ConceptDraw PRO v10 Supports Visio 2013 File

In the process of conducting business, words alone often do not have the ability to describe a situation, state, or process with enough accuracy to guarantee successful communication to stakeholders, team members, and other assorted individuals. To convey a faultless understanding to others it is often necessary to include graphics and diagrams to support the meaning conveyed. The combination of words and graphics associated to the text is a powerful cohesive means of communication that removes participant doubt and improves clarity. The end result is to accelerate business. Business today is conducted at an incredible rate. The speed of business has increased for organizations of every size and for all participants.

Powerful business graphics and diagramming tools are the norm and not the exception for today’s businesses. For these important visual communication tools to do their job it is often important that they be compatible with a file format that can be easily shared with others. For years the de facto standard file format for business has been the Microsoft Visio™ file format. Many people involved in visual communication need software tools that will read and write the Visio file format.

With the introduction of Visio 2013 Microsoft has changed the native file format used in earlier versions of Microsoft Visio.  With the release of Visio 2013 the native file format is based on a new XML file structure that is highly compressed. The implementation of these file structure changes improves the customer experience. 

As a result when looking for a Visio alternative people, people need the ability to open and save in the newer Visio 2013 file format.  ConceptDraw PRO v10 is such a viable alternative for individuals and organizations that are looking for a professional business solution. ConceptDraw PRO v10 file import and export works round trip with the new Visio VSDX file format; plus ConceptDraw PRO is easy to use, and an economical solution. 

Compatibility	ConceptDraw PRO v9	Concept Draw PRO v10
Microsoft Visio 2013	NA	Import/Export new file format VSDX
Microsoft Visio (previous to 2013)	Import/Export file format VDX	Improved Import/Export file format VDX

An additional plus is that ConceptDraw PRO and the other ConceptDraw products support both Apple OS X and Windows. CS Odessa from the first release of the ConceptDraw product line has designed and built its products to work on both of these powerful desktop systems. 

You or your organization use Macintosh? ConceptDraw is a powerful and inexpensive solution that will address all of your business and individual needs. You or your organization use PCs? Again ConceptDraw PRO addresses your business requirements. You or your organization use both PCs and Macs? Once again the solution to your business graphics needs is clear – ConceptDraw PRO v10.

Other important considerations are that ConceptDraw PRO v10 is a perpetual license, no additional monthly or annual payments required. ConceptDraw PRO is licensed per individual user, making for an economical solution. Our users do not need to individually pay and license ConceptDraw product to run on different operating systems. As a licensed individual user you can run your purchased product on both Macintosh and PC.

When looking for the right graphics software solution, be sure consider the following:

1.  Open and save to Visio 2013 VSDX file format
2. Supports Apple OS X and Windows
3. Open and save Visio VDX file format (legacy Visio format)
4. No charge technical support (web and phone)
5. Perpetual license (no additional monthly or annual costs required)
6. No need to be connect to the web or experience delays when working (internet connection only required for product activation)
7. Low cost of ownership
8. Extensive object libraries, samples, and templates included
9. New graphic solutions available (via ConceptDraw Solution Park) on a frequent basis
10. Discount pricing is available for academic, nonprofit, government, commercial, upgrade, and competitive upgrades (paid product)
11. Can be purchased as an economical standalone license or purchased in conjunction with the comprehensive productivity suite of ConceptDraw Office (ConceptDraw Office includes: ConceptDraw MINDMAP v7 - brain storming, note taking, presentations, ConceptDraw PROJECT v6 - project management, resource management, and ConceptDraw PRO v10 business graphics)

When surveying the marketplace for a business graphics software solution, ConceptDraw PRO v10 becomes the clear choice for you and your organization. Try a fully functioning 21 day trial copy of ConceptDraw PRO v10 for free.  Just register on ConceptDraw.com, then download and install to enjoy the next generation of business graphics and diagramming product.

ConceptDraw MINDMAP Listing Accounting Resources

Accountants and individuals involved in accounting often use mind maps in their work.  I have made available for download a ConceptDraw mind map file that contains a myriad of resources for accountants and financial people.  The file can be downloaded from here.

You can find out more about CS Odessa and our ConceptDraw products from here.

ConceptDraw PRO: An Excellent Tool to Describe Accounting Process Flows

One of accounting’s chief concerns is to be as accurate as possible in describing a business’ financial condition. Businesses rely on accounting, more today than ever in the history of business. Legislation has imposed new rules and regulations on the accounting in companies to protect the interests of people who have a vested interest in those companies. The Sarbanes–Oxley Act (SOX) of 2002 is well-known for its impact on companies by proving more accountability for company management.

There are many areas of accounting that benefit from flowcharts that describe processes inside a company. A flowchart can describe who, what, when, and how a process is managed.  Many times, a flowchart is superior to a written description alone. Written descriptions can work well, but there are often ambiguities that exist in the description. A flow chart spells out the process path for all interested parties.

Take, for example, revenue recognition. Proper recognition of revenue is important for any public company. Improper revenue recognition can lead to companies needing to go back and restate financials. Anything that can minimize the potential for making mistakes on revenue recognition is a great thing, as the reinstatement of previously declared financials is a bad thing for any company.

Any changes to standards, such as revenue recognition, require companies to reexamine their business processes and systems that underlie the business cycle. This planning process helps companies to define what changes are necessary to meet the requirements of any new or existing standards.  Also, a determination can be made on what data is needed to capture the flow of accounting tasks and public disclosures.

ConceptDraw Finance and Accounting Area

ConceptDraw PRO, by CS Odessa, has updated and added new finance and accounting solutions to the ConceptDraw Solution Park for free download by our customers. These new solutions provide financial managers and accountants with updated tools for visual financial planning, reporting, modeling, auditing, and accounting.

The solutions from the Finance and Accounting area extend ConceptDraw PRO v.9.5 (or later) with financial and accounting diagrams and charts. The ConceptDraw Solution Park is an area of the ConceptDraw web site were we continually add new templates, samples, libraries, and functionality to add value to our customers’ user experience. CS Odessa has launched over 30 new solutions over the last 12 months, and all of them are available at no charge for our customers. In addition, ConceptDraw customers have available to them no-charge technical support. Our support team is standing by to help our customers stay productive.  Support is available via phone, ticket, and email. CS Odessa strives to be a value and productivity leader. This is exemplified by our support, product licensing, learning materials, and commitment to customer satisfaction. 

All ConceptDraw products support the latest Apple OS X and Microsoft Windows operating systems. For more detail please visit the ConceptDraw product site at ConceptDraw.com.

ConceptDraw: A Boon to IT Students and Professionals

Dean Livingston is working on his Masters in Information Technology at the University of Phoenix online. Recently, Dean discovered and purchased ConceptDraw Office at the academic discount to help assist him with his course work. ConceptDraw Office consists of ConceptDraw PRO (business graphics and diagramming), ConceptDraw PROJECT (project management), and ConceptDraw MINDMAP (brainstorming, producing documents and presentations). 

Dean was a long time PC user who switched to a MacBook about 12 months ago. After switching to Macintosh, he then searched for products that could potentially do what Microsoft Project and Microsoft Visio did for him when he was a Windows user. With ConceptDraw Office, he found a suite of products that would address his academic and work needs in one bundle at a greatly discounted price.

Dean discovered ConceptDraw while doing a web search for “Visio Alternatives for Mac”. Right away he decided to download and trial the ConceptDraw suite of products. First use for Dean was ConceptDraw PRO for his “Reliable Backup” class to develop a timeline for how backup should occur as part of a class project. He sees that ConceptDraw MINDMAP will be of great assistance in helping him study for his classes and plan papers while he is working on his Master’s degree.

Dean says, “ConceptDraw Office suite is the best software package, it is amazing how powerful the products are. In the near future, I plan on viewing the instructional videos located on ConceptDraw.com to find out more about each product’s capabilities.”

CS Odessa Announces Software Engineering Solutions in ConceptDraw Solution Park

ConceptDraw Solution Park contains lots of new content that we release for our ConceptDraw products. Today's addition to ConceptDraw PRO and the ConceptDraw Solution Park extends the current vector libraries with a complete software engineering solution. CS Odessa has introduced a new set of libraries that provides a complete solution for software engineering diagrams. The Software Development Area in the ConceptDraw Solution Park includes the Entity-Relationship Diagram Solution, Data Flow Diagrams Solution, IDEF0 Diagrams Solution, and the new-and-improved Rapid UML Solution. These new additions to the ConceptDraw Solution Park are free for current users of ConceptDraw PRO v9.

This solution can be found in the Software Development Area of the ConceptDraw Solution Park which includes collections of templates, samples, and libraries of vector stencils and icons that support software engineering diagrams of any level of complexity. ConceptDraw PRO is compatible with Apple OS X and Microsoft Windows.For more information on all of the ConceptDraw Products and Solutions visit us at http://www.conceptdraw.com.

Dear Abe, I Have Just Been Appointed the Project Manager of My Group, Help!

Dear Abe,

My boss has designated me to be the Project Manager of my group. I have a basic understanding of what is required, but I am going to need some advice from you.

At any time my department has 10-12 projects on the go. I have a team of about 20 people that I have at my disposal.  I need to figure out how to balance these twenty individuals over the projects that are active, manage the individual project budgets, and keep everyone up to date on what is going on. I need some big help do you have any suggestions.

Concerned,

Matthew Lewis

…

Hi Matt,

I have some good news for you.  The answer is ConceptDraw Office. ConceptDraw Office is a product suite developed and sold by CS Odessa.  There are three products in this comprehensive product suite. All the products run in native mode on Apple OS X and Windows.

The three products in the ConceptDraw Office suite are ConceptDraw MINDMAP (brainstorming, constructing documents, building presentations, building a process, project management, and a myriad of other uses that will save you valuable time), ConceptDraw PROJECT (the project management muscle of this troika), and ConceptDraw PRO (the business graphics and diagramming portion of the suite).  Each is a useful standalone product that can be purchased separately, but together with their integrations they become one powerful solution.

I will give you a brief example. The ConceptDraw MINDMAP product helps you brainstorm and assemble the projects content.  Working with your team makes it much easier to attain consensus and to build the project structure.  Project phases, tasks, resources can be quickly organized by dragging-and-dropping the information. Launching a project has never been easier.

ConceptDraw PROJECT lets you manage any number of projects and balances your resource s over the tasks in your projects. This will work well with your requirement of having 10-12 projects and one pool of resources. There are a plethora of reports that keep track of how things are going, giving you the ability to track progress and report to stakeholders.  The reports are generated in Excel format so you are free to do additional number crunching and charting. Also ConceptDraw PROJECT can pass your project data to ConceptDraw PRO where dashboards are generated in the blink of an eye. Your project data changes, no problem.  Generate a new dashboard quickly. Everyone has a clear understanding of what is going on.

Also you will find that any of the ConceptDraw products is an economical solution for you and your team members. Detailed information on all of the ConceptDraw products can be found at http://www.conceptdraw.com. There is even a large video library on the web site that will get you up to speed in literally minutes. Matt great question, I am glad I had a solution for you. Now everything should be tickety-boo for you.

Best regards,

Abe

Popularize Mind Mapping One Student or Classroom at a Time

I talked with one of the academic/career advisors at Boise State University today. It turns out that they have someone on staff who's in charge of putting together academic skills training programs for students. These programs help improve study habits, note taking, research organization, and writing.

I haven't been able to talk to this other staff person, but I know two things that I want to talk to them about:

1. Do you teach mind mapping to students? If so, what do you teach them to do?
2. If you don't, can I come in and teach a class or two?

How About You?
I'm sure BSU isn't unique in offering these classes to student. What would it take for you to contact the nearest community college, vocational/technical college, or university and ask them if you could teach a class?

I run into some many parents whose children have learning problems. Few of these parents have heard of mind mapping or how it can help kids with dyslexia, who struggle with reading comprehension, or who have a hard time organizing writing assignments. I've gone into local schools and taught classes to 5th graders, and have gotten a good reception from students and teachers alike.

You may not think you're a mind mapping expert. But I bet you have all the skills you need to show students of all ages how to become more productive and less frustrated.

New Process Modeling Tools Now Available at ConceptDraw

I blogged a while ago about how a marketing company owner I know realized, after a discussion with a client, that she needed to do a better job communicating to clients all that's involved in executing a marketing campaign. Her solution was to use ConceptDraw PRO.

Well, if you think it's time your organization did the same, you might be interested in a new CD PRO solution: Cross Functional Flowcharts.

Here are a couple examples of the kinds of charts you can create:

Process Improvement
This example shows a business process diagram that can be then analyzed for ways to improve the process effectiveness and diagnose quality issues that require resolution:

ESL Communications
The next example shows a workflow for replacing engine oil. It explains all the steps clearly and visually:

Diagrams like this can be used for training. And with our increasingly multicultural work force, visual images like this can help communicate processes to people for whom English is a second language (ESL).

Vector Graphics
The Cross Functional Flowchart solution extends ConceptDraw PRO v.9 software with templates, samples, and a library of vector shapes for drawing the flowcharts. The charts can help you visualize and communicate the operations of a business process flow step-by-step, with the responsible people or departments for each operation clearly indicated.

All source documents are vector graphic documents. They're available for reviewing, modifying, or converting to a variety of formats (PDF file, MS PowerPoint, MS Visio XML, and many other graphic formats) from the Template Gallery of ConceptDraw PRO. You must have the Cross-Functional Flowcharts solution installed to access these documents.

Does the NSA Use Mind Mapping?

The scenario I mentioned in yesterday's post about data and the meaning of data relates to recent news surrounding the NSA. This secretive federal agency has been embroiled lately in news about its collection of massive amounts of data American citizens generate through the use of the Internet.

A Double-Edged Sword
The person who leaked news of this collection, a private contractor named Edward Snowden, is being proclaimed a hero and a villain. Clearly, there were other avenues open to him if he wanted this information to become public.

But the idea of the government collecting unimaginable amounts of data on what are considered the private activities of millions of people, without them/us knowing about it... that's plenty troubling too.

How Do You Personally Define Freedom? Freedom from what?
From what I understand, the government's plan is to continually amass data, and then to comb it with ever-more-powerful, intelligent tools. The goal: Discover as soon as possible those sharp needles in the haystack: (Read the new WIRED story about this.)

I get the part about data visualization. We need tools to compress this information into forms we can understand. But then there is the next step: Drawing conclusions and taking actions based on that data.

I personally wonder what tools the NSA uses to take this second step. We know that mind mapping is used for some very key projects at some very large organizations, both public and private.

And I remember those strong rumors that a federal intelligence agency bought a number of mind mapping software licenses the day after 9/11. We will never know the tools being used in the most secretive of secret places.

Is Data Synonymous with Truth?
So many resources are dedicated these days to developing the technology that supports the first part (data viz). But how far have we come to help people draw the right conclusions from the data?

Our belief in -- or at least our reliance on -- Big Data will only grow as we use it to make more and more decisions. Will we get better at developing tools to help us make sense of it all?

Thanks, Marissa Mayer

Long time since last post... oh well. Blogging should be about posting when you have something to say, not because you need to put something up X times per X.

This reminds me of a time when I was hiking in the Enchanted Valley in the Olympics (WA state). We ran into a guy who was sitting in the middle of a soggy depression, staring at a thicket of devil's clubs (nasty plant!!). When we suggested to him that there was a great view just around the bend, he said, "No, I stop to rest every half hour. It doesn't matter where I am." But I digress... Back to Marissa.

It suddenly dawned on me today that mind mapping adherents owe her one for her whole no-more-telecommuting thing. I say that after a couple of hours spent searching with terms like "information visualization," "Idea visualization" and so on. The two results come together in a sentence like:

Use data viz to make sense of the data, and then come together with others and use your new-found insight to make a decision or reach a conclusion.

The thrust of her argument I think is that it is in those serendipitous meetings in the hallways that new ideas are born. I can agree with that--as long as people feel like they have the time and chat for a minute, and as long as they aren't worried about "owning" any idea that might spring forth.

I work from home now and sometimes miss that serendipity. I get it now when I visit my clients and at the organizations I volunteer for. It's one of the most entertaining and affirming parts of the work day.

Lawyers: Help Startups Make Good Decisions

Last week I spoke with Russell Case, an attorney here in Boise. He just started using ConceptDraw MINDMAP in his legal practice and is pretty thrilled with the results.

Case's work falls into three main categories: corporate expansion, international law, and business startups. While each category is unique, they all have one thing in common: Success depends on his clients fully understanding the choices before them and the implications of the choices they make.

“By using MINDMAP or PRO," Case says, "I can create a visual document that shows them where they are now, where they’re trying to get to, and the decisions they’ll most likely have to make on the way. What’s so great about these programs is that they make it easy for me to show them the most likely implications of each decision. That makes for a much more informed client—one who is able to make better decisions.”

Case says he works with startup clients to, for example, brainstorm around the things they’ve looked at to confirm their market analysis—the size of the market, their opportunity, who their ideal customer is, how their product of service is different from competitors. He talks to them about their intellectual property, what they’re trying to create, when they will need money, and how much they’ll need.

“I can capture all this information from them in real time, drill down into each one as much as we need to, organize it all into a logical structure, and then use it to build the story they’ll present to investors. It’s an incredibly efficient, thorough process.”

Free Upgrades to ConceptDraw PRO

CS Odessa has just announced important free upgrades to the company’s ConceptDraw PRO business graphics and diagramming package.

ConceptDraw PRO 9.4 features an enhanced startup wizard, new connectors technology and ConceptDraw Solution Park additions to help users produce professional results more quickly, easily and cost effectively. The upgraded ConceptDraw PRO package demonstrates CS Odessa’s ongoing commitment to continuously improving its solutions suite.

Improvements include:

1. A new Start Up Wizard that allows users to set basic formatting features.
2. Arrows 10 technology to streamline object linking.
3. New Solution Park enhancements, including new templates and libraries to help users quickly and efficiently produce professional results.

"The new startup wizard can help users begin each new project more efficiently and effectively," says Olin Reams, General Manager, VP of Sales & Marketing Americas at CS Odessa. "Smart Connectors technology enhances the intelligent design of the product since it fits the way people think instead of program operations."

Why companies should care about sustainability.

Last week I blogged about why investors care about sustainability. The other side of the coin is to consider why companies should care about it.

The most obvious reason is that companies (public companies, anyway) should care for the very reason that investors care. And the corollary to that is that companies should care not only because investors do, but because investors care enough that this secondary market in sustainability info is springing up.

Firms that provide investors with financial information think they can make money by supplying investors with this information (and just so we're clear, these are large institutional investors, not mom and pops).

So companies also need to care because they need to have information on their sustainability program easily accessible to these information suppliers. If they don't, they will sooner or later stick out like a sore thumb among companies who do.

But there are other reasons, self-interested reasons, why companies should care:

So... what is your company doing about this latest litmus test for corporate health?

Nodes are Still News: Robert Kosara in Harvard Business Review Blog

I mentioned eagereyes.com the other day. This is the braindhild of Robert Kosara who, it turns out, is a very prolific thinker on the subject of data visualization.

I ran across his work again today in a post on the Harvard Business Review Blog. Here's the map I made of his post (and I'll post it to Biggerplate):

What I thought was interesting about his post was that:

1. He mentions node maps. (I say this as one of the brotherhood/sisterhood of people who don't get why mind mapping, such a powerful approach to information management, struggles so hard to find an audience. So it's always nice to see this approach mentioned, however tangential to the way mind mapping is normally used. And ever nicer to see it mentioned in the HBR by someone of Kosara's stature among data visualization professionals.)
2. He brings up the issue of the "potential interaction" between visual and linguistic metaphors used in node-link diagrams and treemaps. It's exciting that people are looking at this interaction, something that I think people who mind map at least think they understand and try to leverage.

In another recent paper, Thinking Deeper About Visualization, Kosara wrote something that, I have to admit, made my heart skip a beat:

For example, two separate participants explained that they considered the donut chart less stable because it seemed like it might “roll away.” This kind of analysis also seemed to underly the evaluations of the bubble chart as unstable and uncontrolled, with participants describing this chart as “floating bubbles that were barely contained within the area” and “scattered.” Similarly, charts without joined pieces were often described as “flying apart” or “exploding.”

Is he referring to mind maps when he says bubble charts (I have heard people use these terms interchangeably)? Do people feel that way when they see a mind map? Is all hope lost?

But further communication with Kosara relieved me when he said he was referring to a scatterplot, like this one from Gapminder (gapminder.org):

I have asked Kosara whether he plans to pursue research into the potential interaction between visual and linguistic metaphors he mentioned in the HBR blog. I'll let you know if I hear anything from him...

Do Investors Care About Corporate Sustainability?

I ran across a PriceWaterhouseCoopers report on whether investors care about a company's efforts to be more sustainable--and not just in the environmental sense of the word. The conclusion: Boy do they.

The report, Do investors care about sustainability? Seven trends provide clues, provides evidence of an interesting loop: Investor interest in sustainable practices has become so popular that financial reporting companies are now starting to provide easy access to information on these practices. As companies realize how easy it is for investors (and potential investors) to get a hold of this information, they upgrade their own sustainability reporting practices.

Investors are becoming interested in sustainability because recent studies indicate a direct correlation between sustainable practices and profits.

Sustainable practices include such things as:

1. Better management of natural resources that go into a companies products. (A beverage company must protect long-term sources of potable water.)
2. More attention to waste products that flow out of factories.
3. More concern for worker health and safety.
4. More attention to how the company's operations affect the community in which it's located.
5. More attention to making sure energy grids are maintained and that energy generation is sustainable.
6. More attention to climate change and its implications on supply and risk.

Here's the map. I'll post it on Biggerplate too:

Have you laid eyes on eagereyes?

Making the seredipitous choices that constitute the average Internet experience, I found a site today called eagereyes.org. If you're interested in the visualization of information (and if you mind map, how could you not be?), then you might like this site.

The site is run by Robert Kosara, a Visual Analysis Researcher at Tableau Software, and formerly Associate Professor of Computer Science at UNC Charlotte. He says on the site that "He has created visualization techniques like Parallel Sets and performed research into the perceptual and cognitive basics of visualization."

A recent post is called The Revolution Will Be Visualized. Here's an example of one of the data visualizations, this one on the number of gun deaths in the U.S. in 2013:

Here's another way to look at the data:

Not the cheeriest subject matter, I admit. But it does give you a aense of the power of information graphics. Where is the cross-over between mind mapping and information visualization? What does that Venn diagram look like?