Riverside Consulting Group would like to welcome you to the new home for Tech Talk, our once monthly newsletter on the latest and greatest in technology, opinion, and a little more. The new and improved interface featured on this site will allow us a better medium to convey the latest advances in technology you can use in your business and your home. Currently, our general technology posts will be made every Friday morning, along with a Tuesday supplimental on various technologies RCG specifically markets for your business. We will alternate between Microsoft Dynamics GP and CRM, Microsoft Retail Management System and Aldelo for Restaurants Professional, general web design, eCommerce, and email marketing each week.

For your convenience, we’ve offered several options to receive RCG Tech Talk posts: RSS feed, odiogo audio podcast, and email delivery. You can click here for our RSS feed, simply add it to your favorite RSS feed reading software. You can click here to add the odiogo feed to your iTunes podcasts (NOTE: requires iTunes be installed and configured on your PC). Finally, you can click here to receive email notifications of new posts to our blog.

Again, welcome to the new home of Tech Talk, and we look forward to providing you the information you need for your business to succeed!

- Steve, Diane, and Joe

Technorati Tags RCG

Companies from small to large all indulge in a common New Year’s practice: outlining initiatives they want to achieve for the new year; think of it like a New Year’s Resolution, Corporate-style. These initiatives cover everything from sales goals to efficiency and productivity gains to major corporate restructuring. Some businesses focus on improving the sales process to increase revenue, others utilize training and professional development to gain more informed employees, but many consistently fail in adding technology to those initiatives to ensure success for the business changes they want and need.

While a good corporate development plan will go a long way to tweak business performance through training and development of human resources withing the corporate structure, those human beings need the technological tools that make their job and lives easier. It’s simple common sense that if you shave 10 seconds off of every minute of work an employee completes, that’s a good thing. If you can make a one-time purchase of a technological solution to shave that 10 seconds off of the task, it again comes down to another common sense decision.

Where companies seem to be lacking is in a trusted source to gain knowledge on the latest technological advances their company can leverage to gain the competitive edge in their industry. Having a trusted technology partner who keeps up-to-date on the latest in productivity technologies is key to success in the information age. Consulting firms, such as our firm, provide an excellent source for this information. It is our job to know the latest in technology and productivity solutions for your business and to keep you informed. Using a company like RCG, you can focus your efforts on running your business and not on absorbing the combined announcements of a $2 Trillion industry, like the corporate software industry.

Contact your technology consultants today to help build your Tech Initiatives for 2008. Don’t have a regular technology consulting firm? Contact RCG for a free technology review and for our plan to alleviate your workload by utilizing intuitive cutting-edge technology in your everyday life.

- Joe

Technorati Tags business users, RCG

Earlier this month, we talked about the need to protect your data when traveling over the holidays. Home often face major issues baking up their data, as backup software and hardware usually starts in the $300 range, and climbs to upwards of $20,000 for a well planned and implemented 3rd party solution. Hope exists, however, for home users to backup their data on a consistent basis: Windows Vista’s new and improved Backup and Restore Center.

Part of the transition to the new Microsoft Windows Vista operating system is the Backup and Restore Center. Never before has there been such an easy and intuitive method of backing up the data on your home computer. While the interface lacks the centralization and scheduling features needed by small, medium, and large business environments, even my elderly grandmother was able to setup a scheduled backup job to protect her digital photos and emails.

The key to success when using the Backup and Restore Center is to have somewhere reliable to store those backups you’ve made. You can use an external hard drive, burn to CD or DVD, or even copy them to another PC in your home. However, the method most resistant to disaster is a full-time off-site backup solution. RCG offers an Online Backup solution that, when paired with Vista’s Backup and Restore Center, provides the perfect solution for the home user.

Don’t have Vista, yet? Working in a Small or Medium Office environment? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered still. RCG’s Online Backup solution supports all editions of Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Vista, and provides the SSL-encrypted off-site protection your company needs to ensure your data is safe and secure in its off-site location. Contact us today for more information on how Online Backup can help you protect your data at home and in the office.

- Joe

Technorati Tags backup, business users, home users

Microsoft announced this week that Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 (Formerly Codename: Titan) has reached RTM status (Released to Manufacturing). This is the step right before general availability and publishing to DVD (as well as digital delivery via MSDN). The world at Microsoft is all abuzz with the news, with people like Mary Jo Foley, Ben Vollmer and Michael Lu blogging on the topic.

For customers, this means that upgrades for people with Software Assurance will be delivered at some point in the next quarter. Customers that utilize the Microsoft Service Provider License Agreement will see the option to upgrade in mid-February, should they choose to engage us to upgrade their installation codebase. This major version upgrade represents changes to not only the server-side software, but the client-side as well. This requires some good amount of work to upgrade each client PC, but instructions and as-needed support for the client upgrade can be provided when requested.

People interested in learning more on Titan can look here for a general overview. You may also contact RCG to setup an appointment to go over how Microsoft Dynamics 4.0 can benefit your organization.

- Joe

Technorati Tags crm, microsoft, spla, titan

The time for holiday travel is upon us again, and once again people will be putting their most expensive and relied upon technological device in danger of theft or damage. Even in that old bastion of high security, the airport, your laptop is at high risk of theft by a crafty pick pocket or thief. Be it in the security line, when you’re distracted as you remove your shoes for inspection, or from the overhead bin, as you nap mid-flight, your hardware and the data contained there-in are at very high risk in the airport. Add on top of that the constant threat of damage as you juggle your belongings, that last minute snack, and your boarding pass while you navigate the terminal concourse, and the poor laptop doesn’t stand a chance. Don’t fret, though! There are steps you can take to ensure your laptop makes it to your destination, safe and sound.

1. Protect your information
   If you keep a lot of personal or financial information on your computer, invest in an operating system that includes file protection. Windows Vista and Windows XP Professional have the tools to protect your information through a process called encryption. To learn more, see Encrypt Your Data to Keep It Safe.
2. Protect your laptop with a strong password
   If you travel with your laptop frequently, you should secure it with a strong password. Check your computer’s Help and Support service to learn how to add or change your system password. To find out how to create passwords that are tough for hackers to crack, but easy for you to remember, see Strong passwords: How to create and use them.
3. Back up before you go
   Always back up your information before you take your laptop on a trip. You can’t always avoid the financial loss of your equipment, but you can avoid losing all your information in the process. To learn how to make copies of all of your information using Windows XP, see How to back up manually or by using the Windows XP Backup utility. For Windows Vista, see Windows Vista: Windows Backup.

You can feel free to contact us for more information and tips on how to protect your technology and data while traveling or how to replace it in the event of a disaster. Good luck with your travels, and Happy Holidays!

- Joe

Technorati Tags business users, home users, laptop