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May 12, 2005 Volume 1, Number 4 |
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In
This Issue ·
From Data to Information · Microsoft Office Promotion |
Technology Report:
From Data to Information
There is
a fundamental change coming to the way we manage data. The trend is to stop
viewing network resources as data, and instead view them as information. We
will no longer focus so much on data, but instead focus on how that data is
delivered to the end user. If data is delivered effectively, it truly becomes
information; this change will take some effort to get to, but will be very
rewarding when we get there. In the
early days of networking, information was stored very haphazardly. You are a
victim of a haphazard approach if you find important corporate documents in a
user’s home directory, scattered across various shares, or at its worst, on a
user’s local PC. Administrators
have reduced these problems to a great extent by structuring file shares and
directories to logically organize company files. File system permissions are
assigned to these directories in order to control who can access the data and
what they can do with it. This file structure method is a vast improvement to
the haphazard approach of the disorganized method of putting files wherever
they wind up. The
fundamental problem with this approach is that in many organizations, there
is just too much data out there to make this approach effective. Most
organizations have multiple servers with data residing on them -- actually
tracking the data down can be problematic and time consuming by itself. This
can also lead to revision history problems as users access shares that may
not have the latest data in them. The Citrix Answer
There are
now two excellent solutions to these problems. The first solution, offered by
Citrix is known as the Citrix Access Suite. Citrix is moving away from being
a remote access company, and to being a full fledged Access Solution vehicle.
The Citrix suite will allow users easy and directed access to the information
that they most care about. One key
to this will be web interfaces into a portal like product that will allow for
dynamic web pages to be created based on a user’s role. The dynamic pages
from Citrix give users access to the exact file shares that have been
identified as important to someone in that role. Citrix will also deliver
specific applications that the user needs as well as any other resources the
user needs. These will be available from anywhere, even if the resources are
not visible directly from the Internet. Users no
longer have to go to the accounting server and drill down the correct share
to find documentation that is HR related. Instead, the person will just go to
the portal page and bring up the site that contains all of the relevant HR
information. The SharePoint
Answer Microsoft’s
SharePoint product represents an even more dramatic
change in the way that data is turned into information. SharePoint will move
document management away from the traditional file system storage toward a
more centralized, SQL Server based model. This will enable focused content to
be delivered to users through Internet Explorer. Instead of hunting down
files, users will go into team pages via Internet Explorer and have
information relevant to what they are working on delivered to them.
SharePoint will organize, categorize and index your data so it is searchable
from any portal. SharePoint also integrates with existing Microsoft standards
(data shares, corporate intranets, etc). Total
documentation management is included in this offering. Users will be able to
check documents in and out when working on them, providing complete revision
control so previous versions can be easily reverted to. What’s more,
notifications can be sent out via email to team members whenever documents
are changed and the option exists to have management approval be a
requirement. Expanding
to SharePoint Portal Server gives a company a fully integrated information
management solution that can bring in various offerings as well as external
resources into one comprehensive presentation of your company data. Please
feel free to contact us to discuss any of these offerings in more detail. Office Professional Edition 2003 Promotion
Have you
been considering upgrading to Office 2003 Professional but thought the cost
of deployment would be too high? Microsoft is currently offering a promotion
in which you can receive a check from Microsoft to use toward our
professional services such as training, upgrading your software, or other
technical services you may need. Depending
on the number of licenses you acquire, you could save thousands of dollars on
valuable services to help boost your profitability and success with your
technology investment. Simply acquire 5 to 200 Office Professional Edition
2003 Licenses through Microsoft Open Business License agreement between
February 1, 2005 and May 31, 2005. Visit www.microsoftincentives.com/officepro to register for
your partner services check no later than July 31, 2005. For each
Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003 license you purchase for your
organization, you will receive a partner services subsidy of up to $50. After
redeeming your licenses, you’ll receive a check from Microsoft payable to the
partner of your choice for the total of all new Microsoft Office Professional
Edition 2003 licenses you acquire (5 to 200) through Open Business from
February 1, 2005, to May 31, 2005. Contact
us today for more information on how to acquire Office Professional Edition
2003 and to take advantage of this great promotion. This email newsletter
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