Advent Software Blog

Go Mobile with Sage 200

2011-07-08T10:45:00.046+01:00

By Arshad Abdul, Account Manager

The New Sage 200 Mobile is designed to give users the freedom to choose how, where and when they access business-critical information.

It couldn't be easier. Download the App, Configure the application & Start using Sage 200 Mobile.

You will be glad to hear that this New and Exciting Feature is available Free of Charge with Sage 200 Version 2011.

Sage 200 Mobile gives SECURE ACCESS to your Sage 200 data on your iPhone!

With Sage 200 Mobile you can access your Sage 200 data using views and search functionality via your iPhone or Blackberry device. Sage 200 Mobile gives you quick and easy access to a wide range of business information, enabling your workforce to be more productive. The data available as standard is aimed at the Financial Director, Managing Director, Sales Person and Project Manager roles, how ever the application may be customised so you can access data that is relevent to a particular role.

Now in this age of mobile technology, it makes sense that you should leave the pen and paper to one side, forget the pages of customer and contact information and just log onto your iPhone or Blackberry to find the information you need when you need it.

Now you can............

View customers, suppliers, projects, stock and bank accounts

View invoices, and sales orders

View transactions on customers, suppliers and bank accounts

Rapid access to information, through "Favourites"

Workspace can be viewed for Sales Summary, Cash Position and Project Position

Drop me a an email if you would like to find out more.....
sales@advent.ie or call me on 01 8223200

Sage e-Marketing....

2011-06-16T15:21:00.015+01:00

by Sinéad Hayes, Sales & Marketing Manager

Many businesses are looking for more creative ways of reaching their target audiences and connecting with their customers. They are looking to operate more efficiently and effectively with leaner resources to stay one step ahead of the competition.

During times of a slow down in the global economy, it is important to accelerate marketing activity to ensure your products and services are at the forefront of prospects' and customer's minds.

The attached whitepaper explores how marketing departments, in this age of cost consciousness and accountability, are increasingly turning towards e-marketing to help generate leads and drive sales. As one of the most cost effective forms of marketing, e-marketing enables businesses to communicate with customers and prospects around the world instantly, putting products and services at the forefront of customers' minds ensuring that as soon as a new purchase decision arises, that your offering is the first that springs to mind.

http://www.advent.ie/pdf/Sage CRM_White Paper_emarketing.pdf

What is CRM?

2011-05-25T09:24:00.015+01:00

By Sinéad Hayes, Sales & Marketing Manager

I have to admit that the term "CRM" can be sometimes confusing and is used a lot within the IT industry. But what does it really mean?? What is Customer Relationship Management really all about? Why would your business need a CRM system?

I like to think of CRM as a useful tool that enables businesses to get things done much more efficiently. So, instead of having to call up the sales rep to find out what he has agreed with Customer XYZ, you can simply log onto the CRM software and you will see all of the recent communications, correspondence, opportunities and even customer queries. Now this all assumes that the sales team and all other teams using the software actually update what they have been doing, but with Sage CRM being web browser based and available for smart phones, updating the system should become second nature. The benefits all there for all to see.

Now I am going to ask a few simple questions which should help illustrate the real power that CRM can deliver...

What is the value of sales opportunities for this month/quarter?

What is your conversion rate of Leads to Opportunities?

Which of your Sales Rep's is most productive?

What are the top 5 sources of business opportunities and how does this compare to last year?

What marketing campaigns yielded the best results?

Can you tell which e-marketing campaigns created the highest click rates and what areas in the campaign were of particular interest?

Can you get a quick overview of what's happening with a customer all from one place? From Sales & Marketing to Communications & Customer Service & Finance?

What % of opportunities did you lose because of Price? Do you know why you are not winning business?

Without having a CRM system in place, I would suspect that some of this information could be gathered from various sources and compiled eventually. I would also suspect that some of this information is not stored anywhere and therefore it would suggest that we may not be as "on the ball" as we may need to be. We are all out there competing with one another - surely its about being smarter and sharper to gain the competitive advantage??

CRM is really about putting a better structure on how you do things. Instead of sending prospect letters out by post, create an e-marketing campaign and follow and track the results. Use the information you have gathered and put it to good use.

If you were going to host an event for example, in Kerry. Using a system like Sage CRM, you can pull up all the contacts you have in Kerry who you dealt with in the past, but who never bought from you. Without a CRM system, I would suspect that many people will take a note of the company, contact them and if it doesn't work out, then their details become lost somewhere along the way. Keeping this information for future use is exactly what we should all be doing - its a very small world and just because somebody doesn't buy now, it doesn't mean that you cannot do business again in the future.

So, I think you get the picture now. It's really not that revolutionary - it's just a simple way of getting things done more efficiently and with greater clarity & accuracy. Integration with your Accounts system really completes the circle and enables information to flow in a circle around the organisation. It goes without saying that having this information to hand means you can make those decisions that spark change where change is needed. Remember that campaign we ran in March 2010 and generated lots of interest and where we exceeded our budget for the Quarter as a result?....why don't we try to replicate this and run the same campaign in 2011??

CRM systems such as Sage CRM V7.1 also incorporate Twitter & LinkedIn components and Microsoft Exchange integration. I would see this as an important step of adapting our business tools to take on board the new ways that we communicatate with each other and with the world.

Here's a video which hopefully illustrates the value of CRM to a business. It can be used in pretty much any size business and is not necessarily just for sales organisations. Its practical uses know no bounds.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0xRlBp57Zw&feature=player_embedded

The easiest way to work out the value of CRM to a business is simply to ask any business this question.

"If we took away your CRM system tomorrow, what impact do you think this would have on your business"??

I would suspect you would get some very strange looks at the prospect of parting with CRM and the reaction might be along the same lines as asking if we could take away your mobile phone. Doing things the old way just doesn't cut it any more. It just becomes part of how you do business - in a structured and organised way.

Advent Runs-A-Muck

2011-05-19T13:49:00.015+01:00

Go Team Advent!!!

I would like to say a huge Thank You to my colleagues who took part in the recent Run-a-muck challenge which took place on 14th of May. This act of sheer madness was all for a very good cause and helped to raise much needed funds for The Niall Mellon Township Trust.

We had a great day out and it was certainly a great test of phyiscal and mental strength.

Thanks also to Frank Kelly (from Sage Ireland) and Ray McSherry for joining us on the run and thanks also to everybody who sponsored us over the past few weeks!

The Niall Mellon Township Blitz takes place in South Africa in November, where I will be working with a group of Irish volunteers to build houses for families in the Townships. This will be a different sort of physical and mental challenge and I am looking forward to making a difference.

Sinéad

Award Nominations

2010-10-26T17:22:00.008+01:00

By Sinéad Hayes, Sales & Marketing Manager

October has been a great month for Advent in terms of award nominations.....

We were delighted to have received a nomination from the D15 Chamber in the IT Innovation category. The event was held in the Castleknock Hotel & Country Club earlier this month. We are proud of the software applications that we have developed and were very pleased to receive recognition for our work.

Advent also received a Sage Business Partner of the Year award. We enjoyed a great night in Finnstown House with our colleagues from Sage and were delighted to be presented with our award.

Sage 50 Mobile - Something to Shout About!

2010-10-22T16:16:00.020+01:00

By Arshad Abdul, Sage 50 Account Manager

I have been selling Sage 50 Accounting software for the past two years
and I can honestly say that the new Sage 50 Mobile is the most fantastic
new feature that I have seen. Now you can just download the Sage 50
Mobile App onto an iPhone, iPod Touch or Blackberry device and within
seconds you will have access to your Sage 50 system.

It's very handy for users who are not office based or directors who like to keep a close eye on the business while on the go. The new version in 2011 also allows users to process transactions.

It's not surprising that Sage 50 Mobile was a Silver Medal Winner for “Best in Mobile Innovation” at the Digital Media Awards 2010.

What you can achieve with Sage 50 Mobile while Mobile?

Dashboards for company performance

Access to real-time customers and supplier data

Create Invoices, Sales Orders and Quotations from your iPhone

View Invoices, Sales Orders and Quotations from your iPhone

View transactions on customers, suppliers and bank accounts

Check customer and supplier accounts and activity on the move

Rapid access to information through 'Favourites'

Straight-forward to set up and use

Remote access to important information

Make decisions quickly based on up-to-date information

Guess what?? You can avail of the above with no extra cost - just make sure you are running Sage 50 Accounts Version 2011 on your PC/network and that you have a compatible mobile device. It really is that simple and is definitely something to shout about!

Information Everywhere

2010-09-15T14:47:00.015+01:00

by Sinéad Hayes, Sales & Marketing Manager

In today's world, we are all used to having information

readily available when we need it.

In business, information is critical, but it's not so much about the quantity of information but the quality of information. What do we need to know and how often do we need this information? How easy is it to get access to this information? How long does it take somebody to produce the required reports?

It's not just about having the best Accounting Software or the best Sales & Marketing system in place. There is little point in investing in software unless it brings new efficiencies to the business and enables the business adapt to the changing technologies.

It's about having a joined-up approach enabling information to flow from one place in the organisation to another. It's also about being able to readily access and analyse this data to enable businesses make important decisions.

Essentially, it all comes down to having the right tools. In this highly competitive world we live in, tools such as Business Intelligence, Software Integration & integrated CRM tools can make all the difference -helping to give your business the competitive edge.

It makes sense - why make life difficult when technology is there to help us be efficient and smart in our work?

For more information on how to use technology to give you better information, call us on

01-8223 200 or Email: sales@advent.ie

Being JLC Compliant is Simple

2010-08-20T16:30:00.012+01:00

By Ray Ryan, Managing Director

What is a JLC?

While there is a legal minimum wage in Ireland, there are also other pay agreements in place which cover certain types of workers. These agreements on pay and conditions are made by Joint Labour Committees (JLC's) and are known as Employment Regulation Orders (ERO's).

It is the JLC that agrees the working conditions and rates of pay for workers in the JLC sector of employment for example RGAT (Retail, Grocery and Allied Trade). An Employment Regulation Order made by the Labour Court makes such a JLC legally binding and is actively enforced by NERA (National Employment Rights Authority).

Updating to MicroPay Professional V2011

Updating to the latest version of MicroPay will bring you the following key benefits:

- Compliance with NERA

- Reduction in time spent processing JLC rates of pay

- Potential cost savings in cases where you have been paying employees over the recommended JLC pay rate.

My advice is to become compliant sooner rather than later. Avoid the headache of inspection audits and get your payroll system in order - it will save you a lot of hassle that you could probably do without.

The CSNA have been working closely with Sage Ireland to ensure that the software provides the necessary functionality for JLC's.

Speak to us if you would like to find out more or click here to download further information.

If you would like to see a demonstration of Sage Micropay, please contact us on

01-8223 200 or Email:sales@advent.ie.

Introducing Sage 200 Version 2010

2010-07-21T11:59:00.006+01:00

By Sinéad Hayes, Sales & Marketing Manager

Sage 200 2010 is the latest release of Sage’s mid-market accounts solution. Sage 200 Version 2010 includes plenty of new features. Whether you are considering upgrading from previous versions of the Sage mid-market range (e.g. Line 100, MMS or earlier versions of Sage 200), upgrading from Sage 50 or are looking at purchasing a Sage product for the first time, Sage 200 has lots to offer.

New features include:

Sage 200 Mobile (useful for viewing key information on the go)
Purchase Order Authorisation Enhancements (new levels and methods of PO authorisation)
New Sage Report Designer (making report designing easier)

For more information on these, and a range of other new features, please click here to download our Sage 200 2010 New Features Guide.

If you would like to see a demonstration of Sage 200 2010, please do not hesitate to get in touch! Call us on 01-8223 200 or Email:sales@advent.ie.

Announcing Our World Cup 2010 Sale!

2010-06-17T09:48:00.010+01:00

by Sinéad Hayes, Sales & Marketing Manager

With World Cup 2010 in full swing, we were delighted to launch our World Cup 2010 Sale.Despite the fact that Ireland are not participating (thank you Thierry!), our customers can still avail of excellent prices on a range of Sage software, extra users and upgrades as well as discounts on our expert services.

Customers can also be in with a chance to win a range of football prizes, including tickets to a Republic of Ireland match at the recently opened Aviva Stadium.

Divided into groups, we have a range of excellent cost-savings software solutions on sale with discounts of up to 10% off software and services:

Group A: ACT Sales & Contact Management Software
Group B: Sage 50 Upgrade
Group C: Sage 200 Upgrade
Group D: Spindle Document Manager Software

For more information on the discounts available for each Group, drop us a line. The Sale runs until the World Cup Final, taking place on 11th July 2010.

Call one of our Account Managers on: 01-8223 200 or Email: sales@advent.ie.

Connections Newsletter - ShopFront Issue 03

2010-05-28T14:50:00.009+01:00

by Cormac Kehoe - Marketing Executive

I am delighted to announce a new issue of ShopFront, Advent's retail newsletter published specifically for convenience stores in Ireland.

In this issue, we highlight important legislative issues concerning cash register and EPoS system compliance with Revenue guidelines.

News items featured in Issue 03 include:

A Connections Update
Is Your Retail Business Revenue Compliant?
Get Connected & Make Annual Savings in Your Store
What Connections Users Say
Can Your Business Benefit from Connections?

Click here to download a copy of ShopFront Issue 03

If you have any questions on queries on any of the items features in this Issue of ShopFront, please do not hesitate to contact me or any of the team at Tel: 01-8223 200 or sales@advent.ie.

Make Your Job Easier with Custom-developed Sage 200 Software Add-ons

2010-04-30T11:39:00.008+01:00

by Sharad Nair, Development Manager

Have you ever thought, "there must be an easier way of doing this?" Or are you sick of having to use spreadsheet to manage certain aspects of your business?

If so, then a custom-developed add-on might be a great way for you to manage a task in a more time efficient manner, making your job quicker and more productive.

As part of Advent's offering to customers, our software development team works closely with customers to develop add-ons to help streamline their business processes. This may be as simple as a special report or as complex as whole module. As part of the Advent Software Development Department, John, Giuseppe and I are always available to discuss your requirements to see if we can deliver a cost- and time-effective solution to your business.

To date, we have a range of add-ons which have been developed to meet the requirements of customers. These could be of use to other Sage customers. These add-ons include:

Head Office Invoicing Module
Calculation of WEEE Charges on Electrical Goods
Smart Invoicing - Sales Counter Invoicing
Unique Customer Order Number Checking
Stock Transfer between Warehouses
Incremental Second Reference Number on Supplier Invoices
Fourth Schedule VAT
Nominal Replication Routine
Direct Debit Generations
Sales Analysis Reporting Tool
Recurring Supplier Invoice Routine

For a more information these add-ons for Sage 200, download the brochure.

If you would like to discuss any of these add-ons or a custom-developed add-on for your Sage 200 software, we would be delighted to hear from you. You can get in touch by phone on: 01-8223 200 or email at: development@advent.ie.

ACT Now to Improve Your Sales & Customer Interaction

2010-03-26T14:39:00.021Z

by Cormac Kehoe, Marketing Executive

In an economic downturn, marketing is an essential function of a business in order to drive sales and improve customer interaction. To market your business, products and/or service effectively, you must manage your customers and prospects.

A natural reaction is to cut back all "unnecessary" expenditure and unfortunately, sometimes marketing falls into that category. For a business to survive, and in the longer-term thrive, it is imperative that some marketing function is either put in place if none existed before, or is ramped up to take advantage of any opportunities in your chosen market place.

To manage this marketing activity, we recommend using a CRM software solution. As a leading Sage Business Partner in Ireland, there are a range of CRM solutions from Sage that integrate with your Sage accounts package to help drive your marketing and then your sales function.

To help you get a grip on marketing during a downturn and why you should do it, Sage have published a very interesting white paper. To download and read the white paper, click here or on the thumbnail image to the right. It makes for some compelling reasons to get marketing!

If you would like some help in choosing a CRM solution that suits your business budget and needs, please do not hesitate to contact one of our CRM experts on Tel: 01-8223 200 or sales@advent.ie.

Announcing New Leasing Finance for I.T. Projects

2010-02-18T16:15:00.010Z

by Ray Ryan - Managing Director

We realise that in the current market place, financing for new I.T. investments is difficult to obtain. The traditional payment-on-delivery scenario is often no longer an option with tight monthly cash flows and increasing reluctance by banks to fund new investments.

This is why we have spent quite some time investigating means by which our customers can finance new cost-saving I.T. projects without hindering cash flow or needing to approach their bank.

Therefore, I am delighted to announce that we have recently come to an agreement with a locally-based finance company specialising in all I.T. Hardware and Software to provide leasing finance at competitive rates to our customers.

With financing available for I.T. projects from a minimum of €500.00 and above, our customers can now investment in that upgrade project, new module or additional hardware without negatively impacting their cash flow.

The benefits of leasing your software project from Advent include:

Monthly or quarterly payments to help manage cash flow more effectively
Competitive rates giving you the best possible value for money
A turnaround time on applications within 20 minutes to help speed payment processing
Full leasing available for software, hardware and installation services
Benefit from cost-saving I.T. projects supplied by Advent

So if you have been quoted by one of our sales team in the past or if you were considering an upgrade but cash flow was an issue, we now have a cost-effective financing solution available.

Please do not hesitate to drop us a line (E-mail: sales@advent.ie or Tel: 01-8223 200) for more information on competitive monthly or quarterly payment plans!

*All Leasing Agreements are subject to approval. Terms & Conditions Apply.

Go Mobile with Sage 50

2010-02-05T11:18:00.023Z

by Arshad Abdul - Sage 50 Account Manager

I'm delighted to announce that Sage 50 users can now access their on-premises data on the road, removing the need to constantly contact the office for customer/supplier information. Sage 50 Mobile allows owners, sales people or any staff on the road to view their Sage 50 data via a Blackberry® device.* This new and exciting feature is available as standard in Sage 50 2010. At the moment, the feature is read-only (i.e. users can only view information, not edit or add new information).

However, Sage Ireland inform me that v2 of the feature will have a read/write functionality, meaning that mobile users will be able to enter sales/purchase orders, invoices, edit customer accounts, etc. This read/write version is pencilled in for release in May 2010.

The current read-only version is perfect for Sage 50 users who have staff on the road who would like to access their Sage data remotely. The main advantages of this include:

Accessibility: Blackberry smartphones are far less obtrusive than laptops, ideally suited to you when you and your staff are on the move. Blackberry smartphones can be used anywhere, any time.
Immediacy: Real-time information can be accessed at any time, ensuring that valuable customer data and opportunities are always captured.
Discretion: When checking customer data, it is often not practical, convenient or appropriate to refer to a laptop. Blackberry devices ensure that the flow of conversation is not interrupted when being used to retrieve information.
Value: By providing Sage 50 users with the information they need, when they need it, significant value is added to a mobile workforce.
Productivity: Giving your mobile staff critical business information at their fingertips cuts down on calls back to head office requesting information.

This excellent feature is a must for any Sage 50 user with staff on the road. With Blackberry devices available at extremely competitive prices and the Sage 50 Mobile module available as standard in Sage 50 2010, it is worth investigating.

If you would like to see a demo of how it works, just drop me a line and i can arrange it for you. Email: arshadabdul@advent.ie or Phone: 01-8223 200.

-------------------

*Sage 50 Mobile is only available in Sage 50 2010 (v16) and is only compatible with the following Blackberry devices:

- 8800 Series (8800, 8820)

- 8830 Series (8310, 8320)

- Pearl 8100 Series (8100, 8110, 8120)

- Pearl 8220 (also known as Pear Flip)

- Bold 9000

New Year, New Sales Pipeline

2010-01-28T11:40:00.009Z

by Sinead Hayes - Sales & Marketing Manager

The start of a new year always brings new challenges, especially in this difficult economic climate. With it, however, also come opportunities.

In conjunction with a concise marketing plan, a sales pipeline projection for the year is always useful to map out the best, and worst, case scenarios for the year. Without knowing what potential sales are in the on the horizon, you can enter a new year in the dark.

I find a marketing plan to be absolutely critical for any salesperson, no matter how big or small their company is. Not having a marketing plan in place for the coming year is like setting out on a long journey without a map (or nowadays a SatNav!) - you will have no definite way to reach your destination of annual sales targets!

A good marketing plan should answer the following questions:

What products/services will my company sell?
What marketing activities will we need to carry out to meet the sales targets for the year?
When is the best time to carry out those activities?
To whom will we market our products/services to?

From this marketing plan should come an idea of how your sales target can be reached. Your sales pipeline can be then devised by week, by month, by quarter and/or by year to give you a clear picture of your sales prospects at any given time.

If you would like to hear more about sales pipelines and sales management, please do not hesitate to drop me a line by email or phone (01-8223 200)!

What is Business Intelligence and what can it do for your business?

2010-01-27T10:49:00.000Z

by Brian Doherty - Senior Management Consultant

The recession has seen companies, large and small, re-assess how they do business. It is now necessary to maximise resources and opportunities to ensure sales are made and costs are reduced. To this end, there has been a strong interest in Business Intelligence (BI) software and how it can help businesses analyse the data they collect for cost-cutting or sales opportunities.

I will give a quick overview here of BI as a concept.

What is Business Intelligence?

In its simplest form, Business Intelligence refers to technologies used to gather, analyse and provide access to data to help businesses make better business decisions. It helps companies make practical use of their existing data.

What can Business Intelligence do for my Business?

Identify trends and patterns in your existing data to gain a better understanding of your business
Transform your existing data into actionable information
Support future planning by identifying opportunities to increase revenue or reduce costs
Reduce data duplication and use of multiple Excel spreadsheets
Make better and faster business decisions by analysing metrics and KPIs that are not easily measured in a non-BI environment
Produce management and ad-hoc reports
Give a 360° view of your business, from sales and marketing figures, to stock and suppliers

As part of the Sage 200 platform product, Sage have recently launched a Business Intelligence (BI) module. I will be taking the technical training course next month to gain certification in Sage 200 BI and will report back with my thoughts on the product!

If you would like any more info on Business Intellience, please get in touch either by email or phone (01-8223 200). I'd be delighted to help!

New Issue of Advent News - Winter 2010

2010-01-26T15:07:00.003Z

The Winter Edition of our quarterly newsletter "Advent News" is now out.

To view your own copy, simply click here

In light of the need for companies to reduce costs and maximise operational efficiencies going into 2010, we have been working on solutions to help our customers achieve these goals.

In the Winter Edition of Advent News, you can see:

How Sage 50 2010 allows Sage 50 users to improve cash flow
Business Intelligence for Sage 200 enables users to easily analyse trends & anomalies using graphical reports, helping them to make important business decisions (BI software is now Free of Charge for Sage 200 Version 2009 users)
Our Hints & Tips section allows customers to get the most from their Sage system
We are also delighted to welcome new staff members to the Advent team
Boost your sales with CRM software!

We hope you find it's a good read!

Welcome to Our Blog!

2010-01-10T15:21:00.004Z

The Advent team would like to welcome you to our blog. In the coming weeks and months, we will be posting news items, features and opinions to this blog to keep our customers, prospective customers and partners informed on the latest I.T. and software news from both within Advent and the wider market-place.

As one of Sage Ireland's leading Business Partners and one of Ireland's leading software development houses, Advent has grown over the years a skill-set that is second to none in identifying and developing solutions to help clients work more efficiently.

We hope this blog will share our skills and knowledge and will be a point of reference for the latest I.T news.

To read any of the posts, simply choose the month & title on the left-hand pane.

Here's to a Great 2010!