Monthly Archives: August 2012

SharePoint 2010 Planning, Implementation and Administration for an Optimum End User Experience is a Preferred Approach

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Rehmani Consulting, Inc offers several products specifically designed to provide end users with the information they require to successfully perform daily office automation tasks within a computing environment that includes SharePoint. These products are listed on our SharePoint Users Training page of our SharePoint-Videos dot com website. In addition, we have recently debuted a new product, VisualSP™. This product is a native SharePoint 2010 application that modifies the user interface for SharePoint to provide end users with direct, context specific access to video training content within SharePoint 2010. We think VisualSP™ is an important step forward, one that brings help that much closer to end users where they truly need it, meaning specifically within their daily office automation environment.

Our attention to end user needs for technical training for SharePoint appears should make sense to any group of decision makers grappling with how best to plan, implement and then administer SharePoint 2010 for groups of users. As recently as late August, 2012, we were pleased to read a blog post authored by Rich Blank of NewsGator on the CMSWire Blog Site, Got SharePoint? Start with the End User in Mind. This article, with its point that “the challenge is getting more out of the investment made in SharePoint and focusing on what your users need to get their jobs done. That means translating all those feature-rich capabilities of a platform like SharePoint into something of value an end user or executive can understand.” (quoted from the CMSWire article for which a link has been provided in this post) is entirely consistent with our focus on creating video training content for end users.

In fact, we don’t think that IT organizations can spend too much time planning for a likely end user experience with SharePoint 2010 if they are to ensure a successful implementation of this software. Simply “putting up” SharePoint no longer makes sense. Further, adopting this type of informal and open ended plan is a sure prescription for problems that will likely arise soon after end users are informed of the availability of SharePoint. Without a governance plan, this type of open ended introduction of SharePoint is, at best, a very poor candidate to make any sort of meaningful contribution to value for an organization and, at worst, a prescription for problems.

If you cannot afford a problematic implementation for SharePoint 2010, or need to remedy an existing implementation that is beset with problems and low levels of end user satisfaction, repairing these problems ought to be a top priority.. You can look to Rehmani Consulting, Inc. for services that can benefit your efforts. We offer the training content you require, on SharePoint-Videos dot com, and through our dedicated products, to ensure that your plans are successfully executed. Please contact us. Either telephone us at +1 630-786-7026 or contact us via email with any questions you may have about our services. We will be happy to discuss your needs and welcome an opportunity to do so.

As ever, use this link to place an order for an annual subscription to SharePoint-Videos instructional content

© Rehmani Consulting Inc, all rights reserved

Use the SharePoint 2010 Content Organizer to Expedite the Task of Adding Documents to Libraries

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Rehmani Consulting, Inc. offers a video training class on how to Use [the SharePoint 2010] Content Organizer to Route Documents. We offer a range of subscription offers that groups of users in the private, public and non profit areas can use to access this video training class along with any of the other 421 video training classes available on our web site. You can review our SharePoint Users Training to learn further about our plans.

Intended Audience:
The intended audience for this video training are SharePoint Administrators, Developers, Architects and Power Users. Administrative privileges will be required to implement the SharePoint 2010 Content Organizer to expedite adding documents to libraries.

Why Watch this Video?
Any tools that are available, out of the box, with SharePoint 2010 that can be used to expedite the task of assigning documents to libraries are worth mastering. The Content Organizer for SharePoint 2010 is just this type of tool. An important additional benefit, beyond the core deliverable, is that successful use of the Content Organizer requires correct input of content types and metadata for each organized document. These two features are also very important to building a truly useful, and relevant search feature for SharePoint 2010.

Summary
The task of implementing the Content Organizer is largely composed of writing rules for document processing activity based upon content types and metadata. Our video training course demonstrates how these rules are written. As well, content types must be added to each destination document library, as appropriate, in order for this process to work correctly. Documents that are matched by this process to rules where content types have not been assigned to specific libraries will be filed, by the system, in the drop off library. The process of assigning content types to specific libraries is accomplished manually. Documents can be routed by the system from the drop off library to document libraries once the document library destinations have been added to the rules. Any of the functionality demonstrated in our video training course, once the system is properly configured, will be handled automatically by SharePoint Server 2010, which is a major benefit that delivers a reduction in administrative tasks and, therefore, tangible cost savings.

If you need to reduce the demand of precious support resources for SharePoint 2010, but need to ensure that document libraries are routinely used, correctly, as document repositories for all of the documents produced by your organization, you ought to consider implementing the Content Organizer feature of SharePoint 2010. Rehmani Consulting, Inc. provides you with the training content you require, on SharePoint-Videos, to ensure that your support team masters the use of this feature. Please contact us. You can telephone us at +1 630-786-7026 or contact us via email with any questions you may have about this video training course, or any of other 421 courses. We will be happy to discuss your needs and welcome an opportunity to do so.

As ever, use this link to place an order for an annual subscription to SharePoint-Videos instructional content

© Rehmani Consulting Inc, all rights reserved

SharePoint Designer 2010 can be Used to Successfully Set a Limited View of Sensitive Information on a SharePoint 2010 Intranet

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Rehmani Consulting, Inc has recently published a new video training class for SharePoint 2010 and SharePoint Designer 2010. This video course demonstrates how SharePoint Administrators, Developers & Architects can utilize SharePoint Designer, 2010 to create views of sensitive information that [h]ide a list or library from the browser when the information is displayed on a web part page on an Intranet or Extranet.

Certainly, administrative personnel for any solution used to provide a common foundation for an Intranet need to have the level of control that Asif Rehmani, a SharePoint MVP for each of the last 6 years and a professional trainer on SharePoint technology, demonstrates in this video training course. We think, however, that it is a unique feature of SharePoint 2010 that this type of capability is available. Regardless of the competitive platform that one were to consider, there are few, if any other solutions that will offer the level of granularity for control that Asif demonstrates in our course. Keep in mind that the techniques demonstrated make use of SharePoint Designer 2010 as it can be applied to control views of information on SharePoint 2010 web pages.

A governance policy for SharePoint 2010 will likely specify the method of displaying information (that can be considered sensitive) that we demonstrate in our video course on this topic. To sum up, communities of users will often require at least read access to structured data that has been included with other structured data that ought to be available, for viewing, on a selective (and restricted) basis. In this short video course of approximately 8 minutes in length, we demonstrate the techniques required to successfully accomplish the task of creating a complex view of a piece of sensitive information without any abstract discussion. Therefore, the course can be a highly useful training resource for technical staff members who will have to produce the views that management requests quickly and successfully. Finally, the caveats that Asif Rehmani presents in this video course can be useful for this same group of technical personnel to provide management with the information it requires to set realistic expectations as to the likely limitations of restricting access to sections of the information with SharePoint Designer 2010.

This course is available to anyone with an unlimited subscription to our SharePoint-Videos dot com web site. If SharePoint 2010 provides the platform for your Intranet, you may want to consider the addition of information for group display that can be pulled from otherwise sensitive documents. We can certainly advise you as to what makes the most sense for your environment. Please contact us. We will be happy to elaborate on the above with some concrete suggestions that will benefit your business. You can either telephone us at +1 630-786-7026 or contact us via email with any questions you may have about how SharePoint Designer 2010 can be successfully used for your requirements, or any topic related to either training content for SharePoint or training methods for individuals and/or enterprises covered on our web site.

As ever, use this link to place an order for an annual subscription to SharePoint-Videos instructional content

© Rehmani Consulting Inc, all rights reserved

Utilizing SharePoint 2010 Lists and Libraries to Automatically store eMail Files and Messages Promises Substantial Benefits

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Rehmani Consulting, Inc. offers an important video training course on Email enabling [SharePoint] Lists and Libraries Access to this video is restricted to our web site subscribers and customers who have purchased our SharePoint 2007 Site Admin and End User Training DVD.

We need to note that the techniques presented in this video cannot be performed in an Office 365 SharePoint environment. Further, the techniques are demonstrated to work in a SharePoint 2007 environment. As of the time of this post we are determining whether, or not, the same procedures apply to SharePoint 2010. Finally, these settings apply to incoming email messages — not outbound email messages.

What is important about the procedures demonstrated in this video is that, by setting up the process presented, the end user task of adopting a new procedure, which will make the unstructured data represented by text email messages, as well as the files appended to email messages that much more accessible by adding them into either SharePoint Lists or Libraries. a much easier and, in fact, largely transparent objective for the user.

The fact is that the type of substantial changes to ingrained, day to day work procedures that are required to realize the promise of SharePoint as an enterprise platform that can truly support panoramic exposure of structured and unstructured data, are almost insurmountable for end users. These tasks have to be automated as the vast majority of end users will not adopt radically different daily procedures.

As our tutorial demonstrates, this procedure, which is configured via the Central Administration settings, will automatically execute based upon settings which a SharePoint 2007 Farm administrator can certainly set. Further, we demonstrate how to configure specific lists and/or libraries for receipt of targeted incoming email. Therefore, the procedures constitute a total solution that elevates the entire process of exposing unstructured text email messages to business intelligence (BI) tools for SharePoint 2007 above the daily attention of end users. Therefore, we think the reliability and accuracy of this process will be very high.

It is very valuable for SharePoint personnel tasked with developing an information architecture that will extract the highest possible value from an enterprise’s investment in this software to identify video training classes like this one on email enabling SharePoint Lists and Libraries for their value as methods of overcoming barriers to end user adoption of the platform. If SharePoint is an important and strategic solution for your enterprise, you ought to look into whether or not it make sense to allocate resources to explore methods of automating important procedures typical of end user adoption of SharePoint. Certainly we can help you accomplish your objective. Please contact us. We will be happy to elaborate on the above with some concrete suggestions that will benefit your business. You can either telephone us at +1 630-786-7026 or contact us via email with any questions you may have about our video training set for SharePoint in the Cloud, or any topic related to either training content for SharePoint or training methods for individuals and/or enterprises.

As ever, use this link to place an order for an annual subscription to SharePoint-Videos instructional content

© Rehmani Consulting Inc, all rights reserved

Providing SharePoint Administrators, Developers, Architects and Power Users with Unlimited Access to Video Training Content Makes Lots of Sense

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Rehmani Consulting, Inc. offers a set of people subscriptions that provide unlimited access to all of the video training content on Microsoft SharePoint offered on SharePoint-Videos dot com.

These subscriptions constitute a superior training resource for personnel directly responsible for SharePoint project design, implementation and administration, including:

  • SharePoint Administrators
  • Site Collection Administrators
  • SharePoint Developers
  • SharePoint Architects
  • Information Architects
  • Power Users

In fact, this group of SharePoint users will likely have to deal with a very wide range of support requirements as the end user community adopts SharePoint and strives to successfully implement new procedures. Simply providing them with a static, limited set of training content will not suffice. Our SharePoint-Videos dot com web site is the largest repository of video training content exclusive to Microsoft® SharePoint® on the Internet. The range of procedures presented for learning is panoramic and growing regularly.

Further, providing personnel capable of implementing new solutions with SharePoint, as required, can provide management with the confidence that the level to which SharePoint is utilized as the computing platform of choice for specific business procedures remains elastic until a mission-critical position for the application has been established. As we have noted, at length, through other posts to this blog, a mission-critical position for SharePoint within an enterprise in the public, private or not for profit sectors, promises the most valuable return on investment (ROI) opportunity and overall reduction in operating costs.

It is worth spending a few moments on the fact that the unique features of our video training content — composed with a style that eschews bobbing heads and/or abstraction in lieu of right-to-the-point presentations by an acknowledged SharePoint subject matter expert (SME), together with a sparse presentation that keeps training topics short and readily repeatable — are perfect for the needs of SharePoint professional staff. When anxious end users are in need of a ready fix for problems, taking time to flip through a training manual, or a lengthy online presentation that broadly treats a number of topics within one presentation — will make little sense. Therefore, our presentations and delivery methods are perfect for the needs of this level of SharePoint user.

One caveat: our people subscriptions present all training material via a streaming delivery system that does not permit download to local hard disk.

If you understand the importance of technical training resources to the success of your SharePoint 2007 or 2010 Implementation plan, you should seriously consider our people subscriptions as the best solution for unlimited persistent availability for your project team. You can either telephone us at +1 630-786-7026 or contact us via email with any questions you may have about our video training sets for SharePoint 2007 or 2010, or any other topic related to either training content for SharePoint or training methods for individuals and/or enterprises.

As ever, use this link to place an order for an annual subscription to SharePoint-Videos instructional content

© Rehmani Consulting Inc, all rights reserved

Business Connectivity Services can be Used to Build KPIs, Balanced Scorecards and Dashboard for Business Intelligence

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Rehmani Consulting, Inc. offers a set of video training courses on using business connectivity services (BCS) with SharePoint 2010, enterprise. The intended audience for these video training courses are SharePoint Administrators, Developers and Architects. With the techniques presented in this video training set, large organizations can successfully use SharePoint 2010, Enterprise Edition, as an Intranet platform upon which web presentations based upon data gathered from business intelligence (BI) efforts — including balanced scorecards, graphically depicted key performance indicators (KPIs), and dashboards — can be published that will automatically update based upon changes in business line data residing in SQL Server on the back end.

Our BCS training course is available for either a purchase for individual use at $195.00, or for an enterprise, unlimited audience within one organization for $1995.00.

Enterprise business organizations, large organizations in the public sector and, finally, large non profit organizations are all expressing keen interest in supporting IT projects designed to collect accurate BI data. Ostensibly, the reason for this interest can be attributed to overall economic performance over the last 5 years, which can be seen as the unfortunate result of a pervasive lack of useful BI data, which, in turn, lead to ineffective defensive activity. In fact, accurate BI data can and should be included in risk management programs, which ought to be designed to help organizations avoid the type of financial suffering that the world has experienced since 2007.

Graphical representation of BI data has been shown to be a useful tool, which when provided to senior management can lead, quickly, to effective defensive strategies against a looming downturn in business activity comparable to the period we have just experienced. When BCS is used to connect the chart web part included with out of the box SharePoint 2010, Enterprise Edition, to a SQL Server 2008 R2, 2012, or 2013 back end, business line data can be prominently displayed to senior management regardless of the extent to which an organization is characterized by silos. Evidently, given the level of marketplace interest in BI, many organizations would rather see through their silos than simply put up with a potentially dangerous level of exposure should business lines fail to hit their operational targets.

If your organization has a mandate to improve the performance of BI activities you should seriously consider utilizing BCS with SharePoint. Rehmani Consulting, Inc. is very well qualified to consult with organizations of any size on this topic. Please contact us by telephone at +1 (630) 786-7026. Alternatively, you can contact us by email with any questions you may have about individual as well as organizational-level enterprise access to BCS training for SharePoint 2010 Enterprise Edition.

As ever, use this link to place an order for an annual subscription to SharePoint-Videos instructional content

© Rehmani Consulting Inc, all rights reserved

Video Training Content Unlocks the SharePoint 2010 Value Trap

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Rehmani Consulting, Inc. offers a suite of video training content for SharePoint 2010. Many of our products, but principally:

  1. SP101 – The Basics: SharePoint End User Training for Readers, Members & Subsite Owners
  2. and, VisualSP™

are specifically designed to help enterprises (and, generally, IT organizations) unlock the SharePoint 2010 value trap.

Whenever an enterprise purchases SharePoint Server 2010, but has no plan for implementation beyond simply informing business lines and operational groups that SharePoint 2010 is available for installation, value is trapped. Dispensing with value will result in a condition where a timely return on investment in SharePoint 2010 is substantially diminished. This fact is troubling. We used a SharePoint 2010 licensing cost calculator that we found on the Bamboo Solutions web site to estimate the cost for an enterprise of a 1000 users of SharePoint 2010 Standard, and Enterprise. We came up with $95K, which is not a trivial expense. In 2012 we do not see a strong likelihood for a majority of enterprise businesses to opt to pay out nearly $100K for an application which is merely offered, with no implementation plan.

As many prominent Information Architects have posited, formulating a roadmap and governance plan for SharePoint 2010 ought to be a prerequisite of any purchase plan. In fact, we think that lots of businesses are finally listening to this message. For businesses planning on SharePoint 2010 end users to largely self manage, implementing our training products will liberate a substantial amount of the value implicit to SharePoint in any of its most popular iterations; for example, as a document repository, or as a collaboration platform.

Our products can be used successfully to liberate the value of a SharePoint 2010 implementation as a result of the fact that short video training courses, when installed locally within a SharePoint 2010 Site Collection, can be accessed directly by end users when they need it most, meaning, precisely when they are attempting to successfully use SharePoint features. Further, with VisualSP™, an authoritative set of topic-specific video training, can be accessed by users directly within the tasks, themselves, related to SharePoint lists and libraries.

As users avail of video training content (which can be viewed several times — literally as often as required — until skills are mastered) to develop more expertise with SharePoint 2010, they will make greater use of the application and, thereby, deliver substantial return on investment. If your organization is committed to recouping the cost of SharePoint 2010 you should explore the possibility of implementing a training program for end users that includes video training content. You can either telephone us at +1 630-786-7026 or contact us via email with any questions you may have on this topic. We will be happy to provide you with some examples of how other organizations have successfully used our products to reduce desktop computing costs.

As ever, use this link to place an order for an annual subscription to SharePoint-Videos instructional content

© Rehmani Consulting Inc, all rights reserved

SharePoint in the Cloud Offers Ought to Include Video Technical Training to Ensure an Optimum SharePoint Experience for End Users

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Rehmani Consulting, Inc offers a number of attractive video training packages for SharePoint 2010, with our SP101 – The Basics: SharePoint End User Training for Readers, Members & Subsite Owners at the top of the list. A version of this unique set of short, absolutely to-the-point video training courses is available for SharePoint in the Cloud hosting services. We can’t think of a much better feature to include within a SharePoint online offer than a set of video training courses for end users that presents nothing more than the computer procedures required for this set of important SharePoint users to successfully execute the daily tasks required of them within a SharePoint working environment.

For many cloud hosting providers customer renewals are a crucial component of success. In order to ensure a high level of renewals, best practices often dictate that customers be provided with an optimized cloud computing environment. After all, it is of no benefit to a cloud hosting business to support a subscription environment characterized by high rates of churn, where onboarding is an ongoing activity and, in turn, support demands are high. Rather, the objective is to deliver the type of attractive experience to as many customers as possible, so that the majority of staff activity can be restricted to “simply keeping the lights on” while customers self manage as they go about their daily work.

SharePoint in the cloud is still SharePoint and, therefore, it makes sense to consider this version of the application to be as complex and full featured as an on premise version. Attempting to exploit unfamilar features can produce frustration for users where training is not available, but, nevertheless, new procedures must be mastered. It should be kept in mind that successful efforts on the part of SharePoint users to expand the functional range of what they can accomplish with SharePoint with new skills will certainly enhance the importance of the application for daily computing needs. Asynchronous training content like video courses make up an offering that can go far to provide users with the techniques they require to successfully execute new procedures without the direct involvement of support staff. Therefore, including video training content is a feature that can also lead to a reduction in support demand and, in turn, lower operating costs for cloud hosting providers.

If SharePoint is an important and strategic offer for your cloud hosting business, you ought to contact us. We will be happy to elaborate on the above with some concrete suggestions that will benefit your business. You can either telephone us at +1 630-786-7026 or contact us via email with any questions you may have about our video training set for SharePoint in the Cloud, or any topic related to either training content for SharePoint or training methods for individuals and/or enterprises.

As ever, use this link to place an order for an annual subscription to SharePoint-Videos instructional content

© Rehmani Consulting Inc, all rights reserved

Using Big Data Tools on AMI Smart Meter Data Should Include SharePoint

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Rehmani Consulting, Inc offers comprehensive training for users of SharePoint 2010 on InfoPath 2010. Our InfoPath 2010: Design Electronic SharePoint Forms can be of great value as public utilities here in the United States begin to address the Big Data produced by automated meter infrastructure and related smart devices. As noted in a recent article posted on the greentechgrid section of the greentechmedia web site, What Utilities Want From the Soft Grid, Tony Tewelis, of Arizona Public Service (APS) is noted as having mentioned that “APS now collects nearly 20 million pieces of data per day” (quoted from an article written by Jeff St. John and published on the greentechmedia web site on August 15, 2012).

Obviously, the volume of information that APS plans to collect from its automated meter infrastructure (AMI) program will fall into the category of Big Data, which will be best handled within the Microsoft computing paradigm with Microsoft’s own Big Data tools, which have recently been expanded to include Apache™ Hadoop™. Further, and with specific regard to public utilities equipped with a SharePoint 2010, enterprise Intranet and/or Extranet, this data will likely segue into data repositories (whether via SQL Server 2008, R2 or 2012, or the above mentioned Hadoop solution) visible to the SharePoint computing environment where InfoPath 2010 forms can be created (even automatically) to alert support teams of outages, invoice customers and even order replacement data from suppliers based upon information collected via Nis Gata.

Therefore, it makes sense for these public utilities to empower staff members with IT computing expertise to work with their counterparts from the AMI operations activities to learn best how to use InfoPath 2010 to build the rich set of forms (and related automated procedures) from this data and, thereby, deliver substantial return on investment for these same utilities. We are confident that video training content constitutes a valuable tool that can be used successfully to provide these teams with the above mentioned training so that they can extract the greatest utility from the information delivered by AMI operations within a SharePoint computing environment.

If your organization is rolling out AMI infrastructure on the expectation that highly useful data will be produced by the AMI system that can be used to lower operating expenses and, thereby, deliver a prompt return on your investment, it makes sense to explore, further, how SharePoint 2010 adds additional value to your efforts. You can either telephone us at +1 630-786-7026 or contact us via email with any questions you may have about our video training set on using InfoPath 2010 and SharePoint 2010, enterprise edition, or any topic related to either training content for SharePoint or training methods for individuals and/or enterprises.

As ever, use this link to place an order for an annual subscription to SharePoint-Videos instructional content

© Rehmani Consulting Inc, all rights reserved

To Deliver Optimum Results It Makes Sense to Incorporate End User Training as a Component Within a Governance Solution for SharePoint

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In our experience, it is difficult for enterprise organizations to conceptualize the optimum benefit that can be realized from an implementation of any of our SharePoint-Videos dot com SharePoint 2010 Training Courses, let alone our revolutionary, in-context, on-demand access solution, VisualSP™, independent of a governance plan for SharePoint that demonstrates how SharePoint computing procedures can be implemented to ensure the attainment of business objectives.

In other words, if an organization has not reached a consensus that a defined set of SharePoint procedures will be implemented in order to deliver on business requirements and, further, that specific personnel within an organizations will have the responsibility to perform discrete, but complementary procedures to deliver on objectives, it rarely makes sense for an organization to seriously consider the type of technical training required by end users to successfully complete their required procedures.

Fortunately, we are seeing an increasing number of organizations establish internal information architecture roles, specifically for SharePoint, These architects have a mandate to draft and, subsequently, implement governance plans for SharePoint as an enterprise application. Usually, our conversations with individuals in these roles are more meaningful, perhaps as a direct result of the fact that they fully understand that prescribed guidelines as to how procedures are to be performed cannot be properly followed prior to providing personnel (who will be responsible for these procedures) with meaningful training.

Of course, for organizations that have not, as of yet, created a SharePoint governance plan, but, nevertheless, feel the pain that results from a lack of such a plan, there is also an opportunity for us to engage in meaningful conversation, albeit conversation that will likely shed light on the fact that drafting and implementing a governance plan for SharePoint ought to be a very high priority and, in all likelihood, a preliminary that will need to be completed before substantive conversations about technical training can take place.

We welcome opportunities to engage with organizations who need to provide a technical method to their SharePoint 2010 governance plan as well as organizations suffering from the lack of value (not to mention lack of return on investment) that often accompanies unbridled SharePoint activity. Rehmani Consulting, Inc. is very well qualified to consult with organizations at either stage. Please contact us by telephone at +1 (630) 786-7026. Alternatively, you can contact us by email with any questions you may have about individual as well as organizational-level SharePoint training.

As ever, use this link to place an order for an annual subscription to SharePoint-Videos instructional content

© Rehmani Consulting Inc, all rights reserved