Simplex-IT BizBlog

As more than a casual observer, Bob Coppedge, president of Northeast Ohio’s information technology management firm Simplex-IT, has taken notice of a significant increase of malware attacks occurring in the recent past. In his quest to be more like Lenny on the popular TV show Law & Order, Bob has prepared this short video to help you understand what malware is, explain how it is socially engineered to trick you into allowing it to infect your computer network and, most importantly, how easy it is to protect yourself from what is otherwise a likely inevitable attack.

If you can spare just 4 minutes to view this presentation, we trust you will find the investment in your time to be very worthwhile.

At its conclusion, we invite you to call us at 234.380.1277 or send an email to John@Simplex-IT.com. We stand ready to answer your questions and reveal how easy and inexpensive it is to implement effective solutions to help you guard against malware attacks from the internet. Just click on the thumbnail below and you’ll be on your way!

Ok, this is thanks to our bud Dan Hanson over at GreatLakesGeek.com.

Don’t know what to get that Microsoft geek who’s on your list, but you really don’t want to spend anything on?  We’ve got you covered!

It seems that Microsoft has put up 7, yup 7 free technical eBooks for downloading.

Yup, they're free!

Now, these are pretty good books.  Each of them are decent sized, and worth perusing.

And the topics cover a wide range of topics, including:

• IT Careers
• Windows Server 2008 R2
• Virtualization
• Office 365
• SQL Server 2008 R2
• SQL Server “Denali” (the new version!)
• Deploying Windows 7

 Good stuff!

Click here to get your copies (oh, and check out the poster showing creating snapshots in a Hyper-V environment)

Simplex-IT’s October 2011 Lunchinar presentation “Upgrading Your IT Network: How Do You Know When It’s Time?” is now available for viewing on our YouTube channel.

At just a little over an hour in length, this excellent overview discusses the costs and compromises in productivity that result from letting your organization’s hardware and software become too outdated. Part of Simplex-IT’s ongoing monthly free lunchinars it was positively received by both the technical AND non-technical people in attendance.

Just click on the thumbnail below and enjoy!

Bob here.  Over the past couple years, I’ve tried a lot of different marketing techniques. E-mail, postcards, social media, mailing lists, blitz contains, smoke signals, phone campaigns and more.

Some things work. A lot of other things, not so much. But I do think that we’ve developed a pretty good program that’s working for us. It’s relatively low-cost, relatively measurable, and seems to generate an appropriate amount of business for us.  It’s a combination of blogs, email, FaceBook, LinkedIn, mail, phone, YouTube and shoe leather.

In discussions I’ve had with other business owners, both in and out of the IT business, there’s always been a keen interest in just how we do this. And, as you can see from this YouTube video (recorded from an online meeting I gave to about 75 similarly positioned IT firms back in June), I’m always willing to share our methods and madness.

And it recently occurred to me that some non-IT folks might want to hear what we do.

So here’s my offer. If you’d be interested in hearing what we at Simplex-IT do for our marketing programs, drop me a line. If enough people are interested on this, I’ll put together an informal get-together where I’ll review our programs, and have some open discussion on what works and what doesn’t in this fun economic time.  Obviously, no cost or anything.

What are we selling? Nothing. But I’ve had enough conversations with folks to know that this is a tough topic. And I thought it might be worthwhile to hear from someone who’s not selling something.

So, if you’re interested, e-mail me at Bob@Simplex-IT.com, and let me know! Operators are… Well, actually we don’t have any operators. But if we did, rest assured they’d be standing by.

Perfect weather and a great turnout combined to make Simplex-IT’s 4^th Annual Community Appreciation Picnic this past Wednesday, August 17, 2011 a resounding success. With nearly 70 attendees over the 4-hour duration there was plenty of discussion and lots of networking that took place.

There were the usual suspects: folks from the Streetsboro, Hudson and Greater Akron Chambers were in attendance as were IT professionals from the Greater Cleveland PC Users Group (GCPCUG). Several associates who are ‘in transition’ and various Simplex-IT clients rounded out the guest roster.

Chef Steve manned the grill most of the afternoon (I don’t know how Bob’s wife, Julie, talked him into it!) and he managed to keep the hot food coming to meet the demand.

Several low-key demonstrations were held on Microsoft Office 365 for those who expressed interest and island music played in the background giving an extra edge of summertime fun to the occasion. There’s nothing like a little Bob Marley to help put one in the mood!

Get a taste of what it was like by visiting our Facebook page where Cyndee Duhon, Simplex-IT marketing expert and photographer extraordinaire captured the moment in time: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.268640259816485.90697.141004949246684&type=1

If you missed it and now wished you hadn’t remember that old northeast Ohio mantra: “There’s always next year!”

Thanks to all who helped make it a great afternoon

We are pleased to announce Simplex-IT’s Lunchinar, “Introduction to Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online 2011,” is now online at our YouTube channel and is available for viewing. For your convenience, we have embedded all four parts of this presentation below, making it even easier for you to review Doug Tombow’s excellent overview of this exciting new cloud service.

Customer Relationship Management, commonly referred to as CRM, is receiving increased attention by today’s businesses. The ability to track an organization’s contact with a customer – from the sales department to customer service to accounting and everywhere in between – provides the kind of control needed to take advantage of every possible opportunity to exceed client expectations and increase revenue.

And since keeping a lid on costs is so important these days, the fact that companies can get started with CRM Online with no upfront costs for hardware and software is a huge plus. Since it is a subscription service, you only pay for what you need and use.

But you can listen to the whole story below. Just sit back, get comfortable and click on a thumbnail to get started. When you’re finished, if you have questions please give us a call (234.380.1277) or email John@Simplex-IT.com. We’re always happy to help!

Part 1: What is CRM? – Benefits of CRM – The “US” vs. “I” Challenge – Online vs. On-Premises – The CRM Online interface

Part 2: Exploring Tasks, Contacts and Accounts – Integrating CRM Online with Outlook

Part 3: Tracking Activities – Customization Possibilities! – Challenges – Defining Business Processes

Part 4: Setting Expectations – Free 30-Day Trial – Reporting Services – Costs – Synchronizing Offline Data

Simplex-IT held another successful Lunchinar this past July 20 as we introduced Microsoft’s Dynamic CRM Online 2011 to an eager group of business owners and IT professionals.

Presented by Doug Tombow, resident Simplex-IT database expert extraordinaire, attendees learned about the advanced features, power and surprising affordability of Microsoft’s newest cloud-based Customer Relationship Management tool. Perhaps even more interactive than is typical for these presentations, Doug fielded a wide variety of questions from our guests, underscoring both the importance and interest in being able to track, maintain and effectively utilize the many contacts every business has with their most important asset, their customers.

Simplex-IT is already hard at work preparing the video of this event and we hope to have it posted here for your viewing pleasure in the coming days. In the meantime, of course, should you have any questions we might be able to answer concerning Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online 2011 (or anything else!), please don’t hesitate to contact us at 234.380.1277.

The response to our Social Media Strategy Lunchinar has been fantastic and we are very happy to announce that the entire presentation has been captured and posted on Simplex-IT’s YouTube channel. For your convenience we are also embedding all 4 parts right here on this blog entry.

To view a clip simply click on the thumbnail and it should begin playing. We hope you enjoy these and remind you we always welcome your comments.

Social Media Strategy for Your Small-Medium Business – 1 of 4. Topics include: Introductions, Why Create a Strategy?, What’s a Pod Camp?

Social Media Strategy for Your Small-Medium Business – 2 of 4. Topics include: Social Media Strategy for Your Small-Medium Business – 2 of 4. Topics include: What’s the First Step?, Branding, Testimonials, B2B vs. B2C, LinkedIn

Social Media Strategy for Your Small-Medium Business – 3 of 4. Topics include: Push vs. Pull, To Link or Not To Link, Repurposing Content, Building Relationships

Social Media Strategy for Your Small-Medium Business – 4 of 4. Topics include: Google Local & Google Places, Following Social Media, Google Alerts, Twitter, Steps to Your Strategy, Call to Action

Customer Relationship Management – commonly known as CRM – is one of the biggest challenges for today’s business owners. With so many ways to interact with potential clients it’s more difficult than ever to capture all customer contact by all your employees for the common goal of boosting sales. Few of the systems available today match the comprehensive potential of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Online to do just that.

This July 20, join Simplex-IT for an Introduction to Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Online and learn how you can harness the power of the cloud to combine your everyday Microsoft® Office Applications with powerful CRM software to rapidly improve your marketing, boost sales and bolster customer service interactions. AND get a free lunch in the process!

Presented by Simplex-IT’s own Doug Tombow, you will learn how you can finally get your customer relationships under control. And because this is a cloud-based service that means there are no upfront hardware or software costs to absorb. It’s the perfect choice for small-medium businesses who need fast sales results with rapid user adoption and minimal expense.

Join us on July 20, 2011 from 11:30am-1:00pm at Hattie’s Café, 164 N. Main St. in Hudson. Learn about Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Online while you enjoy a free lunch and the opportunity to network with other business owners in northeast Ohio. But seating is limited, so your RSVP is requested!

Call John at 234.380.1277 or email John@Simplex-IT.com to reserve your spot TODAY!

Simplex-IT’s June 2011 Lunchinar on “Social Media Strategy for Your Small-Medium Business” was a Standing Room Only success! Nearly 40 attendees enjoyed over an hour of stimulating conversation on how to best utilize the most revolutionary marketing tools ever – Social Media!

The event featured three business leaders and social media experts – Chris Brown, Deborah Chaddock Brown and Norma Rist – in a panel discussion chaired by Simplex-IT’s own Bob Coppedge, punctuated with frequent questions from the attendees. Which social media is the best – Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter? Not as much a How To as a session geared toward helping the various business owners gain insight on developing the best strategy for their particular marketing niche.

"Social Media Strategy for Your Small-Medium Business" event at Hattie's Cafe

Simplex-IT hosts regular monthly Lunchinars featuring a range of topics of interest to the small-medium business owner. Our goal is to help you find ways to integrate the latest in information technology into your daily processes to help you be more successful in what you do. Watch the Simplex-IT blog to find out what’s being offered in the coming months and join us. We’d love to add you to our growing family of fans!