Where technology experts at Endsight share their expertise on IT Management, the issues that arise for clients, and the benefits of technology for medical practices, biotech firms, law firms, financial services and other small businesses in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Aug 24th, 2009
by Jason Clause Filed under: Business & Management, General, Marketing, Media
I received this e-mail from the San Francisco Business Times last week.The publisher is taking applications from Bay Area firms for the publications list of the bay areas most admired CEOs.
If you admire your CEO, I suggest that you give this a look. Accolades are always nice and this is an easy way to bring your business leader and your business to the attention of the San Francisco Business Times’ readership.
After the year that we’ve had I think that completing this application is a great way of reminding ourselves of how hard we have worked and the admirable decisions we’ve made. If you are the CEO and you are too modest to bring this to the attention of one of your teammates, send me a note and perhaps I could nominate you. The application process is web-based and seems easy enough. I’ve re-posted the announcement here and have included a link to the original message from the San Francisco Business Times.
The San Francisco Business Times will honor 12 outstanding leaders of Bay Area enterprises in a special report, and at a gala awards dinner recognizing the Bay Area’s Most Admired CEOs Thursday, November 19 at the Hilton San Francisco.
We will honor CEOs in 12 categories, including public companies, private companies, emerging growth companies, a non-profit CEO, a small-business CEO, as well as an Innovator and a Lifetime Achiever.
This is a celebration of leadership at its best. It is an opportunity to recognize the CEOs who give the most to their companies, their people, their industries and their communities.
Which CEO deserves the nomination from your organization?
NOMINATION DEADLINE: September 4, 2009
Honorees will be selected by an independent panel of judges. Judges will evaluate these qualities: leadership, values, vision, company financial performance, work environment, community contribution, innovation and overcoming adversity.
Nominees must be present November 19 to receive the award. Nominees will be selected from the SFBT coverage area, including the counties of San Francisco, San Mateo, Marin, Alameda, Contra Costa and Solano.
The “Bay Area Most Admired CEO Awards” is presented by the San Francisco Business Times and Accenture.
Don’t miss this chance to recognize your most admired CEO!
About Jason:Originally from the great state of Ohio Jason Clause relocated to the Bay Area to work in high-tech. A veteran of the dot com boom and bust, Jason has more than 10 years experience helping small businesses apply information technology to improve business process and increase revenue. Jason lives in Dublin, California with his wife Jennifer and enjoys hiking, cooking and quiet time at home. His hobbies include golf, snowboarding, creative writing and performing amateur stand up comedy.
Tags: Bay Area, CEO Awards, CEO Nomination, leadership, NOMINATE, nomination deadline, san francisco business times, small-business, Technology
Aug 18th, 2009
by Jason Clause Filed under: Software
One reader is locked out of a brand-new copy of Microsoft Office. Will the folks in Redmond help him?
Microsoft wants its customers to believe that installing software is as simple as loading a disc into the CD drive and clicking okay. Sometimes it’s that easy, and sometimes it’s not. When it’s not that easy, what are customers supposed to do?
Here’s the Reader’s Digest version of the article. A remote user needs to upgrade from Office 2003 to Office 2007. His IT department ships him the Office 2007 disk and a licensing key. The user is instructed to put the disc into the CD drive, enter the licensing key, and cross his fingers. The installation doesn’t go the way that it’s supposed to, and he needs help. The end user calls Microsoft and gets the runaround.
Microsoft is in the business of developing software. They offer support, but that’s not one of the businesses that they make money on. Instead, Microsoft works through an immense network of partners to provide support.
EndSight for example, is a Microsoft Gold certified partner that specializes in, among other Microsoft titles, Microsoft Office 2007.
The EndSight team knows software like office 2007 inside and out and that experience allows the us to sidestep known issues in a deployment. But on the off chance that we get stumped, we know how to navigate the Microsoft support apparatus. As a result, our clients experienced smooth deployments that are frustration free.
At EndSight, we make it our responsibility to manage our clients licensing. This includes the requirements planning that determines the necessity of the new software in the first place, the purchase & life cycle management of a particular software title and the organizational deployment of that software.
There’s rarely such a thing as a flawless deployment. Computers are temperamental and there’s always going to be problems that creep up. To address that issue, Endsight builds ample time into the deployment plan to assure the resources are there to help users, the day after the deployment is completed.
“This kind of problem would never happen to one of our clients. We would take ownership and work it all the way through.” Says,
Will Lee, Endsight’s Response Center Team Lead.
Will joined Endsight in 2005 after graduating from the University of California San Luis Obispo. A Microsoft Certified System Engineer, Will is in charge of the day to day operation of the EndSight
Response Center.
Endsight’s Response Center is fully staffed from 7-7 Monday - Friday and supplemented by off hour pager support. This allows Endsight to provide their clients 24×7 reactive support. Each team member works out of the firms Berkeley office, has a four year college degree, and maintains various Microsoft Professional Certifications.
About Jason:
Originally from the great state of Ohio Jason Clause relocated to the Bay Area to work in high-tech. A veteran of the dot com boom and bust, Jason has more than 10 years experience helping small businesses apply information technology to improve business process and increase revenue. Jason lives in Dublin, California with his wife Jennifer and enjoys hiking, cooking and quiet time at home. His hobbies include golf, snowboarding, creative writing and performing amateur stand up comedy.
Tags: Endsight, installing software, it management, Jason Clause, Microsoft, microsoft office 2007, microsoft support, microsoft titles, Office, outsourcing
Aug 10th, 2009
by Jason Clause Filed under: General
Chances are that the last two years have not given your small business many opportunities to improve company morale. A quick cruise around Facebook reveals a lot of employees are concerned about their jobs, unhappy with their working conditions and / or are looking for a new job.
Employee morale may not seem like a Bay Area IT Issue at first blush, but when you’re running an outsourced IT organization employee morale is of the utmost importance. It’s an intangible asset. When Endsight employees are feeling optimistic about the business, good things just start to happen. When employee morale dips, it can be really hard to catch a break.
For a small business, poor morale is kind of like a fire raging inside the wall. We can smell the smoke and feel the heat from the fire, but it’s hard to find the flames.
A great idea:
Alicia Kallander, Endsight’s human resource manager, came up with an idea that I think has a real impact on the morale of Endsight’s employees.
The third Thursday of every month, EndSight sponsors a fun activity for the employees. In July for example, the company had a pizza party and played miniature golf. The event is not mandatory and the point is to try to have a little fun.
Activities like this don’t cost a ton of money, but I think they can have a big impact on employee morale. It’s a tangible way to show employees that the company is committed to creating a work environment that they want to be a part of. I think it also is a subtle way to demonstrate a little optimism about the future.
If you’d like a few ideas to start your own Third Thursdays.
Shoot me an e-mail and I’ll send you a list of the events EndSight has planned in the past.
About Jason:
Originally from the great state of Ohio Jason Clause relocated to the Bay Area to work in high-tech. A veteran of the dot com boom and bust, Jason has more than 10 years experience helping small businesses apply information technology to improve business process and increase revenue. Jason lives in Dublin, California with his wife Jennifer and enjoys hiking, cooking and quiet time at home. His hobbies include golf, snowboarding, creative writing and performing amateur stand up comedy.
Tags: Bay Area, company morale, employee morale, Endsight, outsourced, Outsourced IT, poor morale, small businesses, Technology
