The majority of ERP systems are now out of date, reported IDG News Service. I believe this has a lot to do with the recent economic downturn. Companies have been putting off large investments in their software and are now in need of a total reboot.

How can companies get the upgrade they need without creating a large hole in their pocket? Luckily something else has happened the past few years besides the economic downturn, and that’s the surge of cloud computing options. Cloud or hybrid options for ERP software is making it possible for companies to afford a total reboot of their software.

• Cloud Computing: Hosting your software online or “in the cloud”. Microsoft has been and is making large investments in making Microsoft Dynamics ERP cloud capable. Microsoft Dynamics GP and Microsoft Dynamics NAV are scheduled to be the first of those products in the coming year.
• Hybrid Approach: Hosting part of your software solution in the cloud, while the other stays on-premises. Many companies are choosing this option because CRM is well-known for its cloud capabilities, while ERP is lagging shortly behind.

PANGEA Business Solutions is dedicated to helping companies gain maximum results from their business and technology infrastructure investments. Please contact us to learn more about Microsoft Dynamics GP or Microsoft Dynamics AX.

By Alexandra Gonzalez with PANGEA Business Solutions, Florida Microsoft Dynamics Partner

Gartner projects ERP Software Market growth to increase even more in 2012, with revenue forecasted to reach $288 billion. According to this article, “things are looking pretty good for worldwide enterprise application software spending. Across the board, it’s forecasted to total $114.4 billion in 2011, a 10.2 percent increase from 2010 spending of $103.8 billion, Gartner found.”

Previously, analysts believe 2011 would be a year for people to rush out and buy ERP systems, when in fact 2012 is now projected to be that year. After the economic downturn, businesses are much more diligent in their research to find the perfect ERP Software. As a Microsoft Dynamics® ERP partner, we understand and are grateful for more diligent buyers. ERP software will help businesses, but it often time comes down to the people within that business and how they leverage the capabilities of the software they possess.

Even if 2012 is not the year you’ll be making the plunge to purchase ERP Software, it never hurts to start your research somewhere. Keep reading our blog, checking back often for interesting articles or subscribe to our newsletter for monthly emails relevant to ERP and CRM software.

By Alexandra Gonzalez with PANGEA Business Solutions, Florida Microsoft Dynamics Partner

Business intelligence (BI) is gaining considerable attention for its ability to make sense of the massive stores of data captured in an ERP software system. After all, what good is the capture of data if it really doesn’t mean anything to the people running the business?

Microsoft Dynamics® ERP has made great advancements with unique BI features. Let’s take a look at just a few of the capabilities:

In Microsoft Dynamics GP, you can get immediate notification about business activity. You can quickly and easily set up Business Alerts to automatically notify you about business changes. The Business Alerts feature monitors the Microsoft SQL Server database for conditions you specify and ultimately puts you in more control of your business with greater access to business intelligence.

In Microsoft Dynamics AX, you can combine the power of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 with the flexible performance management tools of Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Server 2007 to simplify monitoring, deeply analyze business performance, and enhance planning and budgeting. With this type of interoperability, your company can ensure the information coming from your ERP is accurate and timely.

PANGEA Business Solutions is dedicated to helping companies gain maximum results from their business and technology infrastructure investments. Please contact us to learn more about Microsoft Dynamics GP or Microsoft Dynamics AX.

By Alexandra Gonzalez with PANGEA Business Solutions, Florida Microsoft Dynamics Partner

What is modern in regards to technology (considering it changes every other day)? Analysts, technology bloggers, and the like discuss the changing trends of technology all the time. But something holds steadfastly true throughout these superficial changes and that is the search for knowledge. Because of the internet, we are more informed and knowledgeable about the world we live in.

Similar to the internet, Microsoft Dynamics® ERP makes knowledge about your business accessible to everyone within your organization. It helps you achieve your business goals and objectives with real-time insight into what is going on around you. Microsoft Dynamics ERP also makes it possible to react because of the insight you have. A strategic plan can set you apart and allow you to do more, learn more, and grow more than your competition.

So maybe you shouldn’t strive to achieve modernization, rather achieve the deepest level of insight into your business by leveraging the capabilities within Microsoft Dynamics ERP.  Please contact us for more information on how you can achieve this knowledge with Microsoft Dynamics ERP.

By Alexandra Gonzalez with PANGEA Business Solutions, Florida Microsoft Dynamics Partner

Spring is definitely one of my favorite seasons. It’s a time of warmer weather, birds signing, flowers blooming and even exciting offers! For a limited time, existing Microsoft Dynamics® customers can purchase additional user or module licenses for up to 20% off of the standard price list for their current Microsoft Dynamics GP or Microsoft Dynamics AX solution.

Maybe you’re cleaning out the cobwebs of a lingering system within your company; now’s the time to freshen it up with more Microsoft Dynamics GP or Microsoft Dynamics AX user licenses. Full adoption of Microsoft Dynamics ERP can only help streamline your business processes so that company growth is attainable and real-time information is accessible. Or maybe you have yet to upgrade your Microsoft Dynamics GP or Microsoft Dynamics AX solution with the latest new features; well now’s the time to get up to speed through this offer. With a great discount on additional users, you can save tons of money while getting the features that competitors are potentially already benefitting from.

No matter what your situation may be, a good offer should never be overlooked. And we here at Pangea know this offer is worth your time. This springtime offer is good through end of the business day June 24, 2011, so contact us today for more information.

By Alexandra Gonzalez with PANGEA Business Solutions, Florida Microsoft Dynamics Partner

In an article about ERP Predictions for 2011, Microsoft Dynamics sounds like the most comprehensive choice out there: “While Microsoft’s Dynamics ERP products have typically taken a back seat to its ever-present Office and SharePoint software, its fortunes could change next year.” The Dynamics channel has a good handle on Microsoft’s strategy for Azure, its cloud platform, making Microsoft Dynamics a powerful force to reckon with.

Fortunes are already looking up for Microsoft Dynamics. Over the past few months, Microsoft has shifted its focus and investments largely to cloud computing. In doing so, they are not abandoning the Dynamics solutions, rather enhancing them to meet cloud computing initiatives. They announced at the yearly Microsoft Convergence event in Atlanta last week that each of the ERP products will be available on the Windows Azure platform in their next release.

That means that future versions of Microsoft Dynamics AX, Microsoft Dynamics GP, Microsoft Dynamics NAV, and Microsoft Dynamics SL will all take advantage of this exciting new platform, allowing for unparalleled flexibility in deploying cloud solutions throughout organizations.

Learn more about Windows Azure by watching this quick video or contact us for more information.

By Alexandra Gonzalez with PANGEA Business Solutions, Florida Microsoft Dynamics Partner

More and more companies are finding that enterprise resource planning (ERP) software is helping to make their operations more flexible. A Gartner report showed that worldwide ERP software revenue is set to hit $253.7 billion this year, up by 7.5 per cent compared to 2010.

The main aim of ERP software is to deliver tangible business benefits: cost reduction, productivity improvement and measurable bottom-line results. In addition to this, companies are finding great agility in their business operations through ERP functionality. For example, the buzz around online software is duly noted by Microsoft; in turn they have dedicated dollars and resources to making hosting options available that fit the unique needs of each and every business model. With Software-plus-Services for Microsoft Dynamics ERP you can make cloud computing a flexible component of your ERP solution—on your terms. You can choose to license and deploy your ERP software through partner-hosted ERP Software as a Service (SaaS). And extend your business processes seamlessly to the cloud with online services that amplify the value of your business software.

If you are ready to embrace greater agility with Microsoft Dynamics ERP, please contact us for more information. We are dedicated to helping companies gain maximum results from their business and technology infrastructure investments.

By Alexandra Gonzalez, PANGEA Business Solutions

Every industry has their unique challenges; therefor having a unique solution to help overcome these challenges is a necessity. Here are three critical challenges the distribution industry faces and how Microsoft Dynamics ERP can help:

Dependent on local economic conditions- Because most distributors serve a limited geographical market, you may be sensitive to local economic conditions.

Make your local customers trust and depend on you by ensuring accurate and on-time delivery with powerful customer/supplier integration, planning tools, and company-wide inventory visibility with Microsoft Dynamics ERP. You can respond rapidly to unique customer demands, such as specific packaging and shipping requirements as well as manage customer interactions across multiple communication channels.

Greater competition with manufacturers- The increasing efficiency of logistics systems allows manufacturers to sell more goods directly to end-users, bypassing distributors. Direct manufacturer sales account for nearly 30 percent of total wholesale trade in the US.

Streamline your business operations through automated business processes, from order capture to inventory replenishment, and help reduce wasteful activities. With Microsoft Dynamics ERP, you can deliver real-time business intelligence and alerts on the status of the business to management and customers. You can also enable customer self-service through Web portals, streamlining the order process, and saving you time and money.

Inventory carrying costs- Because many distributors finance their inventories, you may be sensitive to interest rates. On average, distributors hold inventory equal to 35 days sales, but machinery distributors may hold products for more than 50 days.

Improve supply chain and inventory management by providing easy, real-time visibility into inventory, sales, purchasing, and financial information across multiple locations. With Microsoft Dynamics ERP, you can accurately track shipping and delivery of parts by integrating Automatic Data Collection (ADC) functionality with enterprise resource planning (ERP). You can also maintain accurate real-time inventory data and optimize layout, picking methods, and movement. Through this increased insight, it’s easy to create accurate demand forecasts, preparing your business for the future.

PANGEA is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner with a ten-year track record of helping medium-size companies gain maximum results from their business and technology infrastructure investments, such as Microsoft Dynamics® ERP software.

By Alexandra Gonzalez, PANGEA Business Solutions

The beginning of a New Year is an exciting time of renewal, especially when it means a tough year like 2010 is over. Of course, we all strive to do better than the year before, but what type of new functionality will enable new goals within this New Year? Well, Microsoft Dynamics® ERP has an earful for you…

Microsoft Dynamics GP had a huge year in 2010 with the launch of Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010. New functionality is at your fingertips in 2011 and the support base is growing. Here’s a quick glance at what’s new in Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 or you can read our full blog posts for more details.

• Improve budgeting efficiency and accuracy with the ability to quickly pinpoint and track detailed information when budgets change.
• Streamline logon processes and reduce “password fatigue” with default logon settings.
• Simplify security management for SharePoint, Web services, and Business Portal using the Microsoft Dynamics Security Synchronization Utility.
• Take advantage of enhanced tools for fast installation, setup, and data migration from applications such as QuickBooks and Peachtree.

Microsoft Dynamics AX started the year off right as a leader in the Magic Quadrant for ERP for Product-Centric Midmarket Companies 2010, a research report published by Gartner Inc. Microsoft Dynamics AX has a long track record of customer success and has experienced above-average growth rates in the midmarket. The solution features an intuitive and easy-to-learn and -use Microsoft Office-like user interface, and RoleTailored dashboards. Microsoft Dynamics AX further provides a flexible architecture and solid foundation for partners to develop vertically specific solutions.

As always, Microsoft strives for optimal performance and strategic growth. You can rest assured your needs are in their and our best interest for 2011. Contact us at PANGEA to start the year off right with Microsoft Dynamics ERP. PANGEA is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner with a ten-year track record of helping medium-size companies gain maximum results from their business and technology infrastructure investments, such as Microsoft Dynamics® ERP software.

By Alexandra Gonzalez, PANGEA Business Solutions