• IT Trends in Action
• Collaboration in Business
• Say Yes to SEO
• Passion for Portal
• Website Refresh
• Announcing ArcGIS Online from Esri

Most Popular IT Initiatives in 2013

4CTechnologies has been in business for close to 25 years, serving customers across all industries here in Pittsburgh, Western Pennsylvania and across the nation. We get many questions about workflow, business opportunity, emerging technologies and return on investment as many of our customers continue to pursue technology initiatives to help drive business.  We see a handful of technology trends that really seem to be catching on and are pleased to share them with you:

• Application Development
• Mobile Computing Across the Enterprise
• Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing
• SEO Optimization and Analytics
• Cloud Computing
• Data Management
• Mapping and Location Services

10 Tips for Knowledge Sharing: Go Social

Interested in riding the social wave of opportunity and integrating it into your company's business environment?  How should you get started?  Who should lead the collaboration charge? What technology platform should you select?  How do you introduce knowledge sharing to your employees?  As presented at a recent technology conference we sponsored here in Pittsburgh, we would like to share with you our top ten tips for integrating social strategies into your business:

1. Research and Development:  Do your homework!
2. Environment Assessment:  Every company is different.
3. Identify Key Internal Champions: Influences of change.
4. Keep HR and Marketing Involved: Best early adopters.
5. Develop a Social Business Plan: Your roadmap for success.
6. Select a Technology Platform: Form follows function.
7. Get Management Buy In:  Align with current initiatives.
8. Start Small, but Start Strong:  Get the word out.
9. Recognize that Change Takes Time: Impact will be gradual.
10. Evaluate your Progress:  Adjust as needed.

Are You Getting all the Visibility You Can?

The sheer volume of information available on the internet is growing rapidly everyday -- more to say, more to read and more to find. Statistics show there are close to 555 MILLION websites available on the internet today. And what makes it even more confusing is that the tactics for staying visible to clients and potential clients are changing just as quickly.  It doesn't matter if your company is B to B, or B to C -- you have to work hard to stay on top of eMarketing and the visibility game with up to date Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategies. Here are just a few of them:

• Identify keywords and use them in content.
• Keep content fresh.  
• Submit an XML site map.
• Add high value keywords to the title tags across your website.
• Add your website to Google and Bing Webmaster Tools.
• Add alt tags to all of your images that reflect your keyword research.
• Make all of your URLs friendly to accommodate both user and search engine navigational tendencies.
• Add a blog to your website that produces relevant content.  
• Share your blog content using Facebook, Twitter, and other social media and social bookmarking websites.
• Provide a link to your website via eBlasts, eTags, eSignatures, eNewsletters or eSurveys.

Think SIMPLE in Organizing Information

In this day and age of information overload, a web portal could be a vital part of your company's internal and external  communications strategy.  Portals help many organizations to utilize the web to access information and provide service to their users around the clock.  In order to effectively handle the varied needs your company's audiences, careful planning and organization is an important part of your ROI strategy.

Typically, information and services in a company portal are organized according to the way service-providing departments are divided OR the way the user expects to see the information. Consistency is key.  The users need to have a general idea of what sort of information or services are available at a glance so they can get what they need easily. If the users find little information about their topic of choice, it can be more difficult to find what they need, resulting in a frustrating user experience.

To help resolves these challenges, do your homework in developing user-friendly navigation and taxonomy. This may vary according to the user's profile.  It is best to think SIMPLE!  There are some basic functions and features that a portal should have. These include:

• Ability to update information -- preferably through a robust content management system or CMS.
• Secure log-in credentials with single sign-on feature.
• Search capability across the site.
• Ability to share files.
• Avenues for eLearning.
• Avenue to provide feedback and ask questions.

Does Your Website Reflect Your Business?

Your needs are always changing --- as you react to customer demand and fluctuations in your business.  A review and update of your website can have a major impact on the success of your business. In order to help you drive sales, your website should be a true reflection of your business and an extension of your marketing effort. It should enhance your customer service capabilities and open doors to increased awareness. Consider these questions:

Does your website provide the right information about your company to help drive customers to your door?

Do you have the ability to easily update the content on your site regularly to keep it relevant?

Is your website easy to navigate, providing concise information in the least amount of “clicks”?  

If not, you may need the help of our creative design team.  We have considerable experience in ecommerce and all aspects of site development.  We can help you determine your new site navigation, taxonomy and structure, providing you with consultative planning skills so together, we can determine the best course of action -- and then execute to the fullest.  We can also provide seamless design integration to your social networks, providing support in establishing your brand and outreach plan for LinkedIn, FaceBook, YouTube, Pinterest, Twitter and others.

Find Common Ground with DIY Maps

There is a new frontier in mapping!  Esri, one of 4CTechnologies' valued business partners, is on the cutting edge of location and mapping technologies.  They recently announced a versatile, empowering, cloud-based platform for developing, managing and delivering all of your geospatial content.  

The subscription cost is very manageable and this new technology allows you to gain access to an easy-to-use workspace for collaborating with others.  As you create your own map, adding custom information and data from a simple Excel spreadsheet, the benefits are obvious.  ArcGIS online helps you:

• Gain access to an easy-to-use workspace for collaborating with others.
• Create groups and invite others to work together on projects or common interests.
• Share your content with your organizations, members of your group or the public.