The beauty of Office 365 and other cloud-based solutions is that you can be productive from virtually anywhere - even outside on your deck or sitting by the swimming pool. The only problem is that the sun often makes it difficult to see your computer screen. A Sunhood from DulCo  is a great solution to screen glare. It's like a visor for your laptop or iPad!  

Check out the video demonstration!

Greetings!  

Welcome to summer 2012!  If you haven't already, it's time to crank up the grill and start applying sun screen. Hopefully, you're also planning a well-deserved vacation.

Like a lot of people, you might be a little anxious about taking time off, but getting out of the office can be good for both the soul and business. A recent Intuit study found that 82% of business owners who took a vacation experienced an increase in job performance when they came back. 

So, how can you manage both getting away AND achieving a post-vacation productivity boost?  Here are 4 tips from a recent Inc.com article:

1. Tell people you're leaving. It sounds simple, but many business people neglect to inform colleagues that they'll be away and rob themselves of available help. 
    

2. Delegate. "Sometimes you don't do something until you have to, so use a vacation to delegate and empower others," Pugh suggests. Using your vacation to force yourself to share of the load can be a great way not only to get away, but to realize that you don't have to do it all yourself when you come back.

    

3. Set office hours. It reduces your stress as well as the stress on those vacationing with you. "In the ideal world you leave on vacation and never think about work again until you come back, but then reality strikes and you realize either you worry too much to let go, or an issue comes up that actually needs your attention," the author says. "If you need to work while you're on vacation, pick a time of day and a finite amount of time to check email and return phone calls. You'll be available if there is work to be done, others know that they have touch points when they can check in, and then you can disappear with a clear conscious."
    
4. Pilot cloud-based solutions. "If businesses can divorce themselves from all the premise-based components of their business, especially the communications, IT, and back-office parts, they make it much easier to keep the important stuff flowing," Pugh says. Vacations offer a great opportunity to try out simple cloud-based solutions, such as Microsoft Office 365, that allow both small and midsize businesses to stay lean and agile from anywhere.  

You see them everywhere. There is no question that iPad adoption has sky rocketed. But, many business people are still wondering if tablet PCs can be used for more than surfing the web and playing "Angry Birds." 

If you are one of them, watch our recorded webinar and get answers to the most pressing questions about utilizing tablet PCs for business purposes, including:

• Are tablet PCs right for my business?
• How are other businesses using tablets?
• Which is a better fit - the iPad or an Android tablet?
• What are the best business apps for tablets? And, how are they licensed?
• Should we let employees connect their personal devices to the network (BYOD)?
• How will the use of tablets impact the security and dynamics of our IT infrastructure?
• Are there any cost savings or considerations?

At the end of every fiscal year, accounting people often ask us how to close the books in Microsoft Dynamics NAV. It is a fairly straightforward process, but because it only happens once a year, users often forget what to do.

This article outlines both high level and detailed instructions for closing the fiscal year and income statement in Microsoft Dynamics NAV.     

Effective Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is important to all manufacturers, but may be even more so for job shops. Your business is unique, and the unpredictable, make-to-order operational pace can put a huge strain on staffing and financial resources. And, if you're managing your job shop business with Excel spreadsheets, homegrown software or a basic accounting system, you may be doing yourself and your company a disservice.

Many of our customers ask us, "How do you know when it's time to upgrade to a more robust accounting or ERP solution?"  Recognizing the signs isn't always easy, so here are 5 questions to ask yourself.   

Wondering about the benefits of joining NAVUG, the national Dynamics NAV User Group?

Interested in learning about the value of attending Forum, the independent national conference they run each year for Dynamics NAV users?

Email. Phone. Instant Messaging. Video Chat. Desktop Sharing. Online Conferencing.

Designed exclusively for Microsoft Dynamics NAV users, Forum is an annual conference independently run by NAVUG. With 300 anticipated attendees, it offers a unique and intimate opportunity to:

• Pick up best-practices from other Dynamics NAV users
• Participate in training sessions
• Dive deep into Dynamics NAV to tackle challenges and goals by learning from others who use the product in the same way you do 
• Engage in interactive roundtable discussions and valuable networking opportunities 

In addition to nearly 90 breakout sessions with other Dynamics NAV users and subject matter experts, the conference will have an expo featuring some of the top Dynamics NAV add-on solutions that could help drive more productivity from your implementation.

Visit the NAVUG Forum web site for more information, and register by June 29th to save $200.