather than putting head phones on to speak to someone on Skype is something that is very useful. I have recently installed one such application that allows my Skype number to be called and my SIP phone rings rather than my computer. Dialing out is the same result. You can dial from your phone or if you use the Skype software to dial someone, once they pick up the utility will ring your SIP phone and join the two calls.

Typical Applications

Call centers who want to be able to advertise a Skype number for customers.
Businesses running a VoIP PBX who want to advertise a Skype number.
To use SkypeOut on your dial plan to make those calls to cities where Skype rates are cheaper.
To use SIP based voicemail or IVR for Skype calls.

If you are interested in connecting your phone system to Skype please contact me for available devices and gateways. Prices start at US$20.

Notify For Google Apps Mail and Gmail

2010-10-02T07:46:00.000-07:00

Want email notifications for your Gmail accounts even when you are not on the site? You may want to try Spiffy, a free program that supports Gmail and Google Apps mail. The program supports up to five accounts and displays tray alerts (flag and sound alerts) whenever a user receives a new e-mail message.

How does Spiffy work? Well, the process isn’t complicated. Enter the details of five Gmail accounts you want to monitor, specify how often you want them verified, and the program will comply. The other good thing is that Spiffy also supports proxies. Whenever Spiffy notifies about a new mail, you can view it by clicking on the alert. If one is not logged into the account already, the application opens up the Gmail login page automatically in the user’s default Web browser. Once the sign-in process in completed, the user can view the new messages.

Spiffy has a range of customisable features, including a customisable interface, alerts, icons, ‘tell-me-again’ feature for missed alerts, and auto start and hide options. You can also use an option to stop the program from redisplaying messages so as not to receive notifications for spam that you don’t want to read.

Spiffy is a freeware application available in English, Dutch, Hebrew, Italian, Polish, Russian, Spanish and Swedish and it can run on Windows 7, Vista, XP, 2003 and requires .NET Framework 2.0.

Google Voice - Very interesting

2010-09-14T06:59:00.000-07:00

I have recently enabled Google Voice for our office phones. Google Voice gives you one US phone number for all your phones. You can now voicemail as easy as email. All US long distance calls are free with low rates on international calls.

Of course this will not work in Hong Kong as it is a US based service at this point. I was able to still enable an account and have it routed to my virtual office PBX.

It offers some nice features like forwarding income calls to Google's GTalk. Currently it does not support Google Apps however. Also call screening is provided whereby a caller is requested to announce who they are and then you can decide if you take the call or send it to voicemail. If a voicemail is left Google can transcribe the voice message and send the text and message to your email (once again not Google Apps yet).

With advanced use of VoIP services and the ability to integrate a cloud based PBX, Google Voice offers many options to end users. This will be why Skype was recently purchased by Cisco as the writing is on the wall. Google will turn the phone market on its head.

Google Access from China

2010-08-23T00:27:00.000-07:00

If you are looking for a good way to continue to use Google Apps as you travel in China then we have tested Access Any Website and it appears to work. Please click here to access.

The Web site owners suggests all blocked content can be accessed if you subscribe to their service. We suspect it is very simple what they have done. They have embedded a browser into a web page and that web site is outside China so therefore you are browsing outside of China.

For the few trips you may have to China and need access to various Google Applications this may be worth the few dollars they charge.

If you have an office in China then connecting an office is different to that of just traveling there and trying to pick up your emails. Let me know if you need help in that area.

Remember the status of Google applications available in China a published by Google at this Web Site:http://www.google.com/prc/report.html#hl=en

Use your Phone as a Key

2010-08-15T17:56:00.000-07:00

Use your phone as a KEY! Bluetooth enabled phone key locks & unlocks any door. iPhone, PDAs or ?

Secure, Affordable wireless access control:
* Hands Free Solutions
* Commercial or Home Applications

Bluetooth Wireless Access Control Experts
* Retail
* Pro Installer

Active Inbox - Organise Your Emails

2010-08-15T03:02:00.001-07:00

ActiveInbox concepts are good and work with Gmail and Google Apps.

In addition to placing labels on your emails you can also file these against projects, place reference labels and tasks. The tasks allow you to manage work that needs to be performed by selecting Next, Action, Someday, Waiting On... or you can create your own items.

They also suggest a good way to work with email with the main recommendation is to empty your email inbox and the only emails left will relate to work that needs to be performed.

The product is FREE however the additional functions for US$24 is worth it. The ability to schedule a deadline date is important.

PDFescape - An online tool for editing PDFs

2010-08-14T20:43:00.000-07:00

PDFescape is your free, online PDF reader, editor, form filler, & form designer. Using your Google Account Login, PDFescape allows users to edit and form fill PDF files online, free.

* Free PDF Form Filler
* Free PDF Editor
* Convenient Online PDF Reader

Google Short Links

2010-08-14T19:38:00.000-07:00

Google Short Links is a URL shortening service for Google Apps and allows you to use much shorter more descriptive names for URLs.

The idea is you take a full URL and create a short description or word to enable a quick recall. For example my full blog URL address can be replaced by a short description, e.g."blog". This is referred to as self-service web redirection.

If you are using Firefox then there is a great Protocol Handler that can be installed. Once installed you can simply type goto:blog and you will be taken to the full URL.

URL's can be marked as public or private. There is also a couple of toolbar items that can be placed on your Firefox toolbar or IE's bookmarks called Bookmarklets. You can select that item when positioned on any page and it will create the short link automatically.

Integration to Google Apps is available and can be managed from the dashboard.

Sherpa Tools Add Some Nice Admin Features

2010-08-10T00:34:00.000-07:00

If you are faced with rolling out a large number of Google Apps users, it is nice to know there is some great tools to help you - and for FREE. Sherpa Tools offers Google Apps an admin interface to help manage centralised Shared Contacts (Global Address Book), a user's profile or business card along with the ability to define the settings on each users application such as language, signature and the custom settings that are tricky to define unless you are logged in as that user. Managing user settings is done via creating Scopes and Profiles. A user can also be granted rights to manage their own profile and update this if they change mobile phone numbers etc.

One of the nicest features is their Directory Bot. This allows the Shared Contacts or (Global Address Book) to be searched via the Google Apps Chat. It is very quick at returning a search result for the person you are locating. The full business card or contact details are replied.

If you upgrade to the paid edition a nice feature is the ability to delegate functions to specific users without those users having full admin rights to Google Apps. For example help desk people could reset passwords for users or the marketing team could manage the centralised share contact list (Global Address Book).

Google adds Organizational Structures

2010-07-28T01:41:00.000-07:00

Organization Structure Added

This month Google added a long awaited feature and that is to allow administrators to structure their users in a similar way to that of their organization.

You can now create the organizational structure to control which Google Apps services are available to users. Each user belongs to one organizational unit, and for each organizational unit you specify which services are available to its users.

If users’ access to Google Apps services follows from which department they report into, the Google Apps organizational structure matches the corporate structure. However, it does not need to.

It is a great way to manage and deliver services including Email, CRM and more out to your users.

Hosted PBX Phone System - For Small Business

2010-07-28T00:41:00.000-07:00

Cloud Based PBX or Virtual Phone Systems

If you are a small business getting started there is still quite an expense to getting phone lines installed and a traditional key-line phone system from your telecom provider.

Today there are a few good choices in the market whereby you pay less than HK$100 per month to set up your office PBX system, all on-line. No hardware to purchase, no contracts to sign, it is easy.

This is not VoIP phone systems, this is a PBX that appears to your customers as a enterprise level phone system with extensions, music on hold, auto attendant service (e.g. press 1 for sales, press 2 for support etc). Yes all for less than HK$100. The phone that rings can be your mobile, your house phone or a phone anywhere in the world. The system can call two phones at the same time and whoever picks up can take the call.

We have a cloud based and VoIP based phone system running for our business. Consultancy services on the best solutions are available. Give me a call if you wish to learn more.

Add WiFi Tethering to your mobile phone

2010-07-15T17:55:00.000-07:00

My business now runs 100% in the Cloud. However sometimes if you are out of the office and not "connected" to the Internet this can be a major drama. Of course I can get my emails on my mobile phone via Google Mobile and I can read my Calendar and Documents but if you wish to do a little bit more and need your laptop to connect then there are some great tools to help.

While there are hotspots in many places now, often connecting is not an easy or a cheap task. Recently I was in Singapore however as I was not a local it was not easy to connect to the SingTel hotspots without having a local mobile number. In your hotel they often want US$25 so you can connect and if this is only for 10 minutes it seems expensive.

A great tool to make life easier is called Joiku. Joiku allows you to convert your mobile phone to a secure WiFi wireless router. There are a couple of versions available, Lite is free and JoikuSpot Premium comes with connection securing with a password, full internet and email protocol support, VPN, and no landing pages. The price was around US$12.

The idea is you start the Joiku software on your phone then search for hotspots from your notebook and you will see your phone showing as a normal access point. You make a secure connection and the phone bridges the traffic out to the internet via your 3G connection. The phone acts as a 3G modem and an Internet gateway.

A new release in beta also allows more than one phone to be grouped or clustered to increase the overall bandwidth available as an access point.

Give it ago. It works really well. Connect to the Cloud and your business applications from anywhere!

A Very True Story - My Office

2010-07-07T22:40:00.000-07:00

How would you react to your office looking like this! Well this happen to me today. Yes I was upset but this was an example of how Cloud Computing saved us. Everyone is working today and no data was lost as all our applications and data are hosted outside our office. So while you may think this can never happen to you, it does.

Compare Google Apps Editions

2010-07-07T22:22:00.000-07:00

Available now is a useful detailed comparison chart between Google Apps editions.

Please click here

Full Text Indexing of Image Docs

2010-07-07T22:03:00.000-07:00

Google Docs has now added OCR functions to allow users to import TIFF, JPEG and Image PDF files. This has been in the background for sometime in beta testing but now is available from the main import screen.

I also often get asked "How much storage does Google offer for their Document Manager?". Well if you use all Google Apps, that is Google Word Processor or convert Microsoft Word docs and store them as Google Apps docs then the storage is unlimited. If however you wish to store image files, PDFs, Excel or Docs then the limit is 1GB per user.

Remember photos can be stored in Picasa and Google will integrate this shortly into Google Apps to allow your same login to be used across these various other applications.

Gmail Google Apps Hierarchy Labels.

2010-06-06T04:07:00.000-07:00

A new lab available this month is hierarchy labels. This had to come as we all use nested folders so this makes labels easier to manage and use.

Once enabled simply add slashes (/) to label names to express inheritance. For example, if you want a Home label with two child labels named Kids and Shopping, create the three following labels: Home, Home/Kids and Home/Shopping.

It did not work for me to a start however after some research I disabled the "Hide read labels" lab and all was fine.

Google Apps Gmail - Add Gadgets

2010-06-06T03:26:00.000-07:00

Google Apps Gmail now allows Gadgets to be added. This is under settings, Gadgets.

All of the Gadgets listed must be installed by URL. Simply copy the URLs below and paste into your Gmail Gadgets settings box and press “Add.”

1. TwitterGadget makes it easy to view and update your Twitter account without visiting the Twitter homepage.

The URL for the Twitter Gadget is: http://www.twittergadget.com/gadget_gmail.xml

2. Wikipedia Search helps you search Wikipedia directly from Gmail – whether it’s for research or just for fun.

The URL for Wikipedia Search is: http://www.google.com/ig/modules/wikipedia.xml

3. Use FriendFeed? Get the FriendFeed Gmail Gadget, so you can keep track of your friends on this popular Social networking/sharing service.

The URL for the FriendFeed Gadget is: http://friendfeed.com/embed/googlegadget/spec

4. A must-have gadget for those of us who communicate regularly with people around the world is the World Clock gadget. It has locations all around the world and continuously updates the time, so you know when it’s bedtime in Paris and not to expect a speedy response to your emails!

The URL for the World Clock Gadget is: http://gad.getpla.net/poly/clock.xml

5. Track the current trends on Digg with the Digg Gadget. Features include selecting stories by sub-section and access to your settings.

The URL for the Digg Gadget is: http://digg.com/goog/ig.xml

6. The Facebook Gadget can be added directly to Gmail by adding this handy gadget. Do a lot of things you’d normally do at Facebook.com directly from your sidebar. The URL for Facebook Gadget is: http://www.brianngo.net/ig/facebook.xml

7. Quickly shorten links with the Bit.ly URL Shortener Gadget. Whether you are emailing links or sending to friends via Google Chat, shorten long URLs with the Bit.ly URL shortener gadget.

The URL for the Bit.ly URL Shortener Gadget is: http://hosting.gmodules.com/ig/gadgets/file/107368512201818821991/bitly-shortener.xml

8. MySpace can also be accessed via Google Gadget. Install this gadget and log in to your MySpace account to access friends, notes and more.

The URL for the MySpace Gadget is: http://hosting.gmodules.com/ig/gadgets/file/100080069921643878012/myspace.xml

9. Use the Google Calculator to perform simple and complex math problems or convert weights from metric to English or vice versa right from Gmail.

The URL for the Google Calculator Gadget is: http://calebegg.com/calc.xml

10. And just for fun, add the Chuck Norris facts Gadget to Gmail. Get a couple of laughs a day and some funny facts to share with friends.

The URL for the Chuck Norris Facts Gadget is: http://marsupialmusic.net/stu/scripts/chucknorris.xml

Gpanion is a sleek dashboard for Google Apps

2010-05-19T20:51:00.000-07:00

If your first stop after opening up your web browser is to load up various Google Apps, Gpanion is a sleek dashboard interface for all your favorites.

Gpanion is a simple icon-based interface for easily loading your favorite Google Apps. The dashboard displays 14 applications out of 44 at a time. You can customize the layout so that your most used applications are shown prominently on the first page with lesser used items tucked away on the bottom row or the second page—saving your configuration does require you to use your Google signin.

If you'd prefer not to share any information with Gpanion you can still use the site minus the customization. The links just pass you through to the actual Google services. The default setting puts Gmail, Gcal, Greader, Picasa Web, YouTube, and other people Google-powered destinations at the forefront.

Updates for Google Apps

2010-05-19T00:55:00.000-07:00

Recent feature releases
Below are a few highlights from recent weeks. See a complete list of updates.

Drag and drop attachments in Gmail
Previews of new Google Documents editor and new Google Spreadsheets editor
Google Drawings: a new collaborative drawings editor
New version of Google Apps Migration for Lotus Notus
New version of Google Apps Migration for Microsoft Exchange
New Lotus switch guide for users - Life After Lotus Notes

Zoho CRM integration with Google Apps

2010-04-05T23:56:00.000-07:00

Zoho continues to work hard to integrate their cloud services into Google Apps. Zoho CRM is now integrated into Google Apps to allow a user to launch the CRM right from inside Google Apps. This is very convienant.

A good CRM solution should not only be user-friendly, robust and help you keep customers from slipping through the cracks but should also be cost-effective. Zoho CRM is the other award-winning CRM that counts 'good price' as a feature. After all, why should you pay more when you have an opportunity to potentially save thousands of dollars?

Google in China

2010-04-05T23:54:00.000-07:00

As you would know, China blocks access to some Google services. To keep up dated on what is available please refer to this web site:

http://www.google.com/prc/report.html#hl=en

Google Apps Directory Services

2009-12-07T05:53:00.000-08:00

With Google Apps Market Place now available to all Apps users, it is easy to add directory services via various tools. We have adopted Sherpa Tools to manage our global directory as well as manage the global settings within Google Apps, such as language etc. Groups can be defined via Profiles and associated to users. A free tool with more advanced features available for a price.

Google Docs Backup and More!

2009-12-03T16:14:00.000-08:00

Have you ever wanted to keep your life simple by having the same files available on your work PC, home PC and notebook? Even mobile phone?

Well Syncplicity provides a great tool to do this. A cloud based service to keep the following backed up and in sync:

My Documents
Bookmarks in the browser (IE) / Favorites
Google Docs (including your Google Apps documents)

There is even a version for the Mac!

Chinese folders and files are no problem to sync. Once running a small Green Tick will appear over the file icon or folder icon to represent the file is in Sync.

Syncing Files

Using this app is pretty simple. Once you download the software and install the app you are ready to go. First you have to link your computer to the service. This service works by uploading any files to Syncplicity, which can then distribute these files to other computer connected to your account. That way every computer and folder has the correct file.

The actual application composes of a menu bar item and a right click option. There isn’t a dock icon in sight. To sync a folder to the web service, you right click on any folder you want to sync and select the More option and press Sync to Syncplicity. It will then whirr away as it uploads the files. The uploading and downloading of the file is blindingly quick, it maxed out my connection.

You can now access all your files on the net and any other computers in which you have connected to your account.

Google Docs sync requires you to provide your login name and password for Google Docs and identify a target folder on your local drive. Once defined your Google Docs will be downloaded from Google and provide a local copy for backup and to be available if you are off-line.

Pricing
Pricing is very reasonable, free for under 2GB of data. There are personal editions available for US$15 per month or business editions (3 users) for US$45 per month. This includes 50GB of storage and unlimited devices connected.

If you invite others who install you will get a free upgrade if you are using the free edition.

Remember mobile phone access to your files by the web is supported and Mac!

Human Resource Management in the Cloud

2009-10-19T06:26:00.000-07:00

Zoho People HR Management Software is a Service (SaaS) solution for HR Management and offers the first 10 users FREE! There is no reason not to start implementing it today!

Includes e-forms for:

Apply Leave
Travel Requests
Training Requests
Expense Claims

Zoho People covers three very powerful areas, the first being Human Resources Information System, the second area covers Recruitment including application tracking, the final being a staffing solution whereby eletronic forms and workflows can be define.

Employee portal
Self Service - Employee & Manager Self Service
Organisation chart
Business Process Enablers
No hardware or software to buy, install or maintain, even as you grow
Access from anywhere

Zoho People provides an affordable and powerful HRIS. It helps HR professionals to manage all employee related data in one central place through "Employee Portal". Lessens the burden of your HR team by allowing the managers and employees to handle their data. View organisation's employee reporting hierarchy and structure.

Check it out at Cloud Solutions Hong Kong.

Promote Business with Email signature

2009-10-19T06:20:00.000-07:00

WiseStamp offers free Email signatures for Firefox users. A Firefox extension empowers your email signature on any webmail service (Gmail ,Yahoo Mail ,AOL, Hotmail, Google Apps…) Easily customize, Include IM & Social profiles, Automatically share your Blog posts, Quotes, News, Bookmarks and more…

Cloud Starting to Catch On

2009-09-27T23:03:00.000-07:00

This month we had our first customer in Hong Kong go 100% Cloud. Yep, no Windows servers, no database applications, no backup tapes or backup devices, and also he has "no worries". So you are asking "have they got anything?".

Email, including 10 Years of archive and message discovery
Intranet Site
VoIP & Chat
Word processing, spreadsheets and presentation tools
HR management including workflow for forms such as "Apply Leave", "Travel Expense"etc
CRM in both English and Simplified Chinese
Project Management

My client wants to expand in China and the Cloud offered him the best way to do this. His cost savings at start up were over 65% when compared to the traditional file server etc offered by others. This was a new business so conserving cash was a big issue for them. Out of the various consultants they worked with I offered the most flexible and forward thinking approach. The cost of IT is now a set fixed cost per employee, per year. If they expand they just add a user. If they wish to downsize they simply do not renew some licenses.

The model works and it was up and running in record time.

Single Sign On (SSO)

As you look closer into Cloud Computing you will also the appreciate the need to have a Single Sign On for users of various Cloud services. To do this you can adopt OpenID's or can use an OpenID provider such as Google so only one provider manages your ID information and none of the other providers have this in their system, they simply make a call to Google who confirm's the information. Other hosted web providers can then leverage that single sign in across a range of applications on the web.

If you wish to integrate to legacy Windows Active Directory services then this can be done in two ways. One is during the initial phase of populating Google's directory via API's provided by Google. For ongoing management of this environment there are providers than now provide this service. We are working with one now.

On Demand Storage

I was also interested to see in a recent report that 46% of CIO's questioned would seriously consider using the Cloud for storage in the near future rather than purchasing an endless cycle of storage. In Hong Kong it is common for many companies to rent storage space for their documents (even when the laws in Hong Kong support keeping an electronic or digital copy and destroying the paper documents), so why would they not rent space to store their digital files?

Latitude from Google

2009-08-31T19:30:00.000-07:00

Google with Latitude?

Latitude - Big Brother - Time Saving Business Tool - Social Fun?

Let's hear what Google say about it:

“Latitude is a new feature for Google Maps on your mobile device. It’s also an iGoogle gadget on your computer. Once you’ve opted in to Latitude, you can see the approximate location of your friends and loved ones who have decided to share their location with you. So now you can do things like see if your spouse is stuck in traffic on the way home from work, notice that a buddy is in town for the weekend, or take comfort in knowing that a loved one’s flight landed safely, despite bad weather.”

As Google points out, you can only track those that have agreed to be your Latitude pal. “Everything about Latitude is opt-in. You not only control exactly who gets to see your location, but you also decide the location that they see.”

Google Latitudes started as a service that managed to obtain your location and shared it with a group of people, who also revealed their locations. The service was available as part of the mobile Google Maps application or as an iGoogle gadget.

To make the information stored in Google Latitude more useful, you can now display it on a web page, in a feed or add it as a constantly-updated Google Talk status. The location can be added to a badge and embedded on any web page, but there's also an option to get a list of the most recent locations as a KML or JSON feed. Since you may not want to share your precise location, Google Latitude has an option to display the city-level location.

We use it in house to track our sales people's location just incase we have an urgent request we know where each person is. We also find this very useful when locating our technical support staff. We can locate them without calling or interrupting them and send a request to the engineer closest to our customer. This improves our customer service levels.

The staff can also check on each other when it is lunch time and agree where to meet. It is a very useful tool as it works from your mobile phone also.

Outlook Sync for Google Apps

2009-08-11T16:59:00.000-07:00

As we all know, it is not easy for user's to change their work habits. Outlook is the default email client for many of us. Getting used to a new email interface is sometimes too much to ask of your users.

Google have helped by releasing a very good tool to sync your Outlook 2003 and 2007 with Google Apps Email, Contacts and Calendar. This tool can be downloaded free and installed in a few minutes. It asks the user for their Google Apps email and password and then creates a user Outlook Profile automatically. Make sure you download all the patches for your Outlook first as SP2 is requried. It will not install until all the right patches have been applied.

It may take a little while for all email and contacts to Sync across, this will depend on how many messages you have. It does however work. I have experienced my PC slowing down a little as the sync tool runs but it is a small price to pay if you wish to continue to use Outlook.

Some of the advantages include:

integrations with desktop applications like CRM can continue if your integration was via Outlook for filing or sending emails

sending a fax from Outlook remains supported

Emails are NOT presented in conversation threads which some user's find difficult to get used to, I have mixed thoughts on this one

Sending an attachment out I find is easier if Outlook launches as Google Mail needs to attach the file rather than using say SEND from within the application

Google Apps limits your email POP accounts to 5 whereas Outlook it is unlimited to this is a workaround for those of you, like me, who have more than 5 POP accounts

Folders vs. labels is another point some users don't like. Outlook Sync will create labels automatically for any Outlook folder and vice versa. When a sub-folder is created the label will be named "folder/subfolder"

So moving your backend to Google provides small business many advantages, when remaining transparent to end users who can continue to use Google.

Hong Kong can profit from Google Apps

2009-06-20T04:25:00.000-07:00

Hong Kong has never been a city of early IT adopters, we have great buildings and a great transport system but behind a majority of businesses in Hong Kong an email connection and an old version of Microsoft Office is the extent of their adoption of technology.

Don't get me wrong, there are some companies that use technology very well, and in doing so, profit from their investment. However Hong Kong's love with paper and chops is simply something that is hard to break away from. Of course the cost is often given as the main reason companies do not embrace technology, this of course includes software licenses, hardware and IT services.

With the current weakness in the global economy many companies have cut staff and budgets however the challenge remains on how to work efficiently to ensure profits can still be generated.

Hong Konger’s also love the word FREE. In fact everyone, no matter where you live the word FREE is something we don't hear very often, well at least for something that can bring you value and profits.

Well finally this is true, Google offer small business, up to 50 users, FREE use of their software, Google Apps Standard Edition. This offers any business everything they need to operate their business. The suite works perfectly in Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), which is often the biggest problem we have in Hong Kong. However read on.

Google Apps Standard Edition (FREE) includes the following:

Corporate Email, with your OWN domain name, not xxx@gmal.com but your actual domain
Each user (up to 50) has 7 GB’s of email storage including translation on-line of messages, e.g. simplified to traditional Chinese or Portuguese to English
Calendar, which is easy to use and includes sending reminders or alerts to your phone via SMS, can be shared with staff or clients
Contacts and shared contacts
Word processor, spreadsheet and presentation application including the ability to create PDF files
Document manager for filing and sharing documents
Instant Messaging right inside your Email, including the archiving of all chat conversations so you can refer to them later
Video chat which allows face-to-face video calls to be made. If you don't have a camera then you can simply make an audio call rather than using Skype. One feature which is very interesting is Chat to SMS, which allows a user to type a message in chat and send it to a mobile phone as an SMS message. Google actually allocates a virtual number so once the reply is made it comes back to you as chat where you can keep a record of the conversation. The one catch however, this currently is only available in the USA. So watch this space
Mobile phone integration to allow your staff to access their emails from a Blackberry, iPhone or Windows based Smart Phone
Sites is a tool to bring up an intranet site to share information with your staff or clients without the need to understand HTML coding

Many people already use, and love Gmail. Now is the chance to adopt it for your company, customize the look and feel with your corporate logo and brand colours. With free storage and of 7GB per user, no software to install, simply point your browser to Google’s Public Cloud and you are up and running. If you already have a Gmail account, Google Apps allows you to consolidate up to 5 different email accounts into your inbox and up to 5 aliases per user. So you can have sales@yourdomain.com.hk or info@yourdomain.com.hk.

Some additional advantages for small businesses include:

all your data is now backed up off-site and you have a disaster recovery plan in place
with the flu now doing the rounds, it is possible to have members of staff work from home as all documents and emails are available from anywhere in the world!
as the solution is a browser based application, Windows PC's and MAC’s are supported so if you have a MAC at home and Windows in the office, it works perfectly!
Google’s SPAM and anti-virus services are included and very acceptable
Support for the Outlook client or Outlook Express if this is your preference
Migration tools to allow importing of your current emails, calendar items and your address book into Google
Documents can be shared and edited in "real time". Yes no more emailing different versions of the same document back and forward, you can edit a single document along with another user, at the same time!
Google's famous search speeds, search for any emal in seconds!

More big advantages:

Google have worked out how to work off-line. This allows your email and documents to be kept locally and accessed if you are on a plane or simplyhave no access to the Internet.

So what are the down sides?
Well not many actually. I have been using the solution for some weeks now and while change always takes time to get used to, I see no reason why any business in Hong Kong could not benefit from the technology on offer from Google.

Google Apps Standard Edition still includes Google adverts (Adsense), which are visible when you open an email however this is a small price to pay for something that is free. The good news is if you have more than 50 staff or you wish to turn off the adverts you can upgrade to Google Apps Premier Edition. We will discuss this in another issue. This has a few more features but overall is the same as the Standard Edition.

Interested? If so, Cloud Solutions in Hong Kong can help you set this all up for a minimal fee. This will include configuring your domain to work with Google and the migrating of emails etc into your new system and then support your users when requires. enquiry@cloudsolutions.com.hk