May's Topic for the First Tuesday Networking Group

Defeat the Paper Monster!
How to Simplify the Way You File & Retrieve Documents. 

If your paper monster is limiting your ability to run more productively & operate more cost effectively, then this session is for you.  During this First Tuesday Networking Group session, Tara Jones, a document management specialist, will lead a discussion around innovative solutions for moving your paper to the digital world.  In just one hour, Tara will cover:

• What to consider when researching document imaging systems
• Eliminating the time spent searching for lost or misfiled documents
• Overcoming the skepticism of the success of reducing paper usage
• Recover precious office space and increase efficiency
• More affordable ways to manage your processes with automated workflow and document management

 Event Registration Page

About First Tuesday Networking Group, Pittsburgh

We are a Pittsburgh networking group dedicated to providing our members with opportunities to advance their business objectives and develop relationships though networking events combined with educational forums.  

Educational forum sessions cover such topics as: industry trends, personal development, best practices, technology, marketing, communication, computer applications, and talent management.

The group was founded exclusively for CPAs, but now is open to all.  We still offer topics that are of an interest to CPAs and attendance in all forums will result in the receipt of one CPE credit. 

The First Tuesday Networking Group is sponsored by Vertical Solutions– Providers of in-depth business systems expertise that delivers real business value - tailored to your needs.

SCAM Alert

Vertical Solutions would like to alert you to the following email. *Very Important*


This is a typical Phishing e-mail and should be ignored. It isn't from us or any other it service provider that you make work with! If you have any questions you when receiving correspondence like this you should always speak directly with your IT support team.


Thank you,
Vertical Solutions


From: System Administrator [mailto:ithelpdesk@domain.com]
Sent: Friday, February 11, 2011 3:19 PM
Subject: Important Notice - Please read!!

The Helpdesk Program that periodically checks the size of your e-mail space is
sending you this information. The program runs weekly to ensure your
inbox does
not grow too large, thus preventing you from receiving or sending new e-mail.

As this message is being sent, you have 18 megabytes (MB) or more stored in
your inbox. To help us reset your space in our database, please enter your
Domain/Username (_________________) Password/Passcode
(_______________)

You will receive a periodic alert if your inbox size is between 18 and 20 MB.
If your inbox size is 20 MB, a program on your Webmail will move your
oldest e-mails to a folder in your home directory to ensure you can continue receiving
incoming e-mail. You will be notified this has taken place.

If your inbox grows to 25 MB, you will be unable to receive new e-mail and it
will be returned to sender. All this is programmed to ensure your e-mail
continues to function well.

Thank you for your cooperation.
Help Desk

IT Spending for 2011

IT Spending for 2011

As we head out of both 2010 and the recession we have seen a slight up tick in spending in technology.  Assuming the economy continues to move in the right direction we would expect this trend to continue and accelerate.  The question is will you commit to the future of your organization and where will you spend your dollars?

To provide some guidance in this area we have identified several areas that clients have invested in and seen significant returns in time, cost and productivity.

Virtualization

Stop!  Before you buy another server just to replace an aging machine you need to consider this technology and have a conversation with us to see if it makes sense for your organization.  Several of our clients have taken the opportunity during this refresh cycle to implement this modal.  This technology allows you to consolidate multiple servers into just a few.  Out clients have realized the following benefits:

1.       Reduced the cost and overhead associated with maintaining multiple physical servers

2.       Reduce power consumptions and related emissions

3.       Increased system availability and performance

Managed IT Services

Outsourcing part or all of a particular service area has been around for years.  Information Technology support is not different.  Most small to mid size organizations fall into one of two categories:

1.       No internal IT support resources.  In this case they are looking to outsource all levels of support and projects to an outside firm.  Unfortunately, in many cases this service lacks the appropriate level of resource and communication.   During our discussion with prospects we often hear the following frustrations:

a.       Lack of communication regarding what is being done, why it is necessary and what issues long-term and short that it will resolve.  We refer to this as the “Black Magic” model because the provider wants to make you believe that everything they do is so complicated, that they are the only one who can do it.

b.      Lack of vision regarding new technologies and the future of your organization.  This primarily the result of a lack of professional leadership within the service provided and the inability to keep up with evolving technologies.  We refer to this as the SALY (Same as Last Year) approach since the service typically hasn’t learned anything new since last year, so they just stick with the same solution. 

2.       Limited internal IT resources.  In this case they may be looking to outsource part of there IT function which could include:

a.       Helpdesk support to free up internal resources to focus on project and higher level issue

b.      Monitoring solutions to provide insight and documentation of their system

c.       Project and Project Management services to address a specific skill set they may not have

Vertical Solutions has solutions for both environments with our VCare Essentials Advantage and VCare Essentials programs.  This proactive approach to IT support, planning and management create clear strategic advantage for our clients.

Collaboration

The fastest growing product in Microsoft history is SharePoint, and guess what, you already own it.  This collaboration tool gives you the ability to:

1.       Create a robust intranet to deliver, news, announcements, contact list, Human Resource information and more.

2.       Centralize document search, storage and retrieval, including version control.

3.       Create various centralized calendars to track and report on key events in your organization

4.       Integrate with Outlook, Word, Excel and more

To view a short demo on this solution visit http://www.verticalsol.com/vshare.asp .

Data Entry Made Easy

Several Vertical Solutions' team members were trading emails this weekend regarding the latest articles on MSDynamicsWorld.com. One article regarding the top ten ISV products that Microsoft should buy and incorporate into Dynamics GP generated a lot of conversation. Joe Critchlow, the head of our Microsoft Dynamics GP consulting group was particularly championing SmartFill from Rockton Software.

Joe says “Everyone could use SmartFill, it is a simple solution to something that has always been a pain point.” Ever wish you could do a google-style search to find your key data in Dynamics GP? Tired of "looking up" a Customer when you know their name and not their ID? SmartFill makes data entry easy. Find accounts by typing in part of their description or just a partial segment. Find Employees by typing in their first or last name, or even their address. Find customers by phone, address, name, or even information stored in outside databases!

As Rockton Software points out, many users of Dynamics GP often use non-intuitive numbering schemes for Customers, Items, Accounts, and other IDs. SmartFill allows you to type part of the Name, Description, or WHATEVER you know into any ID field, and then intuitively discovers the correct ID and types it in for you. No lookup required!

Are you still having to click the lookup, pick the right header and then search? SmartFill is a very inexpensive solution. Still not convinced? Watch the demo, then let us know that you are ready to make data entry easy!

Year End Wrap Up

To help our clients prepare for a successful year end close, Vertical Solutions held a series of seminars in Charlottesville and Pittsburgh. In addition to reviewing the year end checklists, we demonstrated some of the more popular features in Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 (still hard not to say Great Plains for some of us old timers), introduced the complete collection of tools and resources for Dynamics GP, and discussed some tips and tricks as well.

The tips and tricks session was considered especially beneficial . The loose format, which allowed everyone to inquire about their particular issues with processes, allowed attendees to get real world solutions from our complete consulting team. Here are some of the tips the groups took back to back to their offices:

Tip	Benefit
Navigation Pane Options	Only show what you need, compact view.  Click the Configure button at the bottom of the Navigation Pane.
Toolbars	Quick launch icons, time savers.  Right click on the Toolbar to open men.
Word Forms/ Email	Customize Payables and Receivables documents using Word and email in Dynamics GP 2010 only.
Budget Transactions	Keep an audit trail of budget modifications, in Dynamics GP 2010 only.
Report Lists	Use the Type to Filter Box to find reports quickly.
Rename SmartList Column Names	Click on the Columns button on the Search Page to change the Display Name.  Remember to save or update the Favorite.
Allocution Accounts	Fixed Allocution and Variable Allocution accounts can replace maintaining spreadsheets to allocate costs.
Shut off posting reports	Tools>>Setup>>Posting>>Posting.  Select the Series and the Origin and uncheck reports not needed for printing after posting.
Recurring Batches	Payables and Financial entries saved to a recurring batch.  This can eliminate repeatedly rekeying entries and transactions.
Remove Entries from AutoFill	Once the list is presented, right click the entry and click on remove.  You can also change the AutoFill preferences in the User Preference Window.

Didn’t get to attend? You download the checklists from our web site. Also, we would be happy to come out to your location and replicate our consulting roundtable, and show you the best tricks we have collected over the years. We will even spring for lunch! Contact us if you want to hear more.

The New Year is a Great Time to Upgrade

As we are approaching the holidays and year-end, it is not too early to start planning “what comes next”. Take advantage of the ability to improve insight, productivity, and collaboration across your organization, make sure your organization is on the 2011 upgrade calendar.

We suggest that you take a few moments with other Microsoft Dynamics GP users and learn about their experiences using the latest features and functionality of Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010.

Vertical Solutions is pretty excited about how you and your team, and the different ways you work, can drive business success with Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010. Employees can make quick and informed decisions with insight that is personalized and easy to access. In addition, this release continues to remove barriers that get in the way of working effectively, to better connect you to information that is across applications and systems.

It seems hard to believe as the snow is flying, but summer and vacation time will be here soon – February, March, and April are a great time to take advantage of all the features offered by Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010. Contact us today to schedule your upgrade!



Twenty Tips to Improve the Value of Your Businss

Last night, the First Tuesday Networking Group heard a presentation by Alex Kinder of Horovitz, Rudoy & Roteman and our own Bob Nelson on how to improve your business value. It was a cold snowy night, but the hardy group picked up several valuable tips. Most important was that there is always an opportunity for your business to be sold, you should always be prepared and have a plan.

Sprinkled into their top 20 list, Alex and Bob shared several real-life cautionary tales of clients who, unfortunately did not anticipate selling their business, did not have a plan, and saw their business being purchased for much less than valued.

Twenty Tips to Improve Your Value of Your Business1. Clean up the Balance Sheet
2. Streamline operating ratios
3. Evaluate leased assets and convert to owned assets
4. Evaluate on-going service and maintenance contracts
5. Conduct fixed vs. variable expense analysis
6. Perform a product line profitability analysis
7. Modify all leases, mortgages, agreements and contracts to ensure they are transferable
8. Engage your CPA to prepare audited financial statements
9. Evaluate inventory for accuracy and relevancy
10. Settle all outstanding lawsuits, tax liens, employee disputes and union grievances
11. Recast financial statements to reflect “normalized, non family” impact
12. Update the Strategic Plan
13. Find and implement the Best Practices for your industry
14. Ensure that you are in compliance with federal, state, local, environmental, labor rules and regulations
15. Automate your processes, invest in technology
16. Resolve partner – shareholder disputes
17. Engage a knowledgeable, experienced Board
18. Separate real estate from the business
19. Ensure that all product/service liability policies are in place
20. Ensure that all copyrights, trademarks, service marks, trade names and patents are fully documented

Our First Tuesday Networking Group will take a break in the month of January to let everyone get settled in after the New Year’s holiday. We’ll see you in February for The Business Value of Going Green.