Happy New Year!  Hope that 2010 is off to a good start for everybody.

Before all the decorations are packed away and the last of the eggnog has been drunk, here are December’s most viewed posts from the NPowering: Nonprofit Technology blog:

• The Hierarchical Nature of Data: Discussion on how to take advantage of data hierarchy when using accounts and campaigns in Salesforce.
• Snow Day: Here are Suggestions for readying yourself for a work from home day due to inclement weather.
• Choosing a Future of Rejuvenation: Takeaways from Paul Light’s presentation at October’s Nonprofit Governance Conference in Tacoma.
• The Path to End of Year Fundraising Success: Resources and advice for improving the message and strategy of your end-of-year appeal.
• Windows 7 Evaluation & Upgrade Resources: Online nonprofit resources for evaluating and planning a Windows 7 upgrade for your organization, including guides from TechSoup, TechFlash, and Lifehacker.

P.S. Remember to check us out on Facebook.

Planning a software or hardware upgrade sometime soon? Don’t forget to include a plan for staff training to ensure a smooth rollout. Timely and thorough training will give your staff the confidence and skills to fully benefit from their new tools and ease any anxiety about the transition.

Leah Ankeny, our Training Manager, suggests a couple of resources on staff training:

1) For a great example of a successful upgrade and training integration, see our profile on The Seattle Foundation’s roll out of Office 2007.

2) To develop a training plan to fit the needs (and budget) of your organization, follow the tips in this Tech Soup article on replacing and upgrading technology, which include:

• How much money and effort will you invest in your training program? “Training” might consist of a few handouts if your new software only implements minor changes. It could consist of a month-long class with multiple sessions if you’re upgrading mission-critical software.
• Who conducts the training? You can assign the training to internal staff or outside contractors. Developing an effective curriculum takes a big chunk of time, so nonprofits occasionally bring someone in from the outside or send their employees to classes held at other locations.
• When do you schedule it? If you train your staff too far in advance of the software installation, they’ll forget everything they’ve learned by the time they actually need it. If you wait until after the installation, staff will have to support software that they don’t understand.

As the article says, “Being thoughtful about how much time and energy you invest in training can help ensure that your staff is up to speed on refreshed software or hardware and that your organization can get on with the real mission-based work that matters.”

In the spirit of Thanksgiving leftovers, it’s time for the monthly review of the top posts from the NPowering: Nonprofit Technology blog (based on page views):

• Choosing a Future of Rejuvenation: Takeaways from Paul Light’s presentation at October’s Nonprofit Governance Conference in Tacoma.
• The Path to End of Year Fundraising Success: Resources and advice for improving the message and strategy of your end-of-year appeal.
• Windows 7: Discussion on evaluating and planning for the upgrade to the latest version of Microsoft’s flagship operating system.
• 7 Ways to Change the World Video Contest: Announcement of Microsoft’s Windows 7 video contest.  The contest has ended, but you can read more about the winners in this updated blog post.
• Windows 7 Evaluation & Upgrade Resources: Online nonprofit resources for evaluating and planning a Windows 7 upgrade for your organization.  Includes guides from TechSoup, TechFlash, and Lifehacker.

Happy Holidays!

Following up on last week’s Windows 7 release, below are some online resources for evaluating and planning an upgrade for your organization.

As always, our friends at TechSoup have a wealth of information available, including upgrade guidance, migration checklist, and product donation.  Their Windows 7 homepage is a great starting point, but here are a couple of things to call to your attention:

• Special Extra Donation: Microsoft is allowing qualified nonprofits to place an extra donation request for Windows 7 or Vista.  (Much better than double secret probation.)
• Software Compatibility: A consolidated summary of Windows 7 compatibility statements from the companies that provide desktop software donations through TechSoup.

As referenced in my earlier Windows 7 post, Microsoft has helpful tools for upgrade evaluation and preparation:

• Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor: A downloadable program that will scan your PC for potential issues with your hardware and software and provide recommendations on how to proceed.
• Windows 7 Compatibility Center: A collection of compatibility information for popular devices and software titles to help you easily identify what will or won’t work with Windows 7.
• Windows 7 Features: Explore Windows 7’s new features and functionality through online videos.

In addition, TechFlash and Lifehacker have both assembled very comprehensive Windows 7 guides:

• TechFlash Windows 7 Resource Guide: Includes a plethora of links to reviews and other resources.
• Lifehacker’s Complete Guide to Windows 7: Includes an extensive review of new features and mouse/keyboard shortcuts.

Hope you find this information useful.  If you have come across other helpful Windows 7 resources, please share them with the rest of community.

Happy weekend!

Yesterday Microsoft released Windows 7, the latest version of their flagship operating system.  While this has taken place without all of the fanfare associated with its predecessor, Window Vista, you have probably been hearing and reading about this for some time now.  Now that is has arrived, you may be wondering whether or when you should take the plunge.

The early reviews and word of mouth have been positive, which is encouraging.  However, most are not advocating an “update immediately” philosophy.  In fact, a common theme is that there is not a critical reason to upgrade or replace a Windows Vista or XP computer if you are happy with its performance and capabilities.  Given the limited budgets and resources of most nonprofits, we concur with that assessment.

Our recommendation to customers is to “walk (slowly), don’t run” to upgrade.  Let the early adopters find the glitches and work out the kinks.  A guideline we like to use is the availability of the first Service Pack, as this will include the initial round of fixes and improvements designed to make the product more stable and reliable.  This walk slowly approach seems to be echoed by the business sector.  According to a report from Information Technology Intelligence Corp., 19% of the companies surveyed plan to upgrade within the first three months, while 41% plan to hold for a while, including 11% waiting for the initial Service Pack.  The remaining 40% do not currently have a definitive migration timeline.

As you examine the circumstance within your agency, make sure to take into account your existing environment – computers, software, and staff.  If you are looking to upgrade your existing computers, keep in mind that the performance and user experience will be affected by the age and specifications of the equipment.  Also, check to make sure that the software applications and peripheral devices used by your agency are compatible with Windows 7.  If you find that a critical program is not certified or tested for Windows 7, contact the manufacturer to see what the issues are and their timeline for addressing.

As with any new operating system or application, there will be a learning curve involved.  For Windows 7, the changes will be more dramatic if you are coming from Windows XP (or earlier), instead of Windows Vista.  Depending on your staff’s appetite for change and self-discovery, you might consider investing in training upfront to acquaint everybody with the new operating system and effectively use its features and functionality.  To help manage your internal support demands, it is always helpful to standardize on a common version.  So if possible, upgrade everybody in your office when you are ready to make that investment.

Let us know what your organization is planning for Windows 7.  And if you are one those early adopters, share that experience with us.

Following up on an earlier post, two new agency profiles are posted on the NPower Seattle website:

• Arts Corps (Salesforce CRM)
• Washington Health Foundation (technology planning)

These, along with the rest of the library, are available at: http://www.npowerseattle.org/about-us/tech-impact.

My colleague Peg Giffels and I participated in the Pacific Northwest Digital Inclusion Summit held at the Olympic Hotel in Seattle  last week. It was a great day of knowledge-sharing and discussion hosted by the City of Seattle, Washington Communities Connect Network (CCN), and One Economy. I gave two back-to-back co-presentations that couldn’t have been more different.

The first was with Robert Bole, a driving force behind One Economy’s online media. We provided an overview of Web 2.0 concepts and tools and then, unintentionally, a sort of dueling banjos on the merits of various approaches to using social media. I felt little bit like Andy Rooney next to Rob’s great presentation of the benefits and upside of blogs and social networking and video-sharing. I found myself telling people “you can’t do it all,” “you should think before you dive in,” “don’t expect to increase donations two-fold.” This all seemed strange to me, because I thought going into the presentation that I might come off as hyping the technology. I’m a true believer in the possibilities presented by the Social Web. But next to Rob’s convincing evangelism, I felt like a plodding analyst with a lot of “on the one hand and on the other hand” stuff. Funny. 

The second presentation was about tech planning and nuts-and-bolts IT infrastructure with Derrick Hall from the City of Seattle’s Community Technology Program. Derrick does an amazing job of supporting all of the city’s public computers and providing technical advice to community technology learning programs throughout the area. Instead of alignment and engagemnt and messaging we talked about RAM and servers and firewalls. This was my change to be prescriptive and hyped up, while Derrick added the grounding balance.

I enjoyed both experiences and the strong feeling of shared purpose from presenters and audience participants. It was all over much too quickly. The city will be putting up all of the slides presented over the next few days on the Community Technology Program site, but you can grab mine right here: Web 2.0 Presentation | Wired/Tech Planning Presentation.

There was an odd point in the first US presidential debate when Senators Obama and McCain got into a semantic argument about the difference between a “strategy” and a “tactic.” Do you remember it? It stuck with me for days afterward–partly because I thought the exchange indicated something about McCain’s temperament and partly because it struck a chord with me in my thinking about technology strategy and planning for nonprofits.

McCain groused “I’m afraid Senator Obama doesn’t understand the difference between a tactic and a strategy.” And Obama later countered with “That’s not true, we had a legitimate difference, and I absolutely understand the difference between tactics and strategy.”

What struck me then, and what I’m reminded of now, is this idea that strategy and tactics and plans are somehow at odds. In reality, they should go hand in hand. At least, that’s how we think of it here at NPower. An operational plan for technology is a great thing to nail down–many organizations don’t even have that. But without connecting technology planning to technology strategy, the plan often goes unfunded and unfollowed. The environment can change quickly, making plans that aren’t tied to strategy become outdated. This is even more likely in our current days of economic uncertainty.

Plan on having a strategy in 2009.