Editorial
First an important piece of
news from Microsoft:
After 30 June 2006,
Microsoft will no longer provide any incident support options or security
updates for Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition, and Windows Me (and their
related components). Now is a good time to do a final check of all your computer
systems and those of your customers and migrate to the more secure and robust
Windows XP.
This means that these operating systems become legacy systems and will
offer little or no protection against attacks from the Internet.
As these systems are also
giving considerable problems with more recent software, we would recommend
changing in the next few months. You will be surprised by the performance
enhancement!
The first two months of the
year have passed with unusual speed and we have taken some time to look into new
products. We will be showcasing what we have found over the next few
months as we become familiar with them.
Gogga
Change for March – the modem
is now priced at R499. Postage and packing are extra. The package
pricing has remained the same. To go for Gogga, contact info@softwareafrica.co.za and be
truly mobile even in the bush!
The new modems are really
elegant and I am replenishing my stock currently.
Broadband
Gogga
This is a new option and
still being refined. This method
of internet access is much faster than entry level, however, due to the
new technology being used (3G) customers may experience the following:
- Network instability
- Network coverage may be unavailable, but will
switch to GPRS coverage automatically
- Existing modems (PCMCIA) may cause disturbance on
your PC Speakers (typical to cell phone disturbance)
The 3G
datacard
taken with a 24 month package is bought at a once off cost of R1 249 including
VAT but excluding postage and packing. Contact info@softwareafrica.co.za for
more information or to purchase your high speed Gogga!
eScan – Anti-Virus being the best and easiest one ever
Still going strong
– Contact
info@softwareafrica.co.za
for more.
PSNext – a true Project Control solution from
Management Planning Systems
This is the first of our new product
offerings and we became involved with it in order to meet a specific customer
need. We will soon have demonstration software running at our offices.
We are authorised resellers and installers for the product.
What does PSNext do?
PSNext is the first of a new generation
totally web based project management solutions with a highly interactive rich
client interface.
Project management tools are
no longer just supporting project managers. Other managers such as resource
managers, financial managers, operations managers, strategic planners, CEO's, and CIO's are all now
served by, and participate in, this larger world of project management. Due to the central database of projects used by
PSNext, senior management have a much greater level of control. All
projects and resources are available for viewing and reporting, depending on
security settings.
PSNext fully satisfies the requirements of
project managers. For the first time, project managers have the traditional
tools of their trade, such as Gantt charts, Network diagrams and WBS charts, available in a totally web based system,
integrated with project (and other) documentation, issues, risks, extensive
security and excellent reporting.
PSNext has a number of unique features.
These include: –
ü
Easy implementation: Due to its integrated design and
simple architecture, PSNext is far easier to
implement, use and maintain than other comparable systems.
ü
Role based: Managers only see functionality that their role requires. You
only pay for the roles allocated to users.
ü
Project Power: PSNext uses the concept of “Work Packages”
(WPs). A project may consist of many WPs. Each WP could be the responsibility of different
managers in different departments. The project manager has a consolidated view
of his/her project showing all WPs in that project,
with network links crossing WP boundaries. Ideal for a matrix organisation.
ü
Powerful skills management: PSNext will help you find the right
resource across the enterprise.
ü
Flexible updating: Actual hours and progress on tasks may be captured using a
variety of methods.
ü
Unlimited flexibility: PSNext allows unlimited customization of
data.
ü
Robust Reporting: PSNext probably contains the most powerful
report writer in the industry, yet it is easy to
create your own stunning reports.
ü
Strong Security: Not only is user security linked to their organisational
structure and to project permissions, but in addition, any field may be given
any level of security Ability to associate documents and issues to
organisational units (such as departments and teams), as well as projects.
ü
Developed in J2EE: PSNext is fully Web enabled, running on any
operating system with scalable architecture. Runs on Open Source Software.
ü
Fully supports Project Portfolio Management.
ü
Special features to allow easy reorganisation of
business units.
ü
And
many others!
Project Portfolio Management
Project Management now
includes an entirely new set of practices called Project Portfolio Management
(PPM). This grew out of a concern by
senior management whether the projects that were being managed were the best
projects for the firm to be working on. PPM
tools, such as PSNext, allow a structured, proactive
prioritisation and selection of projects, as well as improved support for
evaluating projects that are already in the pipeline. Please contact Judith for
more information
MaxiMail –the bulk
mailing solution for ADSL users!
This overcomes slow mailing
out of Maximizer Enterprise and PE. If you have had your marketing
campaign blacklisted on web servers, then you know what a problem this can be.
If you have been running a very large mailing list through Enterprise's Campaign
Manager, you may have found that your mail out takes a very long time.
MaxiMail overcomes these
problems by accessing the bulk mailing facility offered by Cybertrenz, a dynamic
young ISP in Rivonia. We liked their program I-Mail
and asked if we could link it to Maximizer to make a really powerful solution
for Maximizer users. We now have a tested product – MaxiMail.
Pastelizer 7.8.12 and
8.8.12 Released
Pastelizer
copies Customer data from Maximizer to Pastel and financial information from
Pastel to Maximizer. This allows you
to separate the Accounting roles from Sales and Marketing, and buy fewer Pastel
licenses. You can create individual or bulk
invoices in Pastel out of Maximizer, and optionally transfer customer data from
Pastel to back Maximizer.
There are several improvements to the
latest Pastelizer (version 7.8 for Pastel 2004 with Maximizer 8 and 9, and 8.8
for Pastel 2005 with Maximizer 8 and 9 –the two will run in parallel until
Pastel 2004 is obsolete). To view
the changes,
click here.
You can download Pastelizer from the internet and run it as demo for testing purposes, or just download the
extensive HTML Help File. For information and prices, and to download a copy,
visit
this page.
Excel Tips 28 – Basic Functions: COUNT
The COUNT Function counts the number
of cells in the target range that contain
numbers. Its syntax is
exactly like SUM i.e. "=COUNT(range)", where “range” is of the usual form
“cell1:cell2”, e.g. =COUNT(A2:A6).
Watch out for blank (empty) cells:
They are not the same as cells containing zero. Zeros are counted, blank
cells are not! It can be confusing if you have turned off zero values
(Tools > Options > View >Zero Values
unticked).
Tip: If you want to
count all filled cells including those that contain text –not just numbers– use
the COUNTA (“Count All”) function instead.
Maximizer Tips – Looking
at the changes in Opportunities – The Sales Plan in Enterprise Version 9.0
This is less complex that setting up
a Strategy! Start by going to File | Libraries | Action Plan Library.
This opens a window, which may have no existing plans in it!
Click on Add to start your
template:
Type in a template name and
description and then add an activity by clicking on Add in the middle of
the window.
Choose whether it is to be an
Appointment or a Task. If you choose Task, this is your next window:
The activity can be scheduled to
happen before the Plan Start Date or After it.
So it allows for pre-planning of the plan!
Look at the filled in activity above.
It can be assigned to the Current User or to any other Maximizer user.
You can check the spelling as well!. Once you
have completed your activity, click on OK.
This gives you the updated template:
Now, let's add an appointment:
Put in your information about what
the appointment is intended to achieve and the resources required to achieve this. Then click on OK.
Notice how the plan is being built up
to define your sales process. Also note that you can restrict access to
the template.
Once your plan is complete, the
template will look something like this:
This clearly states your purpose and
also gives you a time frame to work with on this particular sales cycle!
Now to use the template with your
customer list!
Find a customer for whom you have an
opportunity and drag them to the Opportunities icon. Set up the
opportunity:
Then close it! Right click in
the window and choose Schedule an Action Plan:
Open the dropdown box and choose your
plan!
Clicking on the
Advanced
button gives you this view. Note the "Current User" is now
replaced with your name and you can skip non-work days.
Click on OK.
Now open your opportunity and click
on the Sales Plans tab:
Your plan is ready and the necessary
tasks are listed for Action! The tasks due will be in
your hot list awaiting actions and appointments will be set up – note you will
have to act on actually confirming the correct date and time of them as you make
them with the customer!
Useful Hint – it might be better to leave the
appointments out and just make a task to set them up!
Next month – Some Administrator set
ups for Opportunities and Appointments
Remember: We can Help you with:―
·
Writing your custom databases on
Microsoft Access, or custom programs in Visual Basic. If you can’t find that piece of software
to do things your way, ask us!
·
Solving your Maximizer, Access,
Excel, Word, and Lotus 123 problems.
·
Training your company on Maximizer,
Excel, Word, Access and Windows. We
do all levels from beginners to Programming.
·
Software: We re-sell and support
various CRM, timesheet, scheduling and productivity programs.
All the Best from the team!
Judith and Rick
Directors, Communication in Action (Pty) Ltd t/a Software
Africa
PO Box
987, Gallo Manor, 2052
South Africa.
Tel: (+27 11) (011) 802-2685. Fax:
802-4576. Cell: 082 389-3481/2.
E-mail: info@softwareafrica.co.za
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