He calls it his “crackberry” —that's how addicted Anthony Cucciniello is to his Black-Berry. He's never without it, and he has given the handheld wireless device to each of his project managers, lead carpenters, and office staff.
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We've all heard the adage, “If it ain't broke, don't fix it.” And how many times have you heard someone say, “It's good enough for now,” or “We don't have time to improve how we do it; we need to just get it done”?
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Your designer may be a computer guru, but does that mean he or she should also be running your company's networks and data security infrastructure? Or answering the call when someone's monitor freezes? Or troubleshooting when the high-speed Internet connection goes on the blink?
Deep in the minds of many remodelers, one big question looms: What happens to my company when I retire?
Last month we looked at the hardware needed to set up your mobile office. Now it's time to add some software. I'm going to assume you already have a contact manager, a basic office suite, and some accounting software.
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For company-wide success, good communication must occur within each system and among all the systems, as well as with subs, suppliers, and clients. But the actual devices used to communicate can be seen as a system itself.
Today's remodeling industry exists on jobsites and in-home sales calls, doing business from work trucks and home offices. The days of being tethered to a desk computer are over, so get mobile.
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Recently, Gene Shekhtman, an IT consultant, spoke with the Remodeling Industry Technology Group based in the Washington, D.C., area about workstations and servers. These are Shekhtman's rules of thumb when buying new hardware:
For more than a year, Scott Schubert was a beta tester for an earlier version of XactRemodel (XR), Xactware's latest estimating software package tailored to the remodeling industry. Schubert, who co-owns Post & Beam Design/Build, Forest Hill, Md., now uses XR full time.
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Even though we're already into 2006, it's never too late to work on your game plan. Here are three resolutions for data safety and security for the new year. I'll expand on these topics throughout the coming year, so stay tuned.