Registry Mechanic: It’s Time To Get Your Computer A Tune-Up

As the computer age continues to evolve at break-neck speed, it is becoming more and more easy for people to view their pc as a valuable tool in the home. Much like a vehicle it takes you places that you need and want to go and it is becoming more practically useful as you can shop, pay bills, and make important communications. It is also easier for people to understand that a computer needs maintenance too. So just like as you would take a car to an auto mechanic to service your car periodically you should get the analogous “registry mechanic” to service your pc.

The word registry in registry mechanic may have thrown you but it isn’t that complicated. You could think of the registry as the oil pan of the computer and just as you need clean oil for good lubrication in a vehicle you need a clean registry for smooth operation of your computer. If you have had a computer for any length of time you know that it will slow down over time, and you will start to notice that your computer will freeze and do spontaneous shutdowns that become a major hassle. These problems are almost always at least in part due to a cluttered and overloaded registry.

You see the registry is the part of the computer that contains all of the different settings on the computer. As you use it there will be more and more settings saved into it many of which are based on temporary internet files that you accumulate as you surf the net. These are for the most part unnecessary but the computer still worries about them each it is called upon to do a task. The more the computer has to worry about them slower it is going to be. What the registry mechanic does is go through and determine what is and is not necessary for the computer to run optimally and keeps the good and disposes of the bad. Of course you can do this manually to but unless you are an expert this is strongly discouraged, as you can make irreversible changes to vital code that has the potential to make your computer inoperable. The other benefit to this software is that just like anything computerized and/or automated it is so much faster and more precise than even the human experts that designed it.

So before you spend your money on a new computer because you are fed up with the faulty operation, or go out and buy more memory because you think that will speed things up, go to your nearest computer retailer and pick up a registry mechanic software package. If you have questions on anything just ask an employee they generally have a good idea of the latest computing news.

Having worked for Microsoft as a manager in customer support for years it was a natural for Dylon Floppours to start his own consulting firm for commercial tech support. For more on registry mechanic maintenance, go to www.buyregistrymechanic.info.

Protect Your Most Vital Business Asset with Security Software

Homeland security, airport security, Internet security ” these
days were literally inundated with a need to protect ourselves
and our property from the non-stop bombardment of potentially
damaging attacks by unknown sources and entities lurking
somewhere out there.

This is the reality of the world in which we live today. We cant
just lock ourselves up in our homes and wish the problems away.
Life must go on. What weve got to do is fight back. And we have
to protect ourselves the best way that we can.

Fortunately, security is big business these days. There really is
no end to the security options that are available on the free
market. And when it comes to protecting your computer system,
your options are limited only by the balance in your checking
account.

So much of our non-sleep time is spent on the computer. Think about
your own situation. If youre running a small business,
especially when youre just starting out, the PC often is your
only other partner in the office. You entrust this partner with
every crucial component of your business ” your accounting, your
inventory, your CRM, your communication, your vital documents,
your sales and marketing information, your project management,
even your on-line store.

Youre handing off quite a lot of responsibility to this partner.
Granted, its a machine, and its got the internal capacity to
handle such an enormous responsibility. But even the most
powerful of personal computers is vulnerable if its not given
the protection it needs to survive in this world of never-ending
assault.

Viruses, hackers, SPAM, pop-ups, Trojans and more are out there
lurking, waiting to bring each and every unprotected computer
system to its knees.

And you might not realize this, but there are programs out there
that can log your keystrokes. Dont understand the implications
of this? Well, every time you enter your login name, your
passwords, your credit card numbers, loggers capture and store
the keystroke sequence. If you ever find unauthorized
transactions on your credit cards, your account numbers might
very well have been stolen by someone using a keystroke logger.

Have you provided your business partner with the protection it
needs to withstand this type of daily attack? You better hope
your answer is yes. Otherwise, youre playing a dangerous game of
Russian Roulette.

A good Internet security system will keep your business and
personal data safe. It will thwart viruses before they have an
opportunity to wreak havoc on your computers. It will guard
against unauthorized users, a.k.a. hackers and phishers ” those
whose sole purpose is to steal your identity. It will be able to
recognize and filter out SPAM. And those annoying pop-up ads?
Theyll be blocked before they even have a chance to rear their
ugly heads.

When you need even more protection, its available, too. Encrypt
your instant messages and keep Instant Messaging spam, or SPIM,
at bay. Internet security software can also provide you will a
listing of all web contacts, inbound as well as outbound, and
will notify you of instances of unauthorized access. Plus, it can
filter e-mail scripts and perform other tasks to help your
computer system hide from Internet scanners.

So, if youve not done so already, its time you purchase an
Internet security suite for your computer system. Register it so
that you get updates the moment they are available. But dont get
too comfortable. Remember, even the most advanced Internet
security suite can only guard against known enemies. And new ways
of assaulting your computer are being conceived every day. And
thats the reality of the world in which we live.

Copyright © 2005 Cavyl Stewart. Get more software tips, strategies and recommendations by signing up for my Exclusive 100% free, 100% original content ecourses. Visit: http://www.find-small-business-software.com/free-ecourses.php

Microsoft Navision and Crystal Reports - An Overview

Microsoft Business Solutions - Navision is an integrated solution for small and midsize companies looking to expand their business operations without much interruption to its existing processes. Microsoft Navision enables businesses to alter as much or as little of its existing system, integrate add-ons and vertical segments of its development. It integrates every aspect of your organization, from customers to suppliers, from accounting to supply chain, increasing your productivity and competitive edge. Microsoft Navision has an open environment architecture making it fully customizable and easy to use and maintain. It can also be implemented rapidly so that there is only a minimal disruption to business operations.

Microsoft Navision was originally written by Denmark-based Navision Software in its own proprietary language C/SIDE (Client/Server Integrated Development Environment). Both European and North American markets have benefited from its use. Its launch in the global market will help organizations scale up their development and add value to their business.

One of the primary reporting tools used today is Crystal Reports. With its ability to call up information from SQL commands, using Crystal Reports adds extensive functionality in your reporting procedure. The following is an overview of Crystal Reports as it relates to Microsoft Navision:

C/SIDE

C/SIDE is Microsoft Navision’s graphical integrated development environment that provides customization tools for developing customer specific solutions to be applied to a business process.

Inside Crystal Reports, use C/ODBC to create a connection to the database needed for report generation. Links are done inside Crystal Reports. However, this connection technique tends to be inflexible if you want to modify your database mapping or links inside the report. You may want to redo the database mapping of that report or use a Crystal Report query.

Microsoft SQL Server

Using Microsoft SQL Server in Microsoft Navision will help a great deal since SQL has the ability to integrate Navision to third-party products. SQL Server has a virtual table that you can access to minimize the complexity of looking at links in Crystal Reports itself. By referencing the view name in a Transact-SQL statement, a user can access this virtual table and retrieve the data for future selection to be applied into Crystal Reports. You also have the option of creating Stored Procedures to execute a number of Transact-SQL statements into a single command. Furthermore, SQL Query Analyzer can copy existing database objects and locate, view or work with these objects within the database.

Reports on Heterogeneous Database

If Microsoft Navision sits in an SQL Server, you have the ability to create a link from your database server to another third party database (Oracle, DB2, Unidata, Ingress, Sybase, Pervasive, Ctree, MS Access) for report creation in Crystal Reports. For example, if you are on a C/SIDE Database, create a link server to it with C/ODBC. You then create additional linked servers to your legacy database. These links will serve as your pool for creating one Crystal Report using a number of databases. Knowledge about OPENROWSET keyword in SQL Server is useful for this kind of execution.

Microsoft Navision is a powerful analytical tool for your business performance. Adding Crystal Reports to its functionalities will provide a more systematic way of measuring your organization’s competence.

Need more information?

Contact us: 1-866-528-0577 help@albaspectrum.com

For customization work and advice, please contact Andrew Karasev, Alba Spectrum Chief Technology Officer. His works include development of applications with the use of Dexterity, SQL, C# .NET, Crystal Reports and Microsoft CRM SDK.

© Feb 2005 Alba Spectrum Technologies USA. All rights reserved.

Divine Rigor is the Technical Writer for Alba Spectrum Technologies USA ( http://www.albaspectrum.com ), a Great Plains, Microsoft CRM customization company. We are based in Chicago with locations in California, Arizona, Texas, Florida, Georgia, New York and contacts in international markets.

Spyware Removal And Prevention - Use Protection

Spyware is a term used to describe a broad category of malicious or privacy invading software. Spyware is very much like a virus in the way that it “infects” a computer’s operation and functioning without the owner/user’s consent. Spyware infects a host by a number of different ways. One way that spyware is distributed is by hiding it inside another piece of software. Disguising software in such a way is very sneaky but is usually not illegal. Often enough, when installing the original software there will be a contract that you must read and accept to continue. About 99% of people never take the time to fully read that contract because if they did, they would learn that the software they are installing would also be installing spyware to do a number of nasty things. Some of these things include: 1. Logging all of your passwords and user names and sending them to people that exploit that information. 2. Logging all of your websites that you visited and keeping detailed track records of your Internet usages. 3. Pop up advertisements unsuspecting in hopes to make a few bucks from your clicks. 4. Slow and bog up your Internet connection.

As you can see spyware is usually an undesirable piece of software. The sad truth is that over 75% of all Internet connected computers are infected with spyware. That number continues to grow because spyware often reproduces itself automatically by sending itself to other computers from infected hosts. Essentially growing exponentially out of control. Even major multi-million dollar businesses undergo a tremendous battle against spyware, spending thousands and thousands of dollars every year. The problem with this is that while battling against spyware they are actually attracting more of it. If only they would put the time, money and resources into having computer and network systems free and immune to spyware will they ever win the war against it.

Now this may sound unbelievable at first but if you look at how anti-spyware softwares, firewall softwares and computer security softwares all work, they work by protecting computers from previously made malicious software, not by preventing new ones from infiltrating. A firewall is designed to block access from places that it is told are unsafe or unrecognized. This might seem like a preventive measure but its not! - If you recall the earlier part of this article, one of the major ways you get infected with spyware is that it piggybacks on a “trusted” piece of software.

The author makes a living in the field of research and if you have found this article useful, try clicking on his specialist resource sites, www.help-with-spyware.info and www.removevirusinfo.info . For other more general information on this topic and others, try this site www.instant-knowledge.com .

Enterprise Resource Planning Overview

ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) Overview covers What is
ERP, Brief history of ERP, Why is it necessary, Market
Leaders and the future of ERP.

What is ERP?

Enterprise Resource Planning or ERP is an industry term for
integrated, multi-module application software packages that
are designed to serve and support multiple business
functions. An ERP system can include software for
manufacturing, order entry, accounts receivable and payable,
general ledger, purchasing, warehousing, transportation and
human resources. Evolving out of the manufacturing industry,
ERP implies the use of packaged software rather than
proprietary software written by or for one customer. ERP
modules may be able to interface with an organization’s own
software with varying degrees of effort, and, depending on
the software, ERP modules may be alterable via the vendor’s
proprietary tools as well as proprietary or standard
programming languages.

Brief History of ERP

The focus of manufacturing systems in the 1960’s was on
Inventory control. Most of the software packages then
(usually customized) were designed to handle inventory based
on traditional inventory concepts. In the 1970’s the focus
shifted to MRP (Material Requirement Planning) systems that
translated the Master Schedule built for the end items into
time-phased net requirements for the sub-assemblies,
components and raw materials planning and procurement.

In the 1980’s the concept of MRP-II (Manufacturing Resources
Planning) evolved which was an extension of MRP to shop
floor and Distribution management activities. In the early
1990’s, MRP-II was further extended to cover areas like
Engineering, Finance, Human Resources, Projects Management
etc i.e. the complete gamut of activities within any
business enterprise. Hence, the term ERP (Enterprise
Resource Planning) was coined.

Why is it Necessary?

By becoming the integrated information solution across the
entire organization, ERP systems allow companies to better
understand their business. With ERP software, companies can
standardize business processes and more easily enact best
practices. By creating more efficient processes, companies
can concentrate their efforts on serving their customers and
maximizing profit.

Market Leaders

The top five ERP vendors, SAP, Oracle Corporation,
Peoplesoft, Inc. (now Oracle Corp.), JD Edwards & Company,
and Baan International, account for 64 percent of total ERP
market revenue. These vendors continue to play a major role
in shaping the landscape of new target markets, with
expanded product functionality, and higher penetration
rates. SAP dominates the $6.7 billion ERP applications
market in Europe with 39% market share. Oracle and
PeopleSoft come second and third respectively, followed by
SAGE Group and Microsoft Business Solutions.

The Future of ERP

Industry analysts expect that every major manufacturing
company will buy the software, which ranges in cost — with
maintenance and training — from hundreds of thousands of
dollars for a small company to millions for a large company.
AMR Research of Boston says consolidation among the major
players will continue and intensify. ERP vendors are
expected to put more effort into e-commerce, CRM and SCM
initiatives, with leaders redirecting between 50% and 75% of
their R&D budget to these projects.

According to Gartner research group, the rapid evolution of
ERP has already lead to a new corporate must-have, ERP II,
which is supposed to help businesses gain more competitive
edge in the future. The major difference is that ERP II
involves collaborative commerce, which enables business
partners from multiple companies to exchange information
posted on eCommerce exchanges.

In the next tutorial we will talk about popular ERP Products
and the Modules and Application related to them.

For more visualization of this article along with the screen shots and more visit with step by step instructions, http://www.exforsys.com/content/category/17/260/342/

Exforsys is a community of developers specializing in C, C++, C#, Java, J2EE, .NET, PeopleSoft, SAP, Siebel, Oracle Apps., Data warehousing, Oracle/SQL Server/DB2 and Testing. Please visit http://www.exforsys.com for more tutorials, for IT Interview questions visit http://www.geekinterview.com, for articles and resources visit http://www.itquestionbank.com

Microsoft CRM Customization - Programming Closed Email Activity

Microsoft CRM is CRM answer from Microsoft and attempt to get market share from Siebel, Oracle and others traditional Client Relationship Management System vendors. Microsoft CRM uses all the spectrum of Microsoft recent technologies: .Net, MS Exchange, MS Outlook, MS SQL Server, Replication, Indexing, Active Directory, Windows 2000/2003 security model, C#, VB.Net, HTML, XML Web Service, XLTP, Javascript to name a few.

Today’s topic is Activity of email type programming - you usually deal with these customizations when you improve Microsoft Exchange CRM connector. How do you create closed activity - this is the main discussion topic. We’ll use C#.Net coding

One of the roles of our Exchange Event Handler/Sink is creation MS CRM Closed Activity in handling incoming and outgoing email messages. The interaction with Microsoft CRM uses two approached - using MS CRM SDK (handling inbound and outbound XML messages) and via direct access to MS CRM Database. Let’s first look at the Closed Activity creation algorithm:

1. First we need to understand the entity we need to create activity for: Account, Lead or Contact. The selection should use specific criteria - in our case this is email address:

if ((crmAccount = crmConnector.GetAccount(mailboxFrom)) != null) {

}

else if ((crmContact = crmConnector.GetContact(mailboxFrom)) != null) {

}

else if ((crmLead = crmConnector.GetLead(mailboxFrom)) != null) {

}

2. Then we have to get GUID of MS CRM user, who owns this entity, C# code like this:

crmUser = crmConnector.GetUser(crmAccount.GetOwnerId());

3. Next step is closed Activity creation:

emailId = crmConnector.CreateEmailActivity(

crmUser.GetId(),

Microsoft.Crm.Platform.Types.ObjectType.otAccount, crmAccount.GetId(),

Microsoft.Crm.Platform.Types.ObjectType.otSystemUser, crmUser.GetId(),

crmAccount.GetEmailAddress(), crmUser.GetEmailAddress(), sSubject, sBody);

4. The method to create closed activity:

public Guid CreateEmailActivity(Guid userId, int fromObjectType, Guid fromObjectId, int toObjectType, Guid toObjectId, string mailFrom, string mailTo, string subject, string body) {

try	{

log.Debug(”Prepare for Mail Activity Creating”);

// BizUser proxy object

Microsoft.Crm.Platform.Proxy.BizUser bizUser = new Microsoft.Crm.Platform.Proxy.BizUser();

ICredentials credentials = new NetworkCredential(sysUserId, sysPassword, sysDomain);

bizUser.Url = crmDir + “BizUser.srf”;

bizUser.Credentials = credentials;

Microsoft.Crm.Platform.Proxy.CUserAuth userAuth = bizUser.WhoAmI();

// CRMEmail proxy object

Microsoft.Crm.Platform.Proxy.CRMEmail email = new Microsoft.Crm.Platform.Proxy.CRMEmail();

email.Credentials = credentials;

email.Url = crmDir + “CRMEmail.srf”;

// Set up the XML string for the activity

string strActivityXml = “”;

strActivityXml += “”;

strActivityXml += “”) + “]]>”;

strActivityXml += “”;

strActivityXml += userId.ToString(”B”) + “”;

strActivityXml += “”;

// Set up the XML string for the activity parties

string strPartiesXml = “”;

strPartiesXml += “”;

strPartiesXml += “” + mailTo + “”;

if (toObjectType == Microsoft.Crm.Platform.Types.ObjectType.otSystemUser) {

strPartiesXml += “” + Microsoft.Crm.Platform.Types.ObjectType.otSystemUser.ToString() + “”;

}

else if (toObjectType == Microsoft.Crm.Platform.Types.ObjectType.otAccount) {

strPartiesXml += “” + Microsoft.Crm.Platform.Types.ObjectType.otAccount.ToString() + “”;

}

else if (toObjectType == Microsoft.Crm.Platform.Types.ObjectType.otContact) {

strPartiesXml += “” + Microsoft.Crm.Platform.Types.ObjectType.otContact.ToString() + “”;

}

else if (toObjectType == Microsoft.Crm.Platform.Types.ObjectType.otLead) {

strPartiesXml += “” + Microsoft.Crm.Platform.Types.ObjectType.otLead.ToString() + “”;

}

strPartiesXml += “”+ toObjectId.ToString(”B”) + “”;

strPartiesXml += “”;

strPartiesXml += Microsoft.Crm.Platform.Types.ACTIVITY_PARTY_TYPE.ACTIVITY_PARTY_TO_RECIPIENT.ToString();

strPartiesXml += “”;

strPartiesXml += “”;

strPartiesXml += “”;

strPartiesXml += “” + mailFrom + “”;

if (fromObjectType == Microsoft.Crm.Platform.Types.ObjectType.otSystemUser) {

strPartiesXml += “” + Microsoft.Crm.Platform.Types.ObjectType.otSystemUser.ToString() + “”;

}

else if (fromObjectType == Microsoft.Crm.Platform.Types.ObjectType.otAccount) {

strPartiesXml += “” + Microsoft.Crm.Platform.Types.ObjectType.otAccount.ToString() + “”;

}

else if (fromObjectType == Microsoft.Crm.Platform.Types.ObjectType.otContact) {

strPartiesXml += “” + Microsoft.Crm.Platform.Types.ObjectType.otContact.ToString() + “”;

}

else if (fromObjectType == Microsoft.Crm.Platform.Types.ObjectType.otLead) {

strPartiesXml += “” + Microsoft.Crm.Platform.Types.ObjectType.otLead.ToString() + “”;

}

strPartiesXml += “”+ fromObjectId.ToString(”B”) + “”;

strPartiesXml += “”;

strPartiesXml += Microsoft.Crm.Platform.Types.ACTIVITY_PARTY_TYPE.ACTIVITY_PARTY_SENDER.ToString();

strPartiesXml += “”;

strPartiesXml += “”;

strPartiesXml += “”;

log.Debug(strPartiesXml);

// Create the e-mail object

Guid emailId = new Guid(email.Create(userAuth, strActivityXml, strPartiesXml));

return emailId;

}

catch (System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapException e)	{

log.Debug(”ErrorMessage: ” + e.Message + ” ” + e.Detail.OuterXml + ” Source: ” + e.Source);

}

catch (Exception e) {

log.Debug(e.Message + ”
” + e.StackTrace);

}

return new Guid();

}

5. To make the activity just created be shown correctly you need to setup it’s flags according to MS CRM standards:

public void UpdateActivityCodes(Guid emailId) {

try {

OleDbCommand command = conn.CreateCommand();

command.CommandText = “UPDATE ActivityBase SET DirectionCode = (?), StateCode = (?), PriorityCode = (?) WHERE ActivityId = (?)”;

command.Prepare();

command.Parameters.Add(new OleDbParameter(”DirectionCode”, Microsoft.Crm.Platform.Types.EVENT_DIRECTION.ED_INCOMING));

command.Parameters.Add(new OleDbParameter(”StateCode”, Microsoft.Crm.Platform.Types.ACTIVITY_STATE.ACTS_CLOSED));

command.Parameters.Add(new OleDbParameter(”PriorityCode”, Microsoft.Crm.Platform.Types.PRIORITY_CODE.PC_MEDIUM));

command.Parameters.Add(new OleDbParameter(”ActivityId”, emailId));

log.Debug(”Prepare to update activity code ” + emailId.ToString(”B”) + ” in ActivityBase”);

command.ExecuteNonQuery();

}

catch(Exception e) {

log.Debug(e.Message + ”
” + e.StackTrace);

}

}

public void UpdateActivityQueueCodes(Guid emailId, Guid queueId) {

try {

OleDbCommand command = conn.CreateCommand();

command.CommandText = “UPDATE QueueItemBase SET Priority = (?), State = (?), QueueId = (?) WHERE ObjectId = (?)”;

command.Prepare();

command.Parameters.Add(new OleDbParameter(”Priority”, Microsoft.Crm.Platform.Types.PRIORITY_CODE.PC_MEDIUM));

command.Parameters.Add(new OleDbParameter(”State”, Microsoft.Crm.Platform.Types.ACTIVITY_STATE.ACTS_CLOSED));

command.Parameters.Add(new OleDbParameter(”QueueId”, queueId));

command.Parameters.Add(new OleDbParameter(”ObjectId”, emailId));

log.Debug(”Prepare to update activity queue code ” + emailId.ToString(”B”) + ” in QueueItemBase”);

command.ExecuteNonQuery();

}

catch(Exception e) {

log.Debug(e.Message + ”
” + e.StackTrace);

}

}

Happy customizing, implementing and modifying! If you want us to do the job - give us a call 1-866-528-0577! help@albaspectrum.com

About The Author

Boris Makushkin is Lead Software Developer in Alba Spectrum Technologies - USA nationwide Microsoft CRM, Microsoft Great Plains customization company, based in Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles, Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, Miami, Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, Madrid, Moscow, Europe and internationally (www.albaspectrum.com), he is Microsoft CRM SDK, C#, VB.Net, SQL, Oracle, Unix developer. Boris can be reached: 1-866-528-0577 or borism@albaspectrum.com.

borism@albaspectrum.com

How to Choose the BEST Charting Software

I suggest that you do not spend a lot of money on charting software as most perform very similar functions. Often the price is inflated to capitalize on the mentality that expensive is better. A software package under $1000 will perform all of the tasks required by even the most advanced traders.

The perfect charting software needs to be the most powerful technical analysis tool no matter what you are trading ….. stocks, futures or currencies.

Unfortunately, of the thousands of people why buy charting software, only a handful ever put it’s true technical analysis potential to good use.

Imagine being able to quickly and easily find high potential, lowest risk trading opportunities each day. What would it mean to your lifestyle if you could uncover what are potentially the most lucrative stock, futures or currency trades easily and quickly and then profit from this information?

Do you think your trading (and your life) would be more fun?

The following is a brief guide to some areas to consider when selecting charting software that will help you achieve this goal:

• Does the software contain the charts and indicators you require?


• What kind of database does it use, ensure there are multiple data providers out there?


• Is historical data readily available for the database format?


• How can the price data get updated and what data providers are there?


• Does the software have its own programming language?

Personally, I recommend MetaStock and I have used it for years. It contains just about every bell and whistle a trader would need. It is easy to use and allows you to scan the market looking for only those trades that exhibit your entry rules. This function alone is an invaluable tool that almost completely automates my trading system..

MetaStock has been the standard in stock analysis software for many years due to its affordable platform, advanced features and large user base. With any stock analysis, software that you settle upon, it is always helpful to know how many other people use the software. This provides a free resource for tips, tricks and general help using the application.

No matter what charting software you do decide to go with, just a word of advice. It is important to recognize that software is simply a tool that aids a trader in undertaking their business activity. There is no such thing as a software package that does everything for you. Avoid any packages that gives buy and sell recommendations. Commonly referred to as black box programs I have found, with rigorous testing, these packages simply do not work.

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comes to MetaStock & designing profitable trading systems.

His MetaStock website offers a huge free collection of trading
related tips and tricks. Gain free access now.
Click Here ==> http://www.meta-formula.com/subscribe
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Transportation Software

Transportation Software is a broad term. Large shippers and carriers began developing transportation software in the 1960’s when mainframe computers became more widely available and affordable. Large LTL carriers such as Roadway Express and Red Ball were pioneers in the field. It is a little known fact that the freight industry created E.D.I. (electronic data interchange) during this time frame. Early transportation software was custom built and run on company mainframes at the large carriers and shippers. As with so many other fields, transportation software for small or medium sized companies did not begin to materialize until after the introduction of the I.B.M. personal computer in 1980. Transportation software can be as simple as software used to calculate point-to-point mileage or complex enough to manage virtually all shipping functions of a carrier, broker or shipper.

Modern transportation software has standardized into basic functional groups based on the needs of shippers and carriers/brokers. Much of the available transportation software is sold with these functions as modules that can be purchased separately. Which modules are purchased is usually driven by the size of the company looking for the transportation software.

Transportation software as applied to shippers can be part of the much larger field of supply chain management or more narrowly focused on supply chain execution. Supply chain management can be defined as the application of information technology to economic order quantity theory. It encompasses virtually every function within a company that deals in tangible products and is usually best preceded by ERP. Enterprise Resource Planning is the company getting its data house in order. It can then think in a more focused way about supply chain management and execution.

Transportation software as it applies to shippers is most often associated with supply chain execution. The main functional groups here are the preparation of goods for shipment and the effective management of transportation vendors. The preparation of goods for shipment is a function of warehouse management software. The warehouse must stock the products that will later be shipped, pick the products that have been ordered and package or unitize those products for shipment.

Management of transportation vendors is an important function of supply chain execution software. Shippers usually need a number of vendors to cover their territory or find it beneficial to have vendors competing for business. Vendor management software uses objective measures to point out the best vendor for any given shipment based on price and service accomplishment. The best supply chain execution software allows for effective communication with vendors throughout the shipping process.

Transportation software as it applies to trucking or broker companies has standardized into three basic functional groups; dispatch operations, equipment management and accounting. Much of the available trucking software is sold with these functions as modules that can be purchased separately. Which modules are purchased is usually driven by the size of the carrier or broker looking for the trucking software. Very small carriers and brokers can manage dispatch and or equipment on paper. Accounting functions at this level are well served by software packages such as QuickBooks or Peachtree. Carriers that grow beyond 10 so trucks and brokers with 20+ loads per month or can usually begin to see the value of having one or more of the transportation software modules.

Transportation software designed for the accounting functions is the least likely of three to be offered as a stand-alone product since it depends upon the others for data. Payroll functions can be derived from dispatch operations data such as which driver went where. Invoicing and receivables are also derived from dispatch operations data as in which customer sent what where. Equipment expenses are derived from equipment management functions. Transportation software designed to integrate with the over the counter accounting packages such as QuickBooks can ease the transition for many small carriers and brokers.

Equipment management functions of transportation software revolve around fuel and maintenance costs. Fuel, tires, periodic maintenance, and repairs are all important costs to be managed by every trucking company. This type of software can get very complex but is essential to larger carriers and can be a good value to smaller companies. The availability of fuel cost data on the internet has given carriers a new tool to manage those costs as in where and when and how much fuel to buy. Transportation brokers do not have these concerns.

Transportation software designed for dispatch operations is the most likely of the functional groups to be offered as a stand-alone product. It is also arguably the most important of the three functional groups. It is the most important because it can have the greatest impact on customer service. Freight brokers in particular should recognize that this software can give them a competitive advantage. Equipment management and accounting functions are internal; dispatch operations touch every customer the carrier or broker has in one way or another. Dispatch operations is all about keeping the right drivers with the right equipment in place to services the customers’ needs and take advantage of opportunities that arise. Managing those resources is important but the best dispatch software also gives dispatchers and managers tools to monitor work in progress and communicate effectively with customers.

The internet has given rise to two interesting new developments in the field of transportation software; software as a service and networking as a new functional group. Software as a service is delivered via the internet by subscription and has the following advantages:

No large upfront investment as in traditional buying of software.
No new hardware costs. Your existing network, internet connection and browser such as Microsoft Internet Explorer are all that are needed.
Pay as you go. This type of software is often available month to month without a contract.
Maintenance and upgrades handled at the web server with little or no bother to the user.

Networking as a functional group is a new development made possible by the internet. Dispatch software can now be extended onto the customers’ desktops. Carriers, brokers and shippers can collaborate to give and get the data that they need to get the job done. Customer service is greatly enhanced with true real time communications and the customer as a larger part of the process. TDNweb.com is an example of this new breed of transportation software.

Van Wooten is the vision behind Transport Data Networks (TDN) an innovative online application that is revolutionizing the www.tdnweb.com“> transportation software industry.

Create ASP in Minutes

DBxtra goes ASP

Getting to the information hidden within corporate databases has always been a problem for all levels of an organization.

IT shops are constantly being pushed to produce more while having little time to accommodate reporting requirements.

This translates into deadlines being pushed back, insufficient turnaround times, outdated information, and lost opportunities.

DBxtra can drastically cut into the time required to extract information from corporate data sources and liberate users from the IT bottleneck. DBxtra is committed, and succeeded in providing a tool that empowers users to produce their own reports with a simple “no programming required” approach. With very little setup, DBxtra painlessly steps a user through setting up projects, connecting to disperse data sources, designing queries and reports, and delivering information throughout an enterprise. Everything is done through a series of application tabs that gently steps the user through a set of tasks, much like a workflow or Install Shield Wizard. The end product is a report that has been produced with minimal effort and reduced cost in man-hours.

Reports can be built and exported in a variety of formats including HTML, Microsoft Excel, CSV, XML, or PDF and then manually distributed or merged into personalized E-mails. Some of these formats being “live” and dynamically linked to your data sources. Allowing for a simple refresh, for example with Microsoft Excel, to have the report updated. DBxtra has taken one more step in the dynamic delivery of information their latest release. They have just implemented a new feature that allows for the exporting of a report to an Active Server Page (ASP) that can be deployed to your internal or external facing Web Servers.

How Does DBxtra Do It

Now in addition to the current variety of reporting formats that DBxtra generates, users can now selectively choose to “Export to ASP”. There has been no change to the look and feel of DBxtra, the “Export to ASP” is just another drop down option you can take advantage of when deploying reports. This means if you are an existing DBxtra user you need only access current reports and then export them to ASP. All functionality is maintained such as grouping, aggregations, and connectivity to database sources is maintained.

DBxtra knows that no two implementations are the same and everyone has their own display requirements. So after generating the Active Server Page users are placed into DBxtra’s GUI Designer where different styles may be imposed on top of the generated Active Server Page. This tool is very intuitive, much like any other word processor you might have used. When satisfied with the look and feel of the ASP report a simple save and optional publishing to your web server is provided. Ultimately created and ported over to the web server is an Active Server Page (.asp) that contains Visual Basic Script (VBScript), database connectivity (ODBC), and standard HTML, plus a style sheet (.css file) that contains the editing done through the GUI Designer. At this point the Active Server Page is available for everyone to view. The solution, while being very comprehensive, requires minimal time to produce and deploy. That is because DBxtra is committed to a user friendly intuitive interface that allows users to produce results in minutes.

One of the nice features of DBxtra is the built in repository for all your projects, queries, and reports. They just know all users are not developers and thus give a great intuitive tree structure that enables the user to quickly find previously worked on reporting objects. Through this use of DBxtra’s repository you will never loose sight of where reports are, you can quickly re-edit a report, and re-deploy your work. Never having to understand and touch high level code such as ASP, HTML, or VBScript code. And you don’t need to know how to manage connections to disperse databases through ODBC. After all users should be concentrating on business requirements, not underlying technology that can be implemented by a tool.

This allows for you to quickly publish valuable information in real time for internal and external users, without ever having to give them true access to your database systems. These reports can be available irregardless of where your users or corporate users may be. They could be in the office, on the road, or in a different country. All they need to do is access the Active Server Page and they have immediate and current information.

If you do not like using a web browser for viewing these reports, DBxtra still maintains the ability to view all reports through their Report Viewer Module that ships with the product.

The Benefits of DBxtra & ASP

The largest benefit of Active Server Pages is their dynamic nature when called from a Web Browser. When requested, the ASP file will be read by the browser and a series of commands will be executed. In the case of a DBxtra report, a connection will be made to your database, queries will be executed, and then a web page will be rendered to the user. Giving the user a real-time view of information instead of having to request a report that could be outdated when received. Additionally the following benefits are experienced by using DBxtra to generate Active Server Pages.

• DBxtra eliminates the need to learn ASP programming by their intuitive report generation methodology.

• No need to give users access to a database system to query for information. Through a simple web browser clients can see only that information put into reports.

• DBxtra generates everything required to publish reports to your Web Servers.

• DBxtra can connect to any ODBC compliant database.

• Active Server Pages is an industry leading standard that means its longevity is secured as a viable implementation that will be supported and continue to evolve.

• DBxtra with ASP will enhance the front end web applications quickly and easily. Thus extending the reach of your current web presence while bringing legacy, hidden, or stagnate information in front of a captive audience.

• Leverages existing infrastructures with minimal if any additional costs and is built around a variety of simple scripting languages that are easily learned and have a large work force behind them if additional integration is desired.

DBxtra at a Glance

DBxtra is designed for anyone who wants to have the full control over business data with minimum expenses and efforts. Using the program, you can connect to multiple local and Internet data sources at the same time, create queries with powerful expressions and design reports.
DBxtra allows you to connect to Microsoft Access, Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL, Oracle, DB2 and any other database through ODBC. Created reports can be printed, exported to HTML, ASP, Excel, XML or PDF, sent by email or uploaded to an FTP server. Customers will also discover the ability to schedule operations and get them executed automatically. For all its technical sophistication, DBxtra is easy to learn and use. Its intuitive interface, documentation and tutorials remove all complexities traditionally associated with data querying and reporting.

DBxtra Key Features

- Connect to multiple databases at the same time;

- Filter, sort and group data in any way;

- Create queries without SQL knowledge;

- Design powerful ad hoc reports in minutes;

- Publish live connected ASP files to an Intranet or Web server
- Export to Excel, charts, HTML, PDF, text files, XML and create live digital OLAP dashboards with Excel pivot tables and charts;

- E-mail your data and merge reports to customers, suppliers and business contacts;

- Automate your business process by scheduling your reports and alerts.

Pricing and Availability
DBxtra 6.0 is designed for Windows 98/Me/2000/XP/NT4/2000/2003 Server and costs $100 (USD) for the Standard edition and $280 (USD) for the Professional edition. Registered customers are entitled to free updates and lifetime technical support for one year after purchase. A 15-day functionally unlimited evaluation version is available as a free download at http://www.dbxtra.com/DBxtra/registro.asp.

Product page link: http://www.dbxtra.com
Download link: http://www.dbxtra.com/DBxtra/registro.asp

Case Study: Successful Implementation of CRM

Recently, a company spent $25 million in CRM system’s execution.

The company has been one of the leading forest-products companies in the world but for the past several years , office products - pens, computers, desks etc., have comprised the largest segment of its annual sales.

One-third of the company’s revenue is generated from its online business and because office product customers rely on flawless e-commerce site performance to help reduce their administrative overhead, competition within this sector is strong.

What Prompted The Company To Go For CRM?
Of late, the company’s application server was failing to meet volume and performance expectations.

The web site was not integrated with customer account information, so clients with questions about order position or account balances flooded the call centers. The customers were demanding and each customer had different needs.

As the company was in B2B business, managers of the contracted company were primarily treated as customers. After a lot of discussion, the management decided to go for CRM to:

Implement electronic report delivery - to eliminate report production costs

Scalability - to manage the growth of users and reports

Ease of use - to respond in a timely and precise manner to all users, both inside and outside of the organisation.

The initiative was started to invest in CRM to strengthen the company’s internal processes and also to provide customers with a greater economic value.

Roadmap To Implement CRM

The implementation was planned in a phased manner. During the design phase of the implementation, a cross-functional team was chalked out of business and IT managers.

This was done to ensure that the IT department had a comprehensive understanding of the business strategies and customer’s needs. Different sets of requirements were made for different customer profiles.

How each individual client interacted with the organisation was given chief importance. It was concluded that there were primarily three areas where client interaction was most - customer service center, dispatch department and online portal.

This process helped the company to focus on specific technologies that would improve customer service and discard those that weren’t right for the company’s goals.

Consequently, the company bought individual software applications (instead of a complete end-to-end CRM system) for customer interaction and operation management and integrated them with the existing order-processing technologies.

Putting CRM Into Operation

Once all the building blocks were placed in order, it wasn’t a difficult task for the IT department to implement the CRM system.

It was decided to apply the new technology to the two largest customer channels, phone and web and so it was paramount that both remain fully functional.

As the company had a huge client base, most of the production deployment was done over the weekend when there were less number of client calls and when there were less number of people accessing the company’s web site.

The data migration was another step which was carved out with utmost importance because it required cleansing of the 2.2 million customer records from multiple disparate databases into a single customer profile database.

Mantra For Successful Implementation of CRM
The company was able to successfully implement CRM because much of its focus was on customer convenience.

It always maintained the sync between the business and IT departments, so as to ensure everyone was on the same page.

Vigilant and correct choice of CRM software was another major step that helped the company to move ahead with a smooth and successful implementation.

In the end, the company was rewarded with increased revenue, customer retention and positive feedback from all sectors - both in-house and out-house.