Higher efficiency results in lower energy costs and a reduced carbon footprint. In one of my previous energy saving tips, we’ve already talked about tuning up your PC’s power options for energy savings. Now let’s have a look at the applications you’re running. Productivity is not the only factor to consider when evaluating upgrades on operating systems and software.

That’s right, computer processing time translates into energy use. Do you have applications storing and retreiving data? How about manufacturing, production, or even Point of Sale, inventory or CRM? Older applications and older operating systems can be using more energy, and affecting other environmental factors. Maybe it’s not by much, or maybe it’s just enough to make a difference to you and your business over an extended period, like a year or more.

An enterprise application upgrade resulting in improved overall data processing speed or network efficiency could reduce energy use, and invoke other environmental benefits. Wide-scale deployment of solutions improving processing time will reduce energy used by the machines, which in turn produces less heat, in turn requiring less ventilation, lowering electrical load, and reducing the load on HVAC systems, reducing carbon emissions, and requiring smaller ductwork, improving the usable space, utilizing leaner building materials… well, you get the idea.

Energy efficiency carries some weight in today’s businesses when costing upgrades. Many organizations by themselves are too small to witness a measurable effect, but wide-scale adoption of energy-saving policies by many organizations is considered environmental stewardship…which is a topic for a completely different blog, right?

- Bill

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Bill Bowman
Senior Technology Advisor
Centrend, Inc.
888-558-9550 ext. 135

Link: http://www.centrend.com/passport

Many of our small manufacturing contacts have been asking some good questions about ERP systems, and whether or not this type of software platform would increase competitive advantage while still being cost-effective.

The answer is: maybe (of course!)

If you have been wondering what is an ERP System (Enterprise Resource Planning), or just want to find out more them, now’s your chance to have a look at what this can mean for your organization.

Centrend is presenting a webinar hosted by Passport Software. One excellent example of a small manufacturing software platform. The webinar will be a live and interactive demo, running once a week for five weeks on Thursdays. It’s not intended to be “sales-ee", but rather it is geared toward addressing your questions (so, don’t be afraid to ask!). View the schedule by visiting the link below.

Go to: http://www.centrend.com/passport

Please pass this invitation on to anyone you know who may be interested…there is no charge to attend.

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Bill Bowman
Senior Technology Advisor

1-888-558-9550 x135

Centrend clients may rest easy. Customers taking advantage of our recommended antivirus solutions and preventative maintenance programs are simply not impacted by this problem. See the previous post for more details…

-Bill

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Bill Bowman
Senior Technology Advisor
508-347-9550 ext. 135

If you are running CA (Computer Associates) antivirus software, and you are experiencing error messages about your system potentially being unstable from missing or changed files, then it could be related to the CA antivirus program.

Beginning Wednesday, there have been reports of CA’s antivirus program mis-identifying legitimate Windows system files as harmful malware, and therfore treating the files like a virus. Cnet News is reporting that the problem is mainly affecting Windows XP users.

If you are experiencing problems with any of your PC’s operating systems, unsure about the files your antivirus program installations have quarantined, or have any other questions about virus protection, contact Centrend for assistance.

-Bill

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Bill Bowman
Senior Technology Advisor
508-347-9550 ext. 135

Over the last several months, Centrend has been conducting compliance audits and participating in various panel discussions and has plans to lead workshops on compliance with the new Mass personal information protection laws. We have experienced a definite change in the mood of our clients with regard to the new regulations. With only six months to the deadline, business leaders are now focusing more serious attention on the new law than ever before. Whether the concerns be administrative or technical, organizations are now forming task forces, action plans and executing the next steps toward compliance.

Centrend Regulatory Compliance for Information Protection workshops will be announced soon.

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-Bill

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Bill Bowman
Senior Technology Advisor
Centrend, Inc.
508-347-9550 x135