Business Intelligence, or “BI”, has become a popular buzzword in the software and technology industry but how does it affect your business? BI is a broad category of tools and technology that provide a framework for collecting and organizing your business data into graphical views and meaningful reports providing you with better insight to make better decisions. Without the tools that BI offers, the volumes of data in your MAS 90 or MAS 200 system can be difficult to access and translate in a timely fashion and can result in “information overload” – which delays important business decisions and can expose your company to potentially costly mistakes or missed revenue opportunities. BI also makes it easier for managers, executives and other non-technical business software users to manipulate data and create ad-hoc inquiries & reports without having to understand the underlying database structure. The ultimate objective of business intelligence is to improve the relevance, timeliness and quality of useful information. With that said, let’s examine some of the BI tools that MAS 90 and MAS 200 have to offer. Business Insights Explorer Business Insights Explorer (BIE) is one of the most highly anticipated and exiting new additions to MAS 90 & MAS 200 and will be introduced with the release of version 4.2 scheduled for the 1st quarter of 2007. Building on the success of Business Insights Explorer for MAS 500, Sage Software’s enterprise-level business management application, the new BIE for MAS 90 & MAS 200 will take inquiry, drill-down and drill-around analysis to a whole new level. It will consist of the following primary components: Preview – this option allows you to view information about an entity such as customers or vendors and easily cross-reference with relevant transactional information such as invoices, vouchers and orders in a single onscreen view that can be customized to accommodate the preference of each user. It provides a high-level snapshot alerting you to key transactions that may require attention. Explore - As an extension to the Preview option, Explore allows you to take your analysis a little deeper and drill-down into the original record when you require more detail about a transaction. For example, a service representative that receives a call from a customer might run an inquiry to locate recent shipments and then drill into a particular shipment transaction using Explore mode to determine whether an invoice has been generated and payment applied. Tasks – beyond inquiry, analysis, and review, the ability to act on information is important. Each view within BIE provides a set of context-sensitive Tasks that are relevant to your analysis and provide the option of updating, creating, or modifying records. Business Insights Reporter Business Insights Reporter (BIR) is another important component of the Business Intelligence tools offered within MAS 90 and MAS 200. BIR is a powerful and easy-to-use tool that enables you to create custom reports on the fly. Like BIE, it is designed with non-technical users in mind. The step-by-step interface presents data in logical views without exposing the user to decisions about which database table to access or how to link data in your report. It converts a complex process into a simple procedure, putting the power of custom reports in the hands of financial and other non-technical users. In addition, you can easily create calculated fields in your report with point-and-click simplicity as well as choose your preferred report format including Excel, Adobe PDF, XML, or directly to the printer for hard copy output. Other Tools In the broadest sense of the term, Business Intelligence can also include the standard and financial reporting framework delivered with MAS 90 and MAS 200 that enable you to transform the volumes of raw data in your system into a powerful decision-support tool. To that end, FRx Financial Reporter, Crystal Reports, and Business Insights Dashboard provide virtually any view you need to make informed decisions about your business. Again, the ultimate objective is to improve the relevance, timeliness and quality of useful information. Successful companies leverage their data through business intelligence and reporting to lock in their competitive advantage. BI tools delivered with MAS 90 and MAS 200 provide the insight to go beyond the numbers and actively manage changes as they occur taking your company from reactive to proactive. Contact Us for an in-depth discussion about making better use of BI tools within your business. Beyond Reporting … “Business Intelligence” MAS 90 and MAS 200 Newsletter Beyond Reporting ... “Business Intelligence” Introducing Sage Timesheet - MAS 90 Edition Which Windows Vista System is Right for Your Business? Contact Us In This Issue: Introducing Sage Timesheet – MAS 90 Edition Microsoft has recently announced availability of the much anticipated Windows Vista Operating System. To serve organizations of all sizes, Windows Vista is available in 2 versions – Business Edition and Enterprise Edition. Here is a high-level summary of what each has to offer: Windows Vista Business Edition Business Edition is designed for companies that would like to keep PC’s running smoothly and securely with very little reliance on dedicated IT support. It offers a new user interface that enables users to juggle multiple tasks at once by providing a three-dimensional, real-time, animated view of all open applications and documents. A built-in search function makes it easier to manage a large volume of documents while providing new ways to organize files. Windows Vista is also more mobile allowing you to remain connected and productive while away from the office. Other enhancements include built-in protection against malicious software, proactive warnings against impending hardware failure long before you risk losing important data, and an array of sophisticated new data back-up technologies. Business Edition also offers improved processes for deployment and ongoing management of the operating system. The introduction of two key design principles make it easier than ever to manage and streamline the process of deploying new PC’s or updating existing PC’s. Windows Vista Enterprise Edition Enterprise Edition offers all of the features of Business Edition but also specifically addresses the needs of global organizations and larger enterprise companies that deploy and maintain more complex IT infrastructures. Some of the additional features include higher levels of data protection through hardware-based encryption technology, multi-language support, improved compatibility with legacy applications, older versions of Windows as well as support for UNIX operating systems. Click Here for more detailed information about the Windows Vista Operating System for Business Jan - Feb 2007 Sage Software, Sage Software logos, and Sage Software product names and services mentioned herein are registered trademarks or trademarks of Sage Software, Inc. and/or its affiliates. Other product names mentioned are trademarks of their respective owners. If you no longer wish to receive beneficial announcements via email, please reply to this email message with “REMOVE” in the subject line Contact Us With Any Questions (630) 462-7190 x277 or mvz@partners-in-tech.com www.Partners-In-Tech.com 104 E. Roosevelt Rd. Wheaton, IL 60517 If yours is a project-oriented business, efficiently and accurately tracking employee time and expense is critically important to your bottom line. Resource shortages and cost-overruns are pitfalls that you can’t afford. Timekeeping and budgeting tools can greatly enhance efficiency and accuracy of resource allocation, time & expense data collection, project budgeting, monitoring and reporting. That’s why we want to introduce Sage TimeSheet – MAS 90 Edition. Sage Timesheet is an optional addition to your Sage MAS 90 and 200 ERP system offering time and expense tracking and project budgeting integrated with your Job Cost, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable and Payroll modules. It provides an ideal solution for companies that want to electronically assign jobs to employees and collect data on actual time spent and costs incurred on each task. It also eliminates time-consuming and inaccurate manual tracking as well as reliance on spreadsheets that are external to your core MAS 90 system. Total Integration – Seamless integration with your core MAS 90 system helps establish a single point of entry for resources, job codes, cost codes and cost types. In addition, Sage Timesheet will improve billing cycles, increase cash flow, and streamline expense reimbursement by leveraging integration with Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable for automated invoice generation. Flexible Approval Processes – Sage Timesheet allows you to define an approval process that adapts to your existing workflow, policies and procedures including multiple approval steps and email notification to managers and employees when approval conditions have been met. Web-based Interface – Sage Timesheet offers both a PC and web-based time and expense interface which offers accessibility to remote team members anywhere in the world through a web browser. Technical and Pricing Info Sage Timesheet – MAS 90 Edition supports MAS 90 v4.05 and v4.10, MAS 200 v4.05 and v4.10 running on a ProvideX database. It does not support MAS 200 SQL. Sage Software is offering Sage Timesheet for an introductory price of $500 for the initial five seats and $100 for each additional seat. Click Here to download the “Sage Timesheet – MAS 90 Edition Feature Sheet” for more detailed information. Which Windows Vista System is Right for Your Business?