The Channel Islands Co-operative Society selects Sunrise Software

IT service management and self-service boost efficiency and customer service for one of the Channel Island’s largest employers.
 
UK-headquartered service management company Sunrise Software has today announced that The Channel Islands Co-operative Society (CICS), one of the Channel Island’s largest employers, has selected its flagship product Sostenuto to support 500 users at 25 locations. Since deploying Sostenuto and Sunrise Software’s self-service offering Chameleon, CICS has improved business processes across multiple departments, boosted IT productivity and significantly enhanced customer service.

CICS was looking to replace its manual Incident Management process with a fully automated solution. After reviewing several vendors in the marketplace, CICS selected Sunrise primarily after reading how Vision Express, one of the UK’s most trusted opticians, had successfully deployed their technology.

According to Mike Guest, Head of IT for The Channel Islands Co-operative Society, “If Sunrise could do such a good job for Vision Express with 500 locations, we were absolutely confident they would deliver the same excellent results for us. Sunrise met all our requirements, the right functionality at the right price with the added bonus of being flexible enough to support our many business operations, not just IT.”

Since deploying Sostenuto from Sunrise in August 2010, CICS has been able to introduce a sophisticated business tool that is accessible to everyone through a single point of contact. Sostenuto captures 100% of IT incidents ensuring all receive prompt attention. Staff are encouraged to log their issues via a self-service portal, a move that has saved time and reduced the number of calls coming into the service desk. For the first time, staff have complete visibility of how their incidents are being handled.

The results of a recent user satisfaction survey highlight the success of self-service: 87% of users claim the system is easy to use, simple to log calls and the control of support calls is far better. A further 91% appreciate the ability to track the progress of their calls and have noticed faster response times.

The majority of users have welcomed the adaptability of the Sunrise solution to other parts of the business, for example, the Facilities department. As a fresh food store business, The Channel Islands Co-operative relies on efficient refrigeration and air conditioning units to guarantee excellent products at all outlets. Now, if a fridge breaks down in a store, staff can simply log the asset number of the fridge into the Sostenuto system. This automatically flags up the breakdown by email to CICS’ third party maintenance contractor, Jersey Electricity, who is able to respond to technical issues more promptly and minimise loss of revenues for their customer.

The Society has configured the Sostenuto platform in a number of creative and ingenious ways. Today, all external requests are logged in Sostenuto, enabling the customer service department to deal with everything from complaints to members of the public enquiring about potential job opportunities. When it comes to security, the loss prevention team can now record important security incidents such as shoplifting or drive-offs at petrol stations in a specially designed template that helps the local police requesting CCTV footage or detailed information for crime reports. Furthermore, whenever CICS plans to announce special offers or discounts at its stores, it can test product scanning codes and record incidents of where codes do not work before launching the initiatives publicly thus guaranteeing a superior customer experience at the checkout.

Mike Guest added, “Sostenuto’s reporting capabilities are second to none. The solution is clever enough to spot trends and enables us to tackle priority weakness areas immediately. It’s also an excellent strategic tool giving us the hard evidence we need to drive forward business change and support industry compliance. We deal with many suppliers and Sunrise, with its first-rate technology and professional, accommodating team, is definitely up there with the best of them.”

Next on the horizon is expanding the use of the Sunrise solution to support CICS’ Health & Safety initiatives, expense order process and point-of-sale requests.

Geoff Rees, Sales Director of Sunrise Software, concluded: “The Channel Islands Co-operative Society values the configurable and adaptable capabilities of Sostenuto. As a forward-looking organisation, it is continually looking for creative solutions to all challenges across its diverse business infrastructure. Sostenuto, designed to be highly flexible and configurable, is perfect for companies like CICS who want the freedom to adapt our software to their own processes rather than the other way round. We look forward to helping them achieve continual improvements to operational efficiency and customer service in the future.”

For more information on Sunrise Software, its products, services and customers, please visit www.sunrisesoftware.co.uk

Software Europe

Software Europe has seen product developments and service innovations, and a customer base that has gone from strength to strength throughout 2012.

"Software Europe has continually demonstrated why it is recognised as a market leader. Our customer base has gone from strength to strength throughout the past year, and we will be pleased to shortly announce our largest NHS Health contract to date," said a spokesman.

"We are pleased to announce the successful award of a framework agreement through The NEP Shared System Group; this will permit quick and efficient access to Software Europe’s online expenses technology for any public sector organisation.

In July 2011 the UK Government-led Innovation Launch Pad initiative recognised Software Europe as one of the top 9 Small-Medium Enterprises who are providing proven savings to the UK public sector. We can also confirm our inclusion on the UK government’s G-Cloud platform.

"We want to change the way organisations do things and remove slow and arduous tasks that are preventing growth. Development of GreenLight, our online forms technology, began in 2009. This technology goes way beyond replicating paper forms and deploys high-intelligence logic to make the gathering of information and the workflow of that information as simple as drag and drop. GreenLight is already deployed at a number of Software Europe’s existing customer implementations and we see substantial growth in this technology area over the next 36 months.

"This year Software Europe has also completed the development of a new product for a new industry sector. Three years in development our Corporate Diligence online service is suitable for any company that is involved in mergers and acquisitions. Corporate Diligence revolutionises the way information is gathered and presented throughout the due diligence project.

"More than just a data room, Corporate Diligence expedites the process with accurate reporting, dynamic checklists and real-time risk tracking. I’m delighted to confirm this product is already in pilot phase at one of the UK’s largest law firms. We anticipate positive growth in this market sector, further establishing Software Europe’s ambitions for a global footprint for its web-based technologies.

"We will be taking our Research & Development work acquired from building Corporate Diligence and use this to enhance Software Europe’s Framework and Expenses products with this new technology. Torch is the name we have given to our next generation of reporting and dashboard services, we expect these products will be available to all of our customers by the end of 2012.

"We will be launching the first of our smart-phone applications which is the spearhead for Software Europe’s new mobile technology division. Expenses360 for iPhone will be available shortly as a free download from Apple’s iTunes store. Software Europe’s Expenses and Expenses Health customers will be able to record their expense items and capture images of receipts as they happen. For those with expense claim approval responsibilities they can scrutinise and authorise claims from their mobile device. BlackBerry, Android and Windows Phone 7 versions will follow. We believe that accessing our technologies through mobile channels will enable our customers to realise further benefits. Substantial investment by Software Europe in this area will continue.

"We are very pleased to report a 35% increase in our customer numbers for this financial year which finished on the 31st March 2012. New customers include some popular global brands including Net-A-Porter who selected Software Europe’s online contract management solution, Framework, for its power, flexibility and high quality Service Desk. The complete implementation was delivered in less than five weeks. We also received feedback from our new customers that they needed the confidence of working with a company with a proven track record and a stable financial position.

"Software Europe was formed 23 years ago on the foundation of delivering exceptional service. On Monday 26th March 2012 we launched our new support service called Circle. Circle will continue to drive Software Europe’s objectives for delivering exceptional service by offering our customers instant access to our support channels through an easy to use interactive online service. Circle is an addition to our readily praised Service Desk that provides telephone support currently.

"Since our first web-based solution went live in 2003, we have seen continuous positive growth. I am delighted to report that this year has seen this growth move to an average of over 50% year on year. Our innovation will be maintained and our investment in Research & Development will continue to enhance the businesses of our customers."

Centrix Software Announces WorkSpace Universal™ 5.3, Delivering New Solutions for SaaS Governance and Private Cloud Application Delivery

Centrix Software, a leading provider of enterprise workspace computing solutions, today announced a new release of Centrix WorkSpace Universal, a workspace delivery platform that provides unified access to applications, desktops and content from any device and any location.

Part of the Centrix WorkSpace suite, Centrix WorkSpace Universal 5.3 provides a platform for unifying application service delivery in private cloud and hybrid computing environments. The release of WorkSpace Universal 5.3 brings new features for supporting the compliant use of software-as-a-service applications and dynamic application provisioning in private cloud environments. New features announced today include:

• Cloud pass-through authentication – enterprise users of SaaS solutions have to provide a set of credentials to SaaS providers that are different from their ActiveDirectory account credentials. WorkSpace Universal 5.3 provides pass-through authentication to SaaS applications, automatically supplying the required credentials to SaaS providers on behalf of users. This minimizes management overheads for the IT team, lowers helpdesk costs and improves quality of service for users.

• Content Launch Policy Control – as users are used to ‘launching a document’ rather than opening an application to access their file, this can present a problem to organizations adopting a virtualization and SaaS infrastructure. Content Launch Policy Control sets a flexible policy by which content, documents and files are dynamically associated with an appropriate application from a variety of provisioning options (local, virtual or SaaS). With this feature, WorkSpace Universal 5.3 enables users to get easy access to their files without having to search for an appropriate application while allowing IT to maintain a consistent application use policy.

• Admin pad – administration of WorkSpace Universal is greatly simplified by context sensitive Admin pads that provide easy, role-base controlled access to authorized administration functions.

• Launch pad – as users access WorkSpace Universal from any device and any location, Launch pads simplify the user experience with quick and easy access to key applications and content.

“New application delivery options bring great opportunities for organizations to drive more operational and service efficiency but also require new management approaches to traditional desktop provisioning. In addition, the influx of SaaS is increasing at a rate that requires IT to determine policies around the use and support of external applications,” said Paul Burke, director of products at Centrix Software. “With the release of Centrix Universal 5.3, organizations can create governance around new virtual and cloud-based service delivery while maintaining application availability and supporting existing infrastructure investments.”

“For organisations expanding their use of virtualisation or planning private cloud services, having the ability to control all aspects of application provisioning and delivery is vital. As the enterprise IT infrastructure moves towards a more hybrid and virtual environment, a service framework across application provisioning and access workspaces will be a necessity. This is also critical for controlling the emergence of SaaS as a major component of the enterprise technology operation,” said John Abbott, Chief Analyst at The 451 Group.

WorkSpace Universal is part of the Centrix WorkSpace suite. Centrix Software also announced today an update to its workspace computing analytics solution Centrix WorkSpace iQ™, providing deep analysis and management reporting for Windows 7 and desktop transformation projects – see http://www.centrixsoftware.com/press-releases/centrix-softwa... for more information.

Trustmarque Teams With Snow Software To Strengthen Software Asset Management In The NHS

Trustmarque and Snow collaborate to help NHS buy and reuse software licences more effectively in response to changes in NHS procurement

Infrastructure and software solutions Value Added Reseller, Trustmarque, announced today it has signed an exclusive agreement with market leading desktop and software management solutions provider, Snow Software, to provide NHS Trusts across the UK with tools and support for managing their software estates. This NHS exclusive deal will offer special rates on Enterprise Subscription Agreements (ESAs) for Snow Software’s leading edge asset management technologies ‘Snow Licence Manager’ and ‘Snow Inventory’. Trustmarque will also provide a number of wrap around tactical consultancy and Managed Licence Services for the NHS, and can deploy the Snow solution either on-premise or through the cloud.

“The NHS is now at a pivotal point,” comments Kevin Trinkwon, Practice Lead - Managed Licence Services for Trustmarque. “The last batch of licences from the National Enterprise Agreements have been distributed, and control has been placed in the hands of the local trusts and institutions. Under the central agreements, trusts have never had to worry about licence management around their desktop estate. Now control has been passed to the trusts, it is imperative that NHS organisations understand and optimise their software assets now and for the future.

Snow’s asset management tools will empower Trusts to gain a better understanding of their software assets, enabling them to re-harvest unused licences and deploy software assets where they are needed most,” continues Trinkwon. “NHS Trusts will be able to make better informed decisions around their future technology decisions, ultimately enabling them to buy more effectively and avoid unnecessary spend.”

Snow Licence Manager is an advanced and user-friendly Software Asset Management (SAM) solution that provides organisations with the ability to manage the complete life-cycle of both their hardware and software assets from purchase, to registration, to installation and usage analysis, right the way through to retirement. It provides true software metering across all applications within IT estates, creating a view of what software is actually used. The tool automatically reconciles software licences and agreements against deployments across the organisation, automatically re-harvesting unused licences to ensure software estates meet compliance requirements in the most cost effective way possible.

Snow Inventory provides a real-time, dynamic view of all software and hardware activity on a company network in both virtual and physical environments, allowing organisations to proactively manage usage, actively resolve issues and analyse changes within the network. Using this up to the minute user information, organisations can create technology strategies based on real usage and requirements, helping to build business cases for future investments.

Trustmarque’s expertise in SAM and licensing will help organisations to realise the full benefits of Snow’s technology. Trustmarque will assist with the set up and technical deployment of Snow’s solutions, while also providing tactical consultancy services to help organisations create SAM policies and procedures, and contract management for licences and maintenance. Trustmarque can also provide a Managed Licence Service, using the Snow technologies, to maintain and manage Trusts’ software estates on their behalf.

“As the leading procurement partner for the NHS in the UK, Trustmarque was an obvious choice of partner,” comments Martin Callinan, Head of Strategic Partnerships for Snow Software. “Trustmarque has a long heritage in delivering Software Asset Management and a team of experts that really understand our technology and the benefits of SAM. The value added services that Trustmarque provides in relation to SAM consultancy and Managed Licence Services, combined with our superior asset management technology, creates a strong proposition for NHS looking to get a firm grip of their licence estate.”

BCS Announces 53 Percent Increase In “Like For Like” Sales

 Business Continuity Services (BCS), a trusted global provider of Software Asset Management (SAM) solutions and services, has announced it has increased turnover by 37 percent in the financial year to March 2011 and is well ahead of its increased target in the 2011-2012 Financial year.

Andy Fisher, New Business Development Director for BCS explains that the business has been way ahead of their sales targets all year too, with some phenomenal results: “In the 9 months to December 2011 we achieved 114 percent of our Target, with 86 percent of our Annual Sales Target being met in the 3rd quarter of the year! Comparing the same period for the last financial year we have an increase of 53 percent in “like for like” sales.”

BCS has a growing list of satisfied customers who are more than happy to share their experiences with the market, which goes some way to explaining why the business is expanding at such an impressive rate, especially given the current economic climate.

Shop Direct who recently extended its contract with BCS enthused “BCS works with us to ensure our internal software asset management solutions meet the high standards expected of a successful commercially driven company such as ours” and Shop Direct wasn’t the only BCS customer expressing its delight recently; Peter Sloane, Manager in IT Service Management for Provident Financial Consumer Credit Division was keen to express how BCS’ methods have been proven within his organisation: “We are pleased that we can directly attribute much of our expenditure fall to the introduction of Software Organiser, the BCS software reconciliation exercise, and our improved ability to recycle and re-harvest our licence estate as a result. I would recommend BCS to any organisation that is attempting to get its software licences and SAM practices under control.”

In order to offer its customers the highest level of service, BCS Ltd has doubled its staff numbers in the last year to keep up with increasing demand for its services, and has increased its office floor space by 75 percent to cover the planned expansion during the coming year, ensuring that all of its customers are supported by a highly dedicated and capable team.

Andy Fisher concludes “Our success is down to our methods being tried and tested, they really work and our customers trust that our staff can implement successful strategies within their business. It makes sense to employ a knowledgeable and focused team to meet and exceed our customers’ expectations.” BCS now handles a staggering 140,000 devices as part of its Compliance Managed Service offering and its Universal Software Library now includes 295,000 devices and details in excess of 200,000 software products.

For further information please visit: http:/bcsltd.com

Social media gives IT more clout

Service management unlocks commercial potential of brave new social media world

According to service management company Sunrise Software, today’s IT department should embrace the growing rise of social media as the ideal platform to increase customer engagement and generate new sales rather than focus on the challenges it presents such as network security and reduced employee productivity. In an article published today, Sunrise Software points out that IT professionals have an important part to play in creating a best-practice framework that maximises the commercial potential of social media and elevates the role of IT at the same time.

Geoff Rees, Sales Director of Sunrise Software, commented: “Love it or hate it, the fact remains that today’s social media world is big business and those who consider it just for kids or consumers should think again. Not only do social media networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter™ represent a vital new sales channel but the real-time, viral nature of their content, posted 24 hours a day from anywhere in the world, can wreak havoc with a company’s corporate brand. IT directors have a duty to take control of the new social media environment around them in a way that empowers their staff rather than stifles their commercial creativity.”

Round-the-clock social media requires a round-the-clock response. More and more people are using social media to praise or air their grievances about the products and services they receive in both business-to-consumer and, increasingly, business-to-business environments. Consumers are choosing to take notice of complete strangers rather than rely on the traditional word-of-mouth reputation or the opinion of a friend. As a result, companies need to know what customers are saying about them at all times.

The rise of social media poses today’s IT professionals with a real conundrum. Traditionally, IT decision-makers have frequently taken the decision to block social media networking sites in the workplace for fear of compromising corporate network security or for reasons of reduced staff productivity. However, banning social media entirely effectively shuts down a valuable sales channel and isolates companies from what their customers are saying about them, denying them the right to reply where they can protect and defend their brand.

The best way forward is to adopt an IT service management approach to social media. There are many success stories which prove how the IT department can and does take an active lead in creating a best practice technology framework that demonstrably contributes to commercial success.

Using Sunrise’s Sostenuto technology, high profile brands such as Anglian Water and Vision Express have introduced flexible but process-driven service management infrastructures that have enabled them to become role models for the rest of their organisation. In just one year, Vision Express raised SLA performance from 87% to 96% and premier contract catering firm Elior has extended the functionality of its Sostenuto-based IT service desk to other departments including purchasing, supplier management and HR with considerable success.

IT has long been the vanguard of new technologies and processes that ultimately impact the bottom line. Most importantly, vendors should continually strive to improve their service management product offering and invest in developing innovative new technology that addresses their customers’ changing social media requirements. Sophisticated applications that integrate seamlessly with today’s social media networking sites will enable organisations to track industry perception of their products and services so that they can proactively respond to complaints and ultimately encourage consumers to provide direct and constructive feedback online.

Along with the right technology, IT should develop a best practice social media policy that supports existing corporate HR and operational risk management procedures and is communicated widely across the organisation in the usual manner.

Geoff Rees concluded: “Social media is no longer the exclusive domain of marketers. The time has come for the IT department to become the corporate hub and centre of excellence for social media. By applying their already extensive expertise and proven track record in service management, IT directors are perfectly placed to help their client-facing departments increase their digital presence in the workplace and use it for competitive, commercial advantage.”

FACTFILE:
Established in 1994, Sunrise provides applications which underpin business processes across its customers’ organisations. A privately held, UK based company, Sunrise has a highly successful track record in IT service management, customer service management and business process management with fully configured applications designed around best practice guidelines.

Available as either on-premise or Software As A Service (SAAS) Sostenuto, Sunrise’s flagship product is totally web-based which harnesses modern technology with inbuilt resilience. Sostenuto is a comprehensive software tool which offers a high degree of flexibility, allowing organisations to change or introduce new processes through simple configuration.

There are three different variants to address different business requirements:

• Sostenuto ITSM available as ITSM2 and ITSM3 (ITIL2 or ITIL3 versions)

• Sostenuto CSM, a non-ITIL tool for customer service departments

• Sostenuto BPM, which allows organisations to create their own applications

Over a 1000 organisations use Sostenuto across the UK, with high profile users including Anglian Water, the NHS, Rugby Football Union, University of Greenwich, Muller Dairy and many more.

For more information please visit: www.sunrisesoftware.co.uk

Powerful fund analytics, dynamic scenario analysis and ease of use supports efficient investment decision-making at 47 Degrees North

Zurich-based 47 Degrees North Capital Management, a specialist alternative investments provider, is using AlternativeSoft for portfolio construction, optimization and portfolio monitoring. Used across the firm the software provides a solution to track portfolio attributions, generate portfolio optimisations and assists in the selection of hedge fund investments. The system enables 47 Degrees to consolidate and analyse a huge amount of disparate data in one place, with ease, supporting efficient investment decision-making.

47 Degrees North offers a range of alternative investment fund of funds to institutional investors, supported in its analytical work by AlternativeSoft’s software. Fraser McKenzie, managing partner at 47 Degrees North commented, “Originally, back in 2006, we looked at other products for portfolio construction and monitoring, but found AlternativeSoft best suited to handle our frequent demands for specific analytical functions.

"We have now been working in close partnership with AlternativeSoft for over 5 years – providing detailed technical input and beta testing from a user’s point of view. We have consistently found the responsiveness and technical know-how of AlternativeSoft to be outstanding.”

AlternativeSoft is used by 47 Degrees for quantitative fund screening and selection, portfolio management as well as risk management. The software allows existing portfolios to undergo simulations of stress tests and provides a comprehensive analysis of portfolio exposures to economic factors and hedge fund strategy styles. A full range of analytical tools such as modified value-at-risk, omega, correlation, regression and maximum drawdown are all seamlessly available.

The system is also used for historical portfolio attribution analysis. The software provides the capability to analyse granular historical performance of each fund, strategy and sector and how each element contributed to overall performance.

Fraser McKenzie stated, “AlternativeSoft enables us to analyse a huge amount of information within a consistent framework, in an easy to use format. It has made our process of generating return forecasts for each investment as well as portfolio construction and monitoring much more efficient. We can draw information and conclusions that allows us to make informed investment decisions. Ultimately this translates to better fund performance for our clients.”

Laurent Favre, founder, CEO and partner at AlternativeSoft said, “Knowledge is power, and the more that a portfolio manager understands about his/her investments the better decisions they will make. However, being able to analyse enough data easily can be difficult and time consuming. At AlternativeSoft we have taken our deep understanding of quantitative theory to build mathematical models that significantly streamline the process of analysis and calculation.

"This is coupled with the widest range of investment fund data feeds currently available which are automatically assimilated within the platform. This provides an extremely powerful and yet easy to use tool that streamlines many of the processes within portfolio management, saving time and supporting even better decision making.”

The Donkey Sanctuary chooses Advanced’s systems to improve performance and deliver real time reporting

International animal welfare charity, the Donkey Sanctuary, which provides sanctuary for 14,500 donkeys in 29 countries, is implementing a suite of integrated financial management (OpenAccounts), business intelligence, budgeting & forecasting, supply chain management, document management and payroll systems from Advanced Business Solutions (Advanced).

These systems, which will go live in a phased approach from April 2012, will further automate the charity’s financial processes and enable instant access to real time financial and non financial information for improved decision making. The supply chain solution will also improve the stock management of the charity’s online store, Donkey World (www.donkeyworld.org.uk).

In recent years the charity has grown in size and complexity and so has outgrown its current financial management system, requiring a more sophisticated suite of software solutions to meet its evolving needs. After a competitive tendering process, Advanced’s suite of software systems, centered on Advanced’s OpenAccounts financial management and procurement system, was chosen.

Advanced is providing the charity with a fully-integrated software proposition that will automate a range of manually–intensive financial processes and provide visibility of financial and operational performance across the organisation. The development of impact reporting, which is becoming a key requirement for charities, will also be more easily delivered using Advanced’s reporting functionality. Advanced’s systems will be integrated with the Donkey Sanctuary’s fundraising system, The Raiser’s Edge (from Blackbaud), as part of the overall software project.

Chris Young, Finance Director from The Donkey Sanctuary says, “As a growing international charity, we need to have a holistic view of our financial and operational performance to ensuret we operate as effectively and efficiently as possible whilst remaining compliant with Charity Commission and HMRC regulations.”

Young continues, “Advanced’s software will provide us with real time web-based access to a number of resource planning applications and group reporting functionality, improving financial control whilst aiding decision making.”

By moving to more automated financial processes using Advanced’s financial management system with integrated document management (powered by Version One), The Donkey Sanctuary will also free-up document storage space and time-consuming document handling.

Advanced provides solutions for a number of animal welfare organisations including RSPB, Cats Protection and The Blue Cross.



FACTFILE:
www.thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk
The Donkey Sanctuary is a UK-based charity working worldwide to improve conditions for donkeys and mules.
The objectives of The Donkey Sanctuary are the provision of care, protection and/or permanent security anywhere in the world for donkeys and mules which are in need of attention by reason of sickness, maltreatment, poor circumstances, ill-usage or other like causes and the prevention of cruelty and suffering among donkeys and mules.

www.advancedcomputersoftware.com/abs
Advanced Business Solutions (Advanced) provides leading integrated business applications and services that enable public, private and third sector organisations to retain control, improve visibility and gain efficiencies whilst continually improving corporate performance. ABS prides itself on getting close to its customers by understanding their businesses and responding to their evolving needs.
Advanced’s software systems comprise core accounting/financial management, procurement, human resource and payroll systems, integrated with a range of collaborative, document management and business intelligence solutions to extend the value and effectiveness of the finance, human resource and payroll departments, which can also be delivered as a managed or bureau service option.
Customers come from both public and private sectors and include Companies House, Newcastle City Council, WH Smith, Royal Bank of Scotland, Aer Lingus, National Express Group, DFS, RSPB and Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Trust.
Advanced Business Solutions is a division of Advanced Computer Software Group plc, a leading supplier of software and IT services to the health, care and business services sectors.

Revelation Software Announce the Release of OpenInsight 9.3

Revelation Software are pleased to announce the release of OpenInsight Application Development Suite (OI) 9.3.
This latest release of the company's MultiValue application development toolkit includes the following new components:

Data Encryption at Rest (RTIDER)
OpenInsight version 9.3 incorporates a brand new encryption service that system administrators can deploy to encrypt (on a field by field level) data in OpenInsight. The data will be 'encrypted at rest' using industry standard encryption routines. Clients and the encryption service use the Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) to communicate, this allows the data to be encrypted in transit. Through the use of an Encryption Server (normally, but not necessarily, the same machine as the Universal Driver server), each OpenInsight workstation seamlessly and securely encrypts data for storage when written into an encrypted volume.

OpenInsight for Web (O4W v1.2)

This version of O4W includes many enhancements to the API's, form, Report, Dashboard and Menu wizards. O4W v1.2 also provides additional support for mobile devices, such as tablets and smartphones. Support for these mobile devices have been implemented as a series of additional API's that can be used in building O4W stored procedures. Using jQuery Mobile, the companion library to O4W's jQuery, web pages can be built that follow the design styling that is now becoming the standard on portable devices.

Banded Report Writer
The original Banded Report Writer (BRW) has been replaced using technology based on the C1Report tool from ComponentOne. The OI BRW supports powerful and easy to use banded reports that are compatible with Microsoft Access and Crystal Reports models.

Extended Math Functions
OpenInsight 9.3 includes new extended math functions: _addx, _subx, _mulx and _divx. These new functions allow developers to perform math operations using full precision or a specified precision.

OpenInsight for D3/mvBase Connector
The OpenInsight for D3 connector provides the ability to connect with both the D3 and mvBase databases from TigerLogic Corporation.

"Our connection technology has truly made OpenInsight a versatile front-end graphical database development environment", said Mike Ruane, President/CEO Revelation Software, "Whether your back-end database is Linear Hash, U2 (Universe or Unidata), D3, mvBase, OpenQM, NoSQL or SQL, our toolset leverages MultiValue skills with modern technology."

Also included in the OpenInsight 9.3 release are enhancements to the following components: System Editor++, Database Manager, Basic+, O4W, OIPI.net / OIPI, ARev32, Table Builder, Report Builder, IDE, RDK, U2 Connector, SQL connector and also Module Management.

"Data encryption and mobile computing are fast becoming essential requirements with any application development", said Bob Catalano, Director of Sales, Revelation Software. "We are empowering our development community with one of the best mobile computing and data encryption toolkits on the market."

OpenInsight Development Suite 9.3 is available from Revelation Software, or through their network of resellers. For further details, please contact mp@revsoft.co.uk or visit www.revsoft.co.uk.

FACTFILE:
Founded in 1982, Revelation Software delivers a suite of application development tools and companion services that take full advantage of leading network computing architectures, messaging, groupware, and client server platforms.

Today, the firm's flagship product OpenInsight is the only database development and application environment that provides both Windows and Java-based GUI tools to develop and deploy web-based and client server applications that support native and relational XML, SQL, Lotus Notes and the leading legacy Multi-Value data sources such a ARev, Pick and IBM Universe. There are now over 1.5 million licensed users of Revelation products across 60,000 deployed sites worldwide. For more information visit www.revsoft.co.uk.

Deal signed with Innovation Group after successful pilot

German insurer DEVK has signed a three year contract with Innovation Group to use its Innovation Symbility Mobile Claims software, part of the Innovation Symbility Suite. The deployment follows a successful pilot phase.

Innovation Symbility Mobile Claims is a field-based scoping solution optimised for mobile devices to make qualified assessment of property claims on site. From January 2012, all DEVK adjusters will be able to create estimates with electronic support and complete accurate assessment of the claim speeding up the claims settlement process.

“By using Innovation Symbility Mobile Claims software, DEVK expects to increase customer satisfaction levels, as well as assure better documentation and improved efficiency from our adjusters” said Günter Kalkowski, head of property claims at DEVK.

“This new partnership with DEVK is an important milestone for bringing Innovation Symbility Suite onto the German market. With this opportunity we will be able to demonstrate the added value of Innovation Group’s software and outsourcing solutions for both insurance clients and other companies in the value chain. Our products allow closer collaboration between service providers and their customers while at the same time improve customer service levels and reduce costs.” said Robert Thomson, managing director of Innovation Group in the UK and Ireland.

With 1,200 offices, 2,270 tied agents and more than 4,000 part-time agents, DEVK is a number four property, number five motor and number six casualty insurance company in Germany.

From its German office branch in Stuttgart, Innovation Group specialises in outsourcing solutions for insurance companies, fleet operators and garage networks. The company has partnered with more than 3,000 service providers.
Innovation Symbility Suite is a service model consisting of three core software components:

• Triage – enables claims management teams to scope claims accurately and consistently, in turn providing adjustors and service providers with an accurate picture of the claim before their first visit.
• Symbility.net – a powerful data management hub that records and tracks all claims data, including supplier information and reporting on claims and customer experience.
• Mobile Claims – field based scoping solution that actively syncs with the data management hub to share claim information, eliminating replicated data and reducing rework and duplication.

www.innovation-group.com

Fighting Crime With Crucial Real-Time Information Takes Leap Forward

Enhancements have been announced to QiSOFT’s POLICEintel program, the unique real-time intelligence web-based sharing portal for data-driven crime fighting. The core elements of the program remain, particularly the shift-to-shift information sharing tool, the Sergeant’s Desk Report. New to the program are modules for retail crime prevention: Retail Stop Loss and for citizen reporting of suspicious activity: iWatch.

The iWatch program for citizen involvement started in LA and is now in use in other cities. This allows the user to provide a narrative of suspicious activity directly to the area police department for officer response. This programme can be used as a stand alone module or integrated into POLICEintel.

RetailStop Loss is currently being field tested in Savannah GA. Dedicated to stopping shoplifters, this program makes available to the merchant details of known shoplifters with pictures and profile information.

POLICEintel is all about harnessing crime information, background events, criminals and police activity and placing this in its correct geographical and time context. Crime reports, patterns, likely suspects, criminal profiles, pictures and video are all available, with interactive maps to pinpoint critical locations.

Being a web based portal, information from different sources is easily assimilated and presented to the law enforcement officer. Via the unique external feeds feature, neighbouring agencies can instantly share and exchange critical intelligence information. This information is available 24/7 and can be securely accessed from any computer or mobile device with Internet access.

One of the most liked features is the Sergeant’s Desk Report. From this visual and textural intelligence the incoming officer can learn about reported crimes on the previous shift. This may include warrants issued, BOLO for vehicle, arrests, access criminal profiles, pictures, missing person files, gang activity reports, internal announcements and more.

“We are on the cusp of really moving forward in these areas,” commented David Johns, QiSOFT business development manager for POLICEintel. “So that officers can see the potential of the system we have a demo available at https://secure.policeintel.com, accessible with the user name and password: intelcenter.”

Businesses missing opportunity to streamline Desktop Transformation, points out Centrix Software

Centrix Software today released findings from a survey on desktop transformation conducted at IPEXPO that indicates that many businesses embarking on a desktop change project do not have a clear view of their desktop estate or how assets are being used.

Over half of the respondents polled were not using any form of inventory or analytics to assess their environments in preparation for transformation. Of those using an inventory tool, 47% believed they could not obtain information on asset usage that is essential for successful desktop transformation planning.

Additional findings from the survey of 111 IT professionals at the UK IT event include:

· Over 65 per cent of respondents had some form of desktop transformation project planned

· The majority of projects (86 per cent) involved migrating to Windows 7

· A large percentage included the use of client-side virtualisation, with 61 per cent of desktop transformation projects involving plans to virtualise desktops and over half involving application virtualisation

· Over half of those planning for desktop transformation said their projects are not involving a hardware refresh.

Commenting on the findings, Richard Pegden, director of product marketing at Centrix Software, said, “the results of this poll confirm that planning for Windows 7 is a top agenda item for IT professionals. It also shows that many organisations see the move to a new OS as a good opportunity to introduce client-side virtualisation technologies. With the majority of respondents not including the use of inventory tools in their project planning, it’s likely that they are not analysing asset usage either and therefore do not have a detailed picture of their end-user environment.

“There is a tremendous opportunity for IT to significantly streamline and accelerate desktop transformation projects through a detailed understanding of application, device and content usage. Knowing what you have in place and how assets are being used enables project teams to make quicker, more informed decisions about technology selection, application testing and user requirements.

"Having deep user insight will also dramatically reduce risk around desktop transformation projects. Desktop teams can identify where rationalisation can deliver cost savings and combat asset sprawl. End-user computing analytics solutions can deliver this intelligence very quickly and drive these benefits immediately into desktop transformation projects. By shifting their focus to the end-user, organisations can significantly reduce the cost and time involved in designing and deploying a new desktop environment.”


FACTFILE:
Headquartered in Newbury, UK, with offices in New York, Centrix Software provides award-winning unified end-user computing solutions that optimise the way IT infrastructures deliver applications and content provisioned from physical, virtual, web or hosted platforms. By enabling a user-centric approach to IT service delivery, Centrix Software helps its customers to be more agile, flexible and efficient in how they deliver client-side technology services.

Centrix Software’s solutions have helped leading organisations in banking and securities, insurance, telecommunications, retail, manufacturing, pharmaceutical, energy and utilities, and the public sector. For more information please visit www.centrixsoftware.com.

For the latest information on Centrix Software you can visit one of the following sites:-

Centrix Software Twitter
Centrix Software Blog
Centrix Software YouTube channel
Centrix Software Facebook page

Finnish IT company arrives in UK and Denmark

Finnish IT service provider Eficode has expanded its operations to the United Kingdom and Denmark through an acquisition. In addition to Finland, China and Russia, the young company now also has operations in London and Copenhagen. “You CAN swim against the current nowadays”, said Risto Virkkala, CEO of the company.

Eficode, headquartered in Helsinki, announced on 9th November the acquisition of Videnhuset a/s and its subsidiary Videnhuset UK Limited.

The company specialises in the resale, implementation and support of software systems from Autonomy Systems, which was itself recently acquired by Hewlett-Packard. The acquisition makes Eficode the largest Nordic implementation partner and distributor for Autonomy, and one of the largest in Europe. With the expansion of its expertise base, Eficode is able to offer Autonomy's entire extensive product portfolio in all of the Nordic countries, the UK and most of Europe. Autonomy, now owned by HP, develops solutions for the automation of information management and business processes of enterprises.

“The acquisition aims to increase our business opportunities and our ability to offer our exceptional service to a wider range of customers internationally. We seek volume in other Nordic countries and the UK as the Autonomy business in Finland is limited simply due to the size of the market. A presence in Denmark and the UK also offers some very interesting possibilities to increase the international dimension of our other business areas. We want to take the learning-oriented and lively Eficode culture abroad”, Virkkala envisions.

Eficode's strong financial position has created the opportunity for the expansion of operations internationally. The company reached a turnover of 5 million Euros with 1.1 million Euros profit in the year ending June 2011 and in addition to the geographic expansion it is also investing in the development of new services and expertise.

The company plans to avoid the pitfalls of internationalisation with sound business realism. “We're always putting business first, also when going abroad. Our organisation develops in step with cash flow and I believe that careful monitoring of the business will limit risks”, says Virkkala. “Starting the Beijing office was a really steep learning curve and we are building on what we learned”.

Virkkala estimates that the number of employees at Eficode will increase from the current 70 employees to over one hundred as a result of the acquisition and planned recruitment for other projects.

Software demand to be met

Palantir Solutions, which provides economic planning consultancy and software to the global upstream community, has made four appointments as the company continues to experience extensive growth in all regions.

Paul Douglas has joined Palantir Solutions’ Canadian team as a Senior Consultant. He is responsible for providing high quality consulting services to North American client Talisman. Douglas has extensive experience in software development, consulting and operations management. 

He has been involved in many successful software development projects in the Canadian oil and gas industry. It is this blend of technical and client relations skills that makes Douglas an excellent addition to Palantir Solutions’ North American consulting team.

Dana Hilliker has joined the Business Development team in Canada. Hilliker will be responsible for ensuring that Palantir Solutions continues to deliver market leading customer service to the expanding client base in Calgary. He is also tasked with identifying and securing new business in North America. Hilliker has extensive experience in client relations for Replicon where he was one of the top performers.

Anna Tregub has been appointed as a Consultant in the UK. Tregub has been recruited to assist with the growing demand for software pilots and implementations for European upstream companies. She will also provide clients with insightful data analysis in complex, challenging situations. Her previous experience as a wireline engineer, makes Trerub a valuable addition to the Palantir Solutions team.

Julia Hayward has been appointed as a Senior Developer in Palantir Solutions’ growing development team in London. Hayward is part of the team developing the next generation PalantirCASH product. In previous roles she has been responsible for designing and implementing powerful algorithms which are used to distill large datasets into real business intelligence. This experience will be incredibly useful in her role at Palantir Solutions.

Dean MacPherson, Palantir Solutions Director of Operations, EMEA said, “Our upstream business planning solutions are being widely adopted by many of the industry’s major players. Meanwhile our existing client base is, in many cases, taking advantage of the global reach and experience we have as familiar challenges are faced in new regions. Our four new starters continue our strategy of attracting and developing the best talent to maintain the world class offering our customers enjoy.”

www.palantirsolutions.com

Rowanmoor Pensions cuts budgeting and forecasting time by two weeks per year with Advanced Business Solutions

Rowanmoor Pensions, a specialist pensions provider with over 30 years’ industry experience, has reduced the time taken to budget and forecast by two weeks per year since implementing a budgeting, forecasting and planning system from Advanced Business Solutions (ABS).

Rowanmoor Pensions researched the market and chose a budgeting and forecasting system that best fit its requirements in terms of price and level of functionality.

James Simpson, Financial Administrator from Rowanmoor Pensions, says, “We approached Advanced Business Solutions because we needed a more robust and functionally-rich alternative to our existing systems.”

The new ABS system is being used for budgeting and planning for the current financial year and the next two years. It is also being used for ‘what if?’ scenario planning, providing the company with greater confidence when planning for the future.

“We are now better equipped for forecasting the effect of potential company and market changes such as income fluctuations or altered tax rates”, explains Simpson.

Since moving to ABS’ system, Rowanmoor Pensions has cut the time it takes to budget and forecast, enabling the finance team to spend less time on administration and more time on other added value activities.

Simpson says, “Thanks to ABS’ system, budgeting and forecasting is now more automated and intuitive, saving the finance team two weeks’ of budgeting and forecasting time each year.”

Simpson adds, “Producing balance sheets is quick and easy, delivering a holistic view of the company’s finances at any one time whilst enabling accurate and timely reports.”

FACTFILE:

• Rowanmoor Pensions provides and administers member-directed pension schemes:

o Small Self-Administered Schemes (SSAS)
o Self-Invested Personal Pensions (SIPP)
o Family Pension Trusts (also known as Family SIPPs).
• Rowanmoor Pensions is the UKs largest independent SSAS and Family Pension Trust practitioner and administers around 4,000 schemes.

• Rowanmoor Pensions was awarded best SSAS provider in the 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 Moneyfacts Investment, Life and Pensions Awards.

• Rowanmoor Pensions was awarded best SSAS provider in the 2006, 2007 and 2008 Pensions Management Technology Administration and Service Awards.

• The Rowanmoor Pensions website is www.rowanmoor.co.uk
• Rowanmoor Pensions currently employs over 200 people.
• Rowanmoor Pensions is a trading name of Rowanmoor Group plc (No. 5792242).

• Rowanmoor Personal Pensions Limited, a subsidiary of Rowanmoor Group plc is the scheme Administrator and scheme operator for schemes established under a Rowanmoor Pensions Family Pension Trust and the Rowanmoor Pensions SIPP and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (Register number 458260).

www.advancedcomputersoftware.com/abs
Advanced Business Solutions (ABS) provides leading integrated business applications and services that enable public, private and third sector organisations to retain control, improve visibility and gain efficiencies whilst continually improving corporate performance. ABS prides itself on getting close to its customers by understanding their businesses and responding to their evolving needs.

ABS' software systems comprise core accounting/financial management, procurement, human resource and payroll systems, integrated with a range of collaborative, document management and business intelligence solutions to extend the value and effectiveness of the finance, human resource and payroll departments, which can also be delivered as a managed or bureau service option.

Customers come from both public and private sectors and include Companies House, Newcastle City Council, WH Smith, Royal Bank of Scotland, Aer Lingus, National Express Group, DFS, RSPB and Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Trust.
Advanced Business Solutions is a division of Advanced Computer Software Group plc.

Centrix Software to showcase new solutions at VMworld that help organisations control their changing application landscapes

Centrix Software, a provider of unified end-user computing solutions, has announced it will be demonstrating solutions that help organisations understand in detail the real usage of applications at this year’s VMworld event, to be held in Las Vegas on 29th August to 1st September 2011.

Centrix WorkSpace provides vital information to help plan desktop transformation projects, such as desktop virtualisation. The company will also be demonstrating updated products that enable organisations to deliver user-centric applications, regardless of the underlying technology.

Located in the Innovator Pavilion at Booth 171-F, Centrix Software will demonstrate the latest version of its Centrix WorkSpace Suite, a range of business technology solutions that enable organisations to analyse, plan and deliver virtual environments and ensure they are optimised to meet user needs. It will also unveil new self-service features within WorkSpace 5.1 that allow organisations to manage the on-demand delivery of applications from virtual, cloud and physical application provisioning environments.

For organisations migrating to or expanding virtual environments, Centrix Software will be demonstrating solutions for:

• Virtualisation Planning – that help organisations determine the most cost effective approach to application and desktop virtualisation, the most viable candidates for virtualisation and the financial impact of implementing virtualisation.
• Virtualisation Implementation decision support – that gather the details of what operating system licences can be re-used, what applications should be available in a virtualised environment and who needs to access them; how to define application group templates for virtual desktops; the viability of devices as virtual desktop or application client machines; anticipated workload on virtualisation servers; who is using local printers, and many other details that help inform choices in virtualisation.
• Analysing virtualisation server usage and demand – providing reporting on the application inventory and usage demand on currently virtualised servers, as well as the use of any App-V packaged applications. This enables organisations to establish the appropriate licence entitlement, whether there are applications that can be removed from the servers and what the user load on virtual servers really is.
• Usage Reporting – that quickly identify which users consume which applications, how frequently and for how long. This provides intelligence for rationalising IT infrastructure and costs.

“Enterprise organisations are making significant decisions about their application and desktop strategies against a backdrop of tight cost control and intense organisational pressure,” said Lewis Gee, Vice President Worldwide Sales and Marketing for Centrix Software. “At VMworld this year we are showing organisations how they can gather the critical information and intelligence data they need to make the best technology decisions for their organisations, and ensure new technology investments and services deliver fast return and business value.”

FACTFILE:

Based in Newbury, Berkshire, Centrix Software provides award-winning unified end-user computing solutions that optimise the way IT infrastructures deliver applications and content provisioned from physical, virtual, web or hosted platforms. By enabling a user-centric approach to IT service delivery, Centrix Software helps its customers to be more agile, flexible and efficient in how they deliver client-side technology services.

Centrix Software’s solutions have helped leading organisations in banking and securities, insurance, telecommunications, retail, manufacturing, pharmaceutical, energy and utilities, and the public sector. For more information please visit www.centrixsoftware.com or follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/centrixsoftware

Nealry 40% of India’s Software Developer Population Using or Planning to Use BIRT

Actuate Corporation, The people behind BIRT® and the leader in open source Business Intelligence (BI), have revealed that, based on new research by Evans Data Corporation, over 900,000 developers in India are currently using or plan to use BIRT in the next 12 months to build Business Intelligence, data visualisations and information delivery applications.

Actuate founded the Eclipse BIRT open source project in 2004 and continues to co-lead the effort. BIRT is the only top-level Eclipse project focused on Business Intelligence and reporting and has emerged as the premier development environment for presenting compelling data visualisations to users.

BIRT has proven to be a winning hybrid strategy that combines the strengths of open source and enterprise development for growing the market for ActuateOne, the Company’s value-added product set for BIRT deployment.

India has emerged as a model market for BIRT, with almost 40% of the country’s developer population currently using or planning to use the technology in the next 12 months for their BI, reporting and data visualisation requirements. In response to increasing interest, the Company plans to give India’s large developer population access to the same resources and education already benefiting BIRT developers in Europe and North America.

Demand has been fuelled by India’s leading system integrators including Wipro, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys, Cognizant, Larsen & Toubro, CSC, Mahindra Satyam, Accenture and Cap Gemini; independent software vendors including Saba Software and Cisco; and customers including Indian Oil Corporation, Great Eastern Shipping, Blue Dart Express Limited, ICICI Bank, HSBC, Bank of America, J.P. Morgan, Fidelity, Wells Fargo and PayPal.

“India is the place to see our BIRT strategy in action. We’re seeing enormous interest in BIRT with a limited physical presence and minimal investment in India. Our next step is to grow revenue in a cost effective manner, which is aided by the fact that 40% of India’s developer population is using or plans to use BIRT,” said Pete Cittadini, President and CEO of Actuate Corporation.

“We expect momentum to continue as the developer base in India is likely to become larger than the North America BIRT developer population within the next 12 months.”

Developers and IT Management are invited to attend the BIRT Roadshow in Bangalore, a free, half day event that introduces BIRT and demonstrates how developers and IT managers can leverage BIRT to quickly create data-driven reports, web pages and compelling information visualisations using its visual drag-and-drop design environment. Participants will also receive training and software material, evaluation licenses and demos. The event serves as a great orientation to BIRT, the Eclipse Foundation Business Intelligence and Reporting Tools open source project sponsored by Actuate.

The Bangalore BIRT Introductory Roadshow will demonstrate how to use BIRT and ActuateOne to build a new generation of custom Business Intelligence and information applications. Attendees can expect to:

• Understand the dynamic capabilities of BIRT, AJAX, Flash and Interactive Viewer to deliver exciting, interactive content
• View exclusive live demonstrations including data analytics and dashboarding
• Receive Actuate and BIRT collateral and presentations
• Receive free training material to get started with BIRT
• Receive free software evaluation licenses: Actuate BIRT Designer Pro and Actuate iServer
• Be awarded a BIRT Roadshow training certificate
• Gain entry into a draw to win exclusive prizes
Register via this link: http://www.actuate.com/ap/info/BIRTRoadshowBangalorePR

FACTFILE:
Event Details
Date: Friday 26th August, 2011
Time: 9:00am-1:00pm IST
Location: Vivanta by Taj - M G Road, 41/3, Mahatma Gandhi Road, Bangalore
Cost: Complimentary
Agenda: http://www.actuate.com/ap/resources/assets/?articleid=22503
Twitter: #BIRT_India

Actuate has over 4,800 customers globally in a diverse range of business areas including financial services and the public sector. Founded in 1993, Actuate is headquartered in San Mateo, California, with offices worldwide.

Actuate is listed on NASDAQ under the symbol BIRT. For more information, visit the company's web site at www.actuate.com or visit the BIRT community at www.birt-exchange.com.