Island Web Works

Yesterday saw the Isle of Man section of the British Computing Society host a talk by Gabriel Karawani on Sharepoint and the benefits it can bring as a Document Management  solution. The BCS regularly host events such as this, which range from soft-skills to harder, technical topics. Overall, a wide mix that should suit most tastes.

As a regular attendee, I was keen to invite Charles down to the presentation to see how other people implement and use Microsoft SharePoint.

The presentation consisted of a fair chunk of marketing-speak, with a brief case-study thrown in. I found it interesting when Gabriel (the presenter) asserted that most people spend a lot of their day interacting with Microsoft Outlook. To this end, he demonstrated SharePoint as an add-on to the standard Outlook interface.

The question is, do people use Outlook because it is a reliable and effective interface for working with other applications such as document management, client management, etc., or because as Outlook is a de-facto business standard which leaves them feeling as if they no have other choice? The interface that was demonstrated felt a little clunky as a result.

What became clear from the presentation is that utilising SharePoint is hardly a case of  ”turn it on and go”. The product represents the foundations of what you could accomplish, given sufficient time and allocation of IT resources whether internally or externally.

When you put it alongside other, more feature complete, systems we deal with such as our own DocuMentor product which comes as part of MIGTurbo CRM, or the Laserfiche Document management solution, it becomes clear that businesses don’t necessarily work the way Microsoft think they do - or should. Nor do they have the resources required to “complete” the job.

We’ve had a number of discussions within the office about the MIGTurbo experience, and where it should lie. Should we leverage the existing power and user experience built around the Microsoft Outlook/Exchange product, or develop a product alongside it that itself would form the hub of a user’s day? The answer is a mix of these. What is key, however, is being able to draw on our experience with working with businesses to facilitate a working procedure that mirrors their business processes and requirements.

In moving forward, we’re certainly going to maintain our focus on the MIGTurbo CRM product as being the force mejeure behind many of our client’s businesses, but we will keep a keen eye on what infrastructure is already within the business, such as Microsoft Exchange for working with scheduling and communications and Microsoft SharePoint when working with documents. It seems to be a logical move to be able to provide users with the option of combining MIGTurbo with their existing infrastructure, which may have its own eco-system of plug-ins and processes essential to the business. MIGTurbo CRM 2 is certainly going to be an exciting product.

Nathan MIGTurbo Document Management, DocuMentor, Exchange, LaserFiche, MIGTurbo 2.0, Outlook, SharePoint

It’s Wimbledon and my favourite time of the year where my two favourite world of tennis and technology collide. IBM, the technology partners of all the Grand Slams including Wimbledon, always do a fantastic job of managing the vast amounts of statistics generated by the tournaments. This Wimbledon is no exception with integration into Social Media using Facebook and Twitter and the introduction of an iPhone application. Also interesting are the smaller innovations which occur on the outside of the core technology, such as meta-data attached to landmarks which are used to full effect by the new Google Android phone. Imagine the possibilities of local-based meta-data in CRM, giving you an extra level of detail on client and support sites. BBC Digital Planet showcase this feature as well as provide a sneak look inside the tech hub of the Wimbledon broadcast centre.

The power of social media has just bitten Microsoft in the backside with regards their next version of Microsoft Outlook 2010. The fixoutlook.org campaign has created a very simple page that creates a viral campaign over Twitter. What’s their beef? The continued lack of web standards in Microsoft Outlook. Although there are no official web standards defined by the W3C (or anyone else) on presenting emails effectively in email clients using XHTML, there is best practice. Without best practice, end-users may not find their email as well formatted as the designer, which can detract from a marketing message. Unfortunately, any degree of movement towards best practice is hampered by Microsoft’s response. This time, it seems, they are not interested in defining the standard themselves. Maybe they were stung by the standards they created alongside Internet Explorer 4 through 6?

Document Management comes in many forms and MIGTurbo provides its own document functionality alongside additional integration into third-party document management systems, such as LaserFiche. Our clients’ use of document management is wide and varied, ranging from a simple archival or audit trail for compliance requirements to paperless offices where forms are scanned and sorted electronically for later access. Before jumping in to investing in a document management solution, it’s well worth stepping back and considering how you will use such a system to its fullest extent within the resources of your business. We found a great article giving 8 things to ask yourself before jumping in to Document Management. Well worth reading, if it looks of interest both ourselves and our technology partners would be happy to help answer any questions you may have.

That’s it for this week, hope you have a good weekend.

Nathan Friday Feeling CRM, Document Management, DocuMentor, IBM, LaserFiche, MIGTurbo, Office 2010, Wimbledon

What a sunny place Brighton is. I had the good fortune to attend a conference there last week, glorious sunshine and very clean. What I learnt however, was nothing to do with the resort itself, it was more about records management and the challenges organisations face trying to keep on top of the Freedom of Information Act.

Basically, there appears to be a lot of systems out there that enable you to track and manage documents held, however, cracks appear where you have an organisation with multiple systems. This is compounded by different systems’ use of different references to identify the individual about whom the stored documentation refers.

I have a solution: CRM. By managing all this information in a client/customer centric manner, we can provide a mechanism that enables businesses/organisations to keep information on their client/customer; maintaining security/integrity of data (where necessary) between departments/divisions etc., and still enabling a single point of reference so the records manager can swiftly identify which systems contain information relating to the which client/customer.

No more rainy days for me!

Charles MIGTurbo CRM, Document Management, Freedom of Information