SYSPRO Updates Flagship Enterprise Solution

Expands functionality for reporting, forecasting, CRM; adds to customization capabilities

Expands functionality for reporting, forecasting, CRM; adds to customization capabilities

Chicago — March 21, 2006 — Enterprise solution provider SYSPRO this week released the latest version of its flagship solution, adding functionality across all the core areas of the enterprise software product, including Finance, Distribution and Manufacturing.

SYSPRO 6.0, Issue 010, the newest release of SYSPRO enterprise software, also introduces new modules as well as new customization capabilities intended to empower users to tailor the software to their individual requirements, helping to maximize utilization and interaction to achieve greater levels of business efficiency.

Issue 010 debuts SYSPRO Reporting Services, a reporting tool that incorporates an embedded version of Crystal Reports XI. By interlacing the reporting and metrics generating capabilities of Crystal, XML and the Microsoft .NET architecture of SYSPRO, customers can leverage a unified reporting and metrics generating solution that further simplifies their operational effectiveness, SYSPRO said.

SYSPRO said that Reporting Services enables users to extract and mine their information to virtually any level of complexity, complete with tailored Web and paper-based delivery options together with extensive preferences and layout features, such as graphs.

New Forecasting Module

In 2005, in conjunction with the release of the SYSPRO book on inventory optimization — Supply Chain, Inventory Management and Optimization - Skills for Small BusinessesSYSPRO announced the release of its Forecasting module. This was the first step to the upcoming full-blown SYSPRO Inventory Optimization solution, the solution provider said.

In line with this initiative SYSPRO now has debuted Families and Groupings, another module in the SYSPRO Inventory Optimization suite. Families and Groupings enables a hierarchy of items to be analyzed and forecasts to be produced at levels other than the SKU. The ability to slice and dice inventory based on families and grouping is a prerequisite to being able to complete the SYSPRO Inventory Optimization solution, which, SYSPRO said, it is on track to deliver as promised

On the customer relationship management front, SYSPRO said that some small and midsize enterprise (SME) manufacturers and distributors do not require full-blown CRM but have the distinct need for increased visibility over relationships that exist with their customers and vendors. While SYSPRO does offer a full-fledged customer relationship management system, SYSPRO 6.0, Issue 010, introduces SYSPRO Contact Management for customers needing only a customer/vendor contact solution.

The new module enables businesses to define and manage a richer set of information about the people with whom they do business, SYSPRO said. This capability applies to traditional SYSPRO customers and suppliers and also to other business relationships, such as potential customers (prospects), consultants, competitors and, in fact, all business contacts.

Beefed-up Customization

The solution provider said that new customization features introduced in Issue 010 represent a step forward in the SYSPRO policy of bringing the product closer to the customer by making it easier to use and easier to customize to match a customer's specific way of doing business. According to SYSPRO USA President Joey Benadretti: "Our customers and prospects are increasingly expecting a greater level of customization capability within the core product itself. They want control over the look and feel of the user interface. They also want to be able to incorporate their own data and their own special ways of processing that data in SYSPRO. While SYSPRO's existing capabilities go a long way to addressing those needs, customers often want their requirements incorporated directly into SYSPRO's user interface, and this is where Issue 010 shines."

Benadretti said that SYSPRO delivers a rich feature set together with tools to further align this functionality with a customer's unique business processes. "Using the latest Microsoft .NET technology, SYSPRO has for a number of years been able to deliver a platform to effectively develop .NET based enhancements around the core SYSPRO application using technology such as XML and Web services," he said. "The new features in Issue 010 extend this flexibility by giving users the ability to easily change the existing user interface, menu system and processes."

New customization features in SYSPRO 6.0 include a range of setup options that allows every module in the system to be configured as required; security rules that enable ready protection of business processes and data; tailorable menu systems that allow users to create their own work spaces; tailorable queries and list views that allow users to organize and rearrange SYSPRO information in a way meaningful to their jobs; and event-driven triggers and events that allow applications to be launched at pre-determined exit points from within a SYSPRO application.

Electronic Signatures

For example, SYSPRO users can now change order entry screens and source additional customer or order information from within the order entry screens. Order entry in Issue 010 is customizable with all the customer information available on the screen. Users can move the information around, delete unwanted information, add more information, add fields and customize the screen appearance, SYSPRO said.

SYSPRO 6.0 Issue 010 also introduces Electronic Signatures, a new framework to secure transactions by authenticating the operator who is performing the transaction. The effective application of Electronic Signatures results in improved turnaround times, increased effectiveness and customer service, reductions in passing around hard copies of documents and improved security and quality. Electronic Signatures can be configured against a list of key business processes on a transaction-by-transaction basis to provide security access, transaction logging and event triggering.
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