LAKE SunSystems Newsletter

Welcome to the June edition of the newsletter for LAKE Customers.

This month, our product focus is on the Vision 6 Serduct (Datalink) known as Vision for Proactis. Also, continuing on the service theme we began in the April newsletter, we discuss the important, though sometimes neglected, subject of training needs.

Best regards

Adrian Howard
General Manager
0113 273 7788

PRODUCT FOCUS

Vision for Proactis

Vision is the market-leading ad hoc Reporting and Analytics suite that includes Vision XL and Vision Executive.

Vision for Proactis is one of a number of Vision 6 Serducts (Datalinks) LAKE has developed that opens up business data to the Vision reporting suite.

If you are utilising Vision alongside SunSystems, it is a natural step to consider extending that usage to include Proactis. This leverages skills in Vision and reduces the cost of supporting additional applications.

Vision for Proactis works alongside the full range of Vision 6 products and features.

Vision Serducts require Vision 6. That does not necessarily mean that you have to upgrade all your Vision 5 reports for SunSystems in order to implement Vision for Proactis. Vision 6 can operate alongside Vision 5.

Business Benefits:

• Ad hoc reporting for Proactis
  
  Supplement your pre-configured Proactis reports with a powerful ad hoc reporting tool that allows you to design queries and reports in seconds.
  
   
• Real time analysis of data
  
  Vision provides real time analysis of data meaning better management and control of budgets and operations.
  
   
• Ease of use and self-service
  
  Reporting tools can sometimes be difficult to use and expensive to maintain. With Vision, users can perform self-service reporting and analysis without having to rely on IT support.
  
   
• Understands Proactis "out of the box"
  
  Vision delivers a pre-configured business interpretation of Proactis, described with plain English titles for tables and columns. With Vision there is no need to understand sophisticated database structures, enabling you to develop reports easily and quickly.
   

The following is an online tour and introduction to Vision for Proactis. Alternatively, drop us a line and we shall contact you.

CLICK HERE to launch a self-service tour.

FOCUS ON SERVICE

Training

In the April newsletter we looked at the services associated with projects - new systems and upgrades. In this article we interview a senior member of the LAKE consultancy team in order to share ideas on the ongoing training need.

With new systems, training is incorporated into the project plan and is usually paid for out of a budget allocated to invest in the new system. However, once the system is live and the budget used up, what happens to training? This article provides some suggestions that may help you plan and budget for the ongoing training need.

Adrian:
What is the ongoing training need?

Ruth:
"When a project has just gone live, people know why things are done the way they are and know what needs to be done to make things work. However, as time goes by, new people join the organisation and knowledge and skills can be lost...

.. there are also a number of tasks that are not everyday activities where you would benefit from a little training. Sometimes these are annual tasks, sometimes they result from, say, organisational change. Things like creating a new Journal Type or introducing a new Analysis dimension are fine when you are right in the thick of the project but might be more challenging a year or so later...

.. People, by their nature, won't stop and take time to make changes unless they have to. If they can manage, they will carry on. With SunSystems it is important to remember that it is highly adaptable. There is no need to work around the system, it is better to assume that it can adapted to fit your needs. And, sometimes, a day or two spent on training will save days and weeks of your time. It improves the level of service that the system provides."

Adrian:
How can LAKE Support help identify training needs?

Ruth:
"LAKE Support has an important role to play. Most people call Support to ask a quick question; the question is answered and that jogs their memory and off they go again. From time to time, however, someone may call repeatedly and it is clear that they are struggling. On those occasions we raise the matter with their account manager who may call to offer onsite guidance and assistance...

.. On occasion, Support also has a role in making callers aware of other people in their organisation who could help them. Those people are sometimes better placed to help explain the reasons that their system has been set up in a particular way...

.. someone might call asking if we could switch off a field on a Journal entry they are using, for instance. Whilst we could show them how to do so, it would be better to direct that person to their colleague who is relying on that field in reports they produce."

Adrian:
Should training be based on your SunSystems setup?

Ruth:
"Most clients prefer SunSystems training delivered using their own reference data and example transactions. It saves a lot of time, makes it easier to remember and easier to apply that knowledge ...

.. If one person says cost centre and someone else says department, or if one person uses two analysis dimensions and another six, then time will be lost in translating these differences. With a packaged course you may be thrown in with other people of mixed abilities that have SunSystems set up in totally different ways."

Adrian:
Where should training be located?

Ruth:
"If there are a number of people involved then it can be better to locate it onsite. Certainly get them away from their desks and into a meeting room, but not away from the office.  Onsite training is usually less disruptive and less expensive. Furthermore, if they need to, say, go and get some example invoices during the lunch break, they can...

.. onsite training makes it much easier to enable people to log in to a training system under their own profile. That way they will see what they normally see and trainers are in a better position to relate the training to the trainee's day-to-day work."

Adrian:
Should there be a budget for ongoing training?

Ruth:
"Having an ongoing budget is forward thinking. It's a positive approach to the support of staff. You'd send them on the latest tax legislation course, for instance; this is just as important. It helps you get the most out of your Finance system. It gives people the knowledge they need to do their job...

.. If you haven't allocated a budget, then when it comes to it you aren't going to put people on training. By planning ahead you will have greater flexibility and will get more out of the Finance system."

SUNSYSTEMS & PROACTIS TRAINING

Latest Training Dates

CLICK HERE to view the current SunSystems training schedule

CLICK HERE for Proactis training