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Congratulations!
Promethius Consulting would like to congratulate Jim Pearson on his recent IBJ
"Forty under 40" designation. Jim was recognized for his outstanding leadership of
Suros Surgical Systems. Suros’ ATECTM
system is gaining popularity, among doctors and patients alike, as the premier alternative to painful surgery for breast tissue excision and biopsy.
We consider it an honor to work with Jim and the staff of Suros Surgical Systems to help meet their IT and marketing goals.
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Definition of the Month
Courtesy of Webopedia...
Platform
- The underlying hardware or software for a system. For example, the platform might be an Intel 80486 processor running DOS Version 6.0. The platform could also be UNIX machines on an Ethernet network.
The platform defines a standard around which a system can be developed. Once the platform has been defined, software developers can produce appropriate software and managers can purchase appropriate hardware and applications. The term is often used as a synonym of operating system.
The term cross-platform refers to applications, formats, or devices that work on different platforms. For example, a cross-platform programming environment enables a programmer to develop programs for many platforms at once.
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Windows
2003 Server Licensing – Finally a Positive
Microsoft has announced a new licensing option for Windows 2003 Server Client Access Licensing (CAL). April 24, 2003 is the target date for Win2003’s launch and for the first time in their history, they’ve made your lives easier, and may have even saved you money!
Previous options still available:
1. Per-Server CAL – One log-on session to a Windows server, most popular in small, single-server organizations
2. Per-Seat CAL – Access by one device to all windows servers in an organization
(Per-Seat mode’s name will change to “Per Device or Per User
mode")
New Options:
1. Per-User CAL – Access by one user to all Windows servers in an organization from multiple devices, such as a desktop, a portable PC, and a Pocket PC.
2. External User CAL – to a Windows server by a single external user or device (authenticated users only, not necessary for anonymous web users)
3. External Connector (EC) – Authenticated access to a Windows server by an unlimited number of external users or their devices
While adding additional options and keeping old options may appear more complicated, Per-User CALs will take the guesswork out of the counting and will likely save most companies considerable money as the number of devices requiring authentication rises.
Web
Site Registration Costs Soar
It used to be that the major search engines such as Yahoo, Excite and Google were
more than happy to list any reasonable website in their online search databases for free. They needed every website they could get just to add credibility and volume to their search functions.
As anybody who has recently searched online for anything knows, the search engines have long since reached their volume goals and the giants in the industry like the ones listed above execute millions of searches each day. With that success, they have done what any respectable for-profit company would do –
they've started charging fees.
Yes, getting listed with the big boys can be quite pricey these days. Yahoo seems to have set a standard by charging $299 a year for getting listed. Keep in mind, there is absolutely no guarantee of getting a high ranking for this fee. The $299 just gets you in the search database. If you are one of the 12,000,000 listings for “mortgage,” good luck!!
Still, a major search engine can bring you huge traffic that you just can’t get many other ways. The decision to pay for SE listings should depend on a
couple of important factors:
1. Does your product or service apply to a wide range of people? If your company sells chocolates,
then a search engine can really drive a massive number of qualified leads to your site. After all, everybody eats chocolate!! But if you sell black lacquer to piano manufacturers, there are a very limited number of qualified customers out there. Most people
who happen upon your website will get there accidentally and will waste their time and yours. You are better off investing in more targeted advertising such as direct mail.
2. Is your website ready for business? If your site is polished and well designed, then by all means go for it. If, however, you are less than confident in your plan, then better to hold off. Make sure that your website isn’t an afterthought. Does your site make it easy to order online or to contact you for further information? Will your customers be impressed with your site?
Generally, we like to advise our clients to move slowly when it comes to paying for search engine listings. We find that the best overall results are achieved from a balanced marketing campaign that still includes some of the time-tested marketing techniques. Nothing spikes web traffic like a good television ad, for example.
If you would like to find out more about marketing your company or your website, please feel free to contact Tony Valle at (317) 733-2388.
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