Blog - Cloud computing predictions for 2015

How Covid Emergency is a Business Opportunity for Many

October 6, 2020Sylvia DaymielBusiness advice

Working from home has become an everyday thing. For some, it has been a one in a lifetime opportunity to make some good cash as their businesses blossom. Unfortunately, some lost their jobs at the onset of the pandemic.

As for electricians, the narrative is different. Things are super amazing. These guys have been busy making installations and lots of emergency repairs. If electricians didn’t exist, people would have died of hopelessness. For some reason, the internet has a way of keeping our hopes alive during the global Covid lockdown because we get to access music, our favourite comedians, get in touch with our friends and family, and play video games. Without electricity, that would be a long-forgotten thing.

As it is, any emergency services are more expensive. It has been the case since the pandemic begun. Service providers have been hacking prices left right and centre, all in the name of COVID. It is somewhat unethical. However, for some sectors, the services went up due to the rise of prices of commodities necessary in their line of work.

What are some of the business opportunities for electricians?

All emergency electricians benefit from a crisis. The reason behind the benefit is the increase in demand for electrical energy. It is almost impossible to fight a pandemic without power. Here are some ways electricians attract business opportunities.

The need to detect, treat and try vaccines

Without electricity, health facilities cannot function. Electricians played a vital role in ensuring a 24/7 flow of electricity in hospitals anytime they were sort. Hence an increase in reliability on the part of the health institution; hence, saved the day.

E-Learning is made available

As a safety measure during the pandemic, schools closed immediately. There had to be an instant solution that was learning from home. Who to call if not electricians. Thanks to them, children can attend classes from home.

Need for a specific working environment

The pandemic office buildings need a little restructuring, and part of the restructuring has to involve wiring and installations here and there. Electricians have help to provide power to different agencies.

The use of digital tools

COVID may have disrupted a lot of things, but the digital space is not one of them. Most corporate digital marketing people lost their jobs at the beginning of the pandemic. It prompted most of them to sharpen their marketing skills through online classes. It was also an opportunity to research extensively on various aspects that relate to their line of work. Through this, they acquired guidelines on the latest trends that can aid them in sharpening their expertise.

For many SEO and digital marketing people, however, working from home did not involve a transition – many of them had already been working from home for 3, 5, 10 years of even longer. They were already adapted to the social isolation. They already had the sound of toddlers around them as they chat on the phone with clients. Yep, digital is turning to be a massive undercurrent of the Covid-19 phenomenon.

So it goes without saying that Covid has brought a boomtime to the Sharepoint fraternity and sorority around the world. What a strange twist of fate.

To wrap it up

It might sound like it has been a bed of roses for electricians, but truth be told, they have had to work while adhering to the COVID 19 health guidelines; we all know how some of these protective gears can be uncomfortable. It has been a financial breakthrough season for them, but they’ve had a fair share of challenges.

Sharepoint For Small Business: Benefits, Pros & Cons

August 24, 2020Sylvia DaymielOffice Intranets, Sharepoint Sydney

Mummy always taught me to share with my friends. Daddy had a few caveats regarding sharing but was, generally, in agreement. Sharing is what the world is all about, according to the young and idealistic, and I should know, I used to be one of them. Today, in a post COVID world, we are all learning to share in new and safe ways. Sharepoint for small businesses: Benefits, pros and cons that will enlighten you about this enormously helpful technology. It is obvious that we all have to do more online on digital platforms in a world riven with this deadly global pandemic. Sharepoint can make things a lot easier and far more functional.

A Cloud Sharing Technology Like No Other

Looking at things that may be irrelevant for sole traders such as downlight installers but highly relevant for businesses that need to share information is just the beginning. There are so many applications for cloud sharing technologies such as these. They make working from anywhere with an internet connection a reality. The freedom that Sharepoint provides is breathtaking. Smooth and efficient ways of doing business that keep everyone in the loop throughout the negotiations and beyond. Sharepoint for small businesses: Benefits, pros and cons abound with this error proof state of the art technology.

Multiple People Can Edit Documents Simultaneously

Enabling staff to work from home even after small businesses bounce back from COVID-19. Sharepoint is the bee’s knees, when it comes to running a small business in 2020 and beyond. Uploading documents is a breeze and accessibility puts a smile on everyone’s face. Security is guaranteed and remote access is easy to boot. Collaborative working is wonderful when it flows as seamlessly as this. Multiple people can edit a document simultaneously. Enhanced collaboration will put you and your team ahead of the game.

Searching for stuff in Sharepoint is easy because indexing the entire document library means keyword searches are a breeze. This is the most powerful tool of its kind on the market and it is making business more fun for all involved. Take the frustration out of small business with Sharepoint. You can work from anywhere and adapt to this new environment faster than your competitors. Your staff can use their mobiles and tablets to take your products and services to the world. They can meet the market where it lives and together create prosperity.

Best Uses of SharePoint

April 29, 2020Lou LapsoSharepoint Sydney

SharePoint is a strong platform for addressing different business requirements. Its implementations can be customized to fit any aspect of the business. SharePoint is a powerful tool that provides an out-of-the box solution for common business needs. Here are the best uses of SharePoint for business:

Document Management
SharePoint gives businesses a central location to store documents. Anyone in the organisation can access documents stored in SharePoint. You no longer have to go to different offices or wait for emails to get the files you need. SharePoint allows you and your coworkers to work and edit a single document simultaneously. Documents are also available for mobile employees and can be accessed using smart devices.

Collaboration
SharePoint is the best collaboration portal. It is designed to make group interaction in a single location. Access SharePoint from any desktop or mobile device and coordinate information on project statuses, coworkers schedule or anything related to projects. A dedicated page can be created for this purpose that may contain documents, bulletin board, surveys, links to resources, calendar and presentations. This is the perfect place to communicate with teams, coworkers and business partners on any project.

Solving Business Problems (Workflow)
SharePoint provides platform to build custom business solutions and business processes with workflow based solutions. It empowers non-technical users to fix efficiency problems. SharePoint allows employees to know about issues and solve them without involving IT. Workflow through SharePoint speeds up processes, remove unnecessary steps, minimize errors, provide better documentation and improve communication.

Intranet
SharePoint is an internally facing site that everyone in the organisation can use find news, documents, scheduled tasks, announcements and other information. This serves as a meeting room that everyone in the company can attend during workdays. Employees can give input via suggestion box, surveys and polls. Dashboards can be customized by departments so they can get information they need anytime.

Business Intelligence
SharePoint provides comprehensive access to business data and information that helps businesses to make better decisions. Business intelligence centre in SharePoint enables organisations to store and manage data connections reports and dashboards centrally. It enhances self-service business intelligence, analyst can now customize, design and maintain their business intelligence without the IT intervention.

Websites
SharePoint can be used to build and manage a public facing website. As content management system site, SharePoint allows users to make changes to pages and update information, create new pages and add text or graphics.

Extranet
SharePoint can also be used to set up secure site with external users for easy collaboration. Extranet solutions extend the functionality of office intranet to customers, suppliers and partners. SharePoint’s rich feature makes collaborating with customers and business partners via the extranet natural. Improved communication through extranet can increase efficiency for both parties.

Accessibility
SharePoint is a web platform that can be accessed anywhere in the world. Link, OfficeSuite and Skype combine to give instant communication. This is particularly helpful for businesses with branches in different locations. SharePoint features can be accessed online using mobile devices.

Project Management
SharePoint makes project management easy; users can collaborate to manage a project. Both experienced user and new users can handle anything from small project using new project site template to more sophisticated management portfolio projects. SharePoint provides project managers with an easy and efficient way to coordinate resources, manage team members, tract tasks and communicate with stakeholders in real time.

SharePoint is a powerful tool that provides out-of-the box business solutions. We can develop customised SharePoint platform depending on your business needs. Please call us about SharePoint consultation if you think SharePoint may help you.

Companies & Corporations That Use SharePoint Or Office Intranets

January 17, 2020Lou LapsoOffice Intranets

Most modern day computers in the world are running Microsoft products. There are 125 million SharePoint licenses and 65,000 customers making it one of the 50 largest software companies in the world. Even companies and corporations that use office intranets prefer to use Microsoft SharePoint; in fact 80% of all Fortune 500 companies are using some version of SharePoint. One in two corporations is using SharePoint Server according to Association for Information and Image Management (AIIM). SharePoint is widely used worldwide due to its flexibility and collaboration structure. From Intranet/Extranet, enterprise search, business process management, enterprise content management, file sharing capability, records management, social networks, archiving to public-facing websites. The use and capabilities of SharePoint is incredible.

Intranet is traditionally used to provide a secure database where employees could share files, forms and documents, and it can also be used to share relevant information and collaboration tool for teams. SharePoint as an office intranet can be used to boost company organisation’s productivity. SharePoint intranet promotes cooperation between members of the company because it makes communication easier thus making it easier for people to work together. SharePoint as intranet facilitates efficient knowledge management and simplify the way people work together regardless of location. They can find and share information in real time simultaneously anywhere in the world allowing innovation and better decision making. This capability helps increases business productivity, save time and cost and better return on investment. Today more and more companies and corporations like ACM Group Corporate are now using SharePoint intranet to increase their competitiveness, promote innovation, improves productivity while reducing cost.

Your company will also benefit from SharePoint Intranet if:

Your company waste time to locate information
You have file duplication and lack of control
You have excessive use of email for communication
There is no business process automation
Knowledge is lost among employees
You want to easily work from any location

Using SharePoint your people can manage documents, share information, set up websites and publish reports from any location. SharePoint capabilities can help your people work together to help your company respond quickly to customer demand and changing business needs. Here’s a list of companies and corporations that use SharePoint or Office Intranet:

LJ Hooker

Commonwealth Bank

Tampax – Procter & Gamble

Colonial First State

Kraft Foods

Camp Quality

Bristol-Myers Squibb

Richard Crookes Construction

Dell Financial Services

AMP

How technology has made professional development for teachers a walk in the park

December 13, 2019Sylvia DaymielBrand development, Online marketing

It is a fact of life that we are always learning something new every day, not necessarily confined to the walls of a classroom but also through every day experiences. That is why learning has no end. The individuals tasked with the responsibility of teaching others are also taking it upon themselves to expand their knowledge and it is for this reason that they attend professional development workshops. It is mandatory for teachers to attend and participate in these workshops because it is here that they get to know the new curriculum that they are supposed to teach their students. Education keeps on changing and hence educators need to be up to speed with what is currently being taught and that is why they are of importance.

Multi-media convenience

Students are the ones who set out to benefit the most from these teachers’ professional development workshops because they get to learn the latest and recent curriculum that makes them more relevant to the ever changing job market. With the advancement of technology, most things are done digitally and professional development training is not an exception. Due to its convenience, most educators now prefer multi-media professional development for teachers.

Using multi-media effectively

This is where teachers get to learn about new curriculum through the use of videos, audio recordings, and images. Before technology got to where it is now, the individuals tasked with conducting the professional development workshops for teachers had to be physically present in order to give their presentations. That is no longer the case as technology has made things much easier. In circumstances where an educator is not able to reach the teachers, he/she has the option of taking a video or taping an audio recording that can be played for the teachers attending the workshop. In the case of images or video, a projector is mostly used to display them on a wide screen to enhance easier viewing of the content regardless of the number of teachers in attendance.

Advantages to using multi-media

There are numerous advantages to using multi- media for the purpose of professional development. First, it is very convenient. For those teachers who are not able to make it to the workshops, they can receive videos, audios, and even images through devices such as their mobile phones and laptops. Through them, they are able to access information at their comfort and convenience at anytime and anywhere. Secondly, they can save the multi-media on their devices and can always refer back to them if need be. This is very helpful especially in situations where one does not grasp everything by listening and watching the first time and they can always play back when the need arises.

Benefits of multi-media to students

Students also benefit from this use of multi-media. In this time and age, students are very tech savvy due to early exposure. Teachers can also use this to their advantage by sending multi-media files containing educational material to their students. They can send revision materials and study notes which students can utilize at their own comfort and this is convenient especially during the school holidays. Students can use them to get ahead and be prepared for the next semester.

Technology to fire up students’ imagination

December 12, 2019Sylvia DaymielSharepoint Sydney, Video

Have you ever wondered how most of the science fiction Hollywood movies are created? Do you ever ask yourself how superheroes are able to fly? All this is possible through the use of green screens. A green screen is basically a green background in front of which moving subjects are filmed and which allows a separately filmed background to be added to the final image. This is the technology that is responsible for most Hollywood blockbusters today. Now imagine the same technology being used for teaching purposes. Now that would be something worth having in our classrooms; portable green screens for schools.

Green screen can be used in numerous ways by both educators and students. One ways is through conducting either real or imaginary interviews. Imaginary interviews are conducted where the students can interview historical figures and real interviews happen when professionals come to the classroom physically to answer questions asked by the students. An advantage to this teaching technique is that the movie can always be viewed again when the need arises.

With the help of a green screen, students are able to create their own movie. This gives them the chance to get their creative juices flowing and they can do so by writing and acting their own script, making and using props and designing their own costumes. This also breaks the monotony of the usual teaching practices and therefore the students are more excited and eager to learn.

It is no secret that many students struggle with solving complex math problems. With the use of green screens, those problems can be brought to life by acting them out. By doing so, students have a much better understanding of where the numbers come from and how to work out the solution.

The green screen can also be used for effective storytelling. This is the case especially for history and literature students. They are able to enact the scenes they read on novels and history books and this turns theoretical learning into practical experience. It is also a great device for inserting images into presentations instead of using stock images. This means that they can make use of any image that they want and need.

Not only is the use of green screen fun and a more interactive mode of learning, it also has other advantages. It is also cheap. All that is needed is a green back drop and a good recording device and you are good to go. You can also add extra lighting if need be but this is optional. It is also easier to use than it looks. This technique has been in use since the 19^th century and has evolved through the years. Not only is the green screen good for creating videos and movies, it is also used in capturing amazing photos. In addition to that, it enhances various activities in all subjects. With this type of device, students can put their imagination into practice. All they have always wanted to do but seemed impossible due to lack of a green screen can now become a reality.

SharePoint Growing into an Essential Tool

July 29, 2017Sylvia DaymielBusiness advice, Office Intranets, Sharepoint Sydney

Ever since Microsoft promised major improvements in SharePoint during the launch of SharePoint 2016, the users of the platform have seen SharePoint growing into an essential tool. For instance, Office 365 offers an improved user experience in SharePoint Online team news. A personalised news feed is now available where the user’s inactive sites, those that he/she follows, and suggested sites curated by Mircrosoft Graph are shown.

As per the tech giant’s announcement, “the addition of team news allowed SharePoint home to evolve into an intuitive, single location to check the activity in all your sites and portals, conduct enterprise-wide search, build new sites, and read all the news around you.” Team news is among the most recent user-friendly addition to the SharePoint home page.

SharePoint Growing into an Essential Tool

SharePoint users have experienced the complexity of some of the platform’s features, and even in performing simple tasks. For one, copying a table in Word and pasting it into SharePoint usually results to the fouling up of the layout. But during the SharePoint Virtual Summit, Microsoft’s Senior Product Manager Naomi Moneypenny showed how easy and straightforward to perform basic Word tasks, such as a simple copy-paste job. This only illustrates how the SharePoint user experience has become direct and reliable.

When SharePoint 2016 was introduced, it created a buzz among businesses. Having said that, most businesses that were using the old version contemplated on whether or not to upgrade to the 2016 version. But with SharePoint growing into an essential tool, new features and capabilities of SharePoint encouraged them to make an upgrade, and even enticed new businesses to use SharePoint.

One of the most gripping changes in SharePoint is its capability to seamlessly leverage online tools, thanks to its improved hybrid configuration abilities. This way, users can seriously expand the flexibility and usefulness of their SharePoint investment.

SharePoint and Intranet

Over the years, Microsoft has shown the might of SharePoint as an intranet. If you are going to ask internal communicators, the most interesting revelation during the Summit was the new Communication site. It highlights the hero images, news, and the function to incorporate calendars, videos, and reference documents in the page. What’s more is that these features function well in the app. However, CMS Wire reported that SharePoint still has to make improvements and include Intranet-in-a-Box products.

Why A Professional Sharepoint Consultant Helps Avoid Sharepoint Horror

June 5, 2017Sylvia DaymielOffice Intranets, Sharepoint Sydney

The number of businesses that use SharePoint grows every minute. As a matter of fact, it has become a standard in an array of business processes and activities. Despite the amazing benefits that SharePoint gives, completing a single task using the platform is no easy feat. More often than not, administrators take up the role as the developer, engineer, and designer all at once, which results as a liability more than an asset. For this reason, a lot of organisations outsource professional Sharepoint consultants. Aside from increasing the productivity and functionality of a business, a professional SharePoint consultant helps avoid SharePoint horror.

Why a Professional Sharepoint Consultant Helps Avoid SharePoint Horror

Truth be told, implementing SharePoint is one of the real-life horror stories of any SharePoint user. This is often the case with organisations that have budget and time constraints. For instance, big companies use SharePoint as a powerful intranet solution that can completely meet the needs of the business. Moreso, they have the financial ability to hire professional Sharepoint consultants that will essentially deter any of the SharePoint horror stories that frequently happen to large organisations.

But for small companies on one hand, updating the system with the latest features that SharePoint offers will seem like a waste of time and money. According to statistics, completely migrating to the most recent version can be achieved in more or less two years. And with that timeframe, another version of SharePoint can be launched. A professional SharePoint consultant helps avoid SharePoint horrors like this by following through these updates and by looking for ways on how to increase the effectiveness of SharePoint for the time being.

Is SharePoint a Monster?

During the course of a project, SharePoint may seem like your enemy, or worse — a monster. It doesn’t have to be like that. What you need to do is hire a professional SharePoint consultant.

During team collaboration, there will be instances where failure in communication happens. For example, you and your team have been working on this project for months. Each member of the team has their own tasks and outputs to be shared within the group. However, you were outside of work when a colleague asked you for an important file. You don’t have your laptop with you and the only device you are in possession of at the moment is your smartphone. Due to the urgency of the situation, you decided to work on it using the intranet. However, the images are not loading in place while the links are misshapen. In short, everything is a mess and you were not able to send the needed document.

The aforementioned scenario would have been avoided if a professional SharePoint consultant was hired to optimise the intranet across all devices. By doing so, users can access the files they need and work on it whenever the need arises. There are a lot more SharePoint horror stories that can be bypassed by seeking help from the experts.

SharePoint Data Breaches Happen to One in Two Companies

May 19, 2017Sylvia DaymielUncategorized

In a survey by Emedia, they asked SharePoint users two simple questions. One, if they have an existing data security protocol. And two, if it covers SharePoint. The results showed that two-thirds of these organisations do not have security policies for SharePoint in place. No wonder that SharePoint data breaches happen to one in two companies.

According to a security expert, it is surprising to know that SharePoint users are paying no attention to the security implications of not having a data security policy in place. This may be because of slackness, being uninformed, or confusion regarding the persons in charge of instigating such policy.

SharePoint Data Breaches Happen To One In Two Companies

Earlier this month, the Ponemon Institute and Metalogix released a report concerning data storage policies of organisations using SharePoint, Dropbox and other file sharing applications. The report called Handle with Care: Protecting Sensitive Data in Microsoft SharePoint, Collaboration Tools and File Share Applications, aims to illustrate how businesses, professionals and SharePoint users safeguard their sensitive data. As per the research, SharePoint data breaches happened to almost half of SharePoint users in the last two years. In addition, more than three-fourths of them are not convinced that the existing tools are highly effective in securing sensitive data against unintended exposure and breaches.

In an interview, Dr. Larry Ponemon, the Chairman and Founder of Ponemon Institute, said that organisations are not doing their best to safeguard the enormous amount of data that are stored in SharePoint.

Securing the SharePoint Environment

As a growing number of organisations store and access crucial information on SharePoint, it is only a must that they institute practices in the organisation, management and protection of these data. In doing so, they can regulate the people in the company who have access to the sensitive information. Since not everyone will have to use such information, it is ideal that you limit these data to those who only need them.

Another thing that organisations can do is to examine the user activity. For small businesses, they can do this through the Management Activity API. On the other hand, big organisations are advised to utilise security tools in analysing user events.

SharePoint Developers Weathering the Shift to the Cloud

May 19, 2017Sylvia DaymielBusiness advice, Sharepoint Sydney

If you are someone who gets excited on big changes, then there’s something to look forward on SharePoint. With the release of SharePoint Framework earlier this year, we should expect further client-side development on SharePoint Online. Having said that, the users of SharePoint’s cloud version will first experience these changes before support becomes available to the users of the on-premises version. As Microsoft continues to promote its “cloud first” strategy, SharePoint developers are weathering the shift to the cloud.

SharePoint Developers Weathering the Shift to the Cloud

According to Eweek, SharePoint developers are feeling the shakeup as Microsoft gears SharePoint towards the web-like path. As no two businesses are alike, these SharePoint developers assist companies and organisations in customising SharePoint based on their needs. And with Microsoft’s current plan to shift SharePoint services to the cloud, the developers are doing their best to adapt to the new environment. In fact, Matthias Einig, the CEO of Rencore, said that the SharePoint developers are starting to feel at home to the cloud setting with varying degrees of success.

In a recent survey involving the third-party SharePoint developer clique, Rencor found out that this move by Microsoft is making these SharePoint developers upset. For one, most of these developers are engaged in on-premises SharePoint services. This shift to the cloud will affect around 1 million developers and 50,000 solution providers, as per reports. In addition, this move will require the SharePoint developers to acquire new skills and become competent in new programming languages for them to adapt to SharePoint’s evolution. As we’ve said, depending on your take to major changes, Microsoft’s “cloud first” strategy can be a good news or bad news.

SharePoint’s Growing Reliance to the Cloud

If you are going to ask InfoWorld, the future of SharePoint is hybrid; that is, the on-premises version of SharePoint will depend more and more to the cloud. As a matter of fact, SharePoint’s on-premises variant has started to “transform” towards the cloud version as a component of Office 365 and SharePoint online. Moreover, there are certain features, such as Delve and Office Graph, that will only be available on the cloud version of SharePoint.

When deciding whether SharePoint in the cloud is for your business, always consider your customisation strategy, migration plan, and integration requirements.