February 5, 2010

The Aries e-Newsletter: Ramifications

Posted by John Shaver under Business Strategy, Technology, What's ahead for Sage and Sage Products?, Why Hire Aries? | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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In 2 weeks we will be launching the Aries e-newsletter for all of our current and future customers.  The newsletter will be e-mailed on a monthly basis and will initially contain 3 sections.  Those sections are:

  • Tech Talk.  Amy will keep you up to date on all of the Sage, MAS 90, MAS 200, MAS 500, CRM, FAS and Abra news.  You will learn about new features, upcoming new versions, tax table updates and more.  Her section will also include how-to videos on a variety of subjects such as:
    • How to reverse a payroll check in MAS 90
    • How to create a MAS 90 Visual Integrator job
    • How to create an FRx report for MAS 90/200 or MAS 500
    • Using the MAS 90/200 ODBC data source to export data
    • How to import a journal entry into MAS 500
    • How to setup the Abra Link for MAS 90/200
  • Ramblings.  John’s thoughts and observations about general business topics for small and medium-sized businesses.  Have you been thinking about social media for your business?  How do you choose a website designer?  How do you effectively manage projects for your business?  Would you like to know why work sucks and how to fix it?  Or maybe you would like to know where to get great barbecue (the noun variety, not the verb).  Or even where to eat on your vacation in Myrtle Beach.
  • Webinars.  Adrian will be posting event details for our upcoming monthly webinar series.  A list of webinar subjects can be found here.

We will be adding a fourth section titled Customer Spotlight where we will feature one of our customers every month.  The section will contain an overview of our customer’s business and how Aries has helped them achieve their goals.

You may be wondering why would name our newsletter Ramifications.  Well, the first reason is that it is play on words based on our company name.  In Greek mythology, the constellation Aries represents the ram.  Secondly, the ramifications of a decision regarding a technology project can have dire consequences for your business if you do not have a thorough understand of the issues.  To use a medical analogy, would you want to have triple bypass heart surgery without a doctor giving you an extensive check up?  The same is true of technology projects.  Undertaking one without the proper diagnosis can result in the death of the patient:  your business.

The newsletter is being designed by Chad Barr and his awesome team at CB Software.  Chad’s company is an integral part of our internet marketing strategy including the design of our website.  Keep an eye out for my upcoming blog article about how to choose a great website designer.

Below is a mock up of what the newsletter will look like:

 

November 22, 2009

Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200 Extended Solutions – Dead or Alive?

Posted by Amy Shaver under What's ahead for Sage and Sage Products? | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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I received communication from Sage recently regarding the library of Extended Solutions for MAS 90/200, and wanted to share it with you.

Sage is continuing to take steps to simplify our product portfolio. We’ll now begin to phase out Sage MAS 90 and 200 Extended Solutions, which were created to address specialized needs of unique businesses. This phase-out process includes incorporating the main features and functionality of many of the top Extended Solution titles into the core product. That additional functionality will be delivered over the next several releases and product updates. This benefits our customers in many ways:

  • Adds more value for Sage MAS 90 and 200 customers — most popular features and functionality will continue to be incorporated into core products over the next few releases and product updates
  • Reduces “nickel and diming” — customers will see reduced maintenance charges on their annual renewal date when their Extended Solutions titles are no longer added in, resulting in a lower cost of ownership

Customers who own titles that will be retired, and not incorporated into the core product, will begin to see those Extended Solution title(s) drop off their renewal notices. As of November 1, 2010, we will no longer support any retired Extended Solutions titles. Please make note that the 2009 year-end updates will be the last year-end updates for those titles.

Customers who own the select group of titles that contain features and functionality that will be phased into Sage MAS 90 and 200 ERP over the next few releases will continue to see their title(s) on their renewal notices. Also, they’ll continue to receive support until such time as the features and functionality are incorporated into the core product. Once their title has been incorporated into the core product, they will see that title drop off their renewals.

To Summarize:

  • Sage will continue to sell a select group of Extended Solutions titles that are compatible with Sage MAS 90 and 200 version 4.3 (contact Amy Shaver for a list of these titles).
  • When the main features and functionality of those titles are incorporated into the product, the customers will no longer be charged M&S.
  • Customer’s who own the retired Extended Solutions titles will see them removed from renewals.
  • For new sales of the retired Extended Solutions titles, customers will purchase them directly from their reseller, working with a Source Code development partner, and not from Sage.

Feel free to contact Amy Shaver with any questions regarding your Sage MAS 90/200 Extended Solutions.  We will continue to keep customers updated as we receive information.

 

November 1, 2009

Sage’s New Support Policy for MAS 90, MAS 200, MAS 500 and FRx

Posted by Amy Shaver under Technology, What's ahead for Sage and Sage Products? | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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The following information was communicated to us by Sage Software recently, and I want to pass it along to everyone.

Historically, Sage has supported the current version of MAS software, plus five versions back.  Now, they have indicated they will change their policy over the next several years, and will scale back the number of supported Sage MAS versions.  By the end of 2011, Sage will move to a new ‘N-3′ policy for Sage MAS 90 and 200, and support only the current version and 3 versions back.  Support for Version 3.71 will end on September 30, 2010. The policy for Sage MAS 500 will be ‘N-2,’ with versions 6.3 and 7.0 support ending on September 30, 2010.

Sage believes the key benefit to this approach will allow them to focus on upgrading customers to the most current releases while allocating major development and support resources to ‘solving pain points for the majority.’  At the point of product retirement, tax updates, product fixes and telephone support will end.

Another news item of interest is that Sage has announced their move to ‘product updates’ instead of service updates for Sage MAS 90 and 200, or monthly updates for Sage MAS 500.  Products updates will be scheduled every four to six months and are primarily intended to provide ongoing value to customers on maintenance between major releases.  In addition to bug fixes, product updates will also include enhancements such as new features and usability improvements.  One note from Sage:  the move to product updates as opposed to service releases does not mean they will stop fixing defects for customers as they occur.  Their answer to this is to strictly adhere to the escalation policies, thereby taking care of customers’ critical issues as they arise.

One additional item involves the FRx Report Writer.  Although Sage is committed to ensuring compatibility with FRx Desktop, Microsoft has announced an end of support date for FRx of December 31, 2012.  As a result, Sage will provide an alternative solution for Financial Reporting within the Sage MAS products.  They’ve announced a two-pronged approach for financial reporting for Sage MAS customers in the future:

  1. Sage is building an Excel-based financial reporting tool based on the existing Sage Financial Reporter module with Sage Accpac.  Sage Financial Reporter will be made compatible with Sage MAS and will provide basic financial reporting capabilities free of charge to all Sage MAS customers.
  2. Sage is also establishing an OEM relationship with a business intelligence vendor that offers advanced financial reporting, operational reporting and advanced OLAP analysis capabilities.  Sage MAS customers will be provided with one free user license for this product with the option of purchasing additional licenses.

The release timing of these two financial reporting solutions will be aligned to a future release of Sage MAS; the exact date has not yet been determined by Sage.

Please contact Amy Shaver at Aries Technology Group, (800) 990-6646 ext. 21 or ashaver@ariestech.com if you have any questions about these issues.

 

August 17, 2009

Honor System for Time Sheets? Only At Church!

Posted by John Shaver under Business Strategy, Travels and Adventures, Why Hire Aries? | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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 While visiting Charleston, SC this past weekend, my family and I stopped by the Cathedral of St John the Baptist.  It’s a beautiful Gothic cathedral which began construction in 1890 and is still a work in process.  Currently, its Connecticut brownstone exterior is being renovated and a spire is being added.

What also caught my attention are the markings on each and every one of the brownstone bricks.  Since there obviously were no electronic time keeping systems in the 19th century, the stone masons kept track of their time on an honor system.  For each day of work they completed, they would imprint one star into a brick.  The church elders were confident that none of the workers would cheat on their time because they were working on a church.  Who would dare to pull a scam on God, right?

Unfortuntely technology projects are not churches.  Time sheets and billing by the hour are fertile territory for cheating.  Rarely are time sheets accurate which means that you rarely receive an accurate bill from a consultant who bills by the hour.  In almost every situation, a consultant is compensated based on the number of billable hours she or he generates.  Where does that put you if you are their customer?  In a very unholy position!

How do you avoid being in this predicament?  Insist on an up-front, fixed price for every project before you move forward.  The consultant should be focused on your desired results and should not care how long it takes to accomplish those goals.

 

August 12, 2009

Reach The Beach

Posted by John Shaver under Travels and Adventures | Tags: , , , , , |
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We drove down to Georgetown, SC this past Saturday from our condo in Myrtle Beach.  We would spend most of the afternoon on a lighthouse and shelling tour on Winyah Bay.  What a perfect day for the trip.  Calm winds (since with even a moderate breeze Winyah Bay gets very choppy), sunny and temperatures in the high 80′s.

Winyah Bay is formed by the confluence of the Waccamaw, Black, Great Pee Dee and Sampit rivers.  It provides access to the Atlantic Ocean and was a favorite hiding spot for Blackbeard.  It’s also part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway which runs from Norfolk, VA to Key West, FL.

As we headed out of Georgetown Harbor aboard the Carolina Rover, we were introduced to Captain John and First Mate Ed.  Ed also served as our tour guide and local historian.  The history lessons were especially important since the Georgetown area has a long and interesting past.  Many historians believe that the first settlement in North America by Europeans was in Winyah Bay in 1526.  When the Marquis de Lafayette landed in Georgetown in 1776, he described it as DeBordieu which loosely translates to a place so beautiful that it must be the border of God’s country.  During the Civil War it hosted a Confederate fort and was the scene of the Confederate sinking of the USS Harvest Moon.  The Union ship’s smoke stack is still visible.

We found several perfect whelk shells and a horseshoe crab tail on the North Island.  The North Island is a totally undeveloped island which still supports wild pigs, bears and Carolina panthers.  It is part of the Tom Yawkey (former owner of the Boston Red Sox) Wildlife Center.  My daughter and I had a blast looking for and finding some incredible shells along the jetty.

On our return trip we passed the Georgetown Lighthouse.  It’s been operational since 1801 although it is no longer manned and has been completely automated.  It continues to serve marine traffic in the bay.  We were not allowed to go inside of it due to security concerns resulting from 9/11.  It has also survived many hurricanes over the years including Hugo in 1989.  The water was as high as the lowest window on the lighthouse after the storm.

I hung out at the stern and had a great conversation with Captain John.  It turns out that we are both from Charlotte, NC and that he now lives in the town where I grew up.  He had his captain’s license for many years but never really put it to use.  Having become a little bored with retirement, he decided to captain the Rover tours.  Other than the excitement of dealing with the occasional thunder storm, captaining the Carolina Rover is relaxing and fulfilling for him.  He also knows exactly where to find dolphins in the bay.  That really made my daughter’s day!

 

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