Month: December 2012

New CIAOPS Publication page

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I have setup a new page on the main CIAOPS web site that contains all the most popular CIAOPS publications. You can now purchase them all directly from this page. You can find the publications page at:

 

http://www.ciaops.com/publications/

 

Going forward with this new e-commerce system it will allow me to sell a greater range of products and extend the CIAOPS Affiliate program to cover all of these items. The items will still be available via the original sites because they provide distribution via Amazon, iBook, Nook, etc which this new system doesn’t facilitate.

 

Hopefully, it means more choice and a better experience for those looking to get hold of my publications. If you do you the new system I’d appreciate your feedback (good or bad) as I am always looking to improve things for customers.

SharePoint Client Side book released

I am happy to announce the release of my latest publication “SharePoint Client Side”.

 

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It is available in:

 

Adobe PDF – http://www.lulu.com/shop/robert-crane/sharepoint-client-side/ebook/product-20548580.html

 

ePub – http://www.lulu.com/shop/robert-crane/sharepoint-client-side/ebook/product-20554957.html

 

Kindle – http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AIBIPZS

 

The book is focused in detailing how the following desktop applications interface and interact with SharePoint 2010:

 

– Windows Explorer

– Word

– Excel

– PowerPoint

– Outlook

– InfoPath

– Access

– Project

– Visio

– SharePoint Workspace

– SharePoint Designer

 

Many people fail to realise the real power of SharePoint is revealed when you start interfacing it to application like those above. This book will show you how that can be done and how you can get more out of SharePoint with applications your probably already have.

 

You can find a list of all the CIAOPS publications (free and paid) at http://www.ciaops.com/downloads.

 

Stay tuned for more releases soon.

CIAOPS Affiliate program–SharePoint bootcamp

A while back I announced the CIAOPS Affiliate program. Making it easy for people to recommend and on sell CIAOPS products is still something that I am working hard on implementing. I am currently evaluating a number of options for my SharePoint and Office 365 Guide, however for the time being to receive an 8% commission (or 16% if you are already a Guide subscriber) you simply need to let me know who you have referred (director@ciaops.com). As soon as the sale is complete I’ll send you the commission.

One of the other products that the CIAOPS Affiliate program is available for is CIAOPS bootcamps. With a SharePoint Online Bootcamp running on the 21st of February 2013 an affiliate setup is now available. All you need to do is visit:

http://www.eventbrite.com.au/affiliate-register?eid=4818264559&affid=23551322

and sign up. For every successful referral you make you’ll receive 8% of the ticket price (around $20). If you are an existing SharePoint and Office 365 Guide subscriber please contact me (director@ciaops.com) and I’ll send you the link for the subscriber referral program where you can earn up to 16% ($40) per successful referral.

Make sure you keep an eye on the CIAOPS Affiliate page for more programs as they become available.

Why passwords matter

Here is a great example from a buddy of mine (Ben from DigitIT) about why passwords are important.
 
As his blog post details he was called in when a client found their machines displaying a message asking for money to unencrypt their files. They had been infected with Ransomware. Why? Very poor passwords as the blog post notes.

End results? A complete reinstall and restore of the server from a known good point in time. After that how much do you figure using strong password is worth?

I always recommend something like Lastpass to auto generate and remember complex passwords. If you haven’t used Lastpass then you SHOULD!

Facebook security video

Here’s a great video from Kaspersky that covers how to enable the security features of Facebook.

 

Need to Know Podcasts–Reflection

The CIAOPS Need to Know podcasts started back on August 25th, 2010 with Susan Bradley. There are now 42 completed episodes available for download and streaming covering a variety of technology and business topics.

 

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As you can see from the graphic above the number of downloads has grown from less than 50 per month to a peak of almost 3,000! I can only say that I never expected in my wildest dreams that I’d ever reach those sort of heights.

 

I take the opportunity here and now to thank every single person who has listened to even one episode of the CIAOPS Need to Know Podcast. I hope that you have received benefit for the time that you have invested I hope that you’ll keep listening going forward. Remember, if you want to hear about a certain topic or from a specific person please let me know (director@ciaops.com) and I’ll do my best to have a show on that topic.

 

I also take the opportunity to thank everyone who has been a guest and come on to share their thoughts and experiences with the listeners. The above numbers demonstrate how interested people are in the topics that have been covered.

 

I look forward to continuing the podcasts into 2013 and beyond. I am ALWAYS looking for people to come on as guests and share their information. So, if you are at all interested please get in contact with me (director@ciaops.com). All the shows are pre-recorded at a time that suits you and done via Skype. It is simply about having a chat that hopefully other can benefit from. If you feel so inclined I’d be really interested in hearing from you (director@ciaops.com).

 

Again, thanks to all who have made the CIAOPS Need to Know Podcasts a success and stay tuned for more episodes.

Need to Know Podcast–Episode 42

In this episode I speak with SBS MVP Philip Elder about the opportunities around an on premise IT business focused on the SMB market. We discuss the challenges now faced in this market and what the secrets to success will be in the future.
 
http://ciaops.podbean.com/2012/12/04/episode-42-philip-elder/
 
Don’t forget all the other podcasts at http://ciaops.podbean.com and appreciate a like over
athttp://www.facebook.com/n2kpodcast.
 
Remember if you want to be a guest please contact me (director@ciaops.com)