March 31, 2005
Microsoft Great Plains FA: Fixed Assets - Overview For Consultant
Great Plains Fixed Assets Management module is a robust tool that can help you manage your assets effectively. It integrates perfectly with other Great Plains modules like General Ledger, Purchase Order Processing, and Payables Management ensuring accuracy while reducing redundant data entry.
As with other Great Plains modules, save time and money by utilizing classes or groups to make mass changes. This is useful for depreciating, retiring, or simply changing the information for a set of assets with a single click. Great Plains' intuitive graphical user interface makes it easy to access supporting data on assets, books, etc. The latest versions of Great Plains Fixed Asset also comes with a total of 16 depreciation methods covering diverse industries for compatibility with company preferences. You also have the option to back depreciation out, recalculate, add additional depreciable amount, and project depreciation for years ahead for any number of assets in your book.
Features:
- Easy Asset Setup - Create and manage and unlimited number of books of assets for each company, including corporate, federal tax, alternative minimum tax, and more.
Continue reading "Microsoft Great Plains FA: Fixed Assets - Overview For Consultant"March 29, 2005
Resume Software - Advantages Revealed
The various resume software offered, particularly on the internet, can seem very attractive to job seekers; especially to those not comfortable writing resumes. At first glance resume writing software can provide a number of perks and can appear to be the perfect solution to many job seekers.
There are some disadvantages to using software, however; and before utilizing it to create a resume, a wise job seeker will take a few moments to compare both the advantages and the disadvantages of resume software.
Software for writing resumes is also commonly known as resume writers, resume creator, resume maker and resume builder.
Advantages of Resume Software
No Experience
Resume writing software can be a welcome relief to job seekers who are uncomfortable with the idea of drafting a resume from scratch. Resume writing software can provide a step by step foundation, where the job seeker needs to only answer a few questions about their work history and experience and they almost instantly have a resume.
Quick and Easy
Resume writing software can provide a quick and easy resume. For job seekers pressed for time, using resume creation software is a perfect choice. With this option there is no longer any need to labor over a resume, trying to put the information in the correct places and choose the right wording. Resume writing software practically does all the work for the job seeker.
March 24, 2005
Causes of ERP Failures
ERP is the acronym of Enterprise Resource Planning. Multi-module ERP software integrates business activities across various functional departments, from product planning, parts purchasing, inventory control, product distribution, to order tracking. ERP has transformed the way multi-billion dollar corporations conduct their businesses. Successful implementation of ERP systems could save tens of millions of dollars and increase employee satisfactions, customer satisfactions and sustain competitive advantages in every-changing marketplace. Corporate executives are often perplexed by the stories that how reputable corporations (Hershey Foods, etc.) have failed miserably and lost ten of millions of dollars in their ERP endures.
The failures of ERP projects are preventable if we can identify the common causes of the failures regardless the companies and industries that implement them.
An ERP system is the combination of ERP software, the business processes that the ERP transforms, the users of the ERP system, and the computer systems that run the ERP applications. The failures of a ERP project is often the result of the failures in one or more of those four components. The failures in computer systems (hardware and operating systems) are much easier to identify and to fix, so we'll examine the failures in software implementation, business process and user acceptance.
Continue reading "Causes of ERP Failures"March 23, 2005
Does your Company have Documentum?
Are you lost in the mess of documents that get passed around your company, never knowing what the latest version is and which one you should work on without worrying if someone else has already made the same editions that you are making? Perhaps you have heard of collaboration software solutions such as Documentum to help your company manage its documents that are passed around. Documentum is a very good solution to this problem but is it the only one? In this article you will be presented with some basic information about the differences in collaboration software from Documentum and NextPage.
What is collaboration software?
Collaboration software allows business professionals to work directly with other business professionals by allowing them to work together to create business documents, presentations, and budgets. Most collaboration software is centralized. This allows business professionals to work on the same documents at the same time from different locations. Some centralized collaboration software solutions include Groove Network, Microsoft SharePoint, Documentum, and Filenet.
Why use Documentum?
There are a few advantages to using centralized collaboration software such as Documentum. The main advantage being that they work very well for team collaboration. Documentum's software keeps all files, projects, and data in one centralized location that everyone who is working on the project can access. This allows them to review and update the same document that everyone else has used, which essentially keeps everyone working on the same page.
Continue reading "Does your Company have Documentum?"March 22, 2005
S is for Spying, Surveillance -- and for Software as Well
Words we choose to describe things and phenomena often show our attitude towards what we say. They imperceptibly reflect our opinions and judgments, prejudices and preferences, moral convictions and beliefs. Whether we like it or not, good deal of words we use are biased, or should I say "slanted", --positively or negatively. Two people will call the same thing differently, depending on their points of view.
Look at this example: "Monitoring", "surveillance", "control", "data interception", "gathering evidence of wrongdoing" -- on the one hand; "sleuthing", "spying", "eavesdropping", "snooping", "peeping", "prying", "tapping"--on the other. A neutral "information gathering device" vs. negatively loaded "bug"--choice of words clearly shows whether we approve or disapprove it.
If you feel you have right to do so, you are "monitoring my kids' online behavior"; your resentful kids, however, might think you are to poking your nose into their lives. The same at work--but here it is you who is the person under surveillance, and your opinion might differ from the CEO's, who probably thinks that "workplace surveillance software improves employees' performance and prevents violations of security policy and corporate code of conduct" (or something similar).
Most of arguments on this issue start right here; the crucial point is whether those who perform monitoring are authorized to do so.
Continue reading "S is for Spying, Surveillance -- and for Software as Well"March9, 2005
Groove Network. Are you in it?
If you are in a business that passes documents around to be reviewed and edited over and over before they are ready to be posted for advertising or for a client, then you have probably already heard of a software solution to help keep your "floating" documents organized from Groove Network. You may not be aware that there is another option out there. In this article you will be presented with some basic information about the differences in collaboration software from Groove Network and NextPage.
Idea behind collaboration software.
The central idea behind having collaboration software is that it allows business professionals to work directly with other business professionals by allowing them to work together to create business documents, presentations, and budgets. Most collaboration software is centralized. This allows business professionals to work on the same documents at the same time from different locations. Some centralized collaboration software solutions include Groove Network, Microsoft SharePoint, Documentum, and Filenet.
Groove Network Advantages.
There are a few advantages to using centralized collaboration software such as Groove Network. The main advantage being that they work very well for team collaboration. Groove Network's software keeps all files, projects, and data in one centralized location that everyone who is working on the project can access. This allows them to review and update the same document that everyone else has used, which essentially keeps everyone working on the same page.
Continue reading "Groove Network. Are you in it?"March7, 2005
Do You And Your Website Have Credibility?
I recently received an unsolicited e-mail from some company offering me their search engine optimization services for $199. Even though I had absolutely no interest in the offer, just out of curiosity, I decided to check out this company with the various search engines.
Incredibly, they were nowhere to be found! I couldn't find them on Google, Yahoo, Dogpile, anywhere! That's because they didn't really exist. They never did. They were just another one of the many prevalent e-mail scams out there.
The point is, even though I had zero interest in their offer, had I been interested, this company's credibility was totally shot, for two reasons: First of all, for spamming me and secondly for obviously being a scam at best.
Another time, I was surfing the Internet, checking out different business opportunities to review for one of my clients, when I came across this company selling "turnkey" website packages for $1295 and up. As I was reading the information about the various packages they had to offer, I came across their various addresses and telephone numbers.
Again, after doing some checking, I discovered those addresses didn't even exist. In addition, the company was based in Israel and the only type of payment they would accept were wire transfers.
Anyway, there were more than enough red flags and alarm bells for me to get the picture pretty quickly. This company was an obvious scam and I advised my client of that fact.
Continue reading "Do You And Your Website Have Credibility?"March5, 2005
50 Ways To Use Your Website
A website is the most versatile and cost-effective marketing tool on the market. It is also an investment. After all, you are building a shopfront. In a nutshell, you can use your website to:
Enhance your professional image
1. Look professional and as BIG as large corporations.
2. Pre-sell yourself to new clients even before you meet them.
3. Supply a meaningful and intuitive address related to your type of service. It is easier to remember www.marketingcues.com rather than a long ISP email address such as www.yourInternetServiceProvidername.com/~marketingcues.
4. Provide a permanent address with up-to-date contact details and opening hours. You can change Internet Service Provider or move physical premises and your customers will always find you and your marketing efforts are not lost.
Boost confidence in your business
5. Demonstrate your knowledge and expertise with tips, articles and editorials.
6. Build your credibility by displaying awards and providing testimonials.
7. Encourage potential clients. A free web hosting address can look dubious and show less commitment to your business.
8. Give staff details to humanise your business, to show that you are "real" people.
9. Provide background information on your business.
Provide current and useful information
10. Publish a catalogue or portfolio of your products and services.
11. Inform your visitors about the benefits and applications of your products.
12. Categorise information according to target audiences. For example, discuss benefits of a dishwasher to potential buyers and give installation instructions to installers.
13. Arrange table of comparisons of product specifications and prices to help your client's decision making.
14. Publish a newsletter.
15. List upcoming products, services, events.
March3, 2005
What is Groupware?
Vince Lombardi once said that, "The achievements of an organization are the results of the combined effort of each individual." If this is the case, then what do we need to do in order to insure success in our companies? How can we combine the efforts of each individual as Mr. Lombardi said was so key to the success of a particular organization? While there are many possible solutions to these questions, I have found something that will help your company become more organized, and your employees more unified in their work. I am talking about groupware.
What is Groupware?
Groupware is software that facilitates the communication between the members of a network workgroup. It allows people within a company, whether they are physically in the same location or in several locations all over the world, to share documents, information, and data. It allows them to collaborate on ideas and projects, by allowing them to essentially work on the same page at the same time. With groupware there is no limit to the number of people that can work on the same project without creating duplicate ideas and work. Since groupware can track all document information, you will never wonder if you are using the latest version of a document.
Continue reading "What is Groupware?"March1, 2005
How to Get More Visitors to Your Website
When you were five or ten years old you may have played the game of hide and seek where the object was to avoid being found. The longer you could stay hidden and the harder it was to be discovered the better.
As a business owner or someone responsible for marketing a business you want to do the opposite. Instead of remaining hidden from view, you want to make it as easy as possible for members of your target market to find you again and again.
You may have a PhD, worked for big name clients, provide outstanding service or have a new ground breaking product but if people can't find you it is tough to build revenue. What you want is to be found so prospects contact you and you can convert them to client status.
What happens when someone is looking for a new product or service? More and more customers and consumers use the internet to search for the goods and services they need, to the point that 'google' has become a verb. They may also use the search engines provided by Yahoo, AOL and MSN.
A prospect types in a set of keywords, your name or your company name into a search engine, with Google being used by far the most frequently. Can they find your website? Go to www.Google.com and try the following three tests:
1. If a prospect hasn't heard of your company they won't be searching for your firm by name. Instead they will be searching using keywords that describe the problem they want solved or the type of information they are looking for. If they are looking for ways to motivate employees, that's what they will type in the search box. If they are looking for adventure vacation ideas for Costa Rica, they'll enter that in the search box.
Continue reading "How to Get More Visitors to Your Website"