Archive for the ‘How to’ Category

Aug 29 1 comments
How to, Uncategorized

Your “What online project management software…” questions answered

I was going through Quora today, and I came across multiple questions related to online project management software, the answer for which was quite simply, HyperOffice. That gave me the idea of doing a post where I explain how HyperOffice features answer common questions people ask about an online project management tool. So here goes..

What is an online project project management software for remote teams?

HyperOffice is ideal for remote teams looking to coordinate effort. It is a central online location where managers can assign tasks to people anywhere in the world, set timelines, attach documents and other resources and track progress. It is also a place where team members can communicate with each other around the project.

What is an online project management software for multiple projects?

HyperOffice allows you to create workspaces for each project. Within the project, teams and managers can use features like task assignments, timelines, shared files, shared calendars and so on. Everyone who is involved in multiple projects can also get a central view across projects in terms to the tasks they assigned, or were assigned to them.

What is an online project management software for a startup?

HyperOffice is completely online, super simple and has scores of features which are ideal for a startup looking to get up and running real quick. You focus on your big idea, while HyperOffice lets you get your developers, marketers, founders and partners organized.

What is a super simple online project management software?

Know how to click the mouse? You can use HyperOffice!

What is an online project management software with hierarchies?

HyperOffice allows you to create tasks within projects within projects within projects and so on. You can also create complex dependencies between tasks if your projects have interrelations. This is ideal for projects which are sophisticated and have a hierarchical structure like construction, design etc.



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Nov 13 0 comments
How to

Small Business Apps Guide

XNL Telecom, a small telecom provider based in the UK, have created a neat infographic on web apps for small businesses, which we had the privilege of being featured in. It is a very comprehensive list of important apps for a small business considering jumping into the world of online productivity (basically any small business).

20 Small Business Apps

With many businesses feeling the pinch, XLN Business Services has listed 20 of best apps to streamline operations. View more details here

Nov 07 0 comments
How to

Manage Simple Processes with Do It Yourself Database Apps - Guest Post by Megan Webb-Morgan of Resource Nation

Database applications are essentially programs that enter and retrieve information from a computer-managed database; your business may have databases full of customer information, fleet data or inventory lists. And while much of this is already stored in various platforms, such as your fleet tracking software, being able to pull it from one database app is more convenient and efficient.

While there are many out-of-the-box options, a do-it-yourself database app can help you organize your business’ data and simplify your management processes in a way that is designed just for you and your business.

Do-It-Yourself versus Out-of-the-Box

If you have standard database needs, it’s easy to purchase a basic program out of the box and be satisfied with its functionality. However, if you have unique needs specific to your organization, a standard program just won’t cut it.

- Instead of trying to modify an existing database program to fulfill your business’s needs, you can avoid those limitations by creating your own database application.

- Creating a database app for your business can help you manage processes more efficiently. Rather than emailing spreadsheets back and forth between employees, you can keep all your information in one place that can be accessed by multiple users whenever they need it.

Experts at Nonprofit Technology Network suggest, “As a general rule of thumb, we usually say that if an off-the-shelf product meets 80% of your needs, you can probably use that product and figure out a way to deal with the other 20%. But if the off-the-shelf product meets a lot less than 80%, then you probably should look at a platform to get exactly what you need.”

Cloud-Based Apps

No matter what kind of business you run, you can build a database application to manage many of your simple processes. DIY databases allow you to enter exact data that you need and to generate reports, charts, and other output from that data. There are a number of database building platforms available to your business on the web.

If you choose to use a cloud-based database provider, be aware that there is a chance the provider itself may or may not be around in the long term. For this reason, being aware of the viability of your database provider, and the years of experience it has is very important. This holds true for other cloud based products as well (see whitepaper on how to select a SaaS vendor). You also want to be sure that you can easily export data from the database.

- Once you build your database application, you need to monitor its functionality to make sure it is running correctly and make configuration adjustments as needed.

- Protect your business and your information from server failure and provider insolvency by regularly creating a back-up of your cloud-based application and data to be stored offline.

Many small businesses inefficiently manage their processes by emailing spreadsheets around the office, which can cause confusion and disorder through lack of organization. There are many online providers that can walk you through the process of creating your database and managing it proficiently. Utilize the flexibility of a do-it-yourself database app to keep your information organized, easy to access, and easy for multiple persons to edit.

Megan Webb-Morgan is a web content writer for ResourceNation.com. She writes about small business, focusing on topics such as business software.

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Oct 09 0 comments
How to, Uncategorized

Back to the basics - How to share files online

This is another post in our “Back to the basics” series. Those amongst us who are tech geeks tend to fall in the trap of subconsciously assuming that others are as comfortable with cloud technology as we are. However, studies like the one from Spiceworks which found that upto 50% of SMBs still don’t use cloud services, bring you back to reality.

So you have a file, and want to share it online with someone in another city. Here are your options:

Send it as an email attachment: OK, you knew this already. The easiest way is to simply mail the file across as an attachment. But, this method doesn’t work well with big files since you have to sit around all day for it to upload, and many mail services have upper limits for attachment size. Moreover, sharing documents through mail has the disadvantage of the documents being hard to retrieve at a later date. If you want to go beyond simple sharing, but actually work together on a file, it is vastly inefficient to send the same file back and forth over and over.

Use a free file sharing service. This is indeed the era of cloud file sharing services like Dropbox and Google Drive. These are basically cloud based folders where you can upload files, and access them wherever you have access to the internet. For sharing purposes, you can provide other people access to this folder. Nowadays, these services have strong mobility capabilities, which means you can easily share files even from a mobile device or tablet.

File sharing and collaboration for business purposes. In a business situation, you need to not only share files with others, but also work together on them remotely, and make sure that access is secured. File collaboration services like HyperOffice are ideal here, as they let you create shared cloud folders and also have added collaboration features like version control, access permissions, comments and notifications.

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Jul 25 0 comments
Collaboration Software, How to, Online Collaboration

5 Benefits of an Intranet - Revisited Graphically

As I was writing the blog entry about 5 intranet benefits a couple of weeks ago, I realized people simply prefer to consume this kind of information in an intuitive, graphical format. Without further ado, please see the 5 benefits of an intranet in graphic form. Please feel free to share it. If you want to start creating your own intranet, get started here.


To embed this image on your page, please use the following code

<div><a href=” http://www.hyperoffice.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/intranet-benefits.png ” mce_href=”http://www.hyperoffice.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/intranet-benefits.png ” target=”_blank”><img src=” http://www.hyperoffice.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/intranet-benefits.png ” mce_src=”http://www.hyperoffice.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/intranet-benefits.png ” alt=”5 benefits of an intranet” /></a><br /><a href=”http://www.hyperoffice.com/intranet-software-solution/” mce_href=”http://www.hyperoffice.com/intranet-software-solution/” target=”_blank”>from HyperOffice</a></div>


Jun 22 1 comments
Collaboration Software, How to

How to set up an intranet (or extranet)

This is the second article in our series of “how to” articles. “How to create an intranet” is a common search, and therefore a common business query, but before we go any further, it makes sense to first deal with the question “What is an intranet?”

What is an intranet?

No matter how much you try to clear the waters, the confusion between the terms “intranet” and internet” remains. So, yet another time, an intrAnet is broadly a set of “internal facing” web pages and tools, or in other words, a website available only to the employees of a company. An intranet may also be sometimes referred to as “company portal”. This internal facing website, when extended to a company’s broader network of clients, partners and vendors, is referred to as “extranet”.

It might be pointed out that this article is intended to get you started with intranet creation, and point you in the right direction. Before you undertake intranet creation, you might want to study the larger subject area of “intranets”. Intranets can have far reaching impact on your organization in terms of employee communication, knowledge management, human resources, collaboration and more, which calls for careful planning around the structure of your intranet even before you start. Some very useful resources are the Intranet Benchmarking Forum and Step Two Design.

The tools and methodologies you choose will depend on what you expect to achieve from your intranet, and hence the type of intranet you choose to implement. The types are broadly as follows:

Static Internal website.

This is the most light weight type of intranet. Your intranet is just a set of static web pages that are available only to company employees. The objective of such an intranet is simply “top down communication” where the management wants employees to have access to certain information. This information could relate to company news, policies, products, strategy and vision, or motivational information like announcements, quotes or “employee of the quarter”. This website might be further broken down into sub sections for departments and groups.

In this case, the process would be much like creating a website, and you would simply look for a website content management system. The best tools in this case are open source content management systems like Joomla and Drupal. However, since Joomla and Drupal are server based systems, you would need to set up your own web servers. Companies are increasingly looking to move away from self-hosted solutions to cloud based systems. In this case you might want to try something like Weebly, Wix or Webs. You simply need to access these sites and can start implementing your intranet right away.

Intranet with tools.

Most companies are looking at intranets as more than a set of static web pages displaying information. They want it to be a “home” for their employees where they can not only view information, but also communicate, connect with other employees, and actually find the tools they need to manage day to day work.

Companies who are looking for such an intranet are looking for a software which will not only let them design internal web pages, but also have inbuilt tools – project management, address books, calendars, forums, social networking, document collaboration, IM and more.

Again, here companies have two choices of the kinds of tools they want to use. They could use an out of the box, cloud based intranet software like HyperOffice. Here, you don’t have to set up your own servers, and can simply access all the tools you need to build your intranet through a web browser. Moreover, it is a very easy to use solution, meaning you can set up an intranet without any specialized expertise. This solution is ideal for small to medium sized businesses.

Other companies might want to host their own intranet. Such a company can use a solution like Sharepoint or Drupal. These are powerful systems that allow you almost any degree of customization you want. But consequently, these are sophisticated systems which require in house web servers, SQL databases, and experts to implement and manage them. These might be the best choice for enterprises with ample resources and highly intricate needs.