Michael Cocanower
President, itSynergy |
Welcome
This month brings some of the most
exciting news to itSynergy that we have had
in some time!
As of September 17, Mark MacLachlan is
making a return to full time employment at
itSynergy after leaving several years ago to
work at Microsoft. Mark is returning as the
Infrastructure Team Manager, and will
initially manage a team of four full time
engineers. In addition to his most important
function of working with itSynergy customers
to improve their business by leveraging
technology, Mark will also be responsible
for his team's performance in the areas of
customer service and response times. Mark
will also take on broader roles, such as
providing input on service delivery methods,
quality control of delivered services and
customer communication, and resource
assignment for all incoming requests to his
team. |
During his most recent stint with Microsoft, Mark
served as a Technical Account Manager in the Premier
Support Group working with Enterprise customers such
as Yahoo and Intel. Those of you who remember Mark
from his previous time with itSynergy will remember
not only his technical excellence in all areas of
network infrastructure consulting, but also his
skill in the area of enhanced efficiency through the
use of automated scripting tools. As you can
imagine, Mark's skills have dramatically improved
over the past several years, to the point of Mark
now being certified to teach Microsoft's Premier
Workshop Plus course for VBScript.
I know I speak for everyone at itSynergy when I
say how excited we are to have Mark back on our team
in a leadership role. All of the customers we have
spoken with that knew Mark from his previous time at
itSynergy are also very eager to have the
opportunity to work with Mark again.
Please join me in welcoming Mark back, and feel
free to contact him at any time:
mmaclachlan@itsynergy.com or (602)
297-2400 x2009.
|
|
Seeing Double - Practical
Productivity
By Jane Cage, HTS COO
Do
you have the luxury of doing only one task at a time? If you're like me, I would
guess the answer is probably "No". I find myself answering email, working on a
spreadsheet, looking at an accounting issue and searching for info on the
internet all at the same time. It's just become part of the way that we all
work. Most computer users, however, are forced into single-tasking because of
the way they see their work - on a single monitor. Windows XP and VISTA provide
desktop users with the ability to "spread" their desktop across multiple
monitors. Having two monitors has changed and improved the way I work. I've seen
several study results that state two monitors can improve productivity from
20-50%. I agree. I can cut and paste from one application to another without
having to change applications on screen. I can look at the info that I need on
the internet and type that information directly into a spreadsheet at the same
time. With two monitors, I can read the email with an accounting question and
look at the accounting screen at the same time to understand the problem a user
is having. I have become so dependent on two monitors that you could never get
me to go back to a single screen.
Read more |
|
 |
System Engineering Corner
Notes
from the Network Engineering Department:
Note to readers: As our network engineers
work with all of you across our entire customer
base, they observe trends and issues that many
people have in common, or that many customers will
find helpful to know about.
This section is designed
to give them a mechanism to communicate those issues
to you, with the hope that YOU might benefit from.
|
Panic strikes. . .
You open up your network drive ready to get to work. You navigate to the
directory where all of your files are stored and your heart jumps into your
throat.
Your data is GONE. Not just a single file, but everything. Months or even
years worth of work has literally disappeared from the digital universe.
So are we talking to you again about backup and disaster recovery? Not this
time. . .
What we're talking about instead is a phenomenon we are seeing increasingly
more frequently across our client base: the dreaded ‘accidental mass move'.
We receive a panicked call from someone in this situation at least once a
month. They are in a panic state wanting to know when the last good back up took
place so they can restore their data.
At itSynergy, however, having seen this before, we take a bit calmer
approach. We ask simply "Can you give us the name of ONE of the files that is
missing?" In a matter of a few seconds, we have everything back where it should
be, no data is lost, and everyone can start breathing again.
What has happened here? Someone was working in Windows explorer, and
inadvertently moved an entire file, group of files, or folder (including all
associated subfolders) to another location. It is pretty easy to do this
accidentally as you are clicking around working with your files. The fix is
easy: just find where the files were moved to, and move them back. Voila!
Emergency averted.
Of course we are MORE than happy to help with this, but if you have a weak
heart, or just want to solve the issue yourself without having to get one of us
on the phone, just do the same thing we do:
- 1. Navigate to the TOP level of the drive where your data should be. For
example, if you are missing data that is normally in S:\SharedData\Accounting,
then navigate to the S drive.
- 2. Hit CTRL-F to open the search screen
- 3. Enter the name of a single file that is missing (for example payroll.xls)
- 4. Open the advanced search options and make sure the option is selected to
search all subfolders
- 5. Hit Find Now
- 6. When you find the file, right click on it, and choose to open the folder
where the file is located.
- 7. Move the file(s) back to their original location.
- 8. Send your resume to itSynergy, you're on the path to becoming a user
support specialist!
|
|
September 2007
In this issue
□
Welcome
□ Seeing Double
□ Tech Corner
□ Elevator Pitches
□ Seven Rules for Using Laptops
|
|
Why
"Elevator Pitches" Help Win Customers
By David Coursey
Reprinted with permission from Microsoft Small Business Center
If
I asked everyone who works at your company to tell me about the
business, how many different answers do you think I'd hear? I'm
willing to bet I'd hear about as many different stories as you have
employees.
That's unfortunate
because your employees could be your best public relations machine.
They are out in the community, meeting potential customers,
suppliers and others who can impact your business - both for better
and worse. Why not equip your staff with the information they need
to make a good impression? No business can have too many friends and
your employees are just the people to help make them.
Read more |
|
|
Seven Rules for Using Laptops
in Meetings
Reprinted with permission from the
Microsoft Small Business Center
Not long ago,
Frances Altman agreed to present a talk to some of her colleagues.
Everyone arrived on time. Unfortunately, at least from her point of
view, so did their laptop computers.
"Several people
came in and started working on their laptops right through my talk,"
recalls Altman, public relations specialist at Virginia Commonwealth
University. "It was very discourteous -- they could hardly be taking
notes or listening to you. Next time, I'll request both phones and
computers off."
Altman's
experience isn't singular. Laptops (and Tablet PCs) are as much an
element of business meetings today as any piece of equipment. But
rules and protocols for using them are often lacking.
Here, then, are
seven suggested guidelines to ensure that laptops contribute to
productive meetings rather than to distract and annoy participants.
Read more
Quote of the
month
"Be like a postage
stamp. Stick to one thing until you get there"
Josh Billings
|
|
|
7310 North 16th Street,
Suite 130
Phoenix, AZ 85020-8203
Telephone: 602.297.2400
Fax: 602.297.8703
Email:
info@itsynergy.com
www.itsynergy.com
|
|