A woman with tits the size of basketballs!

Welp.

I was writing a nice, longwinded post about this, but I don’t think there are words for it. But they do say a picture is worth a thousand words, right And boy howdy, do I have a picture for you!

WELCOME TO GOLDSHIRE, PLEASE ENJOY THE VIEW.

We have previously examined the types of smart meters that are available i.e. electricity, water and gas. The next question to examine is how this vast new pool of data can be managed by a utility or indeed by an organisation that has installed smart meters on their premises themselves.

The Information Systems used to manage smart meters are typically referred to as Meter Data Management Systems (MDMS) . MDMS capture data from multiple metering systems and can then supply that data to the other Information Systems within the organisation for purposes such as billing, maintenance, forecasting and customer service. Like Enterprise Systems, MDMS have a central database that stores all customer, meter and reading data. The different Information Systems that require this data can interact with the MDMS using an Application Programming Interface (API). Alternatively, the data can be pushed from the MDMS using data export functionality.

It would be impossible for organisations and utilities to reap the cost and consumption saving benefits that an energy management strategy enabled by smart meters would provide without using an MDMS.  MDMS can manage outages by recording start and restore times and organise outage events by meter, grid or customer. MDMS can provide fault management functionality and notify other Information Systems such as Outage Management Systems of alerts. The pool of data provide by an MDMS can be combined with other data such as weather information to predict how a grid might perform under extreme weather conditions and can serve as a basis for developing distribution planning and reliability strategies. And, of course, as smart meters provide data of energy consumption the data captured by MDMS ultimately is used to measure revenues for the utility.

MDMS are a key component of what are referred to as Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) systems.  AMI refers to the entire chain of technologies that enable the smart grid. These include not only the MDMS but also the smart meter equipment and the communications used to relay the data readings to the MDMS. AMI gives the utility company control over all aspects of the smart grid.

Vertoda can act as an MDMS as it provides device organisation, fault management and Business Intelligence capabilities to capture data from smart meters and transform that data into meaningful information that the utility organisations can use for business decision making. This information is then available for the ERP, Business Intelligence and other Information Systems of the organisation. Furthermore, given that Vertoda can manage devices such as RFID, Wireless Sensors and GPS in addition to smart meters our system can act as comprehensive middleware to manage all the devices used to enable smart infrastructure.

There are a number of issues which must be considered in relation to smart meters and the smart grid. We have previously noted that the security of smart meters is a problem as the vast majority of devices do not encrypt or digitally sign the data they generate. The possible solutions for smart meter security would be to encrypt or sign the data at the device level or to transfer the data through a secure communications link. This is a vital issue as without security there is nothing to prevent consumers being maliciously disconnected or having their consumption data hacked and modified.

A related concern is that of privacy. Some claim that meters record readings so often that power flows can be interpreted to reveal consumption behaviour and even use of individual appliances. Some even fear that consumers will in the future be cited for excessive use of resources through the monitoring of their smart meter. Many US states such as the Colorado Public Utilities Commission have initiated inquiries into the privacy implications of the use of smart meters. The Dutch parliament recently rejected a bill that would have compelled all citizens to have a smart meter installed in their home. In Britain, The Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) says that there is theoretically scope for using the smart metering communications infrastructure to enable a variety of other services such as the monitoring of vulnerable householders by health authorities or social services departments.

The invasiveness of technology is always a concern and is not confined to smart metering. Finding a solution that would alleviate concerns will be difficult to achieve. However, one step in the right direction would be to encrypt the data in transit and secure the raw consumption data in the database it is stored in so that the ‘public’ view of the information is the billing information generated using this raw data. Vertoda can offer a solution to secure the smart meter data both in transit and in storage.

We have alluded above to the transmission of smart meter data. This is another difficulty for smart meter users as currently there is a lack of standardisation in data transmission. One mechanism by which data transmission can take place is by using mobile network systems such as GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) using SMS/text message, GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) , CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) or 3G (Third Generation). Of course, this assumes that the smart meter is in a ‘good cell area’ and is subject to vulnerabilities in the mobile transmission of unencrypted data. Radio transmission in a licensed or unlicensed band is another possibility but has wireless security issues. With RF Mesh (the RF stands for radio frequency), each smart meter essentially acts as a router and forwards the data to an Access Point or hub which will then send the data to a utility using a mobile network or land line. The other alternative is to configure the smart meter to communicate with a radio tower which will in turn forward the data to the utility’s IT systems.

Power line transmission is another option. Broadband over powerline, also known as power line networking, enables Internet connections with the home through existing electricity transmission and distribution lines. A power line modem has recently being developed by On Semiconductor (http://www.onsemi.com) for this purpose. For the utility company, the most logical option would seem to be the transfer of data from the smart meter through the power line as the infrastructure is already in place and it would be a standard mechanism for transferring data. The lack of a standard mechanism by meter vendors for data transfer is a challenge for utilities as otherwise they have to capture data from diverse mobile and radio systems, a functionality that can be provided by Vertoda.

The development of data transmission standards is still evolving. The Spanish utility, Iberdola (http://www.iberdola.es), has initiated the PRIME project to develop an open standard for powerline communication. Echelon (http://www.echelon.com) have developed a similar standard. Power line transmission and the use of mobile networks appears to be more popular in Europe than the US where RF Mesh and tower-based smart meter communications appear to be more prevalent.

Similarly there’s a lack of standardisation in terms of access points. Access Points can communicate using radio, mobile or power line communications. Some smart meter vendors offer data concentrators which forward data to the utility through an IP network.

Within the home, communication will also take place between the smart meter and the consuming appliances. Zigbee started to gain traction in smart meter to appliance communication in 2007 and has been adopted by many smart meter vendors. WIFI and WIMAX are other possiblities for wireless communication within the home but Zigbee appears to be the most likely standard given its adoption by so many leading vendors.

Unsurprisingly, there are many vendors of smart meters including EnergyICT (http://www.energyict.com), Iskraemeco (http://www.iskraemeco.co.uk), Echelon (http://www.echelon.com), GE (http://www.ge.com) and Landis & Gyr (http://www.landisandgyr.com). Most of the leading software companies have strategies in place for the smart grid. Google has developed their own power meter, SAP and Oracle offer solutions in this area and Microsoft and IBM have ‘green’ strategies in place that take the smart grid into account. The value proposition offered by Vertoda in the smart meter arena is one of data and security management. Vertoda can both acts as middleware and provide the security framework required for encrypting both data in transit and in storage.

Am afirmat în articolul trecut că unul dintre cei mai importanți pași pe care poate să-l facă o companie pentru a-și asigura succesul pe termen lung, atât în perioade de boom economic cât și în perioade de criză, este inovația.

În perioadele de boom economic lucrurile sunt relativ simple. Cash flow-ul este asigurat, clienții bat la ușă și vor livrări acum două zile deși ei fac comanda astăzi, plățile se fac relativ la timp, astfel încât se merită o investiție destul de importantă într-un instrument IT care să ne ajute să creștem. De cele mai multe ori acest instrument poarta numele de ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning). Este vândut ca și produsul de business suprem, gestionează orice, aprovizionare, stocuri, depozitare, producție, distribuție, vânzări, contabilitate, resurse umane, poate chiar include și controlul fluxurilor de documente și instrumente colaborative. Când managerul unei companii în expansiune, cu cifră de afaceri în creștere, aude așa ceva, începe să se gândească la viitorul firmei, la câte puncte de lucru o să deschidă și cât de folositor ar fi produsul prezentat (de cele mai multe ori in PowerPoint). Se interesează de produs, dacă e unul renumit îl aleg instant, bineînțeles după o negociere la sânge în ceea ce privește prețul.

Este adevărat, este instrumentul ideal pentru a avea date complete și la zi despre afacerea sa. Este adevărat că datele se introduc o singură dată și apoi sunt doar preluate în fluxul de documente. Este adevărat că poate vizualiza rapoarte pe anul, luna, ziua în curs. Poate de aceea și merită investiția a sute de mii până la milioane de euro, pentru a controla mai bine afacerea și pentru a lua deciziile mai bune (informate).

Și totuși… Ceea ce mulți manageri nu înțeleg este faptul că un produs IT  pentru afaceri este 20% licențe și 80% consultanță. De multe ori renunță la analize și consultanță, sau investesc foarte puțin în acest lucru, preferând DVD-urile cu softul în cauză. De cele mai multe ori, acesta este prea specializat sau prea general pentru a se potrivi ca o mănușă afacerii sale. În cazul fericit al unui produs de calitate, managerul are posibilitatea de a adapta procedurile interne la specificul unei industrii (încă nu am văzut așa ceva decât în multinaționale), specific pe care este construit ERP-ul. Dar, de cele mai multe ori, managerii cer personalizarea produsului. Nu cred că în România a estimat corect vreun manager costurile cu dezvoltările necesare după darea în productiv.

Dacă softul este foarte scump, ești prins ca într-o plasă. Poți realiza încă din faza de implementare cât de complexă și costisitoare va fi utilizarea softului respectiv, dar deja s-a făcut o investiție (în DVD-uri, căutare furnizori, negociere) şi nu se mai dă inapoi, nu se reanalizează situaţia. Puțini au auzit de managementul schimbării în organizație, de audit al proiectelor de implementare, de consultanță și analiză înainte de semnarea unui contract de implementare. Ghiciți care este gradul de satisfacție al clienților care au implementat ERP? Și când spunem clienți, mă refer atât la managerul care (rar) intră și rulează un raport (prea complicat),  dar în special la utilizatorul programului, cel care nu a fost întrebat dacă i se eficientizează munca și nici nu a fost pregătit suficient pentru schimbare, cel care introduce datele.

Ceea ce este paradoxal este faptul că, deși ”automatizeză” mare parte din sarcini, un ERP aduce cu el și cheltuieli legate de personal. Un ERP poate gestiona toate operaţiunile şi procesele dintr-o organizaţie, dar datele trebuie introduse în el. De obicei sunt mai multe date de introdus, mai mulți pași. Prin urmare mai mult timp. Mai este nevoie de oameni pregătiți, care știu să lucreze cu un PC. Să nu mai spunem de costurile legate de IT. Cel mai simplu ar fi externalizarea serviciilor, dar managerii din România au un simț al proprietății înțeles greșit. Cred că serverele ținute într-o baracă din curtea companiei sunt mai sigure decât un Data Center… Și totuși avem un ERP…

Ce se întâmplă atunci când vrem să folosim datele din acesta mai mult decât un raport zilnic de stocuri? Ce se întâmplă când se negociază cu un furnizor, şi, deși este implementat un ERP, s-a hotărât să nu se stochezeze datele legate de contracte și oferte primite. Probabil managerul de produs are niște fișiere Excel cu niște date, dar cum să le folosească ca să ia o decizie? Cum să lege vânzările și aprovizionarea din sistemul ERP cu urmărirea contractelor din Excel?

Ce se întâmplă atunci când se dorește identificarea produselor cu vânzările cele mai mici și cu profitul cel mai mic, sau chiar cu cea mică rotație a stocurilor? Sau cum se pot urmări furnizorii ale căror produse au cele mai multe defecte și întârzieri la livrare când portofoliul are zeci de mii de produse?

Simplu, se cere un raport departamentului de IT. Aici fie că durează câteva minute, fie câteva zile, depinde de cantitatea datelor cerute și de competența personalului IT. Un lucru des ignorat este faptul că un ERP este un sistem tranzacțional, care înregistrează multe operațiuni foarte repede, și nu unul de analiză, în care se interoghează o cantitate foarte mare de date foarte repede (scrie repede câte 1 foaie pe secundă, în loc să citească o bibliotecă în câteva secunde).

Dar e boom economic, veniturile sunt destul de consistente cât să acopere aceste neplăceri. Sunt limitări de timp necesar pentru raportare, dar nu trebuie luate decizii importante, pentru că afacerea crește de la sine. Se mai alocă fonduri pentru hardware și problema este parțial rezolvată…

Dar ce se întâmplă pe timp de criză? Nu sunt bani pentru implementarea unui ERP.  Este nevoie de previziuni și analize ad-hoc pentru a lua decizii importante, de la prețul maxim acceptat de la un furnizor pentru a păstra prețul de vânzare, până la discountul maxim acordat unui client pentru a păstra un grad minim de profitabilitate. Trebuie urmărită cu atenție relația cu furnizorul, pentru că cea mai mică problemă de furnizare a materiilor prime poate duce la faliment. În același timp trebuie acordată atenție stocurilor din cauza costurilor mari de depozitare.

Ei bine, există și soluții inovatoare care pot ajuta. Dacă un ERP este prea scump, sau o soluție SCM nu se găsește pe piață (căutați pe Google în România SCM) există alte soluții care să nu necesite o schimbare radicală a modului de lucru, care să strângă date din orice sursă structurată (de la fișiere text la baze de date din spatele ERP) și care să ofere posibilitatea managerilor să acționeze și să ia decizii în cunoștință de cauză. Sunt soluțiile BI sau Business Intelligence. Soluțiile de top sunt versatile, rapide și nu necesită efortul financiar generat de implementarea unui ERP.  Beneficiile sunt însă cheia unui management de succes, indiferent că vorbim de supply chain management, managementul riscurilor, financiar, operațional, optimizarea proceselor, previziuni și tendințe economice pe baza datelor istorice.

Tablourile de bord, urmărirea indicatorilor cheie de performanță, alertarea situațiilor critice, analizele multianuale și multidimensionale sunt doar câteva din caracteristicile unui instrument Business Intelligence. Cele de top oferă viteză de lucru incredibilă, pentru că informația devine irelevantă dacă nu este disponibilă la timp. Totodată, vă puteți bucura de un mod de lucru grafic, interactiv și posibilitatea de analiză ad-hoc, pe orice dimensiune dorește utilizatorul, fără intervenția IT-ului necesară în cazul pre-agregării datelor.

Știți care este instrumentul BI inovator cu cea mai mare creștere în ultimii ani?

Every day there are stories and advertisements in business magazines and newspapers about the organizations benefitting from the implementation of ERP and CRM. The vendors (Oracle, Sales force etc.) leave no stone unturned to make sure their success stories reach the audience. Many organizations do get influenced by these messages coming from the industry as well as the vendors. No organization wants to lag behind its competition and is willing to invest a few million dollars if the implementation gives it an edge over the competition.

But, the question is: Is the CRM really required?

The legendary Harvard Professor and noted economist, Theodore Levitt once said that a customer does not want a quarter inch drill; all he wants is a quarter inch hole. The same rule applies to organizations thinking for implementing the CRM package. The question they should ask is: Do we want to implement CRM or do we want a solution for a problem? More often than not, the answer will be that the organization is looking for a solution to its problem. There can be many solutions to this problem. The organization can improve by just improving the competency of the human component or by just re-engineering its processes. Some other problems might be solved with just adding enhancements to the existing IT systems.

Build vs. Buy: When the organization is convinced that it has to improve or replace the existing IT systems, the next decision is to decide between whether the organization should build its own system or buy an EA product?

When the patchwork on the IT system stops working, the option of building the system has been ruled out its time to justify the implementation of CRM. The implementation of CRM is justified if the organization has the following requirements:

1. The organization is a customer centric organization or wants to transform into a customer centric organization.
2. It has multiple teams working on a single process and the process ownership changes from one stage to another.
3. The coordination between teams and flow of data from one team to another is the key to success of a process/ transaction.
4. It feels that customer service has to be personalized for each segment or each customer.
5. It wants to integrates all the three functions of the customer interaction: Identification, Acquisition and Maintenance of customers.
6. It has the money and resources to implement and maintain a CRM System.

GeoSmart has just released a new version of  Route²GO as a web service, providing vehicle route optimisation for company fleets as small as one vehicle, but scalable to any size of fleet.

This new service is based on what we know of in the industry as The Travelling Salesman problem. In effect if I have x number of places to visit in a day, what is the most economic order to do them in?

Typically route optimisation involves buying an expensive piece of software that only large companies (by NZ standards) can afford, together with employing an expensive engineer to run it. GeoSmart has now released the same technology as a web service, pricing for which is transaction based. This means that it can be used by a furniture store with 1 truck, as easily as for a large company with many vehicles.

There is a small amount of work involved in order to access the web service, which can be done by web developers or anyone who understands how a web service works. It could be merged with something as simple as a spreadsheet, or tied in to a legacy application. It would work very nicely with a range of applications from CRM, Accounting Software, ERP, dispatch and more.

For technical details on how Route²GO works, please visit our Developer Pages. For examples and more information on the benefits, we have information here.

Now we are looking for NZ partners. We do not typically sell solutions to end users. We work with partners who can add this service as a value add into their solution, or perhaps even create a new niche solution. We have some partners already in this space, including companies like Gen-i and Navman Wireless, but we are also keen to find more.

Many products have a long ROI period, which makes them hard to sell, especially in today’s economy. Pricing for Route²GO is transaction based. This means that until you start using it, you pay nothing. Pricing is also scaled based on volume over a year and also the amount of detail in our output. The cheapest result is simply the order to drive the visits in, with the option of estimated driving time and distance for each stop. The next step includes turn by turn driving instructions and the full monte includes the ability to view and print out full turn by turn directions complete with route and locational maps, that can be panned and zoomed before printing or importing into an application.

What skills do you need? If you can structure a query as outlined here, then you have the requisite experience. We offer a free Developer Agreement to companies looking to partner with us. There are no costs associated in developing a solution or testing with this web service.

We are happy to meet with potential partners or clients, to discuss their needs and help them find the best solution both in the web service and the integration, but our part stops at that point as we do not compete with our channel.

Want to know more? Contact us.

    Many organizations have a need and a desire of implementing CRM and the related systems. Implementing these systems if a big decision for the companies and costs a bomb in terms of money and human resource spending. Even after meticulous planning and careful implementation, the companies are not sure if they will be able to achieve the desired results.

    I have started writing a series of articles on the planning and implementation methodology that may serve as broad guidelines for companies to implement these systems. The series will take the readers from the planning through the implementation and optimizing and fine tuning the system. 

Do U want to help World-Users OnLine on Learning and Earning Scheme? 

Can joine with us?

Project introduction:- http://nkgktg.wordpress.com/2009/11/29/info-auto-global-manager/

I am Sr. Citizen of India, having 40 years of experience on ERP – System Analyst, Domains, CRM covering operational area (HR, FA, CB, PP, SD, LOG, Project, Works, IA, Legal, Taxation) with Automation, Net Working, Testing, Designing, Development, Integration, Life Cycle of SOS, Documentation,Employees/Customer’s Resources Planning.

I was Software Consultant for the SOS Pkg FIPP (Financial, Inventory, Pay Roll, Production) implemented to any Multi-Group-Units-Location-Type-Products-Conditions-Applicability)with Large scale Industries, Institutes, Retailing in various categories.

I am interested to assist online-onnet-intime to the world with honourable esteemed co-operation of young Software-Electronic Professionals who are enthusiastic, optimistic, to do the same thing, which world is doing but in different way with their Talent and Technology on devotional base for seeding and feeding the seeds and later on to enjoy honour of the fruits of TTT (Talented Technology Tree)for life long in the society.

If U R and having confidence in your TT and Personality, Domain, developer, Designer, Marketing Personality, Documentum, Project Planner, may join this group and get a chance to help the world. Please contact on email to (nk_ktg@yahoo.co.in) for further positive progress only. Social service to the Globe for welfare and betterment.

U may refer at “File Section”, U should be technically skilled!

Thanks for devoting your valuable time to read this.

Most Welcome to the Group and Blog, search at Yahoo Web Search giving nk_ktg@yahoo.co.in as email ID.

http://in.groups.yahoo.com/group/nk_ktg/?yguid=286786883
Krishnakant T. Gandhi

I was in the computer business long before the inception of home and personal computers. Computers were once enormous machines that took up whole rooms and were used to accomplish one thing for businesses: compute. I don’t have to tell you how far we’ve come in the past decades. Afterall, if you are reading this, we are connecting in a whole new way, and with the touch of a button, you can essentially learn everything you’d ever want to know about me and my company, The Fredrick Group (TFG).

We at TFG not only evolve with the trends, but are actually responsible for creating many of them with our forward-thinking software experts. They devise software applications oftentimes long before businesses express a need for such solutions. In fact, that’s the way a lot of people describe our TFG4000 software.

They may engage The Fredrick Group to solve one problem such as inventory management, but are surprised to find that TFG4000 will also efficiently streamline their other operations. What started out as a desire to solve one problem ends with a completely integrated and easy-to-use operating system that marries and manages all aspects of a manufacturing business! We built TFG4000 to be an affordable and all-inclusive solution designed to meet manufacturers’ needs. TFG4000 was designed for use on most database systems and is both accurate and easy to use. It’s always guaranteed to work, and our applications are actually designed to minimize users’ errors!

If your business is morphing and you need to get a grip on your sales orders, purchasing, work orders, inventory, warehouse, or material scheduling, why not consider one system that does it all in an easy-to-use and data-protected format?

I’m Fran Whitehead, President of The Fredrick Group, and I take pride in anticipating your needs and far exceeding your expectations. I’l like to hear how your business is changing and what systems you have in place to accommodate those changes.

Does your system save you time, money, and frustration? If not, please check out our free trial software at www.tfg4000.com

Le but de cet article est d’énumérer quelles sont les conditions de réussite, pour la mise en place d’un E.R.P. (Enterprise Ressource Planning)

 Nous pouvons lister les circonstances suivantes:

 ENJEUX DEFINIS ET PARTAGES.

Les enjeux doivent être clairement définis, argumentés et partagés par l’ensemble de la population des décideurs et des utilisateurs.

• BUSINESS PROCESS REDESIGN (B.P.R).

Une étude de ré ingénierie préalable doit être entreprise, afin de pouvoir mieux paramétrer ensuite l’E.R.P.

Cette étape permet d’avoir un “outil” adapté à l’organisation en place.

DECISIONS CLES :

• ENTREPRISE DE DEMAIN.
• OBJECTIFS À ATTEINDRE.

Durant l’étude B.P.R., des décisions importantes devront être prises quant au profil et à la caractéristique que l’on voudrait pour l’entreprise de demain.

Il faut également définir les objectifs à atteindre.

• INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ARCHITECTURE.

Une base solide devra être mise en place.

Pour cela il est conseillé de déployer une architecture I.T fiable et adaptable.

• SYSTEMES SCIENTIFIQUES INTERFACES AVEC E.R.P.

Des bases de données devront être mises en place afin de gérer de façon plus efficace les informations techniques.

Ces bases seront alors interfacées avec l’E.R.P. central.

• REPRISE DES DONNEES HISTORIQUES.

Durant l’étude fonctionnelle, des décisions importantes devront être prises quant à la reprise des données historiques.

On pourra importer en tout ou partie les données historiques essentielles au bon démarrage de l’E.R.P.

•  ANALYSE ET CONFIGURATION.

Cette phase primordiale permet de paramétrer « l’outil » en adéquation avec l’organisation ciblée.

• TESTS SYSTEMES

Durant l’étude fonctionnelle, des jeux de données de tests seront identifiés.

Une équipe pluridisciplinaire sera alors composée.

Elle effectuera l’ensemble des tests systèmes et tracera toute anomalie.

• FORMATION DES UTILISATEURS (KEY USERS).

Des Utilisateurs Clés seront identifiés dans la structure.

Une formation spécifique leur sera alors donnée.

• CHANGE MANAGEMENT.

C’est une étape essentielle pour la bonne réussite du projet, qui est malheureusement souvent ignorée voire mal maîtrisée.

Elle est en fait primordiale pour la bonne acceptation de l’E.R.P.

•  ETUDE DE LA MISE EN PLACE DE LA SOLUTION (BIG-BANG,…).

Le déploiement se fera alors soit en mode Big-bang (c’est-à-dire tous les modules pour toutes les populations en même temps), ou graduel (un ou plusieurs modules pour une partie des utilisateurs finaux, avant le déploiement définitif).

•  GESTION DES AUTORISATIONS (SECURITE).

Une attention toute particulière devra être apportée à cette étape.

Une gestion rigoureuse des profils d’autorisation doit être mis en place.

Un arbitrage rigoureux doit être apporté.

•  ASSISTANCE ET HELP-DESK.

Durant la phase de démarrage, une cellule d’aide aux utilisateurs finaux sera alors mise en place.

Ne pas oublier de ne pas « frustrer » dés le départ, les utilisateurs finaux.

•  GESTION DES GAPS.

Durant l’étude B.P.R., des décisions importantes ont été prises et le paramétrage de l’E.R.P. a été fait en conséquence.

Il faut rester dans le standard au maximum et éviter de développer des spécifiques.

En effet, il ne faut pas oublier qu’il y aura des étapes ultérieures de monter de version.

•  DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT.

Enfin, une étape trop malheureusement mal gérée.

Il faut mettre en place une gestion documentaire dés le départ, véritable épine dorsale du Projet.

Il faut tracer tous les moments clés du projet, les profils des utilisateurs, les formations, les manuels utilisateurs et toute la documentation lié au paramétrage.

FLUX ACHATS

Explication dans le détail du parcours d’une demande d’achats, transformée en Commande au travers de SAP.

1 – CREATION DA SAP

Les Demandes d’Achats (DA), sont créées dans SAP afin d’exprimer un besoin d’achat de travaux, de biens ou de services.

La création de cette DA est enregistrée au temps T0, date enregistrée dans le système SAP.

2 – PROCESSUS DE VALIDATION

La Demande d’Achat est soumis à un processus de validation dépendant de son origine et de son montant.

La Date du dernier lancement T1, est enregistrée dans le système SAP.

Le passage de la dernière étape de validation permet au Service Achats de traiter la DA.

3 – DOSSIER ACHATS

Un dossier Achat est alors créé, afin de constituer l’ensemble des éléments nécessaires à la poursuite du processus Achat (Cahier des Charges Techniques, Plans, Spécifications, Normes, etc..).

La Date d’arrivée du Dossier Achats T2, est enregistrée directement dans le Dossier Achats, par le secrétariat du Service.

4 – APPEL D’OFFRES

Le Dossier Achats est alors attribué à un acheteur.

Il vérifie la faisabilité de l’Achat, tant du point de vue délais, respect du budget autorisé, que du point de vue de la constitution du Dossier.

Puis, l’acheteur sélectionne les fournisseurs et constitue l’Appel d’Offres.

La Date de création de l’Appel d’Offres T3 est enregistrée dans le système SAP, dans le cas d’un bien, ou est reportée dans le Dossier Achats dans le cas d’une prestation.

5 – ALIGNEMENT TECHNIQUE

A la réception de l’ensemble des offres techniques, leur contenu est envoyé au service demandeur.

Il est alors procédé à l’alignement technique, étape de sélection des offres, permettant la comparaison technique des offres, la vérification de leur conformité au Cahier des Charges Techniques, et donnant lieu à la justification du classement des offres des fournisseurs, selon une grille de notation pré-établie.

La Date de réception par le Service Achats de l’alignement Technique T4, est alors renseignée dans le Dossier Achats.

6 – OUVERTURE ET ANALYSE DES OFFRES COMMERCIALES

A réception de l’alignement technique, le Service Achats procède à l’ouverture des Offres Commerciales.

Une Analyse est faite afin de vérifier la conformité des propositions commerciales par rapport aux données de l’Appel d’Offre, et un classement des offres des fournisseurs est alors dressé, soit suivant une grille de notation pré-établie multicritères, soit le cas échéant en fonction du prix.

La Date d’ouverture des Offres commerciales T5 est reportée dans le Dossier Achats.

7 – NEGOCIATION AVEC FOURNISSEUR RETENU

Une fois le Fournisseur retenu, suite aux alignements techniques et commerciaux, la Négociation peut se dérouler.

Le but de cette phase du processus Achat est d’avoir la meilleure offre économique, intégrant l’ensemble des conditions commerciales.

La date de la négociation commerciale T6 est reportée  dans le Dossier Achats.

8 – VALIDATION FINALE PROJET ACHATS

Une fois la négociation effectuée, le Projet Achats doit être présenté au décideur. Devront être présentés et argumentés les alignements techniques et commerciaux.

Le Projet Achats peut alors être validé, et le Projet Achats peut alors être transformé en Commande.

La date de validation finale T7, est enregistrée dans le Dossier Achats.

9 – COMMANDE

La Commande, document contractuel liant la Société et le Fournisseur retenu, est alors créée.

Elle est soumise également à un processus de validation, dépendant de son montant.

Une fois validée, elle est éditée et envoyée au Fournisseur.

La Date T8 de dernière validation est enregistrée dans le Système SAP, et reportée dans le Dossier Achats.

O Hospital Edmundo Vasconcelos implantou o processo da Orizon há três anos e comemora os benefícios.

[Leia mais em: http://tinyurl.com/ybsdwfo ] IT Web

Informatização de sistemas de atendimento e faturamento. Essa é a solução que o setor da saúde tem buscado para desburocratizar e agilizar o serviço de atendimento ao beneficiário e o envio de contas para suas operadoras de saúde conveniadas.

No soy muy de rankings la verdad.

Creo que es muy dificil poder establecer una métrica con la que medir unas variables comunes para este tipo de aplicaciones y que dependiendo de muchos factores, unas aplicarán mejor a un tipo de empresas y otras a otro, e incluso habrá empresas a las que ninguna aplicación de las existentes en el mercado les funciones y la mejor solución sea el desarrollo a medida.

De ahí, como ya he indicado en varias ocasiones, que el estudio previo de los requerimientos y la elaboración del RFP por parte del cliente es fundamental cuando quieren dar un paso tan importante como es la implantación de un ERP. Yo no seleccionaría ninguna herramienta sin tener claramente definidos mis procesos de negocio ya que puede darse el caso de que un proceso crítico para mi organización sea muy dificil de realizar con el ERP que seleccione.

Pero una cosa es que no me gusten los rankings y otra muy diferente es que no me haga ilusión ver que la herramienta con la que trabajo habitualmente salga bien parada en casi todos ellos , mejor eso que no que salga la última claro.

Aqui os dejo unos enlaces en los que destaca a Dynamics AX 2009 sobre todo por su facilidad de uso, posibilidades de integración con otros sistemas y colaboración entre empleado, clientes y proveedores.

http://mediaproducts.gartner.com/reprints/microsoft/vol4/article12/article12.html

http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/top-10-erp-software/

http://www.erpsoftware360.com/erp-software.htm

http://fscavo.blogspot.com/2009/06/gartner-mid-market-erp-magic-quadrant.html

Change draws hard vacuum.

As bad as things might be, whatever replaces the status quo may well be worse. Let’s say there is a 50-50 chance that change will lead to an improvement.  That means that there is a 50% chance that change will leave them just as bad as they already are or make them worse – irrespective of any promises made regarding it.

Pity the naïf who believes that things can’t get any worse.

Oh, BTW, “not making things worse” is not the equilibrium point.  The equilibrium point is somewhere in the “making things better” zone because something has to balance the pain of the change.  So, to be worth pursuing, a change has to produce an appreciable improvement.

So, it is both natural and rational to be suspicious of change. Creatures in the wild when confronted with something new will avoid it (or attack it).   Embracing change for the sake of change is unnatural and, arguably, irrational.  Mutatio gratia mutationis isn’t for the birds – the birds would fly away.

The Declaration of Independence includes the immortal line: “… all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.”

As bad as things might be, the known is usually preferred to the unknown: better the devil you know, dontcha know, than the one you don’t, you know?   As bad as things might be … well, that’s the way it has always been around here.

Example. After wandering in the desert for awhile (like years), the Israelites grumbled that slavery in Egypt wasn’t really all that bad compared to … wandering around the desert … for years.  Hmmm … Lesser mortals than Moses are fortunate not to need to lead their people out of Egypt.  Without his great gifts … and Upper-Level Management support … Moses would not have been able to encourage his people to leave their servile, albeit familiar state … for a Promise.

Bringing this back to the present … starting a major IT project may seem to be the equivalent of parting the Red Sea. And project execution often seems to be like 40 years of wandering in the desert.  But it only seems that way because it is new and unfamiliar … and the organization that is changing is unprepared for the change.

Heaven sent the promised land
Looks alright from where I stand
Cause I’m the man on the outside looking in
Waiting on the first step
Show where the key is kept
Point me down the right line because it’s time
To let me in from the cold
Turn my lead into gold
Cause there’s chill wind blowing in my soul
And I think I’m growing old
Flash the readies
Wot’s…uh the deal?
Got to make to the next meal
Try to keep up with the turning of the wheel.
Mile after mile
Stone after stone
Turn to speak but you’re alone
Million mile from home you’re on your own
…

– Pink Floyd

Change, even fundamental change, should be undertaken when a rational assessment of the situation warrants. Recognizing when it is warranted can be challenging, but let’s take a stab at it.  Let’s take as an example a small-/mid-sized business that has developed a hodge-podge of tools (Excel, Access, VB Scripts, etc.).

Often, such a business starts to suspect that there must be a better way. A recognition that daily frustrations are mounting, caused by institutional friction and inefficiencies. Noticing that orders are lost. experiencing that sinking feeling that nobody knows what is going on … eventually, noticing that customers are lost.

ERP and its manufacturing cousin MRP are a mature technologies. So, it is – or should be – relatively easy to catch the vision of how things can/should work better with better technology. Look around at the companies that have done it. There are many.

Putting such a system in place for a small-/mid-sized business is likely the most significant IT project that such a business will attempt.  It is doable … but it takes preparation, planning, and perseverance. As daunting as the journey may be, when it becomes necessary to modernize then it should be done – or risk stagnation … and its consequences …

More anon.

Oh gawd! WWIII is coming!!!!

A partir da implementação de um sistema específico para o setor de ensino, o CIO da companhia conseguiu integrar todas as informações para alunos, professores e demais funcionários em um único portal.

[Leia mais em: http://tinyurl.com/ych9g9s ] Revista CIO

Quando foi contratado para liderar a área de TI da Universidade de San Diego, na Califórnia (Estados Unidos), há cerca de três anos, Christopher Wessells deparou-se com o desafio de integrar as fontes de informação disponíveis para os 7,2 mil alunos e 2 mil funcionários da instituição em um portal.

One of the best ways of getting a better insight about SAP solutions is to follow an official SAP training. If you search in the web there are many SAP Training providers available today. You may note that some of them provide SAP Training Online courses for your convenience.

As you already know, SAP is providing many different solutions for medium and large enterprises. Before you engage in SAP Training, it is recommended to spend some time to get familiar with different solutions provided by SAP. Some solutions are greater in demand while some others are not. So finding the area you want to get trained is not that straightforward. Start small and eventually you will get there. Best is to choose one of the component in SAP Business suite such as Customer Relationship Management, Human Capital Management, etc. Then gradually move into the other components as you desire.

Once you have the base, you can move into the advance topics such as SAP NetWeaver Business Intelligence. SAP AG describes SAP BI as “unites a powerful business intelligence platform, a comprehensive set of tools, planning and simulation capabilities, and data-warehousing functionality – delivered through sophisticated and user-centric enterprise portal technology to provide a coherent, comprehensive solution”.

SAP Business Intelligence is one of the high demand areas these days. SAP BI Training courses are now offered by many different certified partners. Knowledge of basic data warehousing, business administration and cross-functional processes are important prerequisites of the SAP BI Training. If you come to this level by gradually following the functional processes of SAP ERP you will grasp SAP BI quickly.

Getting trained in SAP is fun as long as you have the desire and motivation. If you are grasping the SAP ecosystem gradually you will find how easy it is to master in SAP. If you are from a software technical background, you may find easy in grasping certain advance concepts like SAP BI. Even you are not, you still can be comfortable with a properly structured course. Make sure to cover the prerequisites before attending to any of the SAP training course to harness their best value.

As you might already know, SAP is one of the world’s largest ERP solutions provider specially caters for medium to large enterprises. SAP ERP caters many different functional areas which are essential parts of any medium to large organization. These include Financials, Logistics, Human Resource Management, Asset Management, etc. An individual who has thorough understanding on theses SAP ERP components possesses many skills. To name a few, one of the key skills is the domain knowledge of these different areas which are paramount in any organization. Since SAP ERP consolidates the industry best practices to their product implementation, an individual can gain the knowledge and experience about the industry best practices of handling these domain processes.

Best way to get this knowledge and experience though a proper, well structured SAP Training. You may choose SAP Training Online over attending classes due to its convenient. Since you need to make an investment in pursuing SAP Training, one of the key points to consider is the training provider. If you search over the web you can find many providers offering SAP training, but make sure to verify whether the provider is actually a SAP certified partner in providing official SAP courses.  You might have to pay some extra bucks, but the training and the recognition is guaranteed. Also it will put a solid base for you to pursue the SAP certification. You may also want to finalize in which area you want to get the SAP Training. You may consider one of the SAP EPR functional areas as mentioned above or some other specific advance areas like SAP BI Training (Business Intelligence).

Once you successfully complete SAP training, next step would be to focus on SAP certification. Don’t wait too long to complete the certification after the SAP training is over. Have a plan and go for it as soon as you feel that you are ready. SAP Certification will help you to prove your SAP knowledge and also help others to recognize you as a true SAP genius. Your CV will be well recognized by potential employers when they see the SAP certification in your CV.