Make sense of your data with pivot tables

I’ve used Microsoft Excel for years as a way to analyze a sales pipeline or as a way to clean up customer lists. I’ve even used many of the rudimentary functions and calculation tools to help me total the cost of a marketing budget or to calculate percentages. But that has really been the extent of my use of this tool.

I don’t think I’m alone in this. In fact, I’d bet that most of us only use a small percentage of the features and capabilities available in this tool. But as Endsight’s outsourced IT businesses has grown, it has become more and more important for us to analyze our business data and use that analysis to help us make good business decisions based on what we know instead of what we feel.

For example, as a sales and marketing professional it’s important for me to know where our best new business leads are coming from. On the surface that seems like a pretty simple question, but the answer requires a detailed analysis of Endsight’s historical sales and marketing data. My traditional methods for sorting and filtering data were inadequate and so I set out to learn some of the more advanced features available in Microsoft Excel. The feature that really helped me with my specific issue was pivot tables.

Pivot tables allow me to organize long lists of incomprehensible data into a concise dashboard view. It took me a few hours to learn how to create a pivot table, but once I got it down I’m certain it literally saved me days of work.

I found a web video on YouTube that was really helpful in teaching me to create pivot tables. I’ve included the video in his posting. You can also link to it by clicking here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVa7PIDfi5A

If you have a difficult question that you need to answer and you suspect some key insight to the question might reside in your historical business data, A pivot table could be useful in helping you smoke the answer out. If you feel like you might benefit from a more intensive training on Microsoft Excel it might make sense to consider signing up for a training class.

Endsight does some simple end-user training but it does not do intensive, classroom-based training for advanced users. We do however work with some great partners that can provide that service. If you’d like an introduction, e-mail me at jclause@endsight.net and I’ll be happy to connect you.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Excel data analysis with pivot tables, charts and slicers (techblissonline.com)
• PowerPivot for Excel 2010 - The ultimate data analysis add-in (techblissonline.com)

Why I Love My VoIP System:

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is a technology that allows an organization to converge its voice network with its data network. It is technology that’s been around for some time and, in fact, most of the small business owner’s that I speak with already have a VoIP network.

Image via Wikipedia

From an architectural standpoint, a VoIP phone system makes good sense: why build two networks if you only need one? But instead of spending a lot of time writing about all of the organizational benefits of VoIP technology, I am going to spend a little time describing three of the features that I personally find most valuable:

One Touch dialing:

I spend a tremendous amount of time talking with people on the telephone.  Before my company implemented a VoIP phone system I would sometimes have to dial the same person several times because I miss dialed the telephone number.  With our VoIP system, I can dial anyone in my CRM system by clicking a telephone icon next to the contact’s phone number.   One touch dialing saves me a lot of time and assures that I get the phone number right every time, assuming the telephone number is entered correctly into my CRM system.  (Data quality will probably be another topic for another blog posting at another time.)

Soft phone:

VoIP technology turns the phone system into a software application.  The handset that sits on my desk is far less like a telephone and far more like a computer.  The handset routes calls and accesses my voicemail just like an analog handset can.  But the VoIP handset can work from anywhere I have an Internet connection.  If I wanted to, I could simply unplug the VoIP handset and move to any desk in the office.

I frequently work away from the office and need a way of connecting to my VoIP system when I am not sitting at my desk. Carrying around a bulky office phone is inconvenient and not much of a solution. Instead of using a handset, I have a piece of software loaded on my laptop called a soft phone.  This software turns my laptop into a mobile office phone.  The soft phone application allows me to maintain an in-office presence from anywhere that I have an internet connection. I can then pair my laptop with any Bluetooth headset and I am able to make and receive calls from my work extension.

Voicemail routing:

You’d think that with anywhere any time access to the phone system a guy like me would never miss a phone call.  I only wish that were true!  I do spend a lot of my time on the telephone; however, I also spend a lot of my time meeting in person with people.  During these times, when I am not available to take telephone calls, the VoIP system will automatically route my caller to my voicemail. This is familiar to anyone who has used voicemail in the past. However, the VoIP voicemail system shines because after the voicemail has been left, the system converts the message to an audio file and forwards it to my e-mail in box.  I receive the email on my BlackBerry and am able to listen to the voicemail at my earliest convenience.

These benefits are just a few of many that I see on a daily basis.  VOIP phone systems are highly specialized software applications that require a great deal of expertise to deploy and utilize properly. Endsight partners with trustworthy phone system providers to meet this requirement for our clients.  If you are interested in looking into your options for phone systems, send me a quick note and I would be happy to help you find a good phone system and partner for you work with. You can email me at jclause@endsight.net

A Tale of Social Media

One of my first experiences with the internet was reading the Drudge Report. The fact that a Website could break news before the big networks (ABC, CBS & NBC) really caught my attention. Fast forward a decade and social media has turned every subscriber or member into a potential Drudge Report. Anyone can pick up a tidbit of note worthy information and in an instant transmit it to hundreds of people. That’s great for anyone that has a story they want to tell, but what about the stories you’d prefer to keep to yourself?

My wife and I recently welcomed our first child into the world. We agreed that we would not use social media to announce her birth. Instead we wanted to keep the news to our selves and share it with our friends and family as we saw fit. We’d get photo’s to our parents by email or maybe set up a private site for an online album. There would be no Tweets, status updates or mass announcements.

Our daughter was born in the afternoon and by that evening the news was all over the social sphere. Her name, and photo’s were on Facebook and my email and voicemail was full of well wishes and requests for photo’s and Skype sessions.

Andy Warhol said, “In the future, everyone will be famous for 15 minutes.” How is it that despite my best efforts to stymie my daughters rise to internet notoriety she still got her 15 and then some?

In his book “Good to Great”, Jim Collins asserts that in business, technology is only an accelerator. If a firm’s core values and process are strong, the technology will help accelerate growth. If the same variables are weak, technology won’t fix a thing.

I think the same idea can be applied to social media. Before there was MySpace, social groups developed around coffee makers and water coolers. Informal organizations of people created their own rules and communication norms and there were very clear member versus non-member distinctions.

Social media such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn wrap technology around these informal organizations of people and allow members to transmit news, information and scuttlebutt at the speed of the internet.

It was naive to for me to think that I could control the flow of information about my child’s birth by not announcing it myself on Facebook. That kind of thinking is as futile as trying to stop the spread of good gossip by simply avoiding the water cooler.

It only took one person posting an update about my child’s arrival to start a chain reaction. Each new post made the information available to a wider interlocking network of friends and family. There was no way to control it and no way to stop it.

The birth of a child is good news and we all need more of that and less news about oil spills, Wall street’s shenanigans and Dancing with the Stars. It’s not a big deal that my daughter’s arrival was televised. But what about an unhappy customer? What kind of damage could be done with a few Tweets to a large enough audience? You can’t just avoid the water cooler.

So what do you do about it? I recommend four steps, the “four Be’s”

1. Be the Best – first, to avoid social networking crises; strive to make yourself and your business the best you possibly can. Pay attention to customers and do your best to meet their needs.
   
2. Be Involved – we know our business cannot be perfect and there will be times when customers find themselves unhappy. Some unhappy customers may never say anything to your firm, but they may spread their frustration with you through outlets such as social media. Thus, this point is to pay attention to social media. Use available utilities such as Cotweet to search social networks for information about your company and your customers.
3. Be Reactive – simply put: when social media presents something about your company, whether good or bad, do what you can to either encourage or amend the situation. Contact an unhappy customer or send a thank you note to a happy customer. Utilize these items to your advantage as you add value to your business.
4. Be Selective – use social media to post information about your business: blogs, seminars, updates, event, etc. However, be selective in what you give out to social media. People are easily annoyed by the person or firm who posts any and every little detail that comes to mind. Keep in touch, but make fewer posts with more pertinent information.

Social media is a daunting tool that can be terribly detrimental or extremely useful to your business. Examine and define your approach to social media carefully. If you or your small business are interested in utilizing Social Media, click here.   I’d be happy to discuss your plan.

Awash in Data

My father worked in corporate America before everyone had a personal computer. Instead, my Dad had a tray on the left side of his desk that acted as his in box and a tray on the right that acted as his out box.

He traveled to Asia on multi week business trips and upon his return, he’d be greeted by a giant stack of memo’s, directives and other inter-office correspondence. His solution was to take the stack of paper from his in box and move it directly to the trash can. “If it’s important, they can call me,” he would say.

Dad’s approach to managing his data (paper) wasn’t glitzy or fancy, but it worked and I think it has some application in the digital world.

I’m pretty sure that if I deleted everything in my email store that was more than 6 months old, I’d probably never miss 99% of it. But I know to my core that 1% of that email data set is vital, and so the whole thing lingers on the mail server. That data is then replicated to Endsight’s off-site back up cloud and so now, this blob of mostly useless data exists in two places.

In his article entitled, “The big data addiction” Matt Prigg shares some of his insight into how this very issue is impacting organizations of all sizes today. In it Prigg says, “In a cruel twist of fate, our dependence on ever-expanding digital data has created a feedback loop that fuels its own growth. Within the past 10 years or so, we’ve grown more productive by using business technology. As a result, we’ve created even more massive mountains of data, and we rely upon those mountains to such a degree that we need to duplicate them – multiplying the problem again.”

In addition to email, Prigg is writing about business system data, file shares and a litany of other administrative and back up data sets. In a large organization, this data grows and duplicates at a much faster rate than in a small organization, but a small business isn’t immune to the problem.

I think that for most small businesses that data can be broken up into two parts, email and shared files. I recently contributed an article to the East Bay Chapter of the Association of Legal Administrators that highlights a few technologies that I think can be used to help manage email data without pressing the “delete” key. http://www.ebala.org/Topic.aspx?wiki_id=87#VendorArticle

For file shares, I think one of the prime culprits for expanding data is the fact that no one is really responsible for the files stored on the file share. For example, Endsight had a file on its sales and marketing drive called “2003 archive.” It hadn’t been opened since 2004. Every time I saw the file I thought to myself, “I should just right click & select delete.” But I didn’t create any of the files and so I couldn’t say for sure that someone wouldn’t go looking for a file housed in the archive.

I think the best solution for this problem is to create and publish a document retention policy. For an example of one click here: http://www.abanet.org/lpm/lpt/articles/sampledocretentionpolicy.pdf . This can help to eliminate any guess work and replace it with simple policy enforcement. You can even use technology to set rules and automate the document retention / purge process.

More and more of Endsight’s outsourced IT clients are encountering data store limit issues. We expect these issues to increase as firms move their on-premise computing systems to cloud computing.

To help our clients address this challenge, Endsight provides Planning Services: CIO/Sr. IT Management level consulting & strategy as part of our fixed fee, outsources IT approach.  If you’d like to talk in-person about your data situation click here to schedule an appointment.

Cloud Computing

There is a lot of noise about cloud computing. It’s fairly new and new is exciting. So what exactly is cloud computing? More importantly, why should a small business owner care?

The cloud is a metaphor used to describe the Internet. Cloud computing is building on that metaphor to describe using the Internet to deliver computing resources as a service. Broadly, cloud computing is the convergence of three technologies: server virtualization, utility computing and software as a service.

1. Virtualization allows software to be separated from physical hardware.This in-turn, allows a single physical server to become 10, 50 or even 100 virtual servers.
2. Utility / grid computing allows server capacity to be accessed across a grid of systems.This in-turn allows computing capacity to increase or decrease depending on user or resource demands.
3. Software as a service allows on-demand software applications via the Internet to be purchased on a predictable monthly subscription basis.

This convergence allows a provider to aggregate many computing resources and profitably deliver those resources as a service for a fixed monthly fee.

The resulting delivery model is highly efficient, but it’s not the key reason for a small business to consider cloud computing. The key reason is best illustrated by looking back a century ago to the emergence of the national electricity grid.

Originally, if a business needed electricity it would have to build and fund the generating capacity on its own. Boilers, turbines and transformers were expensive and so only the largest firms could afford the new technology. The emergence of the grid allowed everyone access to electricity on a subscription basis. All one had to do was plug in. No more expensive capital projects.

In the modern era, mostly because of its size, a small business is inherently forced to either pay for more computer resources than it needs or to suffer with systems that won’t quite do the job. It’s an unwinnable contest that does not balance out.

Cloud computing gives a small business the ability to finally balance that equation by allowing them to pay for only the specific IT resources, service and support they need. Small businesses no longer have to lay out huge amounts of capital for servers, software and staff to build and maintain IT resources such as corporate email, shared files and accounting applications. Instead, they can plug into a computing cloud and access only the resources they need on a fixed fee subscription basis.

As with any new technology, there are a lot of options and providers to consider working with. If cloud computing is an option for your business, moving an on-premise computer network to the cloud needs to be thoroughly planned. For more information about cloud computing click here.

In addition to operating a private computing cloud, Endsight manages more than 100 on-premise computer networks. If you’d like to discuss your current situation and determine the cloud’s applicability to you’re business click here to schedule an in-person meeting.

Is moving an office in your future plans?

When I was in college, I had to move every year.  I lived in a fraternity house and that really simplified the logistic. But even though I never had to move more than a few doors down the hallway, I still didn’t like it.  The idea of a uprooting all of my things, transporting them, and then having to find new places for everything, was a daunting task that stressed me out every time.

As Endsight’s outsourced IT business has grown, we’ve been heavily involved in a staggering number of office moves. Every time, it’s easy to remember the stress I felt as an undergraduate with my mini fridge and futon.  Obviously, the client has much more to consider which makes the stress level even greater.

No two office moves are ever the same.  But having been through enough of these, I thought it would be helpful to list some of the key advisers and partner/vendor rolls to consider as part of your planning process.

Many of our clients begin the process by seeking council from key strategic advisers.

Contemplating a Move:

Commercial Realtor (Help you selected a new location)

Banker (Help decide the best way to finance the move)

Accountant (Help you decide if you can afford the move)

Lawyer (Help you avoid costly legal issues associated with the move)

Once a location has been selected, there are a number of other partner/vendors to involve in the process.

The New Office:

General Contractor (Tenant improvements)

Architect (Make it look fabulous)

Cable Installer (Network cabling)

HVAC (Server room)

Signage (Sign out front, names on the office Doors)

The Move:

Mover (To get from point A to point B)

Phone System Support (Take down and set up phones)

Computer System Support (Take down and set up computer systems)

Internet and Phone System Connectivity (Connect to the outside world)

Office Furniture (Acquire new and /or liquidate old)

Printers, Faxes & Copiers (Often times these are under contract)

Communication:

Marketing (Promote new location, update Website, send a news letter, and create a promotional item)

Printed Materials (Letterhead, business cards, marketing collateral)

Most businesses enjoy existing relationships to leverage as part of the planning process.  If your company needs help filling in the roster, Endsight can help by facilitating introductions to our network of colleagues.  If your small business is planning a move click here.   We would be happy to meet in person with you to discuss your plan.

Is it time for a Computer Network “Dust Off”?

All of the Great War movies have a scene near the end of the film where the climactic battle is over and the Medivac or “dust off” choppers swoop in to tend to the wounded, including the film’s hero, who typically gets a bandage over his eye or a sling for his arm.

For many of us, the last two years must feel like a war of sorts. We’ve had to make lots of sacrifices in one way or another including being forced to say goodbye to customers and coworkers. Even if you were not distracted with the recent events, you were probably fully focused on receivables and finding new revenue and didn’t have extra time to tend to your computer systems.

Last year I blogged about keeping an eye on your computer infrastructure as the disposition of your small business changed. Employee layoffs and office closures unaccounted for in network directories were creating gaping security holes in lots of small business computing environments. If you’re concerned you might still have that problem and want to learn more, click here to read that post.

Today, as the economy begins to emerge from the recession, it might be time to consider calling in the “dust off” choppers. Most of the small business owners that I know agree that computer networks are temperamental and that they require a lot of care and feeding. When left unattended (as many have the last few years) they become unpredictable and that can be a formula for disaster.

To get started on a good network dust off, I recommend starting with an inventory of your existing network. This inventory should include:

1. A list of computer users
   1. User Accounts
   2. Email, Mailboxes
2. A network diagram that includes
   1. UPS / Backup power supply
   2. ISP / T1 lines
   3. Firewalls / Router
   4. Switches
   5. Servers
   6. Workstations & Laptops
   7. Data Backup
3. Software Inventory
   1. Anti-Virus
   2. Anti-SPAM
   3. Operating Systems (Server & Workstation)
   4. Productivity Software
   5. Business Software
   6. Messaging Software

Once you’ve completed your inventory, consider asking yourself these diagnosis questions.

1. Are there any performance issues?
2. How old is the equipment?
3. What is still under warranty?
4. Is the software licensing current?

Determining the current disposition and status of your small business computing environment and combining that information with an assessment of the network’s limitations will help point you and your IT partner, should you choose to work with one, to the right questions to ask as you redevelop your IT strategy.

Endsight’s outsourced IT support model is layered to encompass what we believe are the four basic components of sound IT management and support. Planning, Plumbing, People and Projects build on one another like a pyramid. Planning, at the top of the pyramid, is typically the first casualty in a recession. Without a good plan however, it becomes very difficult to maintain a small business computer network consistently.

That’s why Endsight includes planning as part of its “all-you-can-eat” outsourced IT support methodology. Working with one of Endsight’s CIO level IT managers, our clients benefit from regularly scheduled IT strategy meetings where we collaboratively review the current status of the computer network and together map out the future strategy.

If you feel like Endsight might be able to help you with your long-term IT strategy click here to schedule an in person meeting. We can then discuss your needs in detail.

Tis the Season be Grateful

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, this was not an easy year for anyone. So as 2009 comes to an end, I want to devote a little time to looking back at what was accomplished at Endsight. We are truly thankful and proud for what transpired in spite of this challenging year.

Endsight completed an internal project to document our support methodology and to bake that process into our tools.

I’m most excited about this accomplishment. The result is a scalable, systematic approach to IT support that lets Endsight maintain our commitment to average response times of five minutes or less and client satisfaction scores of 95% highly satisfied. Good process, good documentation and the scale of a 30 person IT organization will assure our clients consistent, highly responsive outsourced IT support in 2010 and beyond.

Endsight launched an Electronic Medical Records practice.

Partnering with gloStream, the only EMR provider to use Microsoft Word as its note editor, Endsight launched itself into the health information technology space. Bay Area physicians have long been excluded from the benefits of information technology but with significant incentives from the federal government ($44,000 per physician in incentive payments over five years) their time has come. We are anticipating that 2010 will be a big year for Bay Area medical practitioner and we’re looking forward to partnering with local physicians to provide the same guidance and IT support our existing clients have come to expect.

Press Release: Endsight enters Electronic Medical Records space

Article in SF Business Journal: Tech companies hope to catch health IT windfall

Endsight received some outstanding attention.

Endsight was named number 61 on the San Francisco Business Times list of its 100 Fastest Growing Companies.

Mike Chaput was featured in The San Francisco Business Times: Entrepreneur Profile

Mike was featured again in this Article: Don’t rush to outsource IT just to solve a problem

The tough economic conditions of last year have been a proving ground whereby good companies get the opportunity to become great companies. As survivors of the “great recession” we’ve earned that opportunity. I encourage everyone to look back and celebrate the innovations that you incorporated into your business this year. There’s lots of opportunity on the horizon. We at Endsight can’t wait to see you in 2010!

I am including a few photos from Endsight’s holiday party at Biscuits and Blues in San Francisco. The menu included deep fried macaroni and cheese. Now, that’s something in which to be thankful!!

The Value of Data: What is your data worth to your Organization

In my opinion, the key incite to glean from Pete’s article is that your data is probably worth WAY more than you think. In fact, it is likely the very life blood driving your organization.

Many of Endsight’s clients operate a service business. They count on the intellectual property locked in their email and business applications to meet their customers’ needs. For them, data is the business.

As Pete’s article notes, “The Department of Commerce has determined that 90% of companies which do not have access to data for more than 5 days go out of business within 1 year.”

By itself, that statistic is alarming, but in the Bay Area it’s further exasperated by this one:

On April 15 2008, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that The US Geological Survey believes “A strong and deadly earthquake is virtually certain to strike on one of California’s major seismic faults within the next 30 years”

I’ve reposted Pete’s article below and invite you to consider what kind of impact a “day without computers” might have on your business. If you find the impact as alarming as Pete, contact us and let’s talk about how we can help mitigate that risk.

I’ve embedded a slide deck to a free seminar Endsight has provided about disaster preparedness. If you belong to a professional association or business / community group that might have an interest in the topic, let me know and I’d be happy to present it. If you’d like more information about the presentation, Email me and I’ll send you a topic abstract.