Are you the kind of person who takes your car to the shop and tells the mechanic exactly what part needs to be replaced or fixed? Do you go to the doctor’s office and let them know about your condition and probable cures based on what you looked up on WebMD? How about others’ interaction with you? In your professional life, have you been asked to … [Read more...]
Don’t be that way
Question for all IT support professionals: Ever hear, “The system is down!” when what they mean is, “I got an error,” or “I can’t log in.” How about, “This report doesn’t work!” when what they mean is, “I’m not getting the data I expected.” Working with servers and … [Read more...]
Specificity + Inaccuracy = Yikes!
Every once in a while I run into a customer with a very specific request: Please do “this” down to the very last detail. I might take a look at the request and think, “Hmmm… I don’t know what they’re trying to do, but this doesn’t look like a good idea on the surface. I wonder what’s up.” For … [Read more...]
9 reasons why the new Metalink sucks
I know I’m not alone, and I know I’m not the first to express displeasure, but let me just say: AAAARRRRRRRGHHHH!!!!! I’m going to call the new Metalink “Metaflash.” Seems like a good name for it. It combines “meta” and “flash” which sounds really hip and technical, yet communicates nothing. Kind of like shoving “i” or “e” in front of a … [Read more...]
If it’s really important… get 2
When our daughter was about 2, my wife and I noticed she had become almost disturbingly attached to a particular blanket. She carried it everywhere and slept with it every night; they were inseparable. There was nothing remarkable about the blanket, except that if Daniella (our daughter) couldn’t find it she would melt down like a popsicle on the … [Read more...]
Proactive support
We all know proactive service when we see it. A couple of examples: Proactive is when you are shopping for a new gadget, but just before you buy it the clerk tells you a special battery is required (even though the box fails to mention it) but is not included. “Would you like one of those as well?” Proactive is a waiter asking his patrons if … [Read more...]
Proactive Maintenance for Oracle E-Business Suite
As a remote services provider, often we are often asked to provide proactive maintenance support for clients. For the purposes of this discussion, I’m going to separate operational support form maintenance support. Operational support surrounds management of the application operations, as they exist. For example, if I’m running 11.5.10.2 on … [Read more...]
BlueGecko’s focus on people true to brand
Blue Gecko has been mentioned in a great article on brands. Sharpen Your Competitive Edge with Tangible Brand by Mary Weisnewski Consulting Magazine, October 30, 2008 … [Read more...]
Alfred P. Sloan Award for Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility
Blue Gecko was named a winner of the Alfred P. Sloan Award for Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility in 2007, 2008, 2009 & 2010 distinguishing us as one of the top practitioners of workplace flexibility in the nation. “Two of the biggest issues for employers in today’s economy are recruitment of top talent and retention of valued … [Read more...]