BigTech's blog

Why Should Nonprofits Care About Cloud Computing?

posted by Anonymous - Thu, 22/09/2011 - 12:57

Clouds are no longer just about the weather; the term has taken over the Internet, as well. The Indian cloud computing market is expected to reach $16 billion by 2020. Are you a part of this growth story? Have you used cloud computing for your work processes? There's a good chance you've already used some form of cloud computing. If you have an e-mail account with a Web-based e-mail service like Hotmail, Yahoo or Gmail, then you've had some experience with cloud computing!

What Are the Benefits of Working in the Cloud?

Little to no upfront costs, but watch out for recurring operating costs.
From Wikipedia: "Cloud computing users can avoid capital expenditure (CapEx) on hardware, software, and services when they pay a provider only for what they use. Consumption is usually billed on a utility (for example, resources consumed, like electricity) or subscription (for example an annual subscription to a newspaper) basis with little or no upfront cost."
No IT staff required: Ok, this might be an oversimplification, but many applications available in the cloud require much less in-house IT support because the hosting provider takes care of installs, upgrades, backups and standard maintenance for you.
No servers need to be researched, purchased, maintained, or recycled.
Rapid deployment: Often, accounts can be set up in minutes. More complicated pieces of software (CRM, accounting packages, donor management software) still require more set up and probably training of your staff.
Convenience: Staff and volunteers can access your applications from almost any Internet connection with their login information. No more setting up VPNs or systems to allow remote access to your servers.

Green Benefits

Fewer servers are built and running, meaning fewer toxic materials and water need to be used, fewer toxic materials are dumped, and less energy is consumed in the running of the servers.
Client computers do not need to be as powerful since all the processing is performed on the hosted server(s). This means that you can keep your older computers longer and reduces demand for new computers, again saving on toxics and water.

tags:

Quickheal Admin Console 4.5 available for donation on BiGTech

posted by Anonymous - Tue, 13/09/2011 - 12:28

Quick Heal Admin Console 4.5 provides a centralized management and control of virus protection on networks of almost any size with virtually any combination of Windows or Linux operating system on clients. Quick Heal Admin Console 4.5 is easy to deploy and maintain complete protection across the network. Quick Heal Admin Console 4.5 is designed considering the needs of system administrator making it easier to deploy and maintain complete protection across the network.

With Quick Heal Admin Console 4.5 you can now block access to all the removable drives like Pen Drive and other USB storage mediums across the network. It helps protect company’s sensitive and confidential data being copied to such removable media without authorization. To place an order visit http://bigtech.in/node/2319 for multiples of 10 users & http://bigtech.in/node/2321 for multiples of 5 users

tags: Quick Heal Technologies Pvt. Ltd., Software

Microsoft Offers Get Genuine Windows: Full Operating Systems Versions Now Available

posted by Anonymous - Tue, 26/07/2011 - 16:43

As part of the recent updates to the Microsoft Software Donation Program, Microsoft made donations of full versions of its Windows operating systems available through the Microsoft Get Genuine program.

Your organization might have PCs with illegal, free, or basic operating systems — either from accepting donated machines or buying the computers at bargain-basement prices. Microsoft’s Get Genuine program offers your organization a one-time chance to get your existing computers running fully legitimate and upgradable Windows operating systems, enabling your organization to easily upgrade through TechSoup when a more recent OS version is needed or released.

To be eligible for the Get Genuine donations, the existing computers on which your organization will install the full Windows OS software must currently have one of the following:

· Counterfeit, pirated, or otherwise illegal, unlicensed, or improperly licensed Windows operating systems

· Home Premium, Home Basic, or Starter editions of Windows 7 or Windows Vista

· Home or Starter editions of Windows XP

· Linux, FreeDOS, or other operating systems

· No operating systems

Special Rules for Get Genuine Product Requests:

· Eligible organizations may place only one request ever for Get Genuine products.

· Requests for Get Genuine products may not contain any other products.

· During check-out, the Get Genuine Windows Agreement for Small and Medium Organizations must be accepted on behalf of the organization.

Request Get Genuine Products here

Request Carefully — Get Genuine Windows OS Products Are a One-Time Donation

Microsoft-eligible organizations can request donations of full Get Genuine Windows operating systems only once, ever, so please make sure to plan your request carefully. Since the Get Genuine products are part of the Windows Desktop Operating Systems title group, a request for this product will count against your two-year cycle allotment of 50 licenses in the Windows Desktop Operating Systems title group.

Windows Upgrade Still Available

If your existing PCs already have a qualifying base operating system in place, you can still request the Windows OS Upgrades donations that TechSoup has always offered. Since you only have one chance to request Get Genuine Windows OS products ever, you should request the standard upgrade products if you have one of the following qualified, base Operating Systems already in place on your machine:

· Enterprise, Professional, or Ultimate editions of Windows 7 or Windows Vista

· XP Professional version of Windows XP

· Windows 2000 Professional

· Windows NT Workstation 4.0

· Windows 98 (2^nd Edition)

· Apple Macintosh

Still Have Questions? Easily see what you can request from Microsoft: To help you manage your Microsoft donations, TechSoup has created the Microsoft Donation Center (accessible from the Donation Request/History page under My Account), where nonprofits can get all key details in one place. Organizations can easily track what they’ve received so far, what remains of their software allotment, when their cycle resets, and the value of Microsoft software donations to date.

Help Us Donate More: Spread the word!

Many organizations have benefited from software donations from Microsoft, but there are many more still to reach! Help us spread the word to our fellow nonprofits. Check out this great video on the impact of Microsoft software donations and share it with your networks. You can find more on Facebook and follow via Twitter @mfstcitizenship.

tags: Microsoft, Operating Systems

Good news! Updates to the Microsoft Software Donation Program

posted by Anonymous - Tue, 26/07/2011 - 13:54

Beginning today, July 27, 2011, organizations now have more flexibility regarding when they can request Microsoft software donations and in the product donations available. And, to make navigating the program easier, we’re introducing the Microsoft Donation Center, where eligible organizations can easily track their Microsoft requests, see the value of donations received to date, and more.

How the Microsoft Program Updates Benefit Your Organization

● Request what you need, when you need it: Organizations can now request Microsoft products as needed, not just once per year. Also, there is no longer a five-seat minimum requirement, so an organization can request just one license if that is all it needs.

● Get more complete solutions: Now organizations can request up to 10 different Microsoft titles in each two-year cycle instead of 6, helping them to build more complete solutions to help them meet their missions. And, with the addition of Microsoft’s Get Genuine Windows product, organizations can ensure their existing computers are running genuine versions of Microsoft operating systems (learn more about Get Genuine here).

● Easily see Microsoft donations details at a glance: To help organizations manage their Microsoft donations, TechSoup has created the Microsoft Donation Center (accessible from the My requests link next to the My account link), where nonprofits can get all the key details in one place. Organizations can easily track what’s been donated so far, what remains of their software allotment, when their cycle resets, and more nonprofit resources available from Microsoft.

● Existing Microsoft Cycles Have Been Reset: If your organization is already participating in the Microsoft Software Donation Program through TechSoup, your cycle has been reset! Your two-year donation cycle will start again when you place your first Microsoft request after July 27, 2011, and will reset every two years on the anniversary of that request. Orders placed before July 27, 2011, will not count against your new Microsoft software donation allotment.

To learn more about the updates to the Microsoft Software Donation Program and how they affect your organization, visit our Overview of the Microsoft Software Donation Program. Together with Microsoft, we’re excited to help you understand the updates and how they can benefit your organization, and – ultimately – your community.

Help Us Donate More: Spread the word!

Many organizations have benefited from software donations from Microsoft, but there are many more still to reach! Help us spread the word to our fellow nonprofits. Check out this great video(in English) on the impact of Microsoft software donations and share it with your networks. You can also follow @msftcitizenship on Twitter (in English) to hear more or find them on Facebook

tags: Microsoft, Software

Indic language tools from Microroft

posted by Anonymous - Fri, 18/03/2011 - 15:29

Hi All,

Here’s some information on Indic language tools from Microsoft that you may find useful for yourself as well to guide others (thanks to rumi, vikas and shubhro at nasscom foundation).

a) For info on windows in hindi- check this

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=a1a48de1-e264-48d6-8439-ab7139c9c14d&displaylang=hi

b) For office in hindi go to specials.msn.co.in

This is indic language input tool site there 10 languages available where we can use this language for offline and online application

Or

You can go to http://msn.co.in/ilit/ and install the desktop version by clicking on the “Install Now” button for the current language. It will automatically open a web page that has detailed instructions about how to use the tool.

For example, on Vista, here is the page that appears with the installation and usage instructions:

http://specials.msn.co.in/ilit/GettingStarted.aspx?languageName=Hindi&redir=true&postInstall=true#WindowsVista

tags: Microsoft

Season of Sharing (and cost savings) begins! Check out Windows Multipoint Server 2010.

posted by Anonymous - Thu, 09/12/2010 - 18:19

Say an organization has ten computers - that amounts to ten of those huge boxes that we call CPUs. Ten boxes mean that maintenance, software upgrades, etc. has to be done ten times - once on each computer/CPU. The AMC will also be billed for ten computers. Now imagine if just one CPU box is shared between ten users - that although there are ten sets of '1 monitor + 1 keyboard + 1 mouse', there is only one CPU box. Imagine the cost savings and ease of maintenance!

We hereby proudly announce that such a system viz. ‘Windows MultiPoint Server’ has been added to the BiGTech donation catalogue.

Windows MultiPoint Server 2010 is a special version of the Windows Server operating system that allows multiple users to simultaneously share one computer.

Each user station, typically consisting of a monitor, keyboard, and mouse connected to a station hub, provides an independent Windows desktop environment. The station hubs connect to the single host computer through USB or video cables and use the host computer's processing capabilities.

MultiPoint Server can be useful for organizations or libraries with computer labs, classrooms, or other collaborative environments where using just one computer for several users can save energy, simplify maintenance, and lower expenses. The number of simultaneously connected stations is limited only by the host computer's hardware capacity.

This product donation on BiGTech includes a MultiPoint Server 2010 server license. Each user station that connects to MultiPoint Server must have two types of client access licenses (CALs): a MultiPoint Server CAL and a Windows Server CAL. These two CALs, licensed per device (a user station), are available as a single donation through BiGTech. If the host computer is used as a user station and not just for administration, organizations must acquire both a MultiPoint Server CAL and a Windows Server CAL for it as well.

Individual MultiPoint Server device CALs are also available through BiGTech for users with valid Windows Server CALs. One license of this kind is required per user station.

There are several formats of sharing setups possible. The format that is right for you is determined by your requirements and the host computer’s hardware capacity. Some examples are below: