The prospect of cloud computing replacing in-house email and office software is here. The Official Google Blog posted metrics taken from 1 million business users in the cloud. Their measurements show Gmail with better availability than major competitors for a much lower cost.

I speak with the Sr. Vice President of IS almost daily about how we can reduce costs. We have high costs in the area of desktop applications and email. Cloud computing is one idea we discuss to reduce those costs.

But we still have important questions we need to answer.

I’m interested in hearing from businesses that are currently using cloud computing for office and/or email applications.

• Any issues with user acceptance?
• How about training?
• Any hit to productivity?
• Any problems with file compatibility between you and your partners and customers?
• How did you overcome concerns about security and privacy?
• Any unintended consequences?

You can leave your comments here, contact me via email at solson@ergotron.com, or contact me on most social media sites as solson. If you prefer, skype me at solson1976.

Steve Olson – Technical Manager, Ergotron, Inc. Blogging about Technology, Social Media, Lifestreaming, Productivity, Lifehacks and anything else that’s interesting.

Jason Landals just spent a few moments of his valuable time reviewing Ergotron’s Neo-Flex Dual Lift Stand on Futurelooks.com. 

He says about the Dual, “The Neo-Flex rotates on a single pivot point using two angled plastic rollers on the “wings” of the base. This makes it easy to swing your monitors around. Just watch your head, as two 22″ panels need a lot of swing room.”

Take a look.

Nancy Gregson, Sr. Channel Marketing Manager @ Ergotron

I installed a Neo-Flex LCD Lift Stand for Dr. Bauman at Westview Dental Care on Hasting, MN. Wow! It took less than 10 minutes to install, the longest time taking to unhook his old stand from the monitor. The directions were easy to follow with great pictures. The Dr. was there with me setting it up and we just laughed as he was so giddy to have a “cool” new mount. He loved the way his new stand could move up and down and tilt. He just kept thanking me over and over. Thank you for the opportunity to make his day with a product that I am proud to stand behind.

Jim Fischer, Sr. VP Global IS & Troy Maki, Network Administrator @ Ergotron

We installed a Neo-Flex Mobile Workspace cart for Mark at US Internet. USI had one of our older carts from about 10 years ago. They nicknamed the cart “Johnny 5” from the movie Short Circuit. I knew I must be getting old as I knew exactly the movie he was talking about.  

You can notice in one of the pics, the aisles are very narrow. The small foot print of the Neo-Flex MWS is great.

Mark had this to say about the cart: Our customers love the Ergotron cart. They are solid, convenient, reliable, and space saving. Customers always smile when I point out the cart on tours through our data center.

The Incredible Shrinking Woman

A family member recently told me that when she gets into her car after working eight hours as a software engineer she finds herself lowering the rear view mirror as if she had somehow become shorter over the course of the day. I was delighted to hear such a graphic demonstration of the effect sitting at a computer can have on one’s posture, and it made me want to know more about how such a thing could happen.

Motion is the Potion

Working diligently for hours on end with eyes focused intently on the screen, seated computer users are largely unaware of the forces acting upon their body, that is, until they stand up. At that point, the body gets its message through to the brain with stiff, achy muscles, creaky joints, limited neck and lower back mobility, sore eyes, jaws and shoulders.

It’s a two-fold problem: even though you may start out in a neutral posture, your body gradually drifts out of it until you realize you’ve “locked” into a position far from where you started. Holding your body in one place, even if it is the least straining, neutral posture, is detrimental. The obvious remedy to static posture is to move on a regular basis; getting your brain to pay attention to the rest of your body when it’s so absorbed in visual activity with the computer screen is the greater challenge.

The Eyes Lead the Body

According to Dr. Jeffery Anshel, an expert in the field of visual ergonomics, “Nature has designed our visual system to be so dominant that we will alter our body posture to accommodate any deficiency in the way we see. In many office situations the vision of a worker is compromised and they must adapt their posture to ease the strain on the visual system.”

Breathe – Blink – Break

Based on the logic that the body follows the eyes, Dr. Anshel suggests that protecting the body from the hazards of computer use should begin with protection of the eyes. Toward that end, he recommends an approach called the “3 Bs”: Blink more often, take frequent deep Breaths and take a short Break every hour. Introducing these simple activities into your work routine requires nothing more than a commitment from you to yourself.

Keep your Eyes on the Prize: Comfortable Computing

Learn more about how computer use can compromise eyesight and get some valuable recommendations for setting up a computer monitor that encourages healthy vision in the table below. Visit Dr. Anshel’s website at: www.cvsconsulting.com for more information on the 3Bs and other great advice.

Suchi Sairam, VP, Roadmap Innovation @ Ergotron

There’s been a lot of discussion over the last several years about “digital natives” vs. “digital immigrants.” I just recently came across another great way of describing this from David Truss, “I come from the Batman era, adding items to my utility belt while students today are the Borg from Star Trek, assimilating technology into their lives.”

I spend time volunteering in schools, to give something back AND to observe how the next generation is going to approach and solve problems. Now I get the opportunity to see REAL “digital natives” in action – how differently they view the world, even compared to 5 years ago.

That’s when I realize that much of our educational system is not designed to teach the students of today, and that the needs of today’s students evolve so much faster than in the past.

I applaud educators and administrators for trying to keep up, it’s a huge undertaking.  These kids multi-task – all the time. They really don’t read physical books, they read online.  The good old days of the cool mechanical pencil are long-gone.  And they spend SO much time on computers, from such a young age.  Friends of mine are looking to get their 3 ½ year old daughter her own Mac.  Three and a half?  Wow.

It makes me wonder if parents and instructors are recognizing some of the implications of kids spending so much time on computers from younger and younger ages.  Back problems, neck aches, and eye strain are well known problems with adults who spend a lot of time in front of computers at work and at home, doing repetitive tasks. Why not kids too?

In fact, research conducted by Cornell University found “40% of the elementary school children they studied used computer workstations that put them at postural risk.”

Not only that, they are using these computer stations from such a young age, through important periods of physical growth that could be heavily influenced by physical constraints of extended computer use. It was good to see Dr. Crom’s recent blog entry on ergonomics in computing for children, there is a concern to create awareness and address this problem.  The American Chiropractic Association is also doing its part, publishing tips to reduce injuries related to computer use.

Ergotron wants to learn and be involved in this dialogue. We want to help find ways to help solve this problem of “now” and the future, so this next generation of great problem solvers isn’t slowed down due to physical ailments caused by computer use.

Sometimes our customers say it better than we ever could. David Lim’s Slashgear review, Ergotron Neo-Flex Dual LCD Lift Stand, takes you through the setup and gives you a few reasons why it might be healthy for you to use. And we didn’t even pay him to say it.

He uses dual displays for photography. How will you use yours?

Will Townsend, Marketing Director, Global Accounts @ Ergotron

Historic events in the financial markets are unfolding.  The largest drop in the Dow in a single day – EVER.  Large commercial and investment bank buyouts – institutions like Wachovia that have been around since the late 1800s are insolvent. Terms like economic “Pearl Harbor” being thrown around. 

It’s all a little frightening – but more than ever these institutions will have to find ways to squeeze every ounce of productivity out of their IT investment.  Ergotron can help.  Differentiation, Efficiency, and Return – these are key metrics that financial services institutions measure themselves against.  And they are also measures that Ergotron carefully considers in the development of its products.

Differentiation.  Dual monitor usage can improve multi-tasking and thereby raise the level of service provided by financial institutions.  With reduced queue times more customers can be serviced.  A no brainer in my mind as financial institutions that differentiate themselves will be the survivors – not collateral damage.

Efficiency.  Financial services IT staffs can deploy Ergotron products and reuse them over multiple PC refresh cycles.  With ever present budget constraints this just makes good financial sense.  The added benefit that Ergotron delivers is comfortable computing and reclaimed workspace – thereby eliminating fatigue and employee absenteeism while also maximizing the clustering of more call center workers into the same space.  I worked at Dell early in my career in telephone sales – and the company was always struggling with how to squeeze more employees into finite spaces. 

Return.  Back office, branch worker, trader, and field sales employees can realize improved productivity through the deployment of dual and multi display computing.  Traders have used quad display configurations for years albeit clunky tied to slat walls.  They’ve proved over the years that there are tangible benefits – and Ergotron has developed a payback calculator that allows any financial institution to compute the Return on Investment.

In this day and age of US $700 billion dollar bailouts – maybe Wall Street ought to consider some simpler ways to improve productivity and investor return to “Main Street”…….. 

Investigate your inner geek with an Ergotron’s LX Arm. These guys connected their treadmills to their game world to gauge a virtual Race Across Azeroth. See arm on the far right.

Where will your inner geek take you?