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Struggling Economy: Remember Every Cloud Has a Silver Lining "Forbes' Layoff Tracker counted over 160,000 layoffs announced by America's 500 largest public companies in January. And the job cuts are not stopping in February."-(U.S. Stocks May Get Socked By Jobs Data by Steve Schaefer, 02.03.09) With news headlines like this, lay-offs, hiring freezes, bail-out plans and more, it's hard not to get nervous. But, is there a silver lining in all of this? We all know the laws of supply and demand. With uprising lay-offs, corporations have a chance to benefit. As the pool of top-level ERP consultants increases, hourly cost is driven down. This gives companies a unique opportunity to higher the best for less. Typical consultant are highly specialized, given a task and sccomplish it within a given time-frame. Simply put, consultants hired for specifics projects, are there to get the job done....and only bill for these hours. With a purpose and focus, jobs are completed in quality and efficiency while saving companies unnecessary dollars. The also many more financial gains to hiring specific consultants. Employers save money by removing the typical costs of maintaing full-time staff. No more overtime pay, benefit costs (such as medical, life, and disability insurance; pension plans; sick days; paid holidays, etc.), and necessary employer taxes (such as Social Security, Medicare, Federal Unemployment Tax, State Unemployment Tax). Today, more than ever, IT professionals must quantify the value of their work against the company's investments, demonstrate their value to your business and help your businesses grow while maintaining quality of service and flexibility for future changes. Many Savy real-world corporations are now turning to consultants to succeed and save is the current economy. Learn how CrossWay Group can help you do more with less, cut costs, and get the job done. Email us or call toll-free today 1-877-935-3146 Read the entire story here The Pros and Cons of Hiring an ERP Consultant Excerpts By John Edwards on July 8, 2008 A growing number of businesses are facing the choice of whether to hire an ERP (enterprise resource planning) consultant. If you're planning a new ERP deployment or upgrading an existing system, there's a quick look at the points you should consider before making a final decision. Pros Expertise: Since their job is to design and refine ERP deployments, consultants generally have greater knowledge and insight than in-house employees - even those who have studied the technology and its various vendors. An expert consultant can quickly assess business needs and deploy a tailored ERP environment with minimal disruption to existing operations. Better ROI (Return on Investment): An ERP consultant can keep you from wasting time and heading down blind alleys, such as investing in modules and features you don't need or that can be handled better by non-ERP technologies. Since a consultant performs most design and deployment work independently, IT staffers can continue their everyday tasks without being unduly distracted by ERP issues. Enhanced Training: Most businesses deploying or improving an ERP solution focus on functionality and performance issues, but user training should be another key concern. A good ERP consultant will either bundle the cost of training into the overall deal or offer the service at a reasonable price. While it's always possible to go to a third party for training, the project consultant is already in-tune with both the ERP software and your organization's needs. Extended Support: Many consultants provide repair, response and handholding services that extend beyond the basic vendor tech support. You'll pay a price for these services, but if you rely on your ERP 24/7, the cost will be minimal compared with what you stand to lose if your system shuts down for an extended period of time. Cons High Cost: To many the opinion is that ERP consultants aren't cheap. If a project is simple and straightforward - such as performing a no-frills upgrade - a business may save money by using in-house IT staff. Additionally, most vendors offer some form of free or low-cost support for businesses that decide to handle their own work, so check with the software's supplier before signing with a consultant. But, if it is a specific, specialized implementation, a consultant may be the way to go. Consultant bill only for time used and current economic trends have driven down consultant fees, making them even more affordable. Getting Stuck with a Loser: Finding the right consultant is almost as much work as pinpointing the best ERP technology. While careful research and reference checks improve the chances of connecting with a qualified consultant, it's still possible to get locked into an unsatisfactory deal with an arrogant, ignorant or lazy partner. Unfortunately, with most companies, once the contract has been signed, it may be very costly to terminate the deal. CrossWay Group is confident that they will fins the best fit for your needs. And, with CWG you can't lose...CWG offers a solution by offering a guarantee and a replacement at their cost. The Bottom Line Any sizeable ERP project requires a consultant's input at some stage of the process. By utilizing CWG, your company will minimize your business's exposure to the industry's potential drawbacks. Thought of the week: Are you Running a Department of Redundancy Department? "Doing the Same Thing Will Only Bring the Same Result" One definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. In Business Intelligence, it could be defined as doing the same thing over and over to get the same results. How many departmental systems do you have running to produce reports that provide essentially the same information? Procurement releases the monthly purchasing report that describes purchasing activities for each department, while each department releases purchasing reports that describes their purchasing activity. Two different executives take these reports, which are usually not correlated to each other and may contain different types or amounts of information, and use them to produce divisional reports, which are then forwarded up the chain, at which point someone says, "What are these discrepancies?" If Business Intelligence is about being more intelligent about the way you do business, then the first step is asking yourself and your company what do I need to know and why? Many companies fail to do the critical analysis upfront that would allow them to identify redundancies, discrepancies and lost opportunities in their reporting processes. Instead, they simply lay a business intelligence architecture over existing data and reports, and then complain that this new system hasn't provided any new insights or better data. These types of implementations, often undertaken in response to the recognition that current data collection and reporting processes are inaccurate or incomplete, result only in a significant additional cost of ownership in terms of the infrastructure and support staff required. They overlook best practice opportunities, rather than focusing on strategic initiatives that could drive competitive advantage and saving money in the long run. Business intelligence implementations must add value to an organization by way of providing new or better information.  If a thorough analysis can also identify and reduce the fixed costs associated with supporting different and disparate applications, so much the better, both for the business units and the IT department. Consider, hiring a CWG consultant to streamline your current ERP system and make the most of your current system. Consultants are no longer a curse word in this economy, but have now become a savy business choice. Contact CWG and find out about how we can pull your company out of the valley of redundancy. 1-877-935-3146 In This Issue Struggling Economy: Remember Every Cloud Has a Silver Lining 16 Ways to Cut Cost and Save. The Pros and Cons of Hiring an ERP Consultant Are you Running a Department of Redundancy Department? Four in Twenty Four Hints, Tips & Gotchas SAP Unveils New Version Welcome: As a valued client, CWG is committed to providing you with up-to-date news, updates, patches, helpful information and the best in ERP contracted staff. CrossWay Group specializes in providing ERP solutions in the form of human capital and software development.  And for the past 12 years this has been CWG's core competency. Through years of experience with ERP, CWG has strong ties within the solutions community which enables us to provide the right resources at the right time - and that is anytime! Need help... give CWG a call toll-free at 877-935-3146. OUR GUARANTEE CrossWay Group offers the perfect consultant for your needs and gives your company an  Unconditional Performance Guarantee for the first 40 hours. Plus, we are so confident in our consultants, that we will also offer you a Lose-Win Guarantee We know that loss of time is equivalent to dollars.  If you are not 100% satisfied, we will also offer a substitute consultant at a discount of 40% for the next 80 hours. Upgrade Today! Give CWG a try... Our staff is ready to find the best fit for your current or upcoming needs. Call us at 1-877-935-3146 or fill out this online form and we will email you 4 qualified candidates within 24 hours.   Hints, Tips & Gotchas CWG wants to help you make the most of your ERP. Check out this page which proclaims to provide "snippets of information that may help you out" And, remember that CWG is just a phone call away 877-935-3146 February 9, 2009 (Computerworld) SAP AG last week unveiled a new version of its Business Suite ERP software, which analysts said marks the first time the modules are integrated on a single underlying platform. "People have had this perception that it's this one integrated system, but the reality is the [systems integrators] have been tying all these [modules] together, making them work," said Ray Wang, an analyst at Forrester Research Inc. Now the full suite sits atop SAP's SOA-based NetWeaver middleware platform. SAP said that Business Suite 7 includes more than 150 "functional innovations" and expands on the company's "enhancement package" strategy, which allows users to add specific functions without a full upgrade. A spokesman added that the upgraded suite also includes a dashboard-like interface to pull in relevant information from different modules. At a launch event in New York, SAP CEO Leo Apotheker called the new offering "a keystone we will build on for the future." READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE CrossWay Group Incorporated 2937 NW 62nd Street - Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309 - Toll-Free 877.935.3146

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Check out the Latest News

CWG ENews
In This Issue:

AT&T and Oracle join up to provide PeopleSoft solution for midsize businesses

Quickly export multiple...Projects in PeopleSoft

Adobe expands collaboration with SAP

Four in Twenty Four

Go Green

PeopleSoft Wiki

Hints, Tips & Gotchas

Helpful SAP Links

http://www.sapsecurityonline.com/ - good for basis, abap and HR folks. In general all other areas can also be read.

http://www.configuration-workgroup.com

http://www.easymarketplace.de/online-pdfs.php - although an older version, provides all sap documentation online.

http://solutionbrowser.erp.sap.fmpmedia.com - provides wonderful functionality details by each release.

http://www.sapfans.com - good forum and knowledge repository

http://www.erpgenie.com/sapfunc/index.htm - good knowledgebase on SAP functional and technical content.

http://www.sap-img.com/index.htm - outdated, but has some good knowledge content for beginners

Ofcourse - http://help.sap.com - should always be a bookmark for every SAP Consultant.

Send Anything to the Report Repository

Send Anything to the Report Repository

Written by Brent Martin

Friday, 12 September 2008

Have you ever had a report that wasn't generated in PeopleSoft but you wanted to put it in the report repository so that your PeopleSoft users could see it with their other reports? Or have you ever wanted a single SQR to generate multiple reports, with different security for each? Well, in PeopleTools 8.4x or later it's as easy as using the delivered POSTRPT_DMN. POSTRPT_DMN is an app enging program that watches for XML files in a particular directory. If it finds one, it will parse the XML parameters to determine the directory where the report file(s) are stored, the report's security, title, and other important info. Then it'll use the PostReport PeopleCode class object to post the report to the report repository. So there are two steps to setting making this work: 1) Configuring the POSTRPT_DMN and set it to run on a regular basis; and 2) Stage your report on the process scheduler server and create the XML file in the directory that POSTRPT_DMN is watching. Here's how it's done: Configuring POSTRPT_DMN First, set up your process scheduler environment to specify which directory you want POSTRPT_DMN to monitor. Assuming you don't want to customize the process, you'll need to set the PS_FILEDIR environment variable to be the high level directory where you want to watch for XML files. If you like the default directory of $PS_HOME/appserv/prcs//files, you can leave PS_FILEDIR unset. If you'd like to specify a different directory you can set the PS_FILEDIR environment variable. As delivered, POSTRPT_DMN looks for files under $PS_FILEDIR/reports. So make sure you create this directory, and plan to put your XML files there. Next, you'll want to set up Process Scheduler to run the POSTRPT_DMN program as a PSDAEMON process every 5 minutes. The steps are: 1. Go to PeopleTools, Process Scheduler, Daemon Group. 2. Add a new Daemon Group. For example, add QEDAEMON. The Daemon Group page appears. 3. Use the drop-down list to add the POSTRPT_DMN program, and click Save. 4. Select PeopleTools, Process Scheduler, Servers. 5. Select the server definition for the Process Scheduler server on which you intend to run the POSTRPT_DMN program. 6. Go to the Daemon page, and complete the information as shown in the example that precedes these instructions. 7. Click Save. Before the daemon process will be activated, you need to bounce the Process Scheduler. Now, every 5 minutes, a POSTRPT_DMN Daemon will wake up and look for new XML files. If it finds one, it’ll publish the files to the report repository based on the file’s parameters. Then it will delete the temporary directory you created, and replace the contents of your XML file with the word “Done”. If something goes wrong the files will remain unchanged and the daemon will try again in 5 minutes. If you're wondering if the daemon process is really working, you can go to Process Monitor on the Servers tab. Click Details next to the server that should be running it. Then click the Message Log. If it's working you should see heartbeat messages and POSTRPT_DMN messages. You can also look at the log file in the $PS_HOME/appserv/prcs//log_output/_PSDAEMON directory. Staging Report Files Now let's give our new Daemon process something to do. First, create a directory to contain the reports that our XML control file will point to in the next step. Then put one or more reports into that directory. Obviously it doesn't matter how reports get into the directory, they could be created via SQR or FTP'd from another application. Then create an XML control file containing the necessary XML flags. An example is below. Technically the filename doesn’t matter just so it ends in .xml (lower case), but to make it logical I usually name it the same as the directory created in the previous step, except I add the xml extension. Put it in $PS_FILEDIR/reports XRFWIN SQR Report Test Report /usr/local/psoft/FSDEV/FSDEV/appserv/prcs/FSDEV/files/reports CSV General PSUNX X0238695 USER ALLPAGES ROLE Make sure PRCSNAME is a valid process name defined in PeopleSoft. PRCSTYPE needs to be a valid process type as well. CONTENT_DESCR can be anything (not sure about special characters like single quotes or XML delimiters). Report Path should be the full path to the directory you created in the first step. DISTID can either be a valid user ID, or a valid role – specify which in DISTIDTYPE field. This will represent which users can see the report in Report Manager. Feel free to include as many AUTHORIZED_LIST tags as you need. Troubleshooting Check out the log file in this directory: $PS_HOME/appserv/prcs//log_output/_PSDAEMON Check the message log in Process Monitor > Servers tab > Details PeopleTools > Application Engine > Manage Abends can help you remove locked rows. If you do, Also delete from PS_AEDAEMONMGR_AET. Make sure to set a PS_FILEDIR environment variable in psconfig.sh. For example: PS_FILEDIR=$PS_HOME/appserv/prcs/PS90HRDV/files Be sure the tag doesn’t have an ampersand (&) in it. I used this UNIX command to fix multiple xml control files: find ./ -type f | xargs perl -pi -e 's/\&/and/g'

Peoplesoft Advisor Webcasts September 2008

Monday, September 8, 2008

Peoplesoft Advisor Webcasts September 2008

Change Impact Analyzer
PSChange Impact Analyzer (PSCIA) is a powerful Tool that shows the far reaching effects that even one small change to a PeopleSoft object can have. PSCIA is designed to help developers and designers assess these effects before they make their changes, thereby providing everyone downstream - QA, Documentation, and most of all our Customers- with a better product experience.
Date: September 18, 16:00h CET, 10:00 a.m. US Eastern
Duration: 60 min.
Enroll

Working Effectively With Support
Learn how to save time and work effectively with Oracle PeopleSoft Support. Obtain details on leveraging your support investment and customer best practices. Understand support terminology, tools, and the escalation process.
Date: September 11, 16:00h CET , 10:00 a.m. US Eastern
Duration: 60 min.
Enroll

Change Assistant
Change Assistant for PeopleSoft Enterprise can enable you to assemble and organize the steps necessary to apply patches and fixes for your PeopleTools maintenance updates. Change Assistant also helps automate the application of change packages to ensure your systems have the latest maintenance software, and can do so with dramatic improvements compared with manual processes.
Date: September 16, 16:00h CET , 10:00 a.m. US Eastern
Duration: 60 min.
Enroll

Setup Manager
Setup Manager is a tool that helps you implement PeopleSoft applications by using a project and predefined tasks to produce a setup task list that is specific to your implementation project.
Date: September 17, 16:00h CET , 10:00 a.m. US Eastern
Duration: 60 min.
Enroll

Posted by Asmi Maharishi at 7:52 AM 0 comments

Why buy when you can rent?

Why buy when you can rent?
How Outsourcing Can Change Your Company For the Better

Why buy when you can rent? Peter Drucker gave his blessing in a 1995 interview when he predicted that "in 10 to 15 years organizations may be outsourcing all work that is 'support' rather than revenue producing. Drucker's prediction reached early fruition in the corporate information-technology (IT) function.

Don't think, however, that outsourcing solutions are limited to IT projects. Corporations gain tremendous benefit from outsourcing bth new and old ERP projects. Three months after implementation a SAP R/3 system at a major California corporation the company was "Confronted by unacceptable system performance and the loss of key IT personnel." They made the decision to outsource. The director of information technology said, "We probably would have saved quite a bit if we had outsourced right at the beginning."

The rationale offered by the providers like CrossWay Group is compelling. A company can solve all of the problems of running an application. Outsourcing your staffing needs targets high software ownership and maintenance costs; simplifies and/or eliminates the traditional difficulties in implementation; and avoids the problems of hiring and retaining IT staff to run the applications.

But potential exists beyond a mere cost-cutting measure. Outsourcing can be a strategic, competitive move. For example, outsourcing the ERP function offers a faster time to solution and removes a major distraction from a company's core competence. Access to these services also can help companies initiate electronic-business strategies in a shorter time frame with less capital expense.

The service already is up and running at Sebastiani Vineyards Inc., Sonoma, Calif. "By outsourcing our ERP technical environment through EDS and benefiting from the use of SAP R/3, we can direct our time and energy toward improving our core business processes," says Jeff Perkins, director of information services

The above info in an insert from an article that was written by John Teresko. To see the enitre article, click here.

Why Outsourcing Might Be Smart

From a recent blog by Lewis Green
08.20.08



Why Outsourcing a Might Be Smart


This headline, sent to me by a colleague, appeared in a recent issue of the Wall Street Journal: "Should You Outsource Your Company Blog?" Like most questions addressed in communications, marketing and other similar fields, the answer is -- Maybe. It depends.

1. If the company doesn't have a communications or a marketing department, maybe you should.
2. If the company doesn't have an executive spokesperson with the time, maybe you should.
3. If the company's Legal and/or HR departments need to approve outgoing comments, maybe you should, but only if those departments get out of the way. Otherwise, don't do a blog.

Or maybe not. And here are the arguments, as I understand them, against outsourcing the company blog. The point of blogging is:

1. Having an authentic voice.
2. Giving customers a personal connection to the company.
3. Ghostwriters do neither.

Well, pardon me, but who do you think writes executive speeches, letters from the CEO, and all those personal words to shareholders one finds in the Annual Report, and web site content, and most of the pithy executive quotes found in newspapers? Guys and gals such as me. I also write and manage several company blogs, who are my clients. As the period on the sentence, none of those things are done without interviewing executives and employees, studying the company and its customers, and, finally, getting approval from the company spokesperson for everything I write.

Would it be better if someone from the company wrote the blog? Maybe, maybe not. When work is outsourced, the consultants often have more influence over the executives and more freedom from message management. And if we're fired, we haven't lost our jobs, just a job. We don't have the pressure of saying what we think the company wants to hear, at least many of us don't. More important, key inhouse staff are focusing on their other jobs and responsibilities, while gaining the outsider points of view and expertise, which are then translated into blog posts.

So, there you have it. One consultant's take on outsourcing blogging. Not right. Not wrong. It just depends.