Home/Work IM setupOver the last couple of years I've spent quite a bit of time playing around with productivity and data synchronisation tools. I spend most of my time in my office at the university where I work but I also have a home office where I like to be able to access all my work information. The picture is a rather clumsy attempt to show how my current systems works. Let me break it down:
Hardware- laptop at work, PC at home, netbook for travelling and HTC Hero Android phone.
Email - the university uses Outlook so I have the client software set up on my work laptop and home PC. If I need to access work email with the netbook I use web access. I can also access work email on the phone but very rarely do that. I use the GMail client on the phone.
Calendar - a few weeks ago I switched to using Google Calendar as my primary organiser but use Google sync on the home PC to sync it with Outlook just in case someone else needs to see my diary. The main reason for switching to Google Calendar was the HTC Hero which syncs perfectly with it.
Information Capture - I've been using Evernote for a year now and find it invaluable for capturing ideas and planning projects. I used OneNote for a while but had problems synching it over multiple PCs and the lack of web access made it less useful. I run the Evernote software on my home PC and work laptop. Web access allows me to also access it on the netbook which can be tethered to the HTC Hero when out and about. Evernote also has an excellent Android app which allows the capture and uploading of photos and audio memos - very useful
File Synchronisation - I've been using Sugarsync for this for over a year now and it has never let me down (ironically there have been some glitches this morning but it seems to be working now). I have a folder where all my work-related information is kept and which is synchronised between my home PC and work laptop. Sugarsync also allows web access to files so can be used with the netbook as well or any other Internet-connected PC. If the Sugarsync issues come back then I'll take a look at Box.net which I hear offers a similar service.
Task Management - I used to use Outlook for this but, like with the calendar, I could not access my tasks on the phone. Toodledo has solved that and the Got To Do Android app syncs seamlessly with it. I really like being able to forward emails to Toodledo which automatically turns them into tasks. The name may not sound very business-like but so far I am very pleased with it and it integrates well with my Getting Things Done (GTD) system.
At the moment I'm pretty happy with this setup but no doubt it will change as new services emerge.
What system are you using? - comments and questions welcomed.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011 at 11:01AM 
As more applications offer APIs and integrate their service with others I can see that the way we think about application providers will change. A recent post on the Box.net blog started me thinking about this. It seems a fairly obvious direction of travel that we’re moving from running software on client machines to cloud-based applications. This migration will take time and will not necessarily apply to all types of software. However, it would be a mistake to assume that the paradigm of discrete software operating in isolation will apply on the cloud. The way that new services such as Salesforce.com, Dropbox, Evernote, Google Docs etc. can talk to each other and share information across their platforms is one of their strengths – each can focus on what they do best and draw on others to create a whole that is greater than the sum of the parts. How this plays out over the next decade is anyone’s guess – there may be consolidation and the Google monster might devour them all or perhaps a thriving ecosystem will emerge based around APIs where the best apps survive. Whatever happens it will be a stimulating environment for innovators and developers.;)
