Paul's shared items
I'm not a bike rider, but I think Retro's line of cycling jerseys are sharper than any others I've seen whizzing past my lazy ass. Their New Yorker jerseys are a brand new line. Retro Cycling Jerseys
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On-premise applications like Sharepoint are becoming a target for cloud-based services. Up to now, customers could either start with Sharepoint, or an online alternative like Google Sites.
But now we are seeing the emergence of services that help you migrate Sharepoint to Google Apps. LTech announced today that it is offering LTech CloudMove, a tool that automates moving documents to the cloud.
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Still, companies aren't always moving all of their assets to the cloud. Many are taking a hybrid approach, something both IBM and Microsoft see happening with clients.
LTech's CTO Ed Laczynski said the migration is part of a process that small businesses are undergoing. They start with migrating email, followed by a more complete shift to the cloud:
"We are seeing a larger number of SMBs making the move to the cloud. The catalyst being the cost benefits provided. Email and collaboration is the initial first step but is often proceeded by the exploration of moving applications and infrastructure."
LTech CloudMove automatically connects Sharepoint to Google Apps, allowing for large migrations.
Users start by providing their credentials for Google Apps.
Then they choose what to upload.
This is followed by choosing a repository for the documents.
The service requires the Google Apps Premier or Education edition, and costs $10 per user per year. Here is a list of the other requirements:
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Your friends at RatherGood want you to remember: The Internet is Made of Cats. They make an excellent case for this position, as well. (via Charlie Stross)
- Dogs and cats, living together ... mass hysteria! Boing Boing
- Cats for Gold: turn your glitter to litter! - Boing Boing
- The Laugh-Out-Loud Cats Sell Out, by A. Koford - Boing Boing
- IBM computer brain simulation as complex as a cat's Boing Boing
- Illustrated book about cats written by Amazon Mechanical Turk ...
- Tortoise hates cats - Boing Boing
- Levitating Cat Boing Boing
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Wearing oversized Mickey Mouse gloves, Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Ochocinco catches a pass Jan. 23, 2010 in front of Cinderella Castle at the Magic Kingdom in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. The NFL All Pro visited the theme park during the “Ocho Cinco Tour For Giving,” a philanthropic bus tour with stops at charity organizations in Cincinnati, Ohio, Atlanta and Orlando, Fl.
The three-day journey kicked off in Cincinnati, where 10 lucky fans were chosen to join the NFL star for the tour. Immediately prior to coming to the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World, Ochocinco accompanied the group to downtown Orlando, Fla. where he and the fans performed volunteer service at the Orlando Union Rescue Mission.
Chad Ochocinco (right) takes a ride Jan. 23, 2010 aboard the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad roller coaster at the Magic Kingdom in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. with fan John Ross (left) of Miami Beach, Fla. Ross was among 10 fans chosen to join the “Ocho Cinco Tour For Giving.” Immediately prior to bringing the 10 fans to the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World, Ochocinco accompanied the group to downtown Orlando, Fla. where he and the fans performed volunteer service at the Orlando Union Rescue Mission.
(Photos courtesy Disney. Todd Anderson, photographer)
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Chad Ochocinco invades Disney World
The Disney Blog - Disney News and Information -- by fans, for fans
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It’s been less than a year, but Walt Disney World is shuffling VP spots at Disney’s Animal Kingdom again. Michael Colglazier will be the new vice president at Animal Kingdom. Colglazier previously held the position of VP of business development with ties to Disneyland Resort, Epcot and strategic planning during the course of his 20-year career with Disney.
Kevin Lansberry either got the short end of the stick, or served dutifully while Disney searched for someone with appropriate experience to run a theme park. Prior to his short tenure at DAK, Lansberry was VP of Downtown Disney. He is now filling the opening position of senior vice president of worldwide travel operations, there he will be in charge of reservation-center operations for all of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts.
(via the Orlando Sentinel)
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Disney places new VP at Animal Kingdom
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We have not been writing too much as of late about Enterprise 2.0. Perhaps that's in part because it seems like the phrase is getting a bit tired.
Perhaps also it is because it feels like so much of the discussion centers around the technology that Enterprise 2.0 is all about.
In any case, we found this post on Tech IT Easy. It goes through five elevator pitches to make for Enterprise 2.0.
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It's a telling post. While it seems like Enterprise 2.0 is becoming widely adopted, there is still a struggle for how to explain what it means and how to pitch the concept to executive management, middle managers and the people who may find the technology valuable for their work.
Let's start at the top:
CEO
How Enterprise 2.0 can help: Better productivity and innovation.
Apprehension: Productivity will decrease when employees have access to Enterprise 2.0 tools.
Pitch: "Do you rank amongst the 65% of executives disappointed with the level of innovation in their company?"
Our take: You need a champion in executive management for Enterprise 2.0. Going direct to the CEO may be fruitless - unless of course you are the executive manager making the case.
Head of HR
How Enterprise 2.0 can help: Fosters a healthier culture across the organization and improves employee morale.
Apprehension: Employees may become less engaged.
Pitch: "Hey, I've heard that about 40% of the workforce are either disengaged or disenchanted. What are we doing in our company about that?"
Our take: What are we going to do when all of our employees have smartphones, work at home, and are working with a product team, partners and select customers on a time sensitive project?
CIO
How Enterprise 2.0 can help: Better knowledge management within the enterprise, which leads to a better ROI on IT systems.
Apprehension: Security.
Pitch: "Have you heard about this study showing that 46% of the people surveyed find what they're looking for on the company Intranet? Did you know that twice as often they find what they want on the Internet?"
Our take: Have you heard about the five business groups that are using these SaaS environments? The services are pretty affordable. By the way, have you looked into the ROI on these cloud computing apps?
Middle Manager
How Enterprise 2.0 can help: Technologies, processes and methods are evolving fast. There has to be a better way to manage the information
Apprehension: Loss of control.
Pitch: "How do you feel about the figures that managers spend two hours a day looking for data and that most of it is of no value? "
Our take: How's your email inbox looking?
Experts
How Enterprise 2.0 can help: You can get your knowledge out to the organization more efficiently.
Apprehension: Top-down directed effort will make it harder to get the work done.
Pitch: "Have you heard that knowledge workers spend 30% of their time looking for expertise such as yours?"
Our take: How do you learn about new issues? Have you ever looked on Twitter to monitor real-time conversations about your particular expertise?
Elevator Pitches: Do they Work?
Elevator pitches are meant to get the conversation started. Entrepreneurs don't close deals immediately after a 60-second pitch to a VC. The parallel to Enterprise 2.0 is a bit thin but the process of thinking through the value of Enterprise 2.0 is an exercise that has merit and may make the difference when pitching that cool, new enterprise collaboration service you are so sure would be hit in the organization.
Discuss
When Google announced an upgrade to their Google Docs service earlier this month, a company blog post also mentioned several third-party applications which can help make the transition to the online service easier. With these apps, you can transfer and synchronize your local files to Google Docs without having to upload them one-by-one. But which application is right for you?
We took a look at the options Google suggested and have summarized the features, drawbacks and pricing information below. In addition, we also reviewed one other application not specifically mentioned in the Google blog post that may be of use to those moving to the cloud-based service.
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1. Memeo Connect for Google Apps
Memeo Connect is a desktop application available for both Mac and PC (XP and higher) which lets you view files on both your desktop and within Google Docs. In the software program, files and folders already online are downloaded to your computer. Local files not yet online can then be moved to the appropriate Google Docs folder via drag-and-drop. The service is relatively simple to use as it presents your documents in an easy-to-navigate window while also incorporating Google's online features like starred files and shared folders.
One major drawback to Memeo Connect is that there's no automatic synchronization option. That means you can't monitor a local folder or folders for new files or changes and then have those documents seamlessly synced to Google's online service. This feature should arrive in a future update, however, so don't let its lack of inclusion be a deal breaker for you if the service fulfills all your other needs.
For personal users of Google Docs, the biggest drawback to Memeo is that the service is only available to users of Google Apps Premier edition, a business-level version of the service which also offers calendaring, groups, Web site creation tools, and video sharing to corporate users for $50 per user per year. Memeo Connect itself costs an additional $9/year.
2. Syncplicity
Syncplicity allows a Google Docs user the ability to access, manage, sync, share, and backup their files online. The downloadable software program seamlessly integrates with Windows Explorer for file management purposes. (The Mac software beta program was discontinued in July of last year but the company tells us they're working on an entirely new version right now.) The Explorer integration is a decidedly helpful feature for those who don't want to change the way they already work.
In addition, unlike Memeo Connect, automatic synchronization is possible. And that synchronization isn't only with Google Docs - the software can also sync files to its own website as well as other computers running the Syncplicity software. That means your files are not only available on other machines, they're backed up in multiple places online too. Another benefit to Syncplicity's service is its "restore" feature which lets you undelete files using their Web application. Those accidentally deleted files are immediately restored to your PC's hard drive with a click of a button.
Syncplicity is available in multiple versions for anyone using Google Docs. A free personal edition provides 2 GB of online storage for up to 2 computers while a $15/month personal edition offers 50 GB of storage for up to 5 computers. Businesses can sign up for a separate plan which starts at $45/month for 3 users and goes up from there.
3. Offisync
Offisync is a Microsoft Office plugin which integrates Google Docs directly within your Office software. (See our earlier review here). This is useful for those who only want to upload specific files to Google Docs instead of automatically syncing entire folders. Once installed, the plugin adds an additional menu to Office's software (either Office 2003 or 2007) where you are provided with buttons which allow you to open, save, search, collaborate, and email your Google Docs files.
The software works on Windows PCs and is available for personal users of Google Docs or Google Apps. An Enterprise version provides the same functionality to business users by providing integration with Google's website building software, Google Sites, a service which provides a simplified alternative to SharePoint.
With any one of the three tools above, you can easily transition from a desktop-based computing environment to one where your Office documents are created, managed, and maintained in the cloud. However, it's important to note that Google Docs isn't the only online office suite available. Companies like Zoho, Adobe, ThinkFree, and others also provide online alternatives to Microsoft Office. In addition, Microsoft itself recently launched its own Office Web Applications into beta.
If you're a user of any of the programs mentioned here, let us know about your experiences. Would you recommend one program over another? Are there features you would like to see added? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Discuss
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