Business Plan Software Review: Ultimate Business Planner?
May 23, 2008
One of the main reasons business owners and entrepreneurs use business plan software is to simplify building their financial models. Even with an explosion in business plan software packages on the market today, "doing the financial projections" is still often cited as the most difficult part of completing a business plan. Yet, software can still simplify financial forecasting.
The question is: Which software?
Ultimate Business Planner has been touted as a dynamic, interactive planning tool that takes the drudgery out of complex, time-consuming financial forecasting and business planning. It combines easy-to-use software functions with a step-by-step approach to create a business plan.
It is designed for those individuals or businesses in need of getting a business plan done fast. The Ultimate Business Planner prides itself on being the fastest and easiest way to write a winning business plan.
Atlas Business Solutions, Inc. (ABS), developer of the business planning technology in QuickBooks® Premier 2005 and the maker of Ultimate Business Planner, is a well-respected and established business software development company. Their products are top rated and are priced moderately.
So, let’s check it out?
Step-by-step approach with five manageable sections
Dont Choose Adobe When Working With PDF
May 22, 2008
While Adobe is the most known maker of PDF tools, your business will be much better off, if you select third party tools to work with PDF documents.
ABC Amber PDF converter
Priced at eleven dollars, this tool may very well be the cheapest PDF software on the planet. ABC Amber PDF Converter is a powerful tool which allows you to convert PDF to any document format (HTML, CHM, RTF, HLP, TXT, DOC, DBF, XML, CSV, XLS, MDB, DB, MCW, WPS, SAM, RFT, WS4, WS7, WRI, etc.) easily and quickly. You can export all pages or just selected pages, as plain text or as preview pictures.
Download: http://www.deprice.com/abcamberpdfconverter.htm
GuaPDF
Write the name down if you ever forget the password to the protected PDF documents. This is a utility that allows you to bypass the security on PDF documents. Both protection methods are bypassed:
* restricted operations on file can be disabled (instantly, any Acrobat version up to 6.x, even with 128-bit encryption)
* password encrypted file can be decrypted (in a several days or weeks, Acrobat ver. 3.x, 4.x, 40-bit key).
Download: http://www.deprice.com/guapdf.htm
PDFCamp Pro
Professional Software Icons For Your Standalone Application
May 21, 2008
User interfaces and accessibility are some of the most important aspect of an application. It can have a million features, it can do a thousand things once, but if it doesn’t look quite right then it will be a disaster. Take Linux for example. This open source (free) operating system has been around for quite a while, and it has been very appreciated for its stability and speed. However, in its earlier days it lacked a user interface, which made it very unattractive to the general public. While a few years back Linux was used only by system administrator and computer freaks, Microsoft’s Windows was all over the place, pumped up by its friendly user interface, even though it had a lot of bugs and was very unstable. Today’s things are quite different. People have learned from their mistakes and now, most operating systems, including Linux, use a graphical interface and are very user-friendly - things that in the past you could do by writing lines and lines of instructions, you can now do with a few clicks. This major improvement has brought in a whole new class of users, and the popularity of this operating system has increased considerably.
Microsoft CRM Implementation for Large Corporation ? overview
May 20, 2008
Microsoft Business Solutions CRM is now approaching the phase of being mature product and the CRM solution you may consider for large publicly traded company. Our view point considers the fact of multiple platforms and systems coexistence and balancing: UNIX, Linux, Microsoft Windows, Java, .Net, PC, AS/400, RS6000, Microsoft Exchange, Lotus Notes Domino, etc. This increases the cost of maintenance, but decreases the risk of being trapped to one vendor/solution. So far we’ve seen successful implementations of Microsoft CRM in the following industries: Distribution, Logistics, Non-Profit, Chemicals, Pharmaceutical, Placement/Recruiting, Medicare/Hospitals, Retail, Wholesale, Education, Beverages, Services, Defense, Aerospace, Oil & Gas.
? In-house Implementation. This is non-expected paradox. Multiple clients, especially large companies, do it themselves. The reason is ? Microsoft CRM utilizes all spectrum Microsoft Technologies: Exchange, Active Directory, .Net, Full-text search, etc. Microsoft oriented IT people understand it and like to be involved. So, you should consider self-implementation first.
? Integration. Microsoft CRM has relatively simple business logic and sits in Microsoft SQL Server, which enables customization and integration with third party systems and databases. If you have Microsoft Great Plains ? you can use MBS CRM-GP integration tool, based on BizTalk. If you have UNIX-based ERP/Accounting, you can deploy MS SQL linked server to bridge MS CRM and ERP. The same would work for Oracle ERP ? Oracle Financials. Navision has third party integration tool and the one from Microsoft is on the way to be released. Axapta is also candidate for the integration.
Are You Waiting for Microsoft Longhorn Operating System
May 19, 2008
I love new technology. I am still ready to wait long for Longhorn. I have tried almost all operating systems of Windows series. My interest in Longhorn is building up day by day and the reason is..! From beginning Microsoft is very successful to project Longhorn as something mysterious. Many interesting stories are connected with it, which helped Longhorn to gain pre-launch popularity; I would rather say curiosity about this product. I don’t know who is the propaganda minister of Microsoft? May be Mr. Brightside or Mr.Lonely. Relax guys I was just kidding.
Did you Know that Windows XP was code-named Whistler and the next version of Windows was code-named Blackcomb. The names come from ski areas in British Columbia from the vicinity of Microsoft’s headquarter at the foot of Whistler Mountain, while ‘Longhorn’ is scheduled to be the next release from Microsoft, gets its name from a popular saloon called the ‘Longhorn Saloon & Grill’ situated near this ski area. I hope after relaxing at ‘Whistler’ you may find the ‘Longhorn’ as the better spot to relax for a longer.
Software For Your Hard-Drive
May 19, 2008
All your software is stored on a hard-drive. But how about software FOR your hard-drive - private disks, partition managers, disk defragmenters? Here is the scoop on the latest tools.
Paragon Partition Manager
The program is suitable for both professionals and home users. Basic partitioning operations are: resize, convert, move, split, copy, and mount partitions. You can restore accidentally deleted partitions. It also offers free space redistribution and hard drive defragmenter. It lets you install several separate operating systems on one hard drive. The Paragon Boot Manager is included into the package. Smart Partition technology that performs all operations without losing a single byte of data. Supported file systems are FAT 16/32, NTFS, Ext2/3FS, and ReiserFS.
Additonal Information - http://www.deprice.com/paragonpartitionmanagerpersonal.htm
Dekart Private Disk
A Simple Guide To Wikis
May 18, 2008
A wiki is an editable text-based website. But you don’t need to understand any complex HTML, or anything like that to use a wiki. A wiki is really only a little bit more complex than a word-processor, but MUCH more powerful, because instead of only being 1 page, it can be lots of pages, all linked up together.
I’ll show you how easy it is to use a wiki later, but first I’d like to tell you why wikis are so useful.
Wikis are useful, because they let you setup any data you want, in any way that you want. Rather than constrain you with a specific way of structuring things, you can link things together in any way that you want. This means you can set things up as simple, or as complex as you like.
Because they are so flexible, there are literally millions of uses for wikis. Some uses include:
- Keeping a daily journal
- Brainstorming
- Managing investment properties
- Implementing a GTD system (As described by David Allen)
- Research
- Running a business.
Some wikis also let multiple users share an edit the same data. An interesting example of this online is the Wiki Encyclopedia where a group of people are collaborating to make a free online encyclopedia.
Microsoft Great Plains: Large Scale Implementation
May 17, 2008
Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains, Navision, Axapta, Solomon and CRM are coming up to satisfy ERP needs for large corporation, including multinationals. In this article we will be describing Microsoft Great Plains as the MRP platform, fitting to multiple industries and business niches: aerospace, defense, textile, pharmaceutical, healthcare, constructions, mining, services, distributions & logistics, wholesale & retail, public sector, chemicals, oil & gas, finance, brokerage, etc. We’ll try to give you orientation and set realistic expectations if you are CIO for large publicly traded company and looking for reasonably budgeted solution.
? Technical versus Functional implementation. The trend of our new post-recession era is biased toward technical implementation. If you look back to 1990th Clinton golden days ? when we would say huge number of CPA-oriented businesses were realizing and implementing mid-size and large accounting applications. Today ? accounting department team is comfortable with generic ERP interface and needs minimal training. Usually we train IT people and they in turn provide Great Plains interface and reporting training to the end users, or end users attend online training to get advanced skills in the application interface.
Mapping Software: Putting Data Visualization on the Map
May 16, 2008
Mapping Software Improves Data Visualization
From the outset, it is important to clarify exactly what mapping software is and what it has to do with data visualization. If you are looking for driving directions for your next road trip, this is not the article for you. If you are looking for a tool to organize and bring to life complex levels of information which revolutionizes tracking and reporting, then you have come to the right place. Data visualization used to be visual organization of data in simple bar charts, pie graphs, or some form of mapping until mapping software enabled data visualization to simplify complex levels of interactive information.
Mapping Software Tools
The reason why mapping software is able to make so much information interactive is that it interfaces with so many interactive mapping tools commonly used in the business world. Any report, map, chart, or graph used in tracking, reporting, presentations, or research will benefit from mapping software. The following is a brief explanation of many of the tools used in mapping software.
Flash
Constructionalist Parsing - Deciphering Natural Language
May 15, 2008
The research in the field of Natural Language Processing usually assumes the existence of a syntactic “Generative Engine” that combines words and word-like elements into syntactic structures, and then sometimes displaces them by “syntactic movement”. A Linguistic Parser must “undo” all the effects of syntactic movement, which results in a structure where the relations between the words are represented more directly.
In recent years, a new theoretical framework was introduced, in which the syntactic combinatorial system does not stop at the level of the words. Instead, the same “Generative Engine” continues all-the-way-down into morphology. The various parts of the same word correspond to the different areas of the syntactic tree, and then are brought together by multiple applications of movement.
Within this Constructionalist Framework, the syntactic is not a tree of words - it is a tree made of sub-lexical elements like roots, prefixes, suffixes, etc. The components of a single verb are spread all over the parse tree.
Correspondingly, the function of a Linguistic Parser is different. The goal of the parsing is to “reconstruct” every such sub-lexical element into its original place in the syntactic tree.
