Microsoft Visio- Tech Tool

                           

As a C- Level for company Jumbo Investments, I was fortunate to be hands on with Microsoft’s program Visio. I was able to create professional templates of diagram flows to further explain our business processes. I was able to have these diagrams exported to programs such as Excel and SharePoint. This gave me the advantage to provide my colleagues the view of this diagram to their computers while they are overseas. The impact of not having Visio on the computer has not become an issue because of the very convenient sharing capability that Microsoft allows anyone to open the document.

After using Visio, I noticed that Microsoft has minimized complexity by allowing graphs, shapes, and interactive sources to create a better understanding of information. Templates are also available to allow easier input of information and data. There are different charts available for scheduling purposes such as the Gantt chart, PERT charts and other timeline diagrams where my assistant can enjoy an easier time at planning my business trips. For the IT department, Visio offers templates that include diverse software development scenarios and database planning circumstances.

To allow Visio to be a permanent choice to any company, I first did some research and found out that it has minor competition. Visio has an affordable price, but it does have cheaper competitors. To compare, you can get Creately for less than $100 while Visio is close to $300.  Some downfalls that competitors have over Visio is that it allows social sharing, document management, and other external uses. As a matter a fact, Visio can only be run on Windows. Visio also does not have the capability to run on MAC OS.  Any upgrades are not free and are done every year for a price to pay. Other competitors offer free upgrades such as, Creately. But when concluding my research, Visio’s price is well worth the amount of options you are getting from Microsoft. Since our company already uses Microsoft’s existing products already, adding Visio would enable a consistent option.

Usually companies would have to purchase programs such as CAD personnel, Smart Draw, or Creately but it seems that Visio is the only one to have an affordable price for so many jobs that it tackles along with an attractive free trial of two months. Along with support channels, Visio offers email, phone call support, and even live chat. Visio also offers video tutorials, blog support and a manual with much detail. The best option is that you do not need internet to use most of Visio’s program. Visio has recently launched their newest upgrade which allows teamwork sharing, similar to Google’s Drive. As a user you can now work on a project simultaneously in order to speed up the completion of the project and eliminate any lag time between collaboration.

What I would suggest is for our company to provide some training to our designers and business analysts in order to use the product and their new Visio 2013 update. Microsoft has given Visio a new and modern look with the Windows 8 collaboration. Better visuals of diagrams have allowed our processes to become clearer and more efficient. The Visio program will pay for itself in the long run and will allow a new teamwork environment with its new collaborative option of sharing and editing simultaneously. This will be new and I believe we all would love to see teamwork grow further with Visio.