Don Thomson is one of the co-founders and lead developer of  the former Accpac Internationl now Sage Accpac ERP. An insightful blog article from Don is is referenced here:

Today’s press releases, such as “MySpace dumps server hard disks for flash drives” may not seem to have any relationship with Accpac. It does. If you follow certain lines of reasoning, flash drives could mean massively faster performance characteristics for Accpac.

Use of solid state technology (flash drives) is another example of a sea-change in the software industry being driven by iPod users’ insatiable demand for more storage. The personal computer (IT) industry no longer drives storage technology. It is all about iPods capable of storing more music and more movies – using solid state (flash drive) technology.

You may say that new technology is also driving down hard drive prices. Yes, you can get a terabyte drive for a few hundred dollars. Who uses tape backup systems anymore? Just kidding – half of our customers still do. But Accpac users don’t typically need a terabyte. Many of our clients run Accpac quite happily with 2Gb or 4Gb or 10Gb databases. Hello – you can buy a 16Gb flash drive for less than $200. Okay, MySpace is not using $200 data-sticks – but the technology is the same.

Why has MySpace switched to solid state? They have a need-for-speed. Rather than bulking up on RAM caches for their databases, why not just have faster solid state storage? The RAM can only really speed up queries – database updates still need to be “written through” to non-volatile storage – and at some point, a larger cache means slower, not faster performance. Does it make sense to have 16Gb of RAM for a 4Gb database?

How much faster could Accpac be in a flash drive configuration? It could be a lot – as well as hardware transfer speed and latency, there is another line of reasoning based on relational database optimization strategies. Times are changing and it’s always fun to watch”

Source: Thomson, Don. “Faster Accpac Performance.” donthomson.wordpress.com October 20, 2009.

Repetitive patterns in sales and after-market response can be a great focal point when making crucial business decisions. Unfortunately, today’s ever changing business conditions prove that it is anything but repetitive. With business and economic leaders competing for a bigger share of the market, it is vital that you gain the upper hand by making more informed choices with the use of a reliable business analytical tool, such as Sage Accpac Insight.
When you talk about predicting sales patterns, it goes without saying that you also have to look at past performances. Analyzing key points in market behavior allows business owners to formulate a strategy, thus improving their chances of getting a bigger slice of the pie, so to speak.
This is where your reporting and analytical tool comes in. The ability to review and analyze metrics gives your business that much needed edge.
As such a tool, Sage Accpac Insight, for example, allows you to do just that. You can gather critical sales and operational data, customer and vendor information, product and marketing performances, and integrate them into any variable number of flexible reports that can be easily distributed all throughout your business organization. These operational reports are vital in making well-informed business decisions.
In today’s extremely competitive market, the ability to analyze and distribute sales and operational data quickly and effectively the way Sage Accpac Insight can is a definite plus. From capital investments to return of investments and even up to after-market evaluation, fast and efficient reporting through business intelligence solutions like Sage Accpac Insight can really make all the difference.
In addition, Sage offers business owners the ability to incorporate and streamline Sage Accpac Insight with Sage Accpac or any other related accounting software conveniently and effectively. This allows business owners to make financial reports and perform accurate budget analysis, which is of equal importance as managing their sales metrics comprehensively.
As the leading business moguls demand more insightful information about the competition and market patterns, the need for business intelligence software such as Sage Accpac Insight has become increasingly widespread. Knowledge through skilled information gathering and efficient reporting is the key to achieving a considerably huge advantage in today’s ever changing business and economic conditions.

With many companies putting off their much needed IT upgrades over the last few years due to the recession, it’s no surprise that a recent poll showed a large percentage of CFO’s looking to spend their recovery money in that area. A poll by Robert Half Management Resources surveyed 1,400 CFO’s and 40% of them said they were likely to invest in IT once the economy stabilizes.

An interesting note is that while putting off investing in IT may seem like a good idea up front, many can save money and improve several operational processes – putting them at a greater advantage in this economy. Paul McDonald, Executive Director of Robert Half Management stated, “While finance executives may remain cautious about making bold new expenditures, updating their IT systems can help improve risk management, increase operational efficiencies and regulatory compliance.” Ultimately, the big picture should be considered when looking at current and future business investments.

For more, click here.

SystemLink has drawn the map you need to help you ensure your year-end processes arrive at their destination. Below is your Year-End Sage Accpac Road Map. We encourage you to read through this and contact us if you need any assistance along the way.

• Back up your data!
• Update your date. Before processing transactions in 2010, be sure to create a new fiscal calendar in Common Services.
• Double-check your settings (to avoid deleting your history). Before closing your fiscal year in the General Ledger, check your settings for the number of years of fiscal sets and transactions that will be saved. Any fiscal sets and transactions that are older than the number of years noted will be deleted. You can find this setting in your General Ledger Setup Options.
• Import your budget. You can import your budget into the Sage Accpac General Ledger using an Excel Spreadsheet. Save hours of tedious data entry by using this feature in Sage ACCPAC.
• Prepare your 1099. Print your 1099′s right out of the Sage Accpac Accounts Payable. Use this time saving feature even if your 1099 amounts aren’t correct as you can easily correct the values prior to printing.
• Update Your Payroll Tax Tables. If you subscribe to the Payroll Update Plan, you can download the current payroll tax tables for 2010 by visiting www.sageaccpac.com.
• Activate the latest Tax Tables. Be sure to go to Administrative Services and activate your tax table after you downloaded and install the latest tax tables!

Budgeting for 2010? As you may have read earlier in this newsletter, the new version of Sage Accpac ERP v.5.6 was released this month. It’s chalked full of enhancements that will be extremely beneficial for your company in the coming year. Additionally, if you need any help with your planing, or would like our assistance in regards to your backup database, creating a new fiscal calendar, closing out your fiscal year, or any other year end processes – give us a call. We’d be happy to help!

As an Executive Consultant with SystemLink, Lisa Curl is the global go-to guru who gets the job done.  She’s got the perfect combination of accounting, technical and cultural experience to make her a valuable asset for any of SystemLink’s international projects.  Her specialties are Distribution, Inventory, Business Intelligence, Multi-currency, and Consolidations.

Lisa started her career in public accounting.  She did a lot of data entry and eventually moved on to tax work.  She took the lead role when her company implemented a new tax software solution.  With this project, she got the implementation bug.  From there, she divided her time between roles as staff accountant, management consultant and network administrator.  She was developing a suite of skills that would be very useful as she launched her own Sage Accpac consulting business.

Lisa took her skills on the road and found that the combination of accounting and technical expertise was unique internationally.  Customers could hire only one employee instead of two.  Traveling 90% of the time, Lisa found herself overseas for months on end.  This experience helped build her resume as an experienced international consultant.  Today, Lisa is responsible for many of the international projects SystemLink manages.  “Her experience is invaluable to many of our customers,” says Dave Beck, SystemLink Owner.  She’s direct, honest and she adds a lot of value to SystemLink.”

When she’s not rounding the globe, Lisa is a very active mother of one. “Between competitive swimming, ballet and horseback riding, I feel like I should add Taxi driver to the list of my skills,” says Lisa.  “She’s only ten, but she’s already keeping me on my toes.” Lisa also enjoys running, and recently finished the Baltimore Half Marathon in October of 2009.

With good economic news starting to find its way around the Internet, it’s no surprise that a recent article posted on ComputerWorld.com suggested that, “The ideal time for recovery planning is during the August-December period, when the 2010 budget is being planned and new IT projects could be incorporated into it. Now is the time for companies to determine how existing, stalled or new IT projects will be prioritized, sequenced, funded and staffed when business growth returns.”  Additionally, many companies who upgraded or installed new systems in 1999 as a result of Y2K and have held off on upgrades or new IT projects due to the recent economy, are now at a breaking point.

As a result, it is estimated that 2010 will see a huge increase in new IT projects.  If you are one of the companies planning for an upgrade or a totally new system, now is the time to involve SystemLink.  We can help you prioritize, provide budget numbers, and help determine what type of staffing will be needed for your upgrade or new installation. Also, because of the anticipated demand for our assistance over the next six to nine months, we strongly encourage you to contact us now, so we can plan our time to accommodate your schedule.

As the world of business is constantly evolving, so must your business management software. The team at Sage has been working directly with their extensive customer base to continually improve and develop new functionality, improve processes, and enhance productivity to help users get more out of their solution.

As a result, we are pleased to announce that Sage Accpac Version 5.6 has been released. The key enhancements will help to automate workflow and reduce costs throughout your organization, helping you accomplish more in less time. You can look forward to:

Improved Access to Information. With the innovative new Sage Accpac Intelligence module, you’ll have a whole new way of looking at information to help you make the best business decisions. You’ll also be able to access information more quickly with optimized reporting and enhancements.

Straight Forward and Automated Bank Reconciliation. Get an accurate view of your cash position with more straightforward and automated bank reconciliation processes. You’ll be able to quickly reverse both payments and receipts with the new Reverse form. And now, you can easily find the status of transactions that affect your bank accounts with the new Transaction History Inquiry form. Additionally, better audit trails can be maintained by utilizing the new Bank Entries Posting Journal and Bank Services, which now keeps a history of posted transactions so you can review bank transactions even after posting them.

Increase Productivity:

• Find important accounts receivable information efficiently with the better integrated AR Inquiry tool.
• Finish tasks more rapidly with the optimized payroll management and project costing.
• Save time when processing Accounts Payable Prepayments and while entering AR Receipts or AP Payment details.

Improved Inventory Traceability. Get detailed information quickly with improved performance in the Valuation Report and new functionality that passes the Inquiry selections directly to reports. You’ll also dramatically improve your inventory traceability and more efficiently manage Serialized Inventory and Lot Tracking with improved workflow, usability, and new functionality.

Access SageCRM data while traveling or off-line. Empower your staff while on the road with visibility into Sage Accpac information and the ability to access Sage  CRM while offline.  Then, synchronize SageCRM data that was entered while out. Additionally, you’ll have faster access to Sage Accpac information through SageCRM with many new additions.

All of these are great reasons to make the move to version 5.6. Contact us for more details or to schedule your upgrade.