uSamp (www.usamp.com) today announced that Matt Dusig, Co-Founder & CEO, and Gregg Lavin, Co-Founder and President, are finalists for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of the Year^® 2011 Award in the Greater Los Angeles region.

According to Ernst & Young LLP, the awards program recognizes entrepreneurs who demonstrate excellence and extraordinary success in areas such as innovation, financial performance and personal commitment to their businesses and communities. Dusig and Lavin were selected as finalists from nearly 70 nominations by a panel of independent judges. Award winners will be announced at a special gala event on June 21, 2011 at the Beverly Hilton.

“Many of the customers who use our technology each day demonstrate, within their own organizations, the entrepreneurial spirit that this prestigious award represents,” said Dusig, to which Lavin added, “on behalf of uSamp’s employees and all those loyal customers, we’re honored to be selected for this special recognition.”

uSamp, one of the world’s fastest growing technology and online sample companies, helps entrepreneurs and companies around the world develop more productive partnerships with their customers through easily accessed survey panels and easy-to-use market research tools. Founded in 2008, uSamp now has 175 team members worldwide and approximately 5.7 million global market research panelists. Its line of proprietary technologies includes SampleMarket™, PanelNet™, PanelShield™, Opinion Place® River and real-time Panel Book Search – all cutting-edge solutions for accessing, branding, sampling and managing panels.

The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year Program celebrates its 25^th anniversary this year. The program has expanded to recognize business leaders in more than 140 cities and more than 50 countries throughout the world.

Regional award winners are eligible for consideration for the Entrepreneur Of The Year National Award. Award winners in several national categories, as well as the Entrepreneur Of The Year overall National Award winner, will be announced at the annual awards gala in Palm Springs, Calif., on Nov. 12, 2011. The awards are the culminating event of the Ernst & Young Strategic Growth Forum^®, the nation’s most prestigious gathering of high-growth, market-leading companies, which will be held Nov. 9-13, 2011.

Sponsors

Founded and produced by Ernst & Young LLP, the Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards are pleased to have the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation as a national sponsor. In the Greater Los Angeles region, Platinum sponsors are Marsh, Union Bank, SAP and Scherzer International; Gold sponsors, ADP, Montgomery & Co., and RR Donnelley; and Silver sponsors, Acacia Wealth Advisors, CresaPartners, J.H. Cohn., and Strategic Equity Group.

About uSamp

uSamp (uSamp.com) is one of the world’s fastest growing technology and online sample companies, providing global survey panelists and an innovative sampling platform for use in market research. uSamp develops collaborative market research tools to foster more rewarding, profitable relationships between organizations and the people they serve. Founded in 2008, the company has 175 team members worldwide and approximately 5.7 million global market research panelists. The company’s web-based panel platform is transforming the management and delivery of online panel for market researchers, offering unprecedented access over their panel. uSamp’s deep well of proprietary technologies includes SampleMarket™, PanelNet™, PanelShield™, Opinion Place® River and real-time Panel Book Search — cutting-edge solutions for accessing, branding, sampling and managing panels. uSamp is based in Los Angeles, with offices in Dallas, London, New Delhi and Trumbull, CT.

About the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards Program

Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year^® is the world’s most prestigious business award for entrepreneurs. The unique award makes a difference through the way it encourages entrepreneurial activity among those with potential, and recognizes the contribution of people who inspire others with their vision, leadership and achievement. As the first and only truly global award of its kind, Entrepreneur Of The Year celebrates those who are building and leading successful, growing and dynamic businesses, recognizing them through regional, national and global awards programs in more than 140 cities in more than 50 countries.

About Ernst & Young

Ernst & Young is a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services. Worldwide, our 141,000 people are united by our shared values and an unwavering commitment to quality. We make a difference by helping our people, our clients and our wider communities achieve their potential.

Ernst & Young refers to the global organization of member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young LLP is a client-serving member firm of Ernst & Young Global Limited operating in the US. For more information about our organization, please visit www.ey.com.

CompTIA, the non-profit association for the information technology (IT) industry, today introduced a new business level credential for managed IT services providers who use industry-accepted best practices for service delivery and customer interaction.

“The CompTIA MSP Partners Trustmark serves as a signpost for organizations seeking a competent and qualified managed IT services provider”

The CompTIA MSP Partners Trustmark is the outcome of several years of extensive research and collaboration and consultation with recognized industry experts in the managed IT services marketplace. Technology vendors, service and solution providers and others helped to develop the vendor-neutral business credential, which addresses a broad range of issues that are critical to running an effective managed services operation.

“This trustmark identifies managed services providers (MSPs) who’ve made a commitment to serving customers in a manner that’s based on the best practices of our industry,” said Jim Hamilton, vice president, member communities, CompTIA.

“The managed IT services deliverable has gained broad acceptance over the last several years, and many MSPs have adopted the model and been extremely successful with it,” said Ted Roller, vice president of channel development, Intronis.

“What CompTIA has done is leverage that effort and the resultant knowledge to create a trustmark program and credential that acts as both a best practices certification for the channel and an industry benchmark for the consumer,” Roller continued. “The end result is a higher level of competency, trust and value within the industry.”

To receive the CompTIA MSP Partners Trustmark, an MSP must complete an online application covering a detailed list of criteria, agree to a code of conduct and provide customer references.

“The CompTIA MSP Partners Trustmark serves as a signpost for organizations seeking a competent and qualified managed IT services provider,” Hamilton explained. “The credential identifies those managed services providers that demonstrate a high level of competency, adhere to prescribed industry best practices and use processes that allow them to operate in a customer-centric fashion.”

Applicants for the CompTIA MSP Partners Trustmark must provide details on their internal organizational structure, including human resources, financial, risk and business management practices; technology tools and systems they utilize; standard operating procedures; and IT service specific activities they’re engaged in, for network, server or end-user devices.

Companies must also agree to abide by a code of conduct. This code requires a commitment to conducting advertising, service delivery and overall business practices in an ethical manner. Tenets of the code call on MSPs to:

• Maintain a certain level of ethical behavior in its day-to-day operations.
• Obey all regional, national and international laws.
• Agree to protect the assets and intellectual property of all customers, ensuring their well-being in all business decisions.
• Write contracts in clear language, including the expectation of all parties involved.
• Follow fair pricing practices.
• Represent all products and services truthfully and responsibly.

The CompTIA MSP Partners Trustmark is one of several business credentials offered by CompTIA to IT industry companies as a way to demonstrate that their business adheres to the industry’s best practices and demonstrates to current and potential customers they have the dedication, knowledge and resources to perform quality service. Visit CompTIA Business Credentials to learn more.

About CompTIA

CompTIA is the voice of the world’s information technology (IT) industry. As a non-profit trade association advancing the global interests of IT professionals and companies, CompTIA is the recognized authority for IT education and credentials and the primary advocate for IT businesses and workers. Through its foundation, CompTIA also enables disadvantaged populations to gain the skills they need for employment in the IT industry. CompTIA’s vision of the IT landscape is shaped by more than 25 years of global perspective and more than 2,000 members and 1,000 business partners. For more information, visit www.comptia.org or follow CompTIA on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/comptia.

I never cease to be amazed that academic librarians are still churning out articles and conference presentations about the now countless variations on how library services and resources are being integrated in learning courseware. To my knowledge, the earliest article on this topic was David Cohen’s EDUCAUSE Review piece titled “Course Management Software: Where’s the Library?” published back in 2002. Here we are nearly ten years later and librarians are still pumping out articles about how they leverage courseware for distributing library resources, research instruction, and more.

Not that there’s any harm in sharing news or related research about the benefits of integrating the library into the courseware. In 2011, to me, this is just something we all should be doing as a standard part of academic library operations. I guess you could also say that about reference, circulation, instruction, and the myriad other things we do where there’s no end to new variations on a theme—and the literature we generate to spread the word.

For sure there are still a handful of institutions yet to adopt courseware, which also continues to amaze me give its ubiquity and the platform options, but most every academic library has access to a courseware system, commercial, open source, or even homegrown.

New competitors as Blackboard goes on the market
In the last six months there’s been a fair amount of action in the courseware market. Blackboard and Desire2Learn are still fiercely competing. In 2009, Blackboard had an 83% market share, but it’s dropped to 57%.

The learning management software (LMS) trend capturing attention currently is the number of mom-and-pop style courseware systems emerging as potential replacements for the big players in the field. For example, a team of students at the University of Pennsylvania came up with something called Coursekit because the founder said he was “fed up” with Blackboard. Another potential competitor is Instructure, and it’s in the same space as Moodle and Sakai, being offered as another open source software product. If you like your courseware on the basic side, OERGlue is a possible Blackboard replacement.

Competition is always healthy for an industry, but what has all the educational technologists and higher education investors in a state of uncertainty is the news that Blackboard is now in play as an acquisition target. There is always speculation about Blackboard being swallowed by bigger technology firm, but it looks like the rumors are proving true now that Blackboard has announced it’s reviewing some proposals. No one knows for sure what will happen, but Michael Feldstein stated that no matter what happens to Blackboard the next two years could be full of turmoil for the courseware market.

Disruption could be good for us
Many large institutions with a significant investment in Blackboard, such as my own where we have many Blackboard products and thousands of courses, would face difficulty in migrating to a new system. Those of us tied to Blackboard could only hope that new ownership would lead to improvements. For many others, it might open up great opportunities to move off of Blackboard to a newer system. It will definitely be interesting to see what happens.

Disruption can be a good thing. For courseware it could help to bring new innovations to the marketplace, and potentially some new players who would be far more receptive to the needs of academic librarians. One of my greatest frustrations with Blackboard over the years I’ve dealt with its system is its almost complete lack of interest in working more closely with database aggregators and other vendors we deal with to directly link those products into Blackboard—or to provide ways for us to do it more easily. I recall multiple conversations with database reps who told me that when they went knocking on Blackboard’s door no one came to answer—or that getting through the door would require a wide open wallet. It would be nice to see the emergence of courseware providers who would want to help us to integrate our resources into their systems with greater ease, and provide us with the tools we need to promote use of the library in students’ learning space.

Time to be proactive
While there’s no way of knowing what will happen or when it will all go down, academic librarians should pay more attention to the LMS market for news of developments. It’s not so much about how we work with courseware to extend the library into learning spaces, but rather what decisions our institutions might make about their future direction with courseware and how that might impact our ability to leverage courseware to achieve our goals. Granted, the first priority should always be how well any courseware supports faculty in achieving student learning outcomes. We have learning outcomes to achieve as well, and increasingly our campus courseware is a significant tool in accomplishing those outcomes.

Courseware is also emerging as a primary avenue by which we connect and collaborate with faculty and students. So whatever you think is the big issue of the day, be it discovery tools, open access publishing, digital textbooks, or revolutions in public service models, keep the current disruption in courseware on your radar screen as well. The lessons of the past remind us that being absent from the table when the important decisions are being made comes at a great cost to our ability to create our vision of a preferred future for academic librarianship.

The survey of 515 white-collar workers by software company Harmon.ie and polling researchers uSamp depicts a workplace culture trying to balance work, manners and family demands, says William Powers, author of the 2010 book Hamlet’s BlackBerry.

The familiar picture of managers checking e-mails in meetings is only part of a picture where workers report they leave their devices on during church, movies or even sex, he says. “This technology is supposed to bring us together, but it makes us rude,” Powers says. “It’s a wake-up call to be smarter about the devices we’re on.”

The study concluded:

•More than half of U.S. workers waste an hour or more a day on interruptions: 60% come from electronic devices and e-mails, while the other 40% come from traditional sources, such as phone calls or chats with colleagues.

•45% of workers say they can’t go more than 15 minutes, on average, without an interruption. The average worker wastes 2.5 hours a week looking for documents missing in poorly organized electronic files.

•Only 68% of people always turn their phones off at the movies. Almost two-thirds will tune out of meetings to read e-mails, tweet or take mobile phone calls. Half leave devices on at least sometimes when they go to bed.

“The issue isn’t whether you’re working, it’s whether you lose your focus when something pops up on your screen,” says David Lavenda, a vice president at Harmon.ie, based in Milpitas, Calif. Distractions cost businesses $10,790 a year per worker, the study finds.

Those conclusions are similar to other studies, Powers says. None has conclusively said whether businesses lose more from staffers distracted at work than they gain when people use devices to work after normal business hours, he says.

Companies such as Intel have experimented with tactics to persuade workers to use technology less and keep themselves fresh, Powers says. But tricks such as no-e-mail Fridays haven’t helped, he says.

“We really have managers captured 24/7,” says Mike Brezner, uSamp senior vice president. “We’re all tethered — wirelessly tethered.”

The proliferation of collaboration and social tools designed to increase productivity is actually costing businesses millions of dollars per year in lost productivity, according to a survey of more than 500 employees in U.S. businesses of all sizes conducted by online market research firm uSamp (United Sample) and commissioned by social email software provider harmon.ie.

Nearly 60% of work interruptions now involve either using tools like email, social networks, text messaging and IM, or switching windows among disparate standalone tools and applications. In fact, 45% of employees work only 15 minutes or less without getting interrupted, and 53% waste at least one hour a day due to all types of distractions.

That hour per day translates into $10,375 of wasted productivity per person annually, assuming an average salary of $30/hour. That is more than the average U.S. driver will spend this year to own and maintain a car. For businesses with 1,000 employees, the cost of employee interruptions exceeds $10 million per year.

“This survey paints a picture of a highly distracted workplace with a particular irony: information technology that was designed at least in part to save time is actually doing precisely the opposite. The very tools we rely on to do our jobs are also interfering with that mission. We’re clearly seeing what psychologists call ‘online compulsive disorder’ spill over from our personal lives to the work environment ,” said Yaacov Cohen, co-founder and CEO of harmon.ie. “For all of us, it’s time to take back the Internet and find ways to control our digital addiction.”

Among the survey findings:

MOST WORK DISRUPTIONS ARE ELECTRONIC

While traditional activities such as phone calls, talking with coworkers, and ad hoc meetings account for 43% of work interruptions today, the lion’s share of distractions are now electronically based.

• Users reported getting sidetracked in email processing (23%), switching windows to complete tasks (10%), personal online activities such as Facebook (9%), instant messaging (6%), text messaging (5%) and Web search (3%).
• Multiple devices on the desktop contribute to the problem, with 65% of respondents reporting that they utilize up to three additional monitors and/or mobile devices simultaneously with their main computer screen as they work.

DOCUMENT SEARCHES DRAIN PRODUCTIVITY

Users also spend an average of 2-1/2 hours per week trying to find the documents they need in multiple local, corporate and cloud repositories. That adds up to 16 work days annually, costing businesses $3,900 per $30/hour employee per year to subsidize inefficient document management. The problem is exacerbated by the use of email attachments instead of posting documents to a central repository where they can be easily located. The survey found that:

• The user’s email inbox is the #1 location searched, with 76% of respondents reporting email as the first place they look. Other locations include the desktop (69%), file server (52%), shared workspace (34%), portable storage device (18%) and/or cloud storage (9%).
• The average user emails two or more documents per day to an average of five people for review, increasing email-based document volume by up to 50 documents per week. The fact that these attachments are stored on multiple local computers complicates the challenge of finding the latest document versions as well as merging feedback from multiple reviewers.

WORK OUTPUT & QUALITY SUFFER

The actual cost of distraction is even higher than $10,375 per person per year in terms of the negative impact on work output, work quality and even client relationships. Users report that the continuous interruptions cause:

• Difficulty working/producing (33%)
• No time for deep or creative thinking (25%)
• Information overload (21%)
• Missed deadlines (10%)
• Lost clients/business (5%)

REFUSAL TO DISCONNECT LEADS TO RUDENESS

The perceived need to stay connected at all times has reduced civility in the workplace as well as interfering with the ability to focus on the task at hand. The survey found that:

• Two out of three users will interrupt a group meeting to communicate with someone else digitally, either by answering email (48%), answering a mobile phone (35%), chatting via IM (28%), updating their status on a social network (12%) or tweeting (9%).
• Relatively few workers disconnect to focus on a task (32%) or during virtual meetings or teleconferences (30%), webcasts (26%) or lunch (12%).
• A majority of workers turn off their devices only when their boss asks them to (85%) or during one-on-one meetings (63%).

MORE THAN 2/3 ADOPT STRATEGIES TO REDUCE DISTRACTIONS

Despite the attachment to their digital tools and devices, both companies and end users recognize the productivity challenges created by these technologies and have implemented a variety of tools and strategies in an attempt to limit digital-related disruptions.

• 68% of respondents reported that their employers have implemented policies or technologies to minimize distractions, while 73% of end users have adopted self-imposed techniques to help maintain focus.
• The #1 corporate strategy used to discourage digital diversion is blocking access to public social networks such as Facebook and/or other non-business websites (48%).
• Other corporate techniques used to promote digital efficiency include tracking online usage patterns (29%), training (25%), deployment of an enterprise collaboration and social platform that aggregates information in a single window (13%), No Facebook Fridays (6%) and No Email Fridays (3%).
• In the case of end users, 51% try to minimize distractions by reading emails in batches, 28% by working outside the office, and 25% by disconnecting from IM/email and phone a few hours a day.

Findings are based on a March 2011 uSamp survey of 515 email users working in sales, marketing, human resources or legal departments for U.S. companies of all sizes. A complete list of findings can be found at http://harmon.ie/news/i-cant-get-my-work-done-enormous-impact-distractions-workplace. More information about the causes and impact of workplace distraction can be found at http://distractedenterprise.com.

About harmon.ie

harmon.ie (pronounced ‘harmony’) is a provider of social email software that brings document collaboration to every business user by transforming the email client into a collaboration and social workspace. Thousands of businesses already use harmon.ie social email to vastly increase user adoption of Microsoft SharePoint or Google Docs for document sharing, collaboration, and social networking. Formerly known as Mainsoft, the company has been building cross-platform enterprise software since 1993. For more information, visit http://harmon.ie.

Stamford (Texas) Memorial Hospital and Hemphill County Hospital, Canadian, Texas, were among the first in line to attest to their meaningful use of electronic health records, putting the hospitals in a position to qualify for their share of the $27 billion in incentive funds emanating from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Both hospitals are using ChartAccess® Comprehensive EHR from Prognosis Health Information Systems.

 
To qualify for the money associated with the HITECH provisions of ARRA, healthcare providers need to install certified electronic health record (EHR) systems and prove that they are using the systems in a “meaningful” way by attesting to the fact that they are meeting specific user requirements. For example, hospitals need to ensure that more than 50% of patients’ demographic data is recorded as structured data, more than 50% of requesting patients receive electronic copies of their records within three business days and at least one clinical decision support rule is implemented.

 
Both Stamford and Hemphill documented their realization of these quantitative measures from January through the end of March. On April 20th, just the third day that the government was accepting submissions, Stamford entered its meaningful use data into the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) EHR Incentive Portal for final review and determination that the hospital has met Stage 1 Meaningful Use criteria. Rick DeFoore, CEO at Stamford, expects that the hospital’s attestation will be approved – and the facility will eventually receive its share of the incentive funds. Likewise, Hemphill participated in the attestation exercise on April 29th and also expects to qualify for the incentive funds.

“We have engaged users very quickly thanks to the hard work of our chief medical officer, chief nursing officer and a number of other clinical leaders and staff members. In addition, by relying on a meaningful use dashboard in the ChartAccess system, we were able to continually monitor where we stood in relation to the various measures that we had to meet to prove meaningful use. The tool enabled us to move forward quickly, knowing that we were meeting the requirements that would help us earn the incentive funds. And, as a result, we expect to become one of the very first hospitals in the country to qualify for the government’s incentive funds,” DeFoore says.

The hospitals’ quick realization of the clinical and operational benefits associated with an EHR can, in part, be attributed to how relatively easy it is to leverage the Prognosis system in the hospital setting. One of the first two Complete EHRs to receive ONC-ATCB-2011-2012 certification, ChartAccess is designed to quickly lead providers toward EHR success. Designed by clinicians for clinicians, the system makes it easy to overcome many of the commonly cited cost, usability and workflow obstacles to EHR implementation. In addition, the solution meets the mobility needs of end-users with features such as iPhone and iPad applications that make it possible to view patient rounding lists, process orders and access results at the point of care.

“Because the system is so easy to use, we are now concentrating on leveraging as much of the functionality as possible to help us enhance clinical care and provide our patients with a better hospital experience. By doing so, we trust that we will be in a good position to meet the meaningful use requirements for Stage 2 of the ARRA initiative once they are more clearly defined,” says Patrick Murfee, director of information systems at Hemphill.

Prognosis plans to continue to work closely with providers as they strive to further tap into the clinical, administrative and workflow potential associated with the use of electronic records.

“We have made a commitment to work closely with all of our customers to ensure that they can make the most of their investments in technology. So, they can rest assured that we will do what it takes to help them meet incentive fund requirements as the government continues to roll out the program. Perhaps more importantly, though, we continue to work hand-in-hand with all of the hospitals using ChartAccess to ensure that they are fully tapping into the software’s potential to improve processes and care for the communities and patients that they serve,” says Ramsey Evans, CEO of Prognosis Health Information Systems.

About Prognosis Health Information Systems

Prognosis Health Information Systems, Inc., Houston, aims to improve the quality and safety of patient care through ChartAccess, a certified Comprehensive EHR. Designed to be fully operational in less than six months at a predictable, affordable cost, the solution enables hospitals to meet meaningful use and improve patient outcomes by leveraging built-in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) milestone and quality measure tracking functionality. PHIS uses 21st-Century technologies to offer small community hospitals a pure browser-based system that can run on-premise or in the cloud. For more information, go to www.prognosishis.com.

A social media expert says start-ups should be wary of posting too frequently on Facebook as it can prompt users to “Unlike” their brand, based on the findings of a new survey.

ExactTarget, a US-based company focused on social media and email marketing software and services, recently released the findings of The Social Break-up report.

The study is based on the responses of 1,500 US consumers and offers an insight into how users interact with brands online, particularly via social networking.

According to the survey, 44% of consumers say they unlike a Facebook page if the company posts too frequently.

The study also found that 38% of consumers would unlike a brand if the content grew repetitive or boring, while 26% only “Like” a company if it allows them to take advantage of a one-time offer.

A total of 24% unlike a brand if it doesn’t offer enough deals, yet another 24% will unlike a brand if the posts are too promotional.

When asked what action users take when they no longer want to see a brand’s posts, 38% click the ‘x’ in the newsfeed to ensure the posts are no longer displayed, while 19% simply ignore the posts.

However, 63% of respondents are likely to continue to continue purchasing from a company even after ending their Facebook “relationship” but 51% rarely visit a brand’s page after liking it.

ExactTarget says the correlation between unliking a company and continuing to do business with that company is “tenuous at best”, suggesting companies shouldn’t link the two.

Lee Hawksley, senior director of ExactTarget Australia, says even though the research is based on the responses of US consumers, it gives global insights into the way consumers deal with brands on Facebook.

“While a Facebook campaign may not abolish your sales, it can potentially do serious damage to a consumer’s opinions of a brand,” Hawksley says.

“There is an expectation from Facebook users that marketers keep their Facebook pages fresh, interesting and to keep posts and updates to a minimum. If these posts become spam, Facebook users will speak out about it and unlike the company.”

ExactTarget says while Facebook remains a viable channel for interactive marketing, companies probably shouldn’t place undue emphasis on how many times they are “liked”.

“Rather, the emphasis should be on fostering an engaged community of fans who like you enough to amplify your brand within their circle of Facebook friends,” the company says.