Sometime in 1395 a child was born in the city of Mainz. When Johannes Gutenberg was born he probably wasn’t much to look at. Somehow an idea formed in his impressionable youth that would later revolutionize the way society looks at the world. Who would have thought that simple rattle with his initials carved on the crown would be the start a new media era?

What thoughts must have run though his young mind when the same rattle landed promptly across his father’s forehead imprinting his backward initials? Maybe “cool”, or something  equivalent to that time period. It would take years before he’d come to realize the significance to his discovery.

It seems a likely story but no one will ever know if a rattle was Gutenberg’s muse. It might have been the Chinese who influenced him to make the printing press? They had movable type since 1041 when ol’ Bi Sheng went crazy over those clay plates. Then Wang Zhen had to jump on the bandwagon and started using wood letters instead. So possibly it was Wang?  Who knows for sure? What’s for certain is Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press changed how society viewed religion, education, science, journalism, entertainment and so much more.

The invention of the printing press ushered in an area of being “in the know”. The rich were no longer the only ones privy to reading books.  No one had to be in the dark about subjects that interested them or had to rely on stained glass pictures to learn their favorite stories. In time, printing became in huge demand. Everyone wanted books regardless if they could read or not. Printing presses swept over Europe, producing mass quantities of books. But printing took a lot of time and dedication to make books look just right.

Can you imagine your accounting department having to wait around for one computer? Or having your sales team go overseas to sell your inventory, only to question if you’d ever see your  products again? Insanity, right?  Thank goodness we live in a world with technology that can make your business life easy.

The old-timer of SaaS, Netsuite is the of the best  Ecommerce, accounting and customer relationship management software solution tools on the market. SaaS software allows you to access your information on your laptop, desktop, pad or phone day or night, just as long as you’re connected to the web. This makes it easier than having to wait three years for that important shipment.

Keep up with Gutenberg’s tradition and stay up to date with your business practices. Give Netsuite a test drive today by contacting our sales representatives at 310-559-3982 or by visiting our Contact Us page to get more information and a quote for your business

May 13–17, San Francisco, CA

Last year, SuiteWorld, NetSuite’s annual convention and user conference, had over 2,000 participants, and we expect even more this year.  For many attendees, the highlights of the event include the detailed breakout sessions, giving attendees a chance to do a deeper dive into those areas of specific interest.  The sessions are divided into 8 “tracks”, and I wanted to highlight those sessions that I thought would be really special.

Track Seven – Manufacturing, Wholsaler & High Tech Solutions

Solution Overview: NetSuite for Manufacturers.  Manufacturing in the Cloud, this is definitely something I want to see.  This session is a joint presentation between the NetSuite Manufacturing team, and a select few of their manufacturing partners.  Highlight will include recent innovations in the offering.

Roadmap and Vision: Manufacturing.  After the overview it’s onto the roadmap where this session will talk about where NetSuite is going with their Manufacturing solution.  This session will include a discussion on how NetSuite clients and partners can participate in determining the direction(s) NetSuite can take the product.

Analyst Panel:  Industry and Technology Outlook for Manufacturers, Distributors and High-Tech.  Join Ray Wang, Principal Analyst and CEO of Constellation Research, as he leads a panel discussion on cloud computing, specific business and industry concerns, and overall directions for manufacturers, wholesalers and high technology companies.

Track Eight – Customer Success Insights

Sales and Marketing Executive Discussion: Strategies for Improving Sales and Marketing Success.  There is no substitute to hearing what your peers have experienced for themselves.  Current NetSuite customers present the lessons learned, efficiencies gained and success strategies on their own implementation of NetSuite.  This is a moderated session, and there will be opportunities to ask questions of the panel.

Case Studies: Moving to a Global NetSuite OneWorld Deployment.  NetSuite OneWorld provides the power to standardize your international business across a single instance, across subsidiaries and divisions. Hear first-hand by executives by executives who have rolled out NetSuite OneWorld across their global organization, learn how they managed and phased the rollout and met the needs of each individual subsidiary and business unit, and where they are going next.

Services SWAT Team:  Tips and Tricks to Get the Most Out of NetSuite Analytics and Automation.  This two-part session will offer insights and practical advice by the NetSuite professional services experts.  Focused on maximizing workflow and business analytics, you will also learn about KPI scorecards, custom reporting and much more.

Hope to see you in San Francisco for SuiteWorld 2012.

May 13–17, San Francisco, CA

Last year, SuiteWorld, NetSuite’s annual convention and user conference, had over 2,000 participants, and we expect even more this year.  For many attendees, the highlights of the event include the detailed breakout sessions, giving attendees a chance to do a deeper dive into those areas of specific interest.  The sessions are divided into 8 “tracks”, and I wanted to highlight those sessions that I thought would be really special.

Track Five – Ecommerce

What’s New:  Promotions, Browsing, Navigating and Search.  Learn what’s new in NetSuite Ecommerce including multichannel promotions, faster website performance, and an improved “search” capability.  Take home vital tips for your eCommerce system.

NetSuite Reference Store: Creating a Great Experience across Smartphones and Tablets.  Considering expanding your web store presence to smartphones and tablets?  Move beyond a traditional website approach and embrace the world of connected devices and applications.  NetSuite now provides an out-of-the-box reference store that provides an intuitive shopping experience optimized for different devices, including smartphones and tablets.

Maximizing Customer Value:  Combining CRM, Ecommerce and Social.  Put all the pieces together, and utilize multiple systems to reach and maintain contact with your customers.  Use every opportunity to learn more about your customers, regardless of how they chose to interact with you and your company.

Track Six – Professional Services Automation(PSA) & Services Resource Planning

Realizing the Full ROI of OpenAir: The OpenAir Checkup.  Do you have your OpenAir system configured in the optimal format to meet the needs of your organization?  If you have any doubts, attend this session.  Learn how to manage and operate your OpenAir account to maximize the opportunities presented by changing market conditions.

Extreme Reporting:  Unlock the potential of NetSuite OpenAir Reporting.  Your system is doing a great job of capturing data.  Lots of data.  TONS of data.  However, capturing data is only the first half of the task, and it is the easier of the two halves.  The critical half, and where NetSuite really excels, is in allowing that captured data to be turned into useful information.  The key to exposing that information is in the reporting tools and techniques that will be covered in this class.

End the Spreadsheets!  Using Financial Forecasting in NetSuite OpenAir.  NetSuite’s OpenAir provides powerful financial forecasting tools to predict future staffing requirements, staff utilization, project revenue and margin analysis.

In our next article, we will look at a few of the sessions in Track Seven (Manufacturing, Wholesaler & High Tech Solutions) and Track Eight (Customer Success Insights).

We hope to see you in San Francisco for SuiteWorld 2012

May 13–17, San Francisco, CA

Last year, SuiteWorld, NetSuite’s annual convention and user conference, had over 2,000 participants, and we expect even more this year.  For many attendees, the highlights of the event include the detailed breakout sessions, giving attendees a chance to do a deeper dive into those areas of specific interest.  The sessions are divided into 8 “tracks”, and I wanted to highlight those sessions that I thought would be really special.

Track One – Financial Management & OneWorld (ERP)

Revenue Recognition – Attend this session to get a better understanding of the automation within NetSuite for the proper handling of Revenue Recognition.  NetSuite performs this vital function in a completely automated fashion, and offer full compliance with standards such as SOP 97-2, EITF 08-01, and EITH 09-03.  Using case studies to illustrate the material, this advanced class will focus on the flexible nature of NetSuite to perform this vital function.

Managing Intercompany transactions – NetSuite can provide a solution for the proper handling of intercompany transactions, from transfers to eliminations.  Follow intercompany orders, thru intercompany sales and billings, thru to the automated month-end intercompany eliminations.

Integrating Budgeting and Planning with NetSuite – far too many companies rely on spreadsheets to handle this vital company function, and far too many spreadsheets contain critical (and often unknown) errors.  Attend this session to understand how NetSuite can bring the budgeting and planning process into NetSuite, and avoid the errors and problems of a spreadsheet-based system.

Track Two – Order Management & Supply Chain (ERP)

Understanding NetSuite’s Inventory Control and Costing Functionality – Tracking accurate inventory costs is critical for any business, and all too frequently, it is not done properly.  Inaccurate costs can lead to bad pricing decisions, costing your company too much money.  In this class, learn how NetSuite can bring your inventory costs and processes under tighter control, resulting in the margins you were expecting to earn.

Supporting Your Purchasing Operations: From Vendor Management to Approvals – Implement tight controls around purchasing and payables by enforcing approvals and minimizing errors.  The session will include a demo for creating a purchasing approval workflow.

From Order to Invoice: Supercharging your Sales Order Process – Take time to learn the best practices for establishing and maintaining an efficient order workflow in NetSuite.  This session will focus on the creation and implementation of a sales order workflow approval process.

In our next article, we will look at a few of the sessions in Track Three (CRM) and Track Four (SuiteCloud Paltform).

We hope to see you in San Francisco for SuiteWorld 2012

After staying up all night last night trying desperately to read the faded typeface of the stack of waxy receipts and do my best to determine whether a number was in fact a “3” instead of an “8”, it became more and more apparent why businesses switch to e-filing in many countries and the increased need for a clean audit trail to keep the tax IRS at bay.

Even within our strained economic times, businesses are ensuring that they keep their tax functions well resourced. Seems like the right place to allocate money, no? On the face of it, principles of value added taxation in all countries are broadly the same—charge tax on your sales, recover taxes paid on your purchases and account for the difference. We all speak the same language, we hope we don’t owe money and we’d love a return.

But the interpretation and implementation of the rules can vary considerably. Add to this the fact that companies use different administrative practices, multiple systems and even outsource tax services, all factors that can have a significant impact on the compliance cost.

A recent Thomson Reuters survey (November 2011) found a 51% increase in the resources global companies allocate to manage indirect tax compliance as compared to five years ago. As governments increasingly seek to raise revenue through indirect taxes, it’s not surprising that companies have been increasing resources in their tax management function to ensure that the calculations are correct and that they are able to successfully withstand any government tax audit.

What have financial software vendors done to ensure that updates to their systems are timely and accurate so that their customers, particularly those that operate in a global environment, remain compliant? The answer is very little. That’s where Netsuite OneWorld and the cloud make a huge difference.

The NetSuite Platform Solutions team developed a tool for tax rate changes, such that changes to our customers’ websites, unfulfilled sales orders, item prices and customer records can be automated overnight with very little manual effort involved.

Finally, taxes do not have to be taxing.

To find out more about how NetSuite’s applications can help your company streamline your taxes among many other abilities, visit our NetSuite page or email Brett Hensley at bhensley@tmc-la.com

Have you ever wondered if there were paper airplanes before the Wright brothers? Logical thinking, one would believe that paper airplanes would be discovered during or around the time of our first manned flight. Oddly though, the invention of papers airplane dates back centuries before Orville and Wilbur Wright took their legendary first flight in 1903. Although simplistic in design, Ancient China was credited with creating the first paper gliders.

Around 500 BCE, China’s paper industry was in full production. With so much paper resources, origami and paper-folding became a vastly popular pastime for the masses. Since the invention of paper, people have been determined to create the perfect paper glider.

The Wright brothers enjoyed creating paper airplanes as well. They were known to use paper  airplane models to aid in their creation of the first flying machine. Now pin-pointing exactly who created the first paper glider would be impossible nor how soon after the idea of “air mail” came into being. We do know how useful paper airplanes are when you’re dealing with a frustrating document in the office. With a few quick folds you have the perfect glider to send your troublesome document right into the trash…that is if you have good aim.

NetSuite is the next best solution offering professional services that makes managing client and employees as well as projects simple and easy. NetSuite OpenAir software is the world’s #1 cloud professional services automation (PSA) solution, providing project-based businesses with powerful project management, resource management, project accounting and timesheet & expenses management capabilities. NetSuite OpenAir gives you options that allow you to streamline your company’s operations.  No longer will it take wasted hours to get updates on project status or track expense reports. OpenAir’s cutting-edge project management software keeps you “in the know” about your projects and whether they are on time and within budget.

NetSuite OpenAir can help you determine if a project is over-budget, man hours used, work performance, how to better allocate your resources and what needs improvement. Imagine if Orville and Wilbur Wright had NetSuite while working in their machine shop. They might have had more time to invent the airplane than have to worry about their other projects and their trash can might not have been filled with so many frustrating paper airplanes. Use NetSuite OpenAir and stop being up in the air about your business.

To find out more about NetSuite’s ERP product and it’s OpenAir solution, visit http://abouttmc.com or call Brett Hensley at 310-559-3982 ext. 789 to set up a free consultation for your company.

The implementation of a new ERP system is a significant undertaking for any organization.  However, it also provides an excellent opportunity to fully document and review the existing business practices within the company.  Take full advantage of this opportunity, and carefully document and then review those current business practices, and identify any practices that are outdated, ineffective or inefficient.  Implementing a new ERP system that incorporates these old business practices will simply perpetuate the old problems in the new system.

Some potential practices to be reviewed and potentially updated would include:

• Sales orders – how are they created and the processed for fulfillment
• Purchasing – from requisition thru acquisition
• General Ledger – Account format structure
• Payables – From voucher to payment
• Inventory – How your items are numbered and categorized
• Warehouse – How is your warehouse organized to minimize friction in fulfillment
• Commissions – are your salespeople properly motivated and compensated

Successful companies are built on a significant competitive advantage.  The competitive advantage that your company enjoys is most likely the result of your unique business practices.  As a result, most companies view themselves as being “unique” and with complete justification.  It is vital, though, to distinguish between what is a true “competitive advantage and what is simply the “way we’ve always done it”.  These legacy practices are typically an ad hoc approach to conducting business within the constraints of the existing systems.  Frequently, this legacy business practice comes from the creation of a process to circumvent a limitation of the legacy system.  Going thru a structured process of reviewing and documenting these business practices will identify what is a true competitive advantage and what is merely a Band-Aid that covers the old problems.

Consider the following example: Our hypothetical company has chosen to implement a new ERP system, where the scope of the implementation included a complete top to bottom, and side to side, review of the company’s existing practices and processes.  The project was not limited simply to the implementation of a new system to replace the old system.  Working with their business management consultants, our hypothetical company invested a considerable amount of time and effort, identifying those business practices and processes that they considered to be unique, both to their company and to their industry.  In this case, the company had previously implemented a custom ERP system, one that had been designed around the existing processes from the time of the original implementation.

One specific process wasn’t adequately addressed in the old system: the selling of a flammable gas, along with a returnable container (referred to as the “core” container).  In the old system, this process was weakly defined and inadequately supported.  The consultant’s project team focused on this process, and debated the very definition of this transaction:  did this involve a single item (gas and container) or two items (the gas itself AND the container core, which included a deposit).  A case could even be made that there were actually 3 items involved:  Gas, plus container, plus the deposit.  Eventually, it was determined that the “best practice” required that there be two separate sales transactions (the sale of the gas/container and a deposit held against the container) and two separate items (the sale of gas + core and the return of the core alone).  The new process had the advantage of being more transparent to the customer, easier for the company’s employees to understand and describe to the customer, and the new process for tracking empty cores and returning them to the vendor was greatly improved.

How was the decision made?  The project team started the process by reducing this complete transaction into its various component pieces, and to then construct a simplified business practice that addressed every step in as simple and straightforward a process as possible.  Next, all of the variations to that process were considered and evaluated.  This evaluation process allowed the company to realize that the previous process was overly-complicated, and that the procedure had been based on the restrictions and limitations of the old system.  By carefully and completely reviewing the individual components of the process, and clearly stating the underlying assumptions, the company avoided replicating the old method in the new system.  Eliminating the impulse to recreate the old process, simply because “that’s the way we do it here”, the review process allowed the project team to develop a new business process that improved efficiency and accuracy, without any negative impacts to customer satisfaction.  The company gained a better process at no real cost to themselves or their customers.

When reviewing your own business practices, consider the following tips:

• Talk to everyone involved.  Ideally, try to get as many individuals and employees – including executives – from other departments in your company, active and engaged in project.  You may not know what some of their issues are and their involvement will help them feel some ownership of the process and understand the decisions that are made.
• Discuss the issues with the employees who actually run the process.  They know best what some of the problems are but they may never bring it up because they think it’s just the way it’s done.  They may have some excellent observations about the existing process, and can suggest some needed changes, but they may feel inhibited about making those suggestions, finding safety in doing what they were taught, even if they know it is wrong or inefficient.
• Thoroughly document your existing business processes.  Focus on what is being done currently, and try to identify why it is done that way.
• “Map” the new processes to the new ERP system, making sure that a new procedure has been identified to replace the old process where necessary.
• Design for the “worst case scenario”.  Simply analyzing the “best case” will not be sufficient to truly test the new system.  It is vital to push the most challenging and unusual instance thru the new system, otherwise you may not be prepared for it when it occurs, and they will occur eventually.  Once your new process can handle the worst of what you can envision, the rest will be easy by comparison.
• It is critical to enlist the full support and participation from your company’s executives and senior management.  Mid-level managers and employees will benefit knowing that the company fully supports this new initiative.  Their participation is vital for the successful implementation of the new system.

Every ERP system, like the company that is implementing it, is different.  The more you can work with your new system during the implementation project, the more efficient your processes will be and you may be able to improve other segments of your business at the same time.

Big cities hold a lot of excitement. Everywhere you turn there’s always something happening whether it’s fairs, gala openings or sensational nightlife. Big cities are never without their persistent buzz of the anticipation.

Another source of excitement in big cities is turning down a one-way street the wrong way. In big cities it’s not that hard to do. One-way streets run rampant in cities much like street performers on Friday nights. Unfortunately at times you can’t tell which way you are going until it’s too late. Then what? Do you back up and risk running over a pigeon, a shopping cart or Heaven forbid a pedestrian? Do you continue and hope that no one will drive the right direction? And if you reach the next street, will you be able to correct your error or will you reach a dead-end?

Big city excitement may not be all flash, fun, and bright lights.  Much like your computer, it might look great from afar but once you’ve experienced it first-hand it’s a different story. One-way signs are as much in abundance on your computer as they are in big cities. You might not know which way to go, or worse choose the wrong direction and end up at a dead-end. NetSuite can help serve as a GPS for you business E-commerce computing needs.

NetSuite offers an innovated way to  streamline  your accounting and office operations,  improving productivity overall. NetSuite’s leading-edge technology uses a delivery method that provides access to software and its functions remotely as a Web-based service. This web-based Software as a Service is more commonly called The Cloud.  By using SaaS Cloud technology, companies are able to use their business software and information wherever there is Internet, day or night.  SaaS hosting prices are based on a monthly fee and the cost is typically less than paying for licensed applications.

An added benefit  is that the software is remotely hosted. Businesses don’t need to invest in additional software or hardware. Software as a Service removes the headaches of dealing with installation, set-up and sometimes costly daily maintenance that can result in down-time and lack of productivity.

Avoid the hassle of one-way streets and dead-ends. Use NetSuite and make all the right turns with your business software.

We are happy to announce after careful consideration and research, Technology Management Concepts (TMC) has joined forces with NetSuite(NYSE:N), and is adding this ERP package to our current product offerings.

NetSuite founder, Evan Goldberg embraced a “cloud vision” early on, making it a critical part of his initial design for a web-based ERP system.  That decision led NetSuite to focus on three key factors in the new system:  A “Suite” of integrated tools, delivering best-in-class CRM, Financials and eCommerce; an “Integrated” system in which every component communicated with the rest of the system, eliminating manual data re-entry; and it must be “Cloud”, always available from anywhere in the world.  TMC finds that NetSuite delivers on that commitment.

NetSuite focuses on 5 key verticals:  Software Companies, Wholesale Distributors; Manufacturers, Service Companies, and Retail / eCommerce.  NetSuite is offered in over 14 different languages, and supports over 170 of the world’s currencies. TMC will be working together with Netsuite to bring the highest level of Consulting services to these industries.

Over the years, the methods to deploy ERP software has been evolving.  A customer has the option to purchase their solution “On-Premise” or “In The Cloud”. With the addition of NetSuite (In The Cloud) to TMC’s portfolio of Microsoft Dynamics products (Dynamics GP, Dynamics NAV), TMC can provide any client around the world with the power of CHOICE.

Technology Management Concepts has been working closely with Netsuite to develop a strong working relationship beginning the 4th quarter of 2011.  Having completed training in Denver, Colorado in early February, we look forward to building a strong Netsuite practice and standing out among the Netsuite’s partner channel.  Together, TMC along with the  Netsuite Professional Services team, will be providing our customers with first class software and services in the cloud.

NetSuite (NYSE: N) is the world’s #1 cloud ERP solution. NetSuite ERP provides comprehensive, proven financial/ERP capabilities that integrate with your broader back-office, sales and service processes. Since 1998, NetSuite has been enabling businesses to transform their financial performance and processes. Now with over 10,000 organizations of every size across a broad range of industries, NetSuite has proven that it is the best “Cloud” ERP solution available

Technology Management Concepts (TMC) has been a leading VAR in the ERP space since 1987.  They currently specialize in providing worldclass software in services.  They are located in Marina Del Rey, CA.