December 2, 2006 Workshop
We held a Workshop on Saturday, December 2nd 2006
at the BScaler headquarters to show ERM to potential users. It was a joint project between BScaler and
Sun Group. We expected maybe 25-30
people but prepared for more, which was a good thing. We were jammed! We had guests staying at the nearby Sheraton,
and some came from other parts of the S.F.Bay Area.
Some customers came to BScaler’s northern California headquarters to share their
success with ERM. One story is
interesting: A company signed the
agreement and wanted to know when they could start using their ERM. We said we would arrange training sessions
very soon, but they said they studied the Demo CD and just want to get started. So, we initialized their ERM, had a few phone
conversations with them, and that was it.
They’ve been using it for over a year with nary a hiccup.
The attendees liked our product story and the way we
presented it. Most of them were business
types and not technically literate, so we worked on keeping things aimed at SMB
decision-makers. Many of them commented
on that, appreciating the minimal geek-speak.
Sun Group played an important part. They sponsored the
workshop, and also gave us a hand in signing in visitors and other
logistics. They really know what they
are doing! The whole event was more fun
because of their enthusiasm and many contributions. We are happy to be partnering with them.
So what did we show?
Basically, it was much of the material that you can read here on the
website. We emphasized the challenges
that SMBs--small to mid-size businesses--face, and how BScaler eliminates all
of them. Sun Group video recorded the
event, so perhaps we will make it available.
We’ve already started planning another workshop early next
year. As soon as we have a firm date, we
will post it on the home page, along with information on signing up. Try not to miss it!
Now Available: FAO Service
BScaler offers yet another
comfort level for SMB: Finance and Accounting
Outsourcing. In other words, we'll do your books. Why
should you take this away from your current Accounting specialist?
- We use ERM to keep your
accounts, just as we have long done our own.
- You use the rest of ERM to
manage and track everything.
- Benefit from the reduced costs
and errors that ERM assures.
- Your decision-maker has access
to current numbers from anywhere.
- View a Trial Balance Worksheet
and other Financials at any time to know where you stand
BEFORE the end of the period.
If this looks intriguing, give us
a call or email info@bscaler.com.
How We Started
A brief history of ERM™ to
bring you up to date: Fifteen years ago, we were a small
business needing software that big companies could spend millions
to buy and tens of thousands to maintain. We defined our
needs, which were modest at first: a database that held our
product line, including costs and list prices, plus Account and
Contact information for our sales reps, and the functionality to
generate Opportunities, Quotes and Sales Orders.
From the beginning, our solution
was browser-based. Before anyone invented the term “SaaS,”
ERM was serving its users wherever in the world they were.
The Spin-Off
The
Silicon Valley
economic meltdown in 2000-2001 enabled us to recruit outstanding
developers and testers that made all this possible. We spun
off BScaler Inc. to continue the innovation and to market the
system that we first created for ourselves.
The Unexpected
We added so much functionality
that, even today sometimes, ERM challenges belief. More than
one potential investor couldn't believe that we have what we say
and deliver what we do. They have a point, though, that the
SMB market is a little tough. Some of these companies
believe that they can afford only the little point solutions for
Contact Management, Quoting and Accounting. As they learn
what ERM delivers for such a modest cost, and how much their
productivity goes up, they get very interested.
SaaS+Plus™ Choices
We always ran ERM over the
Internet for use from a Browser. We owned, backed up and
maintained the various servers and disk arrays that did our
work. When we turned ERM into a product, we decided to give
choices to our clients:
- Subscribe on a per-user basis
- Own and host the ERM
Appliance™
- Own it and we'll host it
Many SaaS players cram as many
clients onto one big server as possible, and they can't offer the
option of clients owning a SaaS server themselves.
For choices as well as the most
complete, already-integrated business solution, BScaler is the
only option. It's a good thing for you, we know how to run
business!
Other Improvements
The biggest single leap in design
was when we added the Accounting functions AR and AP
plus Procurement. We were proud of this achievement
but customers insisted that we do more for them by including a
full General Ledger implementation. Now, you can
convert a quote into a sales order, then use the order information
to make Purchase Orders for suppliers. When you
receive those shipments, you mark the POs for receipt and make
ready to Invoice your customer for the items in the
specific SO. ERM records all of these comings and goings
into the appropriate GL accounts, keeping balance and making
things ready for your CPA.
If you have more than one Bank
Account, our G/L will handle it. User ERM to do bank
statement reconciliation, too.
Now we also have Warehouse
Management and PO To Vendor Tracking. This is
great news for importers and distributors.
If you are a manufacturer, you
will want to create assembly parts lists (aka BOMs)
and be able to track parts availability by Inventory quantities
and lead times. So we have those. YES! We
have all of this now, so you don't need a "partner" to
cobble something together at your expense.
We help you track Fixed Assets,
and we provide Portals for Customers and Partners, and My
Sales Desk for Contact and Opportunity management, and My Service Desk for service issue logging
and tracking.
The ERM Executive Dashboard
gives the decision-maker easy, real time access to the numbers and
reports that enable informed direction of the enterprise.
Now they call this Business Activity Monitoring, or BAM. We
call it powerful.
Attention Importers and
Distributors
Importers like how ERM will let
them track product orders from the vendor's factory to their
destination, with all stages in between. For example, an
order of 50 thousand widgets may have five thousand in the
warehouse, five thousand arriving by air, ten thousand in port
awaiting Customs approval, ten thousand on a container ship and
ten thousand under manufacture. ERM makes this information
available to the appropriate users anywhere they are at any time.
ERM users define the stages that
their items may be in, and can add to that list at any time.
They can give their vendors login IDs to update their order
stages, yet that type of user will not have access to confidential
information that they shouldn't see.
ERM handles multiple warehouses
and multiple receivers. You can find an item in stock down
to its bin number.
If you Drop Ship directly from
vendor to customer, ERM makes that simple with just a few clicks.
ERM keeps all order quantities,
costs and selling prices in its history database, making easy
retrieval for Anti-Dumping Audit. A few clicks make
this information available for viewing and printing. No
import worries!
Sarbanes and Oxley,
"SOX"
As your people use ERM, it
records most (if not all) of the information that a company will
need when it goes (or IS) public. You can have ERM send a
copy of every email to an address for your 5-year archive.
This is a Sarbanes requirement. Your full compliance of the
Sarbanes-Oxley Act is a BScaler goal.
So What Else is New?
We deployed another big
improvement of ERM, this time with the Financial heavyweights,
Balance Sheet and Income Statements, and the Cash Flow Worksheet
and Statement. These are possible because ERM records all of
your G/L Account activities and the other minutia that only the
really big systems have done before now. Just click and it's
done.
Remember: We don’t
promise that you can “easily integrate” things with a
spreadsheet connector or paid consultant. We deliver the
functionality on day One. Your people just log in and use
it! Well, of course we fully train them first.
Our Release Strategy
We won’t give away the specific
things that are in our pipeline, but you can be sure that they
meet the needs and wants of SMBs. We endeavor to add, test
and deploy new features and improvements in 90-day cycles.
We won’t always meet this goal, because of tough quality
assurance demands and unanticipated events. Just know that
every customer has our ears and minds. If you need something
for your business, let us know and we probably can make it
happen. You always have a say in what comes next.
Your Security
We won’t give details here, but
we have many ways of protecting your data. We use SSL for your
interconnection with the ERM Server, and we block all other access
to it.
Every user ID has a defined role
with specific responsibilities and privileges. Whatever job
you do in your company, ERM empowers you to do it better while
preventing you from getting into trouble. ERM records every
step with the ID of the user who made it happen. This
eliminates finger-pointing while assuring that proper credit goes
to whomever earns it.
Your data is always yours. Our focus is ERM, and our
only interest in your business is making it go faster, smoother
and more fun, reducing administrative errors and IT costs, while
following standard business practices.
Watch This Space
We continually add to this
area, so keep its URL handy, and give us a call or send
email! We want to know what’s on your mind. Use info@bscaler.com.
