The Shortlist

Who's your master? Online spreadsheets solve a common problem

By Xavier Russo, Software Shortlist

Have you ever emailed spreadsheets back and forth between people? Typically you've got some important, regularly updated information that needs input from others, while still keeping track of who has the latest version? You're certainly not alone ... and it can be a real headache!

This problem - i.e. knowing who has the "master document" - is a common one. And there are many ways to address it. Some folks use a document management system to apply version control disciplines as the document evolves over time with input from multiple people. Others designate a key person as having the master, and everyone else sends through their suggested changes. 

But increasingly, people are turning to web-based collaborative applications. One key category within that is online spreadsheets, including the likes of Google Spreadsheets, Zoho Sheet , and Edit Grid.

These operate much like your trusty old version of Excel ... except that you can access them via the web from anywhere, and easily invite others to view or edit the data.  Calculations, complex formulae, graphs, VBA macros... pretty much all your regular capabilities are there online.

Here at Software Shortlist we've just moved some of our own commonly shared spreadsheets online ... complete with complex formulae such as nested If-Then statements and lookups. And already we're seeing benefits - eliminating version control headaches, helping us keep data more up to date, and making it easier to share responsibilities across the team.

Sure beats emailing a spreadsheet back and forth!

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Powering the Concept Factory

By Craig Westcott, Software Shortlist

At Software Shortlist we talk with too many business owners who have been disillusioned by the software selection process. Typically they have spent long hours looking for a software solution to meet their specific business needs, only to give up the ghost in the end. A high proportion of these cases end up either developing a new software solution in house (I’ve been involved in my fair share of these!) or just ‘making do’ with what they have. Others end up paying way too much for a well known high-end software product! This is the very issue that we are tackling head on at Software Shortlist.

So, when a 15 year old Australian-based design company told us this same story yet again, we weren’t in the least bit surprised. Concept Factory was started by Alison Radford and her husband, Simon, out of the Radford family home in Sydney, Australia. Unlike most start-ups, though, Concept Factory very soon moved into an office and expanded its offerings to cover broader graphic design, marketing and copyrighting services. The business now operates out of multiple offices in Australia, with designers and programmers servicing customers nationally at random times on different projects. They now use WorkEtc CRM to manage their operations .. but it wasn't always so easy.

As the company grew over the years, they bought an array of software products for each of their different needs. They were running DotProject- an open source project management tool- to manage their projects; Thunderbird for communication and contact management; and MYOB for accounts. They found that each of these solutions were excellent for their own specific needs, but started to become more and more of an issue as the company grew and the team spread out across the country.

>> Read the full story

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Mindmaps saved my head from exploding

By Jeff White, Commodity Consultants.NET

MY HEAD WAS EXPLODING WITH INFORMATION, IS YOURS?

I am an idea person, I have them all the time, and I also have a lot of "lists". After finally re-writing my list for the 1000th time, I thought, there must be a better way. There must be a way to organize my thoughts (like I see them), and then use that information for other uses.

For example, to send a list of things to do to an employee, or to organize a meeting agenda, without re-typing, reprocessing everything. As I started to think I could see that a few things would be super important in such a tool. They were:

1. Easy and natural to use, so it was quicker to use than pad and paper (eventually).
2. It could prioritize things and keep me on track for my highest priority tasks without losing track of those things which could be delayed/defered.
3. It must be able to show the information in many different formats, and be able to export and use other Microsoft tools in a natural and non-geeky way.
4. I also wanted to link actual or potential resources to an idea so I could start to see what or who I needed as resources to accomplish a certain goal.

So I set out, to find the best/value in software for mind mapping. I tried over 15 products, all trying to accomplish the same basic mind map with the above criteria. Many of the tools did well, many of them were cheap and provided a lot of value (calculated appropriately), but in the end I found one product that made my dreams come true. This product solved my problems quickly and naturally in such a way that I was able to in 24 hours get rid of 95.63% of the paper notes I carried around all the time.

The product I chose was Mindjet MindManager, and for under $500 it was amazing. It not only had a reliable, clean, and robust interface that met all the MS Office standards, but it also did everything I wanted plus more. In less that 1 day, I was able to define all my own priorities, my own resources, and my own categories so that I literally can mindjet my products, with my own structure. 

Importantly, the online training was great - I watched the videos and learned how to use the package and some special features right out of the gate. In less than 20 days, I was able to recoup all the money I invested in this mind mapping software and the rest is just "frosting on the mind cake".

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