Tag Archives: Blogtronix LLC

About 1937 days ago Business Software

How to Choose In-House Blogging Software

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The biggest step in creating an in-house blog is deciding how you’ll use it. But once you’re over that hurdle, you’ve still got to wade through all the available options to find a technology platform that’s right for your business. Should you license software and run it in house, or sign up for a hosted service? Is open-source software the way to go or would proprietary tools be a safer choice? What to consider The right answer will depend on an individual company’s needs and desires, according to social-media industry experts. When evaluating blogging software, small and mid-sized businesses need to consider their budget, in-house technical skills, how much use a blog will get and how large it could grow, says Paul Gillin a new media consultant and author of The New Influencers. In addition, Gillin and other industry experts suggest that companies consider: Location — The biggest decision a company has to make is whether to host a blog in-house or use a Web-based service. There’s nothing inherently better about running blog software in-house, it’s more a question of corporate policy, the type of information that’ll appear on the blog, and whether a company has employees who can maintain the hardware and software, according to Anil Dash, vice president of evangelism for Six Apart, maker of Moveable Typeand TypePad blogging software. “It really has to do with your desire for control,” he says. Portability — The day may come when a company wants or needs to switch vendors, so make sure you create can be easily exported to a new platform, says Lee Huang, head of the New York City chapter of the Internet Strategy Forum and former digital strategy director at Nielsen Business Media. Customization — If you opt for a hosted service, find out how much you can customize it to suit your special needs and if additional plug-in functions are available. Vendor expertise — The biggest vendors of blogging software aren’t necessarily the ones with the most experience, according to the experts. Evaluate vendors by looking at their track record, customer base, support from developers, and the type of training and support that’s available directly or through developers and other users. Simplicity – “Any kind of technology gets left behind if people find it too hard to use,” says Dash, of Six Apart. SIDEBAR: Blogging Software Vendors Blog technology comes in as many flavors as ice cream. Some of the better known technology providers are: WordPress — This free, open-source blogging software from WordPress.org can be hosted on any computer server running PHP version 4.2 or later or MySQL version 4.0 or later. WordPress.com is a website that hosts free blogs written in WordPress. Blogger — The latest version of the free, Web-based blog service fromGoogle supports multiple authors, allowing for group blogs. Movable Type and TypePad – Movable Type is Six Apart’s blog publishing platform. Prices for the MT Enterprise Solution start at $295 for a five-user license. In December 2007, SixApart introduced the beta version of a free, open-source version of Movable Type called MTOS 4.1. TypePad is Six Apart’s free, Web-based blog service that’s based on Movable Type’s publishing platform. Joomla — Version 1.5 of this free, open-source content management system (CMS) debuted in January and includes blog software along with forums and chat software and many other features. b2evolution – This free, open source CMS supports multiple blogs, news feeds and other social-media features, and runs on Web servers with PHP and MySQL. Roller — Version 4.0 of this Java-based, open-source blog software from Apache Software Foundation debuted in December 2007 and includes upgrades such as custom blog themes. Blogtronix — This enterprise-level integrated social media platform can be used to create text, audio and video blogs, plus wikis, RSS, and networked communities on Microsoft’s .Net 2.0 platform. Blogtronix offers a free 25-user Express version with limited functions and paid support, and a 30-day free trial of its complete enterprise platform. SuiteTwo — Another social-media platform bundle that includes technology for blogs, wikis and other applications from Intel, SpikeSource, Simplefeed, Moveable Type, and others. Prices for software only or a hosted version start at $990, and for a hardware/software suite at $2,495 for a 10-user license.

About 1999 days ago Telecom and Wireless

Blogging Behind Closed Doors

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Paul Gillin calls it the hidden blogosphere. “It” is in-house blogs, and while they haven’t garnered the same hype as companies’ public blogs, they could be just as big, says Gillin, a new media consultant, blogger and author of The New Influencers, a book on social media. “Most companies don’t publicize what they’re doing, but by some estimates, the amount of blogging going on behind corporate firewalls is maybe even greater than the amount we see in public,” he says. The reasons are simple. Blogging tools are widely available, cheap, and easy to use. The way a blog disseminates information — from one to many — gives it an edge over e-mail, says Gillin and other business and technology analysts. And unlike e-mail, people can opt to subscribe only to information that interests them, or look at information when it’s convenient, “but they don’t have to have it pushed to them in a way that’s disrupts their work,” Gillin says. For companies contemplating starting an internal blog, the first step is deciding what purpose it will serve. For that, small businesses can take a page from their larger counterparts. Microsoft, for example, started a jobs blog that lists openings and lets employees who hold those positions post comments about what the job is like. Casio uses a blog to have departments quickly change content on the company’s intranet. HP has an internal blog platform employees can use to blog on their choice of topics, although 90 percent are about what they’re working on, says Tac Anderson, Web 2.0 strategic lead at HP’s LaserJet business group in Boise, Idaho. Next steps to blogging in-house With a direction in mind, companies can take these next steps: Choose who’ll write it. Some blogs are one-person affairs. Others are a team effort. Whatever the arrangement, someone needs to be the go-to person for choosing the software, making sure things stay up and running, and handling problems. What’s the topic? Blogs can cover a lot of ground, so limiting what’s discussed might be counter productive. A better approach might be deciding what not to write about. Trade secrets and other proprietary information shouldn’t be discussed in an open forum where content could easily be copied into an e-mail message and circulated for all to see, Gillin says. Get people to use it. HP’s Anderson suggests that an internal blog-meister enlist the aid of a few well-placed company cheerleaders who’ll help promote it by posting comments and talking it up in meetings. Tools of the trade When it comes to blog software, there’s something for everyone, no matter how minor the undertaking. With such a range of choices, it follows that costs are all over the map too. Companies that want to host their own blogs can download open source software like WordPress, b2evolution, orRoller, or proprietary programs like Moveable Type. Or they can sign up for a hosted service like Blogger, TypePad, or LiveJournal. Some vendors of enterprise social networks are starting to build blogging into their platforms, including Blogtronix and Awareness Networks. If companies choose to use a third party to host their internal blog, they should double check vendor agreements to make sure they retain rights to any information stored on someone else’s servers, says Lee Huang, a Web 2.0 consultant and former director of digital strategy and technology at Nielsen Business Media, the print and Web publisher. SIDEBAR: Blogs about In-House Blogs Now that everyone and their brother is blogging, there is plenty of information about tools, tips and protocol available in — where else — blogs. Several that discuss the mechanics and nuances of enterprise blogs are: NewCommBiz.com, Tac Anderson’s blog on Web 2.0 technologies Paul Gillin’s blog, Social Media and the Open Enterprise 56 Resourceful Blogging Tips and Tools For The Young & Old, from self-proclaimed “Wordpress Rock Star” Etienne Teo, which includes links to software platforms and vendors

About 2243 days ago Telecom and Wireless

Connecting Multiple Offices

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The ubiquity of broadband has made it possible to trade the home office for a troupe of laptop-wielding employees spread all over the globe, but creating such a network can be tricky because there are so many options. Security is always a concern, as is cost, as is reliability.  As Chris Moody, president of Boston-based collaboration software maker Aquent on Demand notes, the claim “98 percent uptime” sounds good until you run the numbers. “You’re talking about a few days a year,” he says, which can be damaging to a growing business. Plus there’s the eternal debate of whether to buy software or subscribe to a hosted service. Tools needed to network Nevertheless, there has never been a better time to connect remote offices. The array of collaboration software tools seems limitless. But before setting up a network that links bureaus to a main office, Erica Driver, principal analyst with Forrester Research, of Cambridge, Mass., suggests taking the following steps: Use hosted services if you don’t have the IT resources to run the software in-house. Employ a team collaboration tool for multi-person projects and team activities. Features for such a tool include a document repository, team workspaces, discussion threads, basic library services (like check in/check out), ad hoc workflow, application templates like project management, news alerts and surveys. Driver recommends vendors like Aquent, BaseCamp, EMC, IBM (which offers QuickPlace), Microsoft (Groove, SharePoint) and WebEx, among others, for these services. Tap Web 2.0 technologies for social computing to help people find and communicate with each other and find and interact with the information they need. Such applications include blogs, wikis, tagging, syndication, shared bookmarks, social networking and mashups. Vendors for this type of software include Blogtronix, eTouch Systems, FlexWiki, MediaWiki and Traction Software, among others. Use real-time collaboration software so that interactions can be, in fact, real-time. Real-time collaboration features include presence, instant messaging, Web conferencing, white boarding, voice conversations, and videoconferencing. Such applications include Adobe’s Acrobat Connect, Skype and AOL’s Instant Messenger, among others. Connecting remote staff members Of all the applications, instant messaging (IM) may be one of the most valuable, Moody says. “Instant messaging is a huge one,” he says. “We rely on IMs spread across six different cities.” Best of all, IM software can be free. But the best collaborative software solution strongly correlates with the type of business you run. Steve Marinetto, senior director of creative services for k12, a Herndon, Va., firm that specializes in curriculum development for elementary schools, says Aquent’s RoboHead has worked well for him since he signed up for the hosted service about six months ago as a tool for his 20-person office. Marinetto pays a monthly fee for the software. Aquent’s prices for such applications are on a per-user basis and charged per month. RoboHead lets employees in remote offices log in at the beginning of the day and get a list of their assignments. “I have some people that work flex time in shop and at home and it works great,” he says. “It’s a project management tool that’s terrific at scheduling resources and projects.”