In the Press September 2011
06 October 2011
Below are UNIT4’s UK press coverage highlights from September
Unis “have to change ERP” as first step to wider changes
PublicTechnology.net
Higher education institutions are under pressure to make business changes but their software is holding them back, according to a survey from Technology Evaluation Centers (TEC) Research.
The study finds the tertiary sector struggling to become more efficient so as to cut costs and respond to regulatory changes, but that it is having to spend up to £650,000 re-jigging new enterprise resource planning (ERP) software after it has been installed.
According to the study, Managing Change in the Higher Education Sector, which was commissioned by ERP firm UNIT4, nearly half of respondents would consider replacing their current software solutions if it would help them manage change more effectively without having to rely on costly external support.
Not-for-profit FDs must adopt new approach: It’s time for the third sector to start thinking like a commercial entity, says Anwen Robinson
Financial Director
Without doubt the third sector is facing tough times and challenges, and the predicted upturn seems a long way off as the news gloomily moots the idea of another recession. Money is at the heart of the problem: donation income is falling, government funding is limited and hard to secure, and there are increased calls on management within the sector to become more transparent and accountable to the public, to donors and to government bodies alike.
Charities and not-for-profit organisations are now often required to produce detailed reports showing how and where funds are allocated. These are requirements with which many struggle. There are, however, steps that the pro-active FD within the third sector can take to help prepare for the future with confidence.
Third-sector organisations need to adopt a more commercial and profit-making approach. They must see themselves as businesses competing for investment and ongoing returns. If they are to increase donation income, secure much-needed funding, and become more competitive, now is the time to think about operational and financial performance and consider what steps need to be taken.
University of Plymouth improves ERP data access: Logix4 system is self service analysis tool
Computerworld UK
The University of Plymouth is aiming to get more out of its ERP business platform with a plug-in that allows users to easily grab the data and information they require. The University has gone live with Logix4, a self-service data analysis tool from UNIT4 Business Software. The plug-in will provide "enhanced analysis and reporting" on the University's underlying Agresso Campus ERP data. Agresso is also supplied by UNIT4.
The plug-in supports simple drag-and-drop actions, allowing users to explore standard metrics, while answering their own ad hoc questions. There is no need to use spreadsheets or customised reports to glean the information required, says the supplier.
“One of the main reasons we chose Logix4 was the pre-built analytics packs it delivers across the Agresso modules,” said Mark Taylor, Deputy Director of Finance at the University of Plymouth.
"We can make informed decisions more quickly, use budgets more effectively, and achieve greater time savings and efficiencies. The return on investment has been immediate,” said Taylor.
Also in Plymouth, it was recently announced the city council is deploying a Microsoft unified communications system to support 4,000 staff with the aim of cutting costs and supporting flexible working. The new Microsoft Lync platform, being deployed by NEC IT solutions, will give council staff individual and group instant messaging, video conferencing, a collaborative virtual meeting space and remote access and support.
How Salesforce looks to 'social enterprise' for future growth
Dennis Howlett - CloudPro
Collaboration is often seen as a dirty word in software circles. Salesforce is looking to be different - can it succeed?
For the last nine years, Marc Benioff, CEO Salesforce.com has stood on the Dreamforce stage with one clear message: No Software. This year was no different but with plenty of added nuance. In past years, the focus has been upon the work Salesforce.com has been doing to assemble different cloud-based sales and service solutions.
This year, the marketing catchphrase was 'the Social Enterprise,' a term that is both vague yet eye catching, but disguising the real theme - collaboration. In discussion with colleagues, it turns out that 'collaboration' as an IT construct has become a dirty word. Why? Because no-one really does it. Why should Benioff's vision be any different.
EMAP selects FinancialForce Accounting
FSN
EMAP Insight, a division of EMAP, has selected FinancialForce Accounting to improve the order to cash process, and serve as a complementary financial application to its Salesforce CRM system.
EMAP Insight delivers news and data intelligence to more than 12,500 subscribers. It was looking to streamline the process that supports customer interactions and subscription management with its digital products. Following an end to end process review, from enquiry, to order or renewal and then into service delivery, EMAP Insight selected the FinancialForce Accounting’s billing toolset which is completely integrated with Salesforce CRM on the Force.com platform.
“With the Force.com platform, we know we can develop a sound application infrastructure quickly at a reasonable cost that will scale,” said Ajay Handa, Finance Director at EMAP Insight. “By using Salesforce CRM/FinancialForce Accounting the sales team will spend less time reporting and the finance team will benefit from real-time access to data. We have completed a pilot phase and we are already advocates of the improved processes. We are looking to roll out the pilot solution to the rest of the division.”
NHS Camden Procurement Cooperative addresses NHS reform and saves £2.7M in its first year with UNIT4
IT Reseller
In 2008 NHS Camden Shared Procurement Service, the organisation which provided procurement services to NHS Camden Commissioning, NHS Camden Provider Services, NHS Islington Provider Services, NHS Islington Commissioning, Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust and Commissioning Support for London, realised that its own fragmented systems typified the much criticised NHS back-office stereotype.
It acted to address the shortcomings, implementing a Procurement Platform from UNIT4 which has helped it deliver impressive cost savings, increase customer satisfaction by 200% and address on-going change with minimal cost and without disruption. It has been so successful that NHS Camden is now considering spinning out the procurement service as an independent social enterprise, so that other organisations can benefit from its expertise. This is the story of how they did it.
The ICT Professional: Anwen Robinson, UNIT4
PublicTechnology.net
PublicTechnology.Net’s widely respected ‘ICT For Recovery’ campaign has a new supporter - Anwen Robinson, the UK and Irish Managing Director of UNIT4 Business Software, the firm behind the Agresso ERP system. We met her to see why she and her firm have decided to come on board.
PublicTechnology.Net: Can you tell us a little about yourself first, please Anwen?
Robinson: Sure. I am an honours graduate Mechanical Engineer and qualified lecturer who left a career in academia in a variety of roles in organisations like Syntech, a project costing and billings specialist which became part of Misys, then senior sales roles in Cognos and Hyperion, finally joining Agresso in 1999 and when we acquired [business software specialist] CODA, took on overall sales and marketing responsibility for the consolidated organisation. I succeeded John Crooks as MD in July 2009.
From financial reporting to integrated reporting
FSN - David Turner comments
The software industry will have a role to play with integrated reporting. “We can help our customers to meet integrated reporting standards by providing them with the sort of flexible reporting framework that will allow them to measure, manage and report on all sorts of performance measures,’ says Dave Turner, Group Marketing Director with UNIT4, but it will still be a long time before ‘integrated reporting’ can be integrated from a technology point of view. “There seems to be an expectation that companies have systems that contain all of the information they are going to need to report on this wide range of performance indicators, but this is a myth,” he says.
Some UNIT4 customers are already going out of their way to report on sustainability, but it isn’t easy. Turner explains: “Even an organisation with a top-to-toe Agresso ERP that’s using our Sustain4 environmental performance management solution to collect information from other parts of the supply chain, can still struggle to find some of it,” let alone automate its collection. “When you talk to businesses about it, you find that they have one guy who sits there and rings up all of the country managers asking them for information, because a lot of it’s still buried in spreadsheets, or it’s being worked out on the back of a cigarette packet.”
