Ten Steps To Selecting The Right Business Software by Don Fornes
If you are like most small business owners, you don't view yourself as a software technology expert. In fact, you probably approach new information technology (IT) projects with trepidation and hand it off to the back-office staff or third-party consultants. ... The project schedule itself can be as simple as an Excel spreadsheet to track the various tasks or as sophisticated as using project management software to manage the project with Gantt charts and a Critical Path Method network diagram. ... Start with identifying an executive-level project sponsor who will ensure the project gets...

5 Minute Guide to ERP by Natalie Aranda
Information technology has transformed the way we live and the way we do business. ERP, or Enterprise Resource Planning, is one of most widely implemented business software systems in a wide variety of industries and organizations. In this short article, we’ll try to concisely explain the basic... ERP implementation utilizes various ERP software applications to improve the performance of organizations for 1) resource planning, 2) management control and 3) operational control. ... In terms of technology, ERP has evolved from legacy implementation to more flexible tiered client-server...

Software Automation Helps Increase your Bottom Line by Cavyl Stewart
When you own a small business, time is money. And every time a task that should be automated is handled manually, it wastes your time and your business loses money. To make matters even worse, performing these tasks manually, in front of clients or prospects, projects the wrong image. ... Tasks like project management, employee management and inventory management are more efficient when they are automated. ... Something as simple as contact management software is so valuable. ... Here are just a few – use them to send out product and pricing information, to capture contact names...

Computer Programmer by Melissa Steele
According to the BLS, employment in computer and software programming is projected to increase 68 percent between 2004 and 2014. In fact it’s the third fastest growing industry in the economy. Computer programmers earn between $30.00 and $35.00 an hour and progressing to management could... This degree could be in computer science, mathematics or information technology. ... A career as a computer programmer might not seem the “sexiest” option for graduates of tech schools, but computer programming is behind every area of technology.

Groove Network. Are you in it? by Mike Nielsen
If you are in a business that passes documents around to be reviewed and edited over and over before they are ready to be posted for advertising or for a client, then you have probably already heard of a software solution to help keep your “floating” documents organized from Groove Network. ... Groove Network’s software keeps all files, projects, and data in one centralized location that everyone who is working on the project can access. ... NextPage 1.5 Collaboration Software tracks documents with Digital Thread technology.

IT Resource Planning by Nida Rehman
The new buzz word for companies looking to the future An oft-heard mantra these days is aligning IT with the business. Many IT departments are struggling to evaluate how well they service their customers' needs or even to demonstrate what value they provide. ... Key elements of IT include project and portfolio management, resource and asset management, performance and change management, business and IT service management and service delivery. ... To make matters worse, they have no clearly defined way of linking potential demand for IT services with available supply, because any such...

The Brutal Reality of IRM by Tim Bryce
"You must first plant the seeds in order to harvest the crop." - Bryce's Law The challenge facing systems development since the MIS movement of the 1960's has been to share and reuse information resources on an enterprise-wide basis. There are substantial benefits for doing so: The... The concept of Information Resource Management (IRM) is actually quite simple: to inventory and control all of the resources needed to satisfy the information needs of an enterprise. ... Despite the considerable benefits associated with Information Resource Management, it will never be realized in this...

The Right IT Stuff - Finding and Working with the Best IT & Web Partner for Your Small Business by Ilene Rosoff
Do you often feel stuck in the computer abyss when it comes to managing your company's needs for web or information technology services? Businesses with fewer than 50 or 60 employees often find themselves struggling to keep pace with their basic web and computer support services and miss out on... The difference between "Joe-I-Fix-Anything-PCs" and a provider of complete information technology services and solutions is someone who can do a good discovery about your organization and its goals, facilitate the project and help bring together providers for the components outside their expertise.

.Net Charts and Graphs Interact with Businesses and Customers by Joe Miller
Bar charts, bar graphs, and any other chart or graph used in financial statements, inventory reports, sales reports, and a slew of other types of reports have typically been paper reports or online reports depicting various levels of complex information for tracking, investing, planning, and... Perhaps one of the best features of .net technology, including the .net chart, the .net map, and the .net graph, is that all .net charts are convertible to PDF through .net PDF technology. ... Investors have access to financial statements prepared with .net technology, making it easier for them to...

Computer Network Management by Frank Hughes
Today it is almost inconceivable for a business not to have computers, whether it is a construction company or a high technology firm. When a business has more than one computer, they are almost always connected together in a local area network. These networks may be more or less advanced and... Computer Network Management: preliminary analysis phases The first phase of computer network management is to determine the source of the problem (a preliminary study that looks into several options of differing scope may be useful here) and defining it in a specification of requirements.