Archive for April, 2020

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RPA, and ABBYY with Synergy Software Systems

April 30th, 2020

For automation of document intensive processing we use UiPAth RPA. However, document processing also requires intelligent document management, and OCR scanning e.g. with bi-lingual test in Arabic and English and intelligent capture of meta data. ABBYY is the undoubted market leader and is the solution we use to support RPA. Why?

ABBYY® has been recognized by Everest Group, a leading consulting and research firm, as a Leader in its Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) products PEAK Matrix® Assessment 2020. Buyers use the PEAK Matrix as one of the leading analyst resources in the market to identify and evaluate different IDP technology vendors.

ABBYY is positioned in the Leaders’ category among 18 vendors due to its impact in the market and its ability to deliver solutions successfully. ABBYY garnered the highest position on the axis for Vision & Capability which measures, among other factors, the company’s vision and strategy, product capabilities, monitoring and improvement; implementation and support; and the progressiveness and flexibility of its commercial models.

Additionally, ABBYY was positioned high on the Market Impact axis, which measures market adoption, portfolio mix and value delivered to clients based on their feedback.

Whether you are a current ABBYY customer considering expansion of your Digital Intelligence solutions or evaluating IDP vendors for the first time, you will gain valuable insight from this report. Download your copy of the customer version today to learn more.

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Posted in Dubai and regional news, General Synergy News, RPA and DMS, Technology

6-Month Extension for aging versions of Microsoft end-of-support dates.

April 23rd, 2020

When Microsoft products reach their end-of-support dates (known as the end of “extended support”), they continue to function, but Microsoft stops issuing free patches. Security updates stop arriving, which could pose problems for organizations. In response to the “current public health situation,”. Microsoft announced this week that support deadlines that were due in May now fall toward year’s end.

Microsoft’s announcement on extending the Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement legacy Web client by two months also noted that Microsoft will be “simplifying the ability for Dynamics 365 Finance, Supply Chain Management, and Commerce customers to pause updates for an extended period.” However, the document just states that subscribers can pause for “up to three consecutive updates,” without further elaboration.

Microsoft announced earlier this month that it was delaying ending support for the older Transport Layer Security protocols versions 1.0 and 1.1, until the second half of 2020. The switch will have an affect on Microsoft’s browsers and Office 365 products.

Office 2010 Support Still Ends in October
Microsoft issued a reminder that Office 2010 for Windows and Office 2016 for Mac both will reach their end-of-support date on Oct. 13, 2020. They aren’t getting extensions. These Office users face an additional problem, namely that Microsoft plans to end the connections of those products with various Office 365 services on that same Oct. 13, 2020 date. Users should shift to newer productivity-suite products, Microsoft advised.

Microsoft’s announcement:

Also, as previously announced, after October 13, 2020, customers will need to have Office 365 ProPlus,[1] Office 2019 or Office 2016 to connect to Office 365 services. Microsoft will not take any active measures to block legacy versions of the Office client from connecting to Office 365 services, but these older clients may encounter performance and/or reliability issues over time. For related Office client support timelines, see the Office support dates matrix.

Microsoft is planning to rename Office 365 ProPlus as “Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise” on April 21. This along with other Office 365 name changes, were announced last month.

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Posted in Dynamics 365, Microsoft, Microsoft Dynamics Ax, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, SQL, SharePoint and EPM, Teams collaboration remote access, Technology

Government covid-19 guidelines, Ramadan hours

April 23rd, 2020

We continue to provide full support to our customers.

The following guidelines and protocols have been issued by the government:

We expect an announcement to follow soon regarding limited opening of offices which will ease communications. We are also due to enter Ramadan so our opening hours will be restricted to 8 hours a day.

These are the guidelines and protocols for anyone visiting our building and offices with which we require employees and visitors to comply.

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Posted in Dubai and regional news, General Synergy News, Healthcare

COVID-19 the fight back with RPA and UiPath. Ask Synergy Software Systems

April 17th, 2020

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Posted in Dubai and regional news, General Synergy News, Healthcare, Security and Compliance, Technology, schools

.NET5 by year end

April 16th, 2020

Following a preview release sometime in the first half of 2020, .NET 5 is expected to become generally available this November.

Microsoft is changing its nomenclature with this coming release, forgoing the usual “Core” and “Framework” that’s typically appended to the version number. That’s reflective of the milestone that .NET 5 represents;
.NET 5 will mark the transition from the aging, proprietary, Windows-only .NET Framework to a modern, open source, cross-platform .NET.

Microsoft is promising developers a common framework and runtime with .NET 5, no matter the platform. With .NET 5, both code and project files will look and feel the same no matter which type of app you’re building. You’ll have access to the same runtime, API and language capabilities with each app. This includes new performance improvements that get committed to corefx, practically daily.

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Posted in Dynamics 365, Microsoft, Technology

Financial reporter Dynamics 365 Finance -ask Synergy Software Systems

April 15th, 2020

There are many module specific reports.
In addition, there is an inbuilt GL report writer “Financial reporter” (formerly management reporter but now part of the core database) which you can use to create multiple hierarchical dimensional drilldown reports,

Out of the box reports Financial reporting provides 22 default financial reports. Every report uses the default main account
categories. Y

Either use these reports as is or as a starting point to adapt for your financial reporting needs.
In addition to the traditional financial statements, such as Income statement and Balance sheet, these default reports include reports that show the different types of financial reports that you can create.

12 Month Rolling Single Column Income Statement – View an organization’s profitability for the past 12 months in a single column.
12 Month Trend Income Statement – View an organization’s profitability for each of the last 12 months. These 12 months can span more than one fiscal year.
Actual vs Budget – View detailed balance information for all accounts for the original budget, and compare the revised budget to actuals that have a variance.
Audit Details – View detailed balance information for all accounts. This report shows debit and credit balances in the reporting currency and the local currency, together with additional transaction information, such as the user ID, the user who last modified the data, the date of the last modification, and the journal ID.
Balance List – Default View detailed balance information for all accounts. This report shows opening and closing balances, and debit and credit balances for the current period and year to date, together with additional transaction information, such as the voucher.
Balance Sheet – View the organization’s financial position for the year.
Balance Sheet and Income Statement Side by Side – Default View the organization’s financial position and profitability for the year side by side.
Cash Flow – Gain insight into the cash that is coming in to and going out of the organization.
Detailed JE and TB ReviewView opening balance and activity information for all accounts.
Detailed Trial Balance – View balance information for all accounts that have debit and credit balances, and the net of these balances, together with the transaction date, voucher, and journal description.
Expenses Three Year Quarterly Trend – Gain insight into expenses for the past 12 quarters over the previous three years.
Financial Captions JE and TB Review – See an overview of the balances and activity for the asset, liability, owner’s equity, revenue, expense, gain, or loss financial captions.
Income Statement – View the organization’s profitability for the current period and the year to date.
Ledger Transaction List – Default View detailed balance information for all accounts. This report shows debit and credit balances, together with additional transaction information, such as the transaction date, journal number, voucher, posting type, and trace number.
Ratios –View the solvency, profitability, and efficiency ratios for the organization for the year.
Rolling 12 Month Expenses – Gain insight into expenses for each of the last 12 months. These 12 months can span more than one fiscal year.
Rolling Quarter Income Statement View the organization’s profitability on a quarterly basis for the past year and the year to date.
Side by Side Balance Sheet – View the organization’s financial position for the year. This report shows assets and liability, and shareholder equity side by side.
Summary Trial Balance – View balance information for all accounts that have opening and closing balances, and debit and credit balances together with their net difference.
Summary Trial Balance Year Over Year – View balance information for all accounts that have opening and closing balances, and debit and credit balances together with their net difference for the current year and the past year.
Weekly Sales and Discounts – Gain insight into sales and discounts for each week in a month. This report includes a four-week total.
Budget Funds Available – View a detailed comparison of revised budget, actual expenditures, budget reservations, and budget funds available for all accounts

You will be surprised how fast you can learn- 2 days is enough to get you started creating professional reports -call Synergy Software Systems 0097143365589

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Posted in Dynamics 365, Microsoft Dynamics Ax

Remote wrorking through covid-9 and beyond with Teams and Windows virtual desktop

April 13th, 2020

Recent world events such as the 2020 COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak highlighted need for workers to have access to their tools as well as their colleagues without being able to go into the office.

Large corporations have asked their workers to stay home to reduce the spread and risks associated with the virus.

This is one of the features of the cloud we don’t need to be on-site to be working. Emails, software, documents, etc. are now accessible from anywhere.

This has led to a new concern that businesses have: how to collaborate effectively? For example to communicate to and within a specific group, about a specific project on a recurrent basis; and you might need to return to have conference calls, or team presentations, and to collaborate on documents and also view emails to keep track of all that has been shared and done for that particular project.

FlexJobs reports an increase of 44% in remote work in the United States over the past five years and a 91% increase over the past ten years.

In Canada, 47% of employees work outside of their office for half the workweek, and 39% work mostly from home.

On a global scale, 56% of companies allow employees to work remotely, and 52% of employees do so at least one day a week.

With today’s changing business climate, companies need to optimize their capability for remote work. This will ensure they can support their employees in any circumstance, whether there is a sudden crisis that requires remote work, or they simply want to make the option of flexibility available to their employees.

Microsoft Teams. Teams is a chat-based collaboration tool that provides global, remote, and dispersed teams with the ability to work together and share information via a common space. You can utilize cool features like document collaboration, one-on-one chat, team chat, and more. Microsoft Teams is also fully integrated with many other Office 365 services, such as Skype, SharePoint, Exchange, and Yammer.

Its what we use ourselves.

Some core capabilities are included in Teams:

Chat – Enjoy public and private conversations with your teams. The deep integration of Skype video into the application brings you popular social features, such as adding emojis and custom memes to your discussions.

Hub – Teams offers a shared workspace for the various applications in Microsoft Office including PowerPoint, Word, Excel,
Planner, OneNote, SharePoint, Delve, and Power BI. This feature gives you and your teams the option to work natively without having to stress about toggling between applications as you try to get projects completed.

To start using Microsoft Teams, contact us for a subscription them log into your Office 365 Portal with your credentials, look for Teams under the list of add-ins. Click on it to log in and configure the settings.
we even give you a Synergy fast start guide.

Microsoft Teams was built for today’s diverse workforce. The methods that organizational teams use to communicate and collaborate has gone through immense changes over the years; traditional hierarchies are dying out leaving room for flatter organizational structures and thus making the rapid flow of information and communication even more important. Teams provides you with an open, digital environment that makes work integrated, visible, and accessible across the board. With Teams, everyone around you will always be in the know.

At the core of this and every other service delivered through Office 365 are the 3 famous G’s:

Governance – Features like E-Discovery are added to ensure the applications are secure and meet various compliance requirements.

Graphs – Everything you do inside the Office 365 Suite is captured as a signal for content discovery across applications.

Groups – You can create groups made up of internal or external users, and then collaborate with the same group and access products in the Office 365 Suite.
Teams is already a part of the Microsoft Group, thus making all your data and communications accessible through Microsoft

Graph and Office 365’s centralized governance and management console. This is where Teams makes integrating solutions easier for you – it belongs to a robust platform. You’re not signing up for the average stand-alone solution.

Microsoft Teams provides a versatile conversation experience. You will be able to enjoy persistent threaded conversations. Looking at it from a broader point of view, every conversation you have within Teams automatically becomes information assets and are saved. These assets are searchable via Microsoft Graph. These conversations are visible to everyone on your team, but you also have the option of launching private discussions.

Additionally, Team’s deep Skype integration brings you video and voice capabilities plus a wide variety of modern visual communication tools that will help increase engagements with your team members. You are able to communicate with items like GIFs, stickers, emojis, and custom memes.

The ability to meet virtually is an important and cost-effective feature for businesses today. Teams gives you a view of your scheduled meetings, the timing, the subject, and a list of other persons who’ll be attending.

About 24 bots with a variety of functionalities are available to help increase productivity. There’s the T-Bot, which can answer most basic and frequently asked questions about Teams, Polly Bot for polling co-workers, Statsbot for delivering scheduled reports via sources, such as Salesforce and Google Analytics, and Growbot, which allows the exchange of kudos with your co-workers.

When you become a full member of an Office 365 Group, you experience the full depth and breadth of Office 365: PowerPoint, Excel, Word, Planner, OneNote, SharePoint, Delve, and Power BI. Teams was constructed around the idea of leveraging the maximum capability of Microsoft Graph. So, your workgroups and teams can have the ability to share insights, intelligence, and data anywhere within the Office 365 suite.

Available on both Android and iOS (audio only), Teams provides a simple and easy-to-use app that allows you to chat with your team via text, have a voice conversation, or a video meeting.

Teams gives you a platform with options for extensibility and open APIs with general availability. Through the leveraging of Microsoft Exchange’s Connector model, Teams can provide you with updates and notifications from third-party services like GitHub and Twitter.

Security is another area in which Microsoft Teams stands apart from its competitors and ensures your peace of mind. You will always be provided with cutting-edge security and compliance capabilities when you use any of Office 365’s platform services. Your data is encrypted while in transit and at rest. Teams and all other Office 365 services meet compliance standards including ISO 27001, HIPPA. SOC 2 and the EU Model Clauses. Teams is also a part of Microsoft’s global network of data centers which is said to have a transparent operational model. Your Teams account is provisioned within Office 365 and managed via the Admin console.

Windows Virtual Desktop
Windows Virtual Desktop makes it easy to access your desktop from anywhere because it is stored on a remote server, rather than being installed on a single device. You can access all Windows applications, programs, email, and data that are stored on the virtual desktop, no matter where you are. And this means you can sit at home and work as usual, no matter what is happening in the world.

Hosted on Azure, WVD is the only virtual desktop that has been created for Windows 10 and optimizes Office 365 ProPlus. It offers a multi-session Windows experience, and once deployed, you can easily access it using any browser.

WVD:

Windows Virtual desktop allows multiple users to connect to the same virtual machine and have a virtual session together
- Makes it possible for a user using a local desktop to also log into a virtual desktop
- Is inexpensive
- Offers the same enhanced, multi-layered security Azure provides, with a private VPN network so employees can access sensitive data and information
- WVD offers full flexibility and the ability to maintain continuity of work, whether an employee is stuck home with a sick child or forced into isolation due to a pandemic.

Through Teams we are still able to process you inquires and provide supoport.
call us to learn more: 0097142265589

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Posted in Microsoft Dynamics Ax, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Teams collaboration remote access

Synergy Support during covid-19 lockdown

April 6th, 2020

As a precautionary measure instructed by our Government for COVID-19 to be Safe at Home to protect our staff and to protect the community Synergy, consultants are instructed to work from home for at east the next two weeks.

To help us to provide continuous support please follow these guidelines to ensure our queries are recorded and assigned to be addressed in addressed as soon as possible.:

1. Send an email with a clear description in the email Subject line”, which will be helpful to track the email chain.
2. Please mention any internal issue/ticket number assigned, the user, and as much detail as possible e.g. transaction detail such as: order number, vendor code, item code – take a screenshot – copy any error message and attach those details to the email. Better still record the steps e.g. with e.g. webex, or task recorder.
3. If you are not on your work telephone number, or email, e,g when working from home yourself, then ensure you provide contact information for us to reach you.
4. To understand the issue, we may need to connect to the user PC through a screen sharing app such as Microsoft TEAMS, or Go To Meeting. Please ask your admin take appropriate action to ensure we can dial in remotely to your systems if needed, Even when located elsewhere they will also able to join such sessions.
5. Every request is given a ticket number and is then assigned to a consultant. For follow up communication please mention the ticket number. That will make it easier for us to find and review the details and actions to date. It’s possible that more than one consultant may be involved and they will be working remote from each other. This will save time for everyone .
6. Once the support request/ issue is resolved, upon receipt of confirmation email, the request will be closed.
7. When needed to discuss pending issues we will also be available to have a conference call via Microsoft Teams. issues @ mutual agreed time.
6. All support request to be sent to Axapta.support@synergy-software.com and we suggest copy in the lead consultant and account manager with whom you normally deal’
7. Please circulate this information to respective users and department heads, so that everyone working from home is aware that we are still available to support you as best we can and that they know how to help us, to help them.

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Posted in Construction Software, Corporate Perfomance Management, Dynamics 365, General Synergy News, HR and Payroll, Healthcare, Hospitality, Infor Financial solutions, Microsoft Dynamics Ax, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Project Management, RFID biometric mobile, RPA and DMS, SQL, Security and Compliance, SharePoint and EPM, Sunsystems and Vision

Dubai lock down-stay home, stay safe

April 5th, 2020

Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) on Saturday announced its public bus services will be free of charge for individuals permitted to leave their homes during the extended two-week sterilisation period. Additionally, Dubai Taxi vehicles and franchised taxis will offer a 50 per cent discount on normal fares.

The decision follows an announcement made by Dubai’s Supreme Committee of Crisis and Disaster Management, in coordination with the Command and Control Centre for Combating COVID-19, to extend the sterilisation programme to 24 hours a day for a period of two weeks across all areas and communities in the emirate as part of enhanced preventive measures in the community. The two-week period is subject to renewal.

Mattar Al Tayer, Director General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), said the decision reflects RTA’s commitment to the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to provide the greatest possible support to all members of the community during this sensitive period. “The measures aim to help members of the public who need to leave their homes for essential purposes and those who work in vital sectors. The decision underscores the RTA’s commitment to support the efforts made by Dubai and the UAE to combat the novel coronavirus and reduce the risk of its spread to the minimum.”

Dubai Metro and Tram services will be suspended from April 5 until further notice. According to a circular by Serco, which is responsible for the operations and maintenance of Dubai Metro, retailers have been told they will not have access to their stores during this period. All stations on the red and green line of the Dubai Metro are to be closed.

People working in support sectors are permitted to leave homes in Dubai during the 24-hour national sterilisation programme, but are requested to present proof, Dubai Police said on Sunday. Dubai Police patrols, surveillance cameras and radars are being used to identify people who do not comply with the authorities’ order during the national sterilisation programme in Dubai.

Employees working in banking and financial services (banks and exchange centres), social welfare services, laundry services (for permitted outlets) and maintenance services, are permitted to commute to work between 8am and 2pm.

Members of the public are allowed to go out for:

• Essential needs such as buying food from food supply outlets (Union Cooperative stores, supermarkets and groceries); only one family member is permitted to leave the house for this purpose.

• Buying medicines/getting medical assistance from healthcare service providers like hospitals, clinics and pharmacies

• COVID-19 tests

The measures will be effective from 8pm on Saturday, April 4, 2020 for a period of two weeks, subject to renewal. Individuals will not be allowed to leave the house, except for essential purposes or if they are working in vital sectors exempted from the restrictions. All people leaving home should wear a mask, gloves and ensure they keep a safe distance from others.

.Food retail outlets such as Union cooperative stores and supermarkets, as well as pharmacies and food and medicine deliveries are allowed to operate

Dubai Police said that people can call 999 for emergencies and 901 for non-emergencies as well as report any violations through E-Crime platform and ‘Police Eye Service’.

Synergy continues to provide email, telephone and dial in support to it customers across the MEA region. all of our staff are collaborating with TEAMS

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Posted in Dubai and regional news, General Synergy News, Uncategorized

RPA interest in UiPath grows and grows -ask Synergy Software Systems

April 5th, 2020

Interest in Ui Path RPA grows and grows.

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Posted in RPA and DMS, Technology

Dynamics 365 and the power platform – don’t get left behind,

April 4th, 2020

What is PowerApps?

PowerApps is an application development platform that is part of the broader Microsoft Power Platform, with capabilities that are both built on and that utilize Azure cloud services.

Dynamics 365 for Sales, Service, Field Service, Marketing, and Talent are all built natively on the platform.

PowerApps, users can build their own custom line of business applications using Azure cloud services to scale from personal use to enterprise-level using little-to-no code and running both mobile or desktop devices. There are two types of applications: Canvas and Model-Driven.

Canvas Apps

Canvas apps are built without code and are configured using a drag-and-drop UI similar to PowerPoint. This gives users a high-level of control over the user experience and can make the interface clean and intuitive. These apps are meant for simple and specific use-cases, such as submitting an expense report and can connect to both Microsoft (Sharepoint, SQL, etc.) and non-Microsoft (Twitter, Dropbox, etc.) data sources.

Model-Driven Apps

Model-driven apps are built using the Dynamics 365 framework and can only connect to the Common Data Service as their data source. These applications are more suited to complex scenarios with multiple functions and utilize the Unified Interface UX.

How does this relate to Dynamics 365?

As it is also on the common data service, Dynamics 365 is a datasource that can be surfaced into a PowerApp for users to interact with without having to learn how to use and navigate Dynamics 365!

Apps can also be embedded into applications that users currently use, such as SharePoint and Teams.

The Microsoft Power Platform – is empowering millions of people to achieve more. Why not you?

Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, and the Power Platform on top of what we’re doing with Azure is the core of what we are doing as a company vis-à-vis I would say our commercial customers – businesses of all sizes, whether it’s small business, large business, whether it’s in an emerging market or in a developed market. Satya Nadella

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Posted in Dynamics 365, Technology

RPA – how UI path is helping the fight against covid-19

April 4th, 2020

Examples of customers using automation to respond to an unprecedented challenge with drastic shifts in demand .

For details of these and many other uses see

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Posted in Education, HR and Payroll, Healthcare, RPA and DMS, Technology

RPA and hyper-automation in 2020 with Synergy Software Systems

April 4th, 2020

RPA market is driving digital change and the RPA market itself is also undergoing disruption.

There is a slew of new offerings, vendors, and models are emerging. ,

“Gartner projects that this renaissance in RPA is part of the bigger trend of hyperautomation.”

and that …. “Hyperautomation refers to an approach in which organizations rapidly identify and automate as many business processes as possible. It involves the use of a combination of technology tools, including but not limited to machine learning, packaged software and automation tools to deliver work.”

“By 2024, organizations will lower operational costs by 30% by combining hyperautomation technologies with redesigned operational processes.”

Find out what hyperautomation means for your business and get key insights and recommendations on how to stay ahead of this trend by reading Gartner’s latest research on 2020 predictions for RPA.

Get your copy of the report now and get hyperautomation ready. Gartner Predicts 2020: RPA Renaissance Driven by Morphing Offerings and Zeal for Operational Excellence, Stephanie Stoudt-Hansen, Frances Karamouzis, Arthur Villa, Saikat Ray, Rob Dunie, Nicole Sturgill, Laurie Shotton, Derek Miers, Fabrizio Biscotti , 10 December 2019

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Posted in RPA and DMS, Technology

CFO survey shows the way growth opportunities

April 2nd, 2020

CFOs seek to transform their departments to take on less of a controlling and and administrative reporting role, to a more strategic advisory role. Data-driven insight is what helps the entire organization move forward.

Growth Opportunities for CFOs

1. Increase FP&A Maturity
Only 2% of the nearly 400 CFOs surveyed rate their FP&A maturity level as “leading.” The research found that the lower the level of FP&A maturity, the more time Finance spends on low-value tasks. In the Finance world, this translates to wasted time in spreadsheets.

Those using more sophisticated analytics tools and processes spent less than 20% of their time in spreadsheets. Simply put, higher FP&A maturity, frees Finance to focus their brain power on analysis and to provide critical business guidance.

2. Solving Roadblocks to FP&A Maturity
What’s preventing CFOs from pursuing their priorities? According to the survey, most of the challenges are related to capacity: lacking enough time, sufficient human resources, and the right financial resources. A majority of respondents felt they were too busy with existing responsibilities to pursue their priorities. Yet, many CFOs were unable to hire people with the right skills or train employees within their department. More sophisticated tools can help mitigate all three roadblocks.

3. Getting Organizational Buy-in to Invest in the Finance Department
In spite of these challenges, the Finance leaders surveyed expressed optimism and resilience. They understand the need to secure the buy-in of executive management for investments in technology and sophisticated FP&A.

The good news is that our research found most organizations are willing to invest. Over 60% of respondents said their organization was willing to selectively choose new areas to apply technology and run pilot programs. An additional 12% of organizations are aggressively seeking new technologies to try.

Leading CFOs are securing these investments by making a convincing financial case backed by a compelling business case.

Tackle These Challenges Head-On
With the right tools CFOs can meet the challenge of pursuing FP&A maturity, investing in new technology, and expanding the role of the Finance department.

Contact us for a copy of the benchmark report 0097143365589

Your business is evolving. Your systems should evolve too. Achieve your goals more successfully with Prophix’s innovative Corporate Performance Management (CPM) software. Improve profitability and minimize risk when you automate repetitive tasks and focus on what matters. Budget, plan, consolidate and report automatically. Whether in the cloud or on-premise, Prophix supports your future with a platform that flexes to suit your strategic realities, today and tomorrow.

Ask about Prophix Corporate Performance Management, UiPAth Robotic Automation and Power Bi

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Posted in Uncategorized

Plan beyond covid-19 with Prophix CPM, and Synergy Software Systems

April 2nd, 2020

Prophix has seen significant growth in many areas over the past fiscal year. The company established itself as the leading CPM provider in specific vertical markets such as construction.

Part of the international success can be attributed to deployment, offered both an on-premise solution and a cloud alternative. This is important in regions outside of North America where the adoption to cloud hasn’t been as rapid. A recent report published by BARC, a respected industry analyst that focuses on European markets, noted that “the cloud is on the rise [in European countries] and a ‘cloud-first policy’ is already supported by a large proportion of companies”. Similarly, they highlighted that “the cloud offers scalability for modern planning” and consequently, is an attractive option for those looking to deploy a CPM (Corporate Performance Management) solution.

With this market momentum as a foundation, and the added focus and leadership now in place, we expect continued growth of Prophix in the GCC.

We are living in unprecedented and uncertain times. The rapid spread of COVID-19 has disrupted businesses around the world, rapidly changing market conditions and rendering most corporate 2020 plans futile. The coronavirus is a stark reminder of the volatility of our global business environment.

For C-suite executives, it’s hard enough to accurately budget, plan, and forecast in a time of digital disruption. When faced with an evolving and unpredictable situation, CFOs must quickly evaluate the impact on their organization’s revenue planning, costs, production, headcount, and overall business performance. This puts significant pressure on CFOs, as well as finance teams, to manage the financial implications of the current pandemic and position their company for continued success moving forward.

So what can CFOs a do to quickly respond to changing conditions and ensure business continuity, while improving planning processes and minimizing organizational risk.

1. Create a Business Continuity Plan
First and foremost, executive leadership and finance teams should focus on developing a plan for business continuity.

A business continuity plan is an outline of the policies and procedures that will keep your company running during major disruptions. This can include but is not limited to a reassessment of capital investments, evaluating existing cash flow, and devising a plan to acquire debt.

For most organizations, the Office of Finance will play a critical role in the creation of the business continuity plan, as they have the most insight into the company’s data and financial health.

However, to assemble an accurate continuity plan, finance professionals should consider:

“What-if” scenarios,
Cross-company financial planning,
Forecasting,
And Budgeting.

2. Prepare for a Successful Tomorrow with Scenario Planning
As a result of COVID-19’s impact on the markets, finance teams must consider countless “what-if” scenarios, such as:

How long will the outbreak last and how will it affect the markets?
What unpredicted costs will we incur (i.e. production, real estate, equipment, headcount)?
What liabilities might we incur?
How will this impact our workforce?
How will this impact our revenue and profitability?

All of these are valid concerns and questions that the Office of Finance must endeavor to answer.

Luckily, there are processes and software that can minimize the time, effort, and errors associated with spreadsheet-based planning processes that would traditionally be used to model these “what-if” scenarios.

Corporate Performance Management (CPM) software can easily model “what-if” scenarios to provide insight into your businesses’ potential future state, helping you reorganize and plan for a successful tomorrow. At the foundation of successful “what-if” scenario planning is cross-company financial planning.

3. Leverage the Collaborative Nature of Cross-Company Financial Planning
Never has there been a more opportune time for businesses to leverage agile cross-company financial planning to rapidly plan for the future with a detailed and collaborative approach. Cross-company planning incorporates key business variables into a budget and flexible plan that can adapt to growth and uncertainty.

At the foundation of agile cross-company planning are three pillars:

People – Foster an environment of collaboration by identifying, including, and empowering key roles within your company. With the right processes and technology in place, it should be easier to keep your stakeholders engaged in the process.

Process – It’s a best practice to map the planning cycle and have regular touchpoints to follow-up on. It is also helpful to employ a tool that can help you drive your processes through workflows.

Technology – Your technology should integrate with all your business systems and enable you to have a single view of your data. This purpose-built tool should bring together your people and processes to facilitate budgeting, planning, and forecasting processes, while also providing insights to your stakeholders. Many finance-specific solutions can also simplify high-value repeatable processes like dynamic or rolling forecasts (more on that later!).

The primary benefit of cross-company financial planning is that it centralizes your data from disparate systems. As such, it is best suited to businesses that have different employees, departments, and systems that handle financial data.

With a financial planning solution like Prophix, your data is immediately accessible to all users, allowing them to evaluate the financial performance of your organization through the lens of their expertise. This will enable you to quickly and accurately evaluate the profitability of your business in the coming years, giving you a distinct competitive advantage. This type of centralized data is not available to those companies that are still leveraging manual processes and spreadsheets.

The collaborative nature of cross-company planning encourages the finance department to involve a wider set of stakeholders, which is critical during periods of uncertainty. The more perspectives involved in the planning process, the better equipped the company is to deal with foreseen and unforeseen outcomes. Collaboration is optimized with a cloud-based CPM solution. Cloud not only offers a highly available and scalable solution, but it is also available 24/7 to anyone, anytime with an internet-connected device.

What is the necessity of forecasting,? Why is a collaborative approach to planning is critical in these uncertain times ?

4. Reduce Risk with Rolling Forecasts
With the right tools and processes in place, companies create rolling short-, medium-, and long-term forecasts for their company. Rolling forecasts allow you to “view opportunities and challenges beyond the fiscal year and to fight the myopia that comes with an overemphasis on current-year targets” (CFODive). This can provide an “incentive for long-term, value-maximizing behavior over short-term, bonus/target-based decisions rooted in the current fiscal year” (CFODive).

Rolling forecasts are a critical part of the risk management process, especially in light of current economic and social conditions. Corporate Performance Management (CPM) software can assist finance departments in compiling and analyzing the data necessary for a long-term forecast, as well as “what-if” scenarios and cross-company budget and planning, which are critical parts of a business continuity plan.

5. Unlock Your Budget
It’s only March but it’s likely your 2020 budgets and forecasts are no longer relevant. Now is the time to “unlock your budget” and reconsider what line items are critical to your businesses’ success (CFO).

Address the risks and opportunities posed by a range of virus scenarios, building high-level models of business cases to quantify the impact to P&L, cash flow, and balance sheet” (CFO).

Further suggestions include assessing the implications on productivity, investigating potential hidden costs, and addressing driver-based scenarios (i.e. customer regions, units, and pricing, quarterly phasing/timing, etc.) (CFO).

This can be done in conjunction with your rolling forecasts to give you a better understanding of all possible scenarios, which can further inform your business continuity plan.

While the outlook for the coming months is still unclear. The business world will always be filled with some level of uncertainty – it’s how you react to it that determines your success. Assemble a business continuity plan that includes “what-if” scenarios, a short-, medium- or long-term forecast, and a cross-company financial budget and plan.

Businesses cannot replan and forecast and what if ind replan and reforecast in a timely manner with spreadsheets as their primary finance tool . It is now essential to survival to urgently adopt a Corporate Performance Management (CPM) solution to automate and accelerate their financial processes, while improving accuracy and reducing organizational risk.

Contact us to learn more- about Prophix which is ‘productised’ for rapid configurable implementation.
0098714 3365589

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