SYS-ED computer applications training provides the foundation to comprehend and implement information technology.  We teach industry standard content augmented with topics and guidelines proven successful out in the field.  SYS-ED courseware and training aids serve to streamline, demonstrate, and explain how to achieve specific performance objectives.  And even more important, deliver consultancy and educational solutions which address the glitches and smooth out the shortcomings which the source software companies frequently are not forthcoming to identify!

Microsoft versus UNIX

A popular assumption was that web enabled applications and the foundation for implementation, operating systems, internetworking, and application development were to be Microsoft centric: Internet Explorer, Outlook, MS Office, Windows networking - XP, Vista, Server 2003, FrontPage, ASP.NET, Visual Basic to .NET, and C#.  However, this is not what has occurred.  The reality is a hybrid web enabled world of applications and data, aside from international standards (ISO: International Standards Organization) and W3C, which in all likelihood has not yet evolved to its long term state. Desktop and workstation IT is now for the most part Microsoft and UNIX, in conjunction with a variety of proprietary and open source software. SYS-ED consultants have a unique background and skillset to apply as instructors to teach computer applications and provide recommendations and guidelines to make the software work as advertised. Several were first generation practitioners and developers with UNIX nascent TCP/IP. Now in the 21st century, our staff is once again on the leading edge of UNIX consulting and training. In addition to having a comprehensive  curricula across the Microsoft product line, SYS-ED teaches on all the major UNIX variants - Linux, Solaris, Suse, Red Hat, and Fedora, and the emerging open source desktop software applications - OpenOffice and StarOffice.

Productivity Software Suites

Business Case: Alternatives to Microsoft Office 2007!

As a leading edge innovator in computer applications training, SYS-ED has been utilizing and testing the complete range of alternatives to Microsoft Office 2007.  

These alternatives are far less expensive than MS Office 2007.  For an organization which has purchased 15+ Microsoft Office licenses, the savings could be $10,000+ over a standard 5 year usage/upgrade cycle.  The productivity software suite software is available at minimal or no cost.  The term for this type of software in the IT field is open source.

Integration of Networking and Search
Google has started including Sun Microsystems’ StarOffice suite for free as part of its Google Pack download.  StarOffice is Sun's commercial version of the OpenOffice suite; it has been reportedly downloaded about 100 million times.  StarOffice typically costs $70 to download.  It has more features than OpenOffice and typically includes technical support from Sun; the free Google version won't. Google’s Firefox web browser is also included in the package.  Internet search capabilities have been added to all StarOffice products.  A user will be able to highlight terms in a word processing document and search immediately for those terms through Google.

Case in Point: Google Apps
Google’s Apps has been developed as a software-as-a-service model.  Access and utilization of the product will be through an Internet connection. There will be no downloads, backups, or new hardware to deal with.  If collaboration is important to an organization, there can be real advantages with Google Apps.  However, there will be shortcomings in areas such as complex financial modeling in spreadsheets and producing highly customized and polished presentation graphics.  SYS-ED’s consultancy derived computer application courses and client site educational training sessions provide factual, clear and most importantly unbiased demonstrations which teach and explain.

Challenges in Using/Learning Google Apps
The functions are laid out differently from the MS Office commands or are in a different place.

Web Design

The base platform for stability in terms of hardware and processor technology is in place.  The processing and content generators can recognize and intercommunicate with one another: Intel-and non-Intel workstations, mid range systems, and mainframe.  TCP/IP is firmly entrenched as the conduit for internetworking.  The component software for the next generation of web design is stable and available.  There is a base standardization in web browsers for HTML and the XML browsers are on the way.  The line up of operating systems is well established with Microsoft Windows and UNIX variants, with Linux, Fedora, and Sun Microsystems settling in as the main players serving as the platform for a heterogeneous combination of open source and proprietary web servers and scalable enterprise databases which primarily utilize WebSphere MQ middleware to access and manage data on IBM iSeries and mainframe systems.  Equally as important, many of the operational challenges of web design have been resolved.  The web design tools, interfaces, scripting and programmatic implementation have been refined and the featureset is becoming more uniform in hybrid computing environments.  Industry experts agree that effective web design will require a fundamental understanding of the evolving state-of-the-market in order to produce a flexible and efficient long-term strategy for managing and programmatically developing web content.