Welcome to the March Edition of That's Correct!
- We present a must-read article for anyone considering changing or upgrading their current internet plan. Prevent email outage and service downtime! Read more...
- Clear blue skies or a storm brewing on the horizon? We discuss Cloud Computing.
- Microsoft Office 2010 is on the way. We’ve been trialling under Beta for some time now, we share some hot features on offer...
As we have mentioned in previous newsletter articles, your business relies on its Internet connection considerably these days. Many businesses, as part of their normal review processes, decide to change their Internet Service Provider (ISP). This could be for various reasons - better service, faster connection, higher data allowance etc. These are all very valid and often making a change can achieve considerable results. However, the process does need to be managed carefully to avoid interruptions to Internet services, especially email.
Behind the scenes there is a system known as DNS that tells other computers how to “find” you on the Internet. When you change your ISP or often even just upgrade your account with the same ISP your IP addresses will change and unless the DNS is also updated nothing will be able to find you. These DNS changes can take anywhere from 24-72 hours to update across the internet, meaning you may not have any email for some hours or even days if not carefully planned beforehand.
If you are contemplating changing your ISP or upgrading with your existing ISP please let us know as far in advance as possible as we can usually make some preliminary changes to minimise interruptions to your services. We may also be able to assist with your choice of ISP or Internet plan.
An even better option is to allow us to take over the total management of your domain. We already do this for the majority of our clients. There are several benefits to having us manage your domain for you. We manage the renewal process so your domain never expires. We manage the DNS for you so we can easily make changes if/when required. If we aren’t managing your domain/DNS and you would like us to please contact us and we’ll be happy to discuss it with you.
There is much talk about Cloud computing in many of the different IT industry magazines. Steve Balmer (CEO of Microsoft) has said that within 2 years 90% of the Microsoft staff will be working on Cloud projects. What does this really mean though?
Cloud Computing is defined by most as having your applications and data residing on servers that are not located on your own premises. In fact, you might not even own the servers, and your data and applications might reside on servers owned by someone like Telstra or even an organisation like Correct Solutions.
You might think – why would I do that? Why would I put my data and applications out there under control of someone else vs. having my own servers in my own offices? Well the biggest reason here is cost savings. You can have a hosted mailbox in the cloud for $20 per month – a lot less than the cost of having your own servers in house, and the associated software and maintenance.
Having your data and applications out there in the cloud going to be more reliable as the hardware that runs the cloud will be higher quality than most of our customers can afford with multiple paths for redundancy. Not only that but having your data in the Cloud means that things like disaster recovery no longer become a concern for the average small business owner.
Ok – so putting your data and applications in the cloud sounds fantastic, it makes you wonder why you should not move to it right now. Go on... surely you’re asking yourself that very question! Why are the guys at Correct Solutions not recommending that all our customers move to the cloud tomorrow if things are so very great?
There are some "Cloud services" we are actively promoting within our client base. There are many clients that we’ve set up to have their emails sanitised by “In the Cloud” services such as ExchangeDefender and Trend Micro’s Interscan Hosted Security. We also have a number of clients who have Hosted Email.
Cloud is certain to have some amazing potential in the future however, there are some very real issues that need to be taken into consideration before deciding it is the right solution for you and your business.
- Internet connection – you will connect to the cloud using your internet connection be it the one in your office or at home. Given that’s the case, how will you survive if that internet connection is down for the day? How will your business operate if your connection to your applications and data is not available due to the Telstra exchange being flooded as happened in Melbourne this week?
- Data Security – your data and applications are now under the control of someone else. How will you guarantee the security of your data in those environments?
- Data Centres – if your data is located in the cloud and potentially those servers are on US soil, are you aware of the fact that the US government may invoke the Patriot Act which gives them access to your data without your consent? How do you feel about this?
We’re not trying to scare you into not considering the Cloud as a viable alternative to your own servers, but we are trying to highlight that you should not be fooled into thinking that the cloud is the solution for everything. Certainly in the future we will be positioning Cloud based solutions for you, but only where they are appropriate and you have had the ability to consider your options with some of the questions above.
You can rely on Correct Solutions to help guide you down the right path at the right time. As with anything, if something is not the right fit for your business model, it might be a thunderstorm you see and not clear blue skies.
We've been lucky enough to be part of a Microsoft technical preview and beta of the upcoming Microsoft Office 2010 that will be arriving in the next couple of months. We've be trialling for the last six months and are really impressed with it as a product.
Microsoft's "Russian Doll" approach to Office 2010 has seen a consolidation and repackaging of the different editions (eg "Professional", "Home and Student" etc); each edition now builds on the components of the previous one, but we'll discuss this in a further article. Right now let's take a look at what makes Office 2010 great.
There are once again improvements on the User interface; the new Microsoft Office Backstage™ view replaces the traditional File menu to let you save, share, print, and publish your documents with just a few clicks. With the improved Ribbon, you can access your favourite commands even more quickly by customising tabs or creating your own to personalise the experience to your work style.
This month we'll start a deep dive into Word 2010, as there are just too many new features in the Office suite to fit it all in one article!
Improved search and navigation
The new and improved Find experience allows you to view a summary of search results in a single pane, and click to access any individual result. The Navigation Pane now provides you a visual outline of your document so you can browse, sort, and find what you need quickly.
Exciting collaboration tools
If you've used OneNote in Office 2007 you'll know how powerful it can be to have a number of people all working in a single file, making modifications and updates without having to deal with the "this file is locked by another user" limitation of sharing files across a network.
Word 2010 now has a feature called co-authoring, which allows you to edit documents and share ideas with others at the same time. (This feature requires either SharePoint Foundation Services or a Windows Live account). You can also view the availability of others who are authoring a document with you and can easily initiate a conversation without leaving Word!
Added visual impact
Word 2010 offers you more options to add visual impact to your documents...
Make your text pop; apply formatting effects such as shadow, bevel, glow, and reflection to your document text as easily as applying bold or underline. Many of the same effects used for images are now available to both text and shapes, enabling you to seamlessly coordinate all of your content.
Choose from dozens of additional SmartArt® Graphics to build impressive diagrams just by typing a bulleted list. Use SmartArt to transform basic, bullet-point text into compelling visuals that better illustrate your ideas.
New picture-editing tools enable you to add special picture effects without additional photo-editing software. You can easily adjust pictures with colour saturation and temperature controls. You also get improved tools for easier and more precise cropping and image correction, to help you turn a simple document into a work of art.
Recover work you thought was lost
Recover draft versions of recently edited files as easily as opening any file, even if you never saved the document.
In summary, Microsoft Word 2010 offers the best of all worlds: enhanced features to create professional-quality documents, easier ways to work together with people, and almost-anywhere access to your files.
Next month we'll explore Outlook 2010, which in our opinion is perhaps the application that has received the most attention, so stay tuned!
That's all for this month! If you would like more information on any of these articles, please give us a call on 02 8831 8200.
