[TechRepublic] Devise a business plan before becoming an independent consultant

IT Consultant TechRepublic Member | September 17, 2012

Devise a business plan before becoming an independent consultant The first step in becoming an IT consultant is creating a business plan in which you evaluate why a client would use your services. Here's expert advice on this process. Read more Resource of the day Free 2011 Salary Report IT Professionals - Register on activeTechPros for immediate access Business Professionals - Join the activeBizPros community to view the report Sell clients on solutions not your tech skills Greg Miliates cautions against falling into the trap of thinking that your IT skills are important. Customers care more about the end result than your resume. Read more Additional TechRepublic resources   10 cross-platform tools that can make your job easier With mixed-platform environments on the rise, you need tools that can handle whatever systems you're supporting. Here are 10 invaluable cross-platform applications. Read more The golden rules of IT projects: Ignore them at your peril Having tried and tested rules in place are essential for mission-critical tech projects because when things go wrong you need proper procedures to fall back on. Read more Five common programming mistakes Justin James describes (and even confesses to committing some) programming gaffes and explains why these particular behaviors can be problematic. Read more Mac business users best served by Microsoft Office Erik Eckel explains why Microsoft Office applications still rule on the Mac and why Microsoft needs to bring them to the iPad as well. Read more Lock down sensitive information with Secure Data Manager Secure Data Manager is a handy way to keep your sensitive passwords hidden from prying eyes, yet keep it at the ready for when you need to locate credentials for a machine, a software key, a URL login, and more. Read more 10 things you should do when moving disaster recovery to the cloud If you're incorporating cloud computing into your DR plan, this checklist will help you gain the advantages and avoid the pitfalls. Read more Featured multimedia   Five handy network apps for your portable toolkit From monitoring tools to full-blown servers, here are five good networking apps you can carry with you. View on site Five free anti-malware tools for Windows PCs Protect your system against those insidious malware threats with the help of these reliable removal tools. View on site Featured Webcast LIVE WEBCAST: The IT Factor, Secrets of Outsourcing TechRepublic & ZDNet present, Secrets of Outsourcing, September 20th at 1pm PT, 4pm ET. This webcast will examine how and when businesses should consider outsourcing, which IT functions can be outsourced, pitfalls to avoid, corporate culture, and when to keep things in-house. Today's recommended downloads Free 2011 Salary Report The new workplace: are you ready? The new workplace: are you ready? State of Smart Study: Outperforming in a Data-rich, Hyper-connected World (IBM) Nucleus White Paper - key drivers of high returns on big data investments (IBM) Perennial favorites   10 mistakes that rookie IT consultants make My early years in IT consulting: What I did and didn't do well Sanity saving tips for newbie IT consultants Connect with TechRepublic iPhone 5: What you need to know before buying Wil Limoges says there's a lot to like about the new iPhone 5, but there are a couple of issues to consider before you pre-order. Make sure you read those model specs carefully. TechRepublic newsletters   Get product reviews, tech news analysis, tips, and more in the following TechRepublic newsletters. Automatically sign up today! TechRepublic UK TechRepublic Australia Wrapper Web Designer The Enterprise Cloud Tablets in the Enterprise

Send us your feedback here. Sign up for more free newsletters from TechRepublic! To manage your account settings or to remove yourself from all TechRepublic communications, please visit our Subscription Center. The e-mail address for your subscription is ceasar@cesabarre.com. Unsubscribe from this e-mail | FAQ | Advertise | Privacy Policy Copyright 2012 CBS Interactive, Inc. All rights reserved. TechRepublic is a registered service mark of CBS Interactive, Inc. TechRepublic 235 Second Street San Francisco, CA 94105 U.S.A.

[TechRepublic] Easy check to see if a VM needs snapshot consolidation

Data Center TechRepublic Member | September 17, 2012

Easy check to see if a VM needs snapshot consolidation Virtual machine snapshot consolidation can improve performance and correctly manage disk space. Rickatron shows a quick and easy way to see if consolidation is needed. Read more Resource of the day Live Webcast: Strategies for managing distributed IT environments No matter how the IT landscape changes, protecting your network architecture continues to be extremely critical. Join us as we discuss the importance of managing these distributed IT spaces - including strategies for maintaining availability, energy cost savings opportunities and dealing with a lack of onsite technical resources. Sign up for this engaging live, interactive webcast now. Additional TechRepublic resources   Build your Big Data strategy on what tomorrow will look like If you're building your Big Data strategy based on what people are talking about today, you need to start over. Read more The cloud and the help desk: How is support provided? Nick Hardiman looks at the cloud from a help desk perspective. Outsourcing support is not a new concept, but how will the advance of the cloud affect customer service issues? Read more BI still dependent on IT There's never been a better time for IT to step up and show what tech can do to drive the business. They're the only people who can set the systems in motion to capture data and mine it successfully. Read more Additional TechRepublic resources   Yet another thing you should do before you buy a new PC Saving a few bucks by buying from a shady vendor could cost you dearly in the long run. Read more Featured multimedia   Five free anti-malware tools for Windows PCs Protect your system against those insidious malware threats with the help of these reliable removal tools. View on site Dragon*Con 2012: Parade The Dragon*Con parade was held in downtown Atlanta on September 1, 2012. Take a look at some of the photos from this year's event. View on site Today's recommended downloads Navigating Microsoft SQL 2012 Certifications (Global Knowledge) Empowering Execs to Optimize Performance Management (SAP) Genpact helps Miami Children's Hospital improve patient satisfaction (Genpact) Remote support for PCs, Macs and Smartphones (LogMeIn) On-Demand Webcast: HP and Intel Deliver Flexible Networking Solutions (Intel & Hewlett-Packard (HP)) Connect with TechRepublic iPhone 5: What you need to know before buying Wil Limoges says there's a lot to like about the new iPhone 5, but there are a couple of issues to consider before you pre-order. Make sure you read those model specs carefully. TechRepublic newsletters   Get product reviews, tech news analysis, tips, and more in the following TechRepublic newsletters. Automatically sign up today! TechRepublic UK TechRepublic Australia Wrapper Web Designer The Enterprise Cloud Tablets in the Enterprise

Send us your feedback here. Sign up for more free newsletters from TechRepublic! To manage your account settings or to remove yourself from all TechRepublic communications, please visit our Subscription Center. The e-mail address for your subscription is techsubscriptionss@cesabarre.com. Unsubscribe from this e-mail | FAQ | Advertise | Privacy Policy Copyright 2012 CBS Interactive, Inc. All rights reserved. TechRepublic is a registered service mark of CBS Interactive, Inc. TechRepublic 235 Second Street San Francisco, CA 94105 U.S.A.

[TechRepublic] Top cloud use cases

The Enterprise Cloud TechRepublic Member | September 17, 2012

Top cloud use cases There's no doubt that there are still tricky areas for cloud technology, but some use cases offer a lot of bang for the buck and very little risk. Thoran Rodrigues names some of the top cloud use cases. What would you add to the list? Read more Resource of the day Live Webcast: Discover Application Performance Management Practices of 400 Leading Companies How do you manage application performance at your organization? How does your approach compare with that of hundreds of other organizations? Find out in this upcoming live, interactive webcast. Register now. Additional TechRepublic resources   Making a business case for the cloud Ian Hardenburgh outlines the primary business case issues that arise when organizations start considering a move to cloud-based infrastructure, software, or platforms. Read more The cloud and the help desk: How is support provided? Nick Hardiman looks at the cloud from a help desk perspective. Outsourcing support is not a new concept, but how will the advance of the cloud affect customer service issues? Read more 10 things you should do when moving disaster recovery to the cloud If you're incorporating cloud computing into your DR plan, this checklist will help you gain the advantages and avoid the pitfalls. Read more Who owns Big Data? Big Data is all about technical innovation: high speed networks, in-memory databases, and innovative software that makes it all possible. However, one of the best ways to squander an investment in Big Data is to make it a technology-driven endeavor. Here's why. Read more Featured multimedia   Eyes on Apple's new iPhone 5 (pictures) Apple's iPhone 5 is taller, thinner, lighter, and all-around improved. View on site Dragon*Con 2012: Parade The Dragon*Con parade was held in downtown Atlanta on September 1, 2012. Take a look at some of the photos from this year's event. View on site Featured Webcast Live Webcast: Strategies for managing distributed IT environments No matter how the IT landscape changes, protecting your network architecture continues to be extremely critical. Join us as we discuss the importance of managing these distributed IT spaces - including strategies for maintaining availability, energy cost savings opportunities and dealing with a lack of onsite technical resources. Sign up for this engaging live, interactive webcast now. Today's recommended downloads 2012 IT Skills and Salary Report (Global Knowledge) Conquering Costly Compression for Oracle Backups (Quest Software) Live Webcast: Discover Application Performance Management Practices of 400 Leading Companies (Quest Software) Avoiding Common Pitfalls of Evaluating and Implementing DCIM Solutions (APC by Schneider Electric) On-Demand Webcast: HP and Intel Deliver Flexible Networking Solutions (Intel & Hewlett-Packard (HP)) Connect with TechRepublic iPhone 5: What you need to know before buying Wil Limoges says there's a lot to like about the new iPhone 5, but there are a couple of issues to consider before you pre-order. Make sure you read those model specs carefully. TechRepublic newsletters   Get product reviews, tech news analysis, tips, and more in the following TechRepublic newsletters. Automatically sign up today! Tech Sanity Check Google in the Enterprise Cracking Open 10 Things

Send us your feedback here. Sign up for more free newsletters from TechRepublic! To manage your account settings or to remove yourself from all TechRepublic communications, please visit our Subscription Center. The e-mail address for your subscription is laoanganon@gmail.com. Unsubscribe from this e-mail | FAQ | Advertise | Privacy Policy Copyright 2012 CBS Interactive, Inc. All rights reserved. TechRepublic is a registered service mark of CBS Interactive, Inc. TechRepublic 235 Second Street San Francisco, CA 94105 U.S.A.

[TechRepublic] Top cloud use cases

The Enterprise Cloud TechRepublic Member | September 17, 2012

Top cloud use cases There's no doubt that there are still tricky areas for cloud technology, but some use cases offer a lot of bang for the buck and very little risk. Thoran Rodrigues names some of the top cloud use cases. What would you add to the list? Read more Resource of the day Nestle: Near Zero Downtime to Upgrade Read about how Nestle worked together with SAP Consulting to avoid business disruption during the company's upgrade to the latest version of SAP ERP. Additional TechRepublic resources   Making a business case for the cloud Ian Hardenburgh outlines the primary business case issues that arise when organizations start considering a move to cloud-based infrastructure, software, or platforms. Read more The cloud and the help desk: How is support provided? Nick Hardiman looks at the cloud from a help desk perspective. Outsourcing support is not a new concept, but how will the advance of the cloud affect customer service issues? Read more 10 things you should do when moving disaster recovery to the cloud If you're incorporating cloud computing into your DR plan, this checklist will help you gain the advantages and avoid the pitfalls. Read more Who owns Big Data? Big Data is all about technical innovation: high speed networks, in-memory databases, and innovative software that makes it all possible. However, one of the best ways to squander an investment in Big Data is to make it a technology-driven endeavor. Here's why. Read more Featured multimedia   Eyes on Apple's new iPhone 5 (pictures) Apple's iPhone 5 is taller, thinner, lighter, and all-around improved. View on site Dragon*Con 2012: Parade The Dragon*Con parade was held in downtown Atlanta on September 1, 2012. Take a look at some of the photos from this year's event. View on site Today's recommended downloads Unified Communications Buyer's Guide (ShoreTel) On-Demand Webcast: HP and Intel Deliver Flexible Networking Solutions (Intel & Hewlett-Packard (HP)) TL - Beyond Money: How to Win and Keep Top Performers (SAP) Live Webcast: Strategies for managing distributed IT environments (APC by Schneider Electric) Transforming Enterprise Application Deployment (Hewlett-Packard (HP)) Connect with TechRepublic iPhone 5: What you need to know before buying Wil Limoges says there's a lot to like about the new iPhone 5, but there are a couple of issues to consider before you pre-order. Make sure you read those model specs carefully. TechRepublic newsletters   Get product reviews, tech news analysis, tips, and more in the following TechRepublic newsletters. Automatically sign up today! Tech Sanity Check Google in the Enterprise Cracking Open 10 Things

Send us your feedback here. Sign up for more free newsletters from TechRepublic! To manage your account settings or to remove yourself from all TechRepublic communications, please visit our Subscription Center. The e-mail address for your subscription is techsubscriptionss@cesabarre.com. Unsubscribe from this e-mail | FAQ | Advertise | Privacy Policy Copyright 2012 CBS Interactive, Inc. All rights reserved. TechRepublic is a registered service mark of CBS Interactive, Inc. TechRepublic 235 Second Street San Francisco, CA 94105 U.S.A.