Yammer Vs Slack

With increasing number of teams working on projects from different locations in different time zones, the importance of having a private business social platform that helps the team members to communicate and coordinate with each other increases manifolds. Another important role it plays is that it significantly reduces the number of emails being generated for communication at a workplace. They can be on-premise or cloud-based software that include many useful features like instant messaging, document sharing, group chats, track information, and much more.

Though there are a number of public social networking platforms, they might be compromising on your client's privacy, identity management, legal compliance and implementing service level agreements. Thus, having a private social platform for workplace communication that can comply with regal requirements and also handle large volume of queries and responses is needed. Two such popular enterprise collaboration software that you might have come across are Yammer and Slack.

Yammer is a Microsoft social networking product that provides an open platform for team members to hold discussions, share updates, give feedback and clarify doubts. Since communication through Yammer is instantaneous, improving processes, sharing innovative ideas and making decisions becomes fast and easy. Yammer, in sync with other MS products like SharePoint and OneDrive helps you make this communication even more seamless. Yammer now comes bundles with the Office 365 subscription.

The other app that is steadily gaining popularity for workplace communication is Slack. It has a user-friendly platform that integrates with Skype and Google Drive to make video calling and file sharing easy. You can start using the free version to see if it meets your requirements, otherwise, the paid version of Slack also has some additional features such as screen sharing and group calls.

Similarities

Yammer and Slack are both similar in the way that they are both private messaging tools that make communication at a workplace smooth and quick. Both of them are available on devices such as Windows, Mac, Android, Windows phone and iPhone/iPad. They are also available for use online without being downloaded on these devices.

Yammer has an interface that is familiar to Facebook. Since you are already familiar with using Facebook, using Yammer becomes easier. Slack also comes with a user-friendly environment that is very polished and intuitive to use. It uses some popular features, such as hashtags and emoticons to make the user feel completely at home.

A common feature amongst Yammer and Slack is that they help you stay organized by creating different groups for different projects and teams. You can also start a direct conversation with a team member on both these platforms. You can use features like the hashtag (#), mention (@), star, upload, links, search and many more to help you organize and find information quickly. These features help you in making a trail of relevant messages, bookmarking important discussions and looking for particular topics simple.

Both Yammer and Slack have efficient notification systems. Yammer sends a notification only when users are away from Yammer for specific time interval. Also, if you have received a notification for a new activity but have not gone to Yammer to respond to it, Yammer will not send you a notification for the same thread of conversation. Similarly, in Slack, you can select what you get notified about. This helps in avoiding notifications to keep piling on.

Yammer is a part of the Office 365 group and integrates efficiently with various Office apps as well as external systems such as Zapier, Slack, Zendesk, GoodData, Smarsh, Bagdeville, Hype, Buzztale, Hootsuite, Mindflash etc. Slack also provides integrates with third-party apps like Twitter, Google Docs/Drive, Dropbox, Zendesk, GitHub, MailChimp, etc. This helps in bringing the information from all these tools together with the chat interface to help keep context with the discussions.

They are both suitable to be used by small businesses, mid-sized businesses, and large enterprises. They both offer free trial of their restricted versions so that even freelancers can gain out of using them.

Differences

Though Slack is similar to Yammer, there are some distinct differences in both their features.

Features	Yammer	Slack
Organization	Yammer helps you to stay organized by categorizing your communication in: Groups: You can create different groups for different teams and projects.  Following: Here you can see all the conversations that you started, replied to, or chose to Follow in Inbox.  Followers: This lists the team members who are following your conversations.  Following Topics: This shows you the list of hashtags that you are following. It helps you find all the topics of your interest in one place.	Slack enables you to organize your chats in 3 main categories: Channels: A channel can be created to chat with different member groups and projects teams. Direct messages: You can also chat with individual team members using direct messaging. Private Groups: These are private groups that function as exclusive channels. The content here is only visible to those members who are included in the group by the admin.
Integration with external systems	Yammer can only integrate with limited apps such as Zapier, Slack, Zendesk, GoodData, Smarsh, Bagdeville, Hype, Buzzte, Hootsuite, Mindflash, etc.	Slack provides integration with many more apps like Dropbox, SalesForce Sales cloud, Gmail, Google, Trello, Twitter, etc.
Voice, Video and Screen Sharing	Making Voice and Video calls and sharing your screen is possible in Yammer using Microsoft Stream.	Slack integrates with apps like apear.in, Blue Jeans, Daily.co, Google Hangouts, GoToMeeting, etc, to provide voice calling, video calling and screen sharing.
Formatting Code Snippets	The only way you can post a piece of code on Yammer is by inserting a # and a space before pasting that code so that it will not be converted into a new topic or reformatting it.  It does not provide a way by which code and command-line output can be inserted as a marked text section so that it appears just as it is.	Slack supports sharing of code snippets, log files and configuration files easy. It does not reformat a piece of code and displays it inside a marked text section.  You can read it, download it and leave comments for such a post. If you created a snippet, you can also edit it later on Slack if required. This feature is only available on desktop version of Slack.
Inline Link Previews	Link previews are not available in Yammer as of now. On posting a link, it simply displays a long URL. There is no way to understand what the link contains.	Similar to other social networking apps like Facebook, on inserting a link to an image, website, file etc. Slack displays a link preview that shows some text/images from the content as an image.  A link preview is at times important to increase audience engagement and also to give a better understanding of the posted content.
Attaching a File	Yammer allows you to attach and share a file in a message by selecting different ways in which you want to share it.  You can select to upload it from your device or attach it from elsewhere in Yammer, SharePoint or OneDrive. You can also attach a GIF from those that already exist in Yammer.	Slack gives you a very easy way of uploading files from your device. You can simply drag and drop them into Slack from a folder. You can also copy and paste images directly into a message.  Another way of uploading a file is by clicking the plus icon on a message and selecting it on your device to upload it.
Sharing a Thread	Sharing a thread in Yammer across groups creates new conversations in those groups.  Hence, the comments or likes on those threads need to be manually monitored for analysis. Also, it’s a lot of work to post threads individually in all groups.	To share a thread with individual team members or groups, you can simply @mention them in the threaded message. They will automatically start following that thread. This will also start showing the threaded message under the All Threads View in their Slack.  This helps to link everyone to the same thread and keep the discussion relevant. It also helps to keep a track of everyone's replies and reactions in one place.
Using Emojis	As of now it's not possible to use emoticons or emojis while posting messages in Yammer.	Slack has a rich collection of emojis to match all your moods and personalize a message. It helps in making conversations in the workplace short, crisp and fun.
Local time of Users	Yammer does not display the users' local time on the profile pages. It only displays the Activity Stream Ticker. It displays the time when another user has viewed a message, uploaded, downloaded, created and joined a group. This can sometimes come across as a breach in user's privacy.	Slack displays the local time on the profile of each user. This helps in keeping a track of time when team members are in different time zones.
App Support	Yammer provides customer support, admin support, blog and community support. It also has numerous knowledge base articles for its users.	Slack provides online support, numerous knowledge base articles and also video tutorials for the users to learn how to use it and clarify their doubts.
Pricing	Yammer offers three payment plans. You can select them according to the features available in each and your business requirements: Office 365 Business Essentials $5.00/month/user Office 365 Business $8.25/month/user Office 365 Business Premium $12.50/month/user	Slack offers three Small and Medium business and Enterprise pricing packages. You can select a plan according to your requirements: Free – No limits on time or users Standard – $6.67 per user/month billed annually ($8 billed monthly) Plus – $12.50 per user/month billed annually ($15 billed monthly) Enterprise – By quote

Bearing Lube Oil and Hydraulics System Tutorial

Do you know that the turbine control and protection systems are operated through electro-hydraulic devices that are supplied with the operating oil from the Bearing Lube Oil and Hydraulics System?

At the end of this module, you will be able to:

• Identify the sub-systems that comprise the Bearing Lube Oil and Hydraulics System

• State the purpose of each of the sub-systems that comprise the Bearing Lube Oil and Hydraulics System.

• Identify the functions of the major components of each of the sub-systems that comprise the Bearing Lube Oil and Hydraulics System.

Bearing Lube Oil and Hydraulics System: Overview

The Bearing Lube Oil and Hydraulics System consists of the following sub-systems:

• Lubricating Oil System

• Combined Hydraulic and Lift Oil System

• Control and Trip Oil System

• Generator Hydrogen Seal Oil System

The major components shared by these sub-systems are:

• Piping
• Lubricating oil supply pumps
• Heat exchangers
• Filters
• Oil reservoir

In this course, each of these sub-systems will be discussed individually, including the purpose of each sub-system and the function of the major components within each sub-system.

Lubricating Oil System: Overview

The purpose of the Lubricating Oil System is to supply filtered lubricant, at the proper temperature and pressure, for operation of the turbine and associated equipment. It also absorbs the heat rejected from the generator bearings.

The Lubricating Oil System supplies lube oil to the gas turbine and generator bearings, turning gear and accessory equipment, and to the atomizing air purge compressors on dual fuel units. Additionally, the Lubricating Oil System supplies oil to the Control and Trip Oil System and the Generator Hydrogen Seal Oil System. A portion of the pressurized fluid is diverted, filtered, and again pressurized substantially for use by hydraulic control devices and as shaft lift oil.

The lube oil skid, also referred to as an accessory module, contains the oil reservoir, pumps, coolers, filters, valves, and various control and protection devices used by the Bearing Lube Oil and Hydraulics System.

Lubricating Oil System: Major Components

The major system components of the Lubricating Oil System include:

• Lube Oil Reservoir that serves as a base for the accessory module
• Two centrifugal pumps, each driven by an AC-powered electric motor
• Emergency lube oil pump driven by a DC-powered electric motor
• Dual parallel-flow lubricating oil heat exchangers
• Dual parallel-flow lubricating oil filters
• Bearing header pressure-regulating valve

• Mist eliminator with two fans
• Miscellaneous instrumentation

Lubricating Oil System: Flowpath

Under normal operating conditions, lube oil is supplied to the Lubricating Oil System from the reservoir by one of two main AC-powered motor-driven centrifugal pumps.

Lube oil is first pumped through one of the two parallel heat exchangers, each of which is designed to maintain the oil at the proper bearing-header temperature. From the in-service heat exchanger, the oil then flows through one of the two full flow parallel filters to the lube oil system loads. A three-way transfer valve controls the selection of the heat exchanger or filter set that is in use.

An air-operated pressure-regulating valve controls the oil pressure to the gas turbine and generator bearings, turning gear and accessory equipment, and to the atomizing air purge compressors on dual fuel units. The system is ventilated through a mist eliminator mounted on top of the lube oil reservoir.

Piping taps, located downstream of the filters and before the lubricating oil header pressure-regulating valve, supply oil to the Generator Hydrogen Seal Oil System, Combined Hydraulic and Lift Oil System, and Control and Trip Oil System.

Functions of Major Components: Lube Oil Reservoir

The Lube Oil Reservoir is a 6,200-gallon tank that serves as a base of the Lube Oil Accessory Module. It provides storage for the lubricant that is used by all the sub-systems of the Bearing Lube Oil and Hydraulics System.

The interior of the tank is coated with an oil-resistant protective coating. The top of the tank is the base on which the various components, such as the oil pumps and heat exchangers, are mounted.

A lubricant drain connection on the side of the accessory module is used to drain the Lube Oil Reservoir.

The Lube Oil Reservoir has two temperature switches that measure the oil tank temperature and transmit the temperature readings to the turbine control circuit.

One temperature switch measures the oil tank temperature and provides an on or off signal for the standby tank immersion heaters. The immersion heaters are designed to maintain the oil tank temperature between 70 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit when the unit is shutdown.

The other temperature switch prevents a turbine startup if the oil temperature is not above a pre-determined set-point, which indicates that the oil viscosity may not be adequate for turbine operation.

Note, that the standby tank immersion heaters are interlocked such that, when operating in AUTO, they will not activate unless a lube oil pump is in operation.

Module:	2	BLOH System Overview			Page #:		005
Chapter:	3	Lubricating Oil System			Interactivity:		MMCQ
Question Text:					Bloom’s Level:		1
Identify the major system components of the Lubricating Oil System. Select all that apply and click Submit.
1.    Nitrogen-filled bladder
2.    AC motor-driven oil pumps
3.    DC motor-driven emergency lube oil pump
4.    Heat exchangers and filters
5.    Solenoid-operated isolation valve
6.    Mist eliminator
Answers:	2, 3, 4, and 6				Remediation:	M2C3P3
Correct Feedback:			That’s correct.
Partially Correct Feedback:			That’s partially correct. Click the Remediation button for a quick review.
Incorrect Feedback:			1.	That’s incorrect. Click the Remediation button for a quick review.
			2.	The correct answers are displayed for you.
Prompt Text:			Click Forward to continue.
Notes to Developer:

Contract Payment Stream: Introduction

Contract Payment Stream: Introduction

A Contract Payment Stream refers to the cash flow from the customer’s end to a particular Profit and Loss site in return for the services or repairs done. It represents how a customer is billed for various fees. All the factors contributing to a Contract Payment Stream are taken into consideration to ensure that the cash flow during the contract period remains relatively constant.

The Contract Payment Stream or fees may include any of the following as detailed in the contract:

• Fixed Fee

• Factored Fired Hours Fee

• Periodic Payments

• Adder Fee

• Taxes

• Escalation Amounts

Contract Payment Stream: Periodic Payments 

These payments may be calculated monthly, quarterly, or even annually, as specified in each individual contract. Sometimes, payments are made periodically during the term of the contract. Note that these are the normal components that are included in the Invoice Total. When a customer asks for the Invoice Subtotal, normally only the Fixed Fee, Factored Fired Hours Fee, and Periodic Payments are included.

You will now learn about the fundamental details of the various Contract Payment Stream.

A Fixed Fee is essentially the standard fee that is typically paid every month. This can also be paid quarterly or annually. In some contracts, the amount may change over time with different periods having different set of amounts. The customer, however, pays as specified in the contract. The customer is expected to make this fixed fee payment at the time specified in the contract.

This specified fee, which is decided at the beginning of the contract, ensures smooth flow of cash into the Contract Payment Stream.

Factored Fired Hours Fee is a major contributing factor to the payment stream. This fee is an amount charged for the hours of actual turbine operation, or the fired hours. The customer has to submit accurate and complete documentation of the operational data of each gas turbine unit for the calculation of Factored Fired Hours. This turbine operational data includes the number of fired hours, types of fuel used, and the number of starts.

The Factored Fired Hours Fee is the product of the number of Factored Fired Hours and the Fired Hour Rate.

The Fired Hour Rate is the per hour fee that a customer pays for operation of the gas turbine. In a contract, the Fired Hour Rate may be specified either as a set value or a variable value for the contract period.

Periodic Payments or Milestone Payments are made periodically or at predefined milestones. The milestones usually pertain to significant maintenance events.

The benefits of Periodic Payments are:

§  Customers are able to maximize cash retention until their maintenance is due.

§  CS is assured that there is cash in hand prior to performing the maintenance.

§  For CS, deferred revenue is minimized if the quantum of periodic payment closely matches the actual costs.

In a typical contract, the two types of Periodic Payments are:

§  Quarterly Payments

§  Mobilization Payments

Click each type of Periodic Payments to know more about it.

Periodic Payments or Milestone Payments are considered to be an important component of the payment stream. These payments are made periodically or at predefined milestones. The milestones usually pertain to significant maintenance events, such as a payment of $500,000 for every 10,000 Factored Fired Hours.

Typically, a CPM needs to ensure there is regular cash inflow at predefined milestones during the term of the contract. This helps avoid the need to borrow money to pay for repairs and maintenance services. 

Periodic Payments ensure that money is received prior to the performance of the maintenance. The benefit to the customer is that they get retain the majority of their cash till the time when the maintenance is performed. The benefit to GE is that there is cash in hand prior to performing the maintenance. Another benefit of periodic payments for CS is that deferred revenue is minimized if the quantum of periodic payment closely matches the actual costs.

In a typical contract, the two types of Periodic Payments are Quarterly Payments and Mobilization Payments. Click each type of Periodic Payments to know more about it.

The monthly Invoice Subtotal can be calculated only after the individual components of the Contract Payment Stream for the month are calculated. The components normally referred to when a customer asks for the Invoice Subtotal are Factored Fired Hours Fee, Fixed Fee, and Periodic Payments. Therefore, to calculate a customer’s monthly Invoice Subtotal, the components and fee that were due for the month are added together.

COSMOS 4.0: Reports Generation Storyboard

Welcome to this module on reports generation.

COSMOS 4.0 presents you with a variety of reports that are based on projected and actual data provided in the model. Some of the reports generated by COSMOS 4.0 include details on Contract Margin Reviews, forecasting, event details, repairs and replacement of parts.

In this module, you will learn how to generate reports.

The Generate Report feature of COSMOS 4.0 enables you to view data, based on some specific requirements, in a report form. Using COSMOS 4.0, you can generate a variety of reports. The different types of reports are Contract reports, Comparison reports, Count reports, Catalog reports, and Norm reports.

In this chapter, you will learn what these reports represent and how they are generated.

At the end of this chapter, you will be able to:

• Identify the different types of reports that can be generated using COSMOS 4.0.
• Perform the steps to generate relevant reports.

Comparison Reports: Introduction

The Comparison report is used to:

•  Evaluate the profitability of the CSA, MMP, and Aero Energy contracts
•  Analyze the financial background and inspection schedule details of a customer’s contract

The Comparison report is also known as the Contract Review Report. It serves as the output for the Contract Margin Review process, which compares the actual operational and financial data with the forecasted data. This is used to evaluate the past and projected profitability of each contract, which is important for the success of Contractual Services. The Contract Margin Review must happen before this report is generated.

The various types of Comparison reports that can be generated are: 

• Margin Review CSA
• Margin Review MMP
• Margin Review Aero Energy
• Budget Comparison
• Activity Comparison

The Generate Report menu on the COSMOS home page is used to display Comparison reports. To display Comparison reports, under the Generate Report menu, select the Comparison Report sub-menu, and then select the required report. This displays the relevant report details page that enables selection of the prior and current model versions for a particular client under the Details section. In this section, select the prior and the current estimated billing streams, and the quarter and year for which the report is required. Once the appropriate selections are made, click Show Report to view the report or click Cancel to return to the COSMOS home page.

Click Show Report, to display various sub-reports for the chosen quarter and year. For Margin Review reports, the sub-reports displayed are: MR Model Assumptions, Financial Summary, Margin Adjustment, Contract Variance, Project Payment Schedule, Actual Payments, Current Forecasts, Cost Comparison, Sales Comparison, Operational Summary, and MR Comments.

For Budget Comparison reports, the various sub-reports that can be viewed are: Projected Analysis, Impact to Parts, Impact to I&FS, Impact to Unplan, CSA Impact Summary, Impact to I&RS, Impact to GECS, Impact to Others, and Comments.

Click Save Report to save the contents of the report. Click Print to print the report.

Click the links under the sub-reports listed on the page to view the required report. Each link opens a separate page that displays the report under the Report Preview tab.

The Comments tab on the same page helps in providing comments on the displayed report. To close the displayed report, click Close.

Comparison Reports: Activity

Case Study

You are currently working on the Contract Margin Review version of the Duke Energy contract for the first quarter of 2006. This version is named USER10-TCS-USER14-07062005. The earlier model version was USER10-TCS28July2005 Copy of User12. The current estimate of the billing stream is Billing Stream 2 and the prior estimate of the billing stream is Billing Stream 2. Generate a report to view the operational summary of the model.

To view a Comparison report displaying the operational summary of a model, you need to perform the following steps:

1. On the COSMOS home page, click the Generate Report menu.
2. Under the Generate Report menu, select the Comparison Report sub-menu, and click the Margin Review CSA link.
3. On the Margin Review- CSA page, from the Prior Model Version list, select USER10-TCS28July2005 Copy of User12 and from the Current Model Version list, select USER10-TCS-USER14-07062005.
4. On the Margin Review-CSA page, from the Billing Stream list, select Billing Stream 1 as the prior estimate and select Billing Stream 2 as the current estimate.
5. From the For Quarter list, select Q1 and from the For Year list, select 2006.
6. To view the report, click Show Report.
7. On, Margin Review-CSA- Qtr2,2000 page, click the Operational Summary link.
8. On the Margin Review-High Value- Qtr2,2000 - Operational Summary page, click the Comments tab.

Pop-up text: Enter your comments on the displayed report here.