Even cars need a reboot. Today I got in my car at 6:20am – it was 30° outside. Eager to start my commute, I put my key in the ignition, pressed the brake, hit the start button, and just as I was ready to put my pedal to the metal, an error message alerted me that my 4-Wheel X Drive had malfunctioned. Relentlessly, I drove for about 10 miles with a message saying “Drive with caution and call your BMW Service Center immediately.” Now, in the X-Series, the 4-Wheel X Drive is a critical piece of the car. I knew that if I was going to be driving 75 miles per hour, it might be a problem. I pulled over to the nearest Rest Area, shut down the car, and let it reboot. Once I let the car sit and reboot for about a minute, I re-started it, and all systems came up with no error messages. (more…)

Keep Reading

Most folks think of the cloud as Social Media, Google, Freeware, or just an acronym for the Internet. I think of the cloud as an endless possibility to make ideas come to life. As a business owner I am constantly pushing the envelope trying to improve processes, generate key performance data, and fuel the creative entrepreneurial spirit to grow. At least once per week, a question and/or problem arises that I “Google” to find a solution.

Recently, we were in need of a solution that would enable clients to sign contracts and documents in a more timely fashion. I Googled “contract signing” and low and behold a number of digital signature companies popped up. I decided to take a look around. I tried both www.docusign.com and www.echosign.com. Both worked very well, but the use and interface of Echosign seemed to fit our needs best. Again, being a cloud-based solution I was able to test the solution for 30 days and then select a package that was extremely economical. Now, I am not here to push digital signature companies, but by researching a new way and trusting the cloud, we cut our contract signing time from 2 weeks to less than 4 hours. Furthermore, we have had clients thank us for the ease of use in adding services, etc. We are now expanding our use of Echosign to include online forms and process improvement. (more…)

Keep Reading