New Meetup Group

I am hosting a new meetup group in Westlake Village, CA. It is designed as a small business forum to discuss technology without the sales hype or the geek-speak. This is a discussion for businesspeople by businesspeople using their language, and mirroring their concerns and goals. It’s called SmallBizExec Tech Roundtable.

Topics that may be discussed include, but are not limited to:

• Trends in Business Technology
• Social Media Marketing
• Cloud Computing
• Internet versus Desktop Applications
• Small Business Advantages
• Mobile Computing Applications
• Secure Your Business Tech
• Finding Reliable Business Consulting

NO SALES PITCHES ALLOWED. Otherwise, industry folks such as computer consultants and web designers are welcome. As long as we share Rule #1.

We meet on fourth Tuesday of every month at 5:30 pm at Vivoli Cafe in Westlake Village for little dinner, a little wine, a lot af discussion and a generous sprinking of fun.

To find out more, go to Meetup.

ACT! version upgrade not so easy.

We have a client that needed to upgrade their server hardware. We chose a Dell PowerEdge with Microsoft Windows Server 2008. All the hardware was engineered and installed, and then we ran into issues with the software. Neither their versions of QuickBooks nor ACT! were compatible with the server operating system. Everything came to an immediate halt.

The owner of the business understood the need for updates, and ponied up the necessary resources. However ACT! needed to be upgraded from version 6 to version 10, and the conversion process proved to be problemmatic. The client had used custom fields in a custom layout and the conversion utility did not work correctly. After working with technical support (who assured us that it should work without any problem) and the knowledgebase that did not mention any issues with the process, I gave up on the manufacturer; our customer did too.

Fortunately, we had a connection to an expert on ACT! and brought him in to save the day. Michael Moldovsky at Active Sales Technology in Los Angeles was able to engage the problem remotely. We sent him the old database and told him what we wanted, and he delivered in a day.

I would recommend him for any, and all, ACT! installs and problems. He is confident and capable. He is the kind of guy that you like to have on your side.