Category: legacy application modernization

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Mo Bigger Data

Losing valuable business data is a terrible thing. It is worse when it’s done on purpose. Every business faces changes in accounting or operational systems over the lifetime of the company and these changes more frequently than not include losing data of some type. And that means losing business intelligence.

The frustrations of changing business systems are compounded the further into the business life cycle the change comes. Much of the historic intelligence of the business is derived from the earlier days of operation. This is data which reflects the stages and activities of the business over time. When a business reaches a point where data volume or list sizes force a systems change, much of that early historic data is ultimately abandoned. There is so much data to load into a new system that the task often proves too daunting for the company, so valuable historic detail information is lost and summary information is loaded into the new system.

As a business matures, and for the business to mature in a healthy manner, specific and detailed information must be captured and analyzed. Software addressing a broad view of the business, offering only generalized functionality and basic process support, will not provide a growing business with the operational support and resultant business intelligence needed at this level.

For example, a manufacturing business needs to fully understand and manage the manufacturing processes and materials supply chain to ensure profitability and consistent product quality. A retailer needs to know which products sell in which markets to ensure product stock and availability to key customers. And all this information is time-critical if the business is to make necessary adjustments in time to benefit from them.

In the end, it is the demonstration of well-defined processes, deep insight into the business operational metrics and financial performance, and the ability to effectively and accurately report on this information that creates a basis for provable business value.

Mendelson Consulting understands how important it is to not just collect the right data to support various processes, but to use that data to better understand operational and financial performance. As operations grow, so does the need to collect data from a variety of possible sources, from phone systems to time clocks and more. Even getting data out of the accounting system can be a challenge, but there is tremendous value in having transparency of business data.

From data warehouses to data lakes, Power BI and data visualization, we help businesses access their information and develop reporting that not only informs but helps deliver greater insight which leads to improvements in performance and profitability.

When information is power, we help owners and stakeholders gain mo power by being mo better informed.

jm bunny feetMake sense?

J

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Software and the Business Lifecycle

Every year, roughly 4.5 million US small businesses are started. The fuel which drives the American economy, small businesses account for more than 99% of all businesses in the US. And job creation happens in small business, which means growth also happens here. Growth happens at every stage of a business if the business is moving forward. From just starting out to achieving large enterprise status, the lifecycle of a business carries with it a multitude of learning moments.

As businesses implement solutions to manage accounting and operational needs, there is often less consideration for the agility of the solution to meet changing and expanding business needs than there is for affordability and the immediacy of the implementation. Small business owners frequently adopt solutions because they fit the needs now, not understanding what may happen when the business outgrows the solution. Sometimes a product meets the functionality requirements quite nicely yet can’t handle the increasing volume. These are among the issues facing growing businesses and forcing stakeholders to make more buying decisions regarding the software supporting the operation.

Each stage of a business where functional or process requirements change drives to another software buying decision. This buying decision is most often met with angst, as considerations include not only cost, but data conversion vs re-loading, new process or system design and setup, user training, proofing the system (running parallel?) and a host of other issues, not the least of which is the business benefit to be derived.

If information is power, too many businesses are losing that power when they migrate from one software product to another.

Businesses often lose valuable historical information by leaving transactional and other detail data behind when they change from one business software system to another.  This should be an area of focus and key discussion point when any change to systems is considered.  After all, the insight and business intelligence gathered over the years was likely instrumental in helping the small business grow to become a successful big business and will continue to be important for years to come.

Maximizing a return on investment is crucial with any business expenditure, whether it is in people, processes or systems.

The selection of software to support the operation plays a most important role in finding that value return, as the software is what empowers the people, guides the processes and drives the systems’ foundation. Knowing the crucial positioning of the software selection in supporting business growth and recognizing that future changes may risk loss of valuable business intelligence, the importance of the initial selection becomes that much greater.

Mendelson Consulting will help you review your business and processes, building an understanding of what functionality needs to be supported and how the business intends to operate. For businesses looking to take the next step, we help identify where automation can improve efficiency and productivity. With that understanding, we help business owners and stakeholders navigate through the overwhelming landscape of solutions and approaches to find the right one for your business.

At every step and stage of business growth, Mendelson Consulting looks ahead to what’s next, helping our clients plan for the future.

While we don’t have a crystal ball, our experience coupled with industry and product knowledge allows us to make recommendations which minimize loss of valuable business intelligence while maximizing the ROI of the software which it informs.

jm bunny feetMake Sense?

J

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Write it Once – The Value of Integration

It’s amazing how much time and energy continues to be spent on duplicate data entry and re-keying information generated by one system into another.  Human-based data entry is prone to errors, takes time, and carries with it the burdens of employee costs and resources.  It is a problem that businesses of all types have battled for years even though enabling solutions have been around for a while. 

Methods of integrating applications and data have existed for quite some time, and in recent years these methods have expanded to include a wide variety of platforms and more open standards-based approaches.  Even in the small business world, business owners using traditionally limited software products can enjoy sophisticated extensions and integration of their applications and business data.

To provide a simple example of the problem: when an individual writes a check, that check must be recorded for several purposes including the recording of the cost or expense as well as the reduction of funds in the bank account.  When a product is sold to a customer, inventory is relieved, sales are increased, accounts receivable or cash is increased, costs of goods sold are experienced, and customer activity is captured.  All of this information must be recorded, and the activity accounted for throughout the financial and operational systems and can represent a tremendous burden if not automated. This also means that data exists in a variety of places, increasing the challenges of information collecting and reporting.

 Cloud-based integration and infrastructure services such as DBSync and Microsoft Azure enable seamless collection, transformation, aggregation and storage of business data. Whether linking accounting with sales CRM or pushing financial and operational data to an Azure data warehouse for analytics, Noobeh and DBSync provide the data engine and the infrastructure to put it all together.

A small business owner’s situation offers a direct illustration. He sells computer parts through an ecommerce website.  Orders from this website are emailed to his order operators, who then turn around and re-key the orders into their accounting system where the inventory is also tracked.  Because of the increasing number of sales orders and product purchase orders to enter on a regular basis, there were three operators working in the department responsible for making sure website orders make it into the accounting system. Orders were frequently missed or misplaced, entry errors caused problems in accounting and product delivery, customer satisfaction went down, and the cost of handling web orders was increasing.

By implementing a single software solution, the company was able to not just address the current problem, but was set up to seamlessly increase business without increasing headcount. The solution was a system which takes transaction data from the ecommerce system and imports it into the accounting/ERP system. This single step allowed the business to reduce and redirect personnel costs, improve accuracy and timeliness of data entry, and increase customer satisfaction as well as overall business performance.

In even a small company, one piece of information may be used in a variety of ways and in a variety of systems. This complexity is found in simple business models as well as larger and more complex enterprises, revealing the value of integration solutions and automation tools at every level of operation.

Mendelson Consulting and Noobeh cloud services recognize that every business needs the right information at the right time to operate effectively. Our expert teams help businesses implement the solutions which bring business data together, empowering workers to be more productive and giving stakeholders the decision-support tools they need.

jm bunny feetMake Sense?

J

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PowerBI, Data Warehouses and Combining QuickBooks Enterprise Data with Other Data

Businesses of all types are looking for ways to discover more useful information hidden in their systems. With a desire to implement business intelligence tools such as Microsoft PowerBI, companies need the ability to combine and analyze data coming from a variety of sources. The data can help businesses inform their conclusions rather than leaving it up to “gut”, supporting decision making in all areas of the company.

The tools for exposing and combining data are many. Enterprise ETL (Extract/Transform/Load) products have been available for many years. When it comes to SMBs and the applications they utilize, the options aren’t quite as prevalent nor as powerful. In most cases, businesses are left to working with data exports and a bunch of linked Excel worksheets.

Noobeh understands that businesses need their data available for integration, analysis and reporting. Noobeh are experts in deploying SMB applications such as QuickBooks Enterprise desktop, Acctivate Inventory, Sage ERP, MISys Manufacturing and more, all on the Microsoft Azure platform, positioning the applications and their data perfectly for use in business analytics and data warehouses.

Data warehouses and data lakes are growing in popularity because there is simply too much disparate data present in any growing business to effectively analyze it one data silo at a time. The number and variety of data sources in a single small business can be far larger than the company realizes until it attempts to capture and report on that data.

Any approach to data warehousing should consider the potential number and variety of data sources involved. This is among the reasons for Noobeh electing to work with Microsoft Azure and PowerBI. The Azure platform provides the infrastructure services and platform tools to enable data connections needed, powering the data warehouse and exposing the data to PowerBI and other reporting and analysis tools.

Even QuickBooks Enterprise desktop data can be extracted into its own standalone data warehouse, connected to a broader data warehouse and then combined with other business data. When businesses can combine data from their various solutions, even those which may still be desktop-bound, the power of the information and intelligence contained in it can be revealed.

Whether the purpose is process improvement, performance monitoring, management reporting or combined operational intelligence, collecting and storing the data is the first step. Noobeh is there to help make it happen.

jm bunny feetMake sense?

J

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Deadline Approaching for QuickBooks Desktop Users

All QuickBooks Desktop Users Are Required to Upgrade to a Current Subscription Model by Sep 30. Yes, the time has come to buy in to the software subscription model or lose access to your books. But at least you get to keep using QuickBooks desktop software, which is worth a lot of you’re already invested in QuickBooks.

Effective Sep 30, 2024, all existing users of QuickBooks Desktop Pro, Premier, Mac, and Enterprise Solutions v21 (and earlier) must transition to the annual subscription model. For Pro and Premier users, this is a short reprieve. Previously Intuit had announced a July deadline for renewing Pro/Premier licenses. After the now-September deadline, there won’t be any new sales of Pro or Premier licenses. With some of the recent price increases it almost becomes a moot point, as QB Enterprise is now priced similarly (less?) than Premier.

Something notable in all of this is that versions sold under non-subscription one-time licenses will be discontinued entirely. That is just fine for many users, however, as the much older versions don’t “phone home” to authorize the license, so they can keep working. The downside to that is vulnerability. Outdated and unpatched software is more vulnerable to risk than software that is actively updated to protect against various exploits. Best practices demand keeping software updated and patched. Being out of support with your business financial and accounting software is not a position you want to find yourself in.

Starting Oct 1, 2024, QuickBooks Enterprise will be the only QuickBooks Desktop version available for new purchases. For very small businesses, this is going to be a challenge as QB Enterprise is not as affordable as Pro was. These businesses may find that QuickBooks Online works for them, but they will not only miss out on a great deal of QB Desktop functionality that is not present in Online, but they will also be locked into the QuickBooks Online service model of receiving product updates without announcement, not having a backup of your company data, getting bombarded with a revolving door of add-on apps, and having literally no control whatsoever of where your data lives and how Intuit and its companies are accessing it.

If you are using an older version of QuickBooks Desktop, upgrading to the subscription model before the deadline is crucial to avoid any interruption of services.

What does this mean?

  1. Service Discontinuation:
    Failure to upgrade will result in the discontinuation of services such as QuickBooks Desktop Payroll, Payments, Online Backup, online banking, system updates, security patches, and live support. This could potentially disrupt your business operations.
  2. Immediate Action Needed:
    To ensure uninterrupted business operations, we strongly recommend planning your upgrade without delay.
  3. Advantages of Upgrading:
    Intuit encourages existing Desktop subscribers to upgrade to the current version (Desktop 2024) to benefit from the latest features, improvements, security updates, and bug fixes. Updated software also improves compatibility with current versions of Windows, Microsoft Office applications, Gmail services and other solutions that use modern methods of account protection and authentication.

At that time, you may also want to consider your alternatives to how and where you run your QuickBooks Desktop software.

Intuit offers “cloud access” with their QuickBooks Enterprise licensing, but this option is not your only or best option for running your QuickBooks Desktop/Enterprise software in the cloud.

With the bad guys (hackers) and malware being as prevalent as they are, businesses must be vigilant in securing their business and financial information. Shared hosting platforms where service providers allow many users from many businesses to operate on the same servers simply cannot provide the level of security or protection most businesses need.

Noobeh QBonAzure offers some limited shared hosting, but only for customers that have limited requirements and only for a few users. When a company needs more than just “vanilla” hosting for their valuable financial data, we strongly recommend going the private route and having your own cloud server.

Not just a “dedicated” server in a service provider’s network, Noobeh works only in the private Microsoft account of each customer, ensuring that there is absolutely no sharing of any resources with other customers. This allows us to build a system that works specifically for your business, with all the applications and services needed to support all aspects of operation. There aren’t different levels of service or service packages; each system is built and sized for the customer’s unique requirements, and we don’t charge per-application or silly things like that. You need what you need to run your business, and we host that.

Connect with us if you have any questions or need assistance during this transition. We will help you navigate the changes and understand how best to proceed for your business and circumstances, engaging with the right products and services to ensure continuity and set you up for greater future success.

jm bunny feetMake Sense?

J

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Enhancing Business Insight: Noobeh Cloud Services and Azure-Based Solutions

Technology is evolving and so are our ways of using it. While the rules of accounting haven’t changed for years, the solutions we use to do the work have changed a lot. Yet there remain many businesses that haven’t yet embraced the idea of fully digital workflows, integrating and automating how data moves through the “system” to provide a comprehensive view of the business and how it is performing.

This is where accountants and bookkeepers can best serve their clients, by helping them implement the platforms and solutions which transform operations and provide greater insight into these areas.

Over 20 years ago, a technology model was developed which allowed businesses and the accounting professionals who serve them to work directly and collaboratively in the clients’ accounting system. By hosting QuickBooks and Sage desktop products on host servers, small business users and their accountants could both access the software and the data in real time.

This new approach was a boon for accountants, bookkeepers and others working with small business clients as it not only enabled closer work, but also provided those advisors an opportunity to do more – and more complex – work with the client. Yet many platforms and working models created barriers to broadening the scope of service or access to client systems, limiting to just basic accounting products like QuickBooks, and not effectively addressing the rest of the business need.

As technology has evolved, so have these transformations.

More accounting professionals understand the benefits as well as the necessity of moving from analog to digital workflows, removing manual entry and improving efficiency and accuracy of data. Yet this improvement doesn’t require changing accounting software and undoing years of learning and business knowledge. Rather, the platforms and connections must be the primary focus, replacing the manual with automation and smoothing out the bumps where data isn’t flowing at all. If the system isn’t in place to handle the complete flow of the data, there is a break. Like a pipe leaking water, this break results in data loss – which is also loss of business intelligence.

A key to all of this is the consideration of where the data ultimately resides. When business data exists in closed silos – whether web-based software or closed hosting platform – it takes a comprehensive approach to collection, storage and analysis. This is among the benefits to be derived from the modern cloud and Noobeh’s Azure-based hosting approach.

Noobeh’s hosting is not just about the desktop or the applications.

The cloud platform, and Azure in particular, also provides resources for data analysis and business intelligence, workflow and data flow automations, improved security and identity management, IoT and computing on the network edge.

For professionals looking to evolve their practices by helping clients go beyond basic recordkeeping and reporting, it’s time to delve into the operational details, data flows and development of real business intelligence and insight. Noobeh Cloud Services and Mendelson Consulting have the platforms and the supporting services to help bring it all together, improving profitability and performance of their clients through the intelligent application of technology.

jm bunny feetMake Sense?

J

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