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Archive for November, 2009

Why Sharepoint Services are Need For Small Businesses

Tuesday, November 24th, 2009

Some years ago, Linux was often preferred by most webmasters. Systems running the Microsoft Windows NT4 were critiqued, neglected because of lack of security, and difficulty to administer. According to many, Linux has simplified core, which could be easily reduced to the sole purpose of web hosting, unlike windows.

Listening to those critics, Microsoft launched Windows 2000 server that is not only secure adequately, but also easy to use, even by computer newbies. With the development of Windows 2000, Microsoft offered webmasters (1) a more secure system based on a new core, and (2) an interface like Windows 98, but much easier to be administered. The development of Microsoft Sharepoint Portal Server , which is easy to deploy, administer and use . With its familiar graphical interface, it is easy to use. In addition, Windows  SharePoint Server 2003 R2 is secure and reliable.

Converting your file server in a collaboration server – Microsoft SharePoint Services is the ideal platform for creating web sites for information sharing and productivity of teams. It can accommodate thousands of sites within an organization, manages the distribution of charge within a server farm and deployment of databases in cluster.

Small companies have found large gains in the use of SharePoint to address specific business problems with measurable results. In many cases the free version of the software (WSS) is sufficient to provide enormous value, and therefore the cost is very reasonable for the tightest of budgets.

Small businesses find documents and information that is common to all employees or employee groups. Make this content “Self-service”, sending the intranet site.

*Human Resources documents – manuals, employee vacation request forms, employee contact lists, emergency contact lists, etc.

* The files of clients – current contracts, contact information, meeting notes, forms, costs, etc.

* File Operations – reports, accounting files, procedures, contact lists from your suppliers, etc.

Web services easy to find, share and reuse – Windows Server 2003 R2 includes the multi-platform UDDI (Universal Description, Discovery and Integration) for the establishment of a dynamic and flexible infrastructure for Web services.

Microsoft Office SharePoint Sever (MOSS) and Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) are vast platforms and thus in-depth product knowledge is inevitable for a successful, optimal yield, full life cycle implementation.

Companies like Ishir Infotech, Catapult system having expertise in Sharepoint Development, have been engaged in implementation and customization of this technology since its inception. Thus over the period of time have we have developed a unique methodology to understand the nuances of client requirements and match that up with best possible corresponding solution, be it with Out of the Box features or custom development.

Improve the protection and availability of documents- With its new restoration function, any user can instantly recover previous versions of their files, without the need of a computer technician.

Rapid Deployment of Applications with the Integrated Web Application Server – The integrated Microsoft. NET is deeply integrated into the operating system Windows Server 2003 R2, enabling the creation of high-performance Web applications without ambiguity.

Business Opportunities in Outsourcing of Software Development

Tuesday, November 17th, 2009

What is Software Outsourcing?

Outsourcing of Software Development to an offshore vendor is called offshore Software outsourcing. The benefits of outsourcing, may it be software, or any other service remains same. Cost effectiveness, is what companies look for when they outsource software development. It is very important for offshore service providers and the clients to maintain a proper communication channel with each other besides taking care of the Offshore Outsourcing legal issues  involved in offshore software outsourcing. What also matters is timely execution of projects.

IT outsourcing means hiring somebody outside your company to perform development services that have traditionally been handled by internal staff. An outsourcing partnership can help you to achieve your goals while allowing your company to focus on its core business. Typically, an outside software developer is contracted to produce an application that is designed specifically for you and according to your exact requirements.

Why Outsource Software Development?

There are many reasons for opting software development to develop all or a part of your software:

* Specialized Knowledge and Experience
* Improve Business Focus
* Lowering Cost
* Making Better use of Time and Energy Costs
* Lack of Significant Resources to Handle the Project in the Required Timeframe
* Reduced Risk
* Make More Efficient use of Land, Labor, Capital and Technology
* Reduce time to Market

Benefits of Software Outsourcing

* Access to an Experienced Team:
The lead-time to start the project is reduced significantly as the software development company has already gathered the team you need.

* Improved Focus on Core Business:
Company can get freed of their tension and can focus on the core business by outsourcing some part of their work.

* Access to Technological Expertise:
Relying on an experienced team of professionals who use the appropriate technology you require, increases the chances of having a successful project.

* Cost Benefits:
The costs of Offshore software Development are much lower than hiring new programmers to fulfill the needs.

* Development Risk Minimization:
Proven development process and quality management system reduces the risk involved in development.

* Increase Project Management Capabilities:
To ensure the successful completion of your project, skills from the experienced software development company that understand and uses project management principles can be added to your own for better results.

* Knowledge and Expertise Continuity:
When a project is outsourced, the risk of losing knowledge and expertise is significantly reduced as the consulting company as a whole is responsible for completing the project.

* Reduce HR costs:
HR costs are reduced significantly as hiring new staff for a short period is very costly, particularly if there are no subsequent projects that require their services. Therefore outsourcing gives a better solution to it as the HR costs are limited to the project duration.

* Flexibility:
When facing a huge project but of short duration, you can use Offshore programming to cut down the housing, recruiting and training expenses.

Microsoft BPOS: Trusting Software-plus-services

Friday, November 13th, 2009

Software-plus-services brings together the best of cloud-based, hosted services and the software that resides on a variety of devices to provide flexible and effective solutions for doing business. With software-plus-services as your IT strategy, you can focus your internal IT efforts on the systems and applications that are most critical to your agency and that leverage your IT expertise. Other systems can be hosted by Microsoft or by a third party which handles deployment, maintenance, and software upgrades and helps ensure that your availability requirements are met.

Skepticism is healthy, and, especially in a challenging economy, it can mean the difference between success and failure. These days, there isn’t much leeway for a misstep. So when a new paradigm like cloud computing or a new platform like Microsoft’s Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS) comes along, it’s smart to ask questions—and there are plenty to ask.

We’ve listened to BPOS customers as well as those who are just curious about the new offering. Across them all, a handful of common themes emerge from all of the questions. We looked at what Microsoft’s suite is in our prior BPOS article. This time around, we thought it would be a good idea to turn from what to why. Why is the new paradigm any better than the old? Why does the suite make sense? Why should companies trust in the new platform? Let’s dig up some answers.

Why Trust Software-plus-services?

Data is any company’s lifeblood. Email contains confidential correspondence with customers. Presentations hold competitive plans and forecasting. If these data should get lost or stolen or sold off to interested parties, the results for the company could be dire, possibly lethal. So it’s no wonder that many companies are loathe to let their data offsite. Today, many government agencies, with staff trained in the old school of security, strictly forbid it.

The cloud computing, or software-plus-services (SPS), model obviously defies the old paradigm. It’s not just that the company’s data is off-site—the data could be anywhere. A large vendor like Microsoft employs numerous data centers and makes sure that any company’s data is stored in multiple centers for redundancy. A customer will never know where his data is or how many instances of it exist outside of his walls. This ambiguity is no doubt part of why we kept hearing people ask whether Microsoft Online Services could be trusted with their data.

Microsoft keeps much of that information hidden away for security’s sake. The less nuts and bolts information about such matters is made public, the safer Microsoft’s systems will be.

Why Use Bespoke Software Development?

Wednesday, November 11th, 2009

Most software that you use will be ‘off the shelf’ packages and the same application will typically be run by thousands or even millions of users. The other type of software that you may use is bespoke software applications which has been custom developed for your particular organization. Bespoke software applications, written to meet specific client requirements, offer many advantages over standard, off-the-shelf software. There are various advantages and disadvantages to Bespoke software application approaches.

Advantages of Bespoke Software
Development

  • Customized software application will work with you
  • Bespoke software is easy to use because it works the way you work.
  • Ease of use of a custom software solution
  • You are in control – you can make the changes you require when you like.
  • Ease of use of a custom software solution
  • Bespoke software precisely matches your working practices, requiring less supervision and generating fewer errors
  • Greater efficiency from a bespoke software application
  • Bespoke applications increase productivity by automating repetitive tasks.
  • Innovate and be creative with software only you use
  • Your own software differentiates you from the competition with unique products and services.
  • More intelligence in a bespoke solution makes understanding your information simple
  • Business information is easier to understand because bespoke applications incorporate your business know-how.
  • All knowledge from one source
  • Information can be integrated from disparate existing applications.

Whatever your application, whatever your type of business, your business could benefit from bespoke software.

Bespoke Software v Off The Shelf

A custom application may be a better solution than standard, off the shelf, software products. Off the shelf software is designed for a wide range of businesses and may not be ideally suited for a specific business.

With off the shelf software you can be left to do everything yourself including installation, defining fields, importing data. Costs can be deceptive as they don’t include setup, customization of reports, support nor your own learning time.

Off-the-shelf software often forces you to work in ways that are not always natural or efficient. They must cater for a wide range of organizations and may include many functions you will never use. You may have to use clumsy, general purpose screens not designed specifically for your needs.

Custom software applications can actually cost less, especially for large number of users. You pay a one off fee regardless of the number of users.

Conclusions
Having a bespoke application developed for you can potentially provide you with major business and commercial benefits and allow you to gain significant competitive advantage. However you have to expect to pay more for it than for a packaged solution and it is also essential that you use a professional developer who works to Best Practice standards and who is happy to provide you with the source code to your application.

Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite now for $10 per user per month (new pricing)

Wednesday, November 4th, 2009

Small and medium enterprises can now subscribe to Microsoft’s e-mail and collaboration solutions online, for $10 per user per month.

All one needs to do is log on to the online services center, add the chosen services that could range from Exchange Online Standard, SharePoint Online Standard, Office Communication Online and Office Live Meeting Standard, to their shopping cart.

Microsoft has announced the commercial availability of the online services offering from prices starting at $2 per user per month for deskless workers. This is something really unique offering from Microsoft for users within the enterprise traditionally neglected by IT departments due to software licensing costs. Deskless workers include people in the shop floor, truck drivers, factory workers, etc. A smaller business can access the suite online and start using it for a monthly subscription whereas mid or large companies can migrate from their legacy systems with the help of partners like ISHIR.

While the standard BPOS suite will cost the $10 per user per month, they could choose individual offerings at the rate of $5 per user per month for Exchange Online, $5.25 per user per month for SharePoint. The subscription fee for Office Communication Online is $2 per month per user and for Office Live Meeting is $4.50 per user per month.  Now there is a cost-effective way for your entire organization to communicate and collaborate.  You can adjust the mix of Standard and Deskless offerings to suit your needs and budgets.

As part of Microsoft Software + Services offering the customers will have the option to use flexible models of accessing enterprise wide software, both on premise and off the internet or a combination of both, at low prices. ISHIR already has over 100 businesses on board in the 30 day trial period. Clients already in trial claim that their businesses can experience increased operational efficiency and the savings could be between 10 and 50 per cent of the information technology costs depending their existing IT costs.

The mid to larger enterprises will now be able to leverage a combination of on premise and on the cloud based solution to bring about efficiencies and cost cutting benefits, not to mention be able to re-purpose their IT resources to more strategic initiatives within the IT organization.

To sign up for a 30 day risk free trial please visit http://www.ishir.com/ishir-microsoft-online-services-bpos-request-free-trial-form.htm

To learn about the services please visit http://www.ishir.com/microsoft-business-productivity-online-suite.htm

Microsoft BPOS Targets Google Apps, Agressively Cuts Exchange Online and SharePoint Online Price

Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009

Microsoft has agressively cut its per user per month list price for Exchange Online and SharePoint services and cut by 33 percent the price of its Business Productivity Online Services suite of online productivity applications.

The pricing of Microsoft Exchange Online from US $10 per user per month to US $5 for Exchange Online is significant because it brings Microsoft Exchange Online much closer to the price Google charges for its Google Apps Premier Edition (GAPE) suite that is anchored by Gmail product.

In addition to the price change, Microsoft said allowable mailbox sizes would go from 5GB to 25GB, a move that ups Microsoft’s stake “bottomless” inbox war with other online email providers.

The pricing for Microsoft Sharepoint Online will now cost US $5.25 per from US $7.25 per user per month.

Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS) was previously priced at US $15 per user and will now be priced at US $10 per user. This is a very agressive move from Microsoft to further build on the momentum it has gotten from the launch of its Microsoft Online Services offering which entirely driven and demanded by Microsoft clients.

To sign up for a 30 day risk free trial please visit http://www.ishir.com/ishir-microsoft-online-services-bpos-request-free-trial-form.htm

To learn about the services please visit http://www.ishir.com/microsoft-business-productivity-online-suite.htm

Microsoft Unveils New Mission – SharePoint Server 2010

Monday, November 2nd, 2009

Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 is a product installed on one or more servers that provides the basis for a series of solutions. These solutions, if correctly designed and implemented, help information workers to meet business requirements. Office SharePoint Server 2007 combine several technologies and features that have so far only been offered as separate products in one highly scalable, highly available offering. This combination of technologies has proven very successful, and SharePoint Server 2007 has become one of the most popular offerings in the knowledge support and collaboration markets.

We can summarize the mission of the SharePoint Server 2007 as this: SharePoint technologies are intended to organize the content in your environment and then present that content so it is relevant, and allows users to interact with the content in a dynamic and collaborative manner. It is not designed to meet a specific business objective, but to provide a platform of functionality that users request for many different business reasons. Now, as with all mission statements, this one is very general. To meet this mission, Microsoft launched the public beta of Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 which will be available in November, and it will feature an improved developer platform that makes it easier to build rich content and collaboration applications to meet businesses’ needs.

SharePoint Server 2010 will also have enhanced website capabilities that help businesses drive revenue and retain customers on a single platform, according to Microsoft’s announcement at its SharePoint Conference in Las Vegas. Additionally, it will feature the choice of on-premises and cloud solutions, giving organizations the flexibility to scale their applications.

SharePoint 2010 is the biggest and most important release of SharePoint to date. When paired with Microsoft Office 2010, SharePoint 2010 will transform efficiency by connecting workers across a single collaboration platform for business.”

At the SharePoint Conference, Microsoft showcased the breadth of SharePoint Server 2010, which ranges from wikis to work flows. SharePoint makes it easier to provide enterprise portal solution and  build dynamic websites with its built-in support for rich media such as video, audio and Silverlight. Its new ribbon-based user interface helps end users customize their SharePoint sites easily and be more productive. Also, new web content management features offer built-in accessibility through Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0, multilingual support and one-click page layout that let anyone access SharePoint Server sites.

New SharePoint tools in Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 give developers more tools, as well as rich APIs and support for Silverlight, representational state transfer (or REST) and Language-Integrated Query (or LINQ), to help developers rapidly build applications on the SharePoint platform. Business Connectivity Services allow developers to connect capabilities to line-of-business data or web services in SharePoint Server and the Office client.

There are also enterprise features such as Excel Services and InfoPath Forms Services, which make it simple to use, share, secure and manage interactive forms across an organization.

Microsoft SharePoint 2010 is part of the next wave of Microsoft Office-related products, which includes Microsoft Office 2010, Microsoft Project 2010, Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 and Microsoft Visio 2010, that are designed to give people the best productivity experience across PCs, phones and browsers. The public betas of SharePoint Server 2010, Office 2010, Project 2010 and Visio 2010 will be available in November 2009, and Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 will be available in the first half of 2010.