CS Odessa Newsletter                

August is a very busy month for business, we are exiting from the summer months and the pace for conducting business quickens as we now approach the end of the year. Companies and organizations are gearing up for the 4th quarter in anticipation of the year-end business that is being targeted. We at CS Odessa are working on preparing our go-to-market plans for new and interesting productivity solutions. Keep tuned to future newsletter issues to find out more about our products and solutions.

You can also use our additional communicational tools to be kept up-to-date with ConceptDraw information. We welcome you to share your experience on ConceptDraw products and discuss different topics with other customers at our User Forum, find out about CS Odessa projects and activities on our Corporate Blog, or get fast support response to your requests with our web-based Trouble Ticket System.

ConceptDraw MINDMAP 5 for the Macintosh is coming!

On August 28th we are planning the release of ConceptDraw MINDMAP 5 which is a complete upgrade of our mind mapping product.

MINDMAP 5 is designed to help you manage your ideas effectively and save you time. Now just prior to the release date we want to give you 5 good reasons to order this upgrade now:

• Universal Binary, provides support for Intel-based Macintoshes;
• New Macintosh native interface;
• Simple yet powerful way to plan your agenda or process in ConceptDraw MINDMAP 5 and then arrange and manage as a project with either ConceptDraw Project 3 or MS Project because of the close integration with these project management software applications;
• For the month of August you have an opportunity to order this upgrade for only $79.

To look at the new version and order it now please click here.

New CS Odessa Corporate Licensing Program

Our corporate licensing program is designed to meet the requirements of organizations that need multiple units of our ConceptDraw products and/or are interested in buying a mix of our products. Our products and product suites are now assigned a point value that is then allocated against a purchased block of points. This allows organizations to have complete flexibility in how they purchase and deploy the ConceptDraw product line. Plus, as always Windows and Macintosh licenses for ConceptDraw are easy to mix and administer.

*(ConceptDraw 7, Project 3 & MINDMAP Pro - when purchased as part of the business suite can not be divided, must be for one user)
Minimum point purchase is 100 points (additional price breaks at 250, 500 and 1000 points)

Examples of what 100 point purchase will buy:
Purchase 100 copies of MINDMAP Pro (100x1) or
30 copies of ConceptDraw 7 (30x1.5) & 6 copies of ConceptDraw Business Suite (6x2.5) & 40 copies of ConceptDraw Project 3 (40x1)

1. You have complete flexibility in purchasing to better meet your software application needs. Points are available in any increment from 100 to whatever your requirements are. Additional discounts are available at 250, 500 and 1000 plus points.
2. Consistent pricing for all points purchased within the designated band.
3. Points can be added after the fact (for up to 24 months after the initial purchase), with no penalties to the customer.
   • Purchase 155 points on December 3, 2007 (points priced in 100 to 249 price category)
   • Purchase 52 additional points on June 2, 2008 (points priced in 100 to 249 price category) total points purchased 207
   • Purchase 51 additional points on November 26, 2008 (these 51 points are priced in the 250 to 499 point price category, because the total number of points purchased during the last 24 months is now 258)

Call sales today for pricing information! Toll free (US/Canada): +1 (877) 441-1150 (8am to 5pm Pacific Time Zone)

What are the benefits one can derive by using the HTML export of ConceptDraw files?
Here are few a tips from some ConceptDraw users:

"... HTML format supports the same structure and hierarchy of the document, as ConceptDraw files do, without a need to work with the program. So I use (export) to create HTML documents, when working with my customers."
Niklas Richter, Freelancer Web Developer, Germany

"I can share my work with my colleagues and customers in a most suitable way - placing it on a Web site. Then we can discuss it via the Internet, while being located in different places."
Nyyrikki Reunanen, Designer, Finland

"To store materials in such kind (HTML) is ideal for documenting."
Gustaw Karbowski, Software Developer, Canada

"...You can edit HTML code snippets to customize a page's header and footer to insert your logo, global web site menu, copyright notices, corporate graphics and so on"
Daniel R. Hopkins, Business Manager, USA

ConceptDraw 7: Exporting documents to HTML

ConceptDraw lets you export your drawings to HTML to place them on the Web for viewing.
To save a document in the HTML format, use the menu File -> Export -> HTML.

If you need to export only a particular shape on the page, select any shapes you want to export before starting the export.

In ConceptDraw, the HTML export is highly customizable. You can configure the HTML export settings in the HTML Properties dialog, which appears when exporting files.

Many of the ConceptDraw products are ideally suited to project management. There is a ConceptDraw software product to address every aspect of project management from the inception of a project to its completion.

To insure a project's success there is often an intense focus given at the start of any project to the development of a comprehensive Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) that defines the project scope for all of the project's participants. The development of a well-defined WBS is an early part of a project's kickoff and is a key contributory factor to the success of a project. ConceptDraw MINDMAP is well suited for the development of a comprehensive and well thought out WBS. Read more

Read the latest comments we received on ConceptDraw MINDMAP from a Microsoft Valuable Professionals, Jan Ilacqua:

"I have tested out the MINDMAP Pro and find it to be a very useful tool. As a Part-Time Instructor at 2 local Community Colleges, and the owner of my own business of Computer programs training and consulting, I create many of my own PowerPoint presentations and instruction materials.

What I find must helpful with MINDMAP is it lets me think out loud, so to speak, to lay out the various topics and subject and see how they flow, and walk through various concepts to see how they will come together. Once I have all the thoughts laid out, then I can begin to pull things together from each one until I have what I want. I don't lose written drafts, forget what ideas I had for what at the moment, and can coordinate the process much easier and faster. Plus, it allows me to make backups of each one for future reference of ideas that I may find useful later.

I find the templates are very easy to use. I am the Secretary of a local organization, thus, responsible for the minutes, action items and agenda, and the Meeting template is very helpful for outlining topics, agendas and updating".