Come see the new facility at Air Orlando Executive Airport. Air Orlando is under new management and creating an interactive flight school and executive airport. We are excited to see the progress. tekGIANTS is leading their technology initiatives. We hope to see our friends out there. For all tekGIANTS clients we see, we will give you a FREE hour of tech support, or a $50 gift card.

Thank you!

I know most of us if not all of us have heard or considered using the Google suite of apps and products. As small business owners, entrepreneurs and overall techie people, it is very appealing. Well according to Microsoft (Yes I know and hear all the wohs), they are saying not so fast. So much so, they published a recent white paper putting a black cloud in Google’s Cloud. It is becoming more and more interesting to see the cloud wars play out. Well more to come…But read it. Worth the time.

Read more here:

http://www.tekgiants.com/docs/googleapps.pdf

Office 2011 has finally come out with a decent product that gives the MS users and fans a reason to consider Apple. Here is why:

1. Entourage creates separate store files upon entry and exit into the app. These then get dumped in a hidden location ( download a free app called Disk Inventory) which causes a phantom file which by the way eats into drive space. So run that app and you will see. Outlook 2011 works like it’s MS counterpart – which is a good thing.
2. A note to remember Is Office 2011 does NOT import smart folders so all you users that live by this…stop. Drag all this mail info Another folder under the inbox and then import it as a ost or pst.
3. Multiple exchange accts are now supported and work great. Even color code them.
4. Interface looks really smooth and Mac-esq. I think MS is finally catching on.
5. Import from a PC pst to 2011 works great. Thank god!
6. Lots of great collaboration features like communicator (inter-company chat system).
7. Security features are significantly better.
8. Ease of use is seamless.
9. Template library is fantastic. Lots of shells.

I think Office 2011 for Mac is a HUGE improvement over the past releases. I would say if you are a Mac user using office allot you def should make the purchase.

If you need help or have any questions on Outlook 2011 for Mac or any other IT questions. Feel free to aak. Thank you

Come see me speak at Orlando, Inc event:

http://www.orlando.org/index.php?cid=2544657&src=events&srctype=detail&category=Business%20Intelligence%20Series&refno=228834&curlid=91756

Here is a printer friendly version of our most recent article published in First Monday Magazine:

Enterprises can bypass most IT problems by adopting public cloud services, an analyst with the IDC has claimed.

David Bradshaw, the European head of SaaS market research with the International Data Corporation (IDC), has claimed that by shifting some of their IT operations to the cloud, companies can overcome most problems, and also reduce costs.

He said that this is because a third party will be responsible for the smooth running of IT operations in the cloud. Some CEO’s have a problem with just handing over the full operations off-site to a new vendor they do not know. Well this is all overcome by developing a relationship with your cloud vendor and with partnering with a cloud vendor that has a good reputation. In addition, most cloud vendors offer tools to see what is going on with your servers.

Bradshaw added that this will then allow the companies to focus mainly on using the operation, instead of wasting time and resources on building and maintaining it themselves.

“The public cloud allows organizations to displace a problem and shift it into the cloud. The orchestration will be the problem of the IT department, the actual systems behind the service won’t,” said Bradshaw .

The suggestions made by the cloud expert come after the IDC predicted that the revenue generated from cloud computing services will increase from $582 million in 2009 to $718 million in 2014.

For more information, contact a representative at tekgiants at 321-206-6376. tekgiants is Florida’s leading cloud experts and can assist and reduce your IT costs by over 50%. We offer FREE webinars on moving to the cloud. Check out our web site for more information www.hiveve.com.

With a company as spread out as T.D. Williamson Inc., getting a solid tech infrastructure in place is a challenge, says Rick Bennett, chief information officer at the pipeline integrity company.

“We’re an international company with 57 locations in 37 different countries,” he said. “As such, it would be cost-prohibitive to have data centers hosting various applications in every location around the world.”

That’s why many employees at the company do their work with applications that are not loaded on local computers but on distant servers that workers can access from anywhere.

T.D. Williamson is among a growing number of local companies that are turning to or looking into cloud computing, where computer functions are stored online, or “in the cloud.”

SpringPoint Technologies, an IT services and staffing company in Tulsa, helps connect businesses with the cloud. President Travis Short says more and more clients are requesting such services.

“We’re seeing a lot of adoption of this, primarily with small businesses,” he said.

In a broad sense, cloud computing has been around for years. Online e-mail, such as Hotmail or Gmail, was one of the earliest forms of cloud computing.

But in recent years, connections and computing power have improved to the point that more complex computer programs, such as word processing and spreadsheets, can be used via the Internet without a local copy of the program.

This enables employees to access work
functions from anywhere without being chained to their desk computers or expensive local servers. Bennett said employees at T.D. Williamson already use Salesforce.com, a customer relationship management solution, and Workday, a human resource information system, and are looking into using Microsoft Sharepoint, a cloud-based collaboration tool.

SpringPoint’s Short said the practice is especially attractive to small businesses without their own IT departments, but even some larger companies with internal IT personnel are moving to the cloud, since it can cut maintenance costs.

“This takes the worry out of keeping e-mail up and running,” he said.

Often, the maker of the application also maintains the servers it runs on, eliminating the need for workers to maintain it.

Fred Menge, managing director of Magnir, a local information management consulting firm, said larger companies have been more reluctant to bring their applications online.

“Big companies are a little less suited, since they want to manage their equipment in-house,” he said.

Local companies like SpringPoint help customers determine which functions would be good fits within the cloud and connects them with providers of the services. In fact, Short said many big Silicon Valley companies are making a strong push toward cloud computing.

“We’re seeing the bigger software manufacturers drive the market in this direction,” he said.

Although cloud computing has its advantages, it comes with unique drawbacks. Bennett said that while the initial acquisition costs are much lower than normal, especially when large servers are involved, the recurring fees for the service can add up.

There’s also the need for a constant online connection.

“If the Internet’s down, you’re down,” Bennett said.

Still, Short said that disconnections can be less disruptive than local server crashes.

“If they lose access to the Internet, their mail is still flowing,” he said. “If their internal e-mail went down, they wouldn’t get it.”

T.D. Williamson, like other companies considering online work, is carefully weighing its needs and capabilities before moving any function into the cloud, Bennett said.

“We look at every application and the needs of the company,” he said, “and then we make the decision.”

Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/business/article.aspx?subjectid=52&articleid=20100808_52_E1_Photoi299296&allcom=1

Source:

http://www.tulsaworld.com/business/article.aspx?subjectid=52&articleid=20100808_52_E1_Photoi299296&allcom=1

Ok as most of you who know me, they have seen me with a new ear piece (Bluetooth brain radiator). Well perhaps many of you also purchased some from work of mouth, online reviews, and various other areas. Well here is the low-down guys/gals. Most of them will not sound like a standard phone call made direct from your cell, however for those of you like me who do like holding the phone to your head. Here are some reviews of the latest and greatest of the headsets your are eye-balling. I am only going to review the actual in the ear headsets. If you would like a full review of the speakerphone versions, please shoot me a tweet, or contact me here and I can provide you a solid solution before you waste your money.

• Base Class – Jabra BT 2080. OK on this one….No Noise Cancellation. For the price, spend the extra few bucks and get the noise cancellation.
• Base Class – Jabra Extreme. Stay away. Tunnel vision is what I call these basic models. Where it sounds like you are in a tunnel. No dice.
• Platinum Models – Motorola H17txt. In ear voice commands. Her voice is annoying has hell and frankly this is the worst $99 I have ever spent. (Go with the Plantronics Voyager Pro. Review to follow).
• Platinum Model – Plantronics Voyager Pro. I, and my business partner have rated this one the best in comfort, quality, and voice reception. I got the less complaints out of this one. Therefore this headset and the upcoming BlueAnt (Model Number Unknown) are the winners. Keep reading.
• Platinum Model – Plantronics Voyager 520. This is the lower-end of the plantronics models, however I have not fully tested this one. If you are looking for an inexpensive model, this is a viable solution. If you can afford it, spring for the Pro. Plantronics are the Cadillac of the headsets and they have been doing BT for years.
• Platinum Model – Plantronics Discovery 975 – Not my style. First of all it comes with a carrying case. To me, that screams POS. Because it should be in your ear working. Not in a hip-case. Another big negative are no ear hooks. A must have for me.
• Platinum Model – Jabra Stone. Well I am on the fence with this one. I didn’t like the extra charge you have to snap it into. So you cannot charge it without the little “stone cradle”. Voice quality was ok. High priced. On this one, my feeling is thumbs down.
• Platinum Model – Jawbone Icon: From what I can tell, again, no ear hooks. Which is a deal killer for me. Voice quality is bearable. But personally, I do not like these and think they have fallen short in the quality department.
• Platinum Model – Samsung HM3500: A new player on the block. This one claims to have 180 hours of standby time. Which, I think is another BS way to lure people into the world of BT headsets. It does have an ear hook, and I would give this one a shot. I have not heard the sound quality yet.

Obviously, there are many choices when it comes to BT headsets. I am currently using the new BlueAnt model and really have happy thus far. No complaints from callers, voice activations, voice quality is very good, and affordable. To me, the 2 that the chimp guarantee’s happiness on are:

1. BlueAnt (Any of their products are well put together and quality is important. So they have my business)
2. Plantronics Voyager Pro – Great product, works great. A great buy!

We often test many products and/or electronics. Please do not hesitate to send a request to review a certain product, any product questions, or anything we can do to help make your decision-making as easy as possible.

We thank you for looking.

Ok, I am the first to admit I love my iPhone 4. However if we cannot use it as a phone, then its useless to us. Not to mention, these other phones can save us quite a bit of money. As a company we have the following:

• 10 iPhones (4 iPhone 4′s – 3GS Are much better thus far – Apple, I better see an update soon)
• 3 Verizon WiFi cards
• Total cost to the company = over $1500/mo. With the other carriers, we could potentially save over $1000/mo. Now, I will get over the nice screen, and other lovely apps that it comes with to save and get a similar device.

Ok so here is the breakdown:

Source:

http://skattertech.com/2010/06/infographic-evo-4g-vs-iphone-4-vs-droid-x/#

Thank you. Great Write up!!!