Sage 300 Cloud, the gold standard

No one can talk about software that has stood the test of time without mentioning Sage 300 Cloud ERP. It is a veteran in the ERP sector and has been around for a whopping 43 years, a true gold standard. The ERP came on board in 1973, the same time when Apple was formed. It existed many years before other ERP’s came into the market, and most ERP vendors used Sage 300 ERP as a blueprint to formulate their systems.

It started with a system called EasyBusiness, but over the years it has evolved. It was a software in the form of an Office suite but with accounting modules covering account receivables, accounts payable, General ledger (G/L), and order entry. It also had a word processor and spreadsheet application in it. EasyBusiness was a Canadian firm that ran its business solution on the then-dominant CP/M operating system. In 1983 the organization developed an MS-DOS port for the application, just two years after IBM unleashed its PC.

Around 1985 the application was acquired by a US firm, and it was rebranded to Accpac Plus. The rebranded system incorporated other modules such as inventory control, job costing modules, and payroll. Data security and integrity were also improved alongside the addition of LAN connectivity. The ERP was dynamic as far back and allowed users to multitask and also implement only the modules they needed. That’s not all; the ERP also had extensive reporting capabilities with the implementation of Crystal services, now known as crystal reports.

In 2004 Sage Software plc bought Accpac and renamed the software to Sage 300. The application was rebranded and ensured it better reflected the brand guidelines of Sage. Gradually Sage moved the ERP to the cloud and drastically overhauled most components of the system such as Dashboards, online availability, private hosting setup, and so much more.

Advantages of Sage 300 cloud ERP for Organizations

The business landscape has greatly evolved in the last decade, and a lot of disruption would come in to play in the coming years. In order to remain competitive in the fast-paced business world, it is necessary to deploy dynamic and robust solutions like Sage 300 ERP Cloud. Profitability is also a major goal for businesses, and with Sage 300 cloud, organizations around the world can greatly reduce cost with improved efficiency.

Sage 300 Cloud is robust and designed to support a range of industrial sectors in so many functions. No matter the size of your business or what you do, the ERP can keep your day to day cost very low while enforcing compliance and quality. The cloud system is specially designed for financial operations, Customer service department, sales and operation, Manufacturing, and Retail. It also has a business intelligence module responsible for analytics, forecast, and insight into your business activities. Furthermore, Sage 300 is a powerful Cloud solution that can integrate with other solutions you already have to create a better communication channel and improve efficiency. When you deploy the Sage 300 Cloud, you achieve the following.

Work on the go
Access operational data anytime and anywhere.
Ensure teamwork and collaboration
Enhance productivity
Visual process flows and key performance indicators
Simplify financial operations
Reduce running cost

Functionalities of Sage 300 Cloud

Sage 300 Cloud offers an incredible technology for organizations around the world, ensuring that businesses become more intelligent and profitable. Sage 300 Cloud uses advanced technology to help businesses innovate, grow, and optimize resources and time no matter the size or industrial sector of the organization. It uses predictive analytics to deliver business intelligence and ensures that all activities are managed on the cloud, making digital transformation a reality. Here are the core functionalities of the Sage 300 Cloud

Financial management and accounts
Distribution management
Operations management
Project management
Service management
Payroll management
Global operations / multi-company management
Customer Relation Management
Human Resource management
Reporting and Business intelligence management

Modules in Sage 300 Cloud

Sage 300 cloud is a multinational, multi-discipline, and comprehensive cloud Enterprise resource planning solution. It has a several modules to support various organizational needs. The modules are expandable, flexible, scalable, and built on a robust architecture that ensures businesses achieve dynamism. Organizations can buy individual modules to serve their business needs. It has all the features and functionalities you would expect from a typical world-class ERP solution. It also has an elaborate dashboard that can give a breakdown of activities simply and intuitively. The dashboard also has a business intelligence system that can provide business leaders to forecast/insight and also provides a Key Performance Index system (KPI). Here are the major modules in the Sage 300 Cloud

Accounting and Finance

The ERP started as accounting software, and today it still holds its position as a dominant account application in the ERP sector. This module ensures that a lot of companies have excelled and properly managed their financial activities. Sage 300 Cloud accounting module ensures that companies operate and perform more than their competitors. The Accounts module has the following features

Account Receivables – Account receivables allow businesses to manage their customers, keep track of sales, outstanding balances, will enable you to apply for outstanding balances, create recurring charges etc.
Account Payable – The account payable functions give you the power and flexibility to facilitate swift entry of vendor invoices. It also comes with powerful and robust reporting tools through Crystal Reports. It ensures flexible cash disbursement, reconciliation, cash process flow etc.
General Ledger – This function is the foundation of the account module in Sage 300 cloud ERP. It ensures organizations meet present and future accounting demands in a unique way. It captures all types of ledger, manages budgets, and it ensures account accuracy and efficiency.
G/L Consolidations – This accounting feature allows you to merge general ledger account and transfers. It manages transactional information between separate companies, branches, office locations, and it is developed to allow subsidiaries to manage their own accounts database.

Manufacturing Module

The manufacturing module is Sage 300 Cloud is a unique resource planning system designed to be simple, effective, and aids manufacturing firms in their day to day operational processes. The manufacturing module has a lot of features and functionalities and ensures that products are manufactured in good quality, timely, and cost-effective manner. Here are the features of the manufacturing module in Sage 300 Cloud ERP

Manufacturing Lot – The manufacturing lot seamlessly integrates manufacturing order, Lot Tracking, Lot serial tracking, and inventory controls. It ensures that end-users workload is drastically minimized, it ensures that warehousing is managed correctly, check stock balances, updates records and comes with a robust reporting function.
Manufacturing Order – This is a manufacturing functionality that integrates with the finance and sales module. It is simple, powerful, and enables an efficient/dynamic manufacturing process. It manages the material purchase, cost calculation, work in progress, material consumption, and so much more.
Product Planning – The product planning system comes with a vast product simulation model that can help manufacturing firms simulate how the products would function before production. This can reduce error, cost in production, and ensures products meet end-users needs. It is also integrated with the account module to share transactional information, and it manages engineering change orders (ECO) and the Bill of Materials (BOM).

Sales Module

The sales module in SAGE 300 Cloud is robust and covers, Customer Relations management, and sales. It allows businesses to automate their processes with best practices and quality assurance plans. It consolidates inventory, manages distribution process, and coordinate every activated related to sales. Here are the major features of the sales module in Sage 300 ERP Cloud

Order Entry – It allows you to capture orders and gives you access to your orders whenever you need it in real-time. The system is hosted on the cloud and would enable you to provide answers and feedback to your customers, managers, and stakeholders on the go. With this functionality, productivity would be enhanced; the sales unit can easily enter new orders, back-orders, purchase order shipments and so much more.
CRM – the customer relationship management of SAGE 300 cloud is one of its kinds, and it helps you manage your customers in remarkable fashion. You can build a sales funnel through it, capture leads, better lead management, synchronize sales, provides rapid marketing functionalities and builds customer satisfaction.

Retail

Retail business can be cumbersome without the use of an ERP. The retail management module in Sage 300 Cloud is fully designed to handle the retail functions of organizations; it comes with a Point of sale feature and offers tremendous result for organizations. With this module customers reap the benefit of the solution and reports improves sales, higher customer retention levels, less customer churn. Here are the major features of the retail module

Generation of sales orders
Quote creation
Version control
Integrated with customer loyalty programs
Payment management
Backorder management
Audit system
LOT tracking
Communication management

Sage 300 Purchase Order Module

Sage 300 Cloud ERP can help organizations streamline their purchasing operations without hassle. It provides insightful information for organizations to enable them to make an informed decision, which would improve profitability and also help maintain a better relationship with the organization’s clients and partners. With the purchase order, the module cost would be cut drastically, and processes would be more efficient.

Without an automated purchase order module, an organization would manually track purchase processes. This means they would re-enter data into an account payable. They would also track purchase orders on papers and so much more. These manual activities are prone to costly errors, which would also slow down the processes. Giving feedback to customers when they ask for status updates can also be a daunting task. SAGE 300 ERP is the solution to these problems and many more. It gives organizations the power and flexibility to smoothly run the purchase process of the company. It gives access to up to date inventory; it helps in tracking, automatic consolidation with the accounts module, and so much more. When you deploy SAGE 300 ERP, you can rest assured of improved productivity and better profitability.

Sage 300 Inventory Control

This Module is a must for organizations that have an inventory but especially for those with multiple locations and a vast inventory base. Sage 300 inventory control module offers a robust multi-location inventory management system for organizations around the world. It keeps track of inventory receipts, inventory or stock levels, shipments, adjustments, returns, etc. These functions allow organizations to have enough stock and also ensures that client demands are met.

The manual system of inventory control is hugely time-consuming, and you would spend an enormous amount of time trying to handle it. Effective inventory control systems in an organization require detailed knowledge of when to order for goods, the items to order, and where to stock up the order. Detailed information on the items is also mandatory for an efficient inventory system. You should know that errors are inevitable, and would require more funds and time for manual inventory management.

The solution to manual inventory management is Sage 300 ERP. It makes it very easy for organizations to monitor inventory levels and also allows for the accessibility of information. It also enables organizations to analyze inventory history, plan efficiently, helps boost profitability, and serve their customers more efficiently.

Project and Job Costing Module

Sage 300 Cloud ERP is a breakthrough technology and has dynamically assisted various organizations in Projects and Job costing functionalities. With the deployment of SAGE 300 organization do not need to deploy a separate project management application because it allows for an in-depth project and job cost management. It ensures the simplification of –projects, costing, cost control, planning, estimation, tracking, billing. This would enable organizations to deliver projects on time, on budget, and with the right quality.

Without an efficient project and Job costing management modules, project managers would face a daunting task in trying to handle the cost, milestone, and general management. Efficient project management requires high-level collaboration and communication between everyone involved in the projects. This includes remote team members, project owners, suppliers, management, and other third-party vendors. It also requires tracking, material resource planning, and so much more. Without a project and job costing management solution, you would have to manage projects using spreadsheets and other word processing applications. This would not allow your team to communicate efficiently, and reporting would be difficult. Project deadlines would not be met, the organization would incur more cost in the execution of the project, and the team cannot communicate efficiently. Sage 300 breaks down complex projects into smaller and simpler units and eliminates project ambiguity. It ensures that job costing is easier for organizations and projects are delivered with the right quality and efficiency.

Sage 300 Cloud Compared with Focus ERP

Looking for the right ERP solution for your business can be a daunting task, and in most cases, organizations get it 60% wrong. Focus ERP has been an IT solution provider for 20 years, and the organization is backed by advanced industry experts. Focus understands how businesses operate, and they developed their world-class Focus ERP solution to cater to the needs of businesses all around the world. Focus ERP optimizes business process, reengineers procedures, and optimizes resource, planning, and so much more. Focus ERP has helped over 30 000 clients around the world to increase productivity and efficiency.

SAGE in its own right is an industry leader and a global provider of software solutions. SAGE 300 Cloud can be deployed by a wide range of industrial sections, and it gives customers the freedom to succeed. No matter what your business needs may be or your marketing goals SAGE 300 Cloud ERP can seamlessly help you to achieve your goals. SAGE 300 cloud has stood the test of time with over 40 years of existence, and it surely counts. Focus ERP has existed for 20 years; therefore, in terms of history, SAGE 300 clouds clearly outshines Focus ERP. When it comes to the client base, SAGE 300 stands heads and shoulders above Focus ERP. While Focus ERP boast of 30, 000 clients SAGE 300 Cloud has over 6 million customers all over the world.

Features and Functionality comparison – As with any ERP, it is important to evaluate the modules and functionality properly before deployment. SAGE 300 cloud has a range of tools and processes to support the needs of every business. Its functions include CRM, sales, retail, Manufacturing, Accounting, Inventory management, HRM, Business intelligent, advanced reports, and so much more. Focus ERP strongest domains include Basic report functionalities, Online customer Support, Data Import/export, sales, financial etc.

SAGE 300 Cloud vs Microsoft Navision

Microsoft Corporation has a pedigree in IT systems. Therefore, its software solutions are always top-notch. Could there be a solution that challenges the dominance of Microsoft Navision as a financial package? This comparison would enable you to evaluate and compare the features and functionalities offered by both ERP.

Microsoft Navision is a dominant financial application with 10 sub-modules in accounts and finance. It’s out of the box operation has ensured lots of organizations around the world have archived flexibility and productivity in the accounts sector. However, it is important to note that the SAGE 300 cloud is a multipurpose ERP, while Microsoft Navision is primarily designed to manage accounts and finance. Therefore, this comparison would focus basically on the functions and features of the Accounts and financial module. If you have an organization that wants to deploy an all in one ERP solution to manage your entire processes ranging from Accounts, sales, CRM, Logistics, manufacturing, retail and so much more then SAGE 300 cloud is a clear choice.

However, both applications support functions for the following account features.

General Ledger
Account payable
Fixed asset
Cost Accounting
Cash Management
Budgeting
Account receivable
Financial Reporting
Project Accounting

SAGE 300 Cloud Vs SAP B1

SAGE 300 Cloud seems to be as old as time when compared with other ERP’s. Despite the global reach of SAP B1 and its appeal, it was developed in 1996 while SAGE 300 has existed for 40 plus years now. SAGE 300 cloud is suitable for most industrial application, and it helps organizations maintain concise information while breaking down task complexity for efficiency. SAP B1 is great in handling unique business needs. The product is scalable enough to allow companies to scale down resources, scale-up, construct, and deconstruct to meet customers’ and operational needs. It stores data in a central location ensures data integrity and a single source of data truth.

SAGE 300 clouds can be used by small, medium, large and enterprise organizations while SAP B1 is primarily meant for enterprise organizations. This is a huge feather in the cap of SAGE 300 cloud because it serves the needs of more businesses. SAP B1 cannot be effectively utilized by small or medium scale organizations that have a simple structure, and small or no inventory.

Both products offer the following

Customization capabilities
Cloud deployment
Extensive security features
Reports and analytics
Accounts and finance system
Inventory management
Order management
Sales management
Project Controls
Manufacturing
Supply chain management etc.

Final Notes

Sage 300 cloud is a cutting-edge technological solution that has been around and solving the problems of organizations for donkey years. For many years, the application has streamlined organizational processes and definitely formed a blueprint for most other ERP’s today. SAGE 300 Cloud is Dynamic and offers organizations simple yet effective ways of gradually migrating their operations to the cloud. Sage 300 cloud is your go-to system. If you are looking for more effectiveness and also to improve efficiency in distribution, Accounting, manufacturing or retail, it can effectively manage your organization finances, take away complexity and can be deployed across various locations with its inbuilt multi-currency system.

Sage 300 cloud is competitive and affordable, and it ensures that you achieve a rapid return on investment. One of the reasons for its adoption is its user-friendly features. Screens and controls can be customized to the way you understand and like.

Wouldn’t you rather deploy the tried and tested cloud ERP for improving business productivity, and remain one step ahead of the competition?

Sage 300 Cloud leads to Sage X3, a top of the line ERP for businesses with large operations spread over a wide area.

May 18, 2020October 4, 2021

SAGE X3 ERP, an Overview

SAGE X3 is an enterprise resource planning software that comes with a range of extensive and customizable modules that can accelerate business growth. It was originally founded in France by a company called SPEMI. The company develops software systems for sales, procurement, payroll, accounting, and other proprietary applications. Initially, the organization used open source systems but would later migrate to UNIX, which was the most promising OS at that time.

In around 1985, SPEMI started developing applications that ran on Windows as well as UNIX. In 1990 the organization built an ERP system on a platform called Adonix Enterprise. The ERP would cover distribution, payroll, and accounting. SPEMI was later renamed to ADONIX, and the organization became international in 1997. However, Adonix ERP did not have a manufacturing module. So they decided to acquire another software company named PRODSTAR, which had an ERP with a manufacturing module in it. They integrated the PRODSTAR manufacturing module into its existing software to produce the next generation ERP system known as Adonix3. The ERP was very powerful, robust, and offered 3 times more benefits, and this was the origin of X3 from the last 2 letters of Adonix3.

However, in 2005 SAGE purchased Adonix and renamed the ERP to SAGE X3. It has become a leader in ERP systems today.

Evolution of SAGE X3

In the last decade, ERP has proven to be the most important technological breakthrough for industries around the world. Lots of organizations can scale productivity with the deployment of SAGE X3. X3 has evolved to become a behemoth and one of the leading enterprise resource solutions that have dramatically disrupted how organizations operate. There are lots of ERP’s around today, but very few can match the power of SAGE X3, and most organizations looking for innovation and growth opts for the solution. Whether your business is small, large, or an enterprise SAGE X3 is a suite of customizable solution that can be easily integrated into your business to help manage and streamline processes.

It offers organizations uniformity and a single source of data truth. Also, it ensures that tasks are not repeated, information is not duplicated, and activities are smoothly carried out. The ERP comes with a unique and intuitive user interface, robust modules, extensive report capabilities that can help drive businesses to the next level. If you are looking for a solution that can help you keep control of your business through efficiency and productivity, SAGE X3 is the answer. With SAGE X3, you can easily manage your business in various geographical locations and view activities in real-time.

Advantages of SAGE X3 ERP

It evolves and Adapts with Your Business operations– Adaptability and evolution are one of the hallmarks of SAGE X3. The Sage X3 ERP is very flexible and can quickly adapt to the ever-changing business dynamics. It is robust and designed to support present and future business requirements. No matter what your future needs may be, SAGE X3 is scalable enough to handle it. Furthermore, it comes with advanced architecture, and you can easily customize and configure as much as you want.

Tremendous Value for money Right Out of the Box – SAGE X3 offers the best value for money in the ERP industry, and it stands head and shoulders above every other ERP out there. It comes with a range of standard features and functionalities that ensures that cost is drastically reduced while improving efficiency for organizations. When you deploy SAGE X3, your organization would require fewer funds to run its operations, and your organization’s bottom line would be positively impacted.

It’s Ready for Global Business – It doesn’t matter where your business is located, SAGE X3 can be deployed in any part of the world. It comes with the multi-currency system, configuration, and policy management for more than 100 countries around the world. Additionally, it is multinational and comes in various languages, legislations, and support for a range of countries.

Powerful, Yet Simple – Sage X3 is powerful, robust, simple, intuitive, and can serve mid-sized, large, and enterprise organizations. There are lots of complicated and expensive ERP’s out there. However, SAGE X3 offers a powerful, robust, and simple interface without compromising quality.

Cutting Edge Technology

If you are looking for an ERP that would not get obsolete, SAGE X3 is the answer and the future. It is designed with state of the art technology and can seamlessly integrate with other 3rd party technologies. It gives you the power and the flexibility to use it the way you want.

Key features of Sage X3 and its basic modules.

Sage X3 comes with extensive and robust modules that can unify the enterprise’s information and business processes within one single database and software application. Lately, Sage X3 has become a huge asset to many organizations around the world. It ensures that businesses run smoother and protects your information/business process. Also, it automates and streamlines processes, ensures a smoother production, and offers a whole lot of other advantages. With its elaborate module, SAGE x3 ensures that businesses can run more efficiently with reduced cost. Here are the major Modules of SAGE x3

SALES MODULE

The sales module is a core module of SAGE X3, and it is responsible for automating and supporting the sales unit of every organization. The sales module is robust and comes with other major sub-modules such as Purchasing, CRM, Inventory, and also segments for Quality control/warehousing. You can easily manage your customer/clients, backorders, raise purchase orders, sales orders, and a range of other functions with the sales module.

Here are the main features of the sales module in SAGE x3

Contract systems
Order capture
RFQ entry
Pricing systems
Product and service configuration
Quotation templates
Sales Commissions
Packing Units
Tracking and reports
Invoicing
Multi-currency management
Quotation
Shipping and delivery planning
Date management
Inventory controls

Procurement / Purchasing module

The procurement module of SAGE X3 is a part of the distribution application that supports functions such as CRM, sales, inventory control, quality control, purchasing, tracking, packaging, and data management. This module is a must for any organization with a sales department or supply chain organization.

Here are the major features of the procurement module

Budgeting and planning
Purchase orders
Back-orders
Inquiries
Material management and requirement
Request for quotation (RFQ)
Signature control
Outsourcing and contracts

Manufacturing module

This is an indispensable module for manufacturing organizations. It manages every activity related to manufacturing, such as scheduling, planning, production, discrete manufacturing, configuration, and so much more. The manufacturing module is a fully integrated system and can function as a standalone module. This is because it incorporates features of other modules such as purchasing, inventory control, finance, CRM, sales, etc.

Here are the most important features of the manufacturing module

Bill of materials (BOM)
Engineering change order (ECO)
Data configuration
Discrete manufacturing
Versioning
Work scheduling and management
Planning
Quality assurance and quality control
MRP/MPS
Cost calculation
Change control

Inventory Module

Inventory control is an accounting tool and a part of the distribution software responsible for the organization of inventory and other functions. Most organizations have a large inventory, and without the use of an application, management would be very difficult and expensive. SAGE X3 inventory Module helps organizations keep track of the production process, prevents theft, and ensures that the manufacturing or sales process do not run short of inputs. The inventory module of SAGE X3 supports other functions such as CRM, Purchasing, sales, data management, quality control, tracking, and so much more.

Here are the main features of SAGE X3 inventory module

Inventory control
Data acquisition
Quality control
Transactions and movement
Cost calculation
Price Tracing
Site management and warehousing

Customer Relations management Module

The CRM module is used to interface with the organization’s clients and customers. However, it is fully integrated with the purchasing, sales, manufacturing, and finance modules. With its elaborate features, organizations would be able to manage their customers through a unified database. It enables the marketing team to function better, and it can be used for lead capturing, sales funnels, follow-ups, reminders, automated emails, calls, and so much more.

Here are the major features of the CRM module of SAGE X3

Sales automation
Lead generation and follow up
Clients / prospective clients contact management
Customer support
Reminders
Call centers
Marketing campaigns
Service order
Sales funnel
Knowledge-base

Finance Module

SAGE X3 is an all in one ERP, and it provides a robust financial module that can be used for accounting functions, budgeting, cost management, payroll, fixed asset management, and so much more. The finance module is robust, comes with a multi-currency system, integrates multiple legislations, and can be used no matter the geographical location of the organization. It has a multi-audit system that is used to subsidize between the parent organization and its subsidiaries.

Here are the major features of SAGE X3 Finance Module

Payroll management
Account receivables
Financial accounting
Cost accounting
Invoicing
Fixed asset management
Expense management
Inter-company accounting
Transactions and payments
Consolidation

Supply Chain management

The supply chain management module of SAGE X3 can enable businesses to manage their entire supply chain system from inquiry to order and order to remittance. This means it can manage processes from the RFQ stage, input and follow up until the item is delivered, and invoiced.

Here are the key features of the supply chain management module

Supplier management
Category management
Order and request management
Purchase planning
Purchase orders
Backorders
Budgeting
Signature management
Invoice entry and returns

Project management module

SAGE X3 simplifies project management for organizations in a unique way, and this module has become the backbone of many organizations lately. SAGE X3 does so much more than automating an organization’s daily routine. It helps in managing the individual process and breaks down a complex task into smaller units, thereby ensuring high-quality results, lower cost, and better quality projects.

Here are the major features of SAGE X3 project management

Project templates
Project management structure
Definition of operations
Invoice generation
Project review and status
Internal and external view
Cost management
Milestone management
Purchase and distribution management

Sage X3 Business cloud’s across various industries and key differences from other products.

SAGE ERP has been adopted into various industrial sectors as a result of the multitude of benefits it offers. Whether you are in the finance sector, health institution, Nonprofit, government, and lots more, SAGE X3 can perfectly fit in. If you are looking for an integrated system to help streamline processes, reduce cost, improve efficiency, ensure compliance, SAGE X3 can give you more than you asked for. Here are some of the industries that have adopted SAGE X3.

Manufacturing and Distribution: Manufacturing firms are one of the earliest adopters of SAGE X3.The ERP can ensure that manufacturing firms operate smoother, keep their running costs low, inventory in check, and ensures a better competitive edge. The manufacturing process is constantly changing, customers demand is changing, and SAGE X3 is also evolving constantly to meet up.

Construction: Cost control, deadlines, BOM, ECO, inventory, and so many more are critical components of the construction firm. SAGE X3 is a solid ERP system that has been helping construction industries handle these aspects flawlessly. It ensures that inventory control is perfectly managed, thereby allowing supervisors to focus on high-level jobs.

Supply Chain management – SAGE X3 can help supply chain management firms to achieve dynamism and efficiency. With its robust modules, it ensures that the entire supply chain system of an organization is managed flawlessly. Form Enquiry to order and order to remittance, the entire process can be managed from start to finish. SAGE X3 also ensures a central source of data truth and eliminates duplicates information and rework.

Healthcare: The health care sector is a unique one and needs an ERP system that can help manage regulations, cost, personnel, inventory, and so much more. SAGE X3 has been assisting hospitals, care homes, Pharmaceuticals, Optometry, dentistry to manage their patient’s care, inventory, payroll, and the entire day to day processes and activities. These industries have been able to scale productivity with the use of SAGE X3.

Hospitality: SAGE X3 ensures that customers get the best service and also helps in the management of activities. It ensures that Hotels, Tourism sectors, game reserves, Travel, and lots more can run their processes like a tight ship without loss of revenue. It provides automated workflows that have proven to save time and money over and over again.

Professional services: SAGE X3 ensures optimal efficiency for organizations in the professional sector. It ensures that record keeping is easy and accurate, employee data capture and on-boarding are seamless, expenses and accounts are perfectly managed, and a range of other benefits. With Sage X3, you are sure to maximize profit as a professional organization, and services are delivered better and faster.

Other industrial sectors that have adopted Sage X3 include Logistics, retail, Defense, research institutes, Transportation, Telecommunications, and lots more.

How does SAGE X3 compare with other ERP’s Key Differences?

SAGE X3 has been gaining a lot of attention for many years, and many users agree that just two ERP systems can compare with it; they are SAP and Microsoft Dynamics. Before now, SAGE has never had a software solution that challenged its dominance because it stood head and shoulders above the rest. However, it can be said that SAP and Microsoft Dynamics have greatly closed the gap lately. But still, SAGE X3 promises more features, robustness with long-lasting benefits.

SAGE X3 VS SAP

For the past five years, SAGE X3 and SAP have been the most popular ERP solutions in the market, and the competition has been fierce. The end users are the benefactors of the competition as each ERP vendor has tried to outdo the other in terms of customer satisfaction, modules, functionalities, and pricing.

Similarities between Sage X3 and SAP

Cloud solution: Both ERP systems can be deployed on the cloud, and they have made technological leaps in this area. However, there are more cloud users of SAGE X3 than SAP. Both ERPs can seamlessly run on web servers such as Amazon AWS. SAGE X3 has a better cloud architecture with its multi-tenant cloud offerings, and it also has better browser support.

Financial Operation – Both solutions can be used for the management of the day to day financial operations of an organization. They manage payroll, accounting functions, ledger, and so much more. However, SAGE X3 is known to handle more advanced accounting and financial functions.

SAGE X3 and SAP have a global reach, brand recognition, rich history of delivering results, and fits businesses of all sizes. While SAGE can carry out most functions by itself, SAP relies on third-party applications for some industry-specific processes such as process manufacturing and distribution. Also, critical business aspects are done through customization or add-ons.

Verdict

It is safer to run your business with an all in one ERP like SAGE X3, and there is no reason to risk your business and your money with a patchwork through SAP. Like we mentioned earlier, SAP is an industry leader, but it relies on third-party applications for some industry-specific aspects, whereas SAGE is bundled in a whole package.

SAGE X3 VS Microsoft Dynamics

With a net income of $39.2 billion and a total asset of $286.55 billion, Microsoft Corporation has used its huge market share to strategically position its ERP. Microsoft Dynamics is at the top of the food chain in ERP systems and fiercely competing with SAGE X3 in terms of market share. The application was initially known as CRM software, but it has systematically added other modules and transformed itself into an ERP. But there are still flaws with the system, and despite its limitations as an ERP, Microsoft has used its organizational competitive advantages to promote Dynamics into a household name

The modules in Microsoft Dynamics include

CRM
Finance and Operations
Sales
Marketing
Project automation
Retail

With the solution, an organization can be able to unify data, get predictable insight, streamline the process, and achieve a good result. However, the modules in Microsoft dynamics are lightweight as compared with the Modules in SAGE X3. No single module except the CRM module can manage an organization’s core processes the way SAGE X3 does. SAGE X3 gives you far more versatility, customization, flexibility, and robustness. If you are thinking of deploying any of the ERP packages, it is very vital for you to understand the differences and opt for a solution that can meet your present and future requirements.

Both can be hosted on the cloud, which offers a multitude of benefits to users. However, Microsoft is very vast in scope; therefore, Dynamics is not a specialized application. SAGE X3 specializes in core business processes and support ERP operations better.

Final Notes

SAEG X3 is a leading global powerhouse in ERP systems and gives organizations the freedom to succeed. X3 can be used by small, medium, large, and enterprise organizations with great customizable features, cloud deployment, and on-premise architecture. SAGE understands that businesses are unique. Therefore the ERP comes with a range of modules and functionalities to help every organization scale productivity. The ERP is secure, has varying use, and is a pleasure to deploy no matter your organizational sector. SAGE X3 has more than 13,500 employees, and over 6 million customers spanning over 50 countries. The cost and subscription of the ERP are not designed to be a financial burden to organizations; it is designed to suit organizational budgets and guarantees a fast return on investment. Finally, it is important to note that before deploying an ERP, certain factors should be considered. It should support present and future processes, elaborate reports, workflows, and the most important features of CRM. SAGE X3 offers this and many more. Therefore, it should be the first option for any organization that wants to be productive and competitive.

As supercharged Sage X3 is, if you feel this is an over kill for your needs, you can have a look at the workhorse, Sage 300 Cloud.

March 26, 2020October 4, 2021

Securing your work (from home)

In the fight against Covid 19 raging around the globe we are all finding ourselves doing our bit. In most of our cases, we fight back by maintaining social distance. Social distancing saves lives. Your life and those of others.

In an effort to help all the home warriors to work efficiently I posted a blog post to help you work more effectively from home.

In this post I’ll tell you how you can secure your work from home environment and protect yourself and your home against cyber threats.

As a part of a hyper connected society, for a lot of us setting up working from home wasn’t a complicated task and now that work has started from home, it is time to make sure that you are safe from cyber threats.

Why is this important? Good question, glad you asked. Home environments are generally not prepped with a security point of view. This post will help you take care of this issue, lets begin.

In order to mitigate any possible threats try to implement the following:

Secure Router: First things first. Secure your router. Many, many, many, maaaany people get a router and never configure it for security. To secure your router, first create a secure password for the administrative login. Once you have done this, you can then proceed to create an SSID name for your network. Choose a name that is simple. The best practice is to not broadcast your SSID. This will mean that when people have to hook on to your network, they will not only have to know the password, but the SSID too.
Use secure passwords: Review your passwords for security. Avoid reusing passwords for different accounts. You can use any online random password generator (see https://www.random.org/strings/) to create secure, hard to predict passwords.
Set up 2 factor Authentication: Consider this as a second layer of protection. If the apps that you use allow 2FA, activate them. Read this if you want to know more about multi factor authentication.
VPNs: I know this may not be available for everyone, but having said this, if you can, use a VPN. This will help in further securing your work from prying eyes.
Antivirus and firewall: These apps help you protect against malicious software that may find its way to your PC. If you are an Apple user, have a look at Kaspersky. Windows 10 users are in luck as it ships with a world class antivirus and firewall. Windows defender also offers the sandbox feature which essentially protects your PC’s critical processes.
Regular Updates: Always make sure that the devices that you work on are up to date with the latest updates. This simple yet important action goes a long way towards ensuring the stability and security of your devices.
Maintain Backups: No setup us invulnerable to failures and as such I advise to prepare for data loss eventualities. I have covered the back topic in detail here, should you wish to read it.

Once you have done this, you can be assured that you now have a way more secure and robust network at home to work and play on. I hope this helps 🙂

Evomatiq Business Solutions LLC is an enterprise software solutions company based in Dubai, UAE. We help businesses of all sizes get the most out of their business solutions and improve their processes for more profitability. Get in touch with us today to know how we can bring you value.

March 18, 2020October 4, 2021

The Essential Guide to “Working from home” guide V 1.0

If you are reading this, the chances are that you are either working from home already or are considering working from home. I am also going to further assume that you are seeking ideas that will help you become more efficient during your work from home stint. Whatever may be the case, welcome to this Essential Guide for Working from home.

This guide is a result of our collective experiences of working from home over the course of more than 10 years. Tips that you are going to read further in this article have either been discovered on our own or have been picked up from various sources in our quest to boost our productivity. I hope that this experience helps you in your quest to boost your productivity. So here it is, the essential guide for working from home.

Equipment

Quite the essential to begin working from home.

Internet Connection: A no brainer. A stable and preferably fast internet connection will be your channel to reach out to the rest of the world. If your internet connection is DSL, Cable or Fiber, you are good to go for the majority of the cases. Slower connection doesn’t always mean that you cannot work from home. All it means is that options like remote desktop sharing, and VoIP calls will be of degraded quality.
Powerful enough PC: Depending on the nature of your work, you will need a PC with a decent hardware configuration to support the apps that you’ll need to run. There are however steps that you can take to further improve upon the performance of your PC:
1. Google Chrome Browser: Avoid this browser like how you’d avoid the plague. Google Chrome is famous for hogging the RAM and I am not even going to start on the ways it infringes on your online privacy. Just do yourself a favor, use Firefox. It’s free, it’s fast and above all, it respects your privacy.
2. CCleaner: You’ll be forgiven if you call it CC Cleaner, I do this too. You can use this free app to clean temporary files and cookies that accumulate over time.
3. Irfanview: If working with images is your thing, switch to this free, simple and powerful image viewer/editor. It’s fast with a small memory footprint and can handle batch processes.
Caffeine: Probably the most critical component of the work from home guide. Without this, no work will be done. If you aren’t a caffeine lover, do you even work? (r/gatekeeping). Personally, I prefer Lavaza No 5 ground coffee, the point is, have enough of your favorite coffee available around you at all times.
Music: Music while working? It’s subjective and is shown to work with getting in the zone/flow state. I’d suggest that you check out a few tunes on youtube or spotify or apple music which ever you generally use. It’ll help.

Apps

These apps will make working from home a more smooth experience.

Skype: The old school, famous, widely popular and stable text/audio/video chat application by Microsoft is free to use and is available for all platforms. Face to face talks or group calls will help you brainstorm, remotely.
Slack: A recent favorite, Slack has quickly become a cult. With provisions to make channels you and your team can segregate communications depending on the context. Support on all mobile devices and computing platforms, Slack brings much more flexibility and context to work environments of today.
Team viewer: Another long time classic, Team viewer is supported by PCs and Apples alike. You can use Team viewer to share your machine, or help your colleagues by remotely taking control of their systems. Though most features are free for fair use, some value added features like file transfer and LAN wakeup are available if you choose to go for the paid version.
Google Drive: Free, fast and simple. Google drive allows you to work and collaborate in real time with multiple teammates on a shared document. Just create and share, it’s that simple.
Asana: A free project management platform. Work with your team, manage tasks, use workflows for free. Certain advanced features will require you to go for the paid version.
File sharing: Media creators/editors will need to share files, often large, with their teams in order to get the job done. We recommend:
1. Firefox send: This free service provided by Mozilla, not only allows you to send large files across but also gives you additional features like password protection, limiting downloads based on time and/or total downloads.
2. We Transfer: You probably know about this one. Use this to send files for free.
3. Google Drive: You can use google’s drive service to upload heavy files and then share it with your collaborators via a link.
Time Management: Working from home is quite new for a lot of people. Here are two facts straight off the bat, time flies and distractions get magnified. For accountability I suggest to use Toggl. Toggl is a free to use time logging application available on browsers and for mobile. You can log your activities and come up with ways to further boost your efficiency.

Pro tips

Lists help. Make a list of things that you need to get done either on physical paper or use google keep or evernote, whatever you like. Every task you finish, strike it off.
Breaks are important. Also feeling sleepy is natural too, after all we all associate our homes with rest and relaxation. Work in bursts of 45 mins and then take a 14 min break.
If you use ground coffee, soak some in cold water over night and enjoy your cold brew in the morning. If you don’t use ground coffee, start.
Go easy on the coffee. Not more than 3 mugs a day. Though I routinely fail to limit myself to 3 mugs, I hope you’ll succeed.
Slide your workouts in your day. During your break, do 25 push ups and 25 body weight squats. 4 breaks = 100 squats and 100 pushups. Nice, isn’t it?
If you are a WiFi user, start using a LAN cable (most routers ship with a LAN cable) to hook up directly with your router, you will experience a speed boost almost instantaneously.
Don’t change your morning routine. Wake up on our regular time, get ready, dress up and start your work. It might read funny but really it changes the mindset and the mindset gets stuff done.

Well I hope these time tested tips help you boost your efficiency while you work from home. Also I am publishing this post during the SARS – CoV – 2 outbreak. I hope you guys stay safe. Stay home, and stay safe.

We are Evomatiq Business Solutions, a boutique enterprise software solutions company based out of UAE. We are constantly working to bring value to businesses across all spectrum of growth. If you want to know more about what we do or if you’d like to know how we can bring value to your business, contact us today.

March 18, 2020October 4, 2021

Journaling, the stoic art

We all know someone around who maintains a journal. You’ll be surprised to know that journaling is one of the most common exercises that are recommended by coaches, therapists & apparently, stoics alike. You may now wonder as to why we, a software solution company, are telling you about stoicism & this journaling thing. Good question, glad you asked, allow me to answer.

As a business owner, we understand that business primarily is human interaction before it is anything else. In my experience I have seen stoicism brings immense value in the life of the one that practices it. With the new year of 2020 just around the corner, I think it’ll be nice to let you folks onto something which has the potential to change your life for the good. Here we go.

Everyday, we get ready for work in the morning, putting out best foot forward and seeking excellence in whatever it is that we do for a living. In the course of this, we come across people, some we like & some we don’t & situations some easier than others. In the wake of such situations how does one keep their calm at all times? How does one be on top of things stave off the chaos, the answer is simple, Objectivity. Stoicism is all about objectivity.

Stoic concepts of focusing on situations that you have direct influence over the ones you done, about being compassionate in the face of rudeness & the timeless discussion on how temper must me kept in check at all times lest it take control of the situation are some of the things that we can employ in our daily lives. The more you read about stoicism, the more you learn to be in control. The question then becomes, how do we instill these values in our lives? Breaking old habits and starting new ones are things that we all suffer from and this is exactly where journaling takes centre stage.

Jouraling, either in the morning before you start your day or at night before you wind down for the day, has been helping achievers throughout time and history to take stock of things on a daily basis. Journaling is also an excellent way keep in mind the stoic wisdom for the day, and above everything else, journaling helps you one to be accountable to oneself. When done in the morning, it helps you prepare for the day with clarity. And when done in the night, it gives us an opportunity to reflect over the day that has gone by.

In the words of the legendary Bruce Lee; “Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do.” So if you are seeking to be better at the thing that you want to ace, start journaling today, give yourself more accountability from yourself and see how things change for the best for you.

Daily Stoic says “In this way, journaling is stoicism, it’s almost impossible to have one without the other.” And we agree with them.

If you found this post interesting, and if you are seeking an accountable partner to help you out with business solutions that hold the promise of boosted profitability, then your search is over.

October 10, 2019October 4, 2021

5 things to do “before” you start searching for an ERP

Hey there, if you are reading this, it means that there is a high probability that you want information about the right things to do when you are planning for an ERP implementation or maybe you are just here to add more to your knowledge, either ways welcome to our site.

What this post is about?

This post deals with exercises that must be carried out internally in an organization, before any external party is involved. This is list has been compiled based on our experiences in the field with companies like your.

This guide is applicable on ERP implementations of all scales. Please feel free to use this article as a primer for your preparation for the project.

“If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be ‘meetings.” – Dave Barry

Have clear objectives

An enterprise wide system deployment is nothing short of a highly complex, coordinated, “combined arms operation” with a substantial dollar value associated with it. And if you account for the amount of time that’ll need investing into it, this entire process will amount to a small fortune. How then do you ensure that you are doing all the right things? Good question, I’m glad you asked.

Start with aligning this process with the projected, future plan of your organization. Your primary mission directive is to make sure that the ERP that you select is in line (in terms of capabilities) with your organizational, long term goals. It’ll then be a good idea to chart out how the adoption of the new ERP will affect your internal processes, your vendors and your customer experience.

Lead the cohort from the front

The leadership of your organization should have a clear understanding about the reasons for the new ERP adoption and advantages that will come with it. I advise you to prepare a clear outline for your company stakeholders it’ll be nice if you can do a cost benefit analysis (albeit basic if you prefer to go lite for the first version) that the adoption of the new ERP will bring to the organization. This activity will make the adoption process much more positive and fast paced.

Budget financially for it

It is highly advised that ERP implementations be budgeted for a financial year. At this moment it is advisable to engage a consultant for getting an accurate estimate. The price for EPR systems vary based on the licenses, professional services, customisation and support. I have covered this in a bit more detail in a separate post, you can read it here. As you come up with a budgetary figure, make sure that there is some percentage of “wriggle room” in there.

Set up project management protocols

I cannot begin to tell you how much time and effort this action is going to save you during the entire implementation process. You begin by creating an internal committee comprising of:

a) Product Owner – This member is responsible for the successful execution of the entire project. Ideally, this member is in a position to take decisions and/or access stakeholders directly if a decision needs escalation.

b) Scrum Master – This member is responsible for keeping the day to day affairs of the project in check. They will eventually become a critical point of contact with the commissioned vendor and your team, making sure that the project is on track with minimum possible deviation from “Plan”.

c) Champions – These members are departmental subject matter experts with complete knowledge of the processes and procedures of the department. Champions are the ones who will be consulted for the departmental requirement gathering and workflow creation

Have clear timelines

Clear and defined timelines are a hallmark of a plan that has the highest possible probability of working out. Start by a clear timeline on when you’d want to go live with your new ERP. You will need to revisit this after the discovery process with your ERP implementation partner. Based on how hard your go live date is, you will either be able to go live in phases across your organization or, in an atomic switch from the old system to the new ERP in one shot.

These 5 points aren’t much but will have critical impact on the overall process of ERP implementation in your organization. If you found this piece helpful and would like to read about how to proceed from here, read my article in this series here.

Marketing Plug

We are a trusted, lithe and boutique enterprise software service provider based in Dubai. We help businesses get the most out of their enterprise software like ERPs, CRM, Business Intelligence tools. If you’d like to consult with us on business management soft-wares, just drop us a line here.

October 8, 2019October 4, 2021

8 things you must know before you finalize ERP

The decision for installing an organization wide business management is a big undertaking. This involves time, effort and financial resources to take the right decision. In our previous post we discussed the right way to go about ERP implementation (read here). In this post we are going to share with you 8 questions that you must have answers to in order to get the complete picture about the product .

How does the vendor handle post sales support?
Your system is as good as the support that it comes with. Ask your vendor in detail about their post sale support plan. Many vendors will give you different bands of SLA to choose from, you must choose the one that suits you the best. Remember, proper support directly translates to minimal downtime in the operation of your company. Choose wisely. Also, if you think you wont need support, you are wrong.
How snug is the Vertical Fit?
Here is the golden rule, if there exists a product that addresses your vertical directly, review it in detail before you disqualify and move to another alternative. Also please make sure that your reasoning to do so is fair and valid. I say this because as a rule of thumb extensive integrations/customization is a thing that must be avoided if possible. Integrations and customization add substantial time for the deployment as they mandate thorough testing and training.
How is training undertaken?
In order to reap complete benefits of the solution and to get the most bang out of your buck, you staff must be thoroughly trained in the software’s usage. I mean what’s even the point of spending a small fortune on the solution without someone to juice it to the max. Work along with your vendor in coming up with an extensive training programme. In our experience, selecting departmental power users who can a) do internal training and b) conduct level one troubleshooting.
How does the system handle third party integrations?
Let’s face it, with all the challenges I mentioned in the point above, Integrations are a reality and cases most often than not a necessity. In such a scenario, it’s important to know how much does the system being considered lends itself to integration. This question becomes even more critical when the integration is a critical part of the implementation. Depending on the ability for integration, this question has the potential to be a deal breaker
What modes of deployment available?
On promise, or on demand. This is a question that you must have a clear defined answer for. We have covered the pros and cons earlier in this series, you can read it here. The solution that you are considering needs to meet your deployment criteria, so ask and find out.
Backward compatibility?
When you leave your old system, the natural question then is what happens to your data? Well two things, a) If the new system allows, you will be able to import some/all of the data into your new system and carry on, or b) You will have to identify a hard cutoff date to transition from the old system to the new with a fresh beginning. I am sure you can imagine that the answer to this question is critical for planning the transition.
Scalability?
Planned or unplanned, your business will grow, and when it does, your system should be able to scale with it. Scalability is a USP in its own right which can justify vetoing off or on a particular brand of software. If a system is not scalable effectively, then it’s not worth considering.
Updates
Last but not the least, you must know how frequently the system will be updated and patched. Will it be free or paid? Will this covered in the support SLA or updates will be a pay as you go arrange.

These are some of the questions that you must get clarity on before you on board a software product and a vendor. The answers to these questions help you prepare and budget with more accuracy.

We are a lithe and boutique enterprise software service provider based in Dubai. We help businesses get the most out of their enterprise software like ERPs, CRM, Business Intelligence tools. Our customer service is often the most liked facet of our business. Drop us a line to know more about the value that we can bring for you.

October 8, 2019October 4, 2021

2019 Sage 300 ERP Overview

Sage 300 ERP

Developed and serviced by the Newcastle, UK, head quartered Sage Software PLC, Sage 300 is a robust, market validated, and mature business management software focused at delivering higher, organization wide efficiency with consistency. Sage 300 ERP comes with a host of modules (covered a bit later), to manage business processes with ease. Sage Software PLC services over 3 million customers all over the globe.

Average Rating

Based on customer reviews, partner availability, service performance and verticals served, Sage 300 enjoys a crisp 4/5 stars in our books.

Best match for Sage 300

Sage 300 ERP is a massive hit with small and medium businesses, scalable from a start-up to an established, process mature organization. In order to keep the cost of deployment low, Sage 300 was developed to encompass certain industry specific feature right out of the box for verticals like, manufacturing, services and distribution.

If you are a business with up to 1,000 employees and you’d really like to have a business management suite that scales up as you grow, than Sage 300 ERP is the choice for you.

Feature

Sage 300 ERP comes loaded with features that helps businesses manage their business across multiple locations. All this without the cost/complexity of similar products out there.

Some salient features brought to the game by Sage 300 ERP

Mobile Access
Multi-currency
Multi-language
Multi-company management
Workflow and process tools
Custom fields
User dashboards
Reporting /Reporting

Apart from the features mentioned above, the customization allows Sage 300 ERP to attain a bespoke fit for the business. Customization takes shape in the form of reports, application screen, custom processes and integration with 3rd party systems.

Caveat Emptor

If you are considering this, or any other business management solution for your organization there are a few things that we’d like you to consider and keep at the back of your mind during your buying cycle:

Any solution is only as good as its implementation. You can spend a fortune on a world class system and still not get its full potential of benefits.
Staff training is just as critical as the system you choose.
You think support plans are unnecessary, you are dead wrong.

If you want to get some closer insight on the best deployment cycle for an ERP, read our article on it here.

Marketing plug

September 24, 2019October 4, 2021

9 Principles from the Stoic Philosophy for a more creative you

What is this Stoic philosophy that you speak off?

Stoicism is an ancient school of thought that was initialized by Zeno of Citium over 2300 years ago in Greece. Stoicism takes its name from “Stoa Poikile” which means “painted Porch” in ancient Greece. This is where Zeno and his fellows discussed their ideas mostly.

The central concept of this school of philosophy are simple. It teaches us that the world at best is unpredictable. Life is brief and fleeting (Memento Mori). Stoicism is all about being steady, strong and taking charge of one’s life. Above all, stoicism tell us that the core of our complaints lies in our reactionary instinct to rely on emotions, rather than logic.

Stoicism is about action and not about endless rumination of ideas.

What has this to do with Creativity?

Good question, glad you asked.

Creative kind of any kind like creating a sales pitch, preparing an objection handling document or just creating a sub 20 second “Elevator Pitch”, at the end of the day it’s about transmission of an idea to the mind of the individual, on the other end, in a way that makes maximum impact. Stuck in this age of cut throat competition and in this never ending rat race, the entire exercise can be dogged with self doubt (imposter syndrome) and outright intimidation.

This is where stoicism comes in.

Following are 9 thoughts taken from the Daily Stoic compiled for people with a creative bend.

3….2….1….Go

Find the Right Scene: Stoicism takes its name from Stoa Poikile, a place where this philosophy too shape when like minded people met to collaborate and move towards a common goal. The company that you keep matters. The circles that you move in will either motivate you to work towards your target or there will be deviation. Be smart about the company that you keep.
Rise and Shine: Be a self starter and be accountable to yourself rather than a “boss”.
Have clarity of intentions: You must know your intention for your action for the day, or the moment clearly in your mind. This clarity will help you take definitive actions towards a clear objective.
Accurate Self Assessment: One way you can stunt your growth for sure is to have a higher or lower understanding of your strengths and weaknesses. Self asses and consider feedback from others. Build on your strengths and improve on your weakness.
Fuel the Habit Bonfire: We are all creatures of habit. Some habits make us, and some, well lets just say that we’d be better off without them. Boost the habits that are working in your favor and say bye to the ones dragging you down.
Work in progress: How do you avoid stagnation in the work that you do? Always remind yourself that you are a work in progress and the best of you is still to come. Learn new things and attain new heights.
Seek out shipwrecks: I am not going to para phase this one, take is as it is “Jorge Luis Borges said whatever happens to the creator must be seen as a resource. Ryan Holiday said The Obstacle Is The Way. Everything is material. If a project flops, learn from it. Shipwrecked, evicted, or house burnt down–use it, turn it into good art.”
Dealing with haters: Words of praise are same as words of criticism. They don’t/shouldn’t matter. Having said that, analyse the critic and the criticism. Criticism from legit people must be taken into account.
Love your craft: Dive to the beginning of how and when you started out to do what you do now. Regardless of success or failure, love what you do and do what you love.

I hope these stoic principles help you and remember, any attempt to change is a gradual process, plan for it and love yourself enough to stay the course. Decision will get you started and discipline will keep you on course.

You can find a more detailed version here.

Marketing Plug

We are a boutique and lithe information technology advisory company based out of Dubai with a core focus and expertise in matching businesses to the right solution to get them the 360 degree field of view of their business. Want to know more? Cool, just drop us a line and it’s that easy 🙂

September 17, 2019October 4, 2021

Industry 4.0

Humanity has constantly been finding new ways to increase & improve productivity. The progress that started with the invention of the wheel millennia ago is still ongoing & can clearly be seen in the improvements made by our species in the field of production. Every time we have a technological breakthrough, our society undergoes an “industrial revolution”.

An industrial revolution can be defined as the implementation of a breakthrough technology, over a period of time which results in increased productivity. In the past, industrial revolutions have been associated with both positive and negative effects on the socio-economic conditions of the society, though in the longer run, these revolutions have had more positive than negative effects. (Why, how, well that topic is out of our scope at the moment, but I may choose to post a video on this sometime in the future).

Some background

Historically we have had 3 industrial revolutions that have had an enormous impact on humanity.

First Industrial Revolution: Transition from manpower of mechanical power with the advent of steam and water power.

The Second Industrial Revolution: This era was marked with a huge increase in the reach of railways and the implementation of the telegraph. Industry was extensively electrified and the first production lines began to take shape.

The Third Industrial Revolution: This era is widely accepted to have started post the second great war. Also called the digital revolution, this era has seen increased use of computers in the production arena (along with other facets of human life). Sophisticated software, machine learning, Big data and Artificial Intelligence have brought about a rapid change in the way we engage in production and other allied production related activities.

These is where are currently, right at the cusp of the 3rd and the 4rth revolution.

Industry 4.0 aka 4rth Industrial Revolution

Industry 4.0 or the 4th Industrial Revolution focuses on computers and computer derived automated systems working together with robotic systems while being governed by sophisticated machine learning algorithms. All this with minimal human input.

Industry 4.0 is paving the way to smart factories of the future. Smart factories where all physical processes are monitored and managed by fully automated, decision capable, decentralized computerized systems and information will be shared in real-time over IoT (internet of things).

For any plant to be considered “Industry 4.0”, it must check the following:

Interoperability: Full duplex communication between individual components (including organic components eg, Human)
Information Contextualization: Add context to the information via the digital mapping of the physical premise of the location.
Decision/Execution assistance: The system should enable human operators to take complex decisions. Also, the system should have provisions to automate processes that may be hazardous to humans.
Decision Making: Systems must be capable of decision making, this is necessary if they are to be autonomous.

Caveat emptor

Apart from the massive advantages Industry 4.0 brings with it, there are certain caveats that one must be aware of as they are unique to it.

Data security is a huge part of the entire industry 4.0 endeavor. With so many interconnected components, zero day vulnerabilities are something that just cannot be ignored. Remember Mirai botnet?
Industry 4.0 is still in the early adopter phase of the bell curve. The costs are high, and the level of reliability/robustness needed are still in the difficult to maintain area.
Like every other industrial revolution, this too will bring (already visible) loss of “contemporary jobs”. This is probably the most contentious and divisive effect of Industry 4.0 and as such deserves a post on its own.

Closing thoughts

The potential advantages of industry 4.0 far outweigh the socioeconomic challenges that it is associated with it. In a world where economies are going increasingly global, it has the potential to revolutionize the way consumers across are satiated.

Above all, so many of our future generations will be freed to pursue and discover new professions and opportunities that we currently don’t even have any clue about.