Yes, it has been a while...

A lot has happened in the past year. A ton of technology reviews - software and apps, and a lot of data security issues to tackle. There are more tools out there than ever before - tools to make running your agency and manage the daily grind easier.

Unfortunately, a new app can become just another thing everyone has to have open on their screen, it frequently distracts and demands attention, and often gets in the way of simply getting work done. Messages with critical information are scattered over the cloud; assets - and versions of assets are scattered among drives, desktops or applications; and all those "free" apps have become "paid" apps. ENOUGH!

But what do you do?

Evaluate - do an honest audit and find out what everyone is using, and why. It's an eye-opener.

Pare-down - select what works best for the agency. Sorry, it's not a democracy - sometimes we just have to compromise and learn to work with the technology.

Set expectations - this is the hard part. Make using the technology a requirement. Nope, no favorites, no workarounds.

Train - determine best practices for using the technology, and revisit them often. The process and tools to manage it always evolve.

Don't have the time to do this? Give me a call.

One last note: with every new application come data security issues. Always review security policies and have a lead administrator to manage access and permissions.