There are many ways to promote your services for this specific skill set. One of it would be to promote and market your SAP services through Wellesley Information Services (WIS).

WIS is a provider of SAP related information to IT professionals who sell, implement and manage  SAP solutions. Some products offered by WIS includes

• SAP Insider
• SAP Press
• SAP Netweaver Magazine

So in terms of reaching out to the SAP market, WIS has an established and extensive presence among SAP customers worldwide. Image by Mark and Marie Finnern.

If your organization would like to tap into this specific market, do check out WIS’s SAP Partner Opportunities Center.

Through this center, you can advertise your SAP Services through:

• Exhibitions, conferences, seminars held by WIS
• Direct marketing
• E-marketing
• Sponsor an SAP Press book
• Conferences On-Demand

During these times, it’s vital to have an effective marketing strategy to further promote your SAP services.

Check out WIS’s SAP Partner Opportunities Center today!

However, some users said they still preferred Microsoft Office after trying out OpenOffice for a couple of days.

Since cost was an issue, they asked if there are any other office productivity software besides OpenOffice which is free to use.

Well, if you ask me, I’ll say YES! It’s called Lotus Symphony by IBM. Image by cote.

A free office productivity software by IBM? Really? Are you sure? Yes it’s true.

Lotus Symphony by IBM is a business productivity software that is intuitive and easy to use. Best of all, you can download and use it at no cost.

With Lotus Symphony, you have a:

• Document Editor
• Spreadsheet Editor
• Presentation Editor
• Application Integrator

And it can be installed on the following OSes:

• Windows XP
• Windows Vista
• Linux SLED 10
• RHEL5
• Ubuntu 8.04
• Mac OS X

A strong feature of Lotus Symphony is its support for industry standard OpenDocument Format (ODF). This ensures that documents created via Lotus Symphony can be supported now and in the future as well. Besides that, it  also supports interoperability with Microsoft Office file formats as well as most Lotus Suite applications. It even allows you to export to PDF directly without having to install any 3rd party components.

From the Lotus Symphony’s website, you can view the gallery link to download new cliparts, plugins, templates, etc. Whenever you need any help, the community will be there for you to ask questions, share and collaborate with other users.

So for those of you out there who can’t afford Microsoft Office, don’t really like OpenOffice, remember to check out Lotus Symphony. Enjoy!

For that reason it is always recommended that computer users not try to change registry keys on their own. Many well meaning but uninformed computer owners have changed a single registry key, only to find that the change they made rendered their computer inoperative. Even if the results are less dire, a bad registry change can still have serious consequences. From slow loading programs to frequent crashes, a damaged registry can cause all kinds of grief.

In order to understand why direct changes to the Windows registry can be so dangerous, it is helpful to understand the various parts of the registry and the information each part contains. The Windows registry is divided into five distinct parts, often called hives. Each hive contains information on a particular aspect of the computer, and that information is used to tell the various pieces of hardware and software what to do.

Starting the registry editor is as easy as clicking on the Start button, choosing Run from the menu and typing regedit in the box, but before you do so it is important to understand what each registry key actually does. In order to gain a deeper understanding and a greater appreciation for the Windows registry let’s take a closer look at each of the five registry hives.

• The hkey classes root hive – this is the spot where various settings and options are stored.
• The hkey current user hive – this part of the registry stores information just as user settings and software specifications for the user who is currently logged on.
• The hkey local machine hive – this is where information related to the PC itself is stored, including what software is installed and which pieces of hardware are loaded.
• The hkey users hive – this is where information about all PC users is stored. This hive stores information about each user, including program settings, default file locations and more.
• The hkey current config hive – this hive stores information about the current PC configuration, including local settings and file preferences.

As you can see, the Windows registry stores a wealth of information, so much in fact that changing the wrong key could have serious implications for the performance and stability of the entire system. That is why it is so important for computer owners to use a quality registry cleaner instead of altering the registry directly. Registry cleaners provide a safe and user friendly way to make changes to the system, while providing an easy way to undo any changes that could be harmful to the computer and the valuable information it contains.

The following are some free Windows registry cleaners for you to download and try out.

1. CCleaner

2. Regcure

3. RegCleaner

4. PCTools Registry Mechanic

There you go, enjoy!

It’s simple, all you need to do is to write about your experience using JavaFX 1.2 SDK. Here are some aspects to write about:

• Pros
• Cons
• Benefits
• Performance
• Reliability
• You can even come out with a tutorial

Only 10 contestants will stand a chance to win the $500 cash while another 50 will have an opportunity to win a $25 worth of Amazon Gift Certificate.

The contest starts June 2, 2009 until July 3, 2009 and the winners will be announced on the week of July 31,2009.

Like I said earlier, if you have already tried JavaFX, then you can and should write about your experience using JavaFX 1.2, immediately. As for me, I have near zero knowledge in it. All I know is that JavaFX allows us to create neat applications that can work across various platforms.

Since I still have some time, I’ll download the SDK and give it a try and hopefully be able to write about it from a beginner’s perspective.

Head on over to JavaFX Blogging Contest to find out more and participate.

To every business, there are various aspects to it which includes the suppliers, the workforce, the target market, the products, etc. But one thing is for sure, all businesses have their very own unique processes when it comes to doing business.

Let’s take an example of hiring a new staff. Company A would ensure they go through a process whereby all candidates are required to go through at least 3 rounds of interviews and given a score accordingly by each interviewer. Only after all candidates have gone through all interviews would they make a decision to hire based on how well the interviewee scored. Company B on the other hand would just interview and offer the job based on looks and personality. When it comes to the hiring process, all organizations would do it differently depending on costs and requirements. Image by Johnny Goldstein.

I personally believe that a business that adopts a proven process which is continually improved over time has an advantage over its competitors. Having proper processes in place helps the entire organization to be consistent, detailed and most importantly focused. An organization that has little predefined processes usually results in:

• Bad service / product quality
• Late delivery
• Inconsistent deliverable
• Frustrated employees

The bottom line, Unhappy Customers!

If your organization is currently running without proper processes in place, it’s not too late to start. A good way to begin would be to utilized business process modeling software. In case you’re wondering how a bpm modeling software helps, at the very least, you will be able to create a process model diagram which can be distributed to staffs for them to be aware of and to implement. Some software can even go the distance to assist in automating the process through systems / web applications.

If this excites you, then the following are three free business modeling software to try and evaluate:

TIBCO Business Studio is a Free Business Modeling Software with the purpose to unify modeling, management, simulation and implementation of a process within an environment.

Within one process, different views can be generated. One for IT while another for business definitely encourages collaboration between the two entities. With both working hand in hand, you can be assured of a seamless and flawless process automation.

Some key features of TIBCO Business Studio includes suppport for XPATH and XSLT, inline sub processes for performance optimization, supports additional workflow patterns, etc.

Bizagi Process Modeler is one of the easiest to use process modeling software in the BPM Market. The software’s drag and drop features makes it very user friendly, even a non technical person is able to create and map out processes.

If you’re looking for a process modeler which supports any of the following languages: chinese, japanese, russian, italian or dutch, then Bizagi Process Modeler has these languages supported.

Some key features of Bizagi Process Modeler includes BPMN notation support, ability to create quality processes documents in word or pdf, export / import process information from Visio, XPDL or images. Once your processes have been modeled, it can be automated through the Bizagi Studio which includes the entire BPM lifecycle.

Questetra BPM Suite is more than just a modeling software - it’s an entire BPM Suite. The free version of this software allows a maximum of 10 processes to be executed concurrently.

With Questetra BPM Suite, you can draw design process diagrams, customize interface, import and export process archives and more. From the user’s perpective, he / she will firstly be authenticated before being allowed to access the system. Once logged in, the user can check offered tasks, view the lists of undertaken and allocated tasks.

For administrators, they can easily monitor the statuses of the processes, whether the tasks have been completed, etc. As for system administration, user management, data backup and access / audit logs are all part of the this ready made bpm suite.

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So here you go, three Free Business Process Modeling Software for you to try and evaluate. Enjoy!

This is a common problem as your large file is being uploaded to the mail server. For some mail servers, there is a size limitation which does not allow any file larger than a predetermined size to be uploaded.

Usually when this happens to my non technical colleagues, they would request that I help them to upload the large file via ftp into our website and provide him / her the path to the file. Image by David Siegal

For those who are not as fortunate to have someone technical enough to ftp files to the company website, then this may be a solution for you.

The following are the steps:

1. Head on over to FilesAnywhere.com

2. On the top right, click on Join Now

3. Select the Basic Web Plan and sign up for a FREE Account

4. Under account type, select 1GB FREE Account (some limits*) and fill up all the required fields.

5. You will be receive an email from support@filesanywhere.com with a temporary password. Proceed to login to once to FilesAnywhere.com where you can change the password to one you’re familiar with.

6. Now head on over to http://www.filesanywhere.com/setup.asp, scroll all the way to the bottom and download the Outlook Add-In.

7. Once downloaded, install the Add-in and launch your Outlook.

8. Compose an email and you should see the following Attach File Link function is now available.

9. Click on the Attach File Link and you should see the following pop up. You will need to sign in using your FilesAnywhere username and password.

10. Go ahead to add files which you would like attached together with your email. Basically the file will be uploaded to your FilesAnywhere free account. A link which looks like below will be automatically generated and placed in the body of the email message once the upload completes.

Once Dave gets the email, he will proceed to click on the link to download the 10MB file.

So that’s how you can send large files to your friends and colleagues via email.

What I’ve explained above is just one way how FilesAnywhere.com could be used. There are many other benefits of using this personal and secure online file server. Some of it includes:

• Can be used for online storage purpose. Whenever I complete my daily work, I would store my files by placing all these important files and folders into FilesAnywhere.com
• Once your files are uploaded to FilesAnywhere.com, it can be accessed from another machine provided you specify the correct userID and password. This way, you can work on your files even from your home pc.
• In a case where you’re using someone elses computer and it doesnt have excel installed in it, FilesAnywhere allow you to view the file online. But do note that it’s read only. You wont be able to edit the excel file.
• Your files can be shared with people that you allow access to.
• Even your iPhone can use FilesAnywhere perfectly as an Iphone App has been created just for it. The app can be downloaded here.

I believe I will be using FilesAnywhere constantly for my backup purposes. My recent hard disk crash really taught me a lesson to store important files somewhere safe and easily accessible. If only I had known about FilesAnywhere.com sooner, some of my files wouldn’t have gone together with the crash.

Hope you all benefit somewhat from this online backup system.

Imagine how much time is wasted if we can’t type fast enough. Let’s take an example, we are now able to type just 20 words per minute (wpm) for 20 hours a week. If we could improve our typing speed to say 65 words per minute, we would be able to save 2 hours a day.  With this extra 2 hours a day, we can use it to spend more quality time with our family, go out for drinks with our buddies, and even go watch a movie. Image by r3v || cls.

Many organizations require their staffs to be able to type well. If possible, above 40 words per minute.

For those that don’t type well enough, they can learn to type by utilizing a typing software. Most of these software requires you to purchase, but there are some which allows you the learn and practice typing online.

If you really need to learn to type fast, the following are two free online sites for you begin to learn typing:

Typing Web is a full featured online typing tutor. It’s is suitable for all ages no matter what your skill level is.

To start the program, you’ll just need to click on the Start Typing button and you’re ready to begin. Basically there’s no registration and downloading required. Best part, it’s 100% free.

Dance Mat Typing is a site under BBC and focuses on introducing touch typing to all who have yet to master touch typing. There are many levels and stages for one to go through. For the absolute beginners, they would start from Level 1 Stage 1. There are a total for four levels all together so the learning curve is gradual.

The tutorials are also games based. You will need to have Flash plugin installed to begin learning to touch type.

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So here you go, two sites for you to learn to type online for free.

Do let me know how many words per minute you can type after going through these sites. I can currently type 56 words per minute. Can you beat that?

But let’s say you’re using a public computer without any office productivity software installed. Is there a way to create an org chart online for free? Image by Todd Huffman

The answer is YES, it’s possible.

Some org chart creator requires you to purchase a software license to use while some gives you a trial version to test before purchasing. Each software definitely has its pro and cons. Some are able to create really nice and neat org charts, while some free ones help you achieve the same results but without the extra cream on top.

If you’re fine with a simple organization chart creator which you could create for free online, the following are two sites I would recommend:

Chartle.net is a site for you to create simple and interactive charts online. One of the key charts that you can create using Chartle is an organization chart. See below for a sample that I’ve created.

Creating the org chart is a very simple process. Simply fill up two values - the name and the parent name to create the linkages. You can also enter html to make the org chart look better.

Once you’ve completed creating the chart, you can:

• Publish the chart
• Share the chart with colleagues
• Embed the chart on a website
• Take a screenshot of it and include it anywhere, just like above.

Chartle.net’s org chart creator definitely gets the job done.

Cogmap is an organizational chart wiki that lets you see, edit and create organization charts for companies online. See below for a sample.

Most companies struggle to keep their organization chart up to date with staffs joining and leaving the organization. Cogmap is designed specifically to help address this problem. Since it is wiki based where by anyone with rights can edit the org chart as and when necessary, it really does make the org chart easy to update.

The best feature about this tool is its ability to search and highlight a person’s position and location on the org chart simply by entering his name. This is an important feature especially if the org chart grows too big, say to at least six levels across many departments.

For detail steps on how to create an organizational chart online using Cogmap specifically, check it out here.

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So here you go, two good and free sites for you to create an organization chart online. If I do stumble on more sites like these, will update accordingly. Till the, enjoy.

For many students, they are most creative during their schooling years. Well known people like Bill Gates and Michael Dell started their companies during their college days and went on to be really successful. Image by usm photos

To tap on the creativity of these bright young students, Microsoft introduced a program called Microsoft Dreamspark which allows students from a verified, accredited school to download professional Microsoft developer, designer and gaming software for free. Yes, legal and no charges required from you students.

The following Microsoft software are available through Dreamspark:

• Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Developer Edition
• Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Professional Edition
• Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition
• Microsoft Expression Studio 1.0
• Microsoft Expression Studio 2 Trial Edition (includes Web, Blend, Media, and Design)
• Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard Edition
• Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Standard Edition
• IT Academy Student Pass

If you’re wondering what’s the catch about Microsoft allowing students to use their software for free. Well, technically there’s no catch. You really get to use it without any obligations what so ever. But if you think about using these software from a bigger picture. Just imagine that if every student in the world has been exposed to Microsoft tools by the time they enter into their first job, this would give the job market a big supply of Microsoft capabled employees. The way I see this, it’s a win win situation for both the student as well as for Microsoft.

So for you students out there, do take full advantage of this Microsoft Dreamspark program while it’s still available. Instead of watching the tv or playing video games, why not try out one of these software and build yourself an application.

If you don’t know where to start, I would suggest for you to set up a Windows Sharepoint Services to check out the features a bit. To do that, simply download Windows Server 2003 and SQL Server 2008 Express Edition. Once these two are installed, download WSS 3.0 and you should be ready to check out Sharepoint. Who knows, you might be required to use Sharepoint extensively when you start work in your first organization. Will definitely give you an edge if you carry the right skills with you.

Do give it shot, check out Microsoft Dreamspark for more info on how to signup, register and begin to download and use the software today.

Based on the article, as well as going through the website, I can state tool’s key capabilities and features:

• Ability to proactively monitor an organizations network infrastructure, systems and applications.
• Utilizes the probeX appliance to simply begin monitoring systems without having to install any software.
• Ability to provide updated situations and highlight potential problems on the network.
• Ability to track all events and situations.
• Ability to monitor up to 50 servers and up to 300 client pcs.
• Email and SMS notifications in case of a downtime or service unavailability.
• Reporting capabilities which helps to monitor changes in system performance over a period of time.

Above, we have the features of the tool. But if you’re thinking, why the need to implement tools like this. Well, if you run a business, your organization’s network, servers and applications needs to be up and running 24 by 7. The only way to ensure the constant uptime is through preventive maintenance and effective monitoring on the health of the network and servers within the organization. In this case, a tool like RemoteMonitor helps in many ways.

One key point that I notice with RemoteMonitor is that it utilizes an external appliance / device to assist in the monitoring process. This is one key difference if compared to some other software based network monitoring tools to monitor your network and servers.

So that’s my attempt on reviewing the Italian based site. Since I can’t read and understand Italian, thanks to Google Translate, I managed to find out a bit more about the tool.

Below is the as is article as contributed by our Italian business partner:

Sei certo che la rete della tua azienda funzioni correttamente?

RemoteMonitor garantisce un efficace controllo del sistema informativo aziendale. Non necessita alcun requisito particolare dei sistemi e si configura in un attimo!

L’azienda Informex propone una soluzione innovativa ed efficace che ti consentirà di tenere in ogni momento sotto controllo i sistemi informativi aziendali. Grazie a RemoteMonitor potrai infatti essere avvisato per tempo in caso di malfunzionamento, così da evitare la perdita di dati, denaro e tempo. Il servizio ha un costo accessibilie alle imprese, e riceverai informazioni dettagliate e aggiornate su potenziali criticità.

RemoteMonitor verrà configurato dagli esperti Informex in pochi minuti e ti consentirà di monitorare le condizioni dei tuoi server 24 ore su 24 e 365 giorni all’anno. Il servizio è una soluzione poco invasiva e assolutamente sicura per i sistemi esistenti. Nel caso in cui si verificassero eventi critici nel sistema informativo, verrai immediatamente avvistato da uno dei sistemi di allarme: via e-mail o sms, tramite la gestione di aperture automatiche di chiamata verso vendor e trouble ticketing.

Grazie a RemoteMonitor avrai un’efficace controllo di tutte le applicazioni aziendali. Alcuni esempi? Monitoraggio dell’ accesso alle applicazioni web (Web login), dello start di processi (applicazioni, servizi, stampe, comunicazioni), della connettività DB (Oracle, Ms SQLserver, Mysql) e dell’instradamento mail (round mail). Inoltre la verifica dei backup (se sono andati a buon fine) e della disponibilità dei server DNS e DHCP. Potrai controllare da 1 a 50 server, e da 1 a 300 pc. Inoltre, tutte le attività verranno tracciate ed archiviate e tramite appositi report potrai monitorare i cambiamenti delle prestazioni dei sistemi nel tempo.

Non esitare a richiedere maggiori informazioni se sei interessato al nostro servizio:  un nostro esperto provvederà a rispondere ad ogni tua richiesta!

Hopefully this post helps any Italian based company in Italy to source for a localized network monitoring tool.