Category Archives: Business Processes

Business Processes, Mavenlink, Project management

Mavenlink Launches New Financial Management, Reporting Capabilities

Mavenlink today announced the launch of new capabilities which provide users with end-to-end financial reporting and management control. With real-time visibility into their projects and financials, Mavenlink customers benefit from greater visibility and control over their business performance, and staying in alignment with business goals becomes more certain.

“Mavenlink, and our new smart class of products, is improving the way work is defined and managed across distributed teams,” said Ray Grainger, Mavenlink’s CEO. “With the addition of these new financial management and reporting capabilities, Mavenlink becomes even more compelling, enabling businesses to improve productivity, increase profitability and more effectively manage business outcomes.”

Mavenlink enables companies to efficiently manage more of their business online, including team & project management, messaging & conversations, file management, time & expense management, invoicing & online payments and financial reporting. Mavenlink’s new reports, available in real-time and multiple currencies, provide users a detailed view of the entire financial life cycle of projects.

Key new features include:

  • Utilization Reports: Maximize revenue through more efficient resource utilization and planning
  • Work In Progress (WIP) Reports: Keep track of planned and actual costs, as well as what has been billed and awaits billing on any project for every client
  • Accounts Receivable Aging Reports: Reduce time-to-payment through better visibility of upcoming and late invoices
  • Time Sheets: Effortlessly capture time, view and report on billable and non-billable hours for each team member or workgroup, with a real-time view of project costs
  • Task-Level Budgeting: Manage cost expectations and ensure tighter project controls by tracking budgets (hours and dollars) down to the task level

 “Social Task Management (STM) platforms combine project management and social networking to enable teams to more effectively get their work done,” said Alan Lepofsky, Vice President and Principal Analyst at Constellation Research. “By adding capabilities with financial related areas such as budgeting, invoicing payments and management reporting, Mavenlink has created a single place for team members to seamlessly organize all aspects of a project. I’ve yet to see this type of broad project management and financials together from any other STM SaaS provider.”

Business Processes, iPad, iPhone, Mobile, QuickBooks, Small business

QuickBooks Online Adds Mobility With New iPad App

With today’s introduction of QuickBooks Online for iPad, small businesses that are mobile by nature will no longer have to save the books for last. Rather, they can get more out of their workdays with an app that helps them work more productively, wherever they are.

“As a wedding planner, I spend 70 percent of my time away from my desk meeting with clients and vendors. At the end of the day, I used to sort through my meeting notes, map out next steps, track payments and expenses, and follow up with invoices,” said Sadie Waddington of Locally Grown Weddings in San Francisco, Calif. “Now, I save time by catching up on accounting during the four hours I commute on public transit each week using QuickBooks Online for iPad. The app also helps keep me more organized and look more professional in front of my clients and vendors.”

Now available in the App Store, QuickBooks Online for iPad brings the world’s No. 1 small business cloud accounting solution to one of the world’s fastest-growing computing devices. It packages the most useful on-the-go business tasks in an easy-to-use, friendly app with a native iPad experience, including integration with the Camera, Contacts, Push Notifications and Location Services.

“Managing a small business is a different game today than it was a few years ago, due in large part to the proliferation of smartphones and tablets,” said Dan Wernikoff, senior vice president and general manager of Intuit’s Financial Management Solutions division. “We found that more than 20 percent of QuickBooks Mobile for iPhone users access the app through iPads. And, customers like Sadie told us they need more than mobile point solutions – they need an all-in-one app that lets them work in a whole new way, and that’s what we created.”

Business Processes, Credit Cards, Go Daddy, Partnerships, Payment

Go Daddy Getting Into Web Payments

First Data Corporation and web host Go Daddy today announced Go Daddy Payment Solutions. The application is designed to serve the electronic payment needs of the small business community.

Go Daddy customers will be able to leverage Go Daddy Payment Solutions to process eCommerce transactions online. Go Daddy gives customers the ability to go from an idea to a full-blown Web presence – including a website, shopping cart and online payment acceptance – in a few simple steps.

“Go Daddy’s main focus is to help small businesses get bigger without investing a lot of time, money or energy,” said Neil Proctor, senior director of Development, Go Daddy. “First Data’s payment processing gives Go Daddy customers the chance to quickly enable credit card payments online, expanding their revenue growth opportunities exponentially. The best part is, if customers have any questions, they can reach out to Go Daddy’s world-class customer service to get them answered quickly.”

To find out more about Go Daddy Payment Solutions, please visit http://www.godaddy.com/ecommerce/merchant-services.aspx.

Business Processes, Customer Relationship Management, JDA, Retail, Supply chain

JDA Releases Customer Engagement Cloud Solution for Retail

JDA Software Group, Inc. today announced the release of JDA Customer Engagement Cloud, a single solution that addresses omni-channel commerce and optimization logic in real time. It not only helps retailers deliver goods to customers, but also aligns real-time supply processes and inventory to profitably source those goods.

“The retail industry is at a critical juncture in its history. Consumers today — empowered with mobile technology — have instant access to information that shapes what they buy, when and where they buy it, and at what price,” said Hamish Brewer, President and CEO, JDA Software. “These connected consumers determine which retail enterprises succeed and which fail. With JDA® Customer Engagement Cloud we have developed a comprehensive approach to address this challenge now, helping retailers to avoid becoming a victim in this rapidly changing retail environment.”

JDA® Customer Engagement Cloud is designed to help retailers profitably achieve customer-centricity in every interaction through the following key capabilities:

JDA® Customer Engagement Cloud enables enterprise visibility to critical information like inventory levels, product information, customer history – including access to a customer’s universal online shopping cart – and customer preferences to associates who interact with the omni-channel customer. Providing this type of customer information in real-time enables in-store associates to better convert in-store visits into sales.

More and more, commerce is happening not just in the checkout lines, but in the aisles of today’s retail stores. Empowering associates with full access to enterprise data and point-of-sale (POS) capabilities in the aisle is critical to creating the ultimate in-store customer experience. Store associates can maximize their ability to help customers by using the JDA® Customer Engagement Cloud associate app on a mobile device. In addition to accessing information and standard POS capabilities, the associate app supports guided price negotiation and alternate delivery options.

Business Intelligence, Business Processes, FreshBooks, FreshBooks Automatic Expense Import, Small business

FreshBooks Launches Automatic Expense Import, Connecting Customer Accounts Directly to Their Bank

FreshBooks today rolled out Automatic Expense Import which automatically draws expenses in from bank accounts and gives users an easy way to track spending and to see their profit and loss at a glance.

This latest addition to the FreshBooks cloud allows small business owners to connect their financial institutions (including bank accounts and credit cards) directly to FreshBooks and have their expenses imported automatically into their account every day.

“Small business owners want to focus on serving their customers and on doing what they love, not on accounting,” said Mike McDerment, FreshBooks co-founder and CEO. “The ability to automatically import expenses from your bank enables small business owners to effortlessly manage their expenses, which helps them know exactly how much they’re spending and frees up times to work on more important things than paperwork. This is the promise of the cloud – a better way to work.”

Automatic Expense Import includes:

  • Quick one-time setup to connect financial institutions to your FreshBooks account
  • Automatically brings in new expenses daily, on an ongoing basis until disconnected
  • Accommodates multiple accounts including checking, credit card and PayPal
  • Imports the last 30-90 days of expenses data (depending on the bank)
  • Flags duplications and makes editing painless

FreshBooks Automatic Expense Import, which has been in use with over 3000 customers since October 2012, is now broadly available in North America with support for more than 9,000 US financial institutions and 61 Canadian financial institutions. Customers outside of the US and Canada can identify which banks they would like supported by completing a form request found on the FreshBooks blog. Going forward, Automatic Expense Import is included with all FreshBooks paid packages, and for a limited time it is also available to existing, free FreshBooks accounts as well.

FreshBooks supports a wide range of service-based small business types: designers, lawyers, marketing and IT professionals, plumbers, interior decorators – any business with 1-10 employees that serves clients with their time and expertise. Whether logging expenses at the coffee shop, on the way from a client meeting or at the airport lounge, FreshBooks Automatic Expense Imports will help small business owners to save even more time managing the money they spend.

Business Processes, Subscription business model, Ticket resale, Ticketmaster, Tickets

Spinneret Releases Ticket Portal for Resale Market

Spinneret today announced the availability of Ticket Portal, a subscription-based web app for creating and maintaining web sites to sell sports, concerts and theater tickets online.

The secondary ticket market, also known as the resale market, has evolved into a multi-billion dollar industry. In this market, ticket brokers buy tickets from the primary sellers, such as Ticketmaster, and resell them to fans online.

Currently, it costs thousands of dollars and months of development, design and testing to create a website to sell tickets. This has effectively made selling tickets online an expensive investment accessible only to large ticket brokers and a few affiliates and marketers willing to take the investment risk.

Spinneret’s Ticket Portal app changes this and makes creating a ticket web site a quick and painless process with a low monthly subscription fee and no upfront fees. Ticket Portal is a single app that sits in the cloud and powers all subscriber websites, which are customized with themes and custom HTML content through a web-based administration panel.

Business Processes, Health Care, M&A Activity, TriZetto, Workflow

TriZetto Acquires Cloud-based Claims Workflow Automation Company

TriZetto Corporation today announced its acquisition of Franklin, Tenn.-based Healthcare Productivity Automation (HPA). HPA’s healthcare workflow automation solutions will be integrated with TriZetto’s business management services unit over the coming months. Terms of the transaction, which closed on Dec. 17, were not disclosed.

HPA solutions employ a highly advanced, cloud-based claims workflow tool, Health Mason®. The Health Mason solution automates certain manual processes in claims administration, which can greatly improve the efficiency and quality of the provider reimbursement process. The tool replicates human decision-making to review large volumes of claims, enter data and determine the best way to process claims. Processing can be up to 30 times faster than typical manual processes, with high reliability – more than 95 percent first-pass accuracy on a rolling 12-month average across HPA’s book of business.

“The acquisition of HPA underscores TriZetto’s continuing investment strategy to provide innovative, integrated technology and service solutions that simplify healthcare and improve both its efficiency and effectiveness for payers, providers and members,” said Harish Mysore, senior vice president of corporate development and strategic alliances at TriZetto. “This acquisition builds on our commitment to enhance payer-provider collaboration by increasing the quality, accuracy and efficiency of claims processing and payment.”

“We’re excited to join TriZetto because its large payer and provider client base allows us to make a bigger impact on healthcare,” said Sal Novin, HPA’s CEO. “In managing the claims administration function of dozens of health plans, TriZetto will leverage HPA’s technology to bend the cost curve of processing claims and increase administrative efficiencies for both healthcare payers and providers.”

Business Processes, Customer Relationship Management, Real estate

RES.NET Platform Now Supports Traditional Real Estate Market

RES.NET, a provider of software applications connecting real estate professionals and consumers, today announced that its platform now supports the traditional real estate market. Originally introduced in 2004 as a technology solution for the default space, RES.NET has evolved its platform to now enhance retail, or traditional real estate transactions. By enabling agents to perform tasks and communicate with other real estate agents, companies and consumers, they can better meet the demands of today’s tech-savvy consumers while gaining the accessibility and accountability to operate more productively and improve their businesses.

RES.NET’s Agent Portal, one of the platform’s six cloud-based portals, connects agents to other real estate professionals, buyers and sellers and allows them to handle every aspect of the sale through one, centralized system – and even on-the-go through a mobile application. Agents can define their unique task workflow and input all details on their properties including photos and videos. The portal facilitates transparency among agents and other participants, who can easily send and sign documents online using e-signature technology.

“Our network has grown to include more than 200,000 users, some of which are Fortune 500 companies with very complex workflows and stringent requirements,” said Todd Mobraten, COO and president of RES.NET. “With our experience in the default space and as a response to the real estate market’s evolution, we elected to expand our platform’s capabilities to support the traditional market. With more than 80 percent of consumers now beginning their home search online, it is important for agents to leverage technology that meets their expectations. With the platform agents can eliminate communication gaps and securely share information in an automated, paperless environment or even from a mobile device, which minimizes their time in front of the computer and lets them focus on serving homebuyers, cultivating relationships and increasing their business opportunities.”

Within the portal, Agents can also access RES.NET’s offer submission link tool, which enables them to submit offers to listing agents directly through the platform, instead of mailing or faxing paper documents. Through the system agents have ultimate control to manage offers, negotiations and counter offers, resulting in faster closings.

Mobraten continued, ”One of the portal’s most valuable features for agents is the ability to add and invite contacts to their network. Not only does this contribute to more efficient communications and accelerates transactions, but the technology also empowers them to increase their professional networks and improve their businesses.”

Bluebeam, Business Processes, Collaboration, Computer-aided design, Partnerships, Portable Document Format, ProjectWise, Skanska

Bluebeam Revu for PDF-based Collaboration Now Available to Skanska Projects

Skanska has entered into a global purchasing agreement with Bluebeam® Software, the developer of PDF-based solutions for digital project workflows. Under this new agreement, Skanska project teams throughout the world can deploy Bluebeam’s Revu®, for digital project communication and collaboration.

Bluebeam Revu is a PDF-based solution that enables architecture, engineering and construction professionals to streamline workflows, improve communication and reduce paper use. Revu includes 2D and 3D PDF creation and a variety of industry-standard redlining tools including text, highlights, shapes, clouds, CAD symbols and measurements. Advanced features include automatic drawing comparisons, hyperlink management, integration with SharePoint® and ProjectWise®, and tablet PC compatibility. Additionally, Revu includes an integrated cloud solution, Bluebeam Studio™, for storing PDFs and other project files online and collaborating in real-time on PDFs.

Skanska’s NKS project team is currently using several of these features to electronically share information for this massive, 3.4 million gross square foot facility. Project team members are using Revu to create and annotate PDFs, enabling them to easily share detailed drawings, comments and questions with project team members downstream. The team is also organizing and managing the enormous amount of project information by using Links – Revu’s hyperlink manager – to link PDF drawings to additional project data stored in SharePoint®.

“Revu is a powerful solution that creates so many opportunities for streamlining project communication and collaboration and allows project teams to work more efficiently,” said Christian Gren, Director of Account Services, Bluebeam AB. “With this agreement, Skanska project teams can increase productivity, create significant time savings and reduce costs, ultimately having a substantial impact on the bottom line.”

“Skanska’s implementation of Revu on the incredible New Karolinska Solna project proves that anything is possible with Bluebeam,” said Kristine Hopkins, Bluebeam Software’s Director of Account Services. “Bluebeam is thrilled to enter into this purchasing agreement with Skanska, making it easier for its project teams around the globe to communicate and collaborate digitally and work without limits.”

Bluebeam Software products are available direct and through a global network of authorized resellers. For more information, visit www.bluebeam.com.

 

Business Processes, Enterprise resource planning, Mobile, SYSPRO, SYSPRO Espresso

SYSPRO Launches ERP Mobile Solution for Mid-Market Manufacturers

SYSPRO announced today the availability of SYSPRO Espresso mobile ERP platform for mid-sized manufacturing and distribution companies. The new mobile solution is purpose built and leverages leading edge HTML 5, Microsoft technology and tools. The announcement was made here today at the company’s Winter 2012 analyst roadshow before 32 leading technology analysts. SYSPRO Espresso applications are available from the SYSPRO App Store.

SYSPRO Espresso is targeted at executives who require immediate access to c-level information as well as all users who are not office bound and who require secure access to real time data. The SYSPRO Espresso architecture is one of the first platforms of its kind to use a single source codebase (for the business logic) to create native applications for any mobile device, with built-in powerful customization capabilities both for the end-user and for developers to engage.

SYSPRO supports multiple mobile and desktop devices, provides easy user customization and an easy growth and change strategy via its component-based Quantum Architecture. The company has a strong mid-market presence with 14,500 customers and value-add industry expertise in the food, medical devices, machinery and equipment, electronics and pharmaceuticals/chemical sectors.

“We have been very careful with our new mobile solution to preserve what is one of our most acclaimed advantages, which is easy customization,” said Phil Duff, CEO SYSPRO worldwide. “The Power Tailoring tools that SYSPRO users have come to expect have not been compromised. SYSPRO Espresso users will be able to access and tailor SYSPRO applications that will work on-line and off-line on any popular device, while retaining the native look and feel of these devices, as well as for the look and feel of their personalized interface to SYSPRO. SYSPRO solutions feel like ‘home grown’ software solutions – as if they were built by their own technology development team.”