The team at Techsoup has released another terrific article regarding how you can take some initial steps to troubleshoot your workstation woes. Many may be familiar to you - and some may not. It’s a great starting spot - and many are also items that a paid consultant might perform anyway. The good news about this list is that you don’t have to do ALL of them - just the ones that you feel comfortable doing. Just make sure to take notes about what happened when, and what you did, and read my earlier posting for reducing your support costs!

The team at Tech Soup has turned out yet another terrific article - it’s a must read for anyone trying to figure out how to make your print and web colors match - and how to speak the language as needed to get what you need.

And you can review my posting, too - which is also a great place to start!

Access 2007 is a significant upgrade - it will offer some terrific new features and fixes and most Access 2003 applications will work in 2007 - but there is a catch:

• Some previous applications may break or cause unexpected behavior
• So much has changed, that Access 2007 might be confusing for those used to previous versions of Access
• Although 2007 will work with your existing Access file in the 2003 format (Access 2003 files have a file extension that end with .mdb) if you upgrade to the new file format (.accdb) you won’t be able to open your database in older versions of Access
• The two versions of access don’t play well together on the same computer
• Like any major software release - there will be bugs that need to be fixed

So - here’s what we recommend:

If you don’t use Access now, and are upgrading - go ahead and use Access 2007 for your future needs. however, if you do use Access 2003 or earlier now (particularly if it is crucial piece of software, such as a donor database, or a client tracking database, or a volunteer database that is critical to your mission) the we recommend that that you DON’T install Access 2007.

You can choose to use the other Office 2007 tools - just don’t install Access 2007, or until you’ve worked with a database expert to ensure that your database will work in the new format!

Special thanks to NPower Seattle’s senior consultant, Evan Callahan for compiling this important information - and for additional reading, follow these links:

http://allenbrowne.com/Access2007.html
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb203849.aspx
http://technet2.microsoft.com/Office/en-us/library/1dce641e-ba1c-446a-8ff2-221769a58ba51033.mspx?mfr=true

Office Professional 2007 is out - and agencies that have software assurance may be eligble to download a copy, and the team at TechSoup has it listed, too. But just becauase you CAN get it, doesn’t mean you should!

It’s likely to be a terrific product - but it does have a very different look and feel. And while Microsoft has worked really hard to maintain compatability with their other tools (inlcuding previous versions of Office) other vendors might not be ready yet. Here are some things to consider before being among the first to jump on the bandwagon:

• Is now a good time to undertake a new learning curve?
• Can your staff or IT expert easily help you maintain more than one version of Office?
• Are your workstations powerful enough to make use of the new features?
• Have your other software vendors verified that their tools will work with Office 2007?

If you answer no to any of those questions - you should take a step back and re-think. Remember - Office 2007 is available from TechSoup - so if you are a qualifying noprofit - you can get it when you need it and when you’re ready for it!

That’s a great question - and one that has a nuanced answer. You can start answering that question on your own by heading over to the Salesforce Foundation website to review their FAQ’s. While you’re their, you might also want to consider taking part in their every Tuesday morning web demo - between those two things - you should end up with a strong general sense regarding this tool’s fit for your agency.

Another way to think about Salesforce hinges on remote versus local: If you have a need or desire to host your data somewhere else and be able to access it (securely, of course!) via the internet - then tools that are web-based such as Salesforce or etapestry are good choices.

However - if your business practice or model requires you to house your data on site - then Salesforce probably isn’t for you.

Salesforce has a compelling offering - qualifying nonprofits receive up to 10 licenses and full support. Additionally, Salesforce offers terrific web-site integration - perfect for engaging and collecting donors or keeping track of your stakeholders.

There are many nonprofits using the tool - and some terrific information online, too. The team at Idealware has an article about Salesforce and Case Management tools you should read - and our team here at NPower Seattle is implementing Salesforce for local nonprofits already!

If you’ve started blogging - you’ll want to head over to http://www.technorati.com/ to register your blog!

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A lot, actually - especially if you are using Microsoft software for your workstation or server!

The United States Congress passed legislation changing Daylight Savings Time - and many workstations and servers use internal clocks to make sure that calendars are in synch - both for times and for dates.  And while the United States and Canada are both following the new rules - Mexico (for example) isn’t.

For some workstations - you might need to adjust the clock on your workstation. But you’ll also need to update your workstation, and make sure all of your mobile devices are updated, too

For others, though - this might cause trouble with calendar or other sharing applications, with third party vendors and so on. If you are using online tools, or software created by another vendor - you should ask them to let you know if their tools will work with the new DST rules.

And if you are using any of these Microsoft Products - you’ll want to work with your vendor to make sure that the appropriate steps are taken to make sure you are up do date!

TechSoup Stock has been a terrific resource to the nonprofit community for years now, leveraging their position in the community to secure software donations for nonprofit agencies. Likewise, TechSoup continues to provide terrific information about technology and the nonprofit sector - you should make sure you visit each site regularly!

Several months ago, the team at Symantec needed to re-organize some of their product offerings - and the corporate versions of their software became unavailable from TechSoup Stock. On Friday, February 2nd, we received notice that the Corporate Edition 10.0 is now available. This is GREAT news for nonprofits with a server environment - since it means that you can manage your anti virus needs from your server, rather than from each workstation.

If you have a server environment, make sure you bring this to the attention of your server expert to find out if this is right tool for you!