Tools for efficiency — portable computing devices and other products to fit the needs of the technical communicator, business person, author, artist and consultant.

Consider this quarter's edition of TMIS E-Newsletter an eReaders' guide to some of the most current industry buzzwords...

"Outsourcing," while not new, refers to the often innnovative business practice of working with outside vendors to meet financial and production goals. The practice has been in use long enough to provide sufficient data to reveal which aspects of outsourcing work and which do not. A leading business intelligence firm has issued an report outlining how successful outsourcers are keeping their initiatives in line with their goals.

"BPO," Business Process Outsourcing, is such a new term that the Outsourcing Institute declares you can't get three people to agree on what it is, let alone how to best use it for maximum gain. Yet, they stress the mandatory need for process change to be coordinated and synchronized with curtailed IT spending in order to compete in a global economy.

"Telecommuting" has become increasingly popular for both employees and businesses. New "telework" centers have been established as a pilot program in the Washington DC area to educate the public on the benefits of telecommuting such as improving employee productivity, reducing absenteeism, bolstering the area's economy, and reducing traffic congestion and air pollution.

The technology of "digital writing" involves use of a special digital pen and a special digital paper (much like ordinary paper with a pattern of small dots) via Bluetooth wireless transmission to a computer. Sketches made with the technology filled an important niche during a recent courtroom trial where neither filming nor photography were allowed.

A "whitebook" is a variation of the term "white box," which refers to a desktop computer built to the customer's specifications, only a "whitebook" is a notebook computer. I am happy to announce that TMIS is now partnering with industry giant D and H to provide built-to-order whitebook notebook computers with Intel's Centrino Pentium Processors designed to maximize your wireless connectivity.

We have also added a new line of Ergonomic Office Aids in Thunder Mountain the On-Line Store. "Ergonomics" is the applied science coordinating the design of devices, systems, and physical working conditions with the capacities and requirements workers. Many employers are able to partially meet OSHA requirements by adding some of these products to their workplace.

I am grateful to be in a collaborative business with many talented and skilled professionals. Additional feedback and recommendations for our products and services at TM Information Services http://www.tminformationservices.com are always welcome.

- Mary M. McLaughlin

In this Issue:
• From the Front Page of TMIS News
• From Thunder Mountain the On-Line Store
• From the TMIS Full Stock Site
• Whitebook Configurator
• Centerpoint Graphics Premier Printer of the Northwest

From the Front Page of TMIS News <Top>
http://www.tminformationservices.com
Click on links below to read Full Stories

"Outsourcing from Strength" Report Measures Outsourcing Success
Durham, N.C.

Measurement tracking and continuous improvement are critical factors in post-contract outsourcing management, according to a report from business intelligence firm Cutting Edge Information. Top outsourcers design win-win systems to keep outsourcing initiatives in line with goals. More than 30 percent of outsourcing clients describe themselves as unsatisfied after two years. Excellent measurement is one key to keeping both parties in the agreement happy.
Full Story

Leading Authority of Business Process Outsourcing Joins the Outsourcing Institute to Launch a New BPO Division
Jericho, NY

Business process outsourcing (BPO) continues to gain momentum in the marketplace. However, most organizations still do not fully understand what it is or how to utilize it. Enter Graham Kemp, BPO pioneer and recent addition to The Outsourcing Institute (OI). BPO is a vast space, with huge opportunities for organizations of all sizes. Comments Frank Casale, founder and CEO of The Outsourcing Institute, "We have the top guy in the industry and we will soon launch a much needed initiative to help the vendor community compete and the buyer community to more effectively source and manage in this space."
Full Story

Program Marks First Public/Private Partnership to Encourage Telecommuting
Washington D.C.

At a joint press conference, the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) and the Greater Washington Board of Trade (BOT) announced a new effort to encourage 50,000 more commuters to telecommute by 2005. The program, which is aimed at large employers and federal agencies includes free customized training programs and free trials at telecommuting or "telework" centers, marks the first time that public and private organizations in the metropolitan Washington area have come together to promote telecommuting.
Full Story

Telework Consortium Announces Technology Partnership
Redwood City, CA

First Virtual Communications, a premier provider of infrastructure and solutions for real time rich media communications, has announced they have entered into a technology partnership with the Telework Consortium, a non-profit organization chartered with accelerating and expanding the adoption of telework by building and communicating the business case for telework. Telework Consortium technology partners help conduct research, expand pilot programs and promote and evaluate communications and collaboration technologies.
Full Story

New Video And Guidelines To Educate Millions Who ‘Bridge The Distance’ Through Alternative Work Strategies
Wexford, PA

To help organizations and workers achieve greater productivity with new ways of working, ALLearnatives, a Pittsburgh, PA-based alternative-work-strategy consulting firm, announced the release of a new video-based training program: BRIDGING THE DISTANCE: VIRTUAL TEAMS ON THE ROAD TO RESULTS. This program, along with other services offered by ALLearnatives, helps teams comprised of a geographically dispersed workforce face the critical challenge of achieving results in an effective and timely manner.

Today millions of workers are showing up for work by signing onto networks and collaborating with colleagues who are located in other cities or time zones. For a vastly growing number of workers, travel budgets are greatly curtailed, on-site office space is limited, work-life balance demands have impacted the way work is accomplished, and security concerns are pervasive. As a result, a growing number of workers around the globe are using—or being asked to use—digital access tools to achieve increasing levels of productivity. ALLearnatives is responding to these workplace dynamics with a new video program and services designed to educate, build and support these initiatives.
Full Story

Whitebook Opportunities Lie in Mid-market

As notebook penetration catches up to desktops in the enterprise space, a solid market is developing for whitebook manufacturers to cash in on this 'new' opportunity. This opportunity isn't enormous, yet, but it's growing, and becoming more pervasive in areas that used to be the exclusive domain of the desktop or OEM notebooks. David Daoud, senior analyst for IDC, said channel partners would have to fine-tune their service offerings in order to experience true success. He said players in the white box market need to discover new form factors, particularly with laptops, as that's the segment that will drive desktop growth in 2004. According to research from META, only 45 per cent of corporate users will rely on desktops by 2006. Notebooks will have a 40 per cent market share by then, the company said. META said a key factor in the growth of notebooks and the like is the increased number of appliances the average corporate user is equipped with now.
Full Story

State and Local Government Agencies Accelerate Online

Akamai Technologies, Inc. , the world's largest on demand distributed computing platform for conducting profitable e-business, today announced robust demand for its services within the state and local government sector. Akamai has been selected by several state agencies, including governor's offices, travel & tourism departments, House & Senate legislatures, and public sector Web portals, as well as several state universities, for the deployment of its content and application delivery services to enable more reliable, secure and cost-effective online initiatives.
Full Story

Digital Pen Documents Anna Lindh Trial

A digital pen with Anoto functionality was used by TV4 Plus during the present trial into the killing of foreign minister Anna Lindh. Neither filming nor photographing was allowed in the courtroom. Digital pens enabling Anoto functionality were therefore used to bring developments home during the proceedings.
Full Story

From Thunder Mountain the On-Line Store <Top>
http://www.thundermount.com

Pegasus PC NoteTaker	Centrino Pentium M Whitebook Poly Case	Back-A-Line Ergonomic Back Belt

InkLINK Digital Handwriting System	Centrino Pentium M Whitebook Mag Case	The PowerBoard Ergonomic Keyboard Platform

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