Knowledge Transfer 2.0

With the release of Microsoft's newest product line, Windows 8, Windows RT (Surface), and Windows Phone, users are curious what features and benefits each OS has to offer and how they work together as an integrated solution. In this episode of KT 2.o, Paul Hillman sits down with Jane Boulware, the VP of the US Windows Business at Microsoft, to get the inside scoop on this line of products, how they have been received, and where they are headed next.

Many IT leaders are facing a tough decision: Move to the cloud, or remain on-premise. It’s easy to see the cloud’s potential cost savings, but what’s it really like to live there? Is the transition as easy as they say it is? What about security and reliability? What do users think? Shape Corporation, a global leader in impact energy management systems in Grand Haven, Michigan, transitioned to cloud ERP in 2005 and moved to Microsoft Office 365 last year. Listen to hear what Shape has to say about its decision to move to the cloud, what it’s like living there, and what it’s learned in the process.

Last month, Microsoft held its Management Summit, where the brightest minds in IT met to talk about desktop and device management, datacenter, and cloud technologies. C/D/H sent three team members to attend the Las Vegas conference. In this podcast, we explore some of the major themes of the event, as well as the most exciting announcements and what they may mean, both for C/D/H and for our clients. Also in attendance was Adam Moneypenny, Chief Information Officer at Rehmann, and our guest for this edition of Knowledge Transfer 2.0.

Most companies are familiar with SharePoint, Microsoft's enterprise platform, but some don't think of it as a web development platform.

In this podcast, Paul Hillman sits down with Amy Moore, a consultant and SharePoint architect with C/D/H, to discuss SharePoint's robust web development capabilities. Listen to hear the advantages and disadvantages of using SharePoint for the web, cost and licensing considerations, current users, and more!

C/D/H, the largest SharePoint consulting firm in Michigan, sent eight consultants to the Microsoft SharePoint Conference in Anaheim, California earlier this month.

Because we believe SharePoint is a critical collaborative technology for our clients, we want to learn as much as we can to help you get the most out of your SharePoint investment.

In this podcast, Paul Hillman sits down with Mark Becker, a partner and the director of client services at C/D/H, fresh off the plane from Anaheim, to discuss the conference, its highlights, next steps, why C/D/H attended and more. You don’t want to miss this show!

We have the ability to capture data that affects business, whether it's inventory, point-of-sale, sales and marketing numbers, financials, etc. But how do we pull that information together into something meaningful?

Use business intelligence.

Find out more about BI - what it is, when you need it, and what it will do for you - on KT 2.0. This month, Paul Hillman discusses business intelligence with Doug Brower, the C/D/H collaboration service area lead and Matt Mace, president of Kalamazoo-based BlueGranite, a firm specializing in business intelligence solutions. Doug and Matt share insights on Business Intelligence, how these systems can help companies, and how an enterprise knows when they are ready to make the leap to BI.

Technology advances and changes rapidly, but in reality, companies and educational organizations cannot always purchase the latest and greatest. And in today's economy, organizations are cautious about spending.

So how do you decipher the technology must-haves for organizations that have to watch their wallets?

Paul Hillman discusses how to balance technology wishes and budget realities with Kevin O'Halla, Grand Rapids Community College's Chief Information Officer.

The iPad is one of today's hottest devices. Many consumers and companies are already using this handy, non-intrusive tablet to help store and deliver corporate information - and it’s paying off!

So, how do you successfully integrate the iPad into your business environment?

Click below and find out how Mike Behrenbrinker and Peckham Industries, a Lansing-based nonprofit organization that provides job training and competitive employment opportunities for people with disabilities, are making iPads work at work!

Information Technology sometimes can be seen as gadgets and electronics, but it is much more than that. Information Technology from a broader perspective is the driver of innovation, solving problems and allowing us to create and produce more efficiently, and in ways never before imagined. Listen as Paul Hillman speaks with Phil Go, the first CIO of Barton Malow, about the Value of IT, and how companies can realize the return on the investment they make in staying on the cutting edge.

Blackberry and Windows have enterprise servers that allow organizations to secure data on smartphones used for business. According to some cell phone retail store managers, about 50 percent of the smartphones being purchased for business use are "open source" phones, such as the Android. These open source phones offer the user less restrictions on apps, for example, and have some additional functionality that other phones may not have, which tends to make the phones more appealing to users. But once someone purchases these open source phones, such as a Droid, Samsung, Motorola, etc., the task of integrating the phone into the business is left up to IT managers or consultants, such as C/D/H. Paul Hillman speaks with Jason Cooper, a consultant at C/D/H, about integrating open source smartphones into communication platforms for businesses.