I was building a report for a client in Excel using an OLEDB connection to the back end data base.  Pretty standard stuff, do it all the time.  From my favorite SQL Query editor tool all was well.  Snap the SQL Select statement into Excel and all I can get is "Initialization failed" and no data. In fact, attempting to get any data (even just from a single table) from this data base gave the same error message. After some fumbling around I realized that we were connecting to the

We do a lot of spreadsheet reporting against a variety of data environments - for example ACT, Quickbooks, and other SQL vertical applications.  By default, Excel does not automatically refresh the data connections when you open the file.  You need to "turn on" this option.  Note, if the data being imported is a large amount, this will mean it will take longer to open your Excel file - which is why it is turned off by default. Here's what you do to turn it on.  

Spring is in the air and it's time for some spring cleaning.  How often do your scrub your contact lists? How often do you check for duplicates and merge them? If you are like most people, not often enough. That's not surprising.  We all get caught up in our day to day work schedules so data cleansing is not high on the priority list.  But it should be.  Bad data costs money - in efficiency, lost revenue, wasted marketing expenditures, and a variety of other ways. And you

An Act! CRM data base contains lots of information and getting it out is frequently the problem you have.  So we tend to look at using different reporting tools, or Microsoft Excel, for the extracting or reporting task.  And the way the data is stored in Act! can sometimes make extracting the information the way you want a bit more difficult than it should be.  But if you understand the data base structure and your SQL Select statements you can do it easily. Here is an example. &

This is another in one of my information ninja articles.  Information Ninja is what one of my customers calls me. I told him, no, it is my job to make him one.  He laughed and said he wasn't quite sure that was the case. But indeed it is.  I know how to find data and report on it - which is what this article is all about. But he knows his business. He knows the numbers he wants to see or, in many cases, what numbers he is not seeing - ie sales calls not being made.  I

ACT is a complex CRM and as such it will periodically have issues with the backend database, SQL.  There is a great knowledgebase article which lists the most recent DBFIXERS - little small executibles that will correct the issue once it's been found.  These are great because often you just run the DBFIXER on the database and don't have to update all computers.  Love it when it's that simple. Here's the link to the article: http://kb.swiftpage.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/24753/

Recently we worked with a client who upgraded their Office to 2013 and ran into this error with editing a template in ACT.  The full error was: "Unable to cast COM object of type 'Microsoft.Office.Interop.Word.ApplicationClass' to interface type 'Microsoft.Office.Interop.Word._Application'. This operation failed because the QueryInterface call on the COM component for the interface with IID '{00020970-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}' failed due to the following error: The RPC server is

Recently, my iPhone battery started to rapidly decline.  In the past if I wasn't on calls, it would last a day or more with a recharge.  Now it was lasting an hour or two.  I figured I would have to go and get a replacement battery - and I've only had the phone a year. However, before I trekked down to the ATT store, I decided to poke around Google and see if there were some known issues with my 5C phone.  What I found was a software fix - and it worked like a charm.