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Visio 2010: A Diagram Is Worth a Thousand Words

December 21, 2009

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Visio 2010: A Diagram Is Worth a Thousand Words

REDMOND, Wash. (RPRN) 12/21/09 —  — The world is more complex than ever, and people need an easy way to simplify information, communicate it to others and ultimately make better decisions. Diagramming has always been a way to help organize information into easy-to-see, digestible parts. Whether on napkins, white boards or paper, diagramming helps convey thoughts and ideas.

“Humans have always communicated visually, to make sense of the world and communicate quickly with others,” said Chris Crane, director of Visio Product Management at Microsoft Corp. “That’s why the diagram is so powerful, and even more relevant in today’s fast, global, news-intensive society.”

Diagramming is so popular that about half of all Microsoft Office users diagram. In the world of diagramming, Microsoft Visio stands out as a way to easily simplify complexity and communicate with others. In fact, over 15 million customers worldwide have Visio for diagramming as do over 70 percent of the global 100 companies.

Now the next evolution of diagramming is here — Visio 2010. The most significant Visio release in 10 years, it delivers tools that help create dynamic, data-driven diagrams, shareable via the Web.

Changing the Way People Diagram

As information becomes more complex, the way people interact with that information has evolved. Diagrams are an easy, simple way to convey ideas — and Visio 2010 is the next step in this diagramming evolution.

The advanced diagramming tools in Visio 2010 are easy to use, can create dynamic data-driven visuals, and provide new ways to share on the Web in real-time.

Visio 2010 is simple and easy to use. Out of the box it comes with 66 preset templates and now has the Office Ribbon incorporated into its user interface — making it easier for all types of workers to find the tools they need to build, update or view a diagram.

“Whether it’s an organizational chart, network diagram or a business process, the latest tools in Visio 2010 help create visually-pleasing diagrams that simplify complexity and get everyone on the same page,” Crane said. “With a large collection of pre-drawn shapes, pictures and templates, and the dramatically improved user experience, every step is easier and more intuitive.”

Visio 2010 Screenshot

Visio 2010 also brings diagrams to life with dynamic visuals that are connected to data in real time, refreshing automatically when the data changes. This ultimately increases productivity by bringing together separate silos of information — such as a business process diagram and the Excel data related to that process — into a single, up-to-date view, saving time and speeding up decisions. For example, IT departments can visualize how their systems all work together by connecting network diagrams with data from Microsoft System Center Operations Manager.

“Anyone can easily place real-time data right onto the shapes of a diagram,” Crane said. “The icons, symbols, colors and bar graphs give a clear view of the information that matters to your business — and automatically links to popular data sources like Excel or Access to help you display visuals that are always current.”

Finally, using Visio Services on SharePoint Server 2010, diagrams connected to real-time, interactive data can be shared with others on the Web, making it easy to keep everyone working on a project up-to-date. Users can connect a visual to one or more data sources and publish a data-linked diagram to SharePoint Server 2010. Co-workers with SharePoint access can then view the diagram via a Web browser and drill down into more details — even if they don’t have Visio.

Information that had been “locked” in a spreadsheet or database and a diagram can now be linked together and communicated broadly with Visio 2010. This helps organizations get a clear picture of different islands of information that need to be in perfect step together and communicated across the organization.

“If a picture is worth a thousand words, Visio 2010 is priceless,” Crane said. “Check out the next evolution of diagramming tools as soon as you can — you’ll be surprised at how easy it is to create and share expert diagrams that help you communicate your information and viewpoint better than ever.”

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Contact Rapid Response Team Waggener Edstrom Worldwide (503) 443-7070

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