Your I.S. Department: Are you SirIris?!?

Your I.S. Department: Are you SirIris?!?: In case the title of this blog escapes you, it is a play on words with Apple's Siri application and the Android's version, Iris. These ar...

Are you SirIris?!?

In case the title of this blog escapes you, it is a play on words with Apple's Siri application and the Android's version, Iris.  These are both voice activated assistants that debuted in the fall of 2011.  I don't intend to debate which one is better, although currently I would say Siri is more than a little ahead.

     This brings up the point of brand loyalty.  I have none.  I have service loyalty, meaning I stay with certain vendors based on their service.  What I won't do is become an Apple or Android user only.  I just left Apple for an Android device.  Why?

     Apple is one company and, as amazing as it is, they have to compete with an entire industry when it comes to creating their phones.  This is difficult even for them.  Although I stated that Siri is my favorite app, it is only one app, and the current version of iPhone is lagging behind some of the Android offerings.  Samsung, HTC, and Motorola have amazing new Android phones with brilliant screens and easy to use apps.  I must admit it was hard setting down my iPhone after two years, but after a couple of days with a newer Android, when I picked the iPhone back up I realized that it was old and tired.  Until the new version comes out I am staying with my Android device.

     I won't be surprised if the new iPhone 5 will amaze me, create envy, and most likely motivate a transition back to it until it no longer is king.  I will be waiting with anticipation as soon as they announce the new version.

     Siri and Iris are a great analogy for the cell phone industry.  If you follow the industry at all you will note that there are currently dozens of lawsuits between Apple, Google, and Motorola.  I am not going to say they aren't justified and that vendors don't infringe upon patents or even vaguely disguise their product as the reverse name.  I wished Apple would have used the name, "Bob", and then Android could have used "Bob" claiming it was really different because the word is a palindrome.

     If you enjoy the latest technology, don't be afraid to switch between platforms.  It doesn't hurt.  I found DoubleTwist to be a great app that let me sync up my iTunes to my new Android.  The truth is that my biggest worry was losing access to years of organized music and playlists.  The wars will continue and vendors will improve upon each others ideas.  That is the American way.  If you are brand loyal then you may find yourself with a sub par device in a world full of other options.  Just some food for thought.

Falling Down Again

Does anyone remember the movie Falling Down? The movie starred Michael Douglas as an unemployed worker who was so frustrated that he begins to psychotically lash out against society.

 I may not be unemployed but I can get close to his feelings of rage and frustration when working with tech support.  In fact I could probably blog about it weekly.  I won't but what I will do is discuss the Telco industry or what you may call your Internet Service Provider.   They employee the absolute worst group of underachieving, unskilled, untrained, and often unintelligible people that I have ever dealt with.

As I lash out I should state the the individual employee is not at fault for their lack of knowledge, well kind of but the company itself has the responsibility to provide service which should include someone with a basic if not intermediate understanding of the products and services they are supporting.

I have a ton of technical examples that I could throw out but that would only make you psychotic.  Frontier formerly Verizon and most other vendors employee what I call scripted tech support.  They know how to read from the piece of paper in front of them and if the situation strays from that they are lost.  They are so lost that they can become belligerent with you for presenting a problem they don't have an answer for.

For instance if you call Frontier and want help with their sub par, pos, Westell router they will tell you that the password could be one of two items.  WTF, which is it.   When you tell them that you need to change the router's local IP address they have asked me why.  If you ask them why things aren't working they can tell you one of two things.  I can tell your router is online or I can't connect to your router is it plugged in.  Did I mention half the time the password can't be changed.  I have been asked why I would want to.  Seriously?

 Fine I get it not everyone is in tech support however I am and I am calling what is supposed to be a technical group for business users.   If you can't troubleshoot past the password which you can't, what are my options as a consumer other then to vent in a blog.

It boils down to greed and poor management.  A few good men could take the place of many.  As the obscenities, rage, and malice fill my head it does occur to me that perhaps I expect to much of people.  I can say this I won't be apologizing for competency being replaced with complacency and a lust for knowledge being substituted with knowing the cast of Jersey Shores.

Most memorable


Qwest:  Spirit of Service yes if installing a circuit and working router normally takes 4 months and requires you to send me your manual for your router and me telling you how to fix it.

Frontier:  Two days of no Internet until they determined it was their new router. what can I say maybe a quote from Beck "in the time of chimpanzees they were a monkey".  

XO:  If you have an agreement that you pay for that states you will return a call in 90 minutes aren't you supposed to do that?  Moreover if I call you after 90 minutes and you tell me that you are waiting for someone to get the ticket you have just told me that your process doesn't even abide by its own agreement.

I know what you are thinking.  He really needs to calm down.  Don't worry about me I am just trying to raise awareness and challenge businesses to do better.   In reality I am quite calm.   CALM LIKE A BOMB!!

A Few Good Apps

As a business owner I am always learning from my clients and adopting new items based on interactions with other techs and/or clients. With that in mind I thought I would share a few applications that I use to make my life a bit easier. After all, that is what technology is intended to do.

First and foremost I must mention Google Apps. It provides a great mail client that integrates with almost every phone on the market, provides shared document storage, and many other features. Many of you already use it, and for me it is the perfect fit for my business. What you might not know is that Google has a market place that allows you find third party applications that integrate with Google. I have provided the link so you can take a look around: http://www.google.com/enterprise/marketplace/. Although I am a big fan I also know that it is not the right fit for everyone, and certainly not all of my clients.

My second favorite app is mailchimp at the following link: http://mailchimp.com. This application is similar to Constant Contact. If your business is small enough it is free and is a great email marketing tool.

One of my all time favorites is Harvest Apps at http://www.getharvest.com/?&gclid=CIj5q4virKsCFSEEQAodYhKK5A. This is the application I use for time tracking and invoicing. It is simple to use, very affordable, and has a mobile app for billing on the fly. It has a ton of features that can help manage projects and time for all your client needs.

I have many clients who have applications that require Exchange yet the cost of hosting it internally is prohibitive. To accommodate these clients I utilize A Better Outlook at http://www.abetteroutlook.com/a_better_outlook_terms.htm. They offer fully hosted Exchange and Sharepoint services. Their tech support is responsive and minus a few hiccups when they migrated to Exchange 2010 they have been a great resource.

Another favorite of mine is my own branded backup software from SOS online backups. For many of my clients this is the best way to get data offsite and securely backup their data. It is simple to use and almost flawless in its operation.

Time for my mobile favorites.
1. Echofon: for aggregating your posts to Twitter and Facebook.
2. Linkedin: Mobile app for keeping up your business network.
3. The Amazon Kindle App: This is an amazing way to have your library at your fingertips. It works on Iphone, Ipad, Motorola Xoom, and almost all Android devices. I use it for both purchasing business reference and for entertainment when I travel.
4. Etrade: Mobile for keeping track of all the money I am losing in this market.
5. Shazam: Music exploration app
6. Pandora: Yet another good music app
7. Logmein: I utilize this app on my PC, Xoom and phone for remote access.

What I don't have are recommendations on very many entertainment apps. As you can imagine, after a day of working in the tech industry my entertainment does not come from more technology. You will find me on the golf course, out for a run, riding my bike, or just about anything that does not include looking at a screen. I should confess one exception to this - I use Golflogix on the golf course to provide accurate yardage and keep track of my golf game.

Bashing My Religion

My blogs usually represent a recent experience or a moment of thoughtful insight. I am feeling less than insightful and have chose instead to throw my profession under the bus.

I.T. is a tough profession: from burnout, to fighting for budgets, to dealing with some of the characters that work in the industry. I have worked in a large corporate I.T. department and currently I consult for small business. Ironically the attitude and culture scale almost perfectly to the smaller businesses I work for. What do I mean?

It is difficult to sell I.T. solutions because I.T. is a cost center? I end with a question mark because I am not sure it is. I am sure that under traditional terms that is correct. I.T. does not produce a direct income however their choices can have a huge impact on income and productivity. When I am struggling to convince a client to purchase a solution that is beneficial it is easy to become frustrated and wonder why they are hesitating. Don't get me wrong; I am not frustrated with them, I am frustrated with my industry. Why?

Many I.T. professionals that I have worked with are so interested in the technology that they forget that they work for a business. My clients don't care if I can virtualize a machine or back it up to the cloud or remote in from China. What they hear is, "How much will this cost?" and, "How will it improve my business?".

As I have stated before, it must be a business decision, not an I.T decision. I am sorry to all my peers who may feel that I am beating them up, but people who are not in I.T. don't care about anything except their computer booting up and providing them with the information they need. The I.T. industry needs to learn to do several things to help them help the people for which they work.

First, they need to be able to communicate and create rapport with their clients. I.T. professionals are privy to a lot of confidential information and typically have access to most company data. If people are not comfortable with you it will always be difficult to make progress. Second, you have to show how your solution will save money because that is how you justify the cost of a cost center. The next thing to remember is if you have created a break/fix atmosphere and are not proactive, you will be working from behind the eight ball your whole career. Even if you know that an item will not be purchased or your budget is dry you can't neglect to push for the right solution. When the problem arises and you haven't previously presented it, you will be blamed and the budget will suddenly appear.

I still see companies custom building computers and calling themselves computer this or computer that or geek whatever. All this does is continue to promote repair mentality. Computers are disposable and I.T. professionals who are overly excited about gadgets and hardware are disposable as well. Be a business partner! Be business minded! Most of all, keep your ego, frustrations, and burnout away from your employers and work on creating value with your unique skill set.

Atrix and Tablets

How many gadgets do you have?  A phone, tablet, PC?   If you are a corporate entity,  savvy user, or in the I.T. field  odds are you have at least two if not 3 of these items.    Tablets now account for 10% of the computing environment.   I am a big fan however I recently had a chance to play with the Motorola Atrix.  

My initial thought was this is a great way to cut down the amount of gadgets.   The first thing I thought of is with dual core phones and the amount of storage in them they are basically as fast as a tablet.   If you only had a good keyboard and screen.  Enter the Atrix.   I know it has been out for awhile now but after spending some time on one this weekend it occurred to me that this is a very nice way to have usability and cut the cost of a third device. Most tablet users never completely leave their PC behind so that leaves us with 3 devices to use, sync and maintain.   The Atrix is a very nice answer to this issue that allows you to compose, edit , and or cloud compute without taking your tablet or PC with you.  Short trips could take you down to one device.

I suspect the popularity of Tablets will keep this type of technology from taking hold.  I will hold out hope that  phone makers and Apple will look at producing more of these devices.   It seems like a nice sweet spot that hasn't taken hold.

Maher VS Coulter VS what's wrong with America

I am a man without an electable official.   America can't seem to see past their noses in a political debate.   I recently watched Bill Maher and one of his guests was Ann Coulter.   It was interesting because they represent the left and the right of their respective political parties.    

Now here is what I don't get.  Middle America continues to vote Republican because they hear the words less taxes and less government.     Well less taxes is not working for us currently.  Less government is a term that means less regulation which means more money for corporations.   The next lie is that they will create jobs.  Bullshit.   They continue to pay dividends to the shareholders and have record bonuses.   If you haven't been watching there are not a whole lot of new jobs out there.

Now I am guessing you think I am a Democrat wrong.   Their premise is that higher taxes and more government programs such as health care is just what the country needs.   Well we have seen how well the government handles Medicaid and Social Security.   We spend billions putting people in jail for drug offenses and ignore the billions of dollars of government fraud in the health care industry.  

What's my plan?  It occurs to me that during my life I have went through less than responsible financial phases and although I looked for an easy out there was not one.     What we need are people to quit getting caught up in the emotional debates and dive in for a closer look.   At this point higher taxes coupled with less spending and less government may have a chance of saving us.   Leave abortion, gay rights, and all the other bible belt political views out of the equation and start looking for candidates that can see the big picture.    Good luck with that but lets quit pounding our chests for one party or another.  This isn't the Superbowl it is our future and to just cling to one party or another and believe that the answer is black and white, right or wrong is just plain mental laziness.   Both parties are a mess and we need to quit being a bumper sticker society.  I really don't give a &*#$& to read your vote for Obama sticker.   Do you really think I am driving down the road making my political decision based on the ass end of someone's car.   Bush was a failure and Obama is just as much a failure.   I don't even want to think about the Tea Party.   They will have the puppet man in the sky directing their great moral adventure.

Well I blogged myself into a corner.  I guess I will go for a drive and look for some eye catching bumper stickers and hopefully that lotto ticket approach will pay off this time.