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Mac OS X 10.5 server gives us a glimpse into the not-so-distant future from Apple. Speaking of, have you heard about the new features of Mac OS X 10.5? Actually, neither have we - we haven't heard a thing about Apple's newest operating system, called 'Leopard," since the time of the World Wide Developer's Conference in August of 2006. We'll focus on some of the new features here - this server does more to satisfy business needs than the regular desktop operating system.
DESKTOP CAPABILITIES
Time Machine:
Apple already has Backup, but has gone one better with Time Machine. Initially it makes one complete backup of your system (on an external drive or network sharepoint) and then periodically backs up files that have changed. You can retrieve past versions of files or files you've recently deleted by zooming your window back through time just like the name suggests.
Spotlight:
From Apple's web site: 'More haystacks? No problem. Spotlight for Leopard finds what you're looking for on other Macs, including servers running Mac OS X Leopard Server. Just set up your remote Macs for file sharing and Spotlight includes results from those machines in your search. That's one-stop searching on any Leopard machine with access to your network.'
Spaces:
Take your desktop and cadre of constantly running applications to task, and organize it. It can be pretty busy, even with Exposé to organize things. Spaces allows you to divide your running applications and items into multiple desktops; a "web" space for your browser(s), HTML authoring apps, a "creative" space for iLife and iWork, etc. The names we've suggested here are just that- suggestions. Your limits are your own.
In Leopard, Spotlight provides a richer syntax so you can search for more specific sets of things. Use new Boolean logic to narrow search results by entering "AND," "OR," and "NOT" into a search request. You can also search using specific file attributes — author, type, or keyword, for example"
Dashboard:
Perhaps one of the coolest things about dashboard in Mac OS X 10.5 is "Web clip" , which allows you to take a section of a web page and turn it into a widget all it's own, no coding required. You really just need to see the demo of this to get how cool this is.
SERVER CAPABILITIES
Mac OS Server 10.5, Apple's sixth OS X Server release in as many years. This new 'Leopard' server brings a few anticipated and unexpected features to the table with this release:
iCal Server:
This is based on the CalDAV standard, a conglomeration of existing standards allowing cross-platform calendaring, free-busy checking, and full Open Directory integration -- that's close to an SBS-killer.
Teams Directory:
Apple's catch phrase for its built-in Wiki Server, taking their previous attempt at a blog-server (based on blojsom) one step further.
Spotlight Server:
Apple's incredibly-fast content and meta-data search engine capability to mounted volumes, allowing for lightning-fast searches across your company's gigabytes (or terabytes?) of shared storage. Think about the plug-in possibilities to create a shared asset server.
Also in the rumor mill is that the NSA is revising its security paper on Mac OS X 10.3 to accommodate Mac OS X 10.5.
Ask us for a "Mac-readiness" assessment of your network to see how you can take advantage of Leopard's incredible feature set.
Wondering what those features are? We will give you a little taste right now. Of course we can't possible give you all the details in one article but you'll get the picture.
The key to Microsoft CRM is that it works the way your company does which is just how it should be. You shouldn't be trying to fit your business into the software. Microsoft knows how business needs to run – after all they are the most successful business on the globe – and therefore their software reflects exactly what needs to happen.
You can even integrate Microsoft CRM into your existing applications such as Microsoft Outlook. There are two additions available – the Small Business Edition and the Professional Edition – providing a service for business of every size.
Outlook is the most commonly used e-mail application and Microsoft CRM integrates smoothly and seamlessly. It's quite an improvement over previous versions. You can easily look up information on your customers, manage your email, send email, record customer discussion, and set up appointments all from within Outlook.
On of the most impressive new features is the marketing automation system that lest you create marketing and sales campaigns on the fly. You can create leads, do direct marketing plans, create sales letters, and launch campaigns and then track their progress and the final results. You can even track your revenues and make sure your profits are on the rise.
Remember the old days of post it's and wall calendars? Thanks to technology those days are pretty much gone. If you want to see your staff sell more while providing the best customer service then you'll want to have a look at the new service scheduling module that's been integrated into Microsoft CRM.
This is a very sophisticated system with an excellent scheduling engine that lets anyone that is authorized to book an appointment and to survey resources so you can make the most out of the resources you have. Schedule follow up appointments, servicing, marketing strategies, or just about anything you can think of.
Microsoft understands how important it is to be able to customize Microsoft CRM. In fact it's so simple now that even non technical staff can create a custom application with just a click of the mouse. No one has to write code – in fact you don't even have to leave the application you are in.
Reporting has also been drastically improved. Now getting the information out in a useful format is as easy as entering the data. You can even export the data to Excel to create spreadsheets. There are a full set of preprogrammed reports that you can print with just a click of your mouse but you can also create your own custom reports quickly and easily.
The new features offered in Microsoft CRM make a package that was already good that much better.