CRM UK - the official blog of the CRM specialists at TSG

Concentrix Helps Manufacturing Business Redeploy Sage 200.

Concentrix has released a new Sage 200 Case Study about canopy manufacutring company Inside2Outside.

Although Inside2Outside already had a Business Management Solution in place they needed a solution and more importantly a supplier who was capable of understanding their requirements and facilitating their needs.

As a leading manufacturer of outdoor canopies and the only canopy manufacturer concentrating on the education sector, Inside2Outside needed a Business Management Solution and more importantly a supplier who was capable of understanding their requirements and facilitating their needs.

Inside2Outside chose Concentrix as their preferred partner as their professional approach gave them the confidence that they were capable of understanding and interpreting their needs.

Concentrix provides the best in breed solutions including Sage CRM, Sage 200, Sage SalesLogix, Microsoft Dynamics CRM and FrontRange’s GoldMine. After assessing Inside2Outsides requirements Concentrix recommended Sage 200 as the best fit solution.

Sage 200 is perfect for organisations that need a solution which can be customised to fit their exact business requirements and integrates across departments and sites.

The sage 200 suite redeployed by Concentrix has enabled Inside2Outside to:

- Significantly reduce duplication of effort through a single, centralised system

- Provide employees with a complete overview of customers

- Improve efficiency, effectiveness and profitability

- Improve management information

- Facilitate better customer service

- Streamline business processes

Full details of this project are on the CRM Case Studies section of the Concentrix website. You can also download the case study as a PDF here. 

For more information about Sage 200 or Concentrix, please contact us on 01509 410500 or email: [email protected].

Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Sage 200 and Developer Vacancies at Concentrix

Due to continued strategic expansion, Concentrix currently has three job vacancies. These are for:

- C#/ASP.NET Developer - SQL, Microsoft IIS

- Sage 200 Consultant

- Microsoft Dynamics CRM Applications Consultant

Full details are on the job vacancies section of the Concentrix website. No agencies please (really, you’re wasting your time, sorry).

The closing date for all three job vacancies is 31^st August 2009.

Concentrix is an Equal Opportunities Employer.

CRM AND BUSINESS MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS SPECIALIST CONCENTRIX ATTAINS MICROSOFT AUTHORISED EDUCATION RESELLER STATUS

Here's the latest press release from Concentrix:

CRM AND BUSINESS MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS SPECIALIST CONCENTRIX ATTAINS MICROSOFT AUTHORISED EDUCATION RESELLER STATUS

Leading independent CRM and Business Management solutions specialist Concentrix has been achieved Authorised Education Reseller (AER) status from Microsoft. This means Concentrix can supply educational licences, which are heavily discounted, direct to qualifying customers.

John Odell, Senior Microsoft Consultant at Concentrix commented “We’re really pleased to have attained Authorised Education Reseller status in the Microsoft Partner Program. Along with our Gold Partner Status, it not only proves Concentrix has high levels of expertise with Microsoft Products, but also means we can pass on significant discounts to our customers in the education sector – of which we have many. ”

Established in 1999, Concentrix has a variety of customers in the education sector, and has delivered some substantial projects into UK colleges and training institutions. The company offers a selection of Microsoft solutions, including Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Microsoft Dynamics NAV and SharePoint, as well as accounting software, business intelligence software, hardware, IT infrastructure and a comprehensive range of supporting services.

Concentrix is seeing increased interest in its products and services from throughout the education sector. Microsoft Authorised Education Reseller status means the company can provide the discounted licences to schools, colleges, universities, institutions, boards of education, teachers, academic staff, students, and related institutions such as museums and libraries.

To achieve Microsoft Authorised Education Reseller Status, Concentrix had to meet a number of strict criteria set by Microsoft, including specific training and successfully passing an examination.

Background Information

Concentrix is a leading UK independent business management, customer relationship management (CRM) specialist, and IT solutions provider. Founded in 1999, Concentrix helps companies increase competitiveness, profitability and customer satisfaction by improving business processes, systems and IT.

Concentrix solutions are based on recognised, 'best-of-breed' software products. As well as providing Microsoft Dynamics CRM and Microsoft Dynamics NAV, Concentrix also supplies the Sage 200 suite, Sage CRM, Sage SalesLogix, and FrontRange's GoldMine software. Concentrix has also developed a number of complementary, add-on CRM software modules, and has a dedicated team of software programmers and developers.

As well as business management software, the company supplies leading brand hardware, a comprehensive range of support, training, courses, upgrades, advice and consultancy. In other words, Concentrix provides complete solutions: software, hardware and supporting services.

Concentrix is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, a fully Accredited Sage Business Partner and a FrontRange Premier Partner.

Concentrix is based in Mountsorrel, Leicestershire and has a satellite office in central London.

Is Your IT Fully Supported?

Minimise downtime, ensure quick resolution of hardware issues and gain peace of mind, with professional IT and Hardware Support from Concentrix.

Over the years, you’ve probably made significant investments in IT hardware. However, looking after it takes up time and resources, and doesn’t always get problems solved as quick as a dedicated supporting team can.

Professional IT and Hardware Support from Concentrix provides you with

- Dedicated telephone and remote support, weekdays from 8.30am – 6.00pm

- Remote server management and fault diagnosis

- Technical consultation

- An experienced team of field engineers who will carry out routine checks on your hardware

What’s more, it will free up your time so IT staff can focus on key tasks, not problems with hardware!

To find out more, take please take a look at our support overview on our website. (you don't have to have bought hardware from us, we'll still support it)

Or to arrange a free IT Systems Health Check,  a Support Consultation, or for an informal chat about how we can help, please contact us on 01509 410500 or email [email protected]

 

Concentrix Offer: 25% Discount on GFI Endpoint Security

Purchase GFI EndPointSecurity this quarter from Concentrix and we’ll give you 25 percent off list price.*

In the current economic climate, the theft of business-sensitive and confidential information by employees is emerging as a real threat to companies. With redundancies being made across all sectors along with rising job insecurity, more and more employees are using the confidential information they have gathered with their current employer.

GFI EndPointSecurity offers these business benefits:

- Prevent data leaks and theft by comprehensively controlling access to portable storage devices with minimal administrative effort

- Prevent introduction of malicious and other unauthorised software to the network

- Gives administrators greater control – you can block devices by class, file extensions, physical port or device ID

- Allows administrators to grant temporary device or port access for a stipulated timeframe

- Support for 32 & 64 bit platforms: Including Windows Vista and latest RC of Windows Server 2008.

To take advantage of this offer, or for more information, please email [email protected]  or call 01509 410 500

*This offer is for UK customers only. Offer applies for new GFI EndPointSecurity purchases only (not additional user purchases, upgrades, etc) and is applicable until September 30, 2009.

The Biggest Problem with Accounting Software? New Survey Says Integration, Reporting and Ease of Use.

Concentrix, a UK Business Management and CRM software specialist, has published a new report on the current business management and financial software environment.

The report, based on a survey targeted at senior finance professionals in the UK, found that integration with other systems, reporting and ease of use were most commonly stated as areas for improvement among financial and accounting software users.

Commenting on the reports findings, Peter Elgar, Marketing Manager at Concentrix said “It was no real surprise that integration came out as a problem area. This is why Concentrix is keen on fully integrated business management solutions such as Sage 200, which addresses integration between front and back office processes extremely effectively.”

Concentrix commissioned the survey, carried out by an independent third-party, to provide a snap shot into the current state of the market, and also to help gauge how companies are reacting to the recession with respect to business management software. So has the recession had any effect?

Rebecca Rooney, the report’s author, said, “Over three-quarters of survey respondents said they didn’t intend to review their accounting software within the next twelve months, despite the vast majority of organisations, 79%, having had a system in place for over three years. I’m sure most of this reluctance is down to caution in the current economic climate”.

Although the survey was targeted at a cross-section of organisations, nearly half of the survey respondents were smaller businesses with five or less accounting software users. Bearing this in mind, it is perhaps unsurprising that the majority of respondents also use Sage 50 – because it’s an application designed for smaller organisations and arguably the UK’s most popular accounting solution.

But did the survey deliver any surprises? Rooney continues “the biggest surprise was that very nearly half of survey respondents said they didn’t have a CRM system. As times become tougher, increasing customer retention and improving business process efficiency are extremely good reasons to invest in a CRM system. I guess I was surprised that so many companies still haven’t done so”.

The full report “Business Management Software: Key Issues and What You Can Do” which includes detailed breakdown and analysis of results, along with recommendations on how organisations can address the key issues raised, is available by request from Concentrix via [email protected].

Background Information

Founded in 1999, Concentrix is a leading business management software, CRM software and IT solutions provider. Concentrix helps companies increase competitiveness, profitability and customer satisfaction by improving business processes, systems and IT. The Concentrix product portfolio includes software, hardware and a full range of supporting services.

Concentrix takes a product agnostic approach to implementing systems, ensuring their customers get a solution which matches their strategic objectives and business requirements.

Concentrix is a UK Company with its head office in Loughborough, Leicestershire. Concentrix also has a satellite office in central London.

Refreshing changes to Sage CRM pricing and licensing structure

Although pricing and licensing changes are not normally good news, the recent adjustments Sage UK has made to Sage CRM are surprisingly different! Sage has seriously changed its licensing model for Sage CRM. The new price structure offers greater flexibility, choice, and above all, it can save you money. This makes the product a strong competitor on price against other CRM solutions which don’t have the features and functionality Sage CRM provides.

The new price structure and licence costs are a strategic shift for Sage, which implemented the changes from 1st July 2009. Here’s a summary of how it now works:

You can now buy single licenses, rather than bundles

OK you're thinking, “So what?” Well, this change is significant. In the past, irrespective of how many users you had, you could only buy licenses in bundles of five. Effectively this meant companies had to pay for licences even when they didn’t have the users to accommodate them. It wasn’t always a major issue because many businesses like to have a few spare licences in stock for new starters or extra users. But as times get tougher and businesses only want to spend exactly what they need to, buying single licences as and when you need them makes good sense. This change also reduces the entry cost of Sage CRM and also makes the cost of adding additional users much less.

You can now have concurrent licensing

Concurrent licensing offers real benefits to many businesses. It means that Sage CRM can be allocated between users with more flexibility, and can keep the overall cost of ownership right down. Other CRM providers have offered concurrent license pricing for some time as it simply suits some types of organisation. What’s more, you don’t have to have concurrent licensing if you don’t want to – you can still choose named-user licensing if that suits your business better.

There are two types of licence now available

Sage has created two different types of licence for Sage CRM– Standard and Advanced. Although the Standard license has slightly less functionality, it provides companies with a new alternative which can lower costs even further.

Let’s face it, Sage CRM is incredibly feature-rich and not all businesses will use the whole product. Both standard and advanced licenses have exactly the same core or base functionality, and exactly the same sales functionality. With the standard licensing option however, you do lose a some of the marketing features (campaign management, marketing reports and outbound call management), the whole of Sage CRM’s customer service functionality, and a couple of add-on functions (the CTI connector and web self-service toolkit).

For a full comparison of the differences between Sage CRM standard and advanced licensing options, please see our Sage CRM Licensing Factsheet.

For more information about Sage CRM or the changes to the pricing and licensing structure, please contact Concentrix on 01509 410500 or email [email protected].

Concentrix is an Accredited Sage Business Partner.

The Concentrix Customer Surgery is Back!

The next Customer Surgery will be held on Wednesday 26^th August 2009 at our head office in Mountsorrel.

The Concentrix Customer Surgery is an opportunity for existing customers to spend an hour with one of our CRM, Accounts or Business Solutions specialists completely free of charge, while enjoying some light refreshments. 

The feedback we have received in the past has been excellent with many surgeries being oversubscribed.

To book your place, (please note, to attend the surgery we need to you book a place first) either email [email protected] or call 01509 410500 by Monday 17^th August 2009.

Choosing between Sage 50 and Sage 200 software

Sage 50 is one of the most popular accounts software solutions in the UK. The Sage 200 suite is a fully integrated business management suite, offering a wide range of benefits. But how do you choose between Sage 50 and Sage 200, know when to move from one to the other, or stay with your current application?

This article provides a comparison of the two solutions, with 10 points to help you decide which is the best solution for your business.

A recent survey by Concentrix found that Sage 50 (previously known as Sage Line 50) is one of the most popular accounting solutions in the UK. The product is aimed at small to medium sized businesses, and some of the reasons behind its popularity are that it has a good reputation (it's been around a long time), it does most of the things a small or medium business could want it to do, it's easy to use and fairly priced. However, depending on your precise business requirements Sage 50 can have limitations. Users sometimes wish it could do more, or do certain tasks a bit more efficiently.

The next product in the Sage business management software range is the Sage 200 suite. Sage 200 is a fully integrated business management solution for mid-sized businesses, which brings together all the key processes of a business.

So, if you're considering Sage mid-market business management software, which do you choose? Sage 50 of Sage 200? How do you know when to move from one to the other, or stay with your current application?

Well, it depends on your business requirements. If your business has grown, or you're finding Sage 50 restricting, it may be time to look at the Sage 200 Business Management suite. But then again, it could be overkill if your requirements are pretty straightforward.

So, you need to compare both solutions. Here's a comparison of the two software packages to help you choose between them, with 10 points to help you make that decision:

1) Number Of Users Past, Present and Future

Sage 50 is based on a proprietary Sage database. This limits the number of users and the amount of data the software can store. Sage recommends up to 6 users with Sage 50 (although there are examples of many more using it successfully). The database also locks - restricting users from the same activity at the same time. Sage 200 is based on Microsoft SQL Server database which has been tested with up to 50 users. So, if you have, or are likely to have, more than six users, you should use Sage 200.

2) Number of Transactions

The Sage 50 database has a limited number of transactions it can hold without archiving them (about 100,000 transactions). This means it often archives data which could be valuable in reports. It also means that Sage 50 users running the system near to its transaction limit often complain of slowness and data corruption. However, the Sage 200 database doesn't have a transaction limit, so if you're finding Sage 50 slow or you know you're looking at medium to high transaction levels, you need to consider Sage 200.

3) Transactions and Foreign Currencies

Sage 50 offers limited foreign currency functions. If you process frequent foreign currency transactions, you'll find the Sage 200 functionality far more efficient than Sage 50, and far more user-friendly. For example, with Sage 200 you can pay, receive or invoice in any currency. Unlike Sage 50, you don't need a separate bank account for each foreign currency to support each trading currency.

4) Reporting, Analysis and Business Intelligence

Reporting, analysing business performance, trend analysis and anomaly spotting is, much quicker, easier and enables more depth in Sage 200 compared with Sage 50. For example, Sage 200 offers powerful drill downs across each module. It gives easy access to data and also allows you to create your own profit and loss reports. However if the standard reporting functionality with Sage 200 isn't powerful enough for you, the Sage 200 Business Intelligence module offers even deeper, more flexible analysis.

5) Open and Closed Accounting Periods

Sage 200 allows open and closed accounting periods. Period lengths are definable and can be closed individually by Sales, Purchase, Nominal, Stock and Cashbook. By comparison, Sage 50 only works on open periods, which can lead to users waiting to post transactions at month end. It could also lead to inaccurate reporting because transactions may be posted to open periods after management reports have been run.

6) Cost Centres and Departments

Sage 50 offers a single level nominal ledger structure. This keeps things simple, but in comparison with Sage 200 only enables a limited analysis of income and expenditure. Sage 200 supports cost centres and departments which allows analysis of income and expenditure by multi levels within the chart of accounts.

7 ) Multiple Warehousing

You can set up stock items using Sage 50, but only record one stock holding value against each stock item. Sage 200 supports multiple warehouses and can attach them against stock items. Using Sage 200 means that warehouses can be two level, allowing bins and racking shelves to be recorded within the warehouse.

8) Batch Numbers and Serial Numbers

Sage 50 does not allow recording of batch or serial numbers. If your business processes needs to, or would benefit from working with batch or serial numbers, Sage 200 enables full batch or serial number recording and allocation. This is a great advantage for stock traceability. It also enables you to record by or use by dates.

9) Sales Order Processing

Sage 200 increases efficiency, accuracy and convenience of sales order processing compared with Sage 50. Sage 200 records sales orders automatically, and enables back to back purchase orders that can either be delivered directly to the client or into stock and immediately allocated.

10) Prices and Discounts

If you have a variety of pricing, say for different target markets or customers, or similarly different discounting schemes, you may find Sage 50 limiting. Compare this with Sage 200, which has a price matrix within the Sage 200 Commercials module. This allows you to easily manage prices and discounts throughout your customer base, using either price banded or discount-based pricing (or a combination of both) and applying them to groups of customers.

So, Sage 50 or Sage 200 - to Move (or Not to Move)? This comparison of Sage 50 and Sage 200 should give you an idea which of the products is right for your business. If you need further guidance, software demonstrations or any other information, don't hesitate to contact Concentrix.

Concentrix is a UK business management solutions provider, and a fully accredited Sage Partner. Formed in 1999, Concentrix specialises in products including Sage 50, Sage 200, Sage CRM and provides a full range of related services. Concentrix also provides a comprehensive range of CRM, business management solutions, IT infrastructure and hardware from other key providers including Microsoft, FrontRange and HP.

Educational Organisations benefit from CRM

Faced with an ever evolving curriculum, growing student numbers and increasing government targets, the educational sector is definitely a challenging one.

Concentrix has experience in deploying CRM for the education sector which can provide significant benefits to the way an organisation operates by:

- Reducing duplication of effort

- Keeping all information in one centralised location

- Empowering staff with knowledge

- Improving management effectiveness through powerful measurement and reporting tools

Concentrix knows that all schools, universities and colleges are different and will have different requirements. However, as an independent CRM specialist, Concentrix provides the best in breed CRM software including Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Sage CRM and FrontRange’s GoldMine, this means that they have a solution for almost any requirement.

So what does this mean? Well, Concentrix works closely with their clients to develop a clear understanding of their requirements. Once the client’s needs have been identified Concentrix takes a product agnostic approach to supplying the software. This ensures that the client gets a solution which matches their exact requirements.

What experience does Concentrix have?

Concentrix has worked with many educational organisations in the past and knows that often requirements are very specific. However, this is not a problem as Concentrix has an in house development team who can customise any of the systems to ensure they meet specific requirements. Concentrix customers in the educational sector include Bradford College, Darlington College and Grantham College.

More than Just CRM

In addition to providing CRM software, Concentrix also provides Accounts software as well as hardware, infrastructure and support.

Security for the educational sector

Hardware, Software and Network security is now one of the biggest challenges which all organisations irrespective of size or sector face and the importance of having the right type of security in place should not be underestimated. The increase in the spread of virus infected and other malicious software heightens the need for anti-virus and email exploit protection on every business network and schools, college and universities are no exception. Most organisations are acutely aware of the threats posed to them from external sources and have processes in place to protect against them. However it is the internal threats which they fail to protect against.

In educational organisations it is particularly important to know who is accessing which files as well as the files which people are storing on personal storage devices as very often educational institutions hold data which is highly sensitive and confidential.

For more information about any of the products provided by Concentrix or for advice on the solution which is right for your organisation, contact Concentrix on 01509 410500 or email [email protected].