Google Goodies: The Cure for Boredom

If you feel the tendrils of ennui* creeping in and slowly wrapping themselves around your brain, turn to Google. Google is your friend.

Not only can you search until your heart is content (and educate yourself about some very random topics), but Google have created some really cool things that will keep you entertained with their brilliance. 

Search the word "askew" or "tilt" in the Google search bar. 

How cool is that?

If that isn't enough to bring you back from the edge of darkness, search "do a barrel roll" in Google. 

It doesn't get much better than that. Well played, Google. Well played. 

*PS: If you didn't already know, and haven't yet Googled it, "ennui" is extreme boredom.

Synergy Does Good with Little Eden

It is a sad reality that most children with intellectual disabilities live in isolation and social exclusion and do not have adequate access to healthcare, education, training and stimulation – the very things they so desperately need.

Little Eden is a foundation that is made up of a collection of inspirational people who believe that each person is deserving of respect and dignity as a human being and should not experience any prejudice or injustice because of their disabilities. 

The kiddies at Little Eden may never be able to walk, run, dress themselves or become productive members of society, but that doesn’t stop the staff from doing everything in their power to develop these special people to their fullest potential. Providing them with supporting programmes and therapies, they do what they can to make the kids’ lives as meaningful as possible whilst, at the same time, developing the community’s awareness to the plight of these extraordinary children.

Synergy Group, in our endeavour to assist wherever we can, has made a donation to Little Eden that will go towards helping as many children as possible. Liz Regenass, C.S.I Manager of Synergy Group, will also be attending their Christmas function to meet the kids, give them gifts and spend some quality time with them. She concludes, “I am really looking forward to this event and getting to know the Little Eden family”.

Reading Media

This is not a post about the different types of media out there; apart from the fact that there are so many, it’s also been done before. Many, many times. Rather, this post is about the media industry and the type of business solution best suited to constantly-evolving, vibrant media and publishing houses.

Straight up, this is not a sales pitch. This is an information piece; we’re sharing the details of the ideal business solution. Because, let’s face it, there is a plethora of solution information with which the media powers that be are bombarded.

It’s a fact that any solution provider should be able to “read” the needs of the media industry and ensure said solution meets these needs – and surpasses all other expectations.

Sage ERP X3 addresses the unique, and very specific, needs of the industry, and is also completely customisable to cover anything else desired. Add to that the fundamental basics of the solution (from contract management and complex rate card management to deadline-driven publication run management, high-volume transaction and workflow management) and everything is covered. 

So, the media get into everything; they’re everywhere and affect the way people live, think and consume. That much responsibility must be managed effectively – with minimal hassle. Booya to Sage ERP X3.

Why Managed Services?

Because Managed Services is the shizz-nizz… and is, basically, a maintenance plan that guarantees priority service in a predictable and affordable manner. That’s why.

When there’s a service delivery doo-dah that shifts responsibility to the MS provider and focus to business processes, and still manages costs, you must know you’re on to a good thing. 

The Managed Services model is extremely efficient: remote technology use, reduced costs, aligned business interests for the provider and the customer (generally, you), price predictability (no surprises), and service predictability. Throw in the guaranteed quality and reliability of Managed Services and the end result is a long-term relationship and a trouble-free network.

Still not convinced? How about washing your hands of complexity and chaos? Managed Services is a sophisticated little number that takes the difficulties of technology decisions, upgrades, and strategies (plus all that other stuff already discussed) and deals with it. 

Managed Services = no more hassles. 

Do you need more convincing? Read up about the differences between Managed Services and traditional IT maintenance here.

Knowing Me, Knowing You… But More Knowing You

The media industry, that dynamic, constantly-evolving monster that infiltrates every crevice of our existence, needs a solution as flexible as a Russian gymnastics squad to keep up with the constantly-evolving tastes and opinions of the market (i.e. EVERYONE).

A CRM solution that can do a backward bend, touch its toes without bending its knees and do the splits (all at once) is the only way to go. A solution of the necessary degree of suppleness must, without warming up, be able to:

·         Integrate with existing operational systems for advertising and circulation management.

·         Boost revenue across publications by analysing and understanding spending patterns.

·         Provide a 360° view of the business.

·         Streamline and optimise all marketing, profiling and sales activities.

·         Define target demographics in order to increase circulation.

A CRM solution that can do all of that will be the cornerstone for media and publishing houses to learn more about, and therefore understand, their customers. Understanding your customers, and giving them what they want, makes for happy customers. Which will make you happy.

Granite Mining: The Force Continues

Granite mines have unique challenges that need to be addressed by an ERP solution that accelerates business and bridges the gap between financial and production information. Another challenge is exploring and finding just such a solution.

In a previous post, the breakdown of the essentials that make up the ideal business solution for the granite mining industry were discussed (not in too much detail, because what would be the point of cutting and pasting the brochure to a blog?) and there is a solution out there that meets all these requirements.  

Sage ERP X3 for Granite Mining is, undeniably, a solution that you should investigate further. When comparing industry-specific solutions, running any other options against Sage ERP X3 will highlight the ideal mix of features to run your business - your way.  

With Our Head in the Cloud...

...Life is good. 

One would expect us to be looking at things through rose-coloured lenses, but the dream-like quality of floating along has not skewed our vision of reality. In fact the cloud we are talking about has given us clarity. We now see things the way they should be; lined with silver. 

Before we carry on, let us unpack the "cloud" for you. We are not talking about a cumulonimbus or cirrus formation of precipitation in the sky. The "cloud" that has us so pleased is computing as a service rather than a product; cloud computing offers shared resources, software and information as a utility over a network (typically the internet).

We embarked on our journey to the cloud with our travel buddy, VMware, a while ago. This journey has been neither adventurous nor filled with excitement. Simply because this trip went exactly according to plan; no mishaps, detours or potholes along the way. Just good, old-fashioned plain sailing. That’s not to say it hasn’t been daring and exploratory – we did venture into unknown territory – but are absolutely delighted with what we discovered.

VMware and virtualisation offer the most trusted and reliable platform for cloud computing. And cloud computing and business performance were made for each other. Like the Springboks and the Webb Ellis Cup (we all know that they belong together).

Our journey to the cloud has resulted in saved time, money and resources, improved business performance, extreme agility and a drastically reduced carbon footprint. Cloud computing has transformed our IT environment into something dynamic, elastic, scalable and secure.

How awesome is that?