inHARMONY AUGUST 2013

In this edition:

New Harmony Feature

Support Focus

New WinPOS Feature

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AUGUST 2013

Are you in the business of being social? What mechanisms do you use to

engage with customers and staff? Our feature article this month discusses the

benefits of engaging with customers and staff in a broader social arena by

utilizing any number of social tools available today. It also warns us about the

risk of creating an engagement gap if you choose the wrong approach.

Without engagement, organisations run the risk of losing customers and

employees. Without engagement, the influence of brands will continue to

decline. Recent studies claim that “engaged customers are three times more

likely to recommend or advocate a product or service to a friend.” There is

mounting evidence pointing to greater business value and strategic

differentiation emanating from improved engagement. So as technology is

enabling a shift from transactions to engagement, it’s important to avoid

haphazardly designed approaches to customer engagement.

I read recently that in the past decade, more than 40% of the companies in the

Fortune 500 list, have been replaced by new companies and upstarts. The

pace and change has hastened and there is visible impact of how disruptive

technologies impact business models.

In the mid-90s Clayton Christensen coined the phrase disruptive technologies

in his book called the Innovator’s Dilemma. Christensen defines disruptive

technology as any product or service that is designed for a new set of

customers. The problem is that disruptive innovation can hurt successful, well

managed companies that have a formidable track-record in responsive

customer service and a strong R&D culture.

Charles Fine warned us that we live in an age of temporary advantage, and

that industries with very rapid evolutionary rates can be examined for

information that will benefit businesses of all kinds. “The greatest rewards go

to the companies that can anticipate, time after time, which capabilities are

worth investing in and which should be outsourced, which should be cultivated

and which should be discarded, and which will be the levers of value-chain

control and which will be controlled by others.”

FBS is knee deep in the innovation process, leveraging thirty years of industry

experience and formidable talent to continually change the look and

performance of our products and services.

Managing Director's Note

Engagement is more than a promise

“It’s important

to avoid

haphazardly

designed

approaches to

customer

engagement.”

Mark Silver

Managing Director

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AUGUST 2013

The backing up of Harmony data has historically been

performed via a tape drive connected to the server.

Whilst this is still an adequate method of backup,

customers are now increasing the amount of data that

they are backing up. In addition to Harmony data,

common drives, user directories, and images directories

are often required to be backed up.

In recent years it has become increasingly popular to

perform these backups to a partition on the Harmony

server or to an external Hard Drive using a file based

backup system. This negates the need for a tape drive

and of course the tapes that go with it. A major benefit of

the file based backup method is that multiple backups

can be kept at any one time, e.g. the last seven days of

backups, the last 12 end of months, or previous years’

backups.

This solution is dependent on the availability of space on

expensive server hard drives. An alternate and preferred

solution for large file backups, is to use external hard

drives, which offer reliability and are relatively

inexpensive.

The QNAP TS-569 Pro model has become our favoured

model for performing these necessary backups.

The QNAP TS-569 Pro is a 5-bay, all-in-one NAS server

with exceptional performance that can meet the storage

requirements of modern SMB IT environments. Features

include, secure cross-platform file sharing for Windows®,

Mac®, and Linux/UNIX users, an iSCSI/ IP-SAN storage

combo solution and a number of versatile, value-added

business applications. With a well-rounded set of backup

solutions integrated in the QNAP TS-569 Pro, critical

business information can be safely protected against

unexpected data loss. The QNAP TS-569 Pro is also an

ideal shared storage solution for virtualized and clustered

environments, via VMware®Ready™and

Citrix®Ready™certification, and a proven compatibility

with Microsoft®Hyper-V environments.

The intuitive MyCloudNAS service simplifies the process of

publishing content residing on the Turbo NAS over the

Internet and helps users create a private cloud in just a

few simple steps. The mobile app QMobile provides iOS or

Android mobile device users with a convenient way to

access the Turbo NAS live, on the go.

Courtesy www.qnap.com

Couple the QNAP TS-569 Pro with 5 SATA or SSD Hard

Drives, to obtain multiple terabytes of data storage. This

device also comes with 1Gb RAM which is expandable up

to 3Gb, 2 Gigabit Ethernet ports and an Atom Dual Core

processor. Finally, there are 7 USB ports, 2 of which are

USB 3.0. This is extremely important as data transfer to a

3.5” external Hard Drive in order to take backups offsite

can now be performed incredibly quickly.

For further details on how file based backups or the

QNAP TS-569 Pro can help your organisation, please

don’t hesitate to contact your Account Manager.

Qnap TS-569

Focus on Hardware

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AUGUST 2013

Focus on Support

End of Month Rollovers Let FBS bring Harmony back to your life

If you answered YES to any of these questions then the

following Extended Support Service that FBS is now

offering will be of interest to you….

The Harmony End of Month rollover process can take

numerous hours to complete whilst system data is backed

up and restored into an EOM login and the final rollover

process is done. The process needs to be performed in

single user mode and as such, needs to be undertaken on

weekends or after hours. This can be an inconvenient and

costly exercise for your company.

FBS is excited to offer our valued clients a new EOM/EOY

Rollover service where a member of our trained and

experienced support staff can perform these tedious but

imperative duties on your behalf.

The service will include the following:

Backup your LIVE Data

Restore this data into one EOM directory of your choice

Rollover your subsidiary ledgers which include:

Debtors

Creditors

Inventory

Payroll

Fixed Assets

Note: It is important to note that the service does not

include or cover any reconciliation work. It is imperative

that reconciliation of subsidiary ledgers be completed

prior to the commencement of the EOM Rollover process.

The service is charged on a monthly basis at a fixed cost

where the price will differ from client to client based on

the size of your data and the number of subsidiary ledgers

that need to be rolled over.

In order to work out what your fixed cost will be, FBS will

perform the first month’s EOM Rollover free of charge.

This will enable our support staff to ascertain how long

this process will take to complete.

If you are interested in this new offer or would like more

information, please do not hesitate to contact your

Account Manager.

Do you have staff coming into work early in the morning, working late at night or spending

hours of their precious weekends each month to perform the Harmony End of Month Roll

over?

Are you paying staff over time to work these extra hours to perform the Harmony End of

Month Roll over?

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AUGUST 2013

Bell & Barnett was founded in 2009 and quickly established itself as a reputable men’s fashion and formal wear retailer

and wholesaler on the Melbourne scene. With Bell & Barnett’s high quality yet affordable tailored suits, fashion and

outerwear makes a lasting impression without breaking the bank.

Bell & Barnett’s aim is not only to make the modern day

gentleman look good, but to allow a reflection of ones personality through their attire. With an extensive range of

clothing including classic-modern business wear, elegant evening wear and relaxed fashion, the customer has the

choice of what type of impression they would like to make.

Since implementing the Harmony Business Solution, Bell & Barnett have quickly been able to utilise it to execute strategic

expansion plans and open 3 additional stores with relative ease. They also utilise the extensive warehousing capabilities

to replenish their 9 stores and handle wholesale ordering.

Bell & Barnett is one of our latest customers to opt for a cloud based solution to save on the hassles of

maintaining a server. FBS would like to wish Bell & Barnett

continued success and growth over the coming years.

Focus on Customers

NEW CUSTOMER

Automatic Technologies Australia (ATA) has been using Harmony for 20 years. ATA is a world leading innovator, designer and manufacturer of garage door, gate, and commercial opener products, plus related electronic, radio frequency and remote control systems.

Being in business since the 80s, ATA grew rapidly through their innovations and dedication to quality. By the early 90s they realized the need for a robust and reliable system that would facilitate their business to grow at that rapid pace. In 1993, Future Business Systems came in to assist and Harmony was implemented at ATA.

Over the years, FBS have made many modifications and customisations to the system at ATA, to successfully cater for their business requirements driven by their innovative nature. It has been a long standing partnership between the two organizations and we look forward to an equally successful future.

FROM THE VAULT

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AUGUST 2013

A As technology changes the customer experience and

increases their appetite for more social engagement,

businesses risk creating an engagement gap if they choose

the wrong media to communicate their message. To tackle

the problem head-on, forward thinking organisations are

focusing their social resources and attention on three

critical areas, aimed at creating highly valued customer

experiences, namely, listening and engaging, building

communities and shifting toward sales and support.

Focus on Communication

The Business of Being Social

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AUGUST 2013

Focus on Communication

Listening and Engaging.

Today, many more companies recognize the value of interacting with customers in social spaces. For example, TD

Bank, one of North America’s largest retail banks, with a workforce of more than 86,000 employees, extended their

customer service dialogue into the social arena. Using Twitter and other social platforms they listen, reach out and

respond to customers in real-time. With a team comprising of 25 dedicated specialists across North America they

monitor and engage in real-time, seven days a week, 18 hours a day. TD Bank further integrated this capability within

its contact centres and its overall customer support strategy. The interactions range from inquiries and questions

about products and services, to day-to-day banking and problem resolution.

Social business provides multiple paths to your constituents

Method of Engagement Social Capabilities Benefits

Providing answers Provide self-service and agent-based support via social platforms when and how customers want to be connected.

Improved response time; greater data capture; higher customer satisfaction.

Mining conversations Capture and analyse conversations to determine customer sentiment, purchasing preferences and overall market trends.

More effective marketing resource allocation; increased revenue opportunities.

Crowdsourcing insights Customize products and services using online social tools and allow other customers to rank and review new designs.

Identify new offerings and trends with market potential.

Influencing influencers Work with individuals with significant followers to obtain unique insights and gain mindshare.

Unearth emerging trends and increase word of mouth promotion/sales.

Source Material: IBM Institute for Business Value

Building Communities.

More business-to-business companies are exploiting platform-based communities, such as those found on Facebook

and LinkedIn. This strategy extends their reach beyond hosting private communities on their websites. The objective

is to imbue wider dialogue among customers and between customers and the organization. Customer communities

are becoming an integral part of their service strategy. They acquire deeper insight that leads to unique solutions

delivered in less time.

The success of these communities is generally determined by the existence of the following work activities and

underlying capabilities;

Overarching governance to oversee the community’s operation.

Achieving a critical mass of external participants.

The ability to react quickly to opportunities and challenges presented by customers, while seizing upon new business

opportunities.

Shifting toward Sales and Service.

Social business has been elevated beyond mere promotional activity. It participates in the entire customer lifecycle,

from lead generation to post-sales services. Providing customer support through social channels will become more

and more prominent with organisations incorporating social platforms into their larger customer relationship

management strategies. The challenge will be to elevate an organisation above and beyond the traditional

communication strategies.

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AUGUST 2013

Stages of creating valued customer experiences

Basic Leading Edge Future

Engage with individuals and groups

Develop organization-wide, cross-functional approach to listening and responding to customers.

Integrate insights from customer conversations with purchase and usage data to innovate and personalize offerings.

Design customised ‘‘storefronts’’ that are aggregated from different retailers using social information.

Build communities Pay attention to existing customer communities sponsored by outsiders.

Initiate, host and nurture customer communities to build engagement and learn from customers.

Incorporate communities into core organizational processes, e.g. sales, support, product innovation.

Shift toward sales and service

Identify the areas of the value chain where customers are looking to interact via social channels.

Develop a social media strategy that integrates relevant components of marketing, sales and service.

Fuse the external company brand with the internal corporate culture to create a consistent customer experience

Source Material: IBM Institute for Business Value

Social Approaches to Workforce Productivity

Social approaches are equally effective when embedded into the daily activities of any organisation. The proliferation

of business activities into the global arena inevitably creates situations where information and competencies are

strewn across large distances and quite often unconnected and disparate. The ability to share knowledge and

participate in problem solving within global enterprises often helps address local market conditions and improve cost,

quality and delivery expectations. The cornerstone of this idea is to enable collaborative spaces for employees to

engage in extensive discussions, share ideas and resources.

Stages of using social to drive workforce productivity and effectiveness

Basic Leading Edge Future

Increase transparency and velocity

Create an infrastructure that allows employees to set up collaborative spaces and individual profiles.

Integrate collaborative tools in day-to-day work activities, projects and processes.

Mine social interactions to identify influence leaders and understand future trends.

Find and build expertise

Apply social tools to important learning initiatives.

Incorporate gaming capabilities and simulations into relevant work and learning streams.

Deliver insights derived from social data to individuals at the point of need.

Coordinate beyond boundaries

Use social techniques to identify areas of improvement from suppliers and intermediaries.

Apply crowdsourcing techniques to augment the organization’s processes and skills.

Incorporate social data to augment cross organizational processes and activities.

Source Material: IBM Institute for Business Value

A Fresh Approach to Innovation

Twenty-first century innovation is being fuelled by many ideas acquired beyond company boundaries. By utilising

social platforms new ideas have the opportunity to be created and adopted quickly. The merit of this social

engagement will largely depend on the eagerness of business leaders to act on these opportunities, or risk losing the

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AUGUST 2013

Study how your

customers are using or

taking advantage of your

product or service. It’s

important to heed what Peter

Drucker famously said, “The

customer rarely buys what

the business thinks it sells

him.”

Be aware of alternative

offerings to your

existing product or

service available to

customers. Ensure you

understand what substitutes

are currently available in the

market.

Identify or discover

compensating

behaviours. It’s

important to uncover what

jobs people are satisfying

poorly or products they

desperately need.

Identify what people are

trying to accomplish

and what real needs

they have. Then identify

how your products or

services are fulfilling their

expectations.

attention of these external communities. Innovation hotbeds have been in vogue for many years now and with

forward thinking organisations deriving great benefits from these satellite entities.

Next Step

It’s important for any organisation to realise the power of social business tools in engaging in extended dialogue with

customers, employees, business partners and key stakeholders. The potential to leverage shared resources, skills and

knowledge can provide a competitive advantage. So the next step is to decide what social tools you will adopt to

enhance your customer’s experience, extend the boundaries of internal and external collaboration and then how to

turn these ideas and insights into action plans.

RETHINKING THE DESIGN OF YOUR SUPPLY CHAIN There are no signs to suggest that in the short-term, offshore sourcing of products is likely to decline. Low

cost supply chains are not only compelling business propositions but in most cases the only option

available. The problem is that inevitably these widely dispersed low-cost supply chains lead to

organisational vulnerability due to protectionist governments, rising transportation costs and quality

problems. In order to prevent this problem from occurring organisations are taking steps to make their

supply chains shorter, simpler and stronger. This has the effect of reducing the distance within their

production networks to better manage their exposure.

Focus on Communication

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AUGUST 2013

Forced Password

Change

Due to the proliferation of hacking and identity theft worldwide, administrators of every computerised business system are struggling to get their users to choose a complex password that is hard to guess. Not to mention, an even harder task trying to convince the users to change their passwords periodically.

Harmony keeps a substantial log of user activities once logged in. When data changes unexpectedly, it is often possible to determine who made those changes based on the Harmony username. But if your username is your first name in uppercase and your password is exactly the same, anyone in your organization can log in as you, and assume all your rights and permissions.

We encourage all Harmony users to choose a complex password that is a combination of letters and numbers. Some examples of easily guessed passwords are your own name or

that of a child or spouse, date of birth, car registration, and pet’s names.

To take things to the next level of best practice, Harmony now has the ability to periodically force a password change. This feature is highly configurable. Some of the settings are

Exempted users / groups - users and user groups can be marked as exempt from having to change passwords. For example, a user or user group with very limited system access may not be required to change their passwords;

Ability to choose the number of days before a user will have to change the password, e.g. 7 days, 30 days, 180 days;

Ability to prompt the user about the impending password change, as well as the number of days prior to the enforced password change that the prompt would appear. For example,

you can set it up so that the system will start prompting 3 days before the user will have to change their password;

Ability to set the minimum and/or maximum length of the password (up to 8 characters);

Ability to force a minimum number of digits and/or characters that must be part of the password;

Ability to prevent the use of the same password for a specific period of time, e.g. specify that the same password can’t be re-used for 6 months after it has expired;

Ability to limit user access to Harmony via Harmony Desktop only. No ODBC access will be allowed for the specified user or group; Ability to limit access to Harmony via ODBC only, preventing user or group access via Harmony desktop.

If you are interested in implementing any of the above features, please contact your account manager.

Two very simple questions:

Is your Harmony password the same as your Harmony username? when was the last time you changed your password?

When we ask our Harmony users these questions, the most common answers are:

yes, and Never.

New Harmony Feature

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AUGUST 2013

New WinPOS Feature

In today’s digitally driven

world, access to customer

information is more

important than ever.

FBS has developed a Customer

Profile report to assist retail staff in

delivering a more personalised

shopping experience for customers.

Harnessing the functionality within

WinPOS to collect, sort and

summarise customers’ buying habits,

shop floor staff will be able to better

meet the demand for personalised

service, where smart product

recommendations become part of

your core offering

The report can be sorted by shop,

product category, season, date

range. It can be viewed as a

summarised report or retrieved as a

story board of items the customer

has purchased during a selected

period.

As retail staff may not be familiar

with all product codes and

descriptions, having a visual story

board is an invaluable aid, allowing

them to suggest to the customer

items that my compliment their

previous purchases.

Customer Profile Report