Although it’s unclear whether or not Google was thinking of directly challenging Microsoft and their Office 365 subscription services, this certainly seems to be how recent events are playing out.  Clearly, Office 365 might be the better choice in terms of features and familiarity, but given that it is now priced well above Google’s packages in terms of annual costs, it’s extremely likely that many people will opt for the cheaper option.  But before we start evaluating the pros and cons of each, let’s see what each option has to offer first.

Google Apps

Originally, Google was offering a basic plan for businesses utilizing their apps suite which was completely free.  Well, needless to say, this is no longer the case; that option has been replaced by a plan which comes with a price tag of $50 per year.  That basically breaks down into a monthly cost of $4.10 for some fairly substantial services, which is arguably the best price you’re going to find anywhere.  Along with all the other apps and services included in the previously free package, this version of Google Apps also includes features like a beefed-up inbox and 24/7 customer support.

So, the question is, why did they get rid of the free package, right?  As it turns out (according to Google’s own internal statistics), they discovered that most businesses tended to run out of breathing room with the free package rather quickly.  Naturally, the best option was to simply build a better base offer, which of course, brings us to the most recent Google Apps packaged offering.

Office 365

What makes Microsoft’s Office 365 so powerful is the fact that it not only brings some great cloud services to the table, it does so within the context of highly accessible file formats and so forth.  In other words, although you can accomplish a great deal with Google Apps, the simple fact that they use file formats which are somewhat unfamiliar to most people might be a problem.

Likewise, Office 365 integrates cloud services into some of our favorite applications like Word, PowerPoint, and Excel, along with the safety and security of features like automatic cloud back-ups.  In a way, Office 365 is simply a more powerful version of Office which seeks to take advantage of the internet itself.

What’s the better choice?  

Let’s make one thing perfectly clear, both Google Apps and Microsoft 365 are both superior services, each touting its own unique features and benefits, period.  Anyone who claims that one or the other is offering lackluster, broken services is either on the payroll of one of the two organizations or doesn’t know what they’re talking about.  The question is, if things get competitive (and they usually do), who’s going to emerge on top?

There’s really no point in guessing, we’ll soon find out; likewise, if the competition heats up, we might even see some subscription prices dropping or additional services being added (we can only hope).  Certainly some users are going to be more productive while operating within the context of a familiar platform like Microsoft Office (even if it is a new version) though.  Likewise, some individuals and groups will simply look at the available features and price tags and immediately opt for Google Apps.  “To each their own”, I suppose…

Whether or not you feel that Google Apps or Office 365 is more your speed will be dependent on many individual factors.  Perhaps businesses that like more accessible pricing and a wide range of features that support multiple users will opt for Google Apps?  Additionally, maybe those who don’t mind paying a little extra and need more targeted features and the industry-wide compatibilities of Office 365 (and its file formats) will opt for the Microsoft option?

It’s just too difficult to call this “race” at this current point in time.  Once again however, both companies are offering dynamite service packages and in truth, either of them would make an excellent choice for any business that’s looking to more toward cloud-based services.

Get with the times; get certified in Microsoft’s Office 365!  Click here for more information.

The concept of the “customer loyalty program” is not a new one.  Perhaps in ancient times, before the dawn of written history, our ancestor’s lives may have even depended on well-established trading agreements.  So, in a way, the concept of customer loyalty may very well relate back to basic survival in some strange way.  Today, of course, most of us are ‘surviving’ quite well; loyalty in the arena of commerce is mostly used to build security and perhaps wealth.  However, one thing likely remains the same – when it comes to business, people want to feel that they are aligning themselves with those who want to improve their respective futures.  After all, what’s the point of loyalty if you’re not leading your followers to “greener pastures” (to use a common metaphor)?

Perhaps this concept explains why some customers respond more positively to certain types of programs which reinforce the brand name as opposed to just another generic discount / rebate offer.  People want to feel like “they’re part of the team” in some small way, like they’re contributing to something that’s worthwhile which they also happen to personally enjoy.

Naturally, this is why a number of companies have pushed for related apps and even gamification ideas which are able to engage these consumers on a near daily basis.  Speaking from a psychological / sociological perspective, it would appear that the more often someone thinks about something or engages in a pattern of action, the more likely they are to relegate such behavior to “routine”.  In other words, having something at play which is capable of engaging customers on a daily basis might very well allow a business to build a more permanent link with that particular individual or group.

In case you don’t know, it’s statistically much cheaper to maintain existing customers.  The fact of the matter is that new customers equal more work, time and repetitive effort.  Likewise, it’s highly unlikely that a new customer is going to be as eager to spread the word about how great your product or service is.  So, rule number 1 is: keep your current customers if at all possible.

As far as strategy and targeting is concerned, intrepid businesses these days are targeting consumers via mobile device-based ads and apps.  It makes perfect sense when you think about it, after all, we’re talking about devices that most people maintain very close contact with at virtually all times.  Why go after a more uncertain mode of access when you can go straight to the source?  Moreover, simple games and social media are extremely popular areas of interest to mobile device users, and both of those things can be used to grow an audience (they can help build it much faster and with exponential growth).

However, perhaps the most important aspect to any company’s customer loyalty efforts is that of perseverance.  Only those who are clearly level-headed (when it comes to making decisions) and very determined will inspire the kind of loyalty needed to grow a sizable following and maintain it.  Once again, this goes back to the idea of security and perhaps even sanctuary.

The bottom line is that people generally always want to feel as if they’re “part of the team”, that much is clear.  But simply creating an interesting looking team (or brand / product / service) simply isn’t enough; the key to inspiring true loyalty is in bringing something to the market that people feel has the “staying power” to be around for a long time.  In other words, fads will fall by the wayside while the best ideas and resources “rise to the top”.  Simply put, most people want their name aligned with something that they feel might have intrinsic value in the future (can you really blame them though?).

Building a loyal customer base or following is basically free advertising when you strip everything away and look at the basic elements present.  Additionally, since it’s much cheaper to maintain customers rather than seek out new ones, we are able to clearly see (once again) why it’s vitally important for businesses to focus on building up their loyalty programs.  These days, even major corporations are extremely dependent on the success of their loyalty programs, especially when you add potential competition to the picture.

Want to learn about customer loyalty programs, maybe even get certified?  Then click here to get started…

Over the course of the last year, the use of gamification to build customer bases and empower employees has really started to skyrocket.  It’s almost as if businesses are simultaneously waking up to the reality that people tend to buy more or do better work when they are having fun or reaching for some type of achievement.  However, gamification is not a complete solution in and of itself, individuals still have to find the motivation within themselves to actively take part in a program and strive for success.

A good illustration of the overall effectiveness of gamification might be equated to something as simple as a bicycle.  For instance, a bicycle isn’t like a motorcycle, as it requires the rider to actually put forth some effort in order to propel it and themselves forward.  However, if a person does the work, they’ll not only reap the benefits associated with such a low-cost form of travel, there will also be consequent health benefits as well.  Gamification is very similar to this in that, as more people jump on board, the business grows in terms of capabilities, efficiency and long-term “health”.  

It’s completely crazy to assume that any type of initiative (like gamification) will bring about the sweeping changes and increased efficiency that one desires if you’re dealing with somewhat hopeless or highly cynical employees.   However, studies will clearly demonstrate that among those who give it a chance, gamification can greatly enhance most aspects related to competence, effectiveness and inter-office (working) relationships.   In other words, if gamification isn’t having any type of positive impact on your office environment, it might still be doing its job by helping to identify those who might be impeding progress.  

Often times, it’s not the idea of gamification that leads to failure though; more often it is poor design and/or implementation.  Naturally, the best way to avoid this type of scenario is to seek out sources which have proven themselves in the gamification community through experience (and hopefully, many successes).  For example, organizations like badgeville.com not only know what they’re doing when it comes to all forms of gamification (inside or outside of a company) they also have a long and illustrious track record of businesses supporting them (Microsoft, VMware and Oracle, just to name a few).

The reason why gamification “works” could be intimately tied to how well it is able to meld the concepts of interactive design with the actual data being handled by employees on a daily basis.  In other words, “good” gamification design is all about integrating what individuals would be doing under normal circumstances with fun, hierarchical elements which foster a sense of achievement and perhaps propels forward a sense of friendly competition.  On the other hand, if your gamification program is simply adding additional work and concerns to the list of activities that employees are already required to complete, it will have exactly the opposite effect.  Needless to say, you don’t want your program to become a burden, you want it to help build upon the abilities of your employees.

Likewise, a truly great gamification program needs to be able to help workers become more organized through participation.  When you really break the corporate model down and analyze it, you’ll quickly discover that inefficiency and lack of uniform organization are major contributing factors to profit-loss, mistakes and miscommunications.  In other words, the more highly organized a business is, the faster it can operate.

More often than not, it is a company’s IT department that gets called upon to not only develop a gamification program, but also to establish and run it (from a technological perspective).   Well, needless to say, if you find yourself in this type of situation and you’re an IT manager, perhaps the most logical course of action is to mandate some form of gamification certification for all IT professionals working under you.   Moreover, If you are an individual IT careerist who has their eyes on prospective job markets (as well as the future), pursuing advanced knowledge of gamification and its systems will only ultimately make you a more employable job candidate.  

In summation, there are two main concerns when it comes to running a successful gamification platform:

1. Interactive design that is able to incorporate conventional duties and data (and doesn’t deliberately create additional non-value-added work for employees).
2. Open-minded and motivated employees (even slightly) who approach their roles in a serious manner.

Keep these two concepts in mind as your institution initiates its own gamification program.   It’s vitally important that your approach to gamification isn’t simply something that’s “tacked on”, but rather that it’s hard-wired into the very fabric of how work is carried out on a general level.

Complete gamification certification is only a click away…

In a broader sense, Big Data and everything that constitutes it, is really built on the premise of working toward being able to provide real-time analytics for extremely large pools of information.  In other words, Big Data IS just another form or attempt to bring real-time analytics into greater use in a larger, more refined capacity.

As far as the telecommunications industry (which has also experienced dynamic exponential growth over the last several years) is concerned, Big Data is basically its own form of real-time analytics.  They do have a good point though.  Given that it is telecommunications companies that are providing the catalyst for data aggregation, not to mention the means and the drive for millions, if not billions of users to add their content (and voice) to the ever-growing stream of information, it’s clear that they have a major stake in Big Data.   

Companies like Sprint for example, have already made strides into what might be called “information brokering”.  Basically, this is centered on either marketing one’s own analytical conclusions and analysis and/or selling the accumulated data outright.  In either case, the value is clearly attached to the ability of a business to collect, organize and perhaps even analyze large amounts of data.  Telecommunications companies are positioned well in this regard because they not only facilitate the flow of information across many sources; they also tend to become heavily invested in all aspects of collecting data (eventually) on the IT side of the equation.

In a way, the activities and data that human beings are constantly feeding into social media platforms and institutions like Google constitute what one might consider an algorithm unto itself.  In other words, the value comes from the natural tendencies of human beings interacting with each other individually and in groups; this “human algorithm” that seems to be dictating an exponential increase in data proliferation is what corporations are really trying to tap into.  Perhaps this is why Big Data is referred to as an upcoming major resource market?

Anyway, getting back on point; once it becomes possible for big data brokers to quickly and effectively differentiate large amounts of information from structured and unstructured data sets, we’ll see a dramatic shift take place.  Sure, there are certain technologies that exist right now which might allow one to achieve such a thing, but they’re severely limited, buggy, inaccurate, or simply not fast enough to provide real-time analytics capabilities as of yet.   Once the time between accumulation and processing is significantly reduced and newer processes which allow parsing to become much more intuitive and accurate emerge, it’s highly unlikely that any type of major shift in the aims or abilities of Big Data will change.

However, rest assured, this is on the way.  Every single day scientists and researchers are developing new methods for breaking down big data, whether its through largely conventional means, with the assistance of A.I., or perhaps even through the increased use of cloud computing.

Speaking of cloud computing and its relationship with/to big data, it’s very likely that clouds will be used to provide major assistance with regards to processing power that’s needed for breaking down large pools of data.  In all reality, cloud computing represents what might very well be one of the only ways that we might possibly be able to achieve real-time analytics services in the big data market.  Sure, more powerful stand-alone supercomputers could be developed to handle this task, but that would be infinitely more expensive that cloud computing and still might not be ultimately as powerful.

Where is Big Data headed, you ask?  Well, in short, all signs seem to point toward Big Data becoming something of a conventional “resource” which additional wealth can be extracted from.  Since it is data itself that is largely determining how effective and popular something can be (just look at Google and the relationships between its following, database and algorithms, for example), it only makes sense to monetize it.  Regardless, we’ve only scratched the surface with regards to where big data might be headed and what it might teach us about ourselves.  Right now, we just need to focus on finding new ways to make use of this emerging resource.

Attain complete certification in Big Data and jump-start a future career.  Click here for more information.

When Microsoft decided to revamp the format of ‘Office’ (which is one of their flagship products) in order to usher in some new cloud capabilities, there were some who immediately loved the idea.  They most likely saw the inherent potential of what might be gained by combining what is arguably one of the world’s most popular software suites with the power and convenience of the cloud.   Conversely, some individuals are simply beside themselves with the notion that the standard versions of a time-honored institution like MS Office will be permanently adapted.

Most people, it would seem, are rather eager to explore the new capabilities of MS Office 365, however.  Regardless of what side of the controversy you find yourself on, you’ve got to admit that it’s an incredibly smart and forward-thinking move on Microsoft’s part, even if it’s considered somewhat risky.  After all, they’re taking the initiative and bringing real cloud technologies to an extremely large audience, and that’s got to count for something, right?   The power and capabilities inherent to cloud computing seem to imply that it will eventually eclipse traditional, or grid computing, at some point in the future in terms of adoption and abilities.  By going ahead and integrating cloud technologies in a very obvious way now, Microsoft are just making sure that they’re well ahead of the curve, so to speak.  

Cloud capabilities

In a nutshell, MS Office 365 is an evolution of the features of older versions of the software, but with increased focus placed on web functionality.  In other words, all of the familiar components like word and excel are included, only along with the “365 elements” which are largely cloud-based.

The cloud capabilities of Office 365 are designed to open you up to a whole new world of sharing and communication.   For example, those who are connected to a cloud account have the option to instantly upload their work to MS’s cloud.  In turn, one can even quickly share their work across public and private networks which are either inside or outside of their company’s influence.  Also, unlike previous versions of the suite which had a great deal of features that required unintuitive installation and activation, Office 365 integrates abilities like video conferencing in right from the start.  Along with video and audio communications however, 365 also allows for multiple people to work on documents simultaneously, much like you would be able to through something like Google Drive.  

What’s the end benefit of the aforementioned adaptations, you’re probably wondering?  Well, to put it simply, these cloud technologies, along with the more streamlined design of office itself, basically allows business owners and employees to focus on what they’re doing in lieu of how they’re accomplishing it.  In other words, Office 365 is an attempt to create a more intuitive experience that’s free from many of the technical hurdles one usually encounters when attempting to utilize several types of technology simultaneously.  For instance, in most offices across the globe, employees will often use teleconferencing in tandem with other form of communication.   This type of approach allows them to maximize their ability to convey information across multiple sources, which helps a great deal when it comes to working on intricate projects which require collaboration and the exchange of precise diagrams and technical information.

Office 365 is also able to provide its users with an entirely new level of mobility.  Meaning, regardless of the type of device you are using at any particular time, you can gain instant access to your files and information as if you were on another machine.  Needless to say, this greatly simplifies a wide range of issues like sudden loss of devices; with Office 365, you can basically just go out and pick up another computer or device and quickly enable it on your network account, giving you full access to what you were previously working on.  Likewise, if you’re able to quickly transition from the office to a mobile device while still maintaining your files and settings, your entire approach to work itself might very well shift, making you even more efficient and organized than you might have ever anticipated.

Along with its excellent cloud email features, Office 365 also makes it extremely easy to build a professional-looking website.  Moreover, most 365 plans include web hosting fees as well, so you can literally create and publish a great looking site in virtually no time at all without relying on the assistance of a designer.

Currently, Microsoft is offering 4 different types of Office 365 plans with costs ranging from $4 for a basic cloud email plan, to $20 per user, per month for a completely loaded package designed for mid-sized businesses.

Want to learn how to use Microsoft Office 365 to its fullest potential and perhaps even get certified?  Then click here to get started…