Office Warfare: 2010

Posted on 18/06/2010 by Matthew O`Neill
None

Microsoft Office 2010: Round-up of the reviews

In the battle for web dominance Microsoft has unleashed its latest weapon in the ongoing war with Google. The godfather of office software has launched its flagship offering Office 2010 and has thrown in the free online component Office Web Apps. The new offering is clearly a direct shot at the bow of Google Docs which has been encroaching on Microsoft’s core business with its free online tools. But Microsoft need not worry quite yet Google Docs currently only has a relatively small (4%) but growing share of the market. In direct contrast, Microsoft dominates the office software space, with a market share of more than 94%. The vast majority of sales are to businesses. With the release of Office 2010 has Microsoft done enough to fend off the competition, is their latest offering good enough to cement its share in the market space? Here we look at the reviews from the web and find out.

Computerworld.com: “I review plenty of software packages throughout the course of a year, and it’s rare that I come across one that I believe will truly make a difference in the way that I work or use my computer. This is one of those times.”

The Guardian: This version of Office is very much more focused on the world outside your PC. As well as the collaborative nature of the Web Apps, you’ll be able to keep on top of what your colleagues and contacts are up to, either via your company’s Sharepoint infrastructure or via the big social networks.

Techradar: There might not be any one feature that you’d buy Office 2010 for (although search in Outlook comes pretty close and collaborating in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and especially OneNote through SkyDrive is compelling), but put them all together and you get a hugely powerful suite of apps that’s still easy to work with.

PC Advisor: Microsoft Office 2010 is a significant upgrade from previous versions of the Microsoft productivity software suite. Cohesion and the ability to quickly and easily share information major selling points. Microsoft has given back control to the user and, combined with the massive functionality, the results are overall rather pleasing.

The Register: Although Office Web Apps are underpowered in their first release, if you put them alongside the SharePoint-2010-powered co-authoring and offline features in desktop Office 2010 then you get a strong collaboration platform. The Web Apps also give Microsoft some sort of solution for non-Microsoft mobile devices such as the Apple iPhone or Google Android.It is this that makes Office 2010 actually interesting, and it will justify an upgrade.

Apple and Adobe Flash, AHHHH!

Posted on 17/06/2010 by Matthew O`Neill
None

 

It’s fair to say that there is no loss of love between Apple and Adobe at the moment. The escalating row over Flash is creating a rift so huge that even the big man

himself, Steve Jobs, has commented on the issue. So what is the argument all about? Currently Apple does not support Flash on any of its mobile devices, including the iPad. Issues of “reliability, security, and performance” have been sighted for the absence and both sides are currently locked in a war of words with exchanges coming thick and fast. Apple claims Flash is "buggy" and prone to crashing, and favour the rival HTML5 format, while Adobe says that Apple's stance threatens the future development of the web and constitutes a 'walled garden' approach.

I have to admit to being a fan of both Apple and Adobe, both have delivered amazing products to the market and both are leaders in their respective fields. So the real question is, who is right, Apple or Adobe? Mashable, the online social media blog, is currently running an online poll and at the moment Adobe is currently ahead of the game with 53% of the vote. HTML5, Apple’s favoured language has just 31% of the vote. The fact that Apple is losing could be a sign that they are not the all powerful company that they might, behind closed doors, like to be. So who will back down first, it seems unlikely that it will be Apple and even more unlikely that this will be resolved anytime soon.

The company who may ultimately play a pivotal role in this dispute is Google. Their Android mobile operating system is currently running trials to get Flash running on it. This could be a real coup for them if they accomplish it. A recent survey conducted by Changewave found that the lack of Flash support on the iPad was one of the most annoying they disliked most about the Apple flagship device.

Apple has been almost untouchable in the last few years but could this attack on such a well respected mainstay of the web be one act of arrogance too far, or, in a mobile market dominated by their products, could they now be the company who even companies the size of Adobe have to comply with?

The Apple iPad: Round-up of the reviews

Posted on 17/06/2010 by Richard Morgan
Apple, Computer, e-book, iPad, iPhone, Tablet, technology

 

And so, at last the Apple iPad has arrived in the UK. Following the rumours, the hype, the troubled US launch and the volcano delayed UK release date the iPad is finally here. The Goldilocks device, not too big (Macbook) and not too small (iPhone), could break an entire new class of computer and

herald the future of the entire personal computer market. Not to put too fine a point on it, a lot rests on this release from Apple.

IT Lab has been excited about the release for months now and while we are yet to get our hands on one we have been following the vast wave of reviews on the web. Here IT Lab brings you the definitive roundup of reviews to help you answer the question “iPad, what’s all that about then?”

Pocket-Lint

 “Get outside and viewing that glossy screen in the sun, and you might as well be holding a mirror. The web, with its predominately white background is fine, but a dark movie is going to be impossible to watch.”

“As a desk companion it's great, on the sofa it is also good as [but] while I am happy to check emails and tweet from the toilet on the iPhone, I wasn't convinced about taking the iPad with me.

 “It dumbs down computing to a consumer level making the Internet, movies, information and most other things accessible to the world without having to have a knowledge or care about how any of this stuff works.”

“With the iPhone you have the fact that it's also a phone that lets you make calls, it has a core purpose beyond the diversification, but with the iPad, it's an emotional luxury that will need feeding with content to keep you entertained and justify its existence.”

Pocket-lint Score: 8/10

The Register

“The device certainly has the touchy-feely quality often associated with Apple products. It’s a little heavier than I’d expected it to, but it feels comfortable in the hands and is just the right size to hold or balance on your lap like an ordinary notepad.”

“I’ve always found my iPod Touch too small for browsing the web or reading e-books, but the 9.7in screen of the iPad seems just about the right size. The image is bright and clear, and the panel provides virtually 180° viewing angle. It’s small enough to hold comfortably, yet still large enough to view and read complete web pages without needing to zoom in on the text at all.”

“The iPad makes an excellent e-book reader. It's the first digital device that strikes me as a genuinely attractive alternative to good old-fashioned books and newsprint.”

“Like any 1.0 product, the iPad has its rough edges, the worst being the erratic Wi-Fi reception. However, the basic design is spot on. It’s small enough to be portable and comfortable to use, yet large enough to work really well for tasks such as web browsing, reading books and playing video. The battery life is outstanding and the A4 processor seems to have power to spare.”

The Register Score: 80%

The Telegraph

“It's a great, fun gaming platform, and it's lovely to view full-size web pages while browsing the internet.”

“In several crucial areas, the iPad falls short of the functionality that would have made this more than just a large iPod touch. The lack of Flash support is a major issue; the iPad's big screen is designed to make the best of multimedia content and the full-screen browsing experience, but the sight of little blue squares dotted around web pages where embedded video should have been just makes you feel like you're being short-changed”

“The iPad's inability to multi-task could also severely hamper its appeal. It's being pitched as a portable device that you could kick back and use on the sofa at home, but you can't listen to your Spotify playlists at the same time as writing an email, or browse the web while using an instant-messaging app to chat with friends.”

“Ultimately, the iPad is a large iPod touch: a great device to draw your inspiration from, but perhaps not the seismic shift in technology that we were expecting.”

The Telegraph Score: 4 Star (out of 5)

IT Pro

“It claims to have the same non-grease coating of the iPhone, but it still gets completely covered in fingerprints even with the lightest of use. Because the screen is so large, you will find yourself cleaning it every couple of minutes if you actually want to see what’s behind the prints.”

“The keyboard across all applications is much easier to use than on the iPhone. Because of the extra space, you can even touch type in portrait mode. We achieved a typing speed of 50wpm on it – our normal typing speed is 60wpm. Not at all a bad attempt, but it was a little difficult to keep the speed up after writing for 20 minutes. It’s also a bit of a pain to type quickly when the iPad is laid flat on a surface.”

“Surprisingly for an Apple device, we found that battery life was actually better than we thought it would be. During our test period, it out-performed Apple’s quoted 10 hours.”

“For now though, it steams along and is massively effective for carrying out one task at a time. But it just doesn’t match the usability of a netbook in terms of business capabilities.”

IT Pro Score: 3 star (out of 6)

 

Women & Technology

Posted on 16/06/2010 by Richard Morgan
Apple, Communication, Google, iPod, Technology

The devices we can’t live without

A recent report, carried out on behalf of the BCS, found that having access to computers, the internet and communication devices increased people’s sense of satisfaction and wellbeing. A far from shocking conclusion, but what we at IT Lab found particularly interesting was the finding that women, in particular, benefited more having access communication and technology devices. That got us thinking, what piece of technology could the women of IT Lab not live without?

Candice McQueen, HR Manager: “Technology isn’t the driving force behind my happiness, but if I had to pick something it would be my iPhone. The integration between work and play is seamless and having a device which integrates phone, email, music and the internet is amazing. Mainly though I love my iPhone because it staves off the boredom on the long journey home.

Rachel Kerr, Client Advocate Manager: “I couldn’t live without my iPod. The ability to listen to music and remove myself from the here and now is very calming in a modern, fast paced city like London. Whether I’m on the Tube, at the gym or working at my desk, my iPod gives me the ability to zone out from distractions and focus completely on the task at hand. On a practical front they’re easy to use and with all the different playlist options I can tailor my music to suit my mood – which to me is something very important!  Some might say that an iPhone is better as it integrates more functionality but for me the iPod is all about simplicity and the ability to escape from the outside world.”

Pritee Hurnam, Sales Process Manager: My favourite piece of tech is Google. Google is the front door to the internet and helps me on a daily basis better understand our clients businesses. It is an invaluable resource when it comes to finding vital bits of information for the completion of a sale such as company registration numbers. Google is a true workhorse and makes me happy as it saves time and allows me to present the IT Lab sales team in a professional manner”

Helena Quinn, Business Development Manager: My favourite piece of technology is without doubt my iPhone. It has completely revolutionised my life. I’m a news junkie so it’s a real luxury to have all the newspapers sitting on my phone ready to read without having to get my fingers dirty. I find myself reading news articles while still in bed half asleep so that later in the day I’m not sure whether I dreamed about a particular event (like Cameron becoming PM) or whether it happened in real life (like Cameron becoming PM).

Sangeeta Tailor, Support Engineer: Google Maps is an absolutely invaluable resource that I couldn’t be without. I love the fact it is free and accessible from a variety of mobile devices. It helped me a lot when I use to be an onsite engineer and needed to navigate my way around London. It’s really useful for finding some brilliant shortcuts and means you don’t have to jump on the tube all the time.  It’s not perfect however, the car directions it gives aren’t always accurate, but the street map functionality is brilliant and it’s hard to imagine how people survived without it.  When exploring a new area, looking out for landmarks or making a journey to a new town I wouldn’t be without it.

39th in the 2010 Sunday Times 100 Best Small Companies!

Posted on 8/03/2010 by Matthew O`Neill
Awards, Best Companies, Lab News, Sunday Times

I'm pleased to report that the awards and recognition have continued. We've just been placed 39th in the 2010 Sunday Times 100 Best Small companies!!

You all know the Sunday Times, however you might not know the Best Companies organisation, the people behind these top 100 lists and their own star accreditations in recognition of the very best places to work. 

To quote:

Being a best company goes beyond the bottom line. It's about excelling in every area throughout the workplace and an organisation's commitment to its most important assets - its workforce. Focusing on employees brings real benefits such as, improved workplace engagement, better staff retention, reduced recruitment costs and greater financial performance.

It's a fantastic result and a real tribute to all the great people here.

Check out our listing in the Sunday Times here.

 

 

Ranked number 23 in the world!

Posted on 12/02/2010 by Matthew O`Neill
Awards, Lab News, Lab Tech

We have succeeded in making it into the 2010 MSP Mentor top 100 list, which highlights IT service providers that are excelling in the realm of managed services.

The Background

Managed Services and Managed Service Providers (MSPs) are increasingly important to modern day IT support providers like ourselves. They enable the majority of our services to be improved and automated through the use of advanced management technology. For example, we use the revolutionary Kaseya technology as the centrepiece of our IT Automation philosophy. It means we can:

• Monitor and report on clients networks in real time
• Resolve issues before they occur
• Automated routine checks
• Fix 80% of issues remotely
• Deploy software autmatically and remotely
• Much more!

 

Who are MSP Mentor?

They are a media outift designed to be the ultimate guide to managed services, and are the leading global destination for MSP's. They've made it their mission to ignore all gossip, speculation, and vendor hype to deliver in-depth and entirely factual analysis of the evolving managed services provider industry.

One of their well known efforts is the annual Top 100 list. This ranks MSP's from all over the world not just on their managed services based revenue, but also the way in which they use managed services and technology to improve both their offering and customer experience.

Where did we come?

Not only have we made it into the list this year, but we've come in at number 23! It's a fantastic result and great recognition of the progress we're making.

Check out the full list here.

 

Poor data security could cost businesses £500,000

Posted on 25/01/2010 by Rich Adams
Data Protection Act, FSA, ISO

From April 6th, the government will impose fines of up to £500,000 for serious Data Protection Act breaches.

This is a major upscale in the power held by the Information Commission's Office (ICO) who currently only have the power to enforce security changes.

The move toward tougher penalties for data security breaches has come as no surprise to many. In a statement, Information Commissioner Christopher Graham said, "Getting data protection right has never been more important than it is today.

As consumers now rely more heavily on internet based transactions and online banking, security must be stepped up a gear. In fact, many predicted even stronger punishments being put in place.

Some experts argued that the maximum fine for a serious breach could be 10% of annual turnover of an offending organisation, while the ICO itself had been seeking the power to impose jail sentences for DPA breaches.

In the end the power to sting offenders with up to half a million pound penalties was decided upon, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the ICO is about to start playing fast and loose with its new found power.

Unlike the Financial Services Authority (FSA) the ICO will have to first serve a preliminary notice saying why they are imposing the fine. They must also reveal what evidence they have, and then consider the organisation's response. Many experts are predicting that fines will only be imposed in the most serious of cases.

What most agree on is, however, that many organisations are in denial about their security, and some may well be caught out financially if the ICO decides to make a few examples as an immediate warning to the rest.

Facebook of cybercrime shut down

Posted on 18/01/2010 by Rich Adams
DarkMarket, Facebook

It will come as no surprise that cyber crime is a serious and growing problem. Where once the name of the game was simply chaos and bragging rights, a new breed of financially motivated hacker has emerged.

Using sophisticated programs and techniques, these criminals steal information from networks and databases around the world. What may come as a suprise, however, is how openly many of them operate. This comes after a group in the UK were recently exposed for running a website where data fraudsters could buy and sell stolen information freely.

They ran the DarkMarket website from an anonymous looking internet café in Wembley, North West London. The site had around 2000 vendors who traded everything from card details (obtained through hacking, phishing and ATM skimming devices) to viruses – with which to extort money from organisations.

Run like an ordinary website, it had administrators and moderators. Reviewers could even voice their opinions regarding ‘customer satisfaction.’ It even featured breaking-news-style updates on the latest compromised material available, while criminals could buy banner adverts to promote their wares.

One might think that such a blatant disregard for the law could be easily dispatched, but it took the joint efforts of both the FBI and our very own SOCA (Serious Organised Crime Agency) to finally bring DarkMarket down.

Ex Pizza Hut worker Renukanth Subramaniam, 33, was today revealed is its founder, and was due to stand trial before pleading guilty last week. He is currently awaiting sentence. Here's a look at what his DarMarket site could supply:

Dumps: data from magnetic stripes on batches of 10 cards. Standard cards: $50. Gold/platinum: $80. Corporate: $180.
Card verification values: information needed for online transactions. $3-$10 depending on quality.
Full information/change of billing:  $150 for account with $10,000 balance. $300 for one with $20,000 balance.
Skimmer: device to read card data. Up to $7,000.
Bank logins: 2% of available balance.
Hire of botnet: software robots used in spam attacks. $50 a day.
Credit card images: both sides of card. $30 each.
Embossed card blanks: $50 each. 
Card holograms: $5 per 100.

 

Google goes into real-time

Posted on 15/01/2010 by Rich Adams
Bing, Google

It may be moving into software, operating systems and mobile phones, but Google clearly still intends to keep its search engine fresh by creating a real time function – search is its bread and butter, after all!

This means, rather than undertaking a single search, Google will continue to trawl the internet and deliver the latest social media content as it's posted online. You can even filter the results down to scan for microblogs like twitter.

The concept certainly seems rather impressive/ imposing – depending on whether you work for a rival engine or not. They even have a star studded line-up of partners on board, such as Facebook, Twitter and Myspace – it’s like a who’s who of the social media world.

Google's vice-president of engineering, Vic Gundotra, stated… "Information is being posted at a pace I have never seen before… In this information environment, seconds matter."

Not to be outdone (although many suspect they will be) Bing has also launched its own real-time service. Their version, however, only has twitter on board and doesn’t embed the links on the actual search page.

While not every search term on Google will trigger the real-time function, only those it considers relevant, it will still come in handy if searching for things like tickets: where offers can be shown as they are uploaded.

Google NEXUS One gets off to slow start

Posted on 15/01/2010 by Rich Adams
Google, NEXUS One

Latest reports suggest Google’s attempt at taking on the iphone (NEXUS One) hasn’t exactly set the mobile phone world alight. Where as the app laden, iTunes friendly Apple handset sold 1.6 million in its first week, NEXUS One is only estimated to have sold 20,000.

This appears to be a tremendous own goal by the search and technology giant, as few people are actually disputing that Google have produced a decent piece of kit. The reason for the disappointing take up seems to be poor distribution and customer service on their part.

One user stated… “This isn’t about whether or not NEXUS One a great phone… It’s about the botch job Google did on distribution – they’re far too difficult to get hold of.”

What’s more, Google decided to provide only online technical support via email.  The adverse publicity created as a result of the disgruntled punters who flooded Google’s inbox has clearly taken its toll.

So far, however, Google has refused to disclose sales figures, stating only that… “All estimates should be treated with caution.”

The general consensus is that Google simply took their eye off the ball, and didn’t prepare properly. They may know their stuff when it comes to developing technology, but they clearly didn’t realise the importance of great customer service.