Sage Work Stream Focus Groups
Cherryl Holliday & Graham Hoyle June 2009
Agenda
• Why we are here
• Our Thinking− Our Mission− Approach− Internal v External− Internal Work streams
• Focus Groups Format
• Progress
Why we are here
“Graham and Cherryl will explain the format and the thinking behind the new Line 500 / Sage 1000 Focus Groups, how they will work, commitment level required from customers and answer any questions you may have about being involved in these sessions”
• Ensure that Development meets Business Requirements• Ratification
Our Thinking
The Enterprise mission
“To create a true mid market business by working together to deliver a series of compelling product and service propositions to the Enterprise market in order to drive financial performance and recommendation within our chosen areas of the mid market”
• Usability and User Interface − Deliver a more contemporary user interface that will keep the product
competitive and up to date aesthetically, whilst new usability and efficiency concepts will improve the general user experience and assist new and existing users in improving productivity.
• Interoperability− Use open interoperability standards to allow more consistent and flexible
integration between the core Sage 1000 ERP module and complementary productivity modules.
• Reporting− Provide an integrated reporting solution to deliver the basic (management
and legislative) reports normally associated with a strong business management offering.
Our Approach
Work Streams
• Stage one− Gather information based on our own internal experience
oConsultants & Professional ServicesoSupportoSales
• Stage two− Ratify findings with external interested parties
− Ascertain whether modules/options are still relevant
− If no longer used, why? Not Fit for Purpose? Any other reason?
• Stage three − Demonstrate changes
oVia WebEx, oConference Call, oFace to Face
Internal v External
Stage One: Internal Work Streams
Work Streams
• Financials
• Commercial
• Manufacturing
• CRM
• Additional Modules
• HR & Payroll
Work Stream – FinancialsCherryl Holliday
FINANCIALS
Absorption Costing NF
Accounts Payable AP
Accounts Receivable AR
Cash Management CM
Credit Management CK
Fixed Assets FA
General Ledger GL
General Ledger Consolidation GC
Inter Entry Accounting IE
Job Costing JC
Electronic Payment - BACS BC
International Payments - Euro BACS BA
Archiving RE
Central Files CE
System Key Maintenance SK
Work Stream – CommercialGraham Hoyle
COMMERCIALExtended Discounts EP
Inventory Management IC
Purchase Order Processing PO
Purchase Reqs PQ
Repairs incl. Returns Entry & Utilities RR/AQ
Repetitive Route Scheduling AV
Sales Invoicing & Analysis OP
Sales Order Entry/Intrastats/VAT OE/IS/VT
Bill of Materials BM
EDI & XML EI/EO/XI/XO
Waste Management WP
Branch Inventory Management AW
Contract Management RB
Telesales - Includes: - AT/TU/AX/AF
Order Entry/Utilities/Point of Sale/Post Code Search
• Within each work stream what are the areas that require improvement;− In terms of reporting− In terms of integration− In terms of UI and Usability
• In each of these 3 themes think in terms of;− Areas for improvement− Priority
Work Stream Guidelines
• Looked at the functional areas across the work streams • Are all modules within this work stream still relevant to the customer base
• Which modules within this work stream could interact better with each other− Which modules may require interaction across work streams
• What is being logged with Support• What are the functional “no-brainers”
− Period end workflow− List views− Export to Excel
Work Stream Progress
• Stage one− Gather information based on our own internal experience
• Stage two− Ascertain whether modules/options are still relevant− If no longer used, why? Not Fit for Purpose? Any other reason?− Ratify findings with external interested parties
oFocus groupsoSite Visit – business process
− Explorer information gathered internally− Demonstrate progress
oFocus groupsoWebEx, Conference CalloBusiness Partner interaction
Internal v External
Stage Two: External Work Streams SUN Focus Groups
Graham Hoyle
Focus Group Format
• Each meeting will have a theme− Ascertain whether modules/options are still relevant to you
• How they’ll work− Separate work stream (Financial/Commercial)− Open and Interactive
− Introductionso Who, company, role
− Ratify work in progress
− In preparation, think about; o Areas of the software where modern business has moved ono Niggles today (Quick Wins)o Priorities
Focus Group
• First Focus Groups− At The Binding Site Ltd on June 25th
− Financials 10:00 – 12:00− Commercials 13:00 - 15:00− If you are interesting in attending, Contact Nicole
• Going Forward− Themes− Frequency− Continuity
o Start of a journey
Work in progress
Approach - UI and Usability
• Create a more modernised look & feel for the forms
• Present the application as “Rich client” in a web browser rather than wholly web or Windows
• Reflect the new Sage Brand
• For Shallow Refresh forms, apply the new style but retain the original flow through the application
• For Deep Refresh work, apply the style, and improve the flow and composition
Forms Style
Toolbar along top using standard
Sage icons
Toolbar along top using standard
Sage icons
Groupboxes in new Sage brand
colour
Groupboxes in new Sage brand
colour
Style for Legacy lists
Style for Legacy lists
Title bar using standard Sage
style
Title bar using standard Sage
style
Forms Style
Forms Style
Forms Style
Tooltip assistance to identify tab
Tooltip assistance to identify tab
Deep Refresh Approach
• Change the flow to compose a single form using separate elements
• Use tabs to enable access to different information groups
• Key information remains on screen as the user works in different areas
• Adopt a List based UI approach to enable users to perform different actions from a single point
25
Current Product
26
Current Product
27
Current Product
28
Current Product
29
Current Product
30
Future Product
Copy to Excel
In closing
• Why we are here
• Our Thinking− Our Mission− Approach− Internal v External− Internal Work streams
• Focus Groups Format
• Progress
Questions?