Central Desktop Blog

Cloud versus Saas? Who Cares? I've Got My Reasons

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:47:14 -0800

Cloud vs. SaaS - the Endless Debate

[modified post as a result of a comment I left on Ben's blog; please forgive the redundancy.]

The endless debate between Cloud and SaaS. I want to weigh in as a result of Ben Kepe's recent blog post titled, "Is the Cloud Going to Kill Conventional SaaS?"

While I totally agree that we should not be dogmatic about whether one is "better" than the other, that shouldn't dissuade any of us from stating some hard proofs of success in a SaaS environment (not Cloud).

At Central Desktop we run on our own private multi-tenant SaaS platform. Essentially, our own private "cloud." I put "cloud" in quotations because we don't think of it as "cloud" - we think of it as "our stack." Over the years, we've continued to evaluate Cloud vendors as potential delivery options for our point solutions to our customers - but the economics haven't justified a switch.

What is often overlooked by SaaS pundits is the fact that connecting to a Cloud very often reduces (sometimes eliminates) key features that a private SaaS vendor can provide. For example, we looked hard at augmenting our file storage with cloud storage via Amazon (and a few other vendors) but decided against it for two main reasons:

1. Vendor Economics.

Yes, economics. The transactional access of files and data that our customers require as active collaborators was a very expensive alternative. Remember, we are talking about Terabytes and Terabytes of data that we host for our clients. Sure, Cloud storage/services are cost-effective for nascent startups trying to save money ( I get it...I really do), but once you develop into a serious business with lots of paying customers with high transactional needs, Cloud becomes more cost prohibitive than one might imagine.

2. Feature Reduction.

Moving hot data to the Cloud resulted in slower performance and a reduction of features such as the inability to easily provide value-add features such as full-text search for documents stored in an off-site Cloud. The bar to provide certain features "in the cloud" was more expensive than it was for us to "do it ourselves." [Yes, I know its possible to provide full-text search, but it wasn't "easy."]

I agree that we shouldn't be dogmatic, but the economics of cloud storage and delivery have been prohibitive to us and our customers for the reasons listed above.

As a pseudo-cloud pundit myself, I'd also argue that the "open platform" and data portability that Cloud vendors promise their customers is still hedged with the "single point of failures" that we continue to see in Cloud vendors (virtually all of them have experienced extended outages with their customers wondering "what is going on?").

At least when we go down.....we know why, we are in control of the situation and we can fix it ourselves......and we can tell our customers what is happening/going on. Luckily, we don't go down very often at all: http://status.centraldesktop.com

Will we someday surpass the ability to efficiently and cheaply deliver our SaaS's to our customers on our private stack? Perhaps, but we've also found that our homegrown architecture enables lower cost of goods and is becoming more and more of a competitive advantage when we look at many of our competitors.

Our own core competencies of managing our own stack (er, "cloud") enable us to deliver high value to our customers at affordable prices that are not contingent on a 3rd party vendor's "usage rate."

Long live profitability!

Going to Defrag - Denver, CO

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:11:40 -0800

Defrag 2009

Alan Bryan (our Dir of IT) and myself will be exhibiting/attending the Defrag Conference in Denver, CO tonight (Nov 10th) through Thursday, Nov 12th 2009.

I will be speaking on Wednesday afternoon about "The Curse of Simple in the Enterprise" and how we should stop being afraid of complex software. The premise is that Complex Software does not mean hard to use or crapware; instead it gives you, the admin/power users, the tools you need to customize and conform software to your specific business processes and environment, and the end user an elegant business solution to a specific pain point.

It is my first time to Defrag, but from everything I hear, its one of the most progressive events for the industry. I am excited to meet several thought leaders there.

If you are going to be there or around Denver, send me a tweet @arnulfhsu or email to ahsu@centraldesktop.com so we can connect.

-Arnulf

The Central Desktop Plug-in for Outlook Syncs your Calendar and Tasks

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:55:58 -0800

Simplify Calendar and Task Management

The Central Desktop Plug-in is essential for any Outlook users. It allows you to sync all of your events and tasks across both applications. Not only that, but you can create and assign tasks or schedule calendar events without leaving Outlook. I'll give you a quick run-down of the features and show you how to get started.

The plug-in is available for Outlook versions 2000, 2003, and 2007 running on Windows. Download the installer (which is zipped) and make sure Outlook is completely closed before running it. Step through the brief installation wizard and then open Outlook back up. You should see two new buttons in your toolbar:

You will get prompted for your Central Desktop username and password the first time the plug-in attempts to sync, with an option to save your credentials so you don't have to enter them every time.

There is also a new "Central Desktop" tab in the Outlook Options panel. In most versions this is found in the Outlook Tools menu.

Options

You can opt to sync all tasks and events, or only the ones that you manually add to Central Desktop. (This setting only applies to items created in Outlook; all tasks and events in Central Desktop are added to Outlook.)

Choose the frequency at which you sync. The plug-in automatically syncs every time you Send and Receive in Outlook.

Opt to push changes as they occur, which means that any time you create or modify a task/event it will update to Central Desktop.

You can have items automatically deleted in Outlook when they are deleted on Central Desktop, however items deleted in Outlook are NOT deleted on Central Desktop.

Add to CD

If you are syncing all tasks and events, when you create an event or task in Outlook, it is added by default to your Central Desktop account as a Personal Event or Task which you can see in the "My Calendar" and "My Tasks" areas of your Central Desktop Dashboard. If you are only syncing selected events and tasks, it is not added to CD at all unless you do so manually.

But suppose you want to add an event or task to a specific workspace. To do so, create the event or task, then click the Add-Ins tab followed by the "Save and Add to CD" button. You will be prompted to select a workspace and can then assign the task to a member of the workspace or choose participants for your event. Also use the checkbox to send email notifications to the people you selected -- it is checked by default.

If you use Outlook, I encourage you to try this online collaboration plug-in out if you haven't already. You can find helpful instructions and troubleshooting information in the Outlook Plugin section of our Help Center.

Weekly Buzz Round-Up: 11/06/09

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:25:07 -0800

Welcome to the Weekly Buzz Roundup! Here's what was buzzing about Central Desktop in the News, Blogosphere and Twitterverse this week.

News and Blog Mentions

Central Desktop and Duct Tape Marketing Offer SaaS to Small Businesses - TMCnet
Central Desktop Links to Authentication Service - socalTECH.com
Central Desktop Beefs Up Security - EcontentMag
Central Desktop's Collaboration Software Now Supported on Tricipher's myOneLogin Service - Yahoo Finance
Central Desktop Positioned in Leading Analyst Firm's Magic Quadrant for Social Software in the Workplace - Entrepreneur.com

Twitter Buzz

Evangelists

simonevs Was interviewed for a Central Desktop study for one of my clients yesterday. CD is such a great tool for project and team collaboration.

BusinessAssist <a href="http://www.centraldesktop.com/l?sr=af_21758540gg0678n9phdl" alt="Central Desktop">I recommend Central Desktop for Collaboration</a>

Retweets and Mentions

OriginalSignal Episode B2 - Isaac Garcia at BarcampLA: Nick Dynice interviews Isaac Garcia of Central Desktop, the hosted collabora... http://bit.ly/3qfYAa

wapl @MissAdventuring Two ideas on collaboration SaaS apps.... QuickBase: http://bit.ly/aRZU6 Central Desktop: http://bit.ly/PmhH3

myOneLogin RT @centraldesktop: Central Desktop's Collaboration Software Solution Now Supported on TriCipher's myOneLogin Service-http://budurl.com/lufp

ybillingslea Central Desktop's Collaboration Software Solution Now Supported on TriCipher's myOneLogin Service...http://p.gs/iu3ha

CMYSUCCESS Central Desktop and Duct Tape Marketing Partner to Bring ...: ... business owners who utilize Duct Tape's m.. http://bit.ly/1MhbCT

JackMartinTX Central Desktop's Collaboration Software Solution Now Supported on TriCipher's myOneLogin Service #SSO

saasdir Central Desktop Links To Authentication Service (socalTech.com) http://bit.ly/1kgQ2g

MLMMasteryPro Weekly Buzz Round-Up: 10/30/09 - Central Desktop Blog http://bit.ly/7V2lJ

sktechlover Weekly Buzz Round-Up: 10/30/09 - Central Desktop Blog http://bit.ly/19wUku

kristinzhivago Weekly Buzz Round-Up: 10/30/09 - Central Desktop Blog http://bit.ly/3pBGYT

markbar @centraldesktop ties into Intuit http://bit.ly/KNwUF

Prospects

sullrich Need suggestions for inventory management system and intranet software (canned solution?). Ideas? Central desktop looks good.

Re: Why It's a Bad Idea to Send Huge Files by Email

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:11:07 -0800

Sending Huge Files by Email is a Bad Idea

I ran across a blog that really irritated me: Why It's a Bad Idea to Send Huge Files by Email

People who demand large message size limits rarely understand the limitations of the email transmission.

I hate to be snippy, but... DUH! People that understand the limitations of email transmissions for online collaboration already have options. People that demand large message sizes don't have any other option, or they would be using it. Sure, I (personally) have a web server running on my home computer so that I can send pictures to my friends and family. I don't know very many people (computer geeks included) that are willing to do the work (not that it's hard, but it's more work than email).

Because of the MIME encoding used when sending binary attachments, your files expand 33% when sent via email. In other words, a 15MB attachment requires 20MB plus the message text, plus message headers.

So? 15 megabyte to 20 megabytes? Really? Why bother talking about 5MB. Disk, CPU, and bandwidth are cheap and getting cheaper. Please, stop talking about numbers in MB. I stopped caring about MB years ago. Now, if your 15MB file requires a gigabyte (1024 MB) in email form, I might care. I might be slightly concerned about storing 5 copies on my 1 terabyte hard drive (that terabyte hard drive is 1024 GB, or approx. 1 Million MBs). I'll accept that big companies might care, but I don't. I (on my personal server) accept email up to 1GB in size. And when somebody want to email me a 2GB file, I'll raise the limits.

Compare this to uploading the same attachment to a web server, FTP server, file transmission service like YouSendIt, or video streaming site like YouTube. One copy is uploaded. The download is typically 8-bit so minimal expansion factor. The small business' network can cache the content, so it's only downloaded once then fetched locally from the web caching server..

While this statement is true, it's also irrelevant. Most small businesses are not caching the content, so they end up downloading 5 copies of the video anyway. Caching layers are expensive (if you even know they exist). You have to buy the gear, get somebody to set it up, and figure out why it stopped working and "the internet is down". Caching layers make a lot of sense if you're a big business. Not so much for the small guys.

That said, I completely agree. Sending files by email is a bad idea. Any file. Here are my thoughts:

It usually starts a reply-all flood that quickly loses coherence.
It's difficult to Index and Search well. Sure, most mail clients will let you search, but it's still slow and not well indexed (this varies by email client). Whenever I start searching my Inbox for something, I start googling it too. I can usually google it faster than I can find it in my inbox.
My inbox is a landfill. That's where knowledge goes to die, fossilizing in sedimentary layers of CCs that will someday be bulk deleted. That's a bit harsh, but my point is that the email is not useful anymore. When I train a new employee, I can't very well forward every email in my inbox. There's no context for somebody else to knowledge mine it.

A Better Collaboration Solution:

Now, I'm obviously biased (I'm posting this on blogs.centraldesktop.com), but I have a better solution: Central Desktop. We are a web site, so uploaded files are 8-bit (no expansion factor), files are in a single location, and they can be cached (assuming the user has a caching layer). We solve the original blogger's complaints, and mine.

Replies are attached to the file for anybody to read later. It's well indexed; I can find information faster in Central Desktop that I can find it in my Inbox. When I want to train a new employee, I add them to the projects they'll be working on. Not only does Central Desktop have my entire knowledge base, it has all of my co-workers' knowledge too. It makes bringing new people up to speed faster. It makes bringing existing employees into a new project faster too.

To make it even easier, you can use email. Every workspace has email addresses. If somebody wants to email files to everybody, they just email one copy to a centraldesktop.com email address. You get all the above benefits and the ease and familiarity of an email client.

There's only one problem with my solution: People don't know about it. If you're already a customer, check out our affiliate program. If you're not a customer, signup for a free trial and start spreading the word.

Online Spreadsheets - Central Desktop Quick Tip #3

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 10:03:17 -0800

Do you collaborate using Excel Spreadsheets often? Are you uploading Excel Spreadsheets into your Central Desktop workspaces? Have you considered using our Online Spreadsheet tool for project collaboration?

Some of the benefits of using an Online Spreadsheet versus an uploaded Excel file are:

Online Viewing and Editing. No need to use the Check In / Check Out function to make changes. No need to download the spreadsheet to view it.
Real Time Spreadsheet Collaboration. This allows more than one person to access and make changes to a spreadsheet at the same time.
Ease of use. The Online Spreadsheet tool has a lot of the functions and features you are already used to using with other spreadsheet tools. Formulas, Formatting, Sorting etc.
Everyone in the workspace has access to the latest information at their fingertips.
You can add and read comments. You can access a revision history, audit log and back links by clicking into the Revision link while in the Online Spreadsheet (make sure that you are not in full screen mode).
Can password protect your online spreadsheet by following this path: Click into your spreadsheet (make sure that you are not in full screen mode) > More Actions > Password Protect.
Auto Save. Every time you leave a cell, the Online Spreadsheet auto saves. No worries about losing important information!

It is very easy to get started. Go to the Files and Discussions tab and click on Create New > Online Spreadsheet. You will be able to create the spreadsheet from scratch or import it from an existing Excel or CSV file.

Please note that you can use Full Screen mode as well for viewing and editing. This gives you more screen real estate to use.

Worried about how to get that data out of your Online Spreadsheet and back into Excel? Don't worry, as you can easily export to Excel as well as HTML, CSV, PDF, Open Document, Open Office 1x, Gnumeric, TeX Source, Styled XML and Simple XML. That is a whole lot of choice! To export your Online Spreadsheet, follow this path: Use the Download/Export icon. This is located to the right of the Printer icon in the Online Spreadsheet toolbar.

I hope that quick tip helps!

What Differentiates Central Desktop Collaboration Software?

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 10:16:19 -0800

"What is Central Desktop" and "How are You Different From Your Competitors?"

As part of the New Sales team for Central Desktop, I often have the privilege of speaking with those desperately seeking a solution to streamline business efficacy and communications. However, the majority of us are new to Collaboration Software, or even its existence, and I am always asked "What is Central Desktop? and "How are you different from XYZ?" As many of you find out first-hand, all you need to do if you have a question is call into Central Desktop and you will have at your disposal an army of individuals ready to impress how Group Collaboration software can be used for company intranets, client extranets, file repositories, databases...the list goes on. For simplicity's sake, suffice it to say that Central Desktop is:

Group Collaboration software designed to streamline communications amongst groups, departments, and entire organizations via unique and invitation-based environments called "workspaces." Workspace environment can be easily tailored into either intranet or extranet, each with their own unique tasks, milestones, calendars, databases, files, etc. that are accessible only by users who have been "invited" in by an administrator. Users can create their own unique username/password and once logged in they will only see and be aware of the workspaces they have been invited into.

How is your Collaboration Software Different from Others?

However, the more pressing question remains "How is your solution different from XYZ?" Since the birth of the word "IBM Compatible," computing hardware and software have rapidly evolved and so too have Web 2.0 applications like Collaboration Software. With all these platforms promising near-identical features and functionality, how is one really supposed to make an educated guess into which solution is truly the answer for them? We at Central Desktop are cognizant of this dilemma and have taken it upon ourselves to differentiate both our product and company by the following key differentiators:

A Turnkey and Intuitive Solution

As a Software as a Service (SaaS), there is nothing to download or install, allowing our busy and on-the-go users to access their workspace(s) from virtually anywhere as long as they have a computer with an internet connection. Once inside the software, it is robust enough to accommodate the array of aforementioned usages while being simple enough to learn within 1-5 days, on average. This greater user adoption/affinity coupled with the streamlining of communications ultimately result in a greater Return On Investment for our clients year-over-year.

Simple Account Management

Our customers spend more time actually using our solution, rather than setting up or managing it. Being a hosted software, our solution requires no complicated set up or development process- it's a "plug-and-play" solution allowing users with the proper permissions to easily customize each workspace and/or the overall account. No more hassling with IT for weeks on end to have your edits and additions applied to your solution; Instead, our in-house Development Staff listens to our direct user feedback to ensure that our solution is always operational and meeting your business needs.

Unparalleled Customer Service:

Here at Central Desktop, we recognize that all users are not created equal; therefore, we strive to make ourselves accessible to both current customers and inquirers alike. Questions can be answered by our knowledgeable staff by simply dialing into our offices or via email and will be responded to within 24 hours. However, should your busy schedule prevent you from reaching out directly, our Help Center can be accessed 24/7 and contains video tutorials, informative whitepaper and a user forum with input from existing users to help maximize your Central Desktop experience.

Hopefully, this post has been a helpful introduction into collaboration software and after reading this, maybe you too are interested in acquiring an account with Central Desktop. Give us a call! Who knows, maybe I'll pick up the phone and you too can ask me "What is Central Desktop and how are you different? Maybe my answer will be different then, but probably not. :)

Central Desktop Partners with Internet Identity Services Provider TriCipher

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:13:58 -0800

myOneLogin Single Sign-On in the Cloud Now Available

Juggling too many usernames and passwords can create mayhem when you're trying to work on all of them at one point or another throughout the day. So today we announced a partnership with Internet identity services provider, TriCipher. As an integrated partner, Central Desktop is now a supported Web application on TriCipher's myOneLogin secure single sign-on service.

At Central Desktop we also realize putting confidential information online might make people a little uneasy. However, with myOneLogin, business users can sign in and from a single portal, securely log in to Central Desktop plus other Web applications (over 2,000 and growing) that are supported on myOneLogin. Using myOneLogin's service gives you a painless way to incorporate single sign-on in the cloud for your business especially now that Central Desktop is a partner.

myOneLogin and Central Desktop Success-

Tandem Business Specialists is a great example of a company using both Central Desktop and myOneLogin. They're a financial services consulting firm so security is particularly critical for them, but by accessing Central Desktop through myOneLogin's secure service, they can rest easy that their client information is secure. For more information on how Tandem Business Specialists uses myOneLogin and Central Desktop, check out this case study.

Central Desktop Customer Appreciation Party in Denver, CO

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 10:46:21 -0800

As we continue to travel around the country for various events, we always try to host a customer dinner or mixer with our customers. So far, we've hosted Customer Mixers here in Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago and most recently in Denver, CO, and every event has been simply spectacular.

Last week, Sam Patel (Director of Business Development) and I were in Colorado presenting to the Duct Tape Marketing Coaches Gathering in Boulder, Colorado. We flew in a day early and hosted a small Customer Mixer in downtown Denver at the Hotel Monaco.

Each event has been small and intimate with attendees ranging between 10-20. While at first we were disappointed with smaller turnouts, we realized that the smaller numbers enabled us to engage deeply with everyone - something that would not be possible in a mixer of more than 25 people.

At each mixer, we've been able to connect with old and new customers and buy them a drink and say thank you for being our customers. It also provides us with an opportunity to get direct feedback on how we can serve them better. Inevitably, our conversations turn into deep product feature conversations, partnership opportunities, new business ideas and just plain old networking. I was particularly excited to meet some old customers from over three years ago!

We encourage our customers to invite others who might be interested in meeting other Central Desktop customers or learning about our products and services. I believe that we've influenced people to buy our product at each event - although, this is not the primary purpose of our gatherings - it is always nice to bring new customers into the fold.

A big thank you to everyone who visited us in Denver and looking forward to the next one...coming soon, to a city near you!

(Above) Chatting with Mark Steele, Tom McWhirter and Carolyn McGee from Present Success

(Above) David Villegas from Postnet, Stephanie Jordan from Aurora Bank and Valerie Carpenter from Creativity For Peace

Weekly Buzz Round-Up: 10/30/09

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 09:41:39 -0800

Welcome to the Weekly Buzz Round-Up, and Happy (early) Halloween! It was yet another busy week here at Central Desktop, as we released the New Duct Tape Marketing Collaboration Solution.

Let's take a look at what was buzzing about Central Desktop this week in the news, Blogosphere and Twitterverse.

News and Blog Mentions

Central Desktop's Social Technology Platform Joins the Intuit App Center - MarketWatch
The Top 10 Tools for Online Collaboration - Sowmo.com
Intuit App Center Brings Innovative Web Apps to Small Businesses- BusinessWire -MSN Money
SharePoint Collaboration - Sharepointbank.com
Central Desktop Powers Marketing Firm's Site - socalTECH.com
Central Desktop and Duct Tape Marketing Partner to Bring Collaboration Software Solution to Small Businesses - Yahoo Finance
Central Desktop - The SharePoint for Small Businesses? - Aaron MacDaniel

Twitter Buzz

Evangelists

inprova what online apps do you use in your vitual assistant practice. i personally use Central Desktop

ducttape Love Central Desktop so much created some DTM versions - http://twurl.nl/5aqlt3 - giving 30 day trials, yes it's a strategic affiliation

Retweets and Mentions

markbar @centraldesktop ties into Intuit http://bit.ly/KNwUF

CollabCloud 2010's 10 Companies to Watch: Central Desktop - Managing Automation Magazine http://bit.ly/4ESo6

TimothyMckee Central Desktop SaaS Collaboration Now Available on Intuit App Center - http://bit.ly/13DhA8

davis_christ Central Desktop SaaS Collaboration Now Available on Intuit App Center - http://bit.ly/13DhA8

Peggy_Peterson Central Desktop SaaS Collaboration Now Available on Intuit App Center - http://bit.ly/13DhA8

delucamichael Central Desktop SaaS Collaboration Now Available on Intuit App Center - http://bit.ly/13DhA8

Richa_Smith Central Desktop SaaS Collaboration Now Available on Intuit App Center - http://bit.ly/13DhA8

jamesschweitzer Central Desktop SaaS Collaboration Now Available on Intuit App Center - http://bit.ly/13DhA8

pressfeedgal Social Media Club #smcsgv this Thurs. Oct 29 Noon @ Central Desktop offices in Pasadena contact @pressfeedgal for info

theresamoretti RT @isaacgarcia Social Media Club SGV #smcsgv meeting Thurs. Oct 29 12PM Central Desktop in Pasadena contact @pressfeedgal

isaacgarcia "Central Desktop Supports U2 at Rose Bowl in Pasadena (sort of)" http://budurl.com/wwta

boxofficebernie Central Desktop Supports U2 at Rose Bowl in Pasadena (sort of ... http://tinyurl.com/yz6l8dy

CommuniClique Central Desktop and Duct Tape Marketing Partner to Bring Collaboration ... - PR-Inside.com (Pres.. http://bit.ly/2TWp8T #web2.0, #voip

jomenat RT @CommuniClique: Central Desktop and Duct Tape Marketing Partner to Bring Collaboration ... - PR-Inside.com (Pres.. http://bit.ly/2TWp8...

EnterSuccess Central Desktop and Duct Tape Marketing Partner to Bring Collaboration ...: Customized specifically for small b.. http://bit.ly/1MjHVX

CMYSUCCESS Central Desktop and Duct Tape Marketing Partner to Bring Collaboration ...: Customized specifically for small b.. http://bit.ly/1MjHVX

onsaas HEADLINE: Central Desktop and Duct Tape Marketing Partner to Bring Collaboration ... - http://bit.ly/eUPZx

NOTAGroupIncNet Central Desktop and Duct Tape Marketing Partner to Bring Collaboration ...: Created by John Jantsch, Duct Tape .. http://tinyurl.com/yzbck6w

benkuo Central Desktop Powers Marketing Firm's Site http://bit.ly/31YKkH

socaltechfeed Central Desktop Powers Marketing Firm's Site http://bit.ly/31YKkH

socalrocks SoCal Tech: Central Desktop Powers Marketing Firm's Site http://buzzup.com/gpb1

sandiegowire Central Desktop Powers Marketing Firm's Site - http://fwix.com/article/14_e5c462d1c7

saasdir Central Desktop and Duct Tape Marketing Partner to Bring Collaboration Software Solution to Small Businesses (Market... http://bit.ly/3NBjXt

collaborationIT Central Desktop and Duct Tape Marketing Partner to Bring Collaboration ... - Broadcast Newsroom http://ow.ly/15YhSi

TheSAASNetwork Sassy: #saas Central Desktop and Duct Tape Marketing Offer SaaS to Small Businesses - TMCnet http://bit.ly/1Y13zp

Prospects

jonathan_burns is comparing internal social media platforms & wikis: SocialText, Central Desktop, PBworks, Google Sites. Suggestions for mid size firms?

paulajohnson Checking out Central Desktop's website. Just met one of their marketing peeps today. http://www.centraldesktop.com/

Thank you to all our Twitterers! If you haven't already, be sure to follow @centraldesktop for product updates, news, Central Desktop customer appreciation events, tips and more. You can also tweet us with any ideas, questions, or just to let us know how Central Desktop is working for you!

New Duct Tape Marketing Collaboration Solution Powered by Central Desktop Available Now

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 11:32:36 -0800

Duct Tape Marketing Collaboration Solution

We're proud to announce today that the new Duct Tape Marketing Collaboration Solution powered by Central Desktop is now available. We partnered with John Jantsch's Duct Tape Marketing to bring this customized version of Central Desktop to you. This version of Central Desktop will sport the Duct Tape Marketing look and feel, a Duct Tape Marketing Resource Workspace and a free digital version of Duct Tape Marketing's Referral Flood book. It's designed specifically for small business owners who use Duct Tape's marketing techniques and strategies and features content from John Jantsch.

Last week, we attended the Duct Tape Marketing Coaches Gathering in Boulder, CO where Isaac Garcia had a chance to introduce the attendees to the benefits of collaboration and the new customized version of Duct Tape Collaboration Solution.

Duct Tape Marketing's John Jantsch

For those of you who aren't familiar with John Jantsch, he's a veteran marketing coach, small business expert and author of Duct Tape Marketing: The World's Most Practical Small Business Marketing Guide. Most likely you have come across an article by John if you are reading Entrepreneur Magazine or the American Express OPEN Forum. He has also presented marketing workshops from the Small Business Administration to the American Marketing Association.

For more information about the Duct Tape Marketing Collaboration Solution, click here.

Central Desktop Supports U2 at Rose Bowl in Pasadena (sort of)

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 08:31:56 -0800

The Ultimate Collaboration

Sunday, October 25, 2009, the Rose Bowl in Pasadena was taken over by U2 and Black Eyed Peas fans hoping to have their senses overloaded with what has been labeled the largest concert production ever.

In addition to the 96,000+ ticketed fans in the Rose Bowl (the largest concert in Rose Bowl history), U2 pushed the production limits and conducted a live stream of the concert via YouTube (interesting that Google wasn't the brand promoted - rather it was distinctly "YouTube") where more than 7 million viewers from every continent watched the band conduct their modern day opera. Quite a collaboration.

Speaking of collaboration, in the cosmic (and economic) way that Central Desktop has been connected to other major events (Barack Obama Presidential Campaign), Central Desktop is also connected to the largest concert tour in history as well. The connection comes via Production Resource Group, "PRG", one of our customers that uses Central Desktop as their corporate intranet. I knew that PRG was a major production company that produced most of the major events in North America including live concerts, Broadway shows, corporate events, etc. After the concert, while walking out to the parking lot I met some of the lighting crew from PRG (see picture below) and got to meet some of the employees that not only helped with the production of the concert, but who ALSO used Central Desktop! They confirmed their usage of the Intranet and were happy to make the connection with me.

For the U2 360 Tour, PRG provided lighting support which included some of the most sophisticated lighting production ever assembled, with more than 19 spot operators, some suspended from the arms of "the claw."

Read more about PRG's involvement and lighting production at their website.

Below are some pictures I snapped at the show (apologies for the poor quality).

Here is a rough picture of scale of the Rose Bowl concert:

Here is another picture of the spot light crew being lifted into "the claw" pre-show:

Using Enterprise Wiki Solutions as a SharePoint Alternative

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 09:40:02 -0800

Enterprise Wiki Solutions and SharePoint Alternatives

What do enterprise wiki solutions, SharePoint alternatives and Central Desktop have in common? They can all be synonyms for the same types of tools, but not all Enterprise Grade Wiki's are true SharePoint alternatives. Enterprise Wiki Solutions are: Wiki Workspaces built to scale easily to the needs of large enterprises.Central Desktop's Enterprise Edition wiki is a SharePoint alternative that deploys faster, easier and at a much lower cost than a typical, SharePoint deployment.

How, Why, and When an Enterprise Wiki Can be Used As a SharePoint Alternative

Why is the easy part. Wiki's are easier to use than SharePoint, they are easy to edit (WYSIWYG) and most Enterprise Wiki Solutions are deployed as a SaaS solution, making it easy to access documents or data anytime and from anywhere. The features that make a wiki solution enterprise-grade include security, scalability and LDAP (single sign-on). It is not hard to find Enterprise Wiki Solutions. Most Enterprise 2.0 vendors offer some form of wikis. What makes Central Desktop unique is its combination of broad features that make it a viable alternative to SharePoint as well as its strong focus on ROI. Features unique to Central Desktop include project management tools, database flexibility and workflow automation functionality. Workflow gives companies the ability to set-up very complex rule sets and streamline their day-to-day business processes.

Easily Setting-up a Hosted Wiki SharePoint Solution

The Enterprise Edition comes with one-on-one time with our Implementation Specialist who will help you think through your business processes and set-up polished, efficient corporate wiki workspaces before you roll-out to your organization. We often recommend that you roll-out Central Desktop to your managers first and gather some feedback before rolling Central Desktop out to the rest of the organization.

If you would like to get started or learn more about using Central Desktop as a SharePoint Alternative contact sales or sign-up for a demo.

Related Articles:

Workflow Improvements: Does Your Work Flow by James Bowler

Enterprise 2.0 for Fortune 500 Companies - Does ROI Matter? by Cheryl Smith

More Collaboration, Greater Return

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:48:29 -0800

Hi, my name's Grace and I'm the new SEO and Social Media Copywriter here at Central Desktop. I mostly take care of the Weekly Buzz Round-Up, but lately, I've been discovering some interesting collaboration articles (via Digg and our Company Intranet, where our team members post up interesting/informative links) that I'd like to share with you.

More Collaboration, Greater Return, Study Says

This week, Chris posted an article on the Intranet titled "Invest in Collaborative Tools, Get More Than Double Return, Study Says." The article discusses how the Frost and Sullivan Report "Meetings Around the World II: Charting the Course of Advanced Collaboration" reveals that of the 3,662 organizations surveyed, 44 percent of the companies invested in collaboration tools (Collaboration tools include online document sharing, video conferencing, IM and VoIP). And while all those investing in collaboration tools experienced a greater return, what was interesting is that those who invested more, saw a proportionally greater return.

The collaboration tools study also revealed that:

Companies saw an average return of four times their investment.
People are becoming more and more comfortable with virtual conferencing.
The number of telecommuters is growing.
My personal favorite: Collaboration technology can aid in stress-reduction.

And all of these findings point to a bottom line- that online collaboration tools are the future of next generation businesses! To read the full release from Verizon, click here.

Weekly Buzz Round-Up: 10/23/09

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 09:18:07 -0800

Happy Friday, and welcome to the Weekly Buzz Round-Up! With our introduction into the Intuit App Center, Duct Tape Marketing Coaches Gathering and Denver Customer Appreciation Party, it's been a busy week for us here. Let's take a look at what was buzzing about Central Desktop in the Twitterverse and Blogosphere this week.

News and Blog Mentions

Central Desktop - Art of Cyberdribble
Central Desktop Ties Into Intuit - socalTECH.com
Central Desktop's Social Technology Platform Joins the Intuit App Center - Yahoo
2010's 10 Companies to Watch: Central Desktop - Managing Automation
Central Desktop SaaS Collaboration Now Available on Intuit App Center -CMSWire

Twitter Buzz

Evangelists

markbar Central Desktop well positioned in Forrester Wave on Collaboration Platforms - Q309 http://bit.ly/4ey5Gs

KulshanGroup Worked on Central Desktop, went to the gym...hmmm...maybe time for a shower, eh? Love the flexibility of working at home! #fb

BusinessAssist setting up a central desktop account. This software is great!

Retweets and Mentions

onsaas HEADLINE: 2010's 10 Companies to Watch: Central Desktop - http://bit.ly/4hYtnE

johngreathouse Top Ten Companies, according to Managing Automation magazine - my personal fav is Central Desktop http://bit.ly/2FWcRq

cmortensen RT @centraldesktop: We Love You - "Customer Appreciation Event" by Chris Goodrich up on the Central Desktop Blog - http://budurl.com/ny6g

isaacgarcia Join us for a Central Desktop Customer Mixer in Denver Oct 22nd - Friends/Colleagues all welcome! Info/RSVP at http://budurl.com/p4dz

EZF_Executives RT @acce: RT @isaacgarcia: Central Desktop Joins the Intuit App Center - http://budurl.com/7lr8

acce RT @isaacgarcia: Central Desktop Joins the Intuit App Center - http://budurl.com/7lr8

tadmilbourn RT @alexbarnett: Nice!! RT @isaacgarcia @ITSinsider Here you go! Central Desktop Joins the Intuit App Center - http://budurl.com/7lr8

alexbarnett Nice!! RT @isaacgarcia @ITSinsider Here you go! Central Desktop Joins the Intuit App Center - http://budurl.com/7lr8 << #SaaS

saasdir Central Desktop's Social Technology Platform Joins the Intuit App Center (Business Wire via Yahoo! Finance) http://bit.ly/1gte59

ITSinsider Retweeting @isaacgarcia: @ITSinsider Here you go! Central Desktop Joins the Intuit App Center -

isaacgarcia @ITSinsider Here you go! Central Desktop Joins the Intuit App Center - http://budurl.com/7lr8

CollabCloud Central Desktop Ties Into Intuit - socalTech.com http://bit.ly/U9LbP

pmtwits Central Desktop Ties Into Intuit http://bit.ly/4lQNQk

socaltechfeed Central Desktop Ties Into Intuit http://bit.ly/CbBlr

socalrocks SoCal Tech: Central Desktop Ties Into Intuit http://buzzup.com/ft8v

benkuo Central Desktop Ties Into Intuit http://bit.ly/CbBlr

collaborationIT Central Desktop`s Social Technology Platform Joins the Intuit App Center - Reuters http://ow.ly/15VPyY

collabotweet Central Desktop's Social Technology Platform Joins the Intuit App ... - Consumer Electronics Net: 'We're excited.. http://bit.ly/1UzLNw

pressfeedgal @centraldesktop - thanks for the RT re: Social Media Club SGV Oct 29th 12 PM at Central Desktop offices.

mdotecnologia RT @centraldesktop: New "SaaS vs. Hosted Solutions" by Jason Hurst on the Central Desktop Blog - http://budurl.com/6baw

solutionasap Central Desktop - Simplify How You Collaborate With Others ! You can make a lot of money using it - Try it NOW FREE ! http://bit.ly/XJg9b

DataMotion CMSWire: Central Desktop SaaS Collaboration Now Available on Intuit App Center http://bit.ly/3iLoVJ Full http://bit.ly/16rXKK

WorkInTheCloud #SaaS Central Desktop saas Collaboration Now Available on Intuit App Center - CMSWire: Central Desktop saa.. http://bit.ly/4y3TAh

marguriteCicior Central Desktop saas Collaboration Now Available on Intuit App Center - CMSWire http://bit.ly/3gqR8O

datapeddler Central Desktop saas Collaboration Now Available on Intuit App Center http://bit.ly/c6Zlu

ramonspearman Central Desktop saas Collaboration Now Available on Intuit App Center http://bit.ly/3imtA0

Jason_Jasura Central Desktop SaaS Collaboration Now Available on Intuit App Center: What do you do if you .. http://bit.ly/4kUuBF via @cmswire

KulshanGroup More Central Desktop, loading up files & tasks...and some painting again, yay! #fb

Prospects

zapiz needs to learn everything about central desktop. any help?

chrisgoodrich @zapiz Best place to start is definitely the @centraldesktop Help Center: http://budurl.com/jf9q Should have 95% of what you need to know.