How to Find the Best ERP Software for your Business

Searching for the right enterprise resource planning (ERP) system can be a complex process, but it can be very effective if you want to grow your business. ERP offers to manage a wide variety of business functions such as invoicing, payroll, warehousing and much more on the field of varied and customizable options.  Not all ERP systems are made the same and not all systems are right for your business. There are features you need and features that are meant for another industry or larger scale firm.

Charles Richard at TechNative wrote an informative article sharing tips to choose an effective ERP system for your business. It’s a daunting task to have to search for the right ERP system, so keep in mind a few things to consider:

  • Research according to your needs
  • Select the right option
  • Be selective when choosing partners

These 3 simple tips can help you in the long run when implementing an ERP system for your business and utilizing it to it’s max potential.

 

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IPA Dynamic Commands

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One way to control the “clutter” on your more complex IPA processes is to utilize the concept of “Dynamic Commands”.  Many times your flows will follow a pattern of reading some sort of data, validating/manipulating the data, then taking action on that data.  You can move much of this work into Stored Procedures and set up a configuration table to tell your flow which command to execute next.  This method also allows for more granular error handling and logging.

Here is a sample configuration table and flow.  The flow will read this in and follow each step in order, and use a SQL Query node to get the command text.  The Action field shows what type of action will be completed once the stored procedure brings back the command.

The 7 Biggest Technology Trends In 2020 Everyone Must Get Ready For Now

There’s still a quarter left of 2019 but Business and technology advisor Bernard Marr wants us to get ready for the technological trends in store for 2020 right now. Marr shared on Forbes a handful of technological advancements that will continue to make headlines and spark interest. Below are Marr’s 7 biggest technology trends for 2020.

  • AI-as-a-service – Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been around for a while and more companies have been exploring its use to improve customer experience. This will continue in 2020 as AI will get more and more familiarized and well-established.
  • 5G data networks – 2020 is likely to be the year when 5G really starts to fly, with more affordable data plans as well as greatly improved coverage, meaning that everyone can join in the fun.
  • Autonomous Driving – While we aren’t quite at the stage where we will have fully autonomous vehicles in 2020, they will continue to be an exciting technology we’d want to see. It won’t just be for cars either. Trucks and shipping are becoming more autonomous and there may likely be breakthroughs in 2020.
  • Personalized and predictive medicine – Throughout 2020 we will see new applications of predictive healthcare and the introduction of more personalized and effective treatments to ensure better outcomes for individual patients.
  • Computer Vision – Widely known as face recognition, this useful tech will continue to be a hot topic in 2020 and beyond.
  • Extended Reality – Extended Reality (XR) is a catch-all term that covers several new and emerging technologies being used to create more immersive digital experiences. More specifically, it refers to virtual, augmented, and mixed reality. This technology will continue to spark interest among businesses, the healthcare industry, video game and entertainment sector and much more.
  • Blockchain Technology – This digital ledger has been a topic for the tech-savvy folks and 2020 could be the year that more and more people hear and utilize this breakthrough tech.

2020 will conclude the biggest technological decade we’ve had and there’s still a lot more tech to discover and master.

 

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Sanimax Selects Infor to Help Manage Complex Business Processes

Sanimax, a leading environmental solution provider in the agri-food industry, has partnered with Infor CloudSuite Food & Beverage. With 17 locations throughout Canada, the U.S, Brazil and Columbia, Sanimax has selected tech giant Infor to deliver an agile solution for their growth strategy. Infor’s ERP solution will provide Sanimax with applications designed to help overcome certain business challenges that are unique to its industry, such as managing short lead-times, managing commodities’ impact on supply chain, and meeting changing regulatory requirements. Powered by Infor M3, standardizing with Infor CloudSuite Food & Beverage can help Sanimax migrate from its outdated and highly customized solution to one system that can better align teams on the priorities of deliverables and can help streamline processes across various categories within the business. Per their press release, Infor expects to deliver tools designed to help accelerate global supply chains, bring new products to market faster, and implement efficiencies across the board.

 

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Supertech Group to Deploy Infor LN Within 6 Months

Infor has a new partnership with Supertech Group, one of the leading businesses in the Middle East and India. The Dubai-based firm has chosen Infor LN enterprise resource planning (ERP) software to help transform its sales, engineering, distribution and after-sales support operations for the supply of industrial products and services in the fields of oil & gas, petro-chemical, food & beverage, power-generation, primary steel, automotive, marine & shipping and general Industries. Infor LN was also chosen for its end-to-end advanced functionality. What Supertech Group liked most about this system was the ability to capture and manage product warranty information, which is essential when their customers visit for quality audits. Infor LN will also help in the supply chain, as Supertech faced challenges on inaccurate stock valuations due to variations in pricing methodologies across various warehouses. With the flexibility of LN to handle multiple stock valuation methods, stock values will become much more accurate. The six-month implementation, for 80 users across its operations in the Emirates, Abu Dhabi, Qatar and India, will be managed by Infor partner Piersoft.

 

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New Level Addresses

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When changing level addresses on GL20 or AC10 make sure to specify all the level addresses, not just the ones that might have changed.

When you create the file for uploading, make sure to have the first level first, the second level next and so on until all levels are rebuilt.  If you try to change an address to one which has upper levels that did not exist in the old system, you will get errors.

Just like building the level addresses, you start with level 1, add a level 2 to an existing level 1 and so on.  Same thing when you rebuild the addresses – make sure to rebuild level by level.

Infor’s NewPay Solution Receives FedRAMP Authorization

A year after receiving FedRAMP authorization, Infor’s NewPay solution joins the mix with a stamp of FedRAMP authorization. NewPay is part of a recent U.S. government initiative to consolidate and modernize payroll, work scheduling and leave management. FedRAMP is the federal government’s program to ensure a consistent approach to assessing, authorizing, and monitoring cloud products and services. In they press releease, Infor, along with Grant Thornton, and their partners, CGI Federal, The Arcanum Group, and DAI Solutions, are proven leaders in public sector SaaS and were one of only two teams awarded a 10-year Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) from the US General Services Administration (GSA) that will provide payroll and work schedule/leave management software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions and services. This new FedRAMP certification, coupled with years of federal payroll experience, cements Infor NewPay’s stature to further support government agencies. Carlos Otal, Grant Thornton national managing partner – public sector, says of the certification, “FedRAMP certification of Infor’s NewPay solution is just one more reason federal agencies and their valued employees can trust our approach to modernize, improve, and secure their payroll, and time and attendance functions.”

 

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12 Reasons Why Your CRM Fails…and How to Fix Them

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems are worth the investment and what makes it a must-have resource. However, the price tag and the time/dedication aren’t so attractive. More so, the “horror” stories we hear from failed implementations may make a manager sway back and forth before making such a huge decision. But the bright side to that is there are success stories and companies who are striving because of their CRM systems. Jennifer Karpus-Romain from Business2Community shares how we can learn from these successful implementations by fixing the common fails associated with CRM. Below are Karpus-Romain’s 12 most common reasons that a CRM fails, and how to fix them.

  1. Lack of user adoption – Maybe the CRM isn’t integrating well with existing workflows and processes, or your employees are just confused. This situation can often be avoided by bringing end users into the design and user-experience testing processes, and by enhancing CRM training.
  1. Lack of vision – If you don’t have a clear vision of what you need to utilize your CRM for to accomplish goals, you can lose focus and implementation may turn disastrous. The more specific your plans are for what your CRM will do for your company, the better.
  1. Thinking it’s just a technology solution – The technology alone can’t improve those relationships. CRM requires proper collaboration with the user and software to generate powerful results.
  1. Poor planning – Every moment invested in planning serves to prevent later confusion and frustration, ultimately helping to prevent a CRM failure.
  1. Lack of support – In order for your CRM system to have its best success, everyone involved with the process needs to be on board. The better their understanding of the value the CRM brings to the company, the more invested they will become in its long-term success.
  1. Choosing the wrong software or vendor – Choosing the right partner is important to your success, but so is selecting the right software. A true CRM partner will always build a customized solution that fits your needs.
  1. Too many bells and whistles – A great CRM provides a lean user experience, only making use of those elements which are absolutely necessary. The more intuitive and streamlined the user experience, the better the user adoption rate.
  1. No measurable objectives –  Your CRM project needs clear, measurable objectives that can be easily tracked, analyzed, and evaluated. This allows you to make timely changes to the CRM itself, workflows, and even training long before the CRM is at risk of failure.
  1. Not thinking of customer perspective – If your CRM is failing, it’s worth taking a step back to see how your customers (usually through your employees) interact with your CRM. You may find some surprising disconnects, roadblocks, and other frustrations that are only obvious when you work backwards from the customer’s experience.
  1. Failing to involve end users – Design your CRM around the needs of the people who will use it most – end users.  By bringing these end users into the planning and user-testing stages, these headaches and costs can often be avoided completely.
  1. CRM is considered a one-time thing – A great CRM isn’t the result of a single, perfectly executed implementation. Ongoing refinements, revisions, and expansions lead to success.
  1. Attempting the process alone – A CRM system can catapult your company’s efficiency if you implement it properly. The best way to do that is to partner with a customer relationship management software expert to ensure you are engaging your employees and getting the most from your investment.

Whether you’re in the process of implementing a CRM system or reevaluating the current strategy you have now, keep these tips in mind and you’ll be on your way to a successful path.

 

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Updating Landmark Main Configuration Set After AD FS Implementation

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After AD FS is implemented for your Landmark and LSF environments, Landmark will need to connect to the LSF server using the thick client URL and the user principal name of your admin account.  This means that all of your LSF connections will need to be updated in Rich Client, including the Infor Lawson Connection, File Activity Connection, System Command Connection, and Web Run Connection.  You will need to update the Web Root in each of these connections to the Thick Client URL, which is most likely your LSF server URL with port 1447 (i.e. https://lsf.company.com:1447).  Check with your installer to verify the port.  The User will need to be updated to the UPN value, for instance [email protected].

5G is a groundbreaking new technology… or is it?

We live in the digital age so anything new will always seem exciting to potential users. However, just because new technology is introduced, it doesn’t mean it will be life changing or better. A recent example of this is 5G. John Brandon  wrote an article on Fox News about the pros and cons of 5G and although it’s an exciting new tech, it still has a long way to go before we deem it “life-changing”. Brandon shares that the idea of 5G is that it will be integrated everywhere, in everything we use – our phones, TVs and even our lawn mowers. He remarks, “It’s often touted as one of the most important milestones in technology and, as Verizon ads suggest, it offers “unprecedented power” for consumers.” Some of this excitement and hype is warranted. 5G will definitely be a faster tech and provide near real-time communication. “This will unlock new potential in the smart home industry under the Internet of Things (IoT), and could set the stage for further developments in self-driving cars thanks to quicker communication speeds allowing for quicker decision-making abilities for cars on the road,” he says. However, there are a few downsides (or things that need significant improvement). A main concern is the availability of 5G and if you don’t like in a big city, you’ll probably have to wait a long time before 5G reaches you. Cost would also be an issue, increasing phone/cable bills for people wishing to have 5G networks. As of right now, 5G won’t be life changing unless you’re using it for things like streaming, entertainment or gaming. It’s too soon to know if 5G will be the next life-changing thing like satellite communication or Bluetooth, so we’ll have to wait and see.

 

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