Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Why Are You Not On the Cloud?

Junk your servers and enter the cloud.
I have been in business for six months.  In that time, I have networked relentlessly and done over 12 major revisions to the Sully® web service.  It also looks like we are close to our first customer.  We have a presence on Facebook, Twitter and Google+.  All this effort is exhausting considering I also work as a consultant during normal hours. 

Getting the word out is important for a small business.  This blog is just another example of that effort.  I hope you have found the content of this site helpful and informative.  This week Crain’s Chicago Business confirmed what I already know, businesses are saving money by switching to cloud based web services. 

The article clearly states how email, pay-roll and other services are moving to the cloud.  At E3 Systems our specialty is inventory and logistics.  Instead of spending thousands of dollars a year on software, servers and employees to keep it all working; you can spend a few hundred to view your inventory in real time.  With Sully® you can view that information on the web via a laptop or tablet computer.  We have also created an optimized version to work on your smart phone.  We think it is a great deal. 
So if you want to save money, time and aggravation managing your inventory you need to ask yourself why you are not on the cloud and using our Sully® service.
Until next time.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

New MSTag is Great News.

QR Codes are now a sexy addition to the MS Tag family.
I have spent most of my career working with Microsoft technologies.  I have experienced the good, the bad and the ugly over the years.  What strikes me is how much effort Microsoft has put into improving their products.  Visual Basic 6.0 is nothing like the present version and visual studio has come a long way since the 1990’s. 

In the eyes of some bloggers, my loyalty to Microsoft makes me a willing collaborator with an Evil Empire.  I do not see it that way.  As a .NET entrepreneur and consultant, Microsoft has kept me fed and the mortgage paid for over twelve years.   That loyalty has been returned when I joined Microsoft BizSpark.  For my new business, they have given me advice and guidance.  They have also provided me with licensed software to help me develop my on-line applicationservice – Sully.  It is a nice partnership and I hope it continues. 

This is why I am so excited about the latest news regarding the MSTag service.  Now products can be tagged with the standard MSTag, a QR code or use the latest technology from Android NFC.  It is a big deal because now you can be platform agnostic for 2D bar codes.  If you want to use QR codes tag supports it.  If you want stick with the MSTag format, you can.  Now a smart phone becomes the ultimate bar code reader and you will never have to purchase a bar code scanning system for employees.

This places E3 systems into an even better position to manage your inventory and logistics.  Thanks to MSTag any piece of paper can now communicate with your smart phone.  You can follow a bill of lading as it gets shipped and your sales force can learn in real time what they have in stock over their phone.  It is going to help you save time and sanity as you try to stay on top of all your merchandize. 
It is an exciting time and I am glad to be part of it.

Until next time.