Our insights and observations about technology and more
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Getting work done in the digital workplace
People want to work efficiently from almost anywhere with others via any of a variety of devices. Once upon a time, that was a big ask. But Microsoft Office 365 now enables a digital workplace that improves your teams' lives — and yours as well. Here’s how. Work efficiently Office 365 provides…
2015 Software Summit Winners
We had a great time at the 2015 annual Software Summit. It was a great opportunity to network with other people in our industry and to showcase some of our teams work. David Carter our Software Development Manager and Steve Knutson, who heads our work in SharePoint and other IT services,…
Six improvements to Reporting Services in 2016
Microsoft is putting the finishing touches on the latest version of SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS), its popular reporting tool and a long-standing part of the SQL Server suite. These are the first significant changes to SSRS since the 2008 release of SQL Server, and the new version is being welcomed…
Single Page Applications Make Web Apps Quick
At Stratos we have increasingly been producing web applications where in the past we might have developed traditional desktop applications. Sometimes business owners and managers have voiced concerns that because of the Internet, web applications can be slow and unreliable. The arrival of Single Page Applications (SPAs) have significantly alleviated…
See Stratos at the Canterbury Software Summit
The Canterbury Software Summit is the largest technology event of the year in Christchurch. At the Summit, you can learn about the latest technologies, hear success stories and connect with other firms to explore business opportunities. Stratos Technology Partners will be at the Canterbury Software Summit on 1 October at…
Highlights from the Digital Workplace Conference
We were impressed and excited by the latest in intranets, team collaboration, business processes and document management showcased at the Digital WorkPlace Conference (DWC) earlier this week in Auckland. Formerly called the New Zealand SharePoint Conference, DWC now encompasses the full range of Microsoft’s productivity and collaboration centred cloud services, including Office…
14 Questions You Should Ask Before You Buy a Software Package
Often buying off the shelf software is more cost effective than building your own software system. In our experience, we often find that software buyers overlook some key factors in selecting the right solution to suit their organizations, often with disastrous consequences. Here are 14 questions you should consider before…
Managing Software Development Risk
A software development project can be a significant investment so it makes sense to manage your risk with strong project management. The traditional waterfall method is relatively inflexible and can increase that risk, though there are times when that strict approach is warranted. Another project management technique called agile is much more flexible and has become…
Improving your Business Intelligence with Power BI
The ability to unlock the data you need in an accurate and timely way is an important part of making good business decisions. This can be challenging when your data is stored in an ever increasing number of places. How can you get the information you need, when you need…
SharePoint Metadata vs Folders
In this post we compare Metadata with Folders for organising content in SharePoint Document Libraries. The use of Folders in SharePoint is a contentious topic but the right choice isn’t always clear cut. There are in some cases good reasons to use Folders, however this should be well thought out. Metadata…