Did you know that you can pull your Sage MAS 90/200 data right into Excel?! This essentially enables you to create a dynamic Excel file that can be refreshed with the most up-to-date data.

1. Open a blank Excel document.
2. From the Data menu, select From Other Sources, then From Microsoft Query.
   • For older versions of Excel, select “Import External Data”, then “New Database Query”. (The Excel Data Query function doesn’t always get installed by default, so you may need to install it on certain workstations.)
3. Pick the SOTAMAS90 odbc driver. Typically it’s the one without an asterisk (*).
4. Enter your MAS 90/200 login info, including the appropriate Company Code.  Read Full Article…
5. You’ll then be presented with all your MAS 90/200 data files. You can choose an entire data file or individual data fields within a file.
6. Once you select your data file/fields, click Next.
7. You can now specify 1 or more filters, or not. Click Next.
8. Now you can specify 1 or more Sort, or not. Of course you can easily sort within Excel once your data is brought into the spreadsheet. Click Next.
9. Then you would typically have the data “returned to Excel”. Click Finish.
10. You can choose to put the data in your current spreadsheet, which is the typical method (into cell A1), or into a new Worksheet. Click OK. (If you click Properties, you’ll see the Options you have available.)
11. You’ll then be prompted again for the Company Code and your MAS 90/200 login info.
12. Your data will appear. Depending on the amount of data being Queried, it may take a short moment.

 
You can also pull your data into Access and lots of other applications that can utilize an ODBC data source.

Sage eMarketing enables you to execute high-quality, targeted, end-to-end eMarketing and drip marketing campaigns quickly and easily. A simple, 3-step wizard helps you create new attention-grabbing eMarketing campaigns with ease. Automatically track open, click, and bounce rates so you can calculate accurate ROI and deliver “hot leads” to your sales team.

For consistent execution, SageCRM 7.1 total campaign management functionality comes with campaign workflows, so you can map campaigns to your business processes. They enable your marketing team to execute multichannel marketing campaigns and then reuse the ones with the best results.

SageCRM integration with Microsoft Exchange delivers ease-of-administration as well as a seamless experience. Your Sales, Marketing, and Management teams will benefit from having access to their calendars, tasks, and contact information in real time, across your smartphone, laptop, or desktop PC for maximum ease-of-use and productivity.

7.1 gives you the ability to link multiple data feeds on a single screen with the Interactive Dashboard. Using data “widgets” the freestyle interactive dashboard gives you complete flexibility. Widgets can be resized and repositioned anywhere on the screen so your data feeds are presented the way you want to see them.

The new look and feel of the report charts provides you with at-a-glance business insight. Report charts and graphics are now more visually impactful, making it easy for management to see comparisons, patterns, and trends in their data.

 **A 60-day free trial of eMarketing is included, after that time additional fees apply.

 For more information on SageCRM contact Jason Barnes at Jason@oasisky.com.

 For more information on upgrading your current MAS90 or 200 to version 4.50 or if you are already on version 4.50 and would like to implement SageCRM, please contact Pam Scott at pam@oasisky.com or call her at 502-429-6902 ext. 221.

How many of us are faced with knowing that we have inefficiencies resulting in everything from double entry, multiple databases to maintain, resistance to change “because we’ve always done it this way”, plus much more?  But, everyone is busy, over worked, stressed, and on top of that where do you even begin to identify opportunities for improvement?  Oasis has the answer.

Oasis Solutions Group provides a business process analysis service.  Our clients include current end-users as well as ERP prospects.  So, how does it work?

You start by calling Oasis and discuss your current issues or concerns.  Examples:  Inefficiencies in your shipping department, inconsistencies and lack of communication between the Sales Team and Account Team, Integration between your Web Shopping Cart System and MAS90/200/ or 500.  The issues faced daily by small and medium businesses are common and many.

After your call, the appropriate specialist will be given details of the original discovery call and will follow-up with a proposed plan.  Example:  Specialist will come on-site and directly observe your processes for 1 or 2 days, conduct employee interviews, and then will follow-up with a detailed analysis, including recommendations.  The analysis can be very detailed in a Word document format, or more streamlined using a Visio flowchart.  If you would like an example of an Oasis business analysis, please contact Pam Scott, Director of Client Services at (502) 429-6902 ext. 221 or email her at pam@oasisky.com .

Sage ERP MAS 90 and 200 4.5 is packed with compelling value, new features and functionality, and even more flexibility. The enhancements in this exciting release are inspired by you—our customers—mainly in Accounts Receivable, Payroll, Purchase Order, and Sales Order. Customers upgrading to 4.5 will receive a FREE fully functional SageCRM 7.1 user and server license.   Also incorporated in 4.5 are the 37 enhancements provided through downloadable Product Updates since Sage ERP MAS 90 and 200 4.4 shipped last year, in Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Bank Reconciliation, Inventory Management, Job Cost, Paperless Office, Payroll, Sales Order, as well as additional system-wide features and functionality.  The following is a sample of what’s new:

 National Account Management

• You asked for a more streamlined way to manage your customers who have a corporate or parent company, and subsidiaries or branches. So we’ve incorporated a new type of customer in 4.5, a National Account. Using this designation, you’ll be able to identify and bill the parent company for goods and services you sell and provide to the branch—while still keeping a unique customer account for each entity. Options in Accounts Receivable let you associate existing accounts, and establish the billing relationships you want for each. Then use Sales Order just as you normally do to enter National Accounts orders, check credit and inventory, and ship and bill. Efficiently provide goods and services to your customers, and correctly show what’s “Billed To” the parent company using its name and address, and then “shipped to” the branch.

Efficiently Handle Payroll Complexities

• Enhancements in Sage ERP MAS 90 and 200 version 4.5 will provide more assistance with handling the complexities of your Payroll processing and deduction calculations. We’ve added five new methods of calculations for use with a variety of specialized deductions. New features will streamline your Payroll data entry process so you can more easily run recalculations, and do regular imports using standard formats. Even use 4.5 to manage your benefit accruals more efficiently when based on hours worked—for salaried, union, and part-time employees. Set the conditions, and 4.5 will compare whatever minimums you establish. Accruals will only occur if the conditions you set are achieved. Rest easy using new Payroll features and functionality in Sage ERP MAS 90 and 200 4.5 knowing that you’re making the appropriate deductions.

Beat the Competition—Encourage Customer Loyalty with Unique Pricing

• Motivate customers to buy your goods and services with flexible pricing enhancements in Sage ERP MAS 90 and 200 4.5. Reward the loyalty of your preferred customers with favorable pricing through price code or ship-to codes. Beat the competition with the ability to establish your pricing by total quantity, by item category, and for the totals purchased by product line. Encourage large purchases across multiple product lines, or by combining specific items, colors, or sizes. 4.5 provides you with maximum pricing flexibility—an unlimited number of customers and item combinations are possible so you can be more responsive to marketplace changes and make more sales.

Reward Your Sales Team and Encourage Collaboration

• Utilize new commission flexibility in 4.5 to easily establish and maintain default splits between multiple salespeople, and identify the splits by customer. When your customers place an order, your splits will occur automatically—minimizing the time you’re spending today recalculating or overwriting commissions. If you pay multitier commissions, 4.5 will easily use rate tables and ensure your salespeople are paid correctly, even if you use many different commission rates by combinations of salespeople, customers, items, and effective dates.

Improve Your Cash Flow—Streamline Purchase Orders

• To minimize the time and effort placing an order for a product you sell but don’t normally stock, enhancements in 4.5 will create Purchase Orders automatically from Sales Orders. When your customer buys that item, an order will flow through to the appropriate vendor without your staff having to reenter anything, saving time and eliminating those secondary data entry mistakes. Using the flexible selection criteria, you’ll be able to preset the conditions you want to use so your business processes will flow efficiently, ordering only when you make a sale. Minimize your inventory and keep your customers happy.

Allocate by Lot and Serial Number

• New functionality in Sales Order will allow you to select lot and serial numbers when you’re creating a Sales Order. This will allow you to reserve limited-quantity lots or serial numbers for your best customers, or match the product you’ve previously shipped to a specific customer. For example, if you sell material of different types, colors, and grains for home construction, you can reserve a specific large piece that your customer chooses for their remodeling project, to be used at various stages. The lot and/or serial numbers will print on the sales orders and picking sheets to have more reliable processing and communication.

Plus much more!

To request an upgrade and take advantage of the new features and functionality in version 4.50, email Pam Scott at pam@oasisky.com.

A Growing Concern

Even with all the talk about health care reform, most U.S. employers remain on course for a significant increase in employee health costs over the next few years. This trend continues despite employer costs, employee payroll contributions, and out-of-pocket expenses that have more than doubled in a decade according to research by Hewitt.

Developing a Strategy

While companies are beginning to implement programs and tactics that will help contain escalating health care costs, fewer than half the companies surveyed actually have a formal policy or strategic plan in place. According to Ken Sperling of Hewitt Associates, “Health care is one of the biggest expenditures for a company, yet most organizations don’t have a formal plan that outlines their program’s goals and ties them to business objectives.” While formalizing a plan is important in order to lay the groundwork for long-term success, employers can still implement less sophisticated cost-cutting tactics for short-term results. Following are some of the tactics to consider:

• Focus on Improving Physical AND Mental Health – more companies are incorporating behavioral/mental health strategies into their programs to improve productivity and absence management.

• Financial Incentives to Encourage Participation – the number of companies offering cash incentives for completing a health risk questionnaire and for participating in health improvement and wellness programs has increased significantly since 2009.  Often, the incentives are tied to steps that require behavioral change such as exercising, eating properly, and getting preventive care.

• Penalties for Unhealthy Behavior - employers are increasingly challenging employees to be accountable for the decisions they make by imposing penalties, such as higher premiums or deductibles, for smoking or failing to participate in disease management programs.

According to Sperling, “Measuring clinical changes in health risk can help employers gauge whether these programs are actually changing employee behavior and ultimately leading to longer-term cost reduction and improved employee health.”

Marketing

For many businesses, customer relationships are considerably more profitable after the initial sale.  Implementing marketing programs aimed at current customers can be an important advantage in building customer loyalty and mutually beneficial relationships.

Using CRM software as a marketing tool empowers your marketing team with the ability to plan, execute, and evaluate the performance of targeted marketing campaigns.  You can segregate campaigns aimed at new business vs. those that are targeted to existing customers as well as track and measure every phase of a given campaign.

The marketing automation component of any good CRM software also allows you to build a detailed profile of your customers over the course of your relationship to ensure that marketing communication is highly relevant.  With the right information, your marketing team make can design effective promotions based on a customer’s previous purchases, product preferences, and other important characteristics of your relationship.

Customer Care

Sales and marketing bring new customers to your business, but your Customer Service department keeps them with you for the long haul.  CRM software also provides your customer service and support personnel with fast access to service requests, call and escalation history, recent customer communications, support cases, email communication,  documents sent and received, and much more.  Plus, all service and support activities are captured in your CRM solution so that you start to build a knowledgebase of common issues and resolutions.  Your service reps can then use that knowledgebase to quickly resolve common challenges.

Whether you sell products that require technical support or offer service agreements that continue well beyond the initial sale, CRM provides the tools you need to manage resources, quickly resolve issues, track customer requests, provide high quality service, and build long-lasting and loyal relationships.  And with all of that information at their fingertips, you customer service reps will have a better opportunity to cross-sell complementary products and services.

Mobile Access

If you have service personnel that work in the field, then all that great customer information stored in your CRM system is rendered useless unless you can provide access to your field personnel.  That’s where mobile CRM comes in.  Using a PDA, your field service reps have real-time access to customer contact information, account history, and can schedule follow up activities and appointments.  Or you can use the web to access the same features … even if you’re not connected, you can work offline and synchronize with your CRM database later.

By enabling sales and service personnel to securely access the CRM system using the web or mobile device, you’ll ensure they have information available to resolve customer issues quickly, place orders efficiently, and keep customers happy.

Contact us if you’d like to learn more about the CRM solutions we offer including Sage CRM, SugarCRM, Sage SalesLogix, and ACT! by Sage

Louisville, KY – February 21, 2012 – Oasis Solutions Group has announced it will now provide cloud-based SugarCRM to its customers throughout Kentucky and Tennessee. With an open source architecture and advanced customization capabilities, SugarCRM is a rising star in the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software market. Its addition enables Oasis Solutions Group, a Sage and Microsoft ERP partner, to meet a growing demand for CRM among small and mid-sized companies.

SugarCRM eliminates some of the hurdles previously associated with implementing CRM software, says Annette Manias, President of Oasis Solutions Group. “Because it’s cloud-based, our customers will be up and running quickly — no new hardware, network configuration, or technology upgrades required. Not only does that eliminate the up-front capital costs of implementation, but the price point of SugarCRM itself is a perfect match for the customers we serve.”

Adoption of CRM software is all part of a growing trend, Manias observes. “The acceptance of and demand for CRM today is a lot like what we saw with ERP systems almost two decades ago. And like ERP, CRM software has become a more accessible and strategic tool for businesses that are proactive and looking to become more efficient and effective.”

 SugarCRM is open-source, web-based CRM software that can run “in the cloud” or on-site.  A wide variety of product editions, pricing, and customization capabilities make it ideal for small and medium-sized companies looking for an affordable CRM solution.  The software also boasts features like mobile crm, social crm, marketing automation, configurable workflow, and integration with your ERP system.

 With offices in Louisville and Lexington as well as nearby Nashville, Tennessee, Oasis Solutions Group is a leading provider of accounting, ERP, CRM, HR, and payroll software including Sage ERP MAS 90, MAS 200, Sage ERP MAS 500, Microsoft Dynamics GP, QuickBooks Enterprise, Sage CRM, ACT! by Sage, and now SugarCRM.

Go to http://www.oasisky.com to learn more about Oasis Solutions Group.

About Oasis Solutions Group

Louisville, KY – February 15, 2012 – Oasis Solutions Group (http://www.oasisky.com), a Kentucky-based Sage and Microsoft authorized partner, announced veteran Sage ERP MAS 90 consultant Brett A. Zimmerman has joined the company.  Zimmerman will provide consulting to new and existing Sage MAS 90 and Sage MAS 200 customers. The company cites continued growth of Sage ERP product sales in Louisville and Lexington, Kentucky along with Nashville, Tennessee, creating the need for an additional support and consulting resource.

Annette Manias, President of Oasis Solutions Group, learned first-hand the balanced skill set that Zimmerman brings to the company. “Brett had worked for Oasis as an independent contractor over the past year. What we discovered on the job was that very few MAS 90 consultants can offer his combination of technical product expertise, down-to-earth people skills, and good common sense.  When we learned that Brett was interested in joining Oasis full-time, we acted quickly to bring him on board.”

 With 14 years as a MAS 90 consultant under his belt, Zimmerman brings a versatile blend of accounting, IT systems, and business expertise to the team at Oasis Solutions Group.  Zimmerman’s role at Oasis will have him participating in ERP implementations, project management, MAS 90 training, and report development. He will also support the continued growth of the company, applying his talent with social media, customer relationships, problem-solving, and needs assessment during the sales process.

 Manias says Zimmerman’s hiring will benefit customers as much as the company itself.  “We’re fortunate to have someone who can support sales as well as lead implementation projects – start to finish.  Plus, Brett is adept at using social media in business communications with clients and coworkers alike. He’ll help us open a whole new dimension in customer service and interaction.”

With offices in Louisville and Lexington as well as nearby Nashville, Tennessee, Oasis Solutions Group is a leading provider of accounting, ERP, CRM, HR, and payroll software including Sage ERP MAS 90, MAS 200, Sage ERP MAS 500, Microsoft Dynamics GP, QuickBooks Enterprise, Sage CRM, and ACT! by Sage.

Go to http://www.oasisky.com to learn more about Oasis Solutions Group.

About Oasis Solutions Group

Since 1991, Oasis Solutions Group has been serving businesses throughout the United States with software consulting, programming, training and support. With more than 100 combined years of experience, their consultants offer software expertise in accounting, human resource management, sales force automation and custom software development. They serve clients in a variety of industries including retail, distribution, service and manufacturing.

Oasis provides provide sales, service, support and training for the Sage ERP MAS 90, Sage ERP MAS 200, Sage ERP MAS 500, Sage Abra HRMS, Peachtree by Sage, QuickBooks Enterprise, Microsoft Dynamics GP, Sage Fixed Assets, Sage CRM, Act! by Sage and Sage SalesLogix CRM.

Oasis Solutions Group is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky with additional offices in Lexington, Kentucky, and Nashville, Tennessee.

As an end-user of a Sage Software product many of you are receiving solicitations directly from Sage promoting their Gold Plan which proclaims unlimited support and upgrade assistance.  While that may sound attractive, their support and staffing are limited and they have no way of knowing the intimate details about your setups, staffing, custom modifications, scripting, reports, or internal processes.  When many situations arise, you will be asked to call your reseller for assistance.  So, why go through the extra time and possible frustration when you can call Oasis?

Here is what the Sage Gold plan does not include:

1.  On-site support
2. Assistance with Crystal Reports, Crystal Form creation or modifications
3. Imports or Exports with Visual Integrator
4. Assistance with integration of any 3^rd party products
5. Custom Office user defined fields, screen modifications, or scripting
6. Upgrade analysis or implementation of upgrades
   1. Actual Sage disclaimer – “Upgrade Planning Assistance is for planning purposes and excludes customizations, report writing, data conversion, and training.  Must be coordinated and scheduled in advance with Sage.  Sage reserves the right to limit the number of hours.”
   2. Training of any kind
   3. Personal attention and dedication

Don’t become just a number (Case ID) call your friends at Oasis!

Have a suggestion or comment on how we can improve our support?  Please email Pam Scott at pam@oasisky.com.

The year 2011 marked the 30^th year that Sage has been providing market-leading business management software and services to small and midsized businesses.  Throughout their history, their commitment to end-users has been at the center of what they do.  It is that commitment that has helped make Sage a recognized global leader in supplying business management solutions.

In 2012 Sage will be changing the names of many of their core accounting and ERP lines.  These products will be identified with a numbering approach where higher numbers denote increasing levels of product capability or sophistication.  The product renumbering sets will include Sage 50, Sage 100, Sage 300, and Sage 500.

However, these changes are more than in name alone.  Each product family will offer integration to common business solutions such as CRM, Fixed Assets, HRMS, and Payroll.

So beginning in early 2012 and continuing throughout the year, the following brand names will change.  The names of the products represented by Oasis will be as follows: