Cloud Computing Advantages & Disadvantages

A ‘shared Outlook system’ is one of the top requests put to our IT consultants when they visit new or existing customers. Few need persuading that Outlook is a pretty handy way of storing and organising email, contacts and calendars. Indeed it can also synchronise with a wide range of mobile phones. The drawback is that – until recently – sharing this information with other people, or setting up ‘group’ calendars and contact lists has necessitated the purchase of a Microsoft Exchange Server, with all its attendant costs.

Licensing has never been a particularly easy or indeed interesting topic and one of the few disappointments with Windows 7 is that Microsoft has done nothing to simplify their arcane licensing arrangements. We’ll try our best to explain, but this is a fundamentally complex area. Remember, this is about Windows, not Office (Microsoft Office – Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook etc.. is a separate product and always has been)!

Just as you have finally started getting to grips with the ill-fated Windows Vista, which is now – believe it or not – over 2 years old, Microsoft has been busy developing the next generation operating system, Windows 7. The system has been released for testing for some time now and may well be officially launched later this year. Here at ESP, we have had an early copy of it running on a test rig and thought you might be interested to know what (allegedly) is in store, so here are some of the more contentious highlights & our thoughts on them:

Many ESP Projects clients will be interested to know that the London Advice Services Alliance has provided a FREE contact/case management database (known as AIMS).

AIMS is intended for organisations needing a system to collect information on their clients – everything from managing their case load, keeping notes, mailing and emailing and produce reporting. It can also be extended with calendars, financial reporting and monitoring of outcomes. To quote from the website:

Over the years, the popularity of the Portable Document Format (PDF) has increased hugely. This once obscure little extension is now so ubiquitous that customers have come to expect that a PC ‘comes with’ Acrobat reader – Adobe’s free PDF reader. For those who have not fully come to terms with PDF, the principle is easy to grasp: most common software – such as Microsoft Word – will save a file using a proprietary format, in this case the .doc format. This in effect means that only people with Microsoft Word can open that document – which clearly excludes some people from reading it at all.

0 – the number of clients who have cancelled their contract with us because of service issues

Number 1 – ESP aims to be the best ICT Support provider in South Yorkshire!

2 – it takes about two years of training, hard work and experience for a trainee at ESP to become a Network Engineer

If you have looked at our you will have seen that we put a lot of emphasis on Content Management Systems (CMS) with names such as “Joomla” and “Plone“. If you are wondering what it is all about then this article will explain. It’s really a very simple idea.

A CMS is a tool that allows people with little or no technical expertise to manage and update their own website. It puts control of the website into the hands of people with management and marketing skills, without needing to pay a web designer every time they want to change some text on their website.

So you’ve got yourself a shiny new , you’ve told all your friends and colleagues about it and made sure your web address is on all your publicity material. Now, of course, you want your site to be listed at the top of Google for various search terms.

Unfortunately, there is no magic solution. If there was, everyone would use it, and everyone can’t be top at the same time. But there are lots of things you can do to improve your ranking. These can be divided up into 3 main areas:

As we hope you all know by now, ESP Projects is a Social Enterprise, indeed a rather innovative one at that! But how many of you know that our company is also a proud participant in the Circuit Rider movement too?

Circuit Riders are mobile IT consultants that specialise in providing IT support for not-for-profit organisations. Their work, however, goes beyond the traditional IT sales model, and Circuit Riders amongst other things should take an interest in why a solution is needed and explain the options in a non-technical manner before proposing any solution. Circuit Riders also work with their clients to help manage change, reduce dependency and provide support over time rather than seeking to make a quick buck. Together we constitute a professional network and will consult and signpost amongst members of that network and others to help clients find the right advice.