Does your business use paper, of course it does, but does it use too much of it? Have you ever wished you could reduce the amount of paper that flows through your office, piles up on your desk, or gets lost at the water cooler?
Read More >I read an interesting blog article by Austin Merrit of Software advice with the above title. It is an interesting article and makes many valid points but I have a slightly different take.
1) What is the definition of Horizontal Software?
Most software publishers if not all now provide extended solutions/modules for specific industries. So the core system may not have been designed for a specific industry but the extended solutions are. Plus Computer Solutions is a Sage 300 (formerly Accpac) reseller and Sage and BAASS Businesss Solutions have vertical solutions for the distribution, service, manufacturing, retail, Not for profit, etc industries. The core Sage 300 modules might be consider at horizontal solution as they were initially not developed for one specific industry but for many different industries. This has created a great deal of functionality in the application that allows the application to be useful in many different environments. In fact the core modules have been developed to such an extent that they are usually far more functional than the core of a vertical software solution. We usually find that our General Ledger, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable and Business Intelligence modules are far more comprehensive than any vertical software solution.
2) Is Stand alone software the same as Horizontal software?
In my opinion Stand alone software is simply a piece of software that does not integrate to any other application. Stand alone software is often designed specifically for a vertical industry. I would say as a reseller we see clients and prospects using vertical invoicing, customer management, estimating and quoting, time and billing systems that were designed for there industries but do not integrate easily to back office systems more often than a stand alone horizontal system.
3) Software Vendors are verticalizing there solutions.
Many of the major players he mentions are but many are not. In reality they are simply marketing to industries where there solutions have a strong presence. In some cases the solution may be strong in that vertical industry but often we find that it is just a perception issue and the product often does not meet the mustard test when compared to a non vertical solution.
In summary I personally do not think horizontal solutions are dead nor do I think they will ever die. They will just be enhanced and modified to meet the needs of vertical industries or extensive marketing to industries they are well suited to will be increased. In that sense the name horizontal solutions may disappear but some of the best vertical solutions are and will be built on the foundation of a horizontal solution. Alternatively I do think that stand alone solutions are dying a slow death and we will eventually find more and more software developers will build solutions on common platforms so that integration will become less of an issue.
Data integrity checks in Sage 300 (formerly Accpac) are critical. It's easy to get the impression on how we, at BAASS Business Solutions, feel on the matter considering the number of times we bring it up. Data integrity checks can stop disasters before they start.
One of the down sides of data integrity checks, or a DIC as I like to call them, is that they can take a long time to run. Some larger databases can take hours, which is fine because you can continue working or walk away since it is going to just pop up with a nice report when it's done.
But oops, my workstation was set to print directly to the printer. The DIC is done, but instead of a nice report on my screen, Sage 300 is asking what printer to print to. I'm not going to print a 100 page report just to review it once and I don't want to run the DIC again. Is there something I can do? Yes!
The DIC creates a text version of this report and saves it to the Sage 300 shared data directory. To access this file, simply locate your Sage 300 shared data directory by going to Help -> System Information. Using Windows File Explorer, navigate to this path, then the COMPANY folder, followed by the folder where the name matches the database ID where you ran the DIC. Contained within, there should be a file called ERRORS.LOG. This file will be a full copy of the report you'd have received when the DIC was complete.
Not only does this save you grief if you missed the DIC report from Sage 300, but I actually prefer to read the report this way. Considering a great deal of the report is "0 Error(s) found", having it in text format allows you to quickly scroll through it.
Sometimes one doesn't have to exit an Excel spreadsheet to get the necessary data. All Sage 300 (formerly Accpac) tables can be accessed and analysed directly from within Excel. Yes, yes - Excel! I'm talking here about MS Query that can be called upon from the Data menu of Excel. Provided you know the ODBC connections to your company's data and credentials to access it you're good to go and query the data you need, all fields of any table, with the availability of selections and filters. Of course knowing SQL language can be handy and can save hours of work, as in the below example.
Read More >In CRM, you may be using Groups, which used to be called "Target Lists". Have you wanted to use or see these Groups in other screens, such as the Company summary screen? Here's how!
Adding a Group/Target List field to another screen
Within the marketing area an individual wave item or wave activity can be linked to a Group, which used to be Target Lists.
How can a Group field be added to another entity?
- Add a new field called 'comp_targetlist' to the company table. The type must = 'Integer'.
- Add the field to the companyboxlong
- Open your Query Analyser or SQL query tool and change the meta data by running:
update custom_edits
set colp_entrytype = 60, colp_defaulttype= null, colp_entrysize=null
where colp_colname = 'comp_targetlist'
The Group field type = '60'.
- Refresh the metadata.
- Navigate to a company summary page and test.
A few weeks ago I had an initial meeting with a prospective customer who called us after hearing our radio ad. They were a rapidly growing company, who were just as rapidly outgrowing their off-the-shelf accounting system, which had been purchased nearly a decade earlier. They were obviously a good candidate for ERP and CRM, but since they had some unique business issues - and really, what business doesn't have a few unique requirements - I proposed that we provide them with a Needs Assessment. When I mentioned that this would be a billable service, the response I received was something like "I never charge my customers for a quote, and I don't intend to pay you for one either!". I agree with their statement; no one should have to pay for a quote - but a quote is quite different from a Needs Assessment.
Read More >Technology Evaluation Centers (http://www.technologyevaluation.com/)
In this article, we'll review the different reason why even private companies should prepare to adopt International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). We'll also devle into the reasons why asset-intensive industries should be excited to make the switch, and we'll discuss the specific steps in IFRS adoption.
What is IFRS & Why Do I Care?
It is perfectly logical to think of IFRS as a new set of accounting standards that some companies will be required to adopt, and one that companies in some countries have already adopted. By looking past the regulatory requirement to holistic business dynamics, we get a better picture of what IFRS really means.
IFRS is becoming the global language of business. In the future, companies will communicate with investors in public securities, bankers, customers, merger & acquisition consultants, and other influential parties. It will be a consistent standard that everyone will be measured against - whether you are in China, the US, Canada, Mexico or anywhere else. As the global economy begins to encompass more & more mid-market manufacturers, and as more of these companies have trading partners or even subsidiaries overseas, it will be important for companies to speak the same financial language as the rest of the globe.
The IASB developed IFRS. This new method of financial reporting has already been formally adopted by many countries who are members of the European Union (EU), and more countries are adopting this standard every day. Some of the key business drivers for IFRS included the need for consistent accounting standards & disclosure requirements. If you are using using US-based GAAP, or some other accounting standard, conduct international business operations, and you are dealing with IFRS, you are really operating with two different sets of records. This can be time-consuming, costly & challenging at the end of every month, quarter, and annum as the different sets of books are reconciled.
There are three basic reasons why manufacturers will want to be prepared for IFRS sooner than required by regulation - even if the private companies are not affected by the US Securities & Exchange commission (SEC) mandates;
- IFRS is important in order to access capital markets. Publicly held companies should find this attractive as an alternative method of obtaining capital, but if you are a private company, you are often entirely dependent on commercial lenders for capital. Analysts for these lenders are always looking at your company's progress, often comparing your company against competitors. Its is hard to do that without a uniform measure for comparing organizations.
- The increasingly global nature of business will make IFRS capabilities a business success factor. Some US manufacturers with subsidiaries in other countries that have rolled out IFRS will already have to run at least part of their business on international standards. Other companies planning to expand globally will want to develop IFRS capabilities proactively. There are already enough organizational hurdles to hanging a shingle in a different country without adding a new financial reporting methodology a the same time. Moreover, potential customers, particularly those located in geographies where IFRS is already mandated, will use international standards rather than US-based GAAP to evaluate the financial stability of their vendors.
To read the rest of the article & to learn more about IFRS & what it means to you, visit; http://www.technologyevaluation.com/Research/ResearchHighlights/ERP/2009/12/research_notes/RN_ERP_CA_MD_12_14_09_12.asp