I was once asked if we could create a PLC device to open and close a valve on the contending championship women's class Punkin Chunker. I asked why. It was simply replied to me that it would be impressive. After following up with the process, I indicated that the only thing I could do was send a 1 or a 0 to the device to indicate either open or close. This is not different than having everything hooked up to a switch.

Up = 1

Down = 0

That is all you need. Why complicate the most trivial pursuit? KISS is a philosophy that I have followed all my life. If I can Keep It Simple and Stupid, why do I need to impress anyone to achieve the goal. I don't. My reply was to simply "Impress me with the control panel". Lesson is that too often in life, people want to make it complicated. Instead, rely on the simple things in life to get the job done. Fine Line is out to do just that.

Once you have had to experience the most extreme technical situations, you have achieved a level of what I refer to as "technical arrogance."

The problem is that most technicians think that they are better because of it. My philosophy is that you have only begun these types of experiences in your career. Once you feel, that you are on top of your game, it is always someone with the drive to become king to de-thrown your attempt.

If history has shown us anything, time wasted on jousting has proven nothing other than time wasted on entertained, as others, like Fine Line, are trying to accomplish the next level for you and your business. So, when asked, "What do you think about X company?", we will honestly answer, "Not sure! We have been focused on you too much to know what to think of a potential competitor."

So, SaaS (Software as a Service) is a new way to use software. The term was coined in 1999. Before this option, software was bought from a computer store, installed on your computer or server, then used indefinitely until an upgrade is purchased. This has been the main method of computer software usage. When the Internet became more and more mainstream, a new way to purchase software started to gain popularity. This method was to put the software on the internet and provide access (generally) via a web browser. Instead of the upfront costs, the fees are generally done on a subscription basis. Upgrades are also provided as part of the monthly subscription.

This provides benefits and drawbacks to both the consumer and the vendor. The consumer doesn't have to pay the upfront cost for the software. Also, the consumer gets the advantage of free updates and upgrades to the software. The consumer can also back out of the service and cancel if dissatisfied. As for the drawbacks, the consumer doesn't control the server that the software is housed so uptime can be an issue. Depending on the vendor, the consumer's access to the data may be limited. Worse, the consumer has to place its faith in the vendor for backup and recovery process. Nevertheless, in most situation, especially with a trusted vendor (think Google), the positives out way the negatives.

As for the vendor, the main benefits are regular income from the consumer, providing they keep up the software to an acceptable level. The negatives for the vendor center around liability. As in, the data they promise to keep, and keep securely must be done that. Also, any bugs must be fixed promptly or the vendor can quickly lose their customer base to a similar service.

Most commonly used software applications have versions available as a SaaS. SalesForce, SugarCRM and NetSuite are examples of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) SaaS. Online File Backups have just recently become more viable, examples being Carbonite, iDrive, Mozy and HP Upline. Project Management software also has a strong standing like Basecamp and Zoho.

In the future, I will be reviewing in further detail some of these applications. I will begin with the ones I use every day and also some of the ones I tried and stopped using for whatever reason.

Time for a new chapter in life. I have always had someone or something or some client or some circumstance to blame. Now none other than myself can take the blame. I am ready for it. I am excited with the challenge of building a business and using the opportunity to serve clients even better than they expect. Fine Line IT Consulting is being built with the expectations that if you can keep the clients happy and your employees happy then success will come.

For this to occur employees must be able have enough of a rope to hang themselves with while being accountable to their manager. As long as the goals set by the manager are discussed with and bought in by the employee, the employee cannot blame anyone for failure in their responsibility other than themselves. We feel this philosophy will create an atmosphere of success and empowerment.

As for our clients, they are the most important part of our business and we must treat them with the respect that they deserve and have earned (by paying our bills!). But seriously, if you put the client first, are accountable of your promises and don't talk down to clients, success inevitably occurs.

If these two goals are respected and met then failure will not occur.

Simplicity will reign.

Everyone knows that Google is the best and most popular search engine in the world. Google is also widely used as a verb, as in "Have you Googled it?" Many don't know that Google also provides many other free online applications. After the search engine, everyone has probably heard of Gmail. What is the third most used application by Google? While actual usage statistics don't exist, Google Analytics is likely up there, along with Google AdWords, Google Apps, Google Webmaster Tools, Blogger, Google Docs, and Google Calendar. Many more less used or more technical applications also exist.

We will be focusing on Google Apps today. Google Apps allows a company (or a website domain, really) to sign up and receive email, calendaring, word processor, spreadsheet, chatting and websites for its domain. They offer a free version or a pay version with a few value added features. The free version has very high limits (I haven't come close to meeting them) as far as disk space goes. The Google Apps free version allows for up to 100 users for the domain to be created. I have been using this service for almost a year without any issues arise.

The email service is based off of Gmail, the popular web-based email application. This version allows for you to hook up MS Outlook, Outlook Express, Eudora, or any other pc-based mail client to it via IMAP or POP3. So, you can use Outlook like everyone is used to or, when away from the office or via cell phone, use the web-based email application. Per user, the mailbox limit is up above 6GB, greater than what most would require for their storage requirements. Now how about SPAM protection? They've solved that as well. While Google has recently acquired Postini (a leading SPAM filtering company), I believe they are still using their own custom built SPAM filterer. No matter. I've used both services and they both eliminate SPAM almost completely. So, Google provides a free email service that eliminates SPAM, solving most everyone's email needs.

Google provides a calendaring web-based application. This works similar to the calendaring available in a Microsoft Exchange environment. This has all the features you would expect in a calendaring application. Event scheduling, recurrence, reminders, invitations, domain-level event calendar viewing/management, and cell phone integration. I've been very satisfied with this application for my business calendaring needs and would recommend it to other small businesses.

Google also provides several additional applications under the Google Apps service. The Google Docs service is especially handy as it allows for multiple revisions and one place for the document to exist and edit. No more sending a document to multiple people via email and then having to wade through the different paths of revisions that are made this way. All of the editing is done with the web-based application. The application even allows for multiple people to edit the document at the same time. I use this service for documents that change frequently like budgets and forecasting spreadsheets. Some other applications that exist that I haven't used are Google Chat, Google Sites, and Google Web Page Creator.

In conclusion, everyone likes free, especially when it works and this is a prime example.

Google is going to take over the world, or at least that is what I have heard. The search engine, the company, the verb is going to Washington D.C. to dethrone the king of desktop applications, Microsoft. As it should be, it is a great step forward for Microsoft Office alternatives.

Google does it all. For a mere $50/user per year, you get an extensive set of applications for your business.

For starters, you get GMAIL. Google’s email suite of tools surpasses anything I have dealt with in the past. With 25 GB of online storage space, you have enough room to save and store your emails. The online calendar gives you everything you have ever used and features that you need. With security and archiving powered by Postini, you have the protection your company needs when it comes to email.

Google docs allows you to store 10 GB of data online so that you can collaborate with others or simply to have a centralized repository of all your documents. No need for Microsoft Office applications with Google. They have everything you need to write and edit documents, excel files, presentations and more. Google now offers a offline synchronization capability so you can work on your documents while not connected to the internet and then to be able to update you online docs at a later date.

Google video is similar to YouTube, but as part of Google apps, you have the capability for private, secure video sharing within your company.

Let’s put it in terms of cost. Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint would cost you $130 on Ebay. You will need to purchase a server from Dell for about $999 to share files with others in the company. Pay someone to setup your Active Directory protect your data. You can sign up for a hosting Exchange service for about $12/month or get a POP account for less without knowing if it is backed up or not. So for about 4 users in a company you are looking at about $2000.00 for what you can get for $200.00 from Google. Like I said, “Come to the dark side, we have apps.”

The power of mobility is now in the cell phone. With the processing power of a cell phone almost comparable to the weakest of laptops and definitely surpassing a majority of the computing power of the 80’s, we can’t think to small in terms of advantages in the workplace.

Take my Blackberry, for instance. My blackberry has several applications that are common on any workstation or laptop and some applications that aren’t so common.

For starters, everything nowadays is built around a browser. Well, my cell phone has a browser that I can surf the internet on. My screen isn’t as big as my 15” screen on my laptop but definitely more convenient on the go.

In the fast paced world, we all need a calendar that is up to date with all your current appointments. Google apps offers a free synchronization service that allows my phone’s calendar to synchronize with my Google calendar over the air. There is no need for wires or hard to understand COM ports. So as I am on the go, my calendar is up to date wherever I schedule an appointment.

Email is essential, with Google’s free app, my emails get delivered to my phone in a nice effective manner without the need to setup IMAP or POP settings. No matter where I check my mail, delete emails, reply, or send messages, any and all changes are reflected everywhere.

Synchronizing contacts was a little more difficult but none the less achievable thanks to a program called Conjola sync. Thanks to this little application, my Gmail contacts automatically synchronize with my cell phone contacts over the air. Again, I have no need for wires. So, if I am out and about and I update my cell phone with a new contact, my phone syncs with Gmail and vice versa. Take it a step further, everyone with a company cell phone gets a complete contact list updated automatically.

Word documents, Excel documents, PDF documents and more are easily accessible with my phone and can be accessed in a pinch through Google docs. I don’t have to wait until I return to the office to read an attachment. After I save it to the phone, I can open it up and use the phone’s zoom feature to read it.

When is the last time you tried to take a picture with your laptop or computer? My phone comes equipped with a nice 2 megapixel camera. Taking a picture is as easy as pointing and hitting a button. No need to make sure that lighting is right, the phone automatically detects low light and activates the built in flash. Truly an edge when you are in a situation that only a picture can express. Delivering the photo is as easy as transferring it to my laptop via Bluetooth or simply emailing it to whomever.

Google Maps installed on the phone allows me to quickly find my destination. Even though the GPS capability of the phone puts me within 4000 meters, it is close enough and with satellite view, you can easily tell where you at.

This is just a few of the extensive apps that can be easily installed on my Blackberry that is helping us grow our business as well as helping others. As demonstrated by Steve Jobs with the iPhone and with Google’s new Android enabled phones, the future in mobility is definitely in the cell phone. Taking advantage of your phone’s capability will give you an advantage in the workplace.

Cell phones have become an integral part of the business world. The phone's main purpose, phone calls, by itself provide enough value to be a must in business. The next generation of phones has provided several more features that continue to gain more and more use. Among these features are email, text messaging, Internet browsing, mapping/directions, calendaring, and contact management.

If you can think back to the last time you couldn't access your email and how quickly you called your IT company (hopefully us), you'll see how integral emailing has become in the business environment. Well, a natural extension of email use would be mobile email use, right? Mobile email is becoming a standard with new phones. As an example, my iPhone emailing feature works great with the Google Apps email environment I'm on. The phone also supports an unlimited amount of email accounts. The notification system of a new message is similar to a text message. Also, the ability to send email, reply, even send a camera photo that was just taken from the phone to an email address. The iPhone now also supports Microsoft Exchange. Also, many other business ready phones are at the level of the iPhone email support (in several cases, at this level first).

Internet browsing support is becoming more and more standard. Also, the Internet you see on the cell phone looks increasingly like the Internet that you see on your office PC. Just a few years ago, a cell phone would tout its Internet use but it was the Internet, circa 1994. This is changing. When webpage is pulled up on an iPhone, it looks the exact same as on a computer (well a Mac anyway) except for lack of Adobe Flash support. Now if a phone number is needed while on the road, use the Google searching instead of 411. A related feature to the Internet browsing is mapping and directions. The phone has a GPS locator so your location can be found, then you simply put in a destination address and directions are provided. Works well and has eliminated calling the client to ask "Which turn was it??".

Calendaring is the last feature to discuss. Does anyone have frequent meetings (client or internal) and don't live by some calendaring/scheduler application. Seems unlikely. Well, certain calendaring applications will synchronize with your cell phone. The two leaders in this arena are Microsoft Exchange and Google Calendar (also a part of Google Apps). A website exists (NuevaSync.com) that will convert the Google Apps calendar to work with any phone that can synchronize to a Microsoft Exchange server. I am using this with my iPhone and have no complaints. This should also work with a BlackBerry or any other phone with Microsoft Exchange support.

The features that were until recently limited to desktop PC or laptop use are now being expanded into the cell phone world. I'm still waiting for the day I can work completely off a cell phone. Sounds crazy but so would having all these features on your phone ten years ago. So, if you are still resisting embracing your phone in the business environment, don't and you'll be surprised (as I was a year and a half ago).

We all know how important it is to keep the data on your computer. Depending on your reliance on computers (probably high), loss of your business computer data would be a serious blow to your company. Unfortunately, computer data backup tends to fall in the category of things people talk about its importance while not actually doing anything about it. Kind of like how everyone says how important it is to eat healthy and then will head over to McDonald's for lunch. Funny how the important things that should be done on a regular basis tend to stay on the back burner of priorities.

Back in the old days (you know ten years ago), the main strategy was either to hope and pray the hard drive didn't die or use a tape backup system. Everyone remembers this game. It involves rotating the tapes every day. If you had a really good plan you would remember to take the tape off-site to your home.

Luckily in the past ten years, the growing popularity of external drives along with the increase in size, you can have a great backup system with two external hard drives (approximately $75-150 each). Some of these hard drives have a password protection feature that will keep your data safe while on the hard drive. Attach one of the hard drives to your server or pc and copy all of the files you'd like to backup to the external drive. I would create a folder called "Backup 2009-01-16" changing the date to the current one then copy any files you'd like to backup. When you go home at night, unplug the external drive and take it home with you. Tomorrow, do the same thing with second external hard drive. Take the second drive home with you that night. The third day, take the 1st drive to work with you. Repeat the cycle. By doing this, you always have one hard drive off-site at your home. If your office was burglarized or had a fire, all of your data is safe at your home. The main drawback of this strategy is that you must perform it every day.

For a little more automated backup, you can subscribe to one of the several reliable online backup applications that are available. Some examples are Carbonite, IDrive, Mozy, and SOS Backup. The cost of these services range from $50 - $200 per year. When you've selected one of these services, you will install their software on your server or pc. Then, using the the installed software, simply select the folders you'd like to backup and you are basically done. The software will work behind the scenes and keep your files backed up on the service's web servers. You should periodically look at the logs and verify that the software is doing its job. The main drawback here is that you are putting your faith in the website vendor. While I have used them and found them very reliable, there is something unsettling with trusting your data security and storage online backup service.

The best strategy I've found is to do both of these. Then, the main drawbacks of each are mitigated by the other. Another important phase to your backup strategy is to perform test restores. Even the companies that have what they think are good backup strategies, without testing it, how do you really know? Doing these test restores provides a good test to ensure that if you really need your backup you will actually be able to get it using your backup data.

It has been happening over and over again. Processes or applications that could only be done on a PC or local server are being ported to the Internet. One of the late entries in this game is file management. Simply put this allows for you to use a web server for your file management.

Online file management provides several advantages (and a few disadvantages) to the traditional local PC/server data storage solutions. The biggest advantage is being able to have your files automatically synchronized across multiple computers. So, you can easily work at home and office and have the same new files at your disposal. Some providers even have mobile access of files.

A Dropbox account can be accessed via an iPhone allowing you access to your files anywhere. File sharing is a close second as far as features go. You can easily work with co-workers by sharing a folder with the co-worker. Now everyone has the same version of a file on their account. Also, if you'd like to send a client a large file, you can make the file public and give the client a direct web link to the file via email. This eliminates the issue of large files being unable to be sent via email. Files also are backed up with the solution. If your computer goes down, you can download the files from the server on your new computer. That doesn't mean you should rely on the system completely for your file backup solution.

This leads us to the main disadvantage, you don't control the server and when creating a backup solution, should expect the worst case scenario, which is that the file management has lost your files. To counteract this, you should still backup using a combination of an external hard drive, DVD, tape backup, or online backup solution. Also, for highly sensitive files, a certain amount of trust has to exist with the provider and their control of your files. The cost of the providers in my opinion is more than reasonable but depending on the total amount of your storage, the cost may become prohibitive.

The main competitors out there are Dropbox, Box.net and Elephant Drive. I have been using Dropbox mainly because they give 2GB for free. For now, this is enough space to accommodate the business. Once I surpass that 2GB, 50GB are available for $99 per year. To me, a completely reasonable cost. Box.net and Elephant Drive are the main competitors out there. I haven't tried them mainly because the free service wasn't nearly as good as Dropbox. How come Google is involved in this? Seems right up there alley and they'd probably offer 100GB for free. While many rumors exist of a Google Drive, nothing official has come from Google. Hopefully, that will change sometime soon.

In conclusion, online file management has become a very reasonable solution mainly because of the way the cost has gone down on storage space over the past few years. Over the next years, online file storage will become more and more mainstream (especially when Google jumps in).