4 Astonishing Advantages of Running a Two-Tier ERP System

When a company acquires more business and expands, one of the big question is what to do with their current enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. Growing companies typically try to integrate everything into an all-in-one ERP system, but sometimes a one-tier system isn’t enough. A two-tier ERP approach may be a good solution. This is when two ERP systems operate simultaneously and integrate with each other. This results in a robust, comprehensive ERP system at the corporate level (tier one), while keeping the more flexible, agile, and cost-effective solution at the subsidiary level (tier two). Enterprise technology writer Elizabeth Quirk and members of the ERP provider United VARs shared the advantages of running a two-tier ERP system.

  • Fast Integration – can be implemented and customized in half the time compared with a one-tier solution of the same scope
  • Increased Customization and Simplicity – can be simplified and reduced to just the processes required by the end users
  • Value for Money: Bob Atkinson, Managing Director of In Cloud Solutions (UK) states that “you can do two to three times as much in the same time”
  • Simple and Cost-Efficient Implementation – The two-tier strategy often saves time and cuts costs compared to the one-tier approach
  • Avoiding Complication:  less complex, cheaper and more suitable to your business’ needs

Money is usually a vital factor when implementing a new or upgraded ERP system. Often times companies choose to implement a whole new system, but stop and consider if a two-tier system is right for you.

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How to Reduce ERP Security Risks

Due to the massive amounts of valuable data stored in their systems, enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are a huge target by attackers. But thanks to technology, most ERP systems are prepared for these attacks. There are a few things, however, that you can do to help prevent hackers as well. Sean Michael Kerner, senior editor at eWEEK and Onapsis CTO JP Perez-Etchegoyen shares what’s behind ERP breaches and provided additional insight. When looking at ERP breaches, there are two things to consider: how the attacker got in and what they do once they have access. According to Perez-Etchegoyen, most people will not notice an ERP breach after an attacker has already gained access. Below are a number of things that organizations can and should do to limit the risk of attacks and improve ERP security:

  • Basic hygiene – find and fix vulnerabilities through patching or configuration changes
  • Define secure configurations
  • Repeatable processes – automate best practices for ERP updates
  • Manage and monitor the environment

These basic maintenance steps with your ERP systems could reduce the risk of being the target of attackers, securing your data with more more peace of mind.

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IP Designer Series – JSON Parser Node

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The JSON Parser node can be used to parse JSON data, either from a local file or from a response from a Web API.  The steps are very similar to getting XML data from a web API.

Under the input tab on the Properties, the input could be output from some other node, such as a file access node or Web Run result.

For the output, if you provide a sample file with a JSON response, that is an easy way to get the syntax for the variables coming across in the JSON response.  You can click “Set Variable” to see the syntax, and you can select “Export Variables” to get a file with the syntax for all variables in the sample file.

Use this output syntax to set variable values to use later in your flow.

Growing Dairy Company Emmi Digitises with Infor

Infor announced earlier this month that Switzerland dairy manufacturer Emmi is rolling out the enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution Infor M3 to some of its subsidiaries in order to streamline its internationally expanding business operations. With Switzerland being the country’s largest dairy processor and having a global reputation as a producer of premium dairy products and cheese, Emmi  produces and markets a comprehensive range of dairy products primarily for the retail trade and the food industry. Elsewhere, it focuses on brand concepts and specialities, such as the Emmi ready-to-eat cheese fondue, cave-aged cheese specialities, and the various CAFFÈ LATTE cold coffee products. The company have around 6,100 employees worldwide. The company needed a more standardized ERP solution to support their international subsidiaries during their rapid growth. Emmi opted for a single solution for these international locations with Infor M3 meeting all requirements for their new system. Infor M3 is a very comprehensive system – with specific features for the food industry – and can be fully integrated, so that it can also work with financial and purchasing systems. This gives Emmi complete control over its business operations, providing simple and easy access to sales forecasts and reports. Additionally, special attention is paid to quality control in the production and logistics processes, and to tracking and tracing – essential aspects in the dairy industry.

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CRM: Going Digital To Improve Customer Satisfaction

In this digital era, the cost of acquiring a new customer is substantially higher than the cost of retaining an existing one. So, when it comes to prioritizing and organization your customer database with leads and existing relationships, having the right Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system in place is essential. With the internet being the backbone of every communication, using CRM systems to keep constant interaction, experiences and satisfaction of customers must be closely monitored and the system must also be utilized to make personalization and automated messaging more efficient.  Virender Jeet, Sr. VP Technology at Newgen Software, shares that being a business in the digital era, CRM can be your game changer. Here are some ways how:

  • Simplified Customer On-Boarding: CRM can help the customers understand the products and services of a company better.
  • Omni-Channel Experience: Reaching out to your customers with the help of multi-channel interaction helps forward the key goals of targeting, acquiring, retaining, understanding and collaborating with your customers.
  • Visibility, Accountability, and Faster Resolution: A CRM system which helps track all activities related to a case in terms of progress and resolution, and in turn provides a complete view of all interactions and customer relationships, can help bring down the turnaround time massively.

A CRM system is an investment that makes the most sense because it eliminates the complexities associated with customer management and helps to create personal connections with customers making it possible to reach out and connect with customers at all the times.

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Leo Paper Group selects Infor as Industry 4.0 transformation partner

Infor’s newly signed contract with the Leo Paper Group (LPG), a privately-held global printing and packaging company headquartered in Hong Kong SAR, implements a suite of Infor solutions that will launch the producer of a wide variety of paper-made products on its Industry 4.0 and smart factory transformation journey. LPG is the first private company in Hong Kong with an environmentally-conscious initiative organization with their green and digital plan to help transform its business. “We have selected Infor CloudSuite solution which is scalable and can take us on our Industry 4.0 transformation to automate and become a smarter, more intelligent global printing and packaging enterprise that is nimble, highly-productive and efficient,” said Johnny Fung, Group Managing Director at Leo Paper Group. They will deploy Infor CloudSuite Industrial (CSI) and Infor OS platform for cloud designed to combine business processes and artificial intelligence; Infor Configure Price Quote (CPQ) software for improving sales targets; and Infor Mongoose for quick web application development and deployment to replace its home-grown system that can no longer keep pace with its expanding global business. LPG has seven trading companies in China, North America and Europe; six manufacturing companies in Hong Kong and China; one technology company; two educational institutions in China and nine supporting companies, employing a workforce of 13,000 people.

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What happened to User Fields in CSF?

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What happened to User Fields in CSF?

Some of them are still there in the Business Class (a file with functions built into it) none of them are on the forms.

Some forms do have tabs for user fields, there are no fields there and the fields need to be added using Configuration Console.

Attributes which have always been user fields on steroids, also go away in CSF.  Using Configuration Console any kind of custom field can be added.

In conclusion, user fields are not gone, you can still have as many as you would like, they just need to be added to the forms and sometimes to the business class using Configuration Console.  Keep in mind that the system updates every 3rd Saturday so it is best to add only those that you really need.

Infor Continues to Modernize Revenue Management Functionality for Hoteliers

Infor recently announced the completion of a transformative upgrade to Infor EzRMS Mobile as well as the Infor EzRMS Pricing Engine – both key components of the company’s overall portfolio of Hospitality Revenue Management Solutions. The newest iteration of Infor EzRMS Mobile is one of the only revenue management mobile applications that allows users to view their most important metrics instantly, including total revenues, and adjust pricing and control decisions, while checking what competitors are doing, and update selling strategies on the go. This sophisticated Pricing Engine is infused with AI capabilities and addresses the industry need to deliver optimized pricing recommendations, and to support flexibility needs for different properties and markets. The application automatically calculates demand forecasts for the future use hotel rooms, and recommends the appropriate selling strategies, such as open/close rates, stay controls, open/close room categories, and overbooking levels-maximizing yield and profit. Infor EzRMS Mobile is available via Google Play Store and Apple App Store.

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Five Key Modules in CRM Platforms

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platforms have gone from simple data management to integrated systems that utilize data and influence workflows in many ways. Each module has its own functionality coupled with the ability to work in conjunction with other modules for total communication. Although many CRM systems advertise a wide selection of modules to use, you should first focus on the ones that will benefit your business the most. Here are five core modules that should reside in all CRM solutions.

  1. Contact Management – This allows you to maintain longer lasting relationships, and it enables deep-dive analysis into what customers want and how to streamline the process of getting it to them.
  2. Lead Management – The ability to forward leads to key salespeople in a timely manner is often the difference between success and failure.
  3. Analytics – Each module will likely contain its own analytics tools, but a centralized analytics engine is considered a priority by many organizations.
  4. Performance Management – Utilize a fully functional performance management solution with a wide variety of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), as well as the ability to focus on individuals, teams, products, territories and other targets.
  5. Social Media Management – Social media can create a lot of opportunities for businesses stay informed with their clienteles, generate leads and push their marketing stargety in front of a larger audience. CRM systems integrate many social platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter for easy collaboration and communication.

The more modules you integrate into your CRM platform, the more you can do with your program and with your clientele.

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Security Violation – Using Environment Utilities in IPA

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Many times, you will have a need to run environment utilities (such as importdb) using a system command node, or a batch job such as IMDBB.  If you are getting security violations when you attempt to use these tools, you will need to elevate the Lawson Security privileges of the user running IPA.  The reason for this is that the system user running the IPA service is who actually is running those system commands.  Windows took away the ability to do a “run as”, so there is no way to bypass that user.

If you don’t know which user is running IPA, you can find out by executing a “whoami” command in a system command node on your IPA server.

Next you need to find this user in Lawson Security so you can elevate his privileges.  Open up Lawson Security and go to Manage Identities.  Search for the service account that you discovered in your “whoami” command.

Make not of the RMID and use that to search for the user under User Management.  Set that user’s “CheckLS” to “YES” and give him the roles required to allow access to the necessary environment utilities.