Category Archives: Business Processes

Accountancy, Balance Sheet, Business Processes, FreshBook, Intuit, Invoice, QuickBooks, Small business

FreshBooks Adds Balance Sheet Tool for Small Business Accounting

Image representing FreshBooks as depicted in C...

As part of FreshBooks  shift from online invoicing only to cloud accounting for small businesses,  they’ve expanding on their accounting offering with the release of Balance Sheets, a tool at helping businesses prepare to apply for loans, grants, submitting taxes, or seeking investors.

The new Balance Sheet tool allows users to see a summary of assets, liabilities, and equity and easily determine the health of their business.

FreshBooks claims more than 5 million users in 120 countries, and says “No one in North America has more paying users online other than Intuit’s QuickBooks Online. ”

More info on Balance Sheets is available at the FreshBooks Blog.


Airline, Business Intelligence, Business Processes, Revenue management, RMS

Revenue Management Systems Unveils airRMexpress for Small Airlines

Revenue Management Systems (RMS)  is launching airRMexpress, a new cloud-based airline revenue management solution designed specifically for small airlines.

With airRMexpress, RMS brings the advantages of powerful forecasting and optimization capabilities to a whole segment of the airline industry that was previously underserved. And RMS delivers it at a price that is affordable. In addition to forecasting and optimization, airRMexpress also features many other tools, such as an executive dashboard, flight analysis screens, a report builder and the popular Business Rules manager.

“There are literally hundreds of small airlines around the world today who are either spending too much time making manual inventory adjustments or are using solutions that don’t have all the features they need,” said Scott Schade, CEO of RMS. “We have designed airRMexpress for these airlines so they can quickly and efficiently optimize their seat inventory, thereby significantly improving their bottom line.”

As a cloud-based solution, airRMexpress can be rapidly deployed. Accessing the system via the internet also saves airlines from having to buy expensive server hardware.


Business Processes, Content Management, Customer Relationship Management, GlobalSCAPE, Mobile device, Salesforce, salesforce.com

TappIn Pro Edition Includes Salesforce.com Integration

TappIn, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of GlobalSCAPE, Inc. announced today the launch of the new TappIn Professional Edition. TappIn’s Professional Edition offers 10 GB of secure transactional cloud storage, enhanced secure mobile access features, integration with Salesforce, and group management capabilities designed for professional users, businesses, and an increasingly mobile workforce, by creating a go-to service for remote access to all content regardless of where it resides.

“The increasingly mobile nature of today’s workforce, coupled with the rapid diversification of content sources and storage repositories, has forced a re-envisioning of how IT manages the access device landscape,” said Maureen Fleming, analyst with IDC. “Content is no longer stored on just a computer or server, it’s stored across collaboration platforms like Salesforce and Microsoft Exchange, on NAS drives, and in cloud repositories—public, private, and personal. As mobile devices put our lives at our fingertips, businesses and their employees will look for solutions that also streamline access to these content sources, increasing efficiency and eliminating the need for redundant copies and storage.”

“If we have learned anything from the BYOD revolution, it’s that people are looking for the simplest way to manage and access everything they need via a mobile device,” said Chris Hopen, President of TappIn, Inc. “TappIn Professional Edition is the next evolution of our approach to access and management, allowing users to go to a single place on their mobile device and securely access or share all of their important content—whether it resides on a home computer, business server, or SaaS application such as Salesforce. TappIn is the one place they can go for access to all of their content without having to move it all to one place.”

 

 


AutoDesk, Business Intelligence, Business Processes, Jitterbit, Partnerships

Autodesk, Jitterbit Partner for Cloud Access to Product Lifecycle Data

 

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Autodesk, Inc. and Jitterbit have partnered to provide Autodesk PLM 360 the ability to integrate with on premise and cloud business applications. The relationship further strengthens Autodesk PLM 360’s position as the next generation cloud-based alternative for product lifecycle management.

Jitterbit’s cloud integration platform is a key component of a new suite of integration tools called Autodesk PLM 360 Connect, which helps customers to integrate their PLM and other cloud and enterprise business applications into one, seamless environment. The ability to easily move data across multiple systems further strengthens the value of Autodesk PLM 360, making the benefits of PLM available to anyone, anytime, anywhere.

“The combination of Autodesk PLM 360 and Jitterbit’s next generation cloud integration solutions allows companies of all sizes to realize a greater return on their technology investments in ERP, CRM or other proprietary business applications,” said George Gallegos, CEO at Jitterbit. “Companies will now have the ability to gather, analyze and utilize product or project data in a far more efficient manner than previously possible.”

“Autodesk PLM 360 Connect is a straightforward and cost-effective way to keep Autodesk PLM 360 tightly connected with data from other critical business systems,” said Buzz Kross, senior vice president, Design, Lifecycle and Simulation at Autodesk. “Jitterbit is a natural partner to match our nimble cloud-based approach. Our customers require integration that is powerful, quick, easy-to-use, and affordable.”

The combination of cloud-based PLM with a cloud-based enterprise application interface platform makes it easy for customers to map, build and manage an elegant integration solution in any application environment. Jitterbit’s intuitive graphical user interface means no software coding is required for integration. This “no coding” approach makes connections simple and easy to build and maintain for business analysts and administrators alike.

For additional information about the new suite of integration tools, Autodesk PLM 360 Connect, visit www.autodeskplm360.com.


Business Processes, Business-to-business, Electronic Data Interchange, Purchase order, Retail, Supply chain, Supply Chain Management

GXS Ups Retail Supply Chain Efficiency with Catalogue-Based Web Ordering

GXS, a  provider of B2B integration services, today announced that GXS Intelligent Web Forms (IWF) allows manufacturers to quickly and easily enable their smaller retail customers to issue purchase orders electronically. IWF creates forms to digitise the full lifecycle of supply chain transactions with the customer community from purchase orders and order changes to electronic invoices and remittance advices. By integrating directly with GXS Catalogue, the retail industry’s leading data synchronisation application that supports product, price and image information, web forms ensure that retail buyers can only select valid, preauthorised SKUs for inclusion on purchase orders.

Most large retail chains issue purchase orders to their suppliers electronically using EDI (Electronic Document Interchange) but smaller, independent store owners often lack the budget, resources and expertise to support these B2B integration technologies.  As a result, a high percentage of the purchase orders issued from smaller retailers are transmitted via fax, email or spreadsheet, creating an efficiency drag on the operations of large suppliers.  Using GXS web forms, suppliers of food and beverage, apparel and footwear and other consumer products can offer their customers the option to issue purchase orders online. As a SaaS offering, GXS IWF does not require small retailers to license, install or maintain software. The web-based forms mimic the paper equivalents making the application easy to use without training or technical expertise.

By integrating with GXS Catalogue, the web forms can present users with a preloaded list of available and authorised items for each customer.  Catalogue integration ensures that users do not mistakenly request SKUs that are unauthorised, discontinued or non-existent.  Retail SKUs consist of long alphanumeric strings which can easily be transposed or mistyped in an electronic ordering system.  Some SKUs have special characters such as hyphens or spaces which further complicate the order entry process. Catalogue-based web forms reduce the amount of exception processing and order handling expenses for suppliers.  Higher quality purchase order data also reduces the likelihood of shipping delays and out-of-stocks for the retailers.

“Leading suppliers of consumer products and general merchandise have automated many of the order-to-cash and demand planning processes with their larger retail customers. These large suppliers have struggled to gain the same efficiencies with smaller retail chains and independent stores,” said Melanie Nuce, director of retail industry marketing for GXS.  “Catalogue-based web ordering offers a cost-effective approach to quickly achieving supply chain efficiencies with small retailers and opens up the opportunity for better customer service.”


Business Processes, Customer Relationship Management, Enterprise resource planning, ERP, Hardware, Medical, Supply chain, SYSPRO, SYSPRO ERP

SYSPRO ERP Software Able to Facilitate Medical Device Unit Recalls

SYSPRO today announced that SYSPRO ERP software offers manufacturers extensive traceability capabilities to facilitate the ability of manufacturers to trace products from origin, through the manufacturing process, to their ultimate destination, fully maintaining assurance certification and tracking expiration dates. The reaffirmation of the extensive traceability functionalities inherent in SYSPRO ERP software was in reaction to the announcement that “over 123 million medical device units were recalled in the second quarter of 2012, reaching an eight-quarter high,” according to the quarterly ExpertRECALL Index released August 22, 2012.

SYSPRO lot traceability and serial tracking functionality afford extensive visibility up or down the supply chain, as well as providing specific component to parent tracking, thereby providing the means to expedite recalls, should the need arise. SYSPRO optionally allows specific traceable components to be reserved for specific work-orders, as well as providing the flexibility of specifying the parent traceable numbers at the beginning, during or the end of the manufacturing process.

The Associated Press article reporting the record number of recalls contains the following statement by Mike Rozembajgier, vice president of recalls at Stericycle ExpertRECALL, “The growing importance of this product category means that companies need to have a comprehensive recall plan in place that can be deployed within the blink of an eye and can effectively protect their customers…”

According to SYSPRO USA President Joey Benadretti, “The implementation of cost- effective SYSPRO software helps medical device manufacturers streamline their supply chains and also to employ extensive ‘backwards and forwards’ component and product traceability for speedy recalls.


Accounting, Business Processes, FreshBooks, iOS, iPad, iPhone, Mobile

Freshbooks Takes SMB Accounting Mobile with new iPhone, iPad App

FreshBooks  today launched a new mobile accounting app designed to fit the lifestyle of today’s small businesses owners, giving them the freedom to run their business anytime, anywhere.

Following their recent re-positioning as cloud accounting, the free mobile app further demonstrates the FreshBooks commitment to being in the corner of service-based businesses. The mobile app strengthens existing features like expense management, P&L reporting and online payment integration to help make the lives of small business owners easier.

The new FreshBooks iPhone app works anywhere, whether you’re tracking time from the coffee shop, logging expenses from the airport lounge or sending an invoice right from the client’s office. Simple and intuitive, FreshBooks makes it easy to have an at-a-glance view of your business.

“The FreshBooks iPhone app was created so that small business owners could have even more flexibility with their FreshBooks account and access it from wherever their work takes them,” said Mike McDerment, FreshBooks co-founder and CEO. “We know that people go into business to pursue their passion and serve their customers, not to learn accounting. That’s the difference with FreshBooks cloud accounting: it’s simple, accessible everywhere, and saves small businesses time on their billing.”

The FreshBooks iOS app has all the key features of the web version of FreshBooks, including the streamlined ability to send professional-looking invoices, get paid online with Paypal and attach expenses directly to invoices. Invite staff or sub-contractors to projects to log hours as you work and generate invoices from timesheets to enjoy seamless collaboration. FreshBooks is designed to support businesses of all types: lawyers, marketing and IT professionals, plumbers, interior decorators, even an architect–anyone who creates value for their clients by applying their time and expertise.

Download the free iPhone app  to create a new free account.


Business Processes, Cloud & IT Management, Conventional PCI, Firewalls, High Tech Security, Legal, Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, PCI DSS, Standards

Four Things You Need to Know About PCI Compliance in the Cloud

By Andrew Hay, Chief Evangelist, CloudPassage

Andrew HayAndrew Hay is the Chief Evangelist at CloudPassage, Inc. where he is lead advocate for its SaaS server security product portfolio. Prior to joining CloudPassage, Andrew was a a Senior Security Analyst for 451 Research, where he provided technology vendors, private equity firms, venture capitalists and end users with strategic advisory services.

Anyone who’s done it will tell you that implementing controls that will pass a PCI audit is challenging enough in a traditional data center where everything is under your complete control. Cloud-based application and server hosting makes this even more complex. Cloud teams often hit a wall when it’s time to select and deploy PCI security controls for cloud server environments. Quite simply, the approaches we’ve come to rely on just don’t work in highly dynamic, less-controlled cloud environments. Things were much easier when all computing resources were behind the firewall with layers of network-deployed security controls between critical internal resources and the bad guys on the outside.

Addressing the challenges of PCI DSS in cloud environments isn’t an insurmountable challenge. Luckily, there are ways to address some of these key challenges when operating a PCI-DSS in-scope server in a cloud environment. The first step towards embracing cloud computing, however, is admitting (or in some cases learning) that your existing tools might be not capable of getting the job done.

Traditional security strategies were created at a time when cloud infrastructures did not exist and the use of public, multi-tenant infrastructure was data communications via the Internet. Multi-tenant (and even some single-tenant) cloud hosting environments introduce many nuances, such as dynamic IP addressing of servers, cloud bursting, rapid deployment and equally rapid server decommissioning, that the vast majority of security tools cannot handle.

First Takeaway: The tools that you have relied upon for addressing PCI related concerns might not be built to handle the nuances of cloud environments.

The technical nature of cloud-hosting environments makes them more difficult to secure. A technique sometimes called “cloud-bursting” can be used to increase available compute power extremely rapidly by cloning virtual servers, typically within seconds to minutes. That’s certainly not enough time for manual security configuration or review.

Second Takeaway: Ensure that your chosen tools can be built into your cloud instance images to ensure security is part of the provisioning process.

While highly beneficial, high-speed scalability also means high-speed growth of vulnerabilities and attackable surface area. Using poorly secured images for cloud-bursting or failing to automate security in the stack means a growing threat of server compromise and nasty compliance problems during audits.

Third Takeaway: Vulnerabilities should be addressed prior to bursting or cloning your cloud servers and changes should be closely monitored to limit the expansion of your attackable surface area.

Traditional firewall technologies present another challenge in cloud environments. Network address assignment is far more dynamic in clouds, especially in public clouds. There is rarely a guarantee that your server will spin up with the same IP address every time. Current host-based firewalls can usually handle changes of this nature but what about firewall policies defined with specific source and destination IP addresses? How will you accurately keep track of cloud server assets or administer network access controls when IP addresses can change to an arbitrary address within a massive IP address space?

Fourth Takeaway: Ensure that your chosen tools can handle the dynamic nature of cloud environments without disrupting operations or administrative access.

The auditing and assessment of deployed servers is an addressable challenge presented by cloud architectures. Deploying tools purpose-built for dynamic public, private and hybrid cloud environments will also ensure that your security scales alongside your cloud server deployments. Also, if you think of cloud servers as semi-static entities deployed on a dynamic architecture, you will be better prepared to help educate internal stakeholders, partners and assessors on the aforementioned cloud nuances – and how your organization has implemented safeguards to ensure adherence to PCI-DSS.