Austin, TX (PRWEB)
August 28, 2012
This summer continues to be very active for the small business community with new technologies and opportunities popping up daily. ChooseWhat has summed up the top 5 technology events and how this may affect one’s business. Learn about new software technologies that will upgrade your hiring process but not break the bank, is Harvard and MIT offering free education online, what features will be of interest to you on the new Windows 8 and more.
1) Clap Your Hands… Say “Yeah!”
Ovation Technologies recently launched Ovation, a software application that helps small businesses in the process of hiring employees. Historically, big companies have had all the advantages and resources in recruiting talent, because they have a dedicated HR department with full-time recruiters, unlike small businesses. Ovation integrates with the most popular job boards, like Indeed, LinkedIn, and Monster, so users can post a single job on all of those platforms with one click of a button. The software also allows users to have great control over the application pool, supporting the ability to sort candidates based on certain required skills, rank them, and even have them answer custom questions. (via Marketwire)
How this applies to you:
As a small business owner, you likely won’t have a full-timer recruiter on your payroll or an electronic application where you can set custom questions for applicants to answer; you must take time out of your busy schedule to sift through job applications that consist only of resumes. For businesses with a small amount of employees, each incremental hire is very important, and a bad employee can be debilitating. Ovation gives you a powerful tool to manage employee applications capably and efficiently, lowering the risk of having a bad hire.” – Says Reece Freeman of FaxCompare.com, a virtual fax comparison site.
2) Just Do It:
The cloud computing company Salesforce recently added new features to its productivity app, “Do”. These new features make tracking deals possible and also include social network integration. The app now lets you import contacts from social websites, send messages to them, and collaborate with them all without leaving the app. Created in 2011, Do is available as an iPhone and web app and has an Android app (currently in the beta stage) in the works. (via SmallBizTrends)
How this applies to you:
The app now allows small business owners to set up a process to track the progress of their company’s current deals. With Do, you can assign tasks needed to be completed so that each deal will be a success.
3) Free Education Goes Mainstream:
Earlier this summer Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology launched the Open Learning Initiative that allows anyone and everyone to follow lessons and lectures of some of the schools’ top professors completely free of charge. Classes are offered from a variety of disciplines from Greek Literature to Computer Science, History to Abstract Algebra and Probability. While the Open Learning Initiative offers a wide variety of classes, the overall depth of classes in each subject is very small. Other free education programs such as Saylor.org and KhanAcademy comprise of a more complete selection of courses to take for each major.
How this applies to you:
Human capital is a term used to describe the breadth of knowledge, competencies, as well as social and personality attributes embodied in the ability to perform labor in order to produce economic value. To increase your own or your employees human capital, you can take (or assign) classes from these online institutions in order increase the value of your business without paying expensive tuition rates. Courses such as those in Computer Science can be invaluable to a growing business in this increasingly tech-based business world.
4) Microsoft Discloses Newest Windows Features:
Windows 8 isn’t set to be released to the public until October 26th, but original specs have already been leaked. The main focus of Microsoft in this latest Windows release is having the web act more like a desktop (rather than the desktop-acting-like-the-web approach of Google’s Chrome OS). Microsoft’s vision connects the look and feel of software with web apps in order to promote a streamlined user experience akin to Apple’s OS X. Windows 8 uses what it calls a “Metro” design to accomplish the look coordination between the desktop software and web apps. (via Microsoft.com)
How this applies to you:
In addition to the features described above, all of the Microsoft Office productivity programs will allow you to save documents in the cloud as well as on your desktop through the software. This means that you’ll find it easier to back up any and all Microsoft Office documents which can be a critical step if your computer or server ever crashes.
5) Putting the “Social” back into Professional Social Networking:
Muxi is a new social media platform that aims to be the “the first professional social network. It stresses the “social” aspect more than the “professional” aspect, which is different from LinkedIn. Its main differentiating feature is “fraternities”, where users can network with those who work in the same industry or have similar career aspirations. Other colleagues can give you ”reputation” for good posts and Muxi supports all the standard features of social networking, such as circles of friends and private messaging. (via SmallBizTrends)
How this applies to you:
As a small business owner, you can really take advantage of the fraternities feature to network and advance your own company. You can also use it to find new employees or partners, ask questions, or simply just share your experiences to others. There are currently 40 fraternities, so you should be able to find the one that suits your industry.
- About ChooseWhat.com:
The purpose of ChooseWhat.com is to guide entrepreneurs through the start-up process. ChooseWhat offers entrepreneurs 3 main resources to help them focus on the big idea so they do not get bogged down with the basics. These resources include reviews and cost comparisons of business infrastructure tools, a startup checklist that provides a step by step guide for setting up a business, and small business forum where entrepreneurs can get answers to their most pressing business questions.
Image credit: johnkwan / 123RF Stock Photo
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