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 lawson@company.com.

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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Miller Industries Enhances Towing Equipment Business with Infor

Infor and Miller Industries, Inc., a world leader in towing and recovery equipment, have partnered to roll out a comprehensive, cloud-based solution for faster strategic business decisions and better business process management. Adding to Miller Industries’ use of Birst analytics, they will have access to Infor’s multi-tenant cloud environment, including the Infor LN global ERP (enterprise resource planning) cloud solution, Infor CloudSuite™ Automotive, Infor CloudSuite™ Workforce Management (WFM), Infor OS (Operating Service), the Infor Data Lake, and the Infor Coleman AI (artificial intelligence) Platform. These tools will enable the company to combine internal and external data sets, more precisely analyze and forecast workforce and business performance and, ultimately, better manage its business processes. Though there will be some challenges implementing these new solutions and getting their company acquianted with Infor’s technology suite, this was an opportunity that Miller Industries could not pass up.

 

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Infor Delivers Coleman AI Platform

Infor announced the general availability of its Infor Coleman AI (Artificial Intelligence) Platform for embedded machine learning models. This platform offers the speed, repeatability and personalization needed for enterprises to fully operationalize AI – and is the key building block for Infor’s Intelligent CloudSuite. Per the infor website, “The Infor Coleman AI Platform is a pervasive machine learning platform that operates below an application’s surface. It mines data and uses powerful machine learning to help improve processes such as inventory management, transportation routing, and predictive maintenance.” The Infor Coleman AI Platform is named after trailblazer NASA mathematician and physicist Katherine Coleman Johnson, who’s work at the space center helped with the moon landing missions. The Infor Coleman AI Platform is a giant leap forward for AI at scale — incorporating deep reservoirs of network data to help serve the needs of human workers and to help make connected devices smarter.

 

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3 Challenges of CRM Implementation SMBs Face in 2019

Customer engagement and satisfaction is crucial for business clout. That’s why customer relationship management (CRM) systems are such a necessary platform for small to medium sized businesses (SMBs) to utilize to stay relevant in their customer’s minds. These softwares provide useful databases, analytics and techniques to not only store customer information, but gain insight to trends, performance reviews, and future plans. Most importantly, they help your sales team manage and maintain valuable customer relationships. This fast growing software market isn’t slowing any time soon, though there is still some hesitation from potential users. The problem that SMBs face is their struggle to achieve their sales goals even with CRMs in place.

Victor Iryniuk at Business2Community shares 3 challenges that SMBs face during CRM implementation.
  • Challenge 1: Absence of mobile CRM – Studies show that 65% of sales who use CRM on their mobile devices achieved sales goals. If your company still uses a desktop-only version of CRM, check if it’s available on mobile.
  • Challenge 2: Relying on third-party CRM integrators too much – Do small research beforehand: tools like Zapier are specialized in connecting different software tools. So even if your CRM has a handful of native integrations, it can have hundreds of free third-party integrations available to users.
  • Challenge 3: Wrong CRM system – Never choose CRM in a rush. Define your workflow, prepare requirements to CRM and think who will use it before you commit.

No matter the size of your firm or your customer base, you should keep in mind some of these challenges that can come up and to hopefully avoid or prepare for repercussions if such events occur. With the right adjustments, SMBs will see a change in their sales goals.

 

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Infor and Signavio Announce Strategic Partnership

One of Infor’s latest partnerships is with Signavio, a leading provider of business transformation solutions. This Berlin, Germany and Burlington, Massachusetts based company is partnering strategically with the tech giant and will focus on delivering stronger implementation accelerators to Infor customers worldwide. This collaboration provides added value to both companies. Signavio CEO Dr. Gero Decker says of the partnership, “Ultimately, we believe customers can benefit from Signavio’s powerful process mining and process management capabilities, combined with Infor’s Implementation Accelerators, which can help enable smarter and more informed decisions across a variety of business functions.” With this partnership, both companies deliver solutions and services to organizations seeking to replace their existing enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions with new, modern, industry-specific applications.

 

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Chart of Accounts when using Activities

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The Chart of accounts is recommended to be consistent for GL and Activities.  The Activity field, when populated, already differentiates the JE entry line from one to the same account without an activity specified.  This allows for easily determining how much was booked to a specific account and also split the bookings to a specific account into project related or not.

Account Categories in the AC module also allow you to have a separate chart of accounts, if desired, from your GL Chart of Accounts.

Since an account category is required when an activity is entered, it allows for a separation of the GL and AC charts if separation is desired.

Many users default in the Account Category so this value doesn’t have to be specified on each transaction that uses an activity throughout the system.  The defaulting could occur on GL20 instead of GL00 if the accounting unit used in the transaction would alter the way you would account for the project/activity posting.

Three Ways Technology Can Help Protect Your Real Estate Investment

Real estate and technology have been partners in crime in the way to sell a technologically advanced home, though not many agents or companies embrace many tools in their business practices. A recent Forbes article shares how technology can be a great asset when investing in real estate. There are many technologies available that can help you protect your investment.

  1. Streamline the process. – A recent article by Navitas Capital says that artificial intelligence is no longer in its infancy: We are on the verge of AI disrupting both real estate and construction, which have been behind the curve of applying artificial intelligence relative to other industries.
  2. Improve efficiency. – If you are an investor, there are many moldable, cloud-based software solutions that can drive deal flow more efficiently and effectively.
  3. Use automation. – While the human factor is still there in CRE, automation is key, and there are many tools available today that can automate investment.

There are many factors that investors should be aware of in real estate and we have the technology to help make such deals more efficient and streamlined. Incorporating tech can help to truly transform the process, all the while protecting your investment.

 

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