THE 2014-15 TECHNOLOGY RESOURCE GUIDE Prepared For A Builder’s Digital Toolkit - Master Session Las Vegas Convention Center, January 22, 2015 Revised 09/06/2014 TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................................................... 1 ABOUT THE TECHNOLOGY RESOURCE GUIDE FOR 2014: .............................................................................. 4 MASTER CLASS: A BUILDER’S DIGITAL TOOLKIT: AN OVERVIEW OF MUST-HAVE TECHNOLOGY FOR BUILDERS AND REMODELERS ...................................................................................................................... 5 STAYING SAFE ONLINE: BONUS CONTENT ........................................................................................................ 6 CHEAP TRICKS 2014: BONUS CONTENT SIMPLE TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS TO BIG BUSINESS PROBLEMS ..................................................................................................................................................................14 HOW TO EVALUATE AND SELECT TECHNOLOGY SUCCESSFULLY “TOP-DOWN”: ........................................37 THE FUNNEL : ..................................................................................................................................................................37 INPUTS AND OUTPUTS : WHAT IS A “P ROCESS ”? ...............................................................................................................37 THE DANGERS OF GOING “B OTTOM -UP” ........................................................................................................................38 STAYING “T OP -DOWN ” ...................................................................................................................................................38 CONSTRAINTS: ............................................................................................................................................................38 PRODUCT SELECTION: HOW .....................................................................................................................................38 CREATING A REQUIREMENTS DOCUMENT: THE “WHAT” STEP : ..........................................................................39 WRITING REQUIREMENTS : THE “M UST DO STATEMENTS ” AND TERMINATING FACTORS : ................................................39 “HOW”: EVALUATING , IDENTIFYING , AND COMPARING PRODUCTS AND SERVICES .........................................................40 USING YOUR REQUIREMENTS DOCUMENT : ..................................................................................................................41 IMPLEMENTATION: THE PROJECT-ACTION PLAN ................................................................................................41 LINKS AND OTHER RESOURCE LISTINGS ..........................................................................................................42 SMART PHONE AND PORTABLE (TABLET) APPS .......................................................................................................43 ONLINE CATALOGS OF SMART PHONE AND TABLET “APPS ” FOR CONCTRACTORS ............................................................43 AUGMENTED REALITY AND VIRTUALIZATION – SMART PHONE .......................................................................................43 RESOURCE SITES - PHONE ...............................................................................................................................................43 FAVORITE SMART PHONE OR TABLET APPS .....................................................................................................................44 BUILDER AND INDUSTRY BLOGS : ....................................................................................................................................44 BLOGGING PLATFORMS : ..................................................................................................................................................44 E-MAIL MARKETING .......................................................................................................................................................44 PERSONAL INFORMATION SYSTEMS ................................................................................................................................45 PHOTO AND IMAGE STORAGE ONLINE .............................................................................................................................45 SOCIAL MEDIA AND SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES : ...........................................................................................................45 SOCIAL NETWORKING TOOLS AND ADD -ONS : .................................................................................................................45 SOCIAL BOOKMARKING : .................................................................................................................................................45 WEB SURVEY TOOLS ......................................................................................................................................................46 WEB -CASTING AND PODCASTING ....................................................................................................................................46 WEB VIDEO , VIDEO SHARING , AND WEB -TV SITES : ........................................................................................................46 ALTERNATIVE , WEB -BASED , AND OPEN -SOURCE APPLICATIONS ..................................................................................47 ALTERNATIVES –GENERAL : ............................................................................................................................................47 ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT : ...............................................................................................................47 HR (H UMAN REOURCES ) MANAGEMENT : .......................................................................................................................47 CAD AND BULDING DESIGN : ..........................................................................................................................................48 COMPETITIVE INTELLIGENCE ..........................................................................................................................................48 DIAGRAMMING AND PROCESS MAPPING : ........................................................................................................................48 PHOTO AND IMAGE EDITING ............................................................................................................................................48 PRESENTATION AND PUBLISHING ....................................................................................................................................49 PRODUCTIVITY AND ‘O FFICE ’ REPLACEMENTS ................................................................................................................49 PROJECT INTRANETS : ......................................................................................................................................................49 PROJECT MANAGEMENT : ................................................................................................................................................50 CROSS -PLATFORM CLOUD PROJECT MANAGEMENT TOOLS : ............................................................................................50 VIRTUALIZATION ............................................................................................................................................................50 UTILITIES AND OTHER MUST -HAVE TOOLS ..............................................................................................................51 DOCUMENT TEMPLATES ..................................................................................................................................................51 DATA SAFETY , SECURITY , BACK -UP AND RECOVERY .....................................................................................................51 EXCEL TOOLS ...............................................................................................................................................................51 FILE SHARING AND “S AVE AND SYNC ” SYNCHRONIZATION .............................................................................................52 ONLINE BACKUP .............................................................................................................................................................52 BACKUP YOUR BACKUP – AND OTHER CLOUD DATA ......................................................................................................52 DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT - PAPER TO CLOUD ................................................................................................................52 REMOTE ACCESS , REMOTE CONTROL , REMOTE MEETINGS .............................................................................................53 SEARCH AND RESEARCH .................................................................................................................................................54 TRAINING .......................................................................................................................................................................54 WEB 2.0 APPLICATIONS , WEB DESIGN TOOLS , AND SEARCH