In today’s world, children use ICT to play, live and learn. Outside of the classroom children are used to embracing technology using ipads, tablets and social media to connect, so it makes sense for these tools to be hijacked for the benefits of education.

Not only does tech in classrooms appeal to students immediately, it also enhances student learning, by giving them a wealth of resources at their fingertips; lessons and study guides can be downloaded from itunes; interactive whiteboards integrate a wide range of material into presentations, like specific pictures from the internet, graphs from spreadsheets, and text from Microsoft office; video calling lets external experts impart knowledge that would otherwise have been inaccessible; and social media allows pupils to communicate with students all over the world.

Australia is ahead of the game with their transformative education program, and has been for some time. Back in 2010 Microsoft placed the Aussies in the top five for innovative use of technology in the classroom, and they’ve kept on succeeding.

The OneSchool programme initiated by the Queensland government is one such example of this, since 2002, Queensland’s Department of Education, Training and Employment has increased its classroom integration of ICT, effectively etching it into the DNA of their educational strategy. 

In order to get the most out of a strategy like this, schools need flexible and intuitive software to run the administrative tasks associated: 

• Collection, management and organisation of school, student, teacher information 
• Financial management tools
• Online services for parents and students
• Report on data with respect to the success of the school and the status of their progression toward information automation
• Create a single viewpoint to manage regions, states, and individual schools

Essentially the cornerstone of any supportive software needs to be transparency and agility so that the information needed to measure success can be harnessed, and it seems that the OneSchool project is managing this.

For more information on OneSchool, download the case study here. 

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But it’s not all plain sailing. There have been high profile and expensive failures – either shared services projects which have been abandoned before completion, or projects where costs have soared and projected savings have not been achieved.

A key mistake that has been made in the past is the belief that any ERP can automatically be applied to a shared services environment. But the reality is, many mainstream software systems simply do not lend themselves to this complex and demanding business model. This can be due to:

-       Cost: If the shared services platform is too costly to licence and implement, the upfront costs can be so large that savings just cannot be achieved over a realistic lifetime of say, 5 to 10 years.

-       Lack of flexibility: Shared services involves bringing multiple business entities together, and whilst they can seek to standardise and share most processes, there will always be some business diversity. Unique activities will need to be supported for each participant and if that is not simply achievable within a single instance of an ERP – or if it requires massive coding or set up costs – the costs will again rocket or partners will leave the shared service.

-       Inability to support on-going change: All organisations are subject to significant on-going pressure of change, maybe due to new regulation, changes in their market sectors, customer driven change or simply through growth or strategic considerations. In a shared services environment, this pressure multiplies as the number of partners sharing services grows. Such a dynamic environment requires an ERP platform that is designed to accommodate on-going change without requiring armies of consultants or months of work.

-       Lack of future-proofing: A shared services operation is a long-term venture, so any ERP platform must be able to adapt to changing needs and emerging technologies. Over the last 3 – 5 years, for example, cloud deployment and support for mobile devices has become mainstream for business systems, yet was not on the agenda 5 years before.

Many user organisations and those that provide business process outsourcing have experienced severe difficulties or failed to successfully deliver shared services because of the failings of the chosen ERP platform. The lesson learned is to analyse your needs carefully, and choose wisely. Don’t assume that your existing software will work in a shared services environment, and don’t underestimate the benefits of working with a system designed with shared services in mind.

In part 2 of this post, I will describe how UNIT4’s approach to shared services differs from the mainstream, and look at the benefits that can deliver. For more information, visit www.unit4.com/shared-services.

The post Shared Services needs a special type of ERP: Part 1 appeared first on UNIT4 Group Blog.

Organizations now use the cloud and SaaS based software to facilitate a multitude of organizational problems that often involved a large capital expenditure.  The cloud offers software to increase collaboration, manage inventory control, increase customer service, engage POS and RFID and help stem forecasting issues.  Inventory control has become  an easier process to manage through the cloud especially for organizations with distributed systems and multiple locations.

Organizations that have retail outlets can now use the cloud to automatically update quantities instead of waiting for older batch systems to refresh quantities and to be reinserted back into the system. These older batch systems usually have timing problems and organizations are using the cloud to  circumvent the timing issue. A new trend especially in Retail is reverse forecasting; by using actual quantities from the retail outlet to be used in the calculations for demand planning and forecasting.  Many retailers have adopted this new trend which provides more accurate inventory control and using the cloud provides real-time inventory counts.  Organizations are using this new method to control capital spending and increasing the accuracy of its forecasting and replenishment struggles.

Another major use of the cloud for retail organizations is to further collaboration, both internally and externally. This has created instant customer service and for organizations to offer real-time assistance and engage customers more effectively.  Social media monitoring has significantly boosted the profiles of organizations by allowing the nearly instant customer service. 

Further uses of the cloud extend to POS options such as line-busting, automatic checkout and payment options.  While some these technologies are still in their infancy such as the security around near field communications (NFC) and others the cloud has accelerated these concepts and ultimately providing customers with better customer service and more choices. 

The cloud has opened many new options for companies from SMB to enterprise organizations using the cloud for retail purposes. Options of PaaS and IaaS are now becoming the SOA and vendor agnostic enterprise application infrastructure (EAI.  This new infrastructure allows the organization to enable the multiple changes, reduce risk, decrease dependence on one vendor, increased business agility, data portability are all areas that can be realized if the correct cloud structure is applied to the organization.  

This post has been written Dylan Persaud, Managing Director of Eval-Source (who provide  Software Evaluation & Strategic Consulting)

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And how? 

• A cloud system gives more visibility, and ease of use, allowing teams to quickly track applications, search résumés, generate reports, calculate payroll, track performance appraisals and maintain data on employees, all from a central location. 
• By augmenting some core HR processes (on the cloud) with social functions: liking, commenting etc employees can discover colleagues and content to help them get their work done more efficiently
• It encourages cross functional communication. Teams can be spread throughout countries, and by using the Cloud all aspects of HR can be accessed in one central place, allowing departments to talk to each other more easily. This serves to increase the quality of communication in a company, which, of course, can only result in positive changes in an organization. 
• Social performance management (online tools to create a collaborative and continuous approach) revolutionises the management of people by providing a far more reactive, rapid and accurate method for improving performance
• Cloud systems can alter and update instantly when there are changes to the law/procedures
• It allows a round-the-clock idea machine to develop: Internal networks enable brainstorming on a continuous basis instead of only during a planned session. People are creative at different times of the day, and some need a particular environment to be creative. 
• HR on the cloud, can support the natural, continuous social learning – or knowledge sharing – that is already taking place in teams and work groups.
• It helps to create enterprise social networks. Improving communication and collaboration within the function, as well as with other departments, and consequently helps HR to better connect with the rest of the organisation.

The post Cloud, social, mobile. The benefits of Cloud to HR appeared first on UNIT4 Group Blog.

The restaurant trade knows better than anyone the devastating blow a difficult economic climate can deal to their businesses. A limping economy means consumers are less willing to spend their hard-earned cash on luxuries like clothing and eating out. Added to this, trends can alter the shape of the sector rapidly, meaning that businesses need to be able to change quickly to keep up with the rest of the market.

In the last few years alone there have been some big changes to the industry:

• Tapping the power of social media, pop-up dining restaurants have become the norm, allowing aspiring chefs to showcase their work without fear of bankruptcy, spreading the word with bloggers and tweets.
• People have become more and more conscious about organic, free range, local and sustainable food.
• More and more diners are opting to stay at home, choosing supermarket restaurant style meal deals in favour of actual eateries. UK brand Marks and Spencer reported increases in 2011 attributed in part to its ‘Dine In” promotions appealing as better value alternatives to eating out.
• A ‘coupon culture’ has sprung up across the US, and the UK, with high street chains offering vouchers in a bid to entice more people looking to save costs into their restaurants.

These are just a few of the trends and challenges that have swept the industry, and meant that restaurants have to work harder and change faster than ever before. UNIT4 has experience in this sector and the following video demonstrates how UNIT4 solutions helped the high street chain Nando’s make change happen, and serve up success.

The post Serving up success? appeared first on UNIT4 Group Blog.

It’s no secret that ERP systems can be inflexible and unwieldy, with companies scrabbling to create modifications and workarounds to get the results they need from their software, rather than working with it to help them respond to fluctuations in the market.

With a rigid ERP system, changes present problems rather than opportunities for businesses.

The survey found that when change prompts even limited alterations to ERP, average business disruption is at an unprecedented level:

• 15.6% loss of revenue from a delayed product launch
• 15.8 drop in market valuation
• 15.2% decrease in satisfied customers

Added to this, 96% of the 240 surveyed required moderate to extensive modifications for ERP to meet their needs. This is one of the real issues that people face when they select software vendors. Often its assumed that ERP can meet an organization’s needs out of the box, and will develop as the organization develops, but in reality, many solutions lack the agility needed to meet this demand, as this survey shows. (Read the top mistakes made when selecting an ERP vendor here)

In today’s climate, markets are changing more rapidly, meaning that the pace at which a business evolves is far more rapid. Since the last survey in 2009, there has been an 111% increase in companies wanting their ERP changing daily, weekly or monthly, put simply, they can no longer afford to be held back by their software.

As the survey says, ‘Don’t let change be your nemesis. Make your ability to manage change a competitive differentiator. Put this selection criterion at the top of your list.’

So take our advice, and embrace change.

Read the survey in full here

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Huge amounts have been written about the usability and usefulness of cloud computing, so we’ve narrowed it down  to some quick, understandable points.

Benefits

• Easily scalable: IT Resources can be adjusted to cater for the specific needs of your company
• Speed: Faster and easier access to systems.
• Quick to set up and integrate with other internal systems (if you choose a vendor whose system is built on flexibility)
• Low cost: Most systems allow you to pay monthly, which reduces upfront costs, and allows companies to reduce their capital costs on hardware, software and licensing fees
• Increases competition: It offers tools which would previously have been unaffordable for SMBs, levelling the playing field, and creating a healthy competitive market. 
• Minimal or no server/hardware reconfiguration and downtime
• Collaborative: Allows you to work closely and collaboratively with people from different offices without having to be in the same place
• Mobility: Allows you to work when you want, where you want without having to be tied to an office to access the systems you need. As long as you have an online connection, cloud computing can be done anywhere, anytime.
• Security: Thousands of laptops are lost each year, which can have serious financial repercussions if licences have been bought for specific computers. When all your systems are in the cloud, the only monetary hit you have to take is the loss of hardware.

 Drawbacks

• Availability: There must be access to an internet connection for the Cloud to work
• Security: there are often concerns about how secure the Cloud is, realistically though, levels of security offered by cloud vendors tends to be far higher than that available to most SMBs, from access control to backups. If you are concerned, make sure that your chosen vendor has the highest security certification from the British Standards Institute: ISO 27001. The standard specifies requirements for the identification, execution, control and improvement of documented Information Security Management Systems covering business risks.
• Limited flexibility: Don’t assume that it’s flexible because it’s in the cloud – many vendors still lack the agility needed to respond to their customers changing needs. Make sure you can see a proven track record of flexibility before you leap into the Cloud with an unknown vendor.

For us, the benefits of the cloud by far outweigh the negatives; just make sure you know what you really want to get out of cloud computing before you get on board.

The post Is the sky the limit? appeared first on UNIT4 Group Blog.

And one way that the sector can stay afloat is by embracing the cloud, and getting on board with digital technologies.

A recent survey by Lasa in the UK has flagged up some warning signs into the way that the Third Sector operates

• 7 out of 10 charity sector professionals (78%) think charities will miss fundraising and income generating opportunities if they do not engage fully with digital.
• Over half (56%) said that their charity needed training to maximise digital’s potential, with 55%  stating that digital must be a ‘core competency for all staff.’
• Two thirds (66%) said that digital is ‘essential’ to their charities, and that they couldn’t ‘function without it.’
• Yet only one in five (21%) believed that they were ‘fully engaged with it as an organisation, from board members to junior staff.’
• 50% of respondents described a ‘lack of time to get to grips with’ digital.  
• 41% felt that there was ‘a lack of understanding of digital at board/ director level.’
• Only 28% of respondents used cloud technologies for cloud based tools.

This is a concern. Whilst the sector clearly recognizes the importance of digital, and in turn the cloud, they need to put in the time to embrace the benefits of the cloud, which are numerous.

To list a few, cloud based technologies can:

• Help to unify localized efforts across a single platform
• Give greater insight into the people that they support, through data submitted by their volunteers and employees, and in turn improve the way that they fundraise
• Be cost effective – there are little or no set up costs as many cloud based tools are subscription-based, allowing the sector access to systems which might previously have been un-affordable, thereby providing peace of mind by not having to worry about maintenance and other IT costs.
• Are readily scalable. The major benefit of cloud computing is its agility. You can scale up or down the IT infrastructure depending on your organization’s needs.
• Offer staff the ability to work at home- thereby reducing overheads
• Create a more mobile workforce

This is just scratching the surface of the advantages of Cloud, we’re running a series on the topic so keep checking for our latest posts. 

To read the LASA study in full go to: http://www.lasa.org.uk/uploads/Lasa_charity_digital_survey_results_Nov_2012_final.pdf

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We’re running a short series on cloud, looking at topics such as how best it can benefit industry sectors, addressing the worries people have, illustrating the benefits and giving impartial tips for choosing a cloud vendor.

Dependent on the content the posts will be in different categories so make sure you follow the cloud tag to catch them all.

The post Welcome to the Cloud! appeared first on UNIT4 Group Blog.

An impressive essay on the changes hitting the higher education sector globally should send a chill through anyone involved in the sector today. Entitled ‘An Avalanche in Coming‘,  and published by the UK-based Institute for Public Policy Research, it sums up powerfully the wide range of challenges facing education institutions, and the new ones to come.

Of course universities know that increasing globalization and new technology are affecting their businesses significantly. But in this report, the authors argue that a new phase of competitive intensity is coming, in which the very idea of a traditional university is being challenged. It points to the ‘unbundling’ of services, as specialists supply them to an equivalent or even better level.  

The authors of ‘An Avalanche is Coming’ argue that ‘Deep, radical and urgent transformation is required in higher education’. They call on all stakeholders – from citizens and university leaders to governments – to avoid complacency and act quickly. 

They identify three fundamental challenges facing the sector today:

1. How can universities and new providers ensure education for employability? 
2. How can the link between cost and quality be broken? 
3. How does the entire learning ecosystem need to change to support alternative providers and the future of work? 

Just as the worlds of media and communications, banking and finance have been radically transformed over the recent decades, so the traditional model of higher education is now being rocked by the same forces of change.

This essay is a comprehensive, timely and challenging report that makes for uncomfortable reading for those in the sector. But its call for transformation is one that cannot be ignored!

At UNIT4 we’ve been working with hundreds of education and research institutions globally for many years, to help them address these challenges. For more information on what we’ve achieved with universities and colleges, see here. 

We will be producing a series of blog posts on the detail of this report, so do follow this blog for more.

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