Finding the right partnership takes time and is essential to a successful transition. First and foremost, determine which communication strategy is best. Then, communicate what the important stages in migration are and how they will work: rehosting, replatforming, repurchasing, refactoring, and retiring.

Benefits of Customer Communication

If you are an IT professional or project manager, it is beneficial to communicate with the client on details of the migration early in the planning phase and ongoing throughout the effort. Benefits of early and constant customer communication include:

• Identify potential cloud migration problems before they impact the business.
• Establish and maintain trust between parties for a more successful transition.
• Ensure the client’s needs are met and nothing is left on the table.
• Retain customer retention for future work, updates, and improvements.

Avoiding over-communication

With communication comes the possibility of over-communicating and potentially drowning a client in repetitive details, including some they may not need or want to know. Think unsolicited sales pitches with follow-up email campaigns that increase in intensity and annoyance over a short period of time.

To avoid over-communicating with a client, tailor the communications to hit timely and with just enough detail and advance notice of things happening or action items needed by them, so they can plan and respond within an agreed upon timeframe. Keep the tone friendly, professional, and informative, stating exactly what is happening and when, what is needed, and what to expect next.

There is no need for bold text, repetitive questions, and begging or pleading. Following up a meeting or call with a summary email or note is sufficient, and even a quick reminder the week or day of a deadline or required action may be all that is necessary. A lack of response, while frustrating, may also require an additional ping or phone call to make sure your contact did get your message and is aware of the priority and consequences of delay.

Consequences of Not Communicating Clearly

Lack of effective communication tends to be rooted in inexperienced or overworked individuals who can inadvertently sabotage an important job or client relationship. The results of poor communication to clients and even across teams can be exponentially bad. Top of the list consequences to cloudy communication can mean:

A break in trust with a dedicated client

One bad experience can cut off a relationship instantly, and word-of-mouth and undocumented reviews can hurt an organization for years to come.

Missed deadlines

Being late or missing a deadline or milestone erodes trust, and the pain rolls downhill affecting other people and teams, pushing out the timeline and even the budget of big migration projects. Poor planning and lack of enough lead time for those involved in steps along the way can cause shockwaves throughout the duration of the rest of the workstream.

Customer confusion

Lack of planning or of sharing details or knowledge transfer can leave a client in the dark and make them feel unsure of what is happening when and what the next steps are. If they don’t know what is occurring and when, it is impossible for them to plan and prepare on their side for what is to come. They won’t always ask the questions or even know what to ask, having put trust in the process and the partnership.

Lost business

An exiting client relationship means a loss of projected money and abandoned services. A waste of time and effort for all is the result of a bad experience fueled by poor communication and execution of vital services a business relies upon.

Best Practices for Communicating With Customers

While each client will have their own communication preferences, it’s important to understand what those preferences are in order to effectively communicate with them and maintain their trust as a business partner. Consider these five best practices used by successful businesses when planning and executing your client communication strategy.

• Communicate proactively, providing the most relevant information up front and early to set the tone and experience off to a good start.
• Acknowledge and address problems as they arise, and don’t wait for them to fix themselves.
• Personalize communications and remain consistent in tone and voice. Make them feel like you are working with them specifically and avoid using templates that can feel impersonal and insincere or that have been used before.
• Be clear and concise in what you inform about or ask for; vague directions or updates will lead to confusion and delay.
• Collaborate on the best way to relay information and how often. Clients differ in their approach to work and their ability to respond and act. Take the time to learn their specific way of working, and culture and tailor it to the communication plan you are creating.

Covering all the bases of clear and relevant communication with a client early in the process of any project ensures the best outcome for all. When in doubt with a new client or customer contact, ask them. Come up with a custom communication plan together that keeps them in the know and keeps your IT team moving along to successfully deliver a highly anticipated service that results in receiving rave reviews as well as repeat business and stellar recommendation to others.

The post Communicating Cloud Migration to Customers appeared first on TechnologyAdvice.

• Neither of these two CRMs is objectively better than the other—and most user decisions will come down to the unique business needs.
• If you want or need an on-premises deployment, a Microsoft Dynamics 365 plan is the only way to go, as Salesforce is cloud-based.

One of the long-standing rivalries in business IT is Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM vs Salesforce, two leading customer relationship management (CRM) vendors whose solutions are strikingly hard to differentiate. There are certainly other megavendors that account for large portions of the CRM market, but because these two are so comparable in price, target business type, user interface, and experience as well as their ability to provide seamless deployment options and other comparable features, they constantly end up pitted against each other.

The world is full of famous rivalries that divide conversations and communities. In the end, a lot of them probably don’t impact everyday life. But, the software you choose for your business, on the other hand, can determine how efficiently your team of users work, the level of service your customers receive, and ultimately whether or not your business grows.

While many companies already use Microsoft Teams and would lean toward other Microsoft software vendors based on familiarity, others will make their decision based on which CRM tool has the right features.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM vs. Salesforce Comparison Chart

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We’ve taken an in-depth look at these two CRM systems, and this side-by-side product comparison gives an overview of the major features and capabilities.

In the quest to see who wins in the battle between Microsoft Dynamics vs Salesforce, the best place to start is at the beginning. Microsoft Dynamics 365 (commonly mistakenly labeled Microsoft Dynamic) and Salesforce are both huge names in the CRM space, but they won’t be the right fit for every user and every company. To make your search for CRM software easier, here’s a short list of some of the top CRM platforms, with a focus on CRM functionality to support your business.

Click here to download this table as an image.

Use our video comparing Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics CRM to easily share an overview of the two products with your decision team.

Systems and Pricing

With both vendors, there are a number of ways to assemble the right system.

The nucleus of Salesforce’s CRM system is the Salesforce Sales Cloud, a web-based application that helps companies leverage multichannel relationships for business growth. In addition to Sales Cloud, Salesforce also offers Service Cloud for customer service and case management and machine learning and automation through their Marketing Cloud applications.

Businesses have the option of choosing any of these individual modules or bundling them together and paying a lump sum per month for the full platform. Marketing Cloud or the B2B marketing automation software Pardot is cost-intensive as an add-on, but Salesforce does offer a Sales Cloud and Service Cloud bundle at a more comparable industry price.

The packaging for Microsoft Dynamics 365 is a bit different. Microsoft has expanded their business process and business operations options significantly over the past several years to allow companies to scale the products from a simple CRM up to ERP capabilities. Their core CRM package—Dynamics 365 Sales—focuses on Salesforce automation and helping teams find and close opportunities, and it comes as a single tool or can be bundled with other business operations tools.

The Customer Engagement plan included in Dynamics 365 bundles sales, service, field service, project automation, marketing, and social engagement tools. And the Unified Operations Plan brings together finance and operations, talent management, and retail features. The full CRM tool platform combines all of the separate features into the Dynamics 365 tool.

We examined Salesforce vs. Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM on the basis of their sales + service editions (Salesforce Sales and Cloud capability bundle; Dynamics Customer Engagement Plan).

What are the Similarities Between Microsoft Dynamics CRM vs. Salesforce?

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The core feature sets for both MS Dynamics CRM and Salesforce sales and service systems are extremely similar. Both products can easily handle contact and account management, social customer service, field service, territory management, and sales forecasting. This similarity can probably be attributed to the fact that these vendors know each other’s products very well and have an “anything you can do, I can do better” relationship.

Both systems also offer their own app marketplaces, where you can choose from thousands of additional business tools that extend your CRM platform’s usability or better align it with your industry. Since they’re primarily licensed in software-as-a-service versions, Salesforce and MS Dynamics can scale in both directions depending on your functionality needs and business size; although, they’re more commonly used by large or rapidly-growing companies.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM vs Salesforce: What are the Differences?

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Platform

Salesforce was built from the ground up to operate as a cloud CRM application. That’s great if you’re interested in storing your data on a remote server and using browser-based and mobile-ready software, but not so great if you’d rather own the license outright and host the software on your own servers.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 is a little more flexible when it comes to customization and implementation. They offer Sales and Service in a fully cloud-based edition, while other options in the 365 universe like Finance and Operations come with optional on-premises versions. The move to mostly cloud-hosted versions of the product came about in the last few years as more companies rely on public and private cloud hosting and fewer demand on-premises server boxes.

Integrations and elasticity

Usually, the general consensus is that Salesforce has the upper hand when it comes to a solution that addresses integration, building your CRM out, speeding up CRM implementation, or optimizing the platform for use in specific industries. There are over 2,600 apps available in the Salesforce AppExchange including integration with the Salesforce marketing cloud. Salesforce also has its own partner program and connected platforms, which helps businesses and in-house developers build custom solutions on the Salesforce platform.

The Microsoft AppSource has invested heavily in app connections and is gaining on Salesforce’s selection. The larger Microsoft CRM platform also offers connections to Microsoft Power BI and PowerApps, software that lets teams use this native integration to turn their data and current connections into custom apps. Your company’s current investment in Microsoft software solutions really might win the fight for you in terms of integrations and flexibility, especially if your team already has custom Microsoft apps running the business.

Salesforce does connect to several Microsoft apps, but the native integration and connections you would get from Dynamics 365 have their advantages. However, if your team is looking for connections with lots of different apps and software, Salesforce can integrate well with most third-party apps.

Features

The 2015 update of Microsoft Dynamics CRM raised the bar in several feature areas, and Microsoft’s investment in automation since then has improved the Engagement Plan tools for Sales and Service. Automated features and AI help sales teams better understand their customers, improve customer experience as well as relations, know the best time to send an email, and monitor social channels better than ever before. And now that Microsoft owns LinkedIn, they’ve stepped up social selling features to include a direct connection to the business social platform.

However, there are still a few things Salesforce can do that Dynamics can’t, such as sales performance management, partner management, and data governance tools. Depending on your company’s size, data needs, and global reach, the lack of these features in Dynamics may or may not be deal-breakers for you:

• Data governance tools help you cleanse and de-duplicate your contact records and sales entries, which can be an important asset if you have more than a few data entry points (web forms, contact centers, onsite/retail locations, e-commerce). Governance is available through a Microsoft Azure database, but this implementation may be too complicated for some organizations.
• Partner management is for larger organizations with outsourced contact centers or regional product resellers. It helps management track operations remotely and gives third-party agents access to system content, customer databases, and product information.
• Performance management helps coaches and managers incentivize sales achievement through KPI monitoring, rewards and recognition tools, and built-in feedback loops.

Artificial and automated intelligence

Some of the features that really set Microsoft Dynamics Engagement and Salesforce apart from the rest of the CRM pack are those related to artificial intelligence (AI) and automated intelligence. Both Salesforce and Microsoft have the enterprise-level resources available to build or acquire AI tools that help make their sales and service tools smarter.

Microsoft AI tools are integrated with the Dynamics 365 product in both the Sales and Service modules, providing natural language parsing and intelligent sales predictions. As these tools increase the speed of business applications for many companies, you’ll see AI rolled out to more Microsoft tools.

Salesforce Einstein AI uses artificial intelligence learning algorithms to understand each company’s particular selling habits and suggests improvements. When implemented on the service and marketing campaigns and tools, Einstein can suggest answers to customer questions or guide marketers to the most effective strategies. The tool can run seamlessly with Salesforce, but it is currently an add-on cost.

Choosing Between Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM vs Salesforce

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Neither of these two CRMs is objectively better than the other—and most user decisions will come down to the unique business needs. Both tools offer industry-leading features and a scalable platform with a solid user interface as well as the ability to custom-build a unique solution with optional modules and add-ons from their online stores.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM is a little more expensive to implement on a basic level, but if you plan to scale up, the cost of using both eventually increases to comparable levels depending on how you customize. While its customization abilities and user-friendly UI aren’t quite at Salesforce’s level, Dynamics 365 is better at reporting. And if you want or need an on-premises deployment, a Microsoft Dynamics 365 plan is the only way to go, as Salesforce is cloud-based.

Your decision should be based on what business systems you already have in place, what features your team of users require to excel, and how much you’re willing to spend.

If you’d like to learn more about Dynamics, Salesforce, or any other CRM systems, we’re here to help. Check out our CRM Software Buyer’s Guide.

The post Microsoft Dynamics CRM vs Salesforce Comparison (2023) appeared first on TechnologyAdvice.

There are many employee management tools available to help you keep on top of these details. But, an employee experience platform can help you kick-start your employee recognition program and pull everyone in as well as help you better connect and motivate employees, all while boosting morale and improving everything across the board.

Bonusly and Kazoo are two such employee management tools that share common features like dashboards and reporting, automation, and integrations to keep you on top of real-time data about your organization.

In addition, unique features like continuous feedback through a centralized dashboard as well as customizable branding and visual analytics can offer the support and functionality you need to manage your employees.

Bonusly

Increasing worker engagement and boosting morale so your team strives to do their best is any manager’s dream. Bonusly is a fun and engaging recognition and rewards program that makes it enjoyable to engage your team, retain their efforts, and increase motivation and productivity, all while recognizing your best performers. Stand out features include:

• Alerts and Notifications: Bonusly Signals allows an easy and instant ability to gather, understand, and act on employee feedback. You can use Bonusly, Slack, and email to encourage additional feedback for stakeholders and management.
• Chat and Messaging: Bonusly integrates with Google Chat, so you can give and view recognition directly from Google Chat rooms and conversations.
• Customizable Branding: Feature your company’s branding including name, logo, and color scheme, and integrate your existing tools to make this a unique experience for your organization and make it desirable to work there.
• Visual Analytics: Surface analytics data to quickly gain insight into employee recognition trends and gauge impact of work via a visually robust chart-based analytics dashboard.

With those features in mind, Bonusly is best suited for any size organization that is seeking a fun, personal recognition and rewards program to enrich company culture while improving employee engagement and building a sense of alignment and purpose across the board.

Want to learn more?  Bonusly offers a free, no-obligation demo.

Kazoo

Kazoo is an interactive and impressive employee experience platform that will help you create a top-performing collaborative work culture no matter where people are located or how they perform their job. This is a top recognition and rewards system that is unique because it offers the following features in an all-in-one environment:

• Activity Tracking: Instantly automate rewards points for milestone celebrations and special days like work anniversaries and birthdays to help make individuals feel singled out and appreciated. With a global digital reward catalog of gift cards, travel and experiences, and donation options, there is something for everyone.
• Continuous Feedback: Peer-to-peer recognition across the company with a social media-like feed is where you can amplify recognition with high-fives and comments that can be made public or anonymous.
• Dashboard: Gauge impact of work through insights and reports as well as identify top talent and disengaged employees. The dashboard helps to facilitate better performance and inclusion across teams in an effort to minimize employee turnover and save money.
• Data Analysis Tools: With custom analysis and reporting you can actually see the impact the program has through analytics on individual, team, and company levels.

Considering these features, Kazoo is best suited for companies seeking a unique employee experience platform to foster collaboration and create a high-performing, connected company culture, especially for hybrid and geographically remote teams.

Is Kazoo right for you? Check out Kazoo’s free demo.

Ready to Decide on Bonusly or Kazoo?

Bonusly and Kazoo are two great options when it comes to employee engagement, motivation, and recognition. When comparing the two solutions, it’s important to understand what needs they best meet as well as which key differentiating features you need now and which you can expand into as your business evolves. The size and makeup of your organization should also be a consideration.

If you’re still undecided, check out the free demos for Bonusly and Kazoo. Both will allow you to experiment with your specific requirements before committing to a tiered pay plan on either service. 

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The rigid nature of traditional PM, and the predictability it seeks to generate, is often at odds with the key to business success: innovation. This doesn’t mean project management is unnecessary or merely interference. Ensuring projects are finished on time, on budget, and within scope is always a necessary challenge.

Re-imagining Project Management with Innovation in Mind

The focus here is the intersection between innovation and project management. Innovation is complex and unpredictable, and it takes time to realize. Project management bridges the gap across workstreams and can help make innovation more predictable.

The challenge is finding a strategy that allows for oversight, but doesn’t stifle creativity. The following are five novel ways businesses are re-imagining project management while encouraging creativity and ideation.

1. Choosing and using the right project management methodology

Every project is unique and can benefit from a specific project management methodology to achieve best results. Knowing what to do, in what order, and by when is only part of the puzzle. And plugging that plan into a process or framework will give you the support you need to succeed.

Technical projects, like software development or engineering efforts, are often run in an agile framework to iteratively progress smaller complicated pieces that require a continuous testing and improvement conveyor belt.

Comparatively, creative projects are better suited to a waterfall or stepped process when something needs to be completed before the next part can begin. For example, a GUI or interface may need to be designed and approved before functionality and features can be developed that utilize that digital space.

And sometimes, a hybrid approach may be best for work that includes both technical and creative aspects, such as a website, an online course, or a video game.

Choosing an appropriate project management methodology to implement before a project kicks off will keep things moving along and aligned with requirements post kick off to produce a successful end product. Winging it and using a loose barely-there style of management will probably present a situation riddled with gaps, delays, and unhappy customers when the budget gets spent too soon and results in a subpar product.

2. Build in time and scope to experiment and fail

Testing culture is often confined to software development, and large high-tech firms allocate a generous percentage of time to employees for working on personal interest projects that benefit the company.

But, building experimentation into other departments is also important for true innovation. Stricter and less traditionally creative departments like sales, marketing, and even finance need the flexibility and space to run tests and explore innovative answers to business questions.

However, the problem with today’s project management culture is that it’s so pervasive that tasks and initiatives that don’t get assigned don’t get done. If you want to build a culture of innovation, reserve time and mental space for experiments, and make employees responsible for sharing their findings.

You can build experimentation into your project management culture by:

• Building dedicated testing time into each employee’s week;
• Scheduling project sharing sessions where teams can collaborate on the success of creative projects; and
• Celebrating failures as well as wins and reviewing lessons learned.

So, there is a trade-off that your company will need to balance with your managers and employees, and you may consider testing and experimentation policy before rolling it out company-wide.

Although, allowing the time for workers to experiment with ideas outside of traditional projects can improve work overall and benefit the company in many ways. Giving them a voice instills confidence and the ability to step outside of traditional roles to participate in interesting work and help build a better tomorrow.

3. Simplify the process with the right PM tools

The advent of robust project management tools has allowed many different project team members to enter data, track progress, and report on results. An emerging trend is that companies are eschewing traditional management hierarchies and adopting a flat management structure with decision-making left to multiple people.

No longer are senior managers making the strategic decisions with tasks delegated down the chain of command. Instead they are using project management software that helps increase communication and collaboration. These tools empower employees to self-organize projects from start to finish and turn their own innovative ideas into reality.

There is a tool for every team or sometimes multiple tools that integrate with your current infrastructure. Automating time-consuming tasks like planning, scheduling, tracking, and resource allocation frees up time for work to get done and for more innovation to take place.

Moreover, complex projects require close planning, tracking, and collaboration in order to be successful. Project management tools can provide the necessary functions to make these endeavors a success without risking innovation.

4. Drive Inspiration with Time

To balance out day-to-day work and required meetings and efforts to run the business, give back some time for learning and growing. The people behind the business will benefit the bigger picture most when they are growing professionally.

Be sure to build in time during the weeks or months for professional learning opportunities. Additionally, provide space for experimenting with new ways of doing things, and encourage them to share their ideas.

There is no better feeling than being a part of something new, making change, and authoring ideas that matter. Making something your own inspires loyalty and commitment and a reason to get out of bed in the morning and contribute to something that has your mark on it.

5. Learn from past mistakes and successes

Once the product is out the door, the site is launched, or the update is implemented, take the time needed to unwind and reflect. All projects offer a lessons-learned opportunity.

Encourage conversation and feedback from everyone involved through a post-project review. Give all involved the opportunity to speak up about what worked and what could be avoided next time or done better. More importantly, take that advice and apply it to future projects.

Those involved will be candid about their experience when it went exceptionally well or ran off the rails at some point. Like a product review, those with strong feelings will want to be heard. Take the good and the bad and apply it to future work to improve next time.

Finding Balance Between Accountability and Creativity

Finding a happy balance in your organization’s project efforts can be difficult. While it’s important to keep projects in check with scope and budget restrictions, it’s just as important to encourage opportunities for innovation.

By implementing these strategies, you will be able to instill accountability across teams while allowing for periods of creativity.

NOTE: This story was updated in June 2022 by Anne Meike.

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The Matchup: NetSuite vs. Sage X3

NetSuite and Sage X3 are two of the top ERP systems available for business. Both of these options are described as software for business, with similar core capabilities and features. Although NetSuite’s ERP product caters to traditional manufacturing and supply chain companies, Sage X3 is better for specialty manufacturers and international customers with multi-company and currency capabilities.

ERP systems are not one size fits all. What works for another company may not be the best solution for your organization. So, making a decision between NetSuite and Sage X3 will come down to your business’s needs.

Oracle NetSuite

NetSuite ERP by Oracle is a single solution for all areas of business. It includes many features that improve and solve key business needs like automating and streamlining processes; instantly gathering and presenting accurate, real-time data; and on-the-fly managing of inventory and supply chain changes.

In addition to outstanding features designed for managing accounting, financial, business, order, supply chain, and warehouse, NetSuite shines by improving operational awareness and increasing resource control in these key areas.

NetSuite ERP is a mature cloud-based solution used by a wide range of trusted industries including manufacturing, healthcare, financial services, retail, and transportation. In addition to the common financial management, supply chain, human capital, and professional service features it shares with Sage X3, what makes it unique are its commerce features supporting point of sale, e-commerce, order and inventory management, product content, and marketing automation.

Oracle NetSuite | Read our full review

Sage X3

Sage X3 is foundational to modernizing business processes, digitizing all workflows for accounting and budgets as well as production and customer service. This newer ERP software suite includes integrated functionality for financial management, sales, customer service, distribution, inventory, manufacturing, and business intelligence.

It is most often used by process manufacturing, distribution, and professional services industries. It is designed to support global organizations and is ideal for businesses with multiple companies, sites, languages, currencies, and legislations. It is web-based, browser agnostic, and works on mobile devices, and it can also be deployed on-site as a cloud service managed by Sage or another party.

NetSuite and Sage X3: Features Comparison

Deployment and installation

Oracle NetSuite is a purely cloud-based ERP solution, while Sage X3 allows freedom and flexibility—it can be run on-site, be privately hosted, or made available in the cloud. It can also be used on any device or web browser.

Flexibility, customization, ownership

NetSuite’s SaaS (software-as-a-service) solution allows organizations to simply rent the software until they cancel their contracts. As such, customizations are not an option, and everything you will need is out of the box and ready to go.

Comparatively, Sage X3 is the option if you desire to own your ERP software, providing full control and ownership over data. Now, you have the option and ability to customize the system to fit your workflow and process needs or to integrate it with external business applications to further modify your own solution.

Configurability

Oracle NetSuite offers SuiteSuccess, its unique implementation methodology that sets up projects into a one-size-fits-all mold. Software setups and configurations are predetermined, guiding users to adopt its offering to quickly implement the solution.

Sage X3, being fully customizable, allows businesses to meet specific processes, user roles, and preferences. Available system features include communication tools, document management, automated workflows and alerts, and customizable add-on tools as well as an interfacing capability to third-party software for e-commerce, financials, and advanced functions.

Globalization

Both solutions offer built-in support for multiple languages and currencies.

NetSuite supports a single Chart of Accounts shared across countries. And additional plugins are required to enhance the global management of inventory, sales, and purchasing information.

Sage X3 manages multiple charts of accounts with a single software license. Its tools easily manage global inventory and deliver data and visuals on customers, sales, purchasing, and manufacturing trends across global subsidiaries, sites, and even warehouses. Sage X3 also includes a Connector to XE.com that automatically uploads currency exchange rates providing real-time values to your finance team.

Cost comparison

Both systems include contracts and up-front and recurring costs.

NetSuite offers subscription licensing to work with your timeline. It costs considerably less but has longer contract length commitments.

Sage X3 can offer significant savings but is pricier because of all of the customization options available.

Consider ROI and how long you will use a system. For a few years, it might make more sense to rent access, but if you expect a longer engagement, it might be wiser to purchase outright.

The Bottom Line: Choosing between NetSuite and Sage X3

NetSuite is a leader in terms of client adoption, and the platform has been around longer. NetSuite’s cloud-based ERP is ready to go when you are.

And Sage X3 is a solid ERP solution if you are a global manufacturer and have a good idea of what you want and need.

When making a decision on an ERP solution, you should identify the best fit for the features, functionality, and technology that you need. From established icons like Oracle and Sage to newer cutting-edge players, one thing is certain: Constant change is inevitable, and with either of these two top solutions, you are sure to be covered.

The post Compare ERP Business Software Platforms: NetSuite vs. Sage X3 appeared first on TechnologyAdvice.

To ease your search and save you from a broken contract, we’ve compared NetSuite to the SAP S/4HANA ERP.

What are NetSuite and SAP S/4HANA?

NetSuite and SAP S/4HANA are two of the most well-known ERP systems available on the market. Consider it a starting point and a baseline while you discover just what you need. Both ERP options are billed as business software, but the core capabilities of NetSuite compared to SAP is more of a Venn diagram. NetSuite’s ERP product caters to traditional manufacturing and supply chain companies, while SAP’s S/4HANA product includes more traditional in-house business features, including sales modules and professional services.

NetSuite and SAP S/4HANA are two of the most well-known ERP systems available on the market, but they may not include the features that your company needs. To get a list of ERP recommendations that work for your needs, click on the image below, and visit our ERP software page to learn more. Or call us at 877.702.2082, and one of our Technology Advisors will set you up with a short list of recommendations.

NetSuite

NetSuite ERP by Oracle is a single solution for all areas of business. It includes many features that improve and solve key business needs like automating and streamlining processes; instantly gathering and presenting accurate, real-time data; and on-the-fly managing of inventory and supply chain changes. Integrating these features into the overall ERP means that the company has a single source of truth (SSoT) within their ERP data. That SSoT gives companies the advantage of the data visualization and BI tools included in the system.

In addition to outstanding features designed for managing accounting, financial, business, order, supply chain, and warehouse, NetSuite shines by improving operational awareness and increasing resource control in these key areas. 

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Marketing automation

NetSuite’s marketing automation capabilities easily automates your entire marketing process with email and campaign management, lead management, and landing pages and forms. These features complete the top of the funnel so that marketing and sales can agree on lead information. The full integration keeps lead data in a single tool and cuts out manual transfers between email marketing, CRM, and lead management where critical data may get lost.

You can expertly align and coordinate targeted marketing campaigns with your sales team to generate highly qualified leads without the complex and time-consuming actions of lead qualification and conversion.

In addition, you can build a custom marketing framework to target, build, execute, and measure the outcome of campaigns and create instant response and value out of every opportunity that your sales team can take and run with.

Moreover, NetSuite ERP enables you to maximize ROI by easily managing, tracking, and analyzing every detail of a campaign including email, direct mail, social media, and event data and feedback.

Ecommerce

NetSuite’s Ecommerce tools further help companies complete their customer pictures for consumer and B2B companies with a shorter buying cycle and repeatable selling processes. Centralized order management gives companies insight into their multiple locations or brands, and connections to ERP warehouse modules give companies insight into their full supply chain. The integration of ecommerce with typical ERP supply chain tools means deep analytics and reduced data loss.

NetSuite SuiteCommerce users and customers can easily and instantly place orders and view transaction history on any device anywhere. In addition, NetSuite delivers the same above and beyond expectation and experience to your unique B2C and B2B customers and makes it simple to keep coming back for more.

An engaging online experience will drive more traffic to your web stores and make customers out of shoppers and instigate repeat business through a mobile-optimized cloud e-commerce platform. Users can also view customer information, orders, inventory, and other details in real-time to make informed business decisions.

Point of sale (POS)

NetSuite’s point of sale solution (POS), SuiteCommerce InStore, combines in-store and online experiences together in a single seamless shopping experience sure to increase repeat business. InStore brings together full customer data from across digital channels and makes it available to the sales associates who serve those customers in the store. The system is designed to drastically reduce friction between the customer’s digital buying experience and how they interact with your products in-store.

Customers build wish lists and access items from far-off locations quickly through digital channels. The insight of the NetSuite in-store POS lets associates reference those same wish lists, buying histories, and inventory from multiple locations to give customers personalized buying experiences.

It brings a continuous buying experience to shoppers, giving them the flexibility to add products to shopping carts at the point of sale for an in-store transaction and to wish lists to save for later. Merchants experience a full suite of POS transaction events including cash and carry, returns, exchanges, and access to real-time inventory and customer information to guarantee a successful shopping experience for all.

Sales associates enjoy the freedom of engaging one-on-one with customers and assisting them from anywhere in the store using a mobile POS touch device to reference, search, recommend, and upsell just about anything in inventory or on backorder.

Human capital management (HCM)

Business leaders use HCM as a framework to attract, develop, and optimize a workforce and understand and access the value of every employee.

NetSuite’s SuitePeople module is a full-service human capital management system that helps with core aspects, such as talent acquisition, talent management, and workforce automation, in a single platform.

SuitePeople does it all with centralized payroll and human resources data, automated recruitment, talent development and retention, time management, attendance, benefits, and accurate reporting and analytics.

SAP

SAP S/4HANA (Suite 4 HANA) ERP, is a next-generation ERP solution that runs on SAP HANA database architecture. Deployable in the cloud or on-premises, SAP S/4HANA is designed to drive instant value across all lines of business and industries using built-in intelligent technologies, including AI, machine learning, and advanced analytics. ERP extras cover staffing and resource management so companies can predict and respond to changing staffing and supplies needs. S/4HANA uses AI to understand historical data from across the supply chain and uses it to build modeling that drives efficient staffing and sourcing.

In addition to multiple features designed for managing finance and accounting; treasury; accounts receivable; billing; revenue; governance, risk, compliance; and cybersecurity, SAP S/4HANA differentiates itself from the competition in the following areas.

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Professional services management

Updated for 2022, SAP S/4HANA’s professional services management module gives companies even more insight into their staffing needs to ensure timely onboarding of contract or seasonal employees, balance staffing with budget constraints, and more efficiently manage contractor payment requests.

Some useful and enhanced features in the professional services management module include:

• New process extensibility from timesheet to project billing request and invoice
• Updated project billing for customer projects 
• More usability in customer projects
• Enhanced project manager roles
• Improved resource management

Asset management

Enterprise companies with complex supply chains need asset management to ensure an uninterrupted flow of resources and products. They also need to analyze the productivity and wellness of the vehicles, machines, and computing devices that run the company.

The S/4HANA cloud system optimizes asset management and processes by helping you plan, schedule, and execute maintenance operations in one integrated environment. Top features include:

• Maintenance execution
• Asset operations and planning
• Environment, health, and safety
• Capture and mitigate incidents
• Maintenance scheduling

How to Choose Between NetSuite and SAP S/4HANA?

When comparing NetSuite vs. SAP S/4HANA, keep your industry needs top of mind. While both systems can handle manufacturing and supply chain, NetSuite may be better suited to mid-sized companies who do not need marketing or HR modules in the same system as their manufacturing data.

Alternately, SAP’s professional services features suit larger companies with deep human capital resource needs. While they have a lot of the same features and modules, SAP S/4HANA offers noticeably more coverage of ERP software capabilities compared to NetSuite.

When comparing NetSuite vs. SAP S/4HANA, keep your industry needs top of mind. While both systems can handle manufacturing and supply chain, NetSuite may be better suited to companies who do not need marketing or HR modules in the same system as their manufacturing data. On the other hand, SAP’s professional services features suit those companies with deep human capital resources.

Need more information about SAP vs. NetSuite ERP? Get on the phone with a Technology Advisor at 877.702.2082 to get a short list of the best ERP software for your company. Our experts will connect you with the right software, so you can spend less time researching.

Top ERP Software Recommendations

The post Comparing ERP Business Software Platforms: NetSuite vs. SAP S/4HANA appeared first on TechnologyAdvice.

And today’s workplace trends like the shift to remote work, employees being recruited to new and better paying opportunities, and the Great Resignation movement leave less talent in the marketplace. So, keeping up with the status and availability of human resources is and should be a top priority when planning a new project.

What Is Project Resource Management?

To put it simply, project resource management is similar to forecasting. It helps project managers visualize where investments in time, energy, and materials are, so the business can constantly assess or change their plan due to unforeseen circumstances.

It takes a lot of evaluation and work to inventory resources such as people, tools, and facilities and set up a project. When things change, as they often do, project managers are better equipped to anticipate a change in resources and act as soon as the need arises.

Project resource management involves these three techniques:

• Resource Allocation: Finding the best available resources for the type of work needed and assigning them to projects. For example, some projects may benefit from assigning a junior-level specialist to learn and do the work over time rather than a more expensive senior-level specialist who may be able to do it faster.
• Workload Management: The act of expertly distributing work evenly across a team, so they can work efficiently and never feel overworked or burned out.
• Resource Forecasting: Accurately anticipating and predicting future resource needs over time. This planning exercise helps project managers identify potential gaps and prepare for them in advance.

Read more on project-management.com: Top 10 Project Resource Management Best Practices for Project Managers

How Resources Affect Project Scheduling

A big challenge for project managers when managing resources is to make sure a resource is never over- or under-booked. Overbooking can stress and burn out team members, while underbooking can hurt the project’s budget and company’s line.

There is a schedule to adhere to and a disruption in the allocation of resources can have instant and negative repercussions to project health and success. An unanticipated resource issue can hinder a project schedule and timeline fast if steps are not taken to plan for it.

Resources directly affect a project’s schedule by either moving it all along at a steady and planned pace (ideal); accelerating it in some places and allowing other work to begin sooner if possible (ok); or blocking or delaying progress, creating an uncontrollable domino effect to future work (bad).

There are a few key questions to ask when considering and assigning resources to a project and schedule.

• Are resources being properly allocated based on priorities? Take steps to ensure the resources assigned to multiple work items are prioritized correctly and that higher priority items are covered first.
• Are the right resources and skills available? Identify and match skill sets to required work. If you don’t have all the resources on hand, make arrangements for the training, hiring, and outsources needed to cover all the bases.
• Is there a plan to overcome unforeseen resource constraints? Gain a full understanding of available resources and monitor them in a way that allows you to see any future issues that may come up, so you can navigate and plan for backup or change.

Read more: 6 Ways to Improve Work Performance With Technology

How Project Management Software Can Help

Smaller project teams traditionally use a spreadsheet or calendar to plan and manage work. However, these tools are error-prone and often have multiple people populating and updating them across versions. The data entered is only as good as the manual source.

Resource planning skills are learned and refined with experience and made easier through the use of more robust software tools. So, you are better off with a solution where data can’t accidentally be deleted or overwritten and that allows multiple team members to work collaboratively to schedule work and people.

A tool that can track team availability, assign resources to projects, and track the estimated time and worked hours of individual resources across work and project is what you need to visualize what is needed, when and where it most makes sense, and how it is progressing.

5 Tips for Successfully Managing Project Resources

1. Plan, plan, plan, and forecast.
2. Be flexible and prepared to respond to change.
3. Understand all resources and stay on top of their performance, allocation, and utilization.
4. Keep resources performing and positive with feedback.
5. Produce accurate reports showing time, work, and resource progress to provide visibility to stakeholders and keep them informed.

Need a project management tool with built-in resource management tools? Use our product selection tool for project management software to get a fast, free list of apps that’ll work for your team.

The post How to Use Resource Management for Realistic Project Management Deadlines appeared first on TechnologyAdvice.

Smartsheet work collaboration and management software was first introduced in 2006. It has since evolved into an all-in-one project management SaaS (software-as-a-service) tool, a unique hybrid that combines the fine detail of working within an Excel or Google Sheets spreadsheet with the full-service support and luxury of a mature program like Microsoft Project.

If you are a project manager and have not yet had the opportunity to work with Smartsheet to plan and manage projects, you will appreciate all the benefits it has to offer. Here is a closer look at this project management software option for new users.

Project Management Basics for Using Smartsheet

It’s easy to get started with Smartsheet by going through a quick initial checklist of items. There is a free version you can get started with, but it is to your benefit to sign up for or accept a Smartsheet license invitation from your organization, and to join a paid corporate plan.

Smartsheet offers several options to get up to speed quickly on anything you want to learn, offering a Getting Started online guide, videos, help articles, and scheduled webinars. For a quick overview of the product, here’s a useful video our team put together.

How to Create Sheets

Choosing a Template

Save time by choosing a prebuilt template to help you get started quickly. This can always be modified as you go and learn.

You can choose a project timeline template, which includes placeholders for lists of tasks with status, start and end dates, and task assignments. Alternatively, start with a project board template, which offers a card view of items easily laid out and identified as “not started,” “in progress,” “on hold,” or “complete.”

Collaborating on Shared Sheets

Contribute to a sheet someone else on your team has shared with you to join a work plan already in progress, or share your sheet, report, template, or dashboard (or selective information) with your team or clients.

Smartsheet allows you to share sheets to an individual email address with a unique message, or to a Smartsheet group. You can also send a sheet as a PDF or Excel file attachment, or publish a public real-time link to share with people that do not have a Smartsheet account.

Once shared, you can choose from three different permission levels: viewer, editor, or admin. You can also share a workspace or individual sheets within a workspace.

Importing From Another Program

Rather than filling out your Smartsheet template from scratch, you can start with information from another source and build from there. Smartsheet currently supports imports from Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Project, Google Sheets, and Atlassian Trello.

Starting Fresh

While templates are useful and can save time, some use cases can benefit from creating a sheet from scratch. To do so, start with a blank sheet and custom build the layout and functionality you desire.

Sheets are orientated in columns and rows with options on how to display data. Title columns with headlines for the tasks you want to keep track of, then add the framework to make those tasks happen.

You can assign work to individuals using “contact” columns, keep tasks on schedule using “date” columns, and summarize tasks using symbols and drop-downs. You can also rearrange or change columns to add structure to a sheet and set up reports, dashboards, forms, and automation.

Rows capture all the details and allow you to attach files and hold “conversations” with your team. Organize and group tasks to work best for your processes. If you need to use a sheet you created for another project, save it as a template, so you can start again without starting over.

Creating and Assigning Tasks in Smartsheet

Once you are set up in Smartsheet, either using a template, collaborating on a shared sheet, or creating one from scratch, you can set the columns with headlines for work you want to track, add contacts, and then add rows for each individual task.

Insert single or multiple rows in a sheet by right-clicking on a row number and inserting a new blank row above or below. Copy and paste rows for repetitive tasks and group multiple tasks. Once your tasks are detailed out, you can assign a person or a group of people to a task from the contact list column.

When team members are assigned to tasks, you can track them as resources and send them notifications and reminders with alerts and actions. You can also use the contact column to generate reports of tasks assigned to specific people.

Additional Smartsheet Features to Know

Collaboration

Basic and useful collaboration options in Smartsheet include:

• Attaching relevant files for reference
• Adding comments for others to pick up
• Starting conversations on specific details and tasks as work evolves
• Scheduling reminders for when things are due
• Sharing project plans with the team, clients, and vendors via a simple link

Smartsheet Views

You can set your work to be viewed and arranged in multiple ways and with different perspectives with the click of a button. There are four distinct views:

• Grid View: This is a basic spreadsheet view with lines of information that can be sorted by set columns across the screen and detailed rows that can be grouped. Both columns and rows can be rearranged by dragging and dropping.
• Gantt View: Visualize your project and the relationships between key tasks over time with a classic Gantt chart timeline view.
• Card View: Easily visualize, prioritize, and organize work with drag-and-drop cards in a style that is familiar and useful to Scrum and Kanban teams.
• Calendar View: Highlight key dates, see the big picture, and track milestones in a classic calendar view that can be published to Google Calendar, Microsoft Outlook, or iCal.

Status Reports

Stop spending endless amounts of time creating weekly status reports manually by collecting data that already exists somewhere else, tracking down people for further clarification, and scheduling additional meetings.

Simplify and automate the process with Smartsheet reports by pulling data from other sheets and setting it to automatically send out reports to relevant stakeholders on a regular schedule. This will allow you to enjoy more consistency and frequency of reporting, as well as improved data quality.

Dashboards

Create a master dashboard for executives to quickly show how work aligns to the strategic goals executives and stakeholders care about. Give them an overview of their business at a glance, along with a true health check and upcoming milestones.

Create a project management dashboard to stay on top of overall program status, drill down to individual projects and details, and quickly access related documents and links.

Keep everyone, no matter their role, updated with real-time information, so key people can adapt to changes and make educated, data-driven decisions.

Advanced Features in Smartsheet

Smartsheet has developed many advanced features over the last few years, including filters, a resource management section, and Jira and Salesforce connectors.

They now offer Smartsheet University and a Core Product Certification exam that tests your knowledge of Smartsheet and validates your ability to build collaborative work environments.

They also send out a biweekly email blast to subscribers to share the Smartsheet formula of the week for those inclined to try their hand at coding and build in specific functionality.

A powerful SaaS solution, Smartsheet allows managers to minimize project status meetings while keeping everyone connected, informed, and engaged by tracking all work in detail and summarizing details visually in real time.

The post How to Use Smartsheet for Project Management appeared first on TechnologyAdvice.

The past few years have seen a lot of discussions about hyperautomation and how it helps automate business processes. To properly use hyperautomation, though, it is important to understand what it is and how it can be applied.

What is Hyperautomation?

Hyperautomation is data-driven rather than process-driven, combining advanced technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), natural language processing, and predictive analytics technologies. It uses a combination of these tools to increase AI decision-making. 

a framework for combining all of these advanced tools to strategically automate business processes along with RPA and IPA.

Hyperautomation can also be referred to as the sophistication of the automation process — discover, analyze, design, automate, measure, monitor, and reassess. While simple automation moves a single process, set of actions, or workflow from manual, human-initiated work to automated, bot-driven work, hyperautomation relies on bots to identify, design, and analyze automated workflows. 

What is Intelligent Process Automation?

Intelligent process automation (IPA) is an advanced version of robotic process automation (RPA). Unlike RPA, IPA has the ability to understand context, learn, and iterate, and it can handle both unstructured and structured data. It also supports informed decision-making, which can further be divided into task-level or process-level automation. IPA helps organizations access and analyze data like text or images to gain important insights.

IPA, RPA, and Hyperautomation

Hyperautomation begins with RPA at its core, then adds in other advanced automation tools like ML and AI. RPA is one of the main elements in hyperautomated environments. 

RPA software, on a basic level, performs automated repetitive tasks much like a human does. While it saves time and money, it is not scalable on its own, which has led to the concept of hyperautomation. 

IPA assists with RPA processes by taking unstructured data and turning it into structured data for use with RPA technologies. 

Although it involves layers processes of automation, hyperautomation itself is not a process. It is a framework for combining all of these advanced tools to strategically automate business processes along with RPA and IPA. It aims to capitalize on the data collected and generated by digitized processes, leading to improved and more timely decision making.

All of these technologies are not mutually exclusive but rather work together to optimize business processes.

Examples of Hyperautomation in different industries

Banking

Banks can use hyperautomation in a variety of ways at once, including regulatory compliance, marketing, sales, distribution, customer service, payments, loans, and office operations. For example, intelligent character recognition allows banks to improve their “Know Your Customer” processes and compliance by transferring manually written customer information into electronic versions for faster analysis and action.

Healthcare

The healthcare industry can use hyperautomation to create intelligent billing processes through the collection and consolidation of billing details from various departments without human involvement. For example, AI and RPA identify medical policy coverage and conditions while intelligent chatbots can support and automate bill submissions. Voice recognition can enable the transcription of speech into text, increasing the handling of cases to thousands at one time. The combination of intelligent processes is the improvement of back-office and customer-facing operations, enhancing the overall customer experience and improving operational efficiencies. 

Call Centers and Customer Service

Another real-world example is the use of RPA and AI in call centers to automate manual processes people perform, like mouse clicks and application launches, to help agents pull information about a client from multiple systems simultaneously. This will allow an agent to see a more complete customer profile when they call without having to keep switching between screens. This technology can be applied to other service-related functions, such as project automation and package tracking. 

Top Trends in Hyperautomation, RPA, and IPA for 2022

• Data sharing
• Real-time information access
• Productivity
• Process intelligence and mining
• Understanding how to automate entire end-to-end workflows
• The virtual representation of assets, systems and processes to improve performance and reliability, increase productivity and reduce risk
• Organizations implementing AI into their processes at scale, resulting in more intelligent decision-making, recommendations, and optimization
• Remote and hybrid work
• Robots assisting humans in tasks and not overtaking them entirely

As businesses adopt hyperautomation, they will see their operations improve in many ways and use the data they collect to prioritize other automation opportunities. Hyperautomation will never replace people and will continue to use a variety of tools including AI and robotics to enable workforces, align business and IT, and provide insight into return on investment. Robots are not going to replace our jobs, rather they are going to give us a promotion.

The post IPA Boosts RPA in Hyperautomation Strategies appeared first on TechnologyAdvice.

Lucidchart alternatives and competitors

• Creately
• Gliffy
• Miro
• Visio
• Mindmeister
• OmniGraffle
• Mural

Lucidchart is a powerful diagramming tool that can connect employee data to org charts and automatically generate selected views to improve how companies and teams do business. But there are a number of recommended alternatives to Lucidchart, both fee-based and free, that you may want to consider before committing to a choice.

Creately

Whether creating flowcharts, technical diagrams, annotating screenshots, or quick-sketching a new idea, Creately is a versatile choice. It has more than 50 types of diagrams and thousands of examples and libraries to choose from for all kinds of teams. A popular feature automatically generates flow lines to items and quickly changes the flow direction. Enjoy real-time collaboration through an online cloud edition or download an offline version for individual desktop use. Annual and monthly paid plan options allow teams to upgrade from a limited free account.

Gliffy

Gliffy is an enterprise-grade diagramming software built by engineers for engineering tasks, but can be used by any team to create professional-quality flowcharts, diagrams, floor plans, technical drawings, and more. It’s easy to set up and easy to create, import, collaborate, export, share, and integrate into other tools like Jira and Confluence. Its exposure in the Atlassian marketplace has made it a leading enterprise diagramming solution.

Miro

Miro is a solid visual collaboration platform choice to create, collaborate, and centralize communication across a company whether the team is in-person, remote, or hybrid. Miro offers options for real-time or asynchronous work through an infinitely zoomable canvas and online whiteboard. Users can view plan projects from all angles, from big picture to down into the details, and best of all it’s a free tool.

Visio

One of the most well-known names in visual diagramming, Visio, is owned by Microsoft and is part of the 365 toolset. This robust software — called “the ultimate tool for diagramming” — allows users to create, edit, and collaborate on professional diagrams anytime, anywhere, and with anyone through Microsoft Teams. It is easy to use with an intuitive interface that makes learning how to go from basic org-charting to limitless possibilities a seamless experience. For a higher cost, users unlock features that can convert a flowchart that was brainstormed on a whiteboard, map an IT network, or build an organizational chart quickly and simply.

Mindmeister

Mindmeister is a fully-customizable diagramming tool with an intuitive interface for easy mind-mapping. Collaborate in real-time with colleagues on shared planning in the app, where teams can adjust shape forms, text, and background images. Add images from a library or upload your own. Explore multiple canvases within one document, where one canvas can be quickly duplicated and modified to show a different scenario.The free version allows you to publish diagram drawings and share a link to them, but you can’t export them without upgrading. Midmeister offers a basic free plan in addition to paid options.

OmniGraffle

OmniGraffle is a good choice for complex diagramming, rapid-prototyping, and design through beautiful and precise graphics on MacOS and iOS. Try it out to create website wireframes, an integral electrical system design, or a simple family tree — on any device. It’s great for all users from artists and designers, to everyone in between, as it is easy to use for basic work while also exceptional at translating complex ideas.

Mural

Mural is a great digital diagramming option for remote creative teams looking to collaborate on researching, brainstorming, and designing ideas. They offer a robust free option that includes 5 murals, unlimited members, visual collaboration and facilitation features, a full template library with member-built custom templates, plus one-click visitor access. The pricing plan for upgrading is affordable, and they offer all Facilitation Superpowers features, such as laser pointer, lock, and voting, in all plans. Mural is more than just an online whiteboard, it’s a platform for everything from product strategy and planning, to leading immersive workshops using agile, and design thinking methodologies.

Choosing the right alternative to Lucidchart

There are many similar features across diagramming software tools, but they are not all created the same. Figure out the features you require and research the best alternative to Lucidchart for creating the diagrams you want that will represent the data you need in a visual format you can best work with.

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