It's a common focus of many companies and individuals today -
just Google "going green" and check out some of the more than 26 million
references - yes, that's right - 26 million!
Kermit (that's the Frog) tells us that "it's not easy being green." However, a
growing wave of companies in all sectors - technology, financial services,
energy, retail, manufacturing - are embracing environmentally safe practices
and saving hundreds of millions of dollars, according to corporate leaders and
a report from the non-profit Environmental Defense Fund.
Companies are using green practices in their work sites, in product development
and packaging, in energy-saving data centers and other technology.
David Yarnold, the fund's executive director, says green business practices
"can create competitive advantage" and "strengthen the bottom line."
One technology leader aims to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by
2012 through a range of practices, from using cooler, energy-saving technology
in its computer chips to allowing thousands of its more than 30,000 employees
to work at home. Telecommuting can save hundreds of millions of dollars
in the real estate and fuel costs.
One insurance company offers its commercial customers insurance policies
promising their property, if destroyed by fire or disaster, will be rebuilt
using green materials, heating and lighting. And, there are plans to
extend these policies to homeowners as well.
InfoSol is a part of the Going Green movement, with both internal and external Green
initiatives in place. From an internal perspective, we are focusing on
three specific areas in 2008:
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Recycling
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Telecommuting
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Power Saving
These three areas are the most obvious for any company to
tackle, and we're going at it with a deliberate mindset. Recycling paper
and other disposables is a first step in our recycling initiative. All of
our Senior Technical Consultants and Sales Account Managers work from home
offices, thereby reducing commuting time and carbon emissions. We're
addressing power saving practices, focusing on the two major consumers of
power: air-conditioning and lighting. It seems like a simple
procedure - turn off equipment when it's not in use - but, it requires
consistent practices to make it happen. The use of more energy efficient
equipment (including light bulbs) is just one more practice that is part of the
power saving initiative.
Our external initiatives, perhaps most interesting for our customers, include
the introduction of a suite of new Green Services. These
services include Remote Consulting (using GreenHours™)
and Remote Education (GreenLearning™), offering special
incentives for training offered by InfoSol.
Remote Consulting Green Hours can be applied to many activities, including Knowledge
Transfer and Dashboards to Order.
There are several other consulting Green Hour opportunities, as well.
Because we can be more cost-effective in our delivery, we can pass these
savings on to our customers through some innovative packaging and Green Hour
tracking, which incorporates a Carbon Footprint Dashboard to show the Carbon
Dioxide reduction resulting from the use of Green Hours. One dollar for
every Green Hour purchased will be donated to planting trees!
GreenLearning includes BusinessObjects E-Learning Courses, Knowledge
Accelerator, and Virtual Classroom. InfoSol will donate a percentage of
the GreenLearning revenues to planting trees!
We'll be discussing our Going Green initiatives with you at IBIS 2008 - and in
on-going communication. We want to hear your ideas and recommendations -
do it IN PERSON at IBIS! See you there.
For additional information regarding
IBIS 2008 or or our new Green Services, contact
infosol@infosol.com.
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BusinessObjects Q&A
QUESTION:
I don't see a way, in Web Intelligence, to change the color of
individual data point on a chart. Is there a way to do this?
ANSWER:
Unfortunately, there is
not a way to modify the color of an individual data point in a chart. You
can, however, modify the default palette.
Click
here to view full tech tip...
Crystal Reports Q&A
QUESTION:
How do you ensure that users put the
full range into the selection criteria to make sure they are pulling all of the
data and not leaving out the last day?
ANSWER:
One way to fix this is to note the 11:59:59PM in your prompt text, or
to build in default choices with correct, 12:00:00AM, choices based on the type
of report.
Click
here to view full tech tip...
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TRACK 5: InfoBurst/ProPublisher will
provide you with a unique opportunity
to get up to speed with new innovations and show you how to get the most
out of your InfoBurst deployment
Are you faced with the distribution and publishing
challenges for reports and dashboards? Existing InfoBurst users and those
still searching for a solution will find answers to your distribution and
publishing questions. Here is your chance to ask the experts about all
things InfoBurst and learn how to maximize the available features to your
benefit.
IBIS 2008 Track 5
provides a thorough tour of InfoBurst, covering the strengths of the solution
and digging into report bursting and dashboard solutions. Plus, you'll
see a preview of the future direction of InfoBurst.
At the conclusion of Track 5, attendees will have an
understanding of the capabilities of InfoBurst and be able to apply this
knowledge to solve various distribution and publishing challenges. Plus,
learn more about how Xcelsius Dashboard solutions can enhance your environment.
Individual sessions
will:
-
Introduce the InfoBurst product and showcase some of the more
common workflow scenarios
-
Compare the different product offerings and provide insight on
which suite best meets certain requirements
-
Present case studies that will provide you with an appreciation of
the power and flexibility of InfoBurst
-
Provide insights on popular report bursting options
-
Explore innovative options that help with an Xcelsius deployment
-
Present and demonstrate InfoBurst ProPublisher, built on 5 years of
report distribution & publishing problem solving experience
-
Show you how to take advantage of ProPublisher with your own applications
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