Customer Software

October 28 2003–The more than 300 large and small new features will affect all functional areas. As an abas user, with Version 2003 you will receive more functionality in the areas financial and fixed asset accounting, cost accounting, materials status evaluation, EDI, eBusiness as well as upgrades in the sectors of infosystems, interfaces, basic technologies, administration and graphical user interface.

CRM in abas ERP

Infosystems represent a tailor-made navigation platform for the efficient handling of business processes including their respective analyses. Multiple options for linking of dialog screens and analyses facilitate expeditious and process based working. With the customer infosystem abas ERP is enhanced by CRM functionalities which simplifies customer support. For this, sales processes, as well as projects and activities, will be managed oriented towards employees and customers. To the new CRM functions belong, for example, the sending of emails and the call up of websites in abas ERP, access to sales related infosystems and the respective analysis options. All sales relevant information like outstanding quotations, outline commitments or the list of outgoing invoices is entered in the customer infosystem.

News about Linux

The abas Linux Client, which was introduced at the beginning of the year, has been further improved. From Version 2003r2n04 the Linux GUI (Graphical User Interface) will start faster. The opening of screens and the loading of tables was speeded up by the factor of 2. Now, considerably more screens can be opened simultaneously – around 3 times as many as under MS Windows.

New in Version 2003 is also the connection of the abas Business Software to Open Office.org. Data in the abas ERP infosystems can be output in Open Office.org calc. The output is as simple and fast as an output to MS Excel.

ERP – Webinterface further extented

Customers, suppliers and employees have controlled access to ERP data via a browser interface. ERP Web Interface offers companies new options in different application areas. For example a low maintenance webshop which is fed from ERP data. Orders will be instantly transferred into the system. Further application options in the SCM sector are, for example, order tracking, monitoring of stock levels by suppliers, dealer infosystem, external sales order entries by sales partners.

abas ERP for Intel Itaniumยฎ 2

Starting with the new version, abas ERP is also available for Intel Itaniumยฎ 2 Processor โ€” abas users can therefore rely on a highly scaleable and cost efficient platform with a maximum performance for business critical applications. The porting of the abas Business Software took place under Linux, the software can run under all Linux 64 bit distributions.

New function range: Group accounting

Using the group accounting in the abas Business Software, intra group and group external transactions can be delineated via accounts. On this basis the preparation of group reporting can be undertaken.

abas Corridor Controlling expanded

This controlling tool offers a quick overview of crucial leading business indicators. It supports a consequent, result oriented company control. The Corridor Controlling offers an easy entry into controlling in medium sized companies: with the new release, the controlling function can be set up quickly and is extremely convenient to use. So, many forms can be generated from templates and when drawing up new plans it is possible to access already existing data.

ABAS Software AG โ€” Company Profile

More than 1,400 customers have opted for ABAS as their IT specialist and for the integrated abas Business Software which has become one of the most successful ERP programs on the international market during the past years. ABAS’ customer list includes leading small to mid-sized companies from various industries. The list includes such well-known enterprises as Wรผrth Elektronik, Dortmunder Westfalenhallen, Mafell, Robbe, Lufthansa LEOS and HOMA Pumpenfabrik.

Customer service is very important at ABAS Software AG. A professional network of over 400 organizational and application consultants in the IT industry provides the backbone of ABAS Software AG’s customer service. abas Software Partners deliver on-site customer care and provide a full range of services โ€” from implementation to hardware and network support to customization and a help desk. Approximately 40 partners ensure fast reaction times and high service quality. International partners in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Spain, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia, Tzchech Republic, Hong Kong, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Australia, Canada and the USA represent ABAS Software AG throughout the world. Our partner network is continuously expanding.

abas Business Software โ€” Product Portrait

abas Business Software is a flexible, adaptable and future-proof complete business solution (ERP, PPC, MRP, eBusiness) for medium sized businesses. abas Business Software consists of two components: abas ERP, a flexible ERP standard software, which optimizes business processes within a company, and abas eB, an integrated eBusiness module, which is compatible with a variety of Internet applications.

abas Business Software’s intelligent construction, and well-thought out strategies enable short implementation times, as well as trouble-free integration into the company structure. Company specific requirements can be seamlessly and easily integrated into abas ERP. New functions and technologies are constantly added to the standard software. As a result, abas users are always using the most up-to-date product. abas Business Software can be used with Linux, Unix and Windows. ABAS has supported the open source operating system Linux since 1995. Approximately 50% of over 1, 400 abas installations are based on Linux. abas Business Software will also be available in the front end range of Linux from 2003. Linux has proven to be a cost effective, stable and high performance system for both servers and clients.

abas ERP can be employed for: Sales/Sales Order Processing/Shipping, Purchasing/Purchase Orders, Warehouse Management, Scheduling, Logistics, Materials Management/MRP, Production/PPC, Accounting, Fixed Asset Accounting, Cost Accounting, Controlling, eBusiness, and more .

Author: Anonymous
Source: free-articles

If you have your own hotspot network then get ready to have full control of it because with the help of Hotspot Software, you can make every impossible thing possible. This software has capability to provide bigger hotspot WiFi area to your customers. With one central location, you can set up and develop strong WiFi area which can be larger than before, totally beyond your need and expectation. You can now control your hotspot network in a better way without having any hurdles. This Hotspot software allows you to manage your billing system properly and permits you to control each and every service you are providing to your customers without installing additional software. Hotspot Software is totally windows based software which easily controls the time you have given to your customers and bandwidth which is the most important thing while running on your own WiFi network. No matters you are dealing wired users or wireless users, you can control both these clients efficiently and also you will obtain the good response out of them quickly. You will never find difficulty while using this software because there is no hardware limitation during installation. You just need to create your own network and you can use this hotspot software with any hardware no matters you are using it with routers, switches or with your accessed points. All these hardware resources are very helpful and are very supportive with this Hotspot Software.This software is not only suitable for hotspots but also you can use it in hotels where it can easily manage the billing system. You can also use it in airports where lots of data can only be controlled by captive portal technology which is provided by this software. You can also use it in internet cafe as well where this software will help the customers to access their login or inbox faster. Once customer has got the WiFi hotspot assistance, he/she can easily use the internet but before this, they will get the webpage where they have to put login and password. It’s very important to put login and password in order to keep away from any unauthorized source. If you need any type of service, you can take this by paying the money which can only be done with the help of credit cards. This software has advanced system which accepts the credit cards automatically and you can be able to pay your bills in time. This hotspot billing software has fast moving system through which you can manage access accounts in very simple and easy manner. In every account, there is information about time, bandwidth, usage and configuration. All these things can be controlled professionally only with the help of this software which is designed only for helping you out. If you really want to improve your business operations and if you want to increase the revenues then you should immediately purchase this software which will always work for you in wonderful way by providing its useful features.

Author: Muhammad Azeem Ashraf
Source: articlesbase.com

CRM, i.e., Customer Relationship Management, is very critical in order to keep your business running efficiently and the best part is, in a cost-efficient manner. As the name suggests, CRM mainly deals with the customer interactions in order to collect more information about them with the view to enhancing your business activities. An effective CRM helps you to consolidate the customer related activities in such a way that you are able to provide better services and ensure the aspect of contentment of the customers. This makes it easy to explain what the CRM software actually does. The CRM software simply helps the business to cater to the customers with the objective of improving its relationship with the customers.

The information that is collected with the help of the software is collected in the form of names of the customers, their addresses, phone numbers, e-mails, gender, age, etc. Although this information may look pretty simple in the beginning, it helps the company to determine which are the customers that may prove to be more beneficial to the company so that your business can generate more income. The main objective of a CRM software would be to categorize the customers and enhance the business’ online capabilities in order to manage customer relationships effectively.

A CRM software helps the business in the following way and it doesn’t matter whether the business operates on a larger scale or a small scale basis.
- understanding the psyche of the customers,
- catering to customer’s needs,
- advocate the CRM software in such a way that your business is able to serve your clients in a quick and efficient manner.
By helping the business to achieve its goals, whether long term or short term, the CRM software also helps in bringing better productivity from the employees and at the same time saving their time as well as your money. Once the information is collected from the customers, the rest of the process becomes pretty simple. That’s because, once the company gets to know the type of customers that they have, the organization uses the best strategy to market to these clients using a personal approach, thanks to the information provided to them. This is nothing but classifying the customers and capitalizing based on their habits and needs.
This is facilitated by the customer information that is stored in the CRM software.

The CRM software is like a box of many opportunities. That’s because this software also helps in making new clients. With the help of this software, you can easily draft letters, bring up reports relating to the latest transaction, etc. The software is also known to help the company employees deliver personalized service to its customers at faster speeds. This makes the CRM software all the more efficient for any business by increasing the sales value and generating more profits.

Author: Paul Jenkins
Source: articledashboard.com

The cost of using professional financial management providers who can set up your ecommerce shopping cart software pay you back 10 times over by eliminating the worry if your cash flow is being managed correctly, if your software is working properly and if your ecommerce income is secure and under responsible management.
By utilizing ecommerce shopping cart software solution, the quality of service is significantly higher than a conventional solution such as PayPal and the worry of having your account frozen or service in some other way disrupted is completely eliminated.
Creating a profitable web site is the dream of many of us. As you begin to explore the technicalities of getting your web site up and running, there are a lot of decisions to be made. Perhaps one of the most daunting areas of research is how to handle payments online. But getting paid is the bottom line of any business. You need a reliable and trustworthy tool for collecting payments for your goods or services and one that will grow and change with your business and as your web site grows. In the beginning, the questions outnumber the answers.
Of these many questions and the many more you may have, none are more perplexing than how to set up that “ecommerce shopping cart software” on your web site so you can accept credit cards.
Do I have to Apply to the Credit Card Companies to Accept Credit or to set up my Ecommerce Shopping Cart Software?
The good news is that there are services that are already in business on the web that can provide you with ecommerce shopping cart software services and handle all of that overhead for a small fee. These services have gone through meticulous scrutiny and have been validated as trustworthy to handle your accounts. As you start to research these accounts, you will learn how to look for the proper authentication so you know you are working with a reputable service.
But here is where a bit of caution is in order. Do your homework and be a savvy web shopper. Merchant account handlers can be very costly. Shop around for the right deal. You want an ecommerce shopping cart software partner who has set up your business relationship so your level of cost is directly related to how profitable you are.
Another internet concept that is good to know well is the idea of having your ecommerce shopping cart software “hosted”. “Hosted” means that a third party is handling the transactions, the credit card management (and fees) and the payment authorization as we described earlier.
One alternative to having your ecommerce shopping cart software transactions hosted of course is to set it all up yourself which itself is a daunting challenge. A second alternative is to download a free ecommerce shopping cart software module that can handle that part of our business for us at no cost. Therefore, before you go into partnership with a third party hosting vendor, you need to have peace of mind that it is the right decision for you.
Are There Some Tangible Reasons to Have My Ecommerce Shopping Cart Software Hosted Rather Than Use Free Software or Do It Myself?
What are the reasons for using a hosting solution for our ecommerce shopping cart software that will be reflected in our bottom line?

Your focus is on what you do best. Your internet business, the services and products you offer there represent what you are really good at supporting. Let’s face it, that is your real passion, not the nuts and bolts of the infrastructure, the bookkeeping and the financial details.
Compare the cost to the investment of your time. In general, the cost of a hosted ecommerce shopping cart software is under $100 a month. Compare that to the effort and risk, you will take by using unreliable software or doing it yourself and it becomes painfully clear that this is the kind of service you need to outsource.
What do you do if something goes wrong? By subscribing to a reputable business that does this kind of thing for a living, you have that assurance that they will be there when you need them.
You need this job done right the first time! By using a hosted ecommerce shopping cart software service, the installation and maintenance of your shopping cart is handled by skilled experts who are installing well tested systems on your web site. That alone is worth the monthly cost of the service.
One word – Security. Financial transactions must be guarded at the highest level of security, particularly in the online world. A reputable hosting service not only has put in place rock solid security measures, they are bonded and responsible to see to it your accounts are managed in a secure fashion.

Should I Rely on PayPal for My Ecommerce Shopping Cart Software Solutions?
PayPal is probably the most well known service for handling online transactions. However, there may be good reasons to think again about using PayPal as your primary ecommerce shopping cart software service and to do some comparison shopping when that time comes.
At the very least, consider keeping more than one ecommerce shopping cart software option at your disposal. If for any reason your account becomes unavailable, “frozen” or locked out because the service has problems, that can have a dynamic impact on your business and on your customer retention as we will discuss I a moment.
What Are the Best Ways to Enhance My Ecommerce Shopping Cart Software Presence to Improve My Web Visitors Experience and Encourage More Business?
In addition to choosing the right ecommerce shopping cart software vendor and keeping backup alternatives as we have discussed, putting some thought into how your site will manage the purchase processing will pay off in completed sales and repeat sales.

Use a secure sign authority (SSL certificate) such as Verisign or Scanalert. Once you have set your site up with these services, you can prominently display your authorization which will give your business credibility as a legitimate member of the internet business community.
Put into place a site search function early in your web visitors experience. Web shoppers love to use search engines and it also gives you a point of contact to collect interest information from them which can be used later for marketing purposes.
Be subtle in guiding your customers to the point of purchase. So many sites put a “buy now” button on every page which is pushy and tends to drive customers away. Instead, draw your customer in and then when you know they are looking at what they want, then guide them to the purchase process where your ecommerce shopping cart software is located.
Review your purchase process to assure that it is easy, enjoyable and fast so the customer frustration is kept very low or eliminated. Have your site reviewed by friends and associates so they can give you an impartial review of how your purchase flow works for the average web customer.
Retain input. If you harvest their information early in their visit, use that again later when they are signing up for a purchase. Display on the screen the information you have gathered.
Give your customers a point of review before they confirm the final purchase. Once they have made their product, shipping and other related choices, display a summary page of their purchase which represents their invoice.
Make sure the customer is sure where they are in the purchase process and how much is left. If there is a five step process to the purchase, tell your customer what that is as they begin and let them know where they are as they go so they know they are on the right track and will be done soon.
Communicate often with your customers about the purchase as it is processed. Send a confirmation email with the invoice to supplement the place online where they can purchase. As the purchase is processed, send frequent emails letting them know what is happening.
There are many ways you can customize the purchase experience for your customers so their interaction with your ecommerce shopping cart software is enjoyable and rewarding to them. They will never know they are working with a third party service but by combining the professionalism of your ecommerce shopping cart software provider with your own high priority on customer service, you are building a web site sure to be a on the book mark list for your valuable customers.
Since 1998 Sandro has been helping ordinary people achieve “extra-ordinary” results in business and in life. He lives in Vancouver, BC – Canada and he’s one of the late Corey Rudl’s prot้g้s teaching internet marketing at the IMC. Learn to supplement your income, get free weekly tips and how-to advice by visiting the following link: Ecommerce Shopping Cart Software

Author: Sandro Salsi
Source: articleage.com

Carlisle, MA โ€” Ballantine & Company, Inc., recognized specialists in project management desktop software, today released QuickGanttยฎ 4.0, the much anticipated upgrade of its popular project management software that is considered the best alternative to complex and expensive project software.

QuickGanttยฎ is designed for architects, engineers, contractors, consultants, managers and other professionals who need to easily and quickly plan and budget projects or estimate and schedule client work and proposals. QuickGanttยฎ uses a familiar worksheet where all project information, dates and costs are entered. A presentation-quality Gantt chart schedule is automatically plotted from this data with the click of a button, and users can easily customize their Gantt chart or time and cost project reports.

โ€œWhen developing QuickGanttยฎ 4.0, we balanced the need for our customers to have greater flexibility to customize their project management worksheets, reports and Gantt charts with our desire to keep the software familiar and very easy to use,โ€ said Ann Ballantine, President and CEO of Ballantine & Company. โ€œThe features we have added to QuickGanttยฎ 4.0 are based on customer requests. We believe, QuickGanttยฎ 4.0 continues to be the best choice for busy professionals looking for a simple, economical and feature-rich project management software backed by personalized customer service.โ€

Highlights of QuickGanttยฎ 4.0

More Worksheet Flexibility

QuickGanttยฎ 4.0 offers project managers even more flexibility to customize the project worksheet that is used to plan and manage projects.

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Users can add up to four user-defined text, date, currency or number columns.

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The worksheet columns can be rearranged to reflect the user’s project logic.

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A freeze frame feature splits a large worksheet into two sections that scroll independently.

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A new โ€œmarkupโ€ column makes it easier to create more accurate estimates, and a โ€œpercent completeโ€ has been added to track project progress.

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Commonly used activities or cost items and pricing can be added to a drop down selection list that is available to any project. This saves users time and improves the accuracy of the worksheet by eliminating the need to manually re-enter frequently used activities or items and pricing.

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QuickGantt 4.0 data can be imported from and exported to spreadsheets, Microsoft Access databases, or text files. Microsoft Project 2000 databases can be opened in QuickGantt 4.0 and QuckGantt4.0 projects can be saved as Microsoft Project 2000 databases.

A New Full Featured Report Writer

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An integrated full-featured word processor offers project managers extensive formatting capabilities to quickly and easily enhance their project reports.

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Any worksheet column can be selected in any order for custom reports.

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The improved master schedule, lets the user select projects to include and creates an updated master schedule with a single button click.

Gantt Chart Enhancements

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Users can now plot their projects in hours as well as days, weeks, quarters.

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Percent complete can be plotted.

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Up to four columns of data, including custom columns can be selected to display on the Gantt chart.

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Click on the edit button and the Gantt chart opens the users default graphics program ready to edit. Users can save their Gantt Charts in the various formats supported by their default graphics program such as gif and jpeg.

Workgroup Multi-user Option

A multi-user version of QuickGanttยฎ 4.0 is available, which allows workgroups to more easily share project files. This makes accurate project information such as worksheets, time, cost and plan comparison reports, as well as Gantt charts available to everyone in a workgroup, and eliminates the problem of duplicate files and version control.

QuickGanttยฎ 4.0 Pricing and Support

The intuitive notebook format, context-sensitive help and customer support provided for QuickGanttยฎ 4.0 get most users up and running in less than 30 minutes. QuickGanttยฎ 4.0 comes with a library of project worksheet templates that illustrate the many ways the software can be used. Unlimited, toll-free technical support is available online or by phone. QuickGanttยฎ 4.0 also comes with a 30-day money back satisfaction guarantee. A free trial is available for download from the company’s web site www.tools-for-business.com. QuickGantt is comes in three different versions to suit to range of project software needs from the most basic to the more advanced.

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Single user BASIC- $99.95

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Single user STANDARD-$199.00

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Single user PLUS- $249.00

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Multi-user SERVER $100.00

QuickGantt customers save 40% when they upgrade. Volume and educational discounts are available.

About Ballantine

Ballantine and Company, Inc. develops project-oriented desktop software. The company also develops and markets the QuickAssistรข, the only contact management and communications designed for project managers.

Ballantine’s Tools-for-Business.comรข web site offers visitors professional products and business information designed to help project-oriented professionals work faster and better.

To order QuickAssist or QuickGantt, call 800-536-6677 or visit www.Tools-for-Business.com.

QuickAssist, QuickGantt and Tools-for-Business.com are registered trademarks and/or trademarks of Ballantine and Company, Inc. Other marks are the property of their respective owners.

Author: Anonymous
Source: free-articles

A software escrow service is a source code software deposit which includes a third party escrow agent.

Basically escrow is requested by the licensee who in this case will be the licensing software who will be in charge of the maintenance of the software.

In case of bankruptcy or any other reason that the licensor will fail to maintain or updating the software as agreed upon in the agreement, the source code of the software will be released to the licensee.

The parties who are licensed to have this kind of a license should understand that escrow also have necessities that are needed to be met. Software escrow service offer custom software to different companies which are very critical and also maybe very vital to the company itself.

Operations shall continue and the maintenance of the company software regardless of the licensor is not in a position to do so may be because of being Bankrupt.

The easiest way to achieve this is by getting the up to date copy of the source code. However, the licensor are often very reluctant to agree to this mainly because the source code represents a trade secret and generally as you may expect they are very closely guarded.

Software escrow services came up with a solution which will do away with the just stated conflict of interest, where by the source code escrow will ascertain that the person who is being licensed will only get his access to the source code when it has been established that the maintenance of the software can not be assured as it was stated in the contract agreement which had been agreed upon with the two parties.

Some of the crucial benefit that comes along with the software escrow services is free software.

To get to understand this point right, before the signing of the contract, first and fore most you have to read it for you to understand the terms and conditions which will be tabled to you in black and white.

You will find that it is well described on the Escrow agreement which is applicable to the clients who were developed for custom software which generally will not be made available to the general public.

The reason being is that the software was specifically designed for you to fit to your liking and your office operations. Free software’s are also referred to as open source or ransom ware.

Author: Ricky Lim
Source: ezinearticles.com

AspenTech process industry supply chain software released for Intelยฎ Itaniumโ„ข Processor-based Systems using Dash Optimization’s Xpress-MP Optimizer

LONDON and ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, NJ: Dash Optimization today announced that AspenTech’s (NASDAQ: AZPN) market-leading Aspen MIMIโ„ข process industry supply chain optimization software has been released for Intelยฎ Itaniumโ„ข processor-based systems. Further releases are planned for the other AspenTech e-supply chain products, including Aspen PIMS, which are also optimized by Xpress-MP, the market leading modeling and optimization software from Dash Optimization.

AspenTech and Dash customers increasingly need to solve extremely large, complex, optimization problems. These needs frequently arise in supply chain as manufacturers exploit opportunities to further consolidate and integrate their activities. The Xpress-MP software can already address large problems quickly, but the large, 64-bit memory addressability of the Itanium processor opens up the potential for AspenTech process industry customers to reap even greater benefits from its supply chain solutions.

โ€œAspen MIMI has a well-deserved reputation in the market for solving complex customer problems and delivering bottom line improvementsโ€, said Mary Palermo, Chief Operating Officer of AspenTech. โ€œXpress-MP is the vital optimization component within MIMI, and its ability to take advantage of the latest hardware advances of the Itanium processor, means that we can continue to offer our customers competitive advantage.โ€

โ€œThe market for optimization solutions is driven by two basic factorsโ€, said Alan Dormer, Director of Dash Optimization. โ€œConsolidation and supply chain integration are making problems much bigger, and the requirements for rapid response means that customers are demanding good solutions, quickly. Dash Optimization invests heavily in the software, but this is only part of the story. We need access to the best hardware, such as the Itanium processor, to continue this path.โ€

About AspenTech

Aspen Technology, Inc. is a leading supplier of integrated software and solutions to the process industries. The company’s Aspen ProfitAdvantageโ„ข solution enables companies to identify and maximize profit opportunities throughout their entire value chain โ€” from the supply of raw materials, through the production of goods, to the delivery of final products to customers. The Aspen ProfitAdvantage solution encompasses engineering, manufacturing, supply chain and e-business collaboration technologies, providing the tools that enable manufacturers to design, optimize and execute business processes in real time. Over 1,200 leading process companies already rely on AspenTech’s 21 years of process industry experience to increase revenues, reduce costs and improve capital efficiency.

AspenTech’s customers include: Air Liquide, AstraZeneca, Bayer, BASF, BP, Chevron, Dow Chemical, DuPont, ExxonMobil, GlaxoSmithKline, Lyondell Equistar, Merck, Mitsubishi Chemical, and Unilever. For more information, visit .

About Dash Optimization

With its leading edge Xpress-MP optimization software, Dash has been at the forefront of optimization software development for more than ten years. Dash concentrates exclusively on software products and provides optimization software and components to end users, consultants and value-added resellers, such as systems integrators and solution providers.

Xpress-MP has an excellent reputation for solving large, real-world problems quickly and reliably. For example, Dash has become the leading supplier of optimization technologies to the process industries, traditionally the area where the most difficult optimization problems are encountered.

Through working closely with their customers and innovative algorithmic developments, Dash has remained responsive to the market’s need for large scale problem solving. Dash also provides a high quality support service to help its customers and business partners get the best possible results with the products.

Dash has offices in the UK and US, and distributors in Europe, the Far East and Japan.

For more information about Dash Optimization contact:

Alkis Vazacopoulos (Americas)
email:
av@dashoptimization.com

Alan Dormer (Rest of World)
email:
alan.dormer@dashoptimization.com

Or visit www.dashoptimization.com

*Intel and Itanium are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United Stated and other countries.

Author: Anonymous
Source: free-articles

The idea of finding software that will effectively promote your business to customers is a good way to separate your company from the noise of other forms of advertising and promotional techniques. In this area, you will need to consider a number of points to make sure your investment in advertising through software gives you what you are looking for.
1. Utility – One aspect of promotional software to consider is what your customers will be using it to accomplish. You will want to look at what utility the program has to offer your customers, in addition to the information it provides about your services. The programs you purchase should be simple to use, easy to understand, and have the ability to keep your customers engaged with using the application long enough to discover the benefits of the information it contains. The software should not only contain a functionally attractive package, but also an effective means for encouraging customers to use the software as a repetitive portal for connecting with your business and its services. A great promotional software package will offer the capability of expanding or updating both your business information, and the functionality of the software itself through periodic updates.
2. Price – Promotional software should be priced to offer you options for how to get the most return for the dollars you have to invest. Your company should be able to examine what licensing options you are allowed to use in distributing the software via web based downloads, on CD, and what options your customers have for distributing the information themselves.
3. Support – When you consider a promotional software package, the last thing your company will want to take on is handling support issues from customers. You should find out what support the software has to offer, and who will be responsible for answering questions and issues that might arise.
4. Try before you buy – If you are going to invest in the purchase of a promotional software package, you should be able to see how the product works before you make an investment. All the advertising in the world will not allow you to see how your business information is implemented within the scope of a promotional product. You should be able to see what you will be getting and how it works through a hands-on demonstration of the proposed product.
5. Flexibility – Your promotional software should provide the flexibility to connect customers with your internet based information directly without using complicated searches or passive connection information to reach your web site. Customers should be able to click directly to your web site within the desktop application itself.
6. Updates – Your promotional package should be geared to provide your customers with updated changes to your static information, allowing you to keep your information fresh within the application itself.
7. Convenience – If you participate in a promotional software package, you should look for techniques that will not require months of expensive consulting, meetings, and planning with the software provider to bring your offering to the market. Ideally, you should be able to use remote communications to accomplish the transfer of necessary details and information needed to get your business information into motion.
In the area of creating promotional software, there are a variety of approaches available for consideration. Your best investment will be with techniques that keep you in direct touch with your customers, and keep your business at their fingertips, whenever they want to connect with what your company has to offer them. Look for a format that has the ability to grow with your business, and provide techniques for keeping your customers coming back for more.
Director of Software Concepts

BHO Technologists – LittleTek Center

Teaching computers to work with people. We make software more fun for everyone. Stop by for a visit to our web site, and see what a difference ITL technology makes!
HTTP://home.earthlink.net/~jdir

Author: John Dir
Source: articleage.com

Integrating a business software package with a payment processing module is simple. The module can be fully integrated with a tabbed section inside the application or accessed via buttons within the applications. Or, it can be created as an external module that uses batching for transferring data between the processing program and the main application. Payment processing can also be provided as a separate online bill-pay feature that does not directly integrate with the main application database. This integration technique can also be used to embed a “pay now” link in email invoices generated by the business software package. Examples of each kind of implementation, along with general guidance on implementation time, cost, and revenue potential, are provided below.

FULLY INTEGRATED

A payment processing module can be integrated into any business management software be creating a button that links to the processing module. By clicking on the “payment processing” button, users will be able to collect on any individual invoice. By selecting a recurring billing option from the menu, they will be able to process all recurring transactions queued in the system. By using the payment processing system’s API, the core business application can be mapped to the payment processing component for completely seamless integration. Typical Integration Time: 3 days (programming time)

Cost of implementation: $3000

Cost to support payment processing functionality: $0 (payment processing company absorbs all cost)

EXTERNAL MODULE

Data can be transferred between a business software application and a payment processing application using a pre-programmed export module. Field-mapping is programmed into the module in advance to enable one-click integration. For example, a simple modular interface can enable invoices from QuickBooksฎ to be exported, using pre-defined field mapping, as a batch for payment processing, and then the batch results can be uploaded back into QuickBooks for reconciliation.

Typical Integration Time: 1 day (programming time)

Cost of implementation: $1000

Cost to support payment processing functionality: $0 (payment processing company absorbs all cost)

ONLINE PAYMENT FORM

Any business software application that includes invoice printing functionality can easily include online payment functionality as an option for customers. This simple step can completely eliminate the need to print and mail paper invoices. Instead, electronic invoices which include a link to a secure online payment form are emailed to customers. The customer clicks the link and can pay the invoice online via credit card or direct debit from a checking or savings account. With a marginally more complex link, fields such as invoice #, amount, and customer number can be embedded within the link and auto-filled in the online payment form. Payment processing companies can often host this online payment form, so a user need not have a website to benefit from this type of system. See an example of this type of form.

While this type of integration is clearly the easiest to implement, it does have the drawback of requiring the customer to maintain a payment processing database separate from the main business application. However, most payment processing applications, including PaySimple, have customizable export functions that can be leveraged to transfer transaction results back to the main business application.

Typical Integration Time: 3 hours (programming time)

Cost of implementation: $300

Cost to support payment processing functionality: $0 (payment processing company absorbs all cost)

ADDITIONAL REVENUE POTENTIAL

There are multiple options for payment processing providers available to business software developers. However, some large companies do not offer the developer a revenue share. There are other choices—and it is best to select one that offers an ongoing revenue share for all transactions processed by the partners’ customers. In addition, the best payment processing partners also offer marketing programs, and technical support for their systems. The following is a breakdown of potential revenue. Marketing Cost: $0 (payment processing company absorbs all cost of marketing add-on functionality to software customer base, and of marketing electronic payment option to their customers.)

Revenue Share: A number of variables will determine potential revenue share includingsize of customer base, percentage adoption of electronic payment functionality, percentage of end-user accounts paying electronically and type of transaction (ACH or Credit). The following is a typical scenario.

Customer Base: 3,000 (compaines using the business application)

End-User Accounts Managed: 650,000

Revenue Generated @ 15% Penetration: $17,000/month

Revenue Generated @ 30% Penetration: $35,000/month

Author: Lisa Hephner
Source: isnare.com

ARLINGTON, VA April 19, 2004 -โ€” Number Six Software, a leading software management firm, today announced the acquisition of Praxis Solutions, a software productivity and engineering firm with headquarters in Indianapolis, Indiana and additional offices in Cincinnati, Ohio. The acquisition extends Number Six’s presence into strategic Midwestern markets and creates a powerful custom software management firm providing success for clients including Standard Register, Sallie Mae, Department of Homeland Security, and the U.S. Air Force.

โ€œThe Praxis acquisition is a critical milestone in the execution of our business plan,โ€ said Carmen Facciobene, CEO of Number Six Software. โ€œTheir concentration on software estimation and requirements management, combined with our unmatched capabilities in software architecture and implementation, furthers Number Six’s ability to positively affect software development. Through this acquisition and others, Number Six is creating a significant platform to truly ensure the success of software development projects for the enterprise.โ€

The widely-accepted 70 percent failure rate associated with custom software development projects costs private corporations and federal agencies billions of dollars each year. Number Six helps clients overcome these failures by implementing their proven software management process centered on Total Customer Success. The N6 Software Management Process encompasses predictive analysis and software engineering, enabling improved portfolio management โ€” the viewing of software development projects as corporate assets. At the core of the N6 Process are Number Six teams; cross-trained software development experts who establish instant momentum on projects for a variety of enterprise and government clients.

“Number Six’s proven software management process includes their experienced teams and structured methods. With their leadership, we are building richer, more comprehensive requirements and instituting financial traceability for key software development projects,โ€ said Joanne Cummins, IM Project Manager of Standard Register. โ€œWe expect to achieve even higher levels of quality and to increase our capabilities for delivering critical business applications with the Number Six team approach.โ€

โ€œWe have distinguished our firm through integrity and results. Number Six shares our mission and corporate values,โ€ said Gary Winzenread, CEO of Praxis Solutions. โ€œAs a Number Six team, we are now on a platform to significantly affect the way software is developed and provide the highest level of service to our clients.โ€

As part of the acquisition, Number Six will consolidate administrative functions at its Arlington, Virginia headquarters, and will employ approximately 100 people nationwide. Praxis Solutions’ offices in Cincinnati and Indianapolis will become integrated practice teams for Number Six.

About Number Six Software

Headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, Number Six Software brings together the teams, methods, and processes necessary to resolve risk and ensure the success of enterprise software development projects. The N6 Software Management Process combines expertise in predictive analysis and software engineering to enable improved portfolio management. At the core of the N6 Process are Number Six Software teams โ€” cross-trained, high-performance development experts who ensure the delivery of critical software systems on time, on budget, and built to requirements. The teams align the customer’s business practices with the most effective technology to advance the enterprise. Number Six prides itself on achieving a 100 percent Total Customer Success for its clients including Booz Allen and Hamilton, Children’s National Medical Center, Freddie Mac, National Cancer Institute, U.S. Air Force and U.S. Department of Homeland Security. For more information, visit http://www.numbersix.com.

About Praxis Solutions

Praxis Solutions is an Information Technology consulting firm that has focused its efforts on productive and cost-effective implementation of leading-edge technology. The company delivers value to its customers through the combination of talented technology professionals and inclusion of standardized best practices in its implementation strategies. Praxis Solutions clients include Procter & Gamble, Sallie Mae, Standard Register and Cinergy Corp.

Author: Anonymous
Source: free-articles