Standard advice is that you will need additional, expensive bandwidth optimizing software in order to make it bearable on a WAN. I'm not saying that any portal/intranet/knowledge management system can succeed without cross-departmental planning, but I am saying that the risk of a project being ignored -- particularly if the financial investment was modest, and Sharepoint's not cheap, even if the software can be -- is easier to deal with than a project being fractured but critical. For the past four years or so, at two different organizations, I've been evaluating Microsoft's Sharepoint 2007 as a Portal/Intranet/Business Process Management solution.

Tags: Info Tech Social Softwar FACEBOOK Statistics General Growth More than 175 million active users More than half of Facebook users are outside of college The fastest growing demographic is those 30 years old and older

In general, although I am sometimes asked, I tend to avoid assisting clients with choosing a donor database package. Mostly because, although I actually know the field pretty well, it’s at the 10,000 foot level, rather than the 50 ft level that clients really need. And I know there are plenty of folks out there who know the field really well at 50 ft, and can step in with the best advice.

My question to Beth was, "That's great - but are they just as accommodating to their full-time staff, or is flexibility reserved for visiting nptech dignitaries?" The typical corporate desktop computer is restricted by group policies and filtering software. Management, along with the techs, justify these restrictions in all sorts of ways: Standardized systems are easier, more cost-effective to manage. Non Profit social media maven Beth Kanter blogged recently about starting up a residency at a large foundation , and finding herself in a stark transition from a consultant's home office to a corporate network.

Tags: Data blackbaud CRM Software Nonprofit Tech Web Tools CMS nptec What? She’s talking about Blackbaud? Yes, it might be surprising, but I got a friendly email from fellow NTEN Board Member Steve McLaughlin, who also happens to be head of all things internet (more formally, Director, Internet Solutions) at Blackbaud. He gave me a demo and overview of their

In the course of reading research material for CRM technology, I have come across blogs by nonprofit tech vendors. Those of you looking to get on the next version of this list may want to either increase the personal nature of the blog or divulge more details or better yet, create more resources to be shared by tech workers on your blog. This one is written by Gregory McHale, CEO & Founder of good2gether.You get to watch a nonprofit tech vendor start They’re of varying quality and candor about the position of their company within the market. I

And yes, this book can even help us with software selection. We software experts and users spend a lot of time grouping software into similar features, development models, support system, company backing and more. This work is extremely useful to helping our understanding of software, but must always be taken with a grain (or two) of salt. Yes I did just finish In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan, which has been really helpful to me in separating real food from cheap imitations. It's my newest filter for navigating the grocery store, providing an easy to follow

Essentially, cloud computing enables computer software and hardware resources to be accessed over the Internet without the need to have any detailed or specific knowledge of the infrastructure used to deliver the resources, much like a utility model. They are often called Software as a Service ( SaaS ). company provides access If you are a small to medium-sized nonprofit, why should you care about cloud computing ? Because it can save you time, money and help spare the environment.

It's been awhile since I've shared the progress of The Tech Virtual , the web and Second Life-based virtual exhibit workshop that The Tech Museum of Innovation opened in December of 2007. (You You can read other posts about this project by clicking Tech Virtual in the "Past Posts By Topic" sidebar on the right.) The goals of The Tech Virtual are: to create an More excitingly (to me), in the last month we have selected 6 virtual exhibits for codevelopment at The Tech as real exhibits, and we plan to put 8 "virtual to real" exhibits on the floor in June for an exhibition to coincide with the Zero1 festival.

Software buying and licensing can be a daunting subject for the uninitiated, but Zac Mutrux , a San Francisco-based technology consultant with years of experience advising nonprofits, did a great job simplifying this subject during our latest TechSoup Talks! webinar , 5 Mistakes to Avoid when Acquiring Software . Below is my paraphrase of his talk: Don't Pay Less than You Owe.