Lung Cancer Center

Information Technology has improved the leasing process, parts at a time. Every company has evolved some manner of maintaining customer information. Accounting software has kept the back-end humming. The sales force has devised methods for maintaining customers and then bridging them with funding sources. The vendor is contacted when an order needs filling. Further down the chain, the collections process is managed independently. And, the savvy leasing business has found ways of retaining customers to keep the process alive.

Limitations of the traditional Lease Management Software

But the permeation of technology has been sporadic, at best. Thus far, the existent lease management software have spot lighted sections of the leasing process, affecting each uniquely, independently and in isolation from the whole lease operation. This has forced companies to tie together the disparate sections of the lease process manually, without using any lease management software. Inevitably, intervening to help one part of the business communicate with another without a technical platform such as lease management software to collaborate both parts creates inefficiencies. While financial data would help the sales-force negotiate with repeat customers, the sales-force may not be privy to the relevant information easily devoid of innovative leasing software. The lessee may be offered an online lease application, but a potential funding source is not intimated of the new request until much later. Unfortunately, the disjointed nature of traditional technology necessitates physical intervention almost every time one link of the lease chain needs to be connected with another.

Improving productivity through consolidated lease management

Here’s where concepts like Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Supply Chain Management, so successfully used in manufacturing and telecommunications, become relevant to lease management. Today, Internet-driven technology such as the lease management software can consolidate the entire leasing process, beyond simply improving its various sections in isolation. Productivity-wise, this consolidation will do to the leasing business what the assembly line did to automobile manufacturing. And, if implemented wisely, the cost of this technology is quickly covered many times over by the resulting synergy – and the quantifiable savings — that it brings to the leasing enterprise, regardless of its size.

Managing leasing relationships through the Lease Management software

Lessor <> Lessee
The lessee-lessor relationship, for one, fits intuitively into the Internet model of the lease management software, given the high level of interaction it requires. After all, lessees have ongoing and insatiable needs, ranging from the most basic monthly invoice to the more complex asset-dependent property tax management specifics. Lessees with numerous assets under each of their leases, for instance, need a specialized flow of information to track their assets and stay abreast of their accounts by way of an effective lease management system. With a lease becoming a service rather than a mere financial product, lessors have to find ways of catering to the growing customer demand for information. One cannot help wondering why the systems they use for lease management, veritable storehouses of the needed information, don’t have CRM functionality. Indeed, CRM is as relevant at point-of-sale as it is during the lease process; it allows lessors to understand a lessee’s ongoing needs and even distinguish one customer from another. An online interface by means of lease management software can form the perfect channel of information exchange for the data-starved lessee.

Lessor <> Funding Source
Driven by tight marketing conditions and innovative funding models, the unique investor-lessor relationship can also benefit greatly from the use of technology via lease management software. Typically, lessors sell receivables, in whole or in part, to various investors to fund their leases. In some cases, the residual value is even sold separately with the investor and lessor sharing the proceeds generated from off-lease remarketing, contingent on various realization thresholds. But, regardless of the level of complexity in their relationship, there is one undeniable truth: Information that is already present with the lessor has to somehow travel to the investor. Typically, this entails hours of error-prone report and document preparation, the need for pain-staking clarification and, possibly, re-reporting. Again, these inefficiencies beg a rather obvious question: Why not let the investor get the information it needs, in a controlled, secure and real-time environment, devoid of manual intervention? Shouldn’t it be possible, at least in theory, for the investor to view information that lives with the lessor without the latter’s direct involvement? With an Internet based lease management system, this becomes a very practical possibility. Once the lessor determines the type and extent of information access it wants to offer, a customizable Web interface can provide the forum that eliminates the traditional inefficiencies of the lessor-investor association.

The Solution – Internet based Lease Management Software

Indeed, owing to the ease of information flow that the Net inherently facilitates, Internet based leasing software technology can tie in the hitherto unconnected parts of the lease process. Through this technology, the lessor can provide its business partners with controlled gateways to information residing in the back-end. In light of optimizing these relationships, the technology used to forge this data exchange must be based on the same technology that is used to maintain the information. If, therefore, the back-end accounting software were Internet based, it would become a minor step to make the relevant information available to investors or lessees online.

The technological consolidation of the leasing process by way of a internet based lease management software begins, then, with the back end. Lease management software is the battering ram around which the rest of the leasing process is built. In fact, Supply chain management and CRM, as they pertain to leasing, are fueled primarily by the data-rich back end. After all, here’s where every detail about a lease, from inception through maturity, is maintained. Yet, despite the obvious opportunity to realize these efficiencies, the leasing industry has not recognized the benefits of online lease management software. Most software vendors still earn a living touting systems that are entrenched in the client/server model and that are seriously limited by their legacy origins. This scenario is changing, however, with companies like Odessa Technologies, Inc., based out of Philadelphia, that make Internet based lease management systems.

Through LeaseWave(Lease accounting and management software product), Odessa Technologies provides a cost-effective means to benefiting from the Internet. LeaseWave, at its nucleus, provides for complete asset management and lease accounting functionality, allowing the lessor to efficiently manage any number of lease portfolios. Beyond this core, LeaseWave provides a series of interactive web sites that connect the lessor with business partners including lessees, funding sources and vendors. This allows for the lessor to consolidate the leasing process, tying together business partners online, on a real-time basis. Through LeaseWave, the leasing supply chain meets CRM around a robust, Internet based lease management software.

Indeed, it was through supply chain management and CRM that Wal-Mart recently revolutionized the retail industry. IT investment “enabled the company to squeeze out every last inefficiency from [their] merchandising chain.” By connecting with their suppliers such as Procter & Gamble, Wal-Mart was able to reduce inventory, lower order-processing costs and thereby offer “low, everyday prices.” One better than Wal-Mart, Cisco, one of the largest Internet hardware suppliers now boasts a paper free supply chain. Cisco’s suppliers only begin assembling components after a customer places an order online, giving “just-in-time supply” a new standard. Why then can’t our retail shops (read lessors), their suppliers (read funding sources) and their customers (read lessees) be similarly connected? Don’t we also want low, every day prices?

Odessa Technologies, Inc. is the maker of LeaseWave(c), a completely Internet based Lease operations management system for the Lessor. LeaseWave technology, at its core, handles Lease Accounting and Asset Management. In addition, it provides a full eCommerce solution and interactive interfaces for Lessees, Funding Sources, Potential Customers, Vendors and other Third Parties. The technology aims to bring the entire leasing operation online, allowing lessors to conduct business in real time with their business partners. LeaseWave is marketed via an ASP (Application Service Provider) service through subscription or as a fully licensed system residing on the Lessor’s internal server. Visit Odessa Technologies online at www.odessatech.com or call 1-888-683-2484 for further information.

The first obstacle for harmful programs on the way to your computer is a firewall, which prevents it from penetration. The second frontier is an antivirus program, which accomplishes scanning of all files on your computer searching for known viruses. Keylogger Hunter may definitely become a third frontier, which would guarantee full information security.

This program neither limits access to the computer from the World Web (use a firewall for that), nor it searches for viruses (antivirus software will do that). It simply bars hook-based keyloggers from gathering information about the keys you press.

Usage of such programs is of great significance. It is especially true for those users who attach the importance of information entered to the computer with the help of the keyboard (credit card numbers, private and official letters, etc), and are ready to spend up on a third frontier of information security. Keylogger Hunter does not require regular database updating, since it is based on a different principle. All new features will be easily available to all registered users, as we provide you with perpetual free updates.

Do you wonder how Keylogger Hunter works? Generally speaking, the program is wedged between a keylogger and Windows, thus preventing data gathering by a keylogger.

This additional security frontier will make your work on the Web (which teem with different ubiquitous spyware!) much safer.

Product page link: http://www.styopkin.com/keylogger_hunter.html

http://www.styopkin.com

There is so much hype out there about electronic medical claims billing. If you are not sending your claims electronically yet, you are probably too embarrassed to admit it. And if you are, you are probably wondering if the method you are using is the best. What is the real truth behind electronic billing?

Many of the larger insurance companies are really pushing providers to submit their claims electronically. Some are even calling the provider’s offices and telling them that they are mandating electronic submissions by a certain date and that they will no longer accept paper claims. Others offer incentives to submit electronically, such as faster payment, or even no authorization required for services if claims are submitted electronically.

Bottom line, the real question for a provider is “is electronic billing really necessary for my practice” and “what will it require of me.”

For the first question, I think that everyone must realize that with the changes in technology electronic submission of medical claims is inevitable. Today’s society is moving towards paperless transactions in many ways.

The second question will depend upon many things such as how large, or small, your office is, how much equipment you already have and how up-to-date it is.

One of the biggest misconceptions of electronic billing is that it makes the billing in your office a lot simpler. In some ways it does, but it presents you with a whole different set of tasks that you didn’t have before. I’m not implying that it makes anything harder. Just that there are things that go along with electronic billing that you did not have to do before such as reading and acting on reports and maintaining and updating the electronic software.

When you submit a claim on paper, the claim is both received and processed, or you never hear a thing. Hopefully in the latter case, your staff will call and check status on it after 30 days. Whether your paper claim has complete and accurate information on it or not, it will be handled the same way. You will either receive payment for the claim, or an explanation of benefits showing a reason for denial.

When you submit claims electronically, it is not quite so simple. First, you will receive a report letting you know if your batch of electronic claims was accepted or rejected. If a claim has incorrect data such as an incorrect date of birth, it will be rejected before it ever reaches the insurance companies claims processing system. You will receive a report, usually within 24 – 48 hours showing all rejected claims, and the reasons for the rejections. You will also receive a report showing the claims that were accepted with no errors.

It is very helpful to receive notice so quickly that your claim had incorrect information; however, you now have to make sure your staff is able to check on this report and take the time to find and correct the needed information.

What electronic billing is actually doing is letting you know sooner that you have problems with specific claims. When you are submitting them on paper, you generally don’t find out about the problem claims until you are doing a follow-up report and calling the insurance companies. So by submitting your claims electronically, you are not eliminating all the problem claims, you are finding out about them sooner.

Once you decide to take the plunge into electronic billing, there are still choices to be made. Is the practice management system you are currently using capable of submitting claims electronically? If not, you will need to update or change your software. You will need to determine how you will submit your claims to the insurance companies. A clearing house may be the best option, or if you are a larger practice, or billing service, you may want to consider software that allows you to act as your own clearing house.

In any case, if you are not already submitting your claims electronically, it probably would be wise to start researching your options. A good place to start is by contacting your practice management system support and asking them if they recommend any method in particular. Another way is to ask your colleagues. Electronic claims submission is a big step and it should not be taken lightly.

Copyright 2006 Michele Redmond

Michele Redmond is co-owner of Solutions Medical Billing and has been in business since 1994. She has a bachelor’s degree in Computer Information Science and is responsible for the electronic claims submissions for over 50 providers. For more information on clearing houses and other alternatives for electronic claims submissions visit her website at http://www.solutions-medical-billing.com

Have you ever worked for hours on a document, saved it to your computer and the
next time you went to use the file you could not find it? Hopefully this article will
help you and everyone else who uses your computer, save files in an orderly
manner; then you will always be able to find any file you need, quickly and
efficiently.

How to Create Folders

All PCs have an icon
or section on the computer labelled My Documents. This is where you
should be saving all of the files you create. Think of this area as a great big filling
cabinet. Instead of piling everything in the cabinet higgledy piggledy, as tempting as
it might be, you need to set up sections within the filling cabinet for the different
type of files you might be saving. Each section of the filing cabinet is called a
Folder

If several people are using the same computer, begin by assigning a Major
Folder to each person. For example:

Mr. Smith or Dad’s
Files
Mrs. Smith or Mom’s Files
Junior Smith or Junior’s Files
Jane Smith or Jane’s Files

You can give the Folder any name you wish, to make these Major folders, follow
these commands.

1. Click on Start (green button at
the bottom left corner of your screen).
2. Click on My
Documents.
3. On the top right corner of the My Document Screen click on
File.
4. Immediately under File, a white section comes up and click
on New.
5. To the right of the word New click on Folder.
6. A
Folder will appear in the white area of the screen saying New
Folder and it will be shaded blue, immediately type in the name of the folder
Dad’s Files.
7. If the Folder turns to white before you type in the name,
simply click on the word New Folder, then click on File, scroll
down and click on Rename, once again it will turn to blue and you can
type in the name of the new folder.
8. Continue making and naming
as many Folders as you need for each person or section you wish to
create.

Within each major Folder you can create other sections or Sub
Folders, to help you keep each person’s files organized. For
example:

Dad’s Files
———Business
——————Documents
——————Letters
—————————Company A
—————————Company B
—————————Company C
——————Faxes
——————Estimates
——————Insurance
——————Resumes
——————Miscellaneous
———Household Accounting Records
———Personal
———Friends
Moms Files
———Letters
———Special e-mails
———Household Documents
———Friends

Junior’s Files
———School work
———Friends
Jane’s Files
———School work
———Friends

How to Save Your Files to Your Folders

1. Once you have your folders set up, you can begin to
save your new files into the correct Folder.

2. Start by opening a new file in your Word
program.

3. Click on File in the top left corner and scroll down to
save as.

4. A new screen will appear with the words SAVE AS in
the blue shaded area, click on My Documents on the left side of
this screen.

5. A list of each of your major folders will appear.
Click on the Major Folder you wish to use.

6. The screen will open and list each of the Sub Folders
you have made.

7. Once you have reached the Sub Folder you wish
to save your document in, type in the name of your document in the
bottom of the screen labelled File Name.

If you are saving pictures on your computer, it is a good idea to set up
folders for
your pictures in the same manner as your documents. Set up your Folders in the
same manner in the My Pictures section of your computer.

File and
Folder Tasks

In the My Document screen (in the blue area on the left side) you will
see a section labelled File and Folder Tasks. Click on the small white circle
beside the name and a list of tasks will appear or disappear. You can use this
section to accomplish the following tasks

1. Rename a folder –
if you wish to give the folder a new name, just click on the folder, then click on this
command. The folder will turn blue and you can type in the new name and press
enter.
2. Move this folder.
a. Highlight the file by
clicking on the file Name.
b. Click on the command Move this file.
c. A new screen will appear called Move Items.
d.
Scroll through this screen until you find the Folder you wish to move the
file into.
e. Click on this:Folder and the Move
button at the bottom of this screen.
3. Copy this folder – follow the
same commands as to move the folder, instead of a screen saying Move
Items you will get a screen saying Copy Items
4.
Publish this folder to the web – click on the Folder you wish to
publish, then the Publish this folder to the Web, a Web Publishing
Wizard will appear, follow the directions that come up.
5.
Share this folder – once again, click on the Folder and the command
Share this folder and follow the instructions that appear.
6.
Email this folder – click on the Folder or File and the
command Email this folder, an e-mail will appear with the Files or
Folders attached, send the e-mail to the person you wish to send it
to.
7. Delete this folder – click on the File or Folder
and the command Delete this folder. A window will appear asking
you
if you wish to delete the file or folder. Click on Yes and the file
will be sent to your Recycle Bin. If you make a mistake and accidentally
delete the wrong file, you can always go to the Recycle Bin and move it back to its
correct location. This only works if you have not emptied your Recycle Bin
.

Lost Files

If you have previously saved a file to your computer and wish to find it, try the
following commands.

1. Go to the My Document screen.
2. Click on the
File command.
3. Scroll down to the Search
command.
4. Follow the directions on the left side of the screen that
appears. You can type in the name of the file, or a phrase that has been used in the
file. By clicking on the sections Look In you can tell the computer to look
in one specific area or the complete computer by clicking on the Local Hard
Drive.
5. Once the computer has found your file or files
with the information you requested, a list of possible files will appear on the
right side of the screen.
6. Click on the correct file and it
will open for you.
7. I suggest you save the file in a
Folder where you will quickly find it the next time.

Details
of Files

If you wish to find out how big a file is, when it was last used, or which program was
used to create it, follow the following commands.

1. Go to the My Document screen.
2. Click on the
View command at the top of the screen.
3. Scroll down to
the
Details command.
4. The screen will give you the
Name, Size, Type and Date Modified of each file in the folder you are
displaying.

Summary

It will only take you a few minutes to set up your filling system on your
computer but it will save you hours of scrolling through many files looking for the
one elusive file you need. As the old proverb goes “An ounce of prevention is
worth a pound of cures”. I also suggest that when you are working on a file,
that you take time to use the save command (found under File)
every five
minutes. Then if your computer suddenly decides to have a fit (crash), at least you
will be able to retrieve the bulk of your work.

I wish you many happy
hours of
computing and less frustration as you quickly locate all your files when you need
them. Enjoy your computer and keep learning how to make it work for you.

Author-Louise Kaye

DigitizMe.info

http://www.digitizeme.info

Get you free Computer and Technology eBook:

http://www.digitizeme.info/free.html

Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains is very good fit for mid-size company and probably good budget solutions for large corporation. Former product name was Great Plains Dynamics / eEnterprise. Both versions: old and new are Great Plains Dexterity written and Dexterity itself was planned as database and computer platform independent / transferable shell back in earlier 1990th. Currently Great Plains (version 8.0 and coming 8.5) is MS SQL Server based and the last multi-database version 7.5 (available on Pervasive SQL and Ctree/Faircom). But considering former goal – Microsoft Great Plains has security model, which is independent from MS SQL security and works in parallel with SQL Security

User Classes and Users

• Users. Users has nothing to do with MS SQL Logins, however if you are on SQL version – users are translated to SQL as logins and given access to all Great Plains related database: DYNAMICS and companies

• User Classes. You can automate users creation, by including new user to the class or transferring old user to different class and by doing so you have an option to reset security from the class. On the user level you can supercede class security. Class works for all the companies, while User can have different security right in each different company
Objects: Windows, Reports: modified and alternate modified

• Confuse? Yes – this is normal reaction. These all confusing terms come from the architecture of the system – you need to know architecture highlights to recognize the terminology.

• Modified Reports. These are modified via Great Plains Reporting tool: ReportWriter – Tools->Modify->ReportWriter and select the report you want to modify. The most popular is SOP Long Invoice form. When you are done with the modification (placing logo, etc.), you need to assign security either to the users who will be printing this report or user classes: Setup->System->Security select user id, company, product (Great Plains), type as Modified Reports, series Sales and you will see SOP Invoice Long form available in the list, mark it and you will have it available for this user.

• Modified Forms. If you purchased Great Plains Modifier – you can modify the form, for example on Customer Maintenance screen you could place the button and attach VBA script to it – you should have VBA/Modifier with customization site enabler license. This is the realm of VBA programmer. Security should be given to the modified form.

• Alternative Modified Forms and Reports. If you have in-house Dexterity customization working with SOP Entry screen for example – the technology works this way – it imports existing SOP entry screen from DYNAMICS.DIC dictionary (original Great Plains) into custom dictionary, created by Dexterity developer. Here this form is known as Alternative Form. You can go to further complexity and modify this one with Modifier and get Alternative Modified Form.

Advanced Security

• Security for specific customers, accounts, etc. – you can protect specific object in Great Plains with this advanced security module. We’ll just mention this fact and do not touch details
Problems

• Central versus Local dictionary. If you have security for the user to use, say SOP Long Invoice form modified (taken from REPORTS.DIC), and you have Reports.DIC placed on local machine (check you DYNAMICS.SET file). When you give this user new computer and do not take care on transferring REPORTS.DIC from the old machine – user will get error message – can not open report: dictionary not found. The same is applicable to modified forms

Happy implementing! You can always appeal to us to help you with your system. Give as a call 1-630-961-5918 or 1-866-528-0577, help@albaspectrum.com

Andrew Karasev is Chief Technology Officer in Alba Spectrum Technologies ( http://www.albaspectrum.com ), Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains, Microsoft CRM, Navision, Microsoft RMS, Microsoft Business Portal customization company, serving clients in Chicago, Boston, New York, Miami, Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Seattle, Minneapolis, Phoenix, Toronto, Montreal, Brazil, Mexico, UK, Australia, Canada, UK, Europe, Russia an having small offices in multiple states and internationally.

If you have Norton Anti Virus, do you have reason to have 100% peace of mind? I know I worry constantly about computer viruses. I know too many people and more than one company who have lost one or more computers to a bad and incurable virus. I worried so much, in fact, that I have done a great deal of research on anti virus software, how it works, and whether or not the major providers like Norton Anti Virus give me reason to rest easy when it comes to the threat of viruses to my hard drive and privacy.

What is important when you talk about anti virus software, whether it be a big company like Norton Anti Virus or not, is for you to know how they work. As you likely are aware, computer viruses can come from any number of places, but are usually brought into your computer via either an email attachment or going to a website with an infected server. Either way, getting a virus on your computer can spell doom for your hard drive. So how does the software from companies like Norton Anti Virus work? You may not be quite so confident in your computer’s safety once you find out. Bare in mind, though, that currently this is the best way we have of combating viruses.

For example, Norton Anti Virus, which is owned by Symantec, is widely considered to be the best anti virus software available for home users. Basically, the software is working off of a list of known viruses and it is watching for them while you work on your computer. It scans each and every file that you download, intentionally or not, and then checks it against a list of viruses. If it finds one, it goes to work repairing the file, quarantining the file, or deleting it. However, even with Norton Anti Virus, you are not 100% safe from virus infestation. You see, the list of viruses the company has is based on ones they find on their own, or users like you send them after they have been infected. So, there is always a chance that you will get a virus and be the first one to be infected by it. You will have no idea about the virus until something is wrong with your computer and you report it to Norton Anti Virus. They will then, likely, have you send them the suspected file so they
The truth is that Norton Anti Virus is not perfect, in fact no anti virus software is.

Because of the constantly changing nature of viruses and the creativity of those who make them, there will likely never be a best answer to the problem. No, you can not rest with 100% peace just because you have Norton Anti Virus on your computer with all of the updates. That doesn’t mean it isn’t worth it, just that you still need to be careful. Be aware of what files you are downloading, what attachments you are opening, and even from whom emails you look at are sent. Keep your anti virus software up to date and use precautions and you will give yourself the best chance of surviving the virus storm on the internet.

If you would like to find more of my personal articles on computer software please check out my technology website!

Microsoft Great Plains is one of the Microsoft Business Solutions family ERP products: Great Plains, Navision, Axapta, Solomon, Small Business Manager. MBS also has Microsoft CRM – Client Relation Management software and Microsoft Retail Management System (Microsoft RMS)

Microsoft Great Plains 8.5 is scheduled to be released in the second quarter of 2005. It is usual practice when you here announcements and then you are notified about software release delays. Expect first the version to be released for US market and then you can expect Spanish and Canadian French version. Satellites or third parties are usually released in the following six month period.

From our Microsoft Business Solutions insiders we could give you the rumors we have heard

• Version 8.5 seems to be rather a big service pack to version 8.0. Let me give you some historical review. Microsoft Great Plains Dynamics of version 7.0 was merged with Microsoft Great Plains Dynamics and this was basically a foundation of Microsoft Great Plains version 7.5

• Microsoft Great Plains version 7.5 was the last version for legacy database platforms: Pervasive SQL 2000 and Ctree. Version 8.0 and higher are available on MS SQL Server and MSDE only

• Microsoft bought a product from eOne Solutions (in Australia) called SmartList Builder. This new feature allows users to create their own SmartList without being limited to the available “folders” on the standard SmartList’s left panel. We have yet to know more about this but the consultants in Australia are really enthusiastic about this.

Upgrade expectations.

• As our experience indicates – Microsoft is working on the ERP application migration (Project Green). This means that MBS is rather concerned on it’s ERP applications modules interoperability – consider the strong point of Navision – Manufacturing module should somehow communicate and seamlessly work with GL platform – more likely Great Plains financials – Great Plains systems manager and general ledger. So, and again this is our personal opinion – MBS is not bringing a lot of new ERP functionality into Great plains version 8.5, but rather standardizes it’s interface.

• Great Plains and Microsoft Windows. Some of the former bugs were related to Pervasive SQL and Ctree platform and plus Windows 2000 Pro bugs, especially from FRx side. Now Microsoft stakes on Microsoft SQL Server/MSDE only, so you should have more trust in released 8.5 CD.
Customization Upgrade and Expectations

• Microsoft Great Plains 8.5 is Microsoft Great Plains Dexterity based application, so your customization should be upgradeable, feel free to call us if you have concerns.

• Microsoft VBA/Modifier – should be available for 8.5 – so if you deploy VBA and have modifications to your GP forms (FORMS.DIC) – you should be OK with version 8.5

• Crystal Reports – these are usually based on company DB SQL views or stored proc – so assuming that DB side will have minor changes only – Crystal Report upgrade should be easy.

Good luck in upgrading and if you have issues or concerns – we are here to help! If you want us to do the job – give us a call 1-866-528-0577! help@albaspectrum.com

Andrew Karasev is Chief Technology Officer in Alba Spectrum Technologies – USA nationwide Great Plains, Microsoft CRM customization company, serving clients in Chicago, California, Texas, Florida, New York, Georgia, Arizona, Minnesota, UK, Australia and having locations in multiple states and internationally ( http://www.albaspectrum.com ), he is CMA, Great Plains Certified Master, Dexterity, SQL, C#.Net, Crystal Reports and Microsoft CRM SDK developer. You can contact Andrew: andrewk@albaspectrum.com

When you look around the world for likely IT offshore outsourcing destinations you may want to open your view a little to the south toward Brazil. Software programming is becoming a global commodity and Brazil offers the clear advantage of time zone, easy travel, and low cost IT professionals. Imagine skilled English speaking IT professionals at 50-70% less, working in the same business day as the Eastern U.S.A. The bill rate may not be as low as India and China, however, your ability to benefit from joint creativity during all parts of the development life cycle will far out weigh the difference. Top people in all countries seldom work nights. With Brazil’s time zone, the best and brightest are working in the same work day that you work. Even with well documented requirements, if your team can’t communicate often and freely due to time zone, you may not end up with what the user really wants?

Yes I know, you are probably wondering why you seldom hear of Brazil. This country hardly ever hits the radar when the decision is made to start looking offshore. And those U.S. companies that find Brazil seldom flaunt it, keeping it a best kept secret. Companies like AGCO, Alcatel, American Express, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Caterpillar, Citibank, Deutsche Bank and the list goes on. Brazil unlike India, has a huge domestic IT market that has only recently looked offshore for opportunities.

One good reason to consider doing business with Brazil is security. They respect your patent, copyright, and trade mark under penalty of law. Enforcement of intellectual property laws should be a major concern of businesses that venture offshore for IT development. Brazil has intellectual property protection legislation that is substantially similar to that of the United States which should put you at ease. Brazil enacted its first intellectual property law in 1887 and has current laws that are in line with international standards. Legal penalties for infringement can be civil or even criminal in Brazil.

In today’s world, data security is very important. Brazil rates better (62)on Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index for 2005 than India (88), Russia (126), China (78),Saudi Arabia (70), and the Philippines(117) to name a few.

Some other reasons to consider Brazil for your next offshore outsourcing project include:

1. Brazil is an $18 billion IT industry and one of the largest IT industries in the world. It has a large and experienced work force.

2. Billing rates in Brazil are very competitive. They come in less than Canada and slightly more than those of India.

3. This is a highly educated professional work force. Brazilian Universities are very competitive to get into and very inexpensive to stay in. Expect to find professionals with advanced degrees.

4. Brazil has 1-3 hours different in time with U.S. Eastern Standard Time. Time zones do matter if you are traveling or trying to collaborate with someone long distances away. You can easily call your Brazilian project team during your work day.

5. English is a very popular skill and not hard to find with technical professionals in Brazil. English language capability is expected of young and middle aged high tech professionals in Brazil.

6. Air travel to Brazil is convenient and affordable. Sao Paulo is a 10 hour direct flight from Atlanta, Ga.

7. Good industrial infrastructure and low cost telephony service.

8. Brazil has excellent hotels and restaurants also at a low cost.

9. Brazil offers a friendly culture with similar racial diversities, religions and family life styles as in the U.S.A. This similarity facilitates remote cross cultural team building.

10. Brazilian women play a leadership role in business and in government. Traveling female executives are no surprise in Brazilian conference rooms or leading negotiations.

If you consider Brazil remember that it is as large as the Continental United States. Just as the salaries of IT professionals varies between a high in New York and fall as you travel south, salaries vary in Brazil as well. Professionals working in Sao Paulo or Rio may well garner a higher wage than similarly skilled professionals in Curitiba or Belo Horizonte. Your business stay in either of these smaller cities would be cheaper and have a comfortable tempo.

W. Henry Johns- President

Vision TRE, Inc.

henryj@visiontre.com

http://www.visiontre.com

Mr. Johns has over 25 years of experience in global project management and is currently the President of Vision TRE, Inc., a Georgia based IT outsourcing company. More about the author can be found at http://www.visiontre.com/aboutUs.htm

Today, IT departments are strained. Internal IT staff are generally tied up working on low-level system maintenance, hit by wave after wave of patches and upgrades that are critical to keeping systems current and secure. They have too much to do, too few resources, and pressure from management to do more with less. But while the staff spends precious hours reacting to urgent demands, critical planning and evaluation work is neglected. It’s the classic example of spending 80% of resources on efforts that only return 20% of the value.

For these reasons and others, many executives have come to view IT as a necessary evil, rather than a strategic partner. They struggle with the following issues:

•Limited resources ($, Skills, Time)

•Inability to keep current with IT technologies and best practices

•70% of IT budget spent maintaining and operating older products

•IT is chaotic, reactive to problems, and not aligned to Business

•Desire to automate the routine maintenance.

Successful organizations are turning to managed service providers (MSP) for of the following benifits:

•Peace of Mind – because seasoned professionals are using advanced tools to predict and prevent any risk as soon as it is visible.

•Increased Productivity – Key network elements are more reliable and available.

•Faster & cheaper issue resolution – we notify the service people in real-time, with the exact location and cause of a real or developing problem.

•Reduce time spent on maintenance – we manage the exceptions to a library of internationally accepted standards, so you can focus on your core.

•Predictable & lower costs – we take the surprises out of IT planning and execution.

Bottom line, managed services offers a business model that aligns IT with the goals and objectives of the organization. Network problems directly control the profitability of the managed service provider. Therefore, a MSP is motivated to predict and prevent problems instead of the traditional consulting model where service providers receive more compensation for more problems. And isn’t that what everyone would like in the first place… No network problems?

Peter Radke is the Director of Managed Services for http://www.Thinsolutions.com in Cleveland, Ohio. As such, Peter implements MSP solutions that allow Thinsolutions to manage business computer networks in northeast Ohio for a fixed price. More information is available at the Thinsolutions website http://www.thinsolutions.com/managed_services.html

Microsoft Excel by default allows you to enter any type of data into a cell however sometimes when you are developing a spreadsheet for use by your staff or external people you will want to control what data can be entered into a specific cell.

Why?

Well in certain situations like in Business Models or spreadsheets that calculate, having invalid data in one cell can cause your whole spreadsheet to fail so in those situations it is important to apply data validation to your cells to ensure that the user cannot put a text value into a cell requiring a number. Another example would be preventing a user from putting a date value into a number field.

To achieve this in Microsoft Excel we have a tool called Data Validation that allows you to set specific data types to be accepted on a cell. In fact it goes further than that and allows you to control not just the data type but also other aspects like whether a number falls within a range of values, whether you have a certain volume of text in your cells or you can provide a list of values a person can select from.

So how do we do this?

The first step in the process of applying validation to your cells is to select the cells you what to create the validation for. It should be noted that you can select multiple cells and apply the validation to multiple cells at the one time.

Once you have selected the cells you want to apply validation to, select the Data menu and from the drop down menu choose the Validation command from your drop down menu. This command will open the Data Validation dialog box. From here you can now choose which type of data your cell should accept. As an example lets choose the Whole numbers option from the Allow drop down box. In this sample we want the user to be able to type in any whole number greater than zero, therefore we have to select the Greater Than function from the Data drop down menu and then type in 0 in the Minimum text box. Finish off by pressing the OK button.

Now enter in a value of 22.3 into the cell. What you will notice is that the cell as soon as you press enter will come up with an error that says “The value you have entered is not valid. A user has restricted values that can be entered into this cell”. You will not be able to move off this cell until you have entered the correct value.

You can restrict your cells to holding just dates or times, by simply choosing the Date or Time option from the Data Validation dialog box. One thing to know though is that you will have to put in a date range. The easiest way to do this is to set the Data drop down box to “Greater Than” and in the Start Date drop down box set the value to 1/1/1900. This means that all dates you enter will be valid after the 1 January 1900 and remember to finish off by pressing the OK button. Now try and enter an invalid date. You will notice as soon as you try to move off the cell it will generate an error.

Data validation is an important area to implement when you are developing an excel spreadsheet for use by others. The data validation rules play two important roles -

1. Prevents the user from accidentally putting the wrong value into your cell.
2. Ensures that the entered data is within the range you anticipated

The other area you should give consideration to using data validation is when you are developing Excel Spreadsheets that will be used as Microsoft Excel Templates. Using Data validation in your spreadsheets will save you a lot of time and hassle when providing your spreadsheets for use by third parties.