FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, July 6, 2009, ANN ARBOR, Mich– The Whole Brain Group, LLC was selected by the University of Michigan’s Office of the President to develop an online system to manage nomination and selection information for honorary degree candidates. The web-based system will help office staff improve efficiency and reduce paper usage while ensuring data integrity and security. In 2009, The Whole Brain Group has experienced a growing demand for electronic solutions to paper problems, which has enabled the company to thrive in the current challenging economic climate. “People really see the value of our services during times like these,” states Marisa Smith, President of The Whole Brain Group, “We help them implement technology that conserves time and cuts paper usage, which enables them to stretch their dollars a little further. When they work more efficiently, they can redirect their energy and resources to innovation, growth, and sustainability.”
This great white paper discusses the environmental and economic benefits of web commuting, and how technology is an essential component of allowing people to work from outside the home office: Flexible Work: Rhetoric and Reality
The paper , prepared by the Work Design Collaborative, summarizes the results of a survey “designed to enhance our understanding of how people are actually working today – how much time they spend in various kinds of workspaces, who they interact with (both face-to-face and remotely), and in particular what collaborative technologies they rely on, how effective those technologies are in supporting their work, and what challenges they face when they are working remotely.”
We cite this research when our clients ask us about the benefits of implementing electronic solutions to help them solve their paper problems. Frequently, we find that they haven’t fully considered the expanded flexibility they will be able to offer their employees, and what kind of impact it will have on their bottom line.
Instead of installing servers in our office, which would increase energy, heat, and take up space, we’ve moved our systems to Mosso, a server company that employs cloud computing technology to reduce the environmental impact of our systems.
We host all of our production systems there, and lease additional time on the servers instead of buying new hardware when doing development and testing.
Here’s a good article that explains the green benefits of cloud computing.
Blackle was created by Heap Media to remind us all of the need to take small steps in our everyday lives to save energy. Blackle searches are powered by Google Custom Search.
Blackle saves energy because the screen is predominantly black.
http://www.blackle.com
This company allows you to send and receive faxes electronically to cut down on energy and paper usage in your office. You’ll already have an electronic copy of your faxed documents so you don’t need to scan anything.
http://www.myfax.com/
This company keeps electronics out of landfills by reselling and recycling used electronics – and they pay you cash for them. If your business has newer used electronics laying around, this could be a good way to get rid of them. You can also donate the proceeds to a charity for extra “feel-good” points!
http://www.gazelle.com/
