February 22nd 2012
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) has been improving efficiency and decision making in the world of big business for over two decades. Now the development of specifically tailored healthcare ERP is making an impact for healthcare organizations across the board with improvements in everything from HR to stock management.
February 20th 2012
Inventory shrinkage is expensive. In today’s competitive environment distributors cannot afford to replace missing material or disappoint customers when material that was supposed to be on the shelf is not available. Inventory Management expert, Jon Schreibfeder, shares how the use of a Warehouse Management System can prevent the loss of your inventory.
February 17th 2012
Socius are an internationally recognized business consulting firm with over 25 years of experience and 1,000 clients. In this article they present the differences between Microsoft’s portfolio of Dynamics ERP software solutions. Determine which MS Dynamics ERP product (AX , GP, NAV or SL) is the right solution for your business needs.
February 16th 2012
With an ever-increasing range of ERP products in the market it’s easy to get caught up in deciding which software to use and lose track of the hidden costs you may end up incurring. Here are some key questions any organization should ask itself before purchasing ERP software.
February 8th 2012
Regardless of whether you’re part of a large company with well-established customer relationship management (CRM) software already in place or running a smaller business at the start of implementing a carefully selected CRM solution, one thing’s for certain; you’ll want to be sure you’re getting a good return on your CRM investment.
February 7th 2012
Using effective nonprofit software is a great way to engage donors in your campaigns, manage their donations and encourage them to donate to your organization or cause again.
February 1st 2012
With so much technology available to us, it has become more and more difficult to choose the product that best fits our business needs. In the same way, it can be hard choosing the right solution provider since many of them offer the same products and services. One way to narrow down your choices is to ask the right questions to your solution provider as their answers will drastically help you make your final decision.
January 11th 2012
Every business is planning (or hoping) for better performance in 2012. Unfortunately many companies will fail in this quest. Why? Because they are looking for a quick fix rather than a change in corporate culture.
January 11th 2012
With CRM solutions increasingly focused on attracting customers and driving revenue there are more reasons than ever to be searching for the right CRM strategies for your business. Sage CRM claims to offer innovative customer management solutions that set it apart from other CRM providers in the market so we’ve taken a look at some of the key benefits that Sage CRM has to offer.
January 11th 2012
The fact that big business is increasingly concerned with effective CRM solutions and is reaping the rewards of improved CRM software should give both small and medium sized businesses plenty of inspiration to be asking what customer relationship management solutions are on offer and how they could be profiting from these.
January 5th 2012
Socius are an internationally recognized business consulting firm with over 25 years of experience and 1,000 clients. In this article they present the top 10 reasons to upgrade your Microsoft Dynamics GP® to the 2010 R2 edition.
December 20th 2011
Because excess inventory and dead stock leads to decreased turnover and profitability, it is essential to your business health to liquidate unusable stock items so that you can better control and manage your inventory going forward. That is often much easier said than done, however [...]
November 26th 2011
Microsoft SharePoint has provided us with project communication efficiencies that were previously not achievable without it.
November 18th 2011
“Suitemates”, an over-the-top comedy, satire mocking the operating model of BIG ERP software companies was recently released from Kinaxis. This “Suitemates” series accentuates all the usual suspect complaints from ERP customers.
November 17th 2011
“Buyers can easily see there is only a 5-15% difference between the products,” Stuyt says. “What they need is someone who can identify their particular set of problems and match that with the right product that will deliver meaningful impact.”
November 15th 2011
In the third of our Software Trends for 2012 series we ask industry expert Kevin Armstrong of ePartners to share with us his vision for the coming year. When Kevin Armstrong first got into the technology business with Xerox back in the mid-1990s there was a common mindset: real data, real information, even about how the business was operating, was best left to those in charge[...]
November 8th 2011
Get ready to embrace the power of failure. That’s a hard statement to swallow at a time when the economy appears to be teetering once again. But, Steven Kane says, the Cloud puts hope on the horizon in ways no one has thought of before. “The Cloud allows people to experiment with low cost, which means[...]
November 1st 2011
In this series of articles we ask industriy experts for their view on the key business software trends that will define 2012. Back in the 1970s when Bart Nachimow was getting his minor degree in computer science, software was like an ankle-biting knave hovering for attention from its hardware king perched high in his tower [...]
September 26th 2011
Software ThinkTank sends out a hearty congratulations to our recommended solution providers who were recently named to Accounting Today’s 2011 VAR 100 list. Related Posts:How to Choose an Accounting Partner10 Questions to Ask Your Solution ProviderBest Practices for Inventory Management SystemsBob Scott’s Top VAR 100 for 2011
August 9th 2011
Healthcare administration is such a complex business because you are not only tasked with managing the manifold intricacies and strict regulations of the industry but also with keeping top-quality patient care the No. 1 priority. It’s a delicate balance that relies on many moving parts – primarily in the form of multiple people across many [...]
August 4th 2011
As we speak with executives and managers at organizations that are challenged by growth or a changing business environment, we often find that they feel as if their business operations are out of control. They know there must be a better way to run their business and many believe that technology is the answer. Related [...]
July 28th 2011
Does that headline make you cringe? Do your own experiences with salespeople, along with the clichéd stereotypes, make you wary and distrustful of them? In speaking with the salesperson about their products and your requirements, can you trust them? Or are they just saying what they need to say in order to move you along [...]
July 21st 2011
I have a common name, and over the years I’ve gotten used to the idea that mix-ups can happen. Like in seventh grade when someone mistook a painting done by a kindergarten girl for mine. (I was an admittedly poor artist.) But then there was the time when my paycheck got mixed up with someone [...]
July 20th 2011
Software ThinkTank sends out a hearty congratulations to our recommended solution providers who were recently named to the Microsoft Inner Circle and the Microsoft President’s Club. Related Posts:No Related Posts
July 15th 2011
When it comes to buying business management software, part of the battle is thinking about why business owners make bad decisions so you can avoid falling into the same traps. Here are the Top 3 Reasons Business Owners Make Bad IT Decisions: Related Posts:5 Tips for Evaluating & Choosing the Best Software for your BusinessWhy [...]
July 5th 2011
As professionals, we have a tendency to use terms like ‘ERP’ that we think everyone in our industry understands. But what about you, the prospective customer? Do you know, or even care, that ERP stands for Enterprise Resource Planning? You’re probably more interested in finding the right solution for your business needs and requirements. Related [...]
June 28th 2011
This morning I heard a report that the “misery index” continues to rise. The misery index, introduced during the Carter presidency, is the sum of the unemployment and inflation rates. A high misery index results in low consumer and business confidence. Related Posts:Make Your Business World Flat for a Stronger Supply ChainRemoving Dead Inventory from [...]
June 23rd 2011
How to Get There Safely From the Beginning. The Story So Far: Remcan is a highly successful four-year-old company working full-tilt to keep pace with the needs of the railway industry. In Part 1, the company realized it couldn’t afford to continue operating with a largely-manual system that was resulting in some unexpected expenses. Related [...]
June 21st 2011
Evaluating potential accounting and ERP solutions for your organization can be an overwhelming and time-consuming task. We have all heard the stories of uber-costly implementations that went awry, or even worse, software that was purchased and never utilized to its fullest potential. Related Posts:How to Successfully Select a New ERP SystemConfused About Choosing an ERP [...]
June 16th 2011
How to Get There Safely From the Beginning: Remcan Projects Ltd. is a multi-million dollar company that started from humble beginnings in one family’s basement. The vision was simple – provide quality maintenance, civil construction and emergency response to the rail industry. Related Posts:The Need, The Selection, The Implementation – Part 2Hiring Third-Party Consultants-A Fatally-Flawed [...]
June 14th 2011
If there is one constant in the ever-changing business marketplace, it is the need to comply with the regulations that govern your business data management. Whether imposed by a government organization or an internal company directive, meeting these compliance regulations and easily auditing the data around these regulations can be a daunting task if not [...]
June 9th 2011
After pushing through the effects of the credit crisis of the past couple of years, private equity firms are beginning to see the economic environment ease up and are anticipating improved activity in the year ahead. Potential deal companies that held out in 2010 are creeping back into the market, implying that deal volume will [...]
June 2nd 2011
As your business begins to grow and keeps growing you will encounter many strategic decisions that will need to be made in order to sustain that growth. One of those strategic decisions will be selecting the right technology for your business that will handle today’s operations and also give you the platform to grow and [...]
May 24th 2011
It’s Monday, and Jon Schreibfeder has just got off the plane in San Diego. For the next two days he’ll be spending time with his favorite clients staking out the place retail customers rarely ever see – the warehouse. This is where all kind of items stack to the ceiling to the point where some [...]
May 17th 2011
By their very nature, ERP implementations can be a struggle. For organizations implementing Microsoft Dynamics GP, this is no different. Many companies second-guess themselves and ask, “Is our way the best way to implement GP?” or “How do we assure ourselves that the implementation will be successful?” Related Posts:Editorial: ERP Failure Tempts Nurses to Shoot [...]
May 12th 2011
Businesses are increasingly considering storing their critical data remotely and accessing it online via “the cloud”. Cost savings and quicker deployment are often touted as the biggest advantages of riding the cloud. However, there is fear of the cloud. Related Posts:SaaS or Not: Does Software as a Service Fit your Company?How to Mitigate the Risks [...]
May 10th 2011
Once upon a time, supply-chain management was simple. A customer ordered a product, you kept track of the items sold and ordered enough raw materials for production to keep up with the demand. Today, customers expect a quicker delivery time, which complicates the restocking of raw materials and production scheduling. Related Posts:Healthcare and ERP: Making [...]
May 3rd 2011
There is a pervasive perception that moving accounting systems to the cloud is reserved for smaller businesses, but don’t dismiss the software-as-a-service model so fast. Related Posts:On-Demand Webinar: Translating the CloudWebinar: 4 Things Every CFO Needs to Know About Microsoft Dynamics GP in the CloudWhy Small and Medium Businesses Should Consider ERP CloudSoftware Trend-Watch 2: [...]
April 28th 2011
I am amazed at the number of companies we work with that have implemented software solutions that don’t come close to meeting the needs of their business. Related Posts:Is the Cloud Right for Your Distribution Business?Business Software Trend-Watch 1: Death of the PCOn-Demand Webinar: Are You Getting the Right Answers?Make Your Business World Flat for [...]
April 26th 2011
According to New York Times columnist and best-selling author Thomas Friedman, we live in a flat world. In his timeless book, The World Is Flat, Mr. Friedman spends a great deal of time discussing what he labels “flatteners” – the collective group of technologies that brought our world closer together. Related Posts:Predictions of the State [...]
April 21st 2011
Non-profit organizations are designed to help others. But sometimes they can’t help themselves. In the case of “Hope”, we’ve seen how good intentions without good information morphed into a project far beyond financial reach. Related Posts:A Software Implementation Nightmare of Epic Proportions – Part 4A Software Implementation Nightmare of Epic Proportions – Part 3A Software [...]
April 19th 2011
If you are planning on moving to a new ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) solution, one of the project tasks which can be a wild card for both costs and timeline is data migration. Here are 4 key things you can do to minimize your costs and risks associated with this important aspect of implementing your [...]
April 14th 2011
The software horrors at “Hope”, the multi-national non-profit charity, have racked up by the minute. What started out as a plan to simplify, improve efficiency and expand donations turned into trial balloon filled with hot air. Project delays, changes and problems have sent costs skyward. Related Posts:A Software Implementation Nightmare of Epic Proportions – Part [...]
April 12th 2011
The term “Islands of Data” describes a situation in which departments within an enterprise each use their own software applications from disparate vendors, none of which integrate with one another. Here, we contrast using “Islands of Data” versus a single “Integrated System” from one vendor or integrated vendors that cross all departments. Related Posts:A Software [...]
April 7th 2011
The case study of “Hope” reveals much about the human condition that is applicable inside the corporate boardroom and wherever people gather together to think up new ways to do business more efficiently and effectively. But sometimes vision gets in the way of reality, and it becomes impossible to see the truth for fear of [...]
April 5th 2011
Compliance keeps us accountable, makes us all play by the same rules, and gives us the same headaches. Whether it’s SOX, EEOC, Grant Reporting or Monthly Sales Tax Filing, every company has more than one compliance horror story they can remember. Related Posts:How to Simplify Sales Tax Processes
March 31st 2011
Software ThinkTank has been chronicling the case of “Hope”, a multi-million dollar North American charity, that found itself battling a hydra-headed monster in the form of a software project gone seriously wrong. Related Posts:A Software Implementation Nightmare of Epic Proportions – Part 5A Software Implementation Nightmare of Epic Proportions – Part 4A Software Implementation Nightmare [...]
March 24th 2011
Today, Software ThinkTank launches a five-part series revealing the ultimate horror show – a high-cost technology implementation that goes terribly wrong. This is the stuff of nightmares. Its victims: missionaries, compassionate donors and impoverished children. Related Posts:A Software Implementation Nightmare of Epic Proportions – Part 5A Software Implementation Nightmare of Epic Proportions – Part 4A [...]
March 22nd 2011
It is often said that small and mid-market companies are at a strategic disadvantage when compared to their larger, tech-savvy and market-leading competitors. However, nothing could be further from the truth. Related Posts:Get Ready to Decide on ERP for your SMECRM for small to medium sized businessBusiness Software Shouldn’t Be One-Size-Fits-All
March 15th 2011
If you’re a small or mid-sized organization, making a decision to implement ERP usually is a major milestone. It means you recognize the overall advantages of ERP and how it is designed to drive improved business efficiency across the entire organization. Move your ERP into the cloud and you not only benefit from the software-as-a-service [...]
