DMC Accounting + Technology - Newsletters - 2008 July / August Edition

A Message from Doris: Technology = Toys

I love my gadgets and tech toys. If a technology simply solves your problem, then you should implement it. Growing up, I enjoyed “Get Smart”. Agent Maxwell always seemed to have the device that set him apart, such as the phone in the shoe. Or, like “MacGyver” who could save the day by creating a weapon from a rubber band and a bottle cap.

The Coolest tech gadget I’ve seen lately is the rebirth of lock keys. What exactly are lock keys (i.e. tokens)? They look like much like a thumb drive or a keychain with a USB. In the past locks were predominately seen in larger organizations. A lock is used to log on to your network and connect remotely to your laptop. The device itself has a rotating password that keeps unauthorized people out and prevents security breach. In other words, you need your KEY to log on to your corporate network.

Another cool gadget is my kid’s iPod Nano, the new millennium super gadget. I know, they been around a bit, but they are real cool. The Nano has add-on that allows it to play the music on the radio and hold over 1,000 songs. Cool for long trips as I no longer need to stack CDs in my car which on average holds only 8 tracks.

Both these examples of new gadgets illustrate that old and new technology can work well together. Nano plays on my car radio and network locks fit snuggly into any laptop USB. The more user-friendly a gadget is, the better the chance it will be a big hit because we don't have to learn new skills to use our old devices. My trusted radio and USB's have been around long enough so we all master it.

In the heyday of IBM the product development team really understood that concept to the perfection. IBM was able to add devices that attached to their old products (such as port a punch cards) that worked with pre-existing keyboards. Combining what you know well helped drive new innovative product sales that helped the user. In both gadget examples, both added new “cool” functionality while utilizing what we already knew, decreasing the learning curve. Thus, why I love gadgets and have the gadget bug pretty bad. Also, I like them if they are nifty looking/designed ergonomically.

Gadgets on my wish list (none of these are ideas or answers):

Centralized/ integrated logins (got too many)
One database that works for all softwares
Return to One phone number, can’t say how that would look but one phone number
Video Cell phones (close on this one)- Better voice recognition applications- TVs and computers merge (another close one)

Gadgets that changed my day or “made work easier”:

Citrix online: a great/ simple web remote support training tool. You only need to know the web and e-mail (some firms use Logmein, go to my pc and other alternatives)
Voicemail or Voice over IP goes to my outlook box as an audio file - Texting is a bit simpler than emailing sometimes
Garmin, Garmin and more Garmin (traveler’s love this)
Projector technology
Trio, Blackberry, Palm or like kind solution
Wi-Fi and Airport

Gadgets that have “come and gone” or are phasing out:

Gigapet
Data watches (brief life)
Dial up
Lotus and Word Perfect
Serial ports
Non flat monitors
Filing Cabinets

It’s hard to say what my wish list will look like, but ideas and technology will continue to be invented and the way I see it is that simpler is better.

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The Value of Accounting Software Training by John K. Pidgeon

With the increased costs of high-end accounting software, long-term benefits of professional training are sometimes overlooked by management. When planning a software training initiative, careful thought should be given to the long-term benefits of professional training, some of which include fewer accounting mistakes, faster billing and collections, increased forecasting ability, and more efficient project management, just to name a few.

Regardless of the staff’s level of experience or software, any new software decision must come with a detailed training initiative. Proper use of the software will allow the accounting staff, primarily, to operate with greater efficiency and guide the users of the financial information in their decision making processes.

Ultimately, the return on training investment should be measurable. DMC provides training on various accounting software programs that will enable your company to yield a greater return in the long run. Short-sighted decisions now will increase costs later on. For example, many companies neglect appropriate software training for its staff and hope the accounting department will just “pick it up” as they go. This is primarily due to the inability of management to measure the financial reward of new accounting software.

In conclusion, DMC, a certified consultant on many accounting software packages, will demonstrate the benefit of improved processes, time savings, and other software features often overlooked by companies who tend to focus on revenue-generating projects only.

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Product Life Cycle - Advantage Phased Out by Guillaume Deflers

As you all know by now, Deltek announced some time ago that Advantage will be entering its last stage before being phased out in 2009. So what does that mean for you the users, many of whom have become experts? This past year, we at DMC offered you advice on what to do. Should you go to Vision? Perhaps, but if not, we’ve suggested some alternatives. In the end it has to be your company’s choice – after all, you will be the ones using it every day.

We have found that companies, on average, switch accounting/ project management software every 10 years. Why? Quite frequently it is obsolescence or merger/acquisition. The decision to switch software may be an easy one – however, what to switch to may not be so easy. Therefore, it’s important that this decision making process include input from the principals, accounting staff, project managers, as well as staff who will simply enter timesheets.

To help you in this decision process, we can narrow down your options to three:

Status Quo: That is, do nothing. We would not advise this, but it is a possibility. If you are not using the payroll module, then wait until Advantage breaks. If budgets are tight, cancel your maintenance plan to save some extra money and the day it breaks, call us up and we will tweak it to put you back in business. With this option you need to make sure you are making backups all the time because you never know when it can break. Keep in mind, however, that you are only pushing back the decision process – waiting too long could cost you more in the long run.

Upgrade to Deltek Vision: Many of you are concerned with data migration and want to stay with the same vendor that you have been using forever. This argument is legitimate. If convenience is a major point, then make the jump. Vision is a flagship product in the AEC industry which will enter its sixth rendition/ version early next year. We use it, implement it, train on it and we like the product and its offered modules.

Upgrade to an Alternative: If you consider the change of the software like any other change which would include a learning curve, then do your homework and look around. At DMC Accounting + Technology, we also work closely with software companies such as Axium with Ajera Portfolio and BillQuick from BQE. Both systems have significant advantages to Deltek Vision, and perhaps for YOUR company they are a perfect match.

The best advice I can give you is to take the time to evaluate your options and if you need assistance with that, feel free to contact us. In the meantime, except if you are selecting option 1, you need to start having those preliminary discussions about the change of software very soon. Be prepared so your company has a better understanding of what you are looking for and what you’re getting into. To avoid surprises develop a detailed budget, do not limit your estimation to the software cost, but be sure to include the installation, training, consulting and necessary hardware, as well.