For those of you that stopped by our booth at WPPI, you were able to get a first look at the new StudioPlus Stratus™, which is a cloud-based version of StudioPlus Spectra, our flagship studio management and digital workflow software.  I thought that I’d take this opportunity to share with you our strategy for implementing cloud-based services into your business.

First of all, what’s the “cloud”?  The cloud is the delivery of services over the Internet, allowing users access to data and applications real-time from any device with an Internet connection.  There are many advantages of cloud-based applications.  One is that the user does not have to worry about building and maintaining a proper IT infrastructure.  All the hardware and software updates are taken care of by the providers.

So how can the cloud benefit you?  Think about how digital imaging and the Internet have changed your life and your business.  In several years, I bet that you’ll look back and say the same thing for the cloud.  It will radically change the way that you run your business and live your life.  Imagine the day when not a single software app will be loaded on your computer.  Imagine not having a single image on your computer.  Imagine having a camera that immediately uploads images to the cloud as fast as you can click, having those images edited and retouched within minutes, and being immediately available for viewing anywhere in the world.  As broadband Internet connections become more robust, faster, and increasingly more reliable, and as cloud-based services become more robust and cheaper, these technologies will change your life.

How can StudioPlus help you reach the full potential of the cloud?  For those of you getting started in professional photography or running a home-based photography business, you’ll be able to jump into the cloud very quickly.  For those of you running full-service brick-and-mortar studios, the fact is that you cannot run your business totally based on cloud technologies.  You still need to have local image storage and local apps like Photoshop and StudioPlus Spectra™. However, that doesn’t mean that you can’t take advantage of the cloud.  There’s no reason why you can’t have the best of both worlds.

StudioPlus Stratus is cloud-based studio management software, based solely on HTML.  As a non-Flash application, it’s ensured to work in all current browsers and tablet devices (including the iPad)!  The Express edition will be the first edition of the software to be released and have a similar feature set to Spectra Express.  Future editions of Stratus will include Stratus Standard, Professional, and Enterprise – each similar to its Spectra counterpart.  For those that don’t need the power of a local desktop app like Spectra, you’ll be able to use StudioPlus Stratus as your single solution to manage the operations side of your business, like client tracking, scheduling, invoicing, and marketing.  For those using StudioPlus Spectra, you’ll be able to use Stratus as a cloud-based add-on to Spectra, giving you the best of both worlds.  This hybrid solution gives you the power of a desktop app along with the accessibility of a cloud-based app.  It’s truly a no-compromise solution.

In addition, the StudioPlus StratusDrive™ is a cloud-based image storage service that you can use along with Spectra or Stratus.  Some of you may choose to use the StratusDrive to just store low-res copies of your images for online viewing.  Others may choose to use it for their primary image storage location of all their hi-res images, completely removing the hassle of worrying about local image storage and backups.  And others may choose to use StratusDrive as an offsite backup option for all their local images.  How robust is StratusDrive you may ask?  Every image that you upload will stored at an industry leading, secure data warehouse.  Each image will be replicated to three separate storage devices for triple redundancy.  And finally, each image will be geo-replicated to a separate data warehouse to safeguard against natural disasters.

Finally, all products, including StudioPlus Spectra, Stratus, and StratusDrive are seamlessly integrated with InSpiredByYou.com, your customer-facing extension of your studio for online viewing, e-commerce, contract signing, album proofing, and video viewing.  Combining all products together gives you a no-compromise solution that allows you to migrate your business to the cloud at the pace you choose.

Cloud-based applications are not perfect and do have some disadvantages.  In future blog entries, I’ll address these concerns and discuss how StudioPlus is addressing them.

As a leading software company within the photography industry the past 15 years, we’re excited to leverage our knowledge with the latest technologies in providing the best desktop, cloud-based, and hybrid solutions to help you build more successful and profitable businesses.  If you haven’t already, please subscribe to our blogs for future announcements about these exciting products!

StudioPlus Spectra 2012 Volume 1 is officially released and ready for download!!!

If you have purchased StudioPlus 2011 within the past 12 months, or if you have a current maintenance plan, you are entitled to a free upgrade. To check and see if you are eligible, check your Help>About window and make sure the AMP Expire Date is January 2012 or greater.  If not, contact sales for more information.  If it is, click here to read more and to start your download!

If you’re not a current StudioPlus Spectra user, now is your chance to download and tryout Spectra 2012 free for 30 days.  Click here to start your trial!

WPPI tradeshow starts this Monday in Las Vegas and we’re coming fully loaded!  Check out this page to register so you can win one of six free iPads during the tradeshow!  If you attended Imaging USA, you must re-register for the WPPI giveaway.

We’ll be in the Marquee Ballroom right behind White House Custom Colour.  We have a new exhibit this year and exciting new products, including the new Spectra 2012 and InSpiredByYou.com.  In addition, you’ll be some of the first people to get a first look at the new StudioPlus Stratus!

See you in Vegas!

The new StudioPlus Spectra 2012 is in the final stages of beta testing and will be available for general release soon!  To see a list of the new features, click here.  But allow me to elaborate here on a couple new features that really excite me.

First, Spectra 2012 debuts new SMS texting abilities.  As I travel, meeting with StudioPlus clients around the world, this has to be the most requested enhancement the past couple years. We’re excited to say that it is finally here!  With SMS texting, you now have the ability to:
• Send an individual text to a client.
• Receive incoming texts from clients if they reply to a text that you’ve sent them.
• Send out bulk texts to a group of clients informing them of an upcoming promotion.
• Send automated texts via status triggers to remind clients of an appointment, let them know their order is ready for pickup, or countless other messages.

We’re looking forward to see all the creative ways that you all use texting to improve your business, so let us know.  (BTW, there is an extra fee to use SMS Texting.  We have to pay service providers in order for us to offer these abilities, so we have to charge a fee ourselves.  The SMS Texting plans are listed here.)

Second, Spectra 2012 includes new emailing enhancements.  For example, you can now use Spectra to receive incoming emails.  When an email comes in, Spectra will go through a series of steps to see if it can identify which client record in Spectra this email belongs to.  If it finds a match, it will automatically attach that email to the appropriate client record.  If no match is found, the email will remain as an unlinked email in your inbox.  All emails (and SMS texts) can be read in the new Messages Hub (your new inbox).  Spectra also includes the ability to setup new personalized email signatures that can be appended to outgoing emails.  Combine these features with the new Communication Wizard, and Spectra will greatly enhance your ability to communicate and market to your clients.

Thirdly, the final item that I want to mention today is related to PCI Compliance.  Some of you are very familiar with PCI Compliance, and others are not so much.  PCI Compliance may be a pain for us to deal with, but it is very important.  PCI Compliance is a set of rules instituted by the credit card industry that we all have to follow if we want to process credit cards.  The purpose is to ensure the security of sensitive credit card information that you collect from your clients.  Spectra 2012 takes a big leap forward in helping you become PCI Compliant.  First, you must be processing credit cards through Merchant Warehouse.  Second, you must turn on the new feature that we’ve added to the Studio Preferences that states, “Do not store credit card numbers in Spectra.” When you need to process a card, Spectra will open a special window provided by Merchant Warehouse.  You will then swipe the card, or manually key it in.  That window will then communicate direct with the Merchant Warehouse secure server, process that credit card, and then pass a unique token back to Spectra.  The card is then stored on the Merchant Warehouse secure server and NOT in StudioPlus Spectra or anywhere on your system.  Therefore, because you are no longer storing sensitive card information on your system, obtaining PCI Compliance is much simpler.  With that unique token, Spectra will still be able to process repeat transactions, pending payments, and payment plans.

More information will be available on these and other new features in the Spectra User Guide and new training videos when the new version is released.

We just returned from an amazing three days at the StudioPlus User Conference 2012! It was an awesome opportunity to meet some great people, to dive deep into learning how StudioPlus can benefit their business, and to exchange great ideas and suggestions.

Now, I can’t wait for the 2013 User Conference, and I encourage many more to attend.

Here’s a picture of many of those that were in attendance this year. Thanks everyone for coming, especially those that came all the way from the UK and Australia, and making it a terrific conference.

Imaging USA tradeshow starts this Sunday! Are you going to be there? We are, and we’re coming with free stuff! Check out this page to learn more on how you can win a free iPad, Android tablet, or Windows tablet during the tradeshow.

Make sure that you stop by and see us. We’ll be there with a new exhibit this year. We’re located right behind Canon, and our booth number is 1131. We’ll be debuting the new Spectra 2012, and the new InSpiredByYou.com. We’ll even be demoing Spectra running on the new Windows 8! So if you haven’t seen that yet, make sure you stop by.

For those of you registered for the StudioPlus User Conference 2012, we’re making final preparations to spend three solid days diving deep into the StudioPlus products.

See you in New Orleans!

For those of you that are familiar with our product line, you’ve probably noticed more than just a new web site this past week.  We’ve changed the name of our two most popular products.  The StudioPlus app is now called the StudioPlus Spectra Series, or Spectra for short.  Also, the MyStudioPlus.com e-com site is now called InSpiredByYou.com.

Some of you have been asking, “Why the name change?”  Well, here at StudioPlus, we’re never satisfied with the status quo.  The StudioPlus product has been a leading studio management software in our industry for over 14 years.  In 2012, we’ve implemented some pretty cool new features and gave the product a great new look.  We thought it was also fitting to give the product a great new name.  Also, by calling the product Spectra, it creates more distinction between the product name and the company name, which is still StudioPlus.

The current MyStudioPlus.com online gallery and e-com site has also received some major new enhancements this year and also received an entire new look.  The new name for MyStudioPlus.com is InSpiredByYou.com or InSpired for short.  Since InSpired is a website that your customers use to access their photos, albums, videos, contracts and other information, what better domain name to use than InSpiredByYou? The clients that you serve are the true inspiration for all the great creative work that you do.

We know that the new product names may take a little getting used to.  Forgive us, if even we slip up now and then and refer to a product by its old name.  My upcoming blog entries will dive deeper into these new product versions and give greater insight in their new features.  In the meantime, feel free to read more on What’s New in Spectra 2012 and What’s New in InSpiredByYou.com.  Also, check out some of our new videos here.