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Over 740,000 IT professionals subscribe to TEC News for research and analysis. Published every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, TEC News contains analyst research, white papers and case studies, industry news, and live event listings. Articles cover a variety of topics, including enterprise trends, market news, management information, and product and vendor reviews.
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| August 27, 2008 |
Segregation of Duties and Its Role in Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance Issues
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) requires publicly traded firms to demonstrate that their accounting and reporting practices are in compliance with regulatory standards. Section 404 of SOX addresses the concept and practice of segregation of duties—a key aspect of this legislation, and the focus of this article.
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| August 27, 2008 |
Thou Shalt Comply (and More), or Else: Looking at Sarbanes-Oxley
Compliance with the US Sarbanes-Oxley Act (and a slew of other regulations) is crucial for all businesses, as failure to comply with the law’s strict standards and policies can spell disaster for executives and upper management of any enterprise.
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| August 25, 2008 |
Innovations in Business Intelligence
Business intelligence (BI) is in the midst of a new wave of innovations. Ideas in the search space, software as a service, and real-time analytics are extending the reach of BI across the complete size spectrum of organizations. This article looks at these technologies and their impact on businesses.
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| August 25, 2008 |
Five Steps to Business Intelligence Project Success
Many business intelligence (BI) projects fall short of expectations. Unless organizations implement a methodology and benchmark the success other organizations have experienced, BI implementations may fail to provide the desired results. This article identifies five steps organizations should take when implementing BI solutions.
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| August 22, 2008 |
Quote-to-order: One Big, Lean Machine Adds High Tech to Its Mix
BigMachines differentiates itself in the quote-to-order (Q2O) sphere due to its solutions’ lean end-to-end, inquiry-to-order focus. Although there are other vendors offering Q2O as a service, BigMachines product is arguably more flexible, as high tech manufacturers may be noting.
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| August 20, 2008 |
Quote-to-order: A Newcomer Causes a Stir in the Market
A crop of next-generation, Web-based, on-demand, startup quote-to-order systems providers has lately flourished, spearheaded by BigMachines, whereas some traditional vendors that once defined the product configuration space in the 1990s have since left the market.
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| August 18, 2008 |
Quote-to-order: New Ingredients in the Recipe for Success
Quote-to-order (Q2O) systems can address the increasing demand for personalized and customized products. Complex product specification, quoting, and ordering processes—as well as the software applications catering to those processes—can benefit from the use of the Web, collaboration tools, and lean thinking.
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| August 18, 2008 |
The Basics of Quote-to-order Systems
Global competition means more choice for consumers and increasing customer demands. Manufacturers and distributors must develop a better understanding of what customers want so that they can configure, produce, and deliver products and services faster and more cost-effectively.
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| August 13, 2008 |
Cash Management 101
Cash management is an essential business process all organizations must perform to survive. Though cash management uses automation for much of the “grunt” work, it is human intelligence in the financial decision making that does the rest.
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| August 13, 2008 |
Your Reference Guide to SMB Accounting Software Features
This reference guide provides insight into the accounting features and functions currently available on today’s market for small to medium businesses (SMBs). It will help you determine which features your organization needs—and doesn’t need.
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| August 11, 2008 |
Product Lifecycle Management: Expediting Product Innovation
The highly competitive product manufacturing market makes true product lifecycle management (PLM) inevitable. PLM helps companies map product requirements to features, obtain control over product data, preserve product knowledge assets, and enter into the new paradigm of modular product development.
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| August 4, 2008 |
Tightening the Chain-Supply Chain Cost-cutting Strategies
As companies struggle to control costs, the supply chain and management of supply resources have come under scrutiny. The supply chain is one area where a company can achieve quick gains and receive a fast return on investment.
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| August 4, 2008 |
Most Misunderstood Link in Supply Chain Management
Business practices have changed dramatically through the years, but credit and collections is still handled like it was back in the 1950s. Fact is, it’s way past due to re-think this vital business function given today’s business realities.
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| July 30, 2008 |
The ITIL Version 3 Prescription for Transitioning Services
IT service transition is difficult to manage. But with the updated guidance found in ITIL Version 3, IT organizations can plan for a more successful transition, with a new perspective on all transition phases, including planning, configuration, and change management.
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| July 25, 2008 |
The Business Model for the 21st Century Is Project-centric
Cost, time, resources, cash, and risk have always been the basics of project management. But as business as a whole becomes more project- rather than process-oriented, management technologies must in turn become more project-centric.
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| July 23, 2008 |
Process-based Governance, Risk Management, and Compliance
The right balance of automated processes with paper records and manual, human interaction is necessary to keep costs under control with a flexible yet controlled set of procedures. The strategic software category, governance, risk management, and compliance, is poised to help.
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| July 18, 2008 |
How Supply Chain Management Helps Today's Engineer-to-order Companies
In today's competitive engineer-to-order (ETO) manufacturing environment, procuring components on time and within budget is crucial. With rising fuel costs and increased international trade, supply chain management software can help ETO organizations get—and stay—ahead of the competition.
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| July 14, 2008 |
How the Mining Industry Benefits from ERP Systems
Integrated enterprise resource planning software normalizes the reporting requirements for a mining company’s various departments. This article loosely shows the parallels between the operations in a mining company and those of a manufacturer whose product is sold on store shelves.
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| July 11, 2008 |
Drug Pedigree Guidelines and How Software Can Help
Drug manufacturers and retailers are tightening their data collection and reporting processes to meet new US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) guidelines. But which software offerings are best placed to help drug manufacturers comply with the new guidelines?
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| July 9, 2008 |
Welcome to ERP Showdown: Infor ERP LN 6.1 vs. Epicor Vantage vs. Lawson M3 Discrete Manufacturing Solutions
I'm Larry Blitz, editor of TEC’s Vendor Showdown series. With enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems being the information backbone of the organization, we decided to take a closer look at three of the more popular discrete ERP solutions for the mid-market. Using TEC's ERP Evaluation Center, we compared Infor ERP LN 6.1, Epicor Vantage, and Lawson M3 Discrete Manufacturing Solutions head-to-head, based on the most recent data supplied to us by the three vendors.
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| July 4, 2008 |
Your Reference Guide to SMB Accounting Software Features
This reference guide provides insight into the accounting features and functions currently available on today’s market for small to medium businesses (SMBs). It will help you determine which features your organization needs—and doesn’t need.
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| June 27, 2008 |
How Project Portfolio Management Can Deal a Winning Hand to the SMB Project Manager
Project portfolio management (PPM), once a solution only larger organizations could afford, enables companies to analyze, recommend, authorize, activate, expedite, and monitor projects. In recent years, however, small to medium businesses have been able to benefit from PPM too, through software-as-a-service models of this tool.
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| June 25, 2008 |
Yet Another Branding Debacle (This Time, It's ERP for Services)
Organizations providing billable services to their clients can benefit from an enterprise resource planning solution. But what makes ERP for services different from solutions known as product portfolio management for professional services automation? And which is best for your organization?
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| June 23, 2008 |
Six Misconceptions about Data Migration
A truly successful data migration project involves not only an understanding of how to migrate the data from a technical standpoint, but an understanding of how that data will be used and its importance to the operation of the enterprise.
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| June 20, 2008 |
EAM versus CMMS: What's Right for Your Company
This article looks at where computerized maintenance management systems (CMMS) end and enterprise asset management (EAM) takes over, focusing on features and functionality of EAM software. It also compares CMMS and EAM software and explores the two key differentiators.
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| June 16, 2008 |
Warehouse Management for Manufacturers: Why Extended ERP Might Be the Right Choice
As a provider of enterprise resource planning (ERP) integrated workforce productivity solutions, we have seen many approaches to distribution automation. Adding a warehouse management system is a logical option for many manufacturers, but this article provides insight into another option: extending ERP distribution capabilities to take advantage of a single receiving, inventory, shipping database.
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| June 13, 2008 |
''Star Search''-Talent Management Made Simple
One of the biggest challenges businesses face today in the area of human resources is the recruitment and retention of skilled talent. Combining a talent management strategy with an integrated talent management system can help ensure you have the right people in place to meet your organization’s needs.
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| June 6, 2008 |
Security Risk Assessment and Management in Web Application Security
Corporations are at risk because Web applications and servers make them susceptible to hackers and cyber crooks. However, companies can perform security risk assessments that mitigate risk by applying security risk management policies designed to protect a company’s data.
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| June 2, 2008 |
A Partner-friendly Platform Provider Discusses Market Trends
A background of Progress Software notes the vendor’s product line-up, and some of the benefits companies find by using Progress platforms and infrastructure products. The vendor’s recent growth is also detailed, as well as its relationships with partners.
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| May 30, 2008 |
Transportation Management Systems: The Glue of the Supply Chain
With manufacturing now a global industry, moving product throughout complex supply chains remains a challenge for most organizations. But transportation management systems are spearheading the way to help solve the dilemmas of today’s manufacturers, offering functionality that eases the transfer of goods from place to place.
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| May 28, 2008 |
A Road Map to Electronic Medical Record System Implementation
It’s crucial to define the scope of an electronic medical system implementation, as well as to outline each stage of the project and the resources that will be needed. A failed implementation will paralyze the operational capabilities of a health care organization, but the right methodology will help ensure a successful implementation.
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| May 26, 2008 |
Four Ways to Botch Your ERP Implementation Process
Here are four worst practices that can contribute to the failure of an enterprise resource planning implementation—or the implementation of any other enterprise software, for that matter. Protect your investment and prevent disaster by steering clear of these major mistakes.
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| May 23, 2008 |
Welcome to ERP - Distribution Showdown!
Epicor Enterprise vs. JDA Supply Chain Planning & Optimization Suite vs. Pronto Xi
I'm Larry Blitz, editor of Technology Evaluation Centers’ (TEC) Vendor Showdown series. Welcome to our latest: ERP - Distribution Showdown. You’ll notice this one has a broader focus than Showdowns we’ve done in the past. Again we’ll be comparing three vendor solutions head-to-head, but not just on functionality. This time we’ll also look at the industries these solutions support, how well they cover different portions of the mid-market segment, and how their installed bases break out geographically. Of course, functionality is again a key component of this Showdown, broken down into four main distribution areas and 13 subareas. We hope you find today’s Showdown helpful and informative, and invite your comments and questions at showdown@technologyevaluation.com.
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| May 21, 2008 |
A "Gentler" Giant's Success in Reaching Out to the "Little Guys"
Until recently, the few leaders in the lower end of the technology and platform market have hardly had any viable competition. However, Oracle is determined to give these players—especially archrival Microsoft—a run for their money, starting with offerings attractive to small to medium businesses and partners alike.
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| May 9, 2008 |
Today's Discrete ERP Landscape: Trends, Challenges, and Solutions
With web-enabled technology, business intelligence, and supply chain management becoming integral parts of the manufacturing environment, discrete enterprise resource planning (ERP) applications today are not as they once were. Learn about the current trends and how to select a discrete ERP system for your needs.
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| May 7, 2008 |
Current Trends in Supply Chain Analytics Systems
Supply chain analytics is gaining popularity with organizations, as it is an effective mechanism to monitor and track supply chain performance. And with new technological innovations promising to enhance these tools, businesses can look forward to benefiting more fully from this area of supply chain management.
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| May 5, 2008 |
Pricing Management Vendor Must Show Proven Payback from Clients
Vendavo’s recent growth is due to its reseller partnership with SAP, and the segmentation and optimization functionalities of its pricing solutions. But the vendor needs to stay on its toes, at least until its role in lifting almost every client profit margins is proven.
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| April 30, 2008 |
How to Measure Customer Satisfaction
Organizations often rely on surveys and questionnaires to determine customer satisfaction ratings, but such methods merely offer a perceived customer rating. Obtaining a realistic measure of customer satisfaction involves computing a metric based on a composite customer satisfaction rating system.
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| April 28, 2008 |
Tactical Human Resources Evolves into Strategic Human Capital Management
In contrast to traditionally investing in automation technologies for better use of tangible assets, enterprises have begun to invest in optimizing human capital. Human capital management, or talent management, is a set of human resources practices focusing on the acquisition, management, and optimization of the enterprise workforce.
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| April 25, 2008 |
From Local to Hosted: The Story of One Company's Migration to On-demand ERP
Here’s the inside story on how an international manufacturer using a traditional, local enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution shifted gears to end up with an on-demand, remotely hosted ERP system. It wasn’t the change the company originally intended, but the benefits proved too overwhelming to resist.
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| April 23, 2008 |
An Analyst's View of Process Industry SMB Challenges
Process manufacturing industries have distinct needs from an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. Here’s an overview of what process manufacturing requires from an ERP solution, including business intelligence capabilities.
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| April 18, 2008 |
Acquisitive Vendor Expands Its Enterprise Asset Management Potential
IFS has much to offer customers. Its IFS Applications suite now boasts an asset lifecycle management module for quick data retrieval. IFS also has a strong commitment to international standards, and with its acquisition of iSC, expertise in naval and marine operations.
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| April 16, 2008 |
''Once Bitten" Vendor Is Not "Twice Shy" about New Acquisition
IFS Defence Ltd., a joint venture between BAE Systems and IFS, recently acquired iSC, a British custom software firm. However, some product integration issues and questions about long-term benefits for IFS customers outside the defense sector should be monitored.
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| April 11, 2008 |
Supply Chain 101: The Basics You Need to Know
Today’s manufacturers face increasing global competition and complex manufacturing networks. Supply chain management provides manufacturers with the needed visibility into their supply chain, as well as software solutions, to help give them a competitive edge.
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| April 4, 2008 |
Oracle Product Showdown!
I'm Larry Blitz, editor of Technology Evaluation Centers’ (TEC) Vendor Showdown series. Today’s Vendor Showdown is an encore presentation of a Showdown that was originally published last September. It compares two popular Oracle enterprise solutions—JD Edwards EnterpriseOne and E-Business Suite—head to head.
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| April 2, 2008 |
A Guide to Selecting Process Enterprise Resource Planning Software
Today, the issue of regulatory compliance touches every enterprise, and process manufacturers are no exception. To answer the challenge of this new reality, vendors now offer enterprise resource planning systems with far more features and functionality than ever before. But how can an organization choose the right system to meet its business needs?
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| March 26, 2008 |
The Rapid Response Solution Continues to Improve
Kinaxis’s latest response management product releases deliver even more refined software system tools to help global manufacturers with capacity planning and scheduling, including monitoring and alerting, action team selection, and inventory liability reduction capabilities.
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| March 26, 2008 |
How the Mining Industry Benefits from ERP Systems
Integrated enterprise resource planning software normalizes the reporting requirements for a mining company’s various departments. This article loosely shows the parallels between the operations in a mining company and those of a manufacturer whose product is sold on store shelves.
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| March 24, 2008 |
Thou Shalt Motivate and Reward Workforce Better
The potential of enterprise incentive management systems should not be ignored, since this software category promises a fairly rapid and tangible return on investment, outlines expensive over- and under-payment errors, and reduces administration overhead.
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| March 21, 2008 |
What Makes Process Process?
The systems dealing with manufacturing, inventory, procurement, and customer order management systems are among the systems that often prove to be the hardest to acquire due to the unique issues of the process enterprise.
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| March 19, 2008 |
A Response Management Pioneer Offers Its Solution
Kinaxis Inc. is answering the needs of global manufacturers by delivering an on-demand response management service. These services are designed to help manufacturers drive quick responses to ever-changing global supply chains and fulfillment networks.
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| March 17, 2008 |
A Possible Remedy for Non-responsive Supply Chains
Because the supply chains of most manufacturers have become complex, global networks, managing these systems requires enterprise applications that enable collaboration, visibility, demand-sensing, and quick response to unplanned and unexpected events. But from where will such solutions come?
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| March 14, 2008 |
Multi-enterprise Responsiveness-Can It Ever Be Achieved?
Most manufacturers are now operating in a multi-enterprise, multi-echelon context, and their supply chain processes and supporting IT tools need to accommodate responsive collaboration. Yet most enterprise resource planning systems currently used do not adequately serve the needs of these businesses.
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| March 12, 2008 |
Who Could Object to Faster, More Responsive Supply Chains?
Today, global manufacturers have all but abandoned traditional vertical supply chain management to adopt the more flexible horizontal and virtual supply chain concepts. But in changing their business model, they have given up a fair amount of control over their supply chain processes.
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| March 7, 2008 |
What Are Manufacturing Execution Systems?
A manufacturing execution system (MES) can be defined as a collection of business processes providing event-by-event, real-time execution of planned production requirements. However, market ambiguity and functional overlap with enterprise resource planning systems obscure what an MES can bring to an enterprise.
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| March 5, 2008 |
Three Ways ERP Can Help Manage Risk and Prevent Fraud
If enterprise resource planning (ERP) isn't properly implemented to manage risk, your organization may face loss due to fraud or other hazards. Take advantage of ERP's capacities for role-based security, on both the business and the IT sides of your processes.
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| March 3, 2008 |
Yet Another Branding Debacle (This Time, It's ERP for Services)
Organizations providing billable services to their clients can benefit from an enterprise resource planning solution. But what makes ERP for services different from solutions known as product portfolio management for professional services automation? And which is best for your organization?
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| February 29, 2008 |
How to Solve Your Warehouse Woes
Today’s manufacturers and distributors are under immense pressure to ensure their warehouse and supply chain activities are continually operating at peak performance. But before any improvements can be made, they must first develop a warehouse management improvement strategy.
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| February 27, 2008 |
The Convergence of ERP and Field Services-One Vendor's Leadership
Agresso’s experience with people-centric services organizations has led the vendor to design a solution that effectively address these businesses’ need for field services and asset maintenance management. Agresso’s melding of two solutions, and the product’s underlying architecture, support change and tightly couple solution categories.
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| February 25, 2008 |
An ERP Vendor Poised to Overtake the Services Market
Companies in the services industry need both asset and field services management, but current integrated asset and field services maintenance systems often fail to meet these organization’s needs. However, enterprise resource planning vendor Agresso appears to have just the right solution.
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| February 15, 2008 |
Retail Merchandising Showdown! Lawson Software vs. Epicor vs. Aldata Solution
Using our Merchandising Evaluation Center, we compared Lawson Retail Operations Management, Epicor CRS Merchandising, and Aldata G.O.L.D. head on. For the overall rankings portion, we looked at these vendor solutions in two basic configurations: with and without POS functionality. To eliminate any chance of bias, and to ensure a level playing field, all 3,072 criteria comprising all the modules and submodules in the merchandising request for information (RFI) were given equal weight and priority…
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| February 13, 2008 |
Four Ways to Botch Your ERP Implementation Process
Here are four worst practices that can contribute to the failure of an enterprise resource planning implementation—or the implementation of any other enterprise software, for that matter. Protect your investment and prevent disaster by steering clear of these major mistakes.
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| February 11, 2008 |
Attribute-based Demand Planning: A Powerful Tool for Process Manufacturers
As manufacturing becomes a global process, advances in demand management software have given rise to attribute-based demand management software. In the process manufacturing environment, this software can help manufacturers deal with complex manufacturing processes and increase overall customer satisfaction.
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| February 8, 2008 |
Getting It Right: ERP Solutions for Mixed-mode Manufacturers
Falling somewhere between discrete and process manufacturing, mixed-mode manufacturers haven’t always been well served by traditional discrete or process enterprise resource planning solutions. But that’s changing now, as mixed-mode manufacturers finally have access to solutions that truly address their needs.
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| February 6, 2008 |
Best Practices for Transporters and 3PL Service Providers
The business of transporting goods is risky, complex, and effort-intensive. Despite the continuing rise in fuel prices, employee salaries, and other overhead costs, transporters often face the prospect of providing their services at lower rates. How can transporters survive in such a difficult business climate?
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| February 4, 2008 |
Six Misconceptions about Data Migration
A truly successful data migration project involves not only an understanding of how to migrate the data from a technical standpoint, but an understanding of how that data will be used and its importance to the operation of the enterprise.
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| February 1, 2008 |
How to Evaluate a Sales and Operation Planning System
The features available in today’s sales and operations planning (SOP) systems make these systems indispensable assets for an organization. Reporting tools and graphical representations are just a couple of these key features. Find out what else to look for in an SOP system.
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| January 30, 2008 |
Customer Relationship Management Showdown: Microsoft Dynamics CRM vs. Oncontact CRM vs. SageCRM
For this Showdown, we looked at all three of the main CRM modules: sales force automation, marketing automation, and customer service and support. To eliminate any chance of bias and to ensure a level playing field, all the criteria that make up these three modules in our CRM Evaluation Center were given equal weight and priority. In other words, no area of functionality was treated as being more important than any other.
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| January 23, 2008 |
The Demo Crime Files!
This article is part of the continuing education all software demonstrators need to ensure their fundamental skills remain sharp. It points out three common “crimes” made in demonstrations, how to recognize them, and suggests alternative approaches.
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| January 21, 2008 |
Software Selection: A Third Alternative
Part 1: The Buyer's Perspective
There are two prevailing approaches for selecting enterprise-wide software: the functions and features approach and the business processes approach. Yet a third alternative does exist—one that takes the best aspects of these two to provide the assurances needed by the buyer and the efficiency desired by the vendor.
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| January 17, 2008 |
Human Resources for Small to Medium Businesses
When small to medium businesses shop around for a human resources (HR) solution, their main considerations are whether to go for a hosted or non-hosted solution, or to simply outsource HR functions altogether. It’s important to know the advantages and disadvantages of each before making a selection.
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| January 16, 2008 |
Your Reference Guide to SMB Accounting Software Features
This reference guide provides insight into the accounting features and functions currently available on today’s market for small to medium businesses (SMBs). It will help you determine which features your organization needs—and doesn’t need.
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| January 7, 2008 |
Squeeze Play in the Supply Chain Management Market
Changing business requirements have forced supply chain execution (SCE) vendors to expand via add-on modules. Seeing this upward push from the SCE vendors, enterprise resource planning vendors are now pushing downward and including SCE modules within their solutions.
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| January 4, 2008 |
Audit Your Message Strategy by Answering Three Questions
Most companies create a new marketing plan every 12 months. At the same time, they should audit their message strategy to stay on top of competitors’ marketing and to have confidence that they are delivering the right message to their market.
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| January 2, 2008 |
Software Selection Processes-Accelerating Vendor Identification
Software selection is complex and time-consuming. Taking shortcuts or skipping steps in the process increases the risk of making the wrong choice. But attending a virtual trade show can accelerate the selection process, increase vendor interaction, and reduce this risk.
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