Microsoft Offers Business Ready Flexible Pay

To respond to a high volume of potential customers balking at the up-front investment of an enterprise resource planning system, Microsoft has announced the Business Ready Flexible Pay offer, which enables ERP customers to purchase a Microsoft Dynamics ERP system without the daunting up-front costs and to drive a rapid ROI.

The software giant has begun marketing this attractive offer in several publications, and briefed Microsoft partners (including GraVoc) on the details of the plan during a Wednesday afternoon webinar.  More details regarding this offer are available on this Microsoft Dynamics blog.

The highlights of the offer include the following:

• U.S. firms with capital constraints or firms who want to “wait and see” what will happen in the economy before undertaking a large investment in an ERP project will be able to pay for Microsoft Dynamics ERP licenses, including Dynamics CRM, in three annual installments over the next three years.
• Companies taking advantage of this payment plan will have more cash ready up-front so that they can keep it aside for financial emergencies or for implementation and customization services.
• This is NOT a financing offer.  Unlike competitors offering 0% financing for ERP solutions only to certain qualified customers working with certain partners, Microsoft is just offering a different payment plan, more similar to buying a product on an infomercial for “two easy payments of $19.99.”  There is no lending involved, and there is no interest involved.
• The licenses will be considered temporary licenses with full functionality for the three-year payment period.  They will become perpetual licenses once the payment is complete.
• The Business Ready Flexible Pay plan is available until December 23, 2009.

The Microsoft representatives presenting at the Wednesday webinar said that there is an overwhelming trend of prospective ERP customers deferring the decision of whether to invest in an ERP solution.  Citing a poor economy, a large number of potential customers industry-wide want to hold on to their capital until finding out what is going to happen with the U.S. and global economy.  While Microsoft is relieved that they are not losing these customers to competing ERP providers, they are willing to soften the blow so that customers will indeed make the decision (and, of course, make it in Microsoft’s favor).

GraVoc Associates, Inc, based near Boston in Peabody, MA, is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner with several years’ experience outfitting clients in New England and beyond with the most appropriate ERP solutions.  Celebrating 15 years of business, GraVoc recently climbed from the 15th to the 2nd best-selling Microsoft Business Solutions re-seller in New England.  If your business has been considering an enterprise resource planning solution and the Business Ready Flexible Pay option fits well into your financial plans, you are encouraged to visit GraVoc.com to learn more information about the GraVoc business or to contact GraVoc at 978-538-9055 to see what the company can do to help your business ultimately save time and money.

Curious About Field Service Software?

Today, GraVoc Associates, Inc. is proud to release a video about the GraVoc Field Service Application.  This versatile application, one of GraVoc’s biggest projects over the past year, enables service companies to manage their service process, including call dispatching, equipment, labor management, and billing, with ease.  Much has been written about GFS on this blog, and GraVoc’s first GFS customer has very recently written a generous letter of gratitude emphasizing its rapid return on investment.

In its entirety, the video is about nine minutes long and provides a brief walk-through of a handful of GFS’s features.  By clicking each thumbnail on the bottom of the player, a viewer can specifically view “chapters” addressing specific modules in this user-friendly field service solution.  Chapters in the video include call entry, call dispatch, service calendar, the Windows Mobile service client, the review process, and integration with Microsoft Dynamics GP.  (GFS can also be integrated into other ERP and accounting solutions.)  Taking a few minutes out of the day to view this DivergingSoul production is strongly encouraged for those annoyed with double entry, lost parts, wasted hours, and inefficient service management processes.

The GFS field service solution sets itself apart from other field service software through its ease of use, as the video exhibits.  The best way to gather more information about GFS and how it can fit to your specific business needs is to contact a GraVoc representative and schedule a demonstration.  This can be accomplished through the GraVoc Software website or by contacting GraVoc at 978-538-9055 or at info@gravoc.com.

GraVoc Associates, Inc, based just outside of Boston in Peabody, MA, is celebrating its fifteenth anniversary in the service industry.  GraVoc is a full-service consulting firm serving New England and beyond in the fields of information systems, information security, technological service, and financial consulting.  As a result of their dedication to customers’ needs, GraVoc has developed a wide range of software solutions, and more details about the company as well as its products and services, can be found at gravoc.com and gravocsoftware.com.

GraVoc Field Service Receives Accolades

GraVoc Associates, Inc’s pilot project for the GraVoc Field Service application (GFS) was deemed worthy of high praise by the Frank I. Rounds Company. Rounds engaged GraVoc in the comprehensive project that included the implementation of Microsoft Dynamics GP and the development of a new software application to streamline the management of field service calls and projects. This custom application later became GFS and is being offered as a versatile but extremely user-friendly and transparent application.

“The highlights of this system include more detailed and better understanding of our finances, better control and communication with our field personnel, much higher employee efficiency rates, faster and easier invoicing, better cash flow, and fewer lost parts,” writes Lee Ehrenzeller, President of the Frank I. Rounds Company.

According to Ehrenzeller, the return on investment for the software licenses and GraVoc’s consulting services will ultimately be one year due to higher efficiency and the savings resulting from the implementation of Dynamics GP and GFS. “We have…employees doing more volume at less cost,” Ehrenzeller said.

Dynamics GP (formerly Great Plains) is highly touted as Microsoft’s best-selling enterprise resource planning solution. GFS, which can be integrated into GP, Dynamics AX, and other accounting systems, is an easy-to-learn and easy-to-use field service management application without cumbersome bells and whistles characteristic of other field service solutions.

GraVoc Associates, Inc, celebrating fifteen years of business, is a full-service consulting firm located in Peabody, Massachusetts. GraVoc prides itself on its ability to outfit clients in the Greater Boston area, New England, and beyond with quality software solutions that result in better business decisions, more productivity, and a prompt ROI. For more information about the GFS application, please visit the new GraVoc.com, and for more information on Microsoft Dynamics GP, please visit the Microsoft website. To speak to a GraVoc representative about these innovative solutions and how they can help your business, please contact the GraVoc offices at 978-538-9055.

Second Line Saves GraVoc a Day of Business

As described in the last GraVoc news item, the company’s website was temporarily out of service, as a car hit a utility pole a few blocks from GraVoc’s Peabody, MA offices. The accident resulted in GraVoc’s T1 line going out of service thirty minutes into what was scheduled to be a busy day of business, including Microsoft Dynamics AX training for a client.

GraVoc was able to continue business largely interrupted, however, as the business also utilizes a broadband connection that did not run through the affected utility pole. GraVoc’s systems were switched from the T1 connection to the broadband connection, and instead of delaying the training and being unable to access the Internet, GraVoc was able to continue with minimal interruption and very little lost time.

The GraVoc.com website was dependent on the T1 line and was therefore out of commission for slightly longer.

In terms of business continuity planning, GraVoc was prepared to deal with the event of the traffic accident and had workaround procedures in place to continue operations while the T1 line was disabled. While many businesses focus more on blizzards, hurricanes, fires, or earthquakes in business continuity planning, smaller and more likely events such as this accident can disrupt business just as much. A similar incident took place at a client business less than two weeks ago.

This event also reinforces the importance of having a secondary line of communication between a business’s offices and the outside world. Without the broadband line, GraVoc would have sacrificed almost a full day of business operations. Like its clients, GraVoc does not have time available to fret about communication systems being out of commission. Thanks to business continuity preparedness, GraVoc was able to salvage a productive day without a main communication line.

Among a wide range of services, GraVoc Associates, Inc. specializes in helping clients design business continuity plans so that procedures are in place to resume business as quickly as possible following a disaster. Based in Peabody, MA, GraVoc is celebrating fifteen years of serving small businesses in the Boston area and beyond with information system implementation, technological services, information security, and financial consulting. For more information, please visit GraVoc.com (which is back up and running) or call the GraVoc offices at 978-538-9055.

GraVoc.com Unexpected Outage

Due to a traffic accident down the street from the GraVoc offices, GraVoc.com is currently experiencing an unexpected outage. Business is continuing as usual, however, and customers should still be able to reach GraVoc through the telephone at 978-538-9055.

The issues with the GraVoc website should be resolved by the end of the day today (Monday). Thank you for your patience.

New MGL 93-H Deadline: January 1, 2010

The Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation (OCABR) has again pushed back the date at which the new Massachusetts General Law 93-H goes into effect. The new date is January 1, 2010.

MGL 93-H is better known as the "Massachusetts Data Protection Law."

A press release from the OCABR is available here.

Massachusetts General Laws 93-H and 93-I are generally considered the toughest laws in the nation regarding identity theft prevention. This law requires businesses containing either paper or electronic files with personal identifiable information to have a comprehensive information security policy. The specification of the information security policy are available in PDF format here.

Governor Deval Patrick announced the impending enforcement of this law last fall and GraVoc Associates, Inc. was one of the first firms to address the law’s tough standards. Starting in November, GraVoc began offering services to help small businesses safeguard its customers’ and employees’ personal information and comply with MGL 93-H. Since, the OCABR has given businesses more time to undertake 93-H compliance efforts, pushing back the January 1, 2009 deadline to May 1, 2009, and now to January 1, 2010.

GraVoc Associates, Inc, a full-service consulting firm based in Peabody, MA, is celebrating 15 years of business in Greater Boston and throughout New England. A versatile business, GraVoc offers a wide range of services in the fields of information systems, information technology, financial services, and information security. For more information on GraVoc, please visit GraVoc.com or call GraVoc’s offices at 978-538-9055.

GraVoc Software Website Unveiled

In an effort to make customers and potential customers aware of what GraVoc can do for them, GraVoc has taken tremendous strides to increase their online presence.  In the last few months, GraVoc.com got a complete makeover, the company has launched this news blog, and now the company is proud to unveil the NEW GraVocSoftware.com.

The new GraVoc Software.com has a comprehensive selection of GraVoc Software products which range from streamlining field service operations, to property management for landlords, to fourteen different add-ons to the Microsoft Dynamics GP enterprise resource planning solution.  This is by no means an all-inclusive list, as the full spectrum of GraVoc Software offerings is available on the new GraVocSoftware.com.

From the website, a visitor is able to see screen shots of various products and view the features that separate GraVoc’s software solutions from others in the market.  The website can also direct a user to contact GraVoc’s Peabody, MA-based offices to gather more information or to schedule live demonstrations.

A special thanks to DivergingSoul Media Production for spearheading the GraVoc.com and GraVocSoftware.com projects.

GraVoc Associates, Inc. is a full-service consulting firm located just outside of Boston in Peabody, MA, and is celebrating fifteen years of providing innovative solutions to clients in the fields of information systems, information technology, information security, and financial consulting.  For more information regarding GraVoc, please visit the new GraVoc.com and GraVocSoftware.com, or call the GraVoc offices at 978-538-9055.