Help Desk - a profit centre or a cost?

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Steve Potts focuses on a mission critical part of any managed services offering – the Help Desk
In the first article, the focus was on balancing the eight factors in building a recurring revenue IT support business model. In this fifth article in the series, we will focus on a mission critical part of any managed services offering – the Help Desk.

Here are some of the things you need to consider when transitioning from a traditional break fix model to becoming a successful managed service provider.

Read more @ http://www.channelpro.co.uk/advice/7283/help-desk-profit-centre-or-cost

10 Top Reasons Why First-Time Entrepreneurs Fail

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"For entrepreneurs -- especially those just starting out -- businesses succeed as much as they fail. I’ve seen this time and again as a mentor and entrepreneur. But statistics also suggest that the failure rate for new startups within the first five years is as high as 50 percent.


Of course, real entrepreneurs treat business failure as a milestone on the road to success. They count on learning from their mistakes, and use the experience to move to the next idea. But why not learn from the mistakes of others, without all the pain and suffering?

Here is my list of 10 top startup failure causes -- and how to avoid them:

Read more @ http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/224397

New Changes To Twitter's Embedded Tweets

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It seems there are more changes at Twitter than to the molecules of a frozen burrito in a microwave.
On the heels of last month's API change (and scare), Twitter is tweaking content delivery.


Twitter product manager Brian Ellin wrote in a blog post last week that the firm is "launching a new tool that makes it easy to embed interactive timelines of tweets on any website."

This change allows people and companies to feature interactive tweets directly on their sites. That means that third-party sites, like ESPN (which is embedding U.S. Open info), can expand tweets to display photos and media. People on the third-party sites can start a conversation, follow, reply and retweet directly from the tweet box.

Read more @ http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/new-changes-to-twitters-embedded-tweets.php

NCR, Kaseya Extend IT Services to POS

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If you haven’t noticed, your local supermarket, department store and fast-food restaurant are using automated point-of-sale (POS) systems to complete purchases. These devices are getting more sophisticated and are able to handle most retail transactions without human intervention.
POS automation doesn’t mean they’re maintenance- or management-free. POS systems are connected to accounting, finance, inventory, logistics and operation’s administrative applications and platforms.

Software makes POS work, but it still requires an extensive amount of hardware, including touchscreen interfaces, scanners, microprinters and cash dispensers. Reaping the benefits of automation requires constant monitoring and maintenance.

Read more @ channelnomics.com/2012/09/11/ncr-kaseya-extend-services-pos/

Zendesk Updates Its Customer Service Platform

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Zendesk today announced the next generation of its cloud-based customer service platform, rebuilt from the ground up with a new interface and application framework, known as Zendesk Apps. It is also the largest deploy to date on Ember, an emerging JavaScript development framework for building Web applications.

 In addition, Zendesk today announced the completion of $60 million of new financing. The financing was led by Redpoint Ventures with participation by Index Ventures, GGV Capital, Goldman Sachs, Silicon Valley Bank and the company's existing venture capital investors, Charles River Ventures, Benchmark Capital and Matrix Partners.

Read more @ http://www.destinationcrm.com/Articles/CRM-News/Daily-News/Zendesk-Updates-Its-Customer-Service-Platform-84960.aspx

Lepide Free Remote Desktop Admin released!

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Noida, India (PRWEB) September 17, 2012 

Lepide Remote Admin is a free tool that helps in Enterprise Desktop Administration by working as remote desktop control. It establishes a seamless connection with any remote computer in the network and offers an interface using which you can perform a host of activities such as starting and stopping Windows services, analyze Windows performance by accessing PerfMon, Analyze and manage Windows Event Log files, transferring files between machines and a whole lot of other activities. It bypasses the complex and limited features of Windows Remote Desktop connection by offering a faster, secure and feature-rich connection option.

Read more @ http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/9/prweb9899739.htm

SolarWinds and Network World Survey Finds Remote IT Access Aids Disaster Response Time and Business Continuity

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For IT Pros Working Remotely From Their Systems or on a Mobile Device, SolarWinds' DameWare Remote Support and Mobile Admin Offer IT Pros Powerful, Easy-to-Use Support and Troubleshooting Solutions 

AUSTIN, TX--(Marketwire - Sep 13, 2012) - SolarWinds ( NYSE : SWI ), a leading provider of powerful and affordable IT management software, today released the results of a disaster preparedness and response survey conducted in partnership with Network World, and introduced the latest version of DameWare Remote Support, formerly DameWare NT Utilities. 

The survey revealed that 76 percent of respondents' organizations have a disaster preparedness and response plan for their business or IT department. An aspect of most plans includes remote access for employees to ensure business continuity. In addition, 48 percent of respondents have implemented remote management software to ensure that IT problems can be solved regardless of location.

Remote IT management solutions like DameWare Remote Support, which allows the ability to access systems with remote tech support if IT pros have to evacuate an area during a disaster, or SolarWinds Mobile Admin, a mobile IT administration tool that enables business continuity by allowing IT pros to monitor, troubleshoot and triage IT technologies from a mobile device, provide a comprehensive remote IT management solution to aid IT pros during destructive events. 

Products that allow remote access to IT departments and applications can be an integral component in a comprehensive backup plan by ensuring secure connections during disasters or emergencies.

Survey Highlights:

  • Disaster preparedness and response plans: Almost half (44 percent) of respondents update plans each year; 57 percent of respondents that reported not having a plan, will create one in the next 12 months
  • Natural disaster business implications: 27 percent have not been able to go into the office because of a disaster and over 30 percent of those respondents missed a week or more of work
  • Data center recovery: When asked how confident their organization was that they could recover their data center in a reasonable amount of time, 30 percent reported they are "not at all confident"
  • Most common disasters: When asked about what disasters have kept them out of the office, 31 percent cited hurricanes while 28 percent cited floods
"In times of natural disasters and in maintaining year-round business continuity, remote IT management solutions can maximize flexibility and efficiency for IT organizations," said Denny LeCompte, VP of product management, SolarWinds. "With DameWare Remote Support and SolarWinds Mobile Admin, IT pros have two, robust and easy-to-use solutions for taking on both remote desktop support and mobile IT administration."

What's new in DameWare Remote Support, formerly DameWare NT Utilities:

DameWare Remote Support lets IT pros support remotely troubleshoot and resolve IT issues. Using remote support software, IT pros can remotely administer Windows computers without having to interrupt end-users. DameWare Remote Support also includes the ability to remotely control computers so IT Pros and end-user can collaboratively troubleshoot problems.

The latest version of DameWare Remote Support adds the ability to remotely control Mac and Linux machines in addition to Windows. This release of DameWare Remote Support also adds support for Intel vPro allowing IT Pros to remotely troubleshoot problems when a server crashes or is powered off.

Pricing and Availability

Pricing and Availability for DameWare Remote Support starts at $349 and pricing for DameWare Mini Remote Control starts at $99 and both include the first year of maintenance. For more information, including a downloadable, free 14-day evaluation trial, visit the DameWare website or call 855.270.1449.

Pricing for SolarWinds Mobile Admin software starts at $695 and includes the first year of maintenance. For more information, including a downloadable, free 14-day evaluation trial, visit the SolarWinds website or call 866.530.8100.

*The SolarWinds and Network World survey was conducted on July 2 through August 24, 2012 via an online survey service, resulting in 185 completed surveys. SolarWinds awarded five (5) survey participants a $50.00 Amazon® gift card with the approximate retail value of $50.00 USD in a random drawing of all entries received.

Related Links:

About SolarWinds

SolarWinds ( NYSE : SWI ) provides powerful and affordable IT management software to customers worldwide from Fortune 500 enterprises to small businesses. In all of our market areas, our approach is consistent. We focus exclusively on IT Pros and strive to eliminate the complexity that they have been forced to accept from traditional enterprise software vendors. SolarWinds delivers on this commitment with unexpected simplicity through products that are easy to find, buy, use and maintain while providing the power to address any IT management problem on any scale. Our solutions are rooted in our deep connection to our user base, which interacts in our online community, thwack, to solve problems, share technology and best practices, and directly participate in our product development process. Learn more today at http://www.solarwinds.com.

SolarWinds, SolarWinds.com and thwack are registered trademarks of SolarWinds. All other company and product names mentioned are used only for identification purposes and may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

Contact:

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Grace Pai-Leonard
Text100
Phone: 212.871.5194
grace.pai@text100.com

Tiffany Nels
SolarWinds
Phone: 512.682.9545
pr@solarwinds.com

VMworld 2012 in Review with SolarWinds and Eric Siebert

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Did you miss VMworld 2012 but still want to stay in the know? Or you just can’t get enough of it? You surely weren’t able to see and attend everything even if you attended the show.

SolarWinds invites you to attend a full review of the hot topics, best sessions, and top events by VMware vExpert and blogger Eric Siebert and SolarWinds virtualization expert Robbie Wright. In this webinar, they will cover the latest VMware news, trends from Cloud to SSD to VDI and much more, and reflect on what they mean for the year to come while answering the burning questions you did not get a chance to ask.

Read more @ http://vmblog.com/archive/2012/09/10/vmworld-2012-in-review-with-solarwinds-and-eric-siebert.aspx

What Are The Various Features of Help Desk Software

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Help desk software usually provides a lot of features to its users. These features are integrated and fully functioning. They are designed to automate, simplify and accelerate technical support and internal help desk in your whole organization. In this article, we will explain some general features of Help desk software and explain how they provide benefits to your organization.

Over 90% of SMEs Believe in the Power of Social Media, But…

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Lack of confidence and the perception that social media/social commerce is time consuming holds SMEs back


Groupon today revealed the findings of a survey conducted across 360 SMEs, to gather their views on social media. Questions ranged from how often businesses used social media, to what the main reasons were for companies not using it as much as they feel they should be.

The results showed that under half (42%) are using social media, despite the fact nine out of ten (90%) believed that the power of such networks have the potential to increase business growth.

Read more @ http://crmhelpdesksoftware.com/over-90-of-smes-believe-in-the-power-of-social-media-but/