ACCELERATOR Smart service business news / Winter 2010
SMART STEPS FOR SERVICE BUSINESS
End-to-end business processes tamed 3
PlanMill SaaS Business Suite 4
CLOUD IS here!
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ACCELERATOR
Smart steps for service business
Thomas Hood CEO & Partner
Get set for our common battlegrounds in 2010! How we’ll do it, you might ask. The answer is simple. We follow PlanMill’s focus on delivering premium customer service for existing customers, generate prospects and leads, and reiterate and reinforce our reliability and trustworthiness. Our key target is 100% service business, primarily SMEs (small and medium size enterprises). Streamline, automate, collaborate your business processes to meet your business objectives. CUSTOMERS LEAD THE WAY Entrepreneurs are agents of economic growth, so we are always on the lookout for new ways to generate more productivity and profitability for you. An increasing number of our clients in service business are building success globally. Since we also thrive on customer-driven solutions, services, innovations, and values, we are your reliable partners
in the growth-oriented service industry, every step of the way. Thanks to our trusted partners and successful customers for a successful year in spite of rough economic times. We aim to provide more tangible results for you in the coming years. FREEDOM OF CHOICE PlanMill SaaS or OnPremise. You decide, we provide! Changing business needs can’t be based on one model, so we give you integrated solutions. We understand your needs for scalability, growth, easy and cost-effective software suite that enhances teamwork and does not deter operations due to prolonged implementation periods. Because PlanMill systems are up and running quickly, you can relax and enjoy quality time in-between projects. n thomas.hood@planmill.com
“All media is social and all social is media” In PlanMill, we are keen to give our users the edge over competitors by defining the current trends shaping the marketing, advertising, web analytics realms using lead generation and business networking tools. PlanMill systems are now connected with a LinkedIn account profile available as a widget – users can easily view all Contacts within the system through LinkedIn. In My Workspace, Twitter widgets can be added using custom parameters. Below is a shortlist of popular online communities where you can now view and connect with PlanMill. n
Flickr
Twitter Google
Screen -casts
YouTube
MySpace LinkedIn
Global SaaS Revenue to Reach $14 Billion by 2013 A new Gartner report confirms tremendous market potential for online business providers. It said global software-as-aservice revenue will reach $7.5 billion this year, a 17.7 percent increase from 2008 revenue of $6.4 billion, reveals “Market Trends: Software as a Service, Worldwide, 2008-2013, Update.”
– SaaS companies are uniquely positioned to leverage the Internet for their own business processes by enabling customer interactions through their offering, making it easier for online customers to find, try, buy and use their product, US-based industry analyst Joel York wrote in his blog “Winning at SaaS”. SaaS ERP adoption is higher among SMEs, because most The report revealed that CRM and ERP so- are just starting their move onto this type lutions make up the bulk of SaaS revenues. of system. Alongside content, communications and collaboration, the customer relationship As one of the early providers of SaaS in Finmanagement market had the largest share land, PlanMill encourages connecting cusof SaaS revenue generating $2.3 billion in tomers to customer’s customers and deli2009, up from $1.9 billion in 2008. ver even greater value through network
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effects. Through social media features in PlanMill CRM, we answer the demanding needs of competitive online business where dynamic customer interaction is crucial. Within PlanMill dashboards, you can read industry issues, monitor online company feedback, and deliver realtime knowledge using top social media tools - LinkedIn, Google Maps, and Twitter. Using the system’s Accounts or Contacts, a person’s LinkedIn profile can be viewed within PlanMill. As an option, Twitter widgets can be added to My Workspace using custom parameters. n
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A complete management solution for
end-to-end business process PlanMill CRM
Administer
Project, time & expense
PlanMill customers can now benefit from a complete real-time solution to streamline end-toend service business process. PlanMill Ltd. together with Administer Ltd. launched PlanMill Finance Connector for eFina, a new real-time connector integrated with Administer’s eFina system, a solution uniquely designed for service business and related SMEs. Companies that already enjoy this seamless add-on includes GIA (Global Intelligence Alliance Group Oy) and Edimaster. Using the financial connector for eFina, all customer information, account receivables, and general ledger-related information is automatically available at eFina. Purchase invoices received by eFina can then be transferred to relevant PlanMill projects. COMPLETE STREAMLINING n – Together with Administer, we have simplified the continuous chain of actions and created the vital links to the financial management of billings and accounting, said Thomas Hood, CEO, PlanMill Ltd. – This fresh approach for an integrated solution allows management and project managers a firm control and dynamic handling of the whole project cycle. Endto-end process activities are streamlined through the PlanMill and Administer solution.
Invoice & E-Invoice
Online accounting
PAPERLESS ACCOUNTING n Administer is a leading electronic financial accounting company in Finland and a ground-breaking operator in reshaping accounting routines and management, serving SMEs and publicly listed companies. – Our service includes the outsourcing of our customers’ entire financial accounting or parts of it, consulting services and the tasks of an outsourced financial controller. Purchase and sales invoices can be written, accepted and stored electronically, Peter Aho, CEO, from Administer said. – This can be integrated to various other systems including PSA, CRM, and ERP. Furthermore, this solution allows seamless integration of E-Invoices. Aho commended the joint efforts with PlanMill for its unique competitive advantage. – This continuous approach enables com-
Outsourced finance
panies to achieve better control and transparency throughout their entire service business process, Aho continued. Hood reiterated PlanMill’s total commitment to simplify business processes and to help organisations achieve the ecofriendly goals. – When most actions can be managed without paper work and create savings in many levels, we can support our clients’ ecological goals at the same time, summarized Hood. PlanMill’s Open API is a key to streamlining process management through connections with 3rd party applications. It offers PlanMill ecosystem members, application developers and customers alike, Open API (application programming interface) to enable information exchange between various business applications and PlanMill CRM, Project, PSA and ERP. n
Administer Ltd. is a steadily growing accounting agency providing electronic financial accounting services in Finland. They are a certified member of the Association of Finnish Accounting Firms and a pioneer in electronic financial accounting. Administer offers its customers an advanced service package that is based on web-based financial accounting system – eFina. See www.administer.fi
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ACCELERATOR
PlanMill SaaS Business Software Suite
SMART. SIMPLE. SCALABLE. On this final issue of Accelerator in 2009, we highlight PlanMill’s webbased business suite as an integrated, scalable, and real-time system to manage your entire service business – anywhere, anytime around the world using the Internet. As we approach 2010, we can say it has been a rewarding journey this year with our customers in around 25 countries using PlanMill browser-based solutions on the cloud or on-premise deployment options. To summarize our main product offering, here is the shortlist. PlanMill CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is suitable for growing, mid- sized and large corporations with the cutting-edge tools for a successful customer relationship management – including accounts, contacts, campaigns, opportunities and actions. As a webbased solution, it generates a solid and reliable base – streamlining sales, service, marketing, and help desk operations. Guarantee customer satisfaction at each sales and service stage better than ever! CRM SaaS users can upgrade easily to PlanMill PSA or ERP products. PlanMill Project (Project Portfolio Management) cuts away unnecessary activities already at planning stages, helps to meet demanding schedules, and enable SMBs with an international team to network on a global scale. This is a comprehensive way to track project status and analyze profitability, identify and schedule right people (or resources) projects, manage time, expense, and billing more accurately. Con-
solidate and streamline manual reporting processes, too. Project and task management has never been so enjoyable. PlanMill PSA (Professional Services Automation) provides a single, affordable and flexible answer to integrate the endto-end business processes in project and service organisations. This provides an uninterrupted workflow and shorter cycle times for maximum operational efficiency in real-time. It includes all features from PlanMill Project as well as important functions in Campaigns, Opportunities, Competences, and Finances. PlanMill ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) integrates front office customer relationship management (CRM), portfolio project management (PPM) with back-office ERP in one powerful application which is modular and flexible to meet specific business needs. Get ready to take control of your entire service business and enjoy centralized management of your whole operations. Connect your applications through PlanMill Open API using our seamless Connect & Upgrade solutions. PlanMill takes pride in our roots from Finland, known for being at the top of the IT world. Successful service business operations need not
PlanMill Absence PlanMill Absence is an affordable absence management to help HR workflow and reduce operational costs of companies and organisations. – The potential to change a company’s entire HR culture is great, Thomas Hood, PlanMill’s CEO revealed. Its possibilities in workplace
PlanMill Add-ons.
Perfect for
Your
Business Mill!
be a distant reality – in competitive environments, slow movers get left behind. We are proud of the steps we took to serve you better especially during difficult times. n
PlanMill Email Captur Customer support teams and project leaders are excited about the cool and nifty PlanMill Email Capture. Now, you can direct all emails to one common location, so that everybody can access, view, and monitor actions based on customer requests. Share, assign, and follow-up the task/request to
PlanMill Open API management have been hailed already prior to its release. PlanMill Absence manages the workflow for requesting and accepting absences, automates annual holiday calculation, and easily imports and exports data within demanding HR systems.
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Open platform applications are excellent tools for community building. PlanMill now offers application developers and customers open API (application programming interface) to enable information exchange between various business applications and PlanMillPlanMill Open API provides access
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Automate your finance process and save costs
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Automate your finance process and save costs! Efficient invoice processing demands a tight integration with your finance or accounting system. PlanMill Connectors allow data transmissions to and from your financial system with little to no effort from your internal IT development staff – no synchronization processes for them to struggle with, no complex data extraction algorithms for them to write. All related data of customer information, invoice, and
bookkeeping to be transmitted electronically from PlanMill PSA and ERP to your financial system. n
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Connector for Tikon Connector for Wintime Connector for eFina Connector for EmCe Connector for Netvisor Connector for ProCountor Connector for Econet
re selected persons or teams! Sending and receiving processes are automated because the key data is generated from other PlanMill modules such as Projects and Requests. Enjoy smoother workflow.
PlanMill E-Invoice
to the most common activities with database queries. PlanMill customers who wish to use the interface should contact PlanMill support. Application Developers are offered an up-todate documentation of the information content (modules, fields, lists of values).
PlanMill’s E-Invoice offers invoicing solutions in an electronic format (Finvoice) and routes them to an invoice processing or printing services, depending on the recipients’ choice. By using the add-on, both invoice sender and recipient can automate the entire invoicing process. This is the easiest and cost-effective solution created in collaboration with software company Bas-
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ware Plc, available immediately and can be implemented quickly. E-invoicing enhances accounts payable and receivable process by reducing the amount of errors during manual invoice processing, giving exceptional cost savings by automating and accelerating invoicing processes and related workflows. Send electronic invoices within a worldwide network – all with one connection.
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Success in Service Business: PlanMill PSA (Professional Services Automation) was selected in August 2009 by Kwantic Oy, the leading online measurement and research agency in the Nordics with topnotch customers including Kone, Nokia, and Nokia Siemens Networks. – This system is very good for our purposes and is going to become pivotal to our operations, said Director Steve Jackson, Kwantic Oy. The main modules are portfolio and project management, work schedules, tasks & assignments, actions, service requests, and time tracking inclu-
ding vacation planning, real-time indicators and finance & billing information, as well as sales invoice and accounting using PlanMill Finance Connector for Econet. With the web-based PlanMill PSA SaaS, an integrated and scalable system to support the company’s customer relationships and
project management systems was set up in no time for Kwantic’s 20 specialists in web analytics, internet marketing, analysis, market research, marketing, sales and usability. – Prior to PlanMill we used to plan and report our business in Excel, which was time consuming and laborious. After only two months of using the system, we can see at the touch of a button exactly how our business is performing. PlanMill allows us to concentrate on our clients which is better for them and us, said Jackson. n www.kwantic.fi
PlanMill Loves Start-ups Entrepreneurship is the most effective economic influence on our well-being in the future, said Antti Vilpponen of ArcticStartup, a primary information resource of Nordic and Baltic startups and the entrepreneurs behind them (see PlanMill in ArcticIndex). PlanMill marketing executive Sheila Riikonen attended the MindTrek Conference on September 30 - October 2, 2009 in Tampere, Finland. This event gathered 800 international participants from the world of interactive media, web, mobile, games, mashups, and enterprise 2.0. We are delighted to mention that PlanMill customer MultiTouch, creator of modular hardwarewon the distinction of being the most innovative digital media productreceiving mentoring from Tekes, Finnvera, Technopolis Ventures, Finpro, Diges, Lexia and Hermia. SMEs are an exciting and growing sector, as we know. In both Finland and Sweden around 60% and 40% of the workforce, respectively, work in small companies. Considering the employment effect of smaller companies in Finland after the millennium, companies are responsible for 80% of the new jobs being created and a large part of the productivity that has supported the growth of the economy at large.
Listening to Customers We listened to movers, shakers, and visionaries at Slush last November 3 and 4. Keynote speaker Risto Siilasmaa founder of F-Secure, reiterated that “entrepreneurs are agents of change”. Meanwhile, Andreas Weigend, the former Chief Scientist of Amazon.com advocated customer-centric business models and learning from consumers by listening from their conversations. At PlanMill, we can’t emphasize strongly enough that “our focus is 100% on service business”. As a leading provider of user-friendly, integrated and fully browser-based SaaS & On-Premise CRM, Project, PSA & ERP solutions and services, we cater mainly to SMEs. Our best-of-breed solution is something we are proud of always and thrive in our customers’ feedback. For small & midsize service business in ICT, Advertising & media, consulting, engin-
eering, finance, and others, efficient and streamlined operations remain crucial. For most, being smart means “no software, no hardware, just Internet”. Thus, PlanMill web-based business suite offers dynamic solutions to meet current customer requirements, so they can take control of their business from day one. 6
At PlanMill, we take simplicity, insight, and big IT savings seriously. We understand that small companies cannot afford unnecessary risks and thus avoid obstacles and barriers to successful product launches or market entries. “Start today” is not merely a slogan, but a way of conducting your business. n
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PlanMill offers SMEs a dynamic ecosystem in
CLOUD COMPUTING
Cloud computing is a common buzz but many business are still unclear what is it all about and what are benefits for them. Around 56% of European IT Heads were not familiar with cloud computing, according to a recent survey of Portio Research. “Cloud computing, or software as a service (SaaS), is when IT software and services are delivered over the web and through a browser. This transfers the responsibility for IT maintenance, software upgrades and any system issues onto the service provider, allowing enterprises to focus on their core business instead of their infrastructure.” PlanMill’s focus on SMEs is consistent. We are able to serve our customers according to their needs, highlighting their strengths and turning their challenges, such as small workforce or IT maintenance, into advantages. A list on “Getting started in the cloud” by Google Enterprise for SMEs on reiterates our goals at PlanMill. So into Cloud Computing today and take advantage of PlanMill SaaS solutions. n
1. Moving to the cloud is easy. Transfer of business information into the cloud is very straightforward. No need to install new hardware or software as everything is run by the cloud provider. 2. Cost savings and greater level of security. Businesses that move to the cloud can make savings on many different levels - IT hardware and software expenditure is cut dramatically and fewer staff or support resources are needed for IT maintenance. IT infrastructure means lower costs for hardware, software, and the people needed to manage it all. Cloud computing can be more secure than traditional IT solutions since everything is stored in the cloud and not on your company devices. 3. Improved productivity. If your business demands mobility, the cloud could be a straightforward and affordable way. Because most people are familiar with using the Internet to find what they need, SaaS apps tend to have high adoption rates, with a lower learning curve.
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4. Manage the cultural adjustment and enjoy a more collaborative way of working. Using cloud computing applications, people can work more closely together even if they come from different parts of the world. 5. Flexibility to scale up or scale down your business. Cloud based ”pay as you go” style services allow you increase your use of cloud services as your business grows, or decrease your spend if you need to temporarily scale down. PlanMill provides painless upgrades. As the SaaS provider, we manage all updates for everybody within the ecosystem and there are no patches for you to download or install. 6. Improved business flexibility/ Freedom of Choice. “Anywhere, anytime” concept. In contrast to traditional IT models involving expensive software licenses and long lock-in contracts, the cloud model offers far more flexibility. Historically, companies were required to buy, build, and maintain their IT infrastructures despite exponential costs. Now, you can plug in and subscribe to services built on shared infrastructure via the Internet.
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Sympa Oy chooses PlanMill’s ERP SaaS to boost HR software business Sympa Oy chooses web-based PlanMill ERP SaaS solution to boost its rap i d l y g ro w i n g H R s o f t w a re b u s i ness ser ving topnotch customers. PlanMill ERP SaaS is a comprehensive answer to portfolio and project management, work schedules, tasks & assignments, actions, service requests, expense, time and absence tracking including vacation planning. In addition, real-time indicators, finance and billing information, as well as sales invoice and accounting using PlanMill Finance Connector for Econet are part of the solution package. According to Sympa’s CEO Taina Sipilä, selecting PlanMill’s ERP solutions was an easy choice. They needed a reliable and trusted business solution that can meet demanding requirements in customer relationships, project and time management systems in no time. – This multilingual system is very good
PlanMill customers lead the way PlanMill’s customers include more than 7,000 users from the most successful leading IT and professional service organizations in 25 countries. We are proud to serve and share the success of our new SaaS and OnPremise customers and we are committed to support them all the way.
• • • • • • • • • • for our expanding reach not just in Finland but also globally. As one of Deloitte Technology’s Fast Rising Star in 2009 and a Microsoft Certified Gold Partner, Sympa is steadily growing its operations since 2005 with more than 100 % revenue growth yearly. n
Axxion Citat Finland Forum Virium F-Secure Kwantic SofTieto Starcut TNNet Tuokko Laskenta Wonder Design
Christmas Cheer! During Christmas, PlanMill supports and donates to The Mannerheim League for Child Welfare in Lahti (www.mll-lahti.fi).
PlanMill CEO Thomas Hood is named Top 100 IT Influential Figures in Finland PlanMill CEO Thomas Hood is named as one of Top 100 IT Influential Figures in Finland on December 11, 2009. Hood won this prestigious accolade for the third time. The annual recognition is published by the prestigious Tietoviikko magazine in honor of the top 100 IT Finnish influencers.
– I am pleased to be nominated again by Tietoviikko into this prestigious group of movers and shakers in this field. At the same time I would like to
take the opportunity to thank my team. Without their constant suppor t and hard work our achievements would not have granted us this honor, said Hood. The Tietoviikko list in 2009 contains 33 new names in several categories including IT infrastructure, mobile technology, and software security encompassing visionary entrepreneurs as well as successful global companies. Related materials (in Finnish): Tietoviikon TIVI-lista 2009. n
PlanMill Ltd | Westendintie 1 | FI-02160 Espoo | info@planmill.com | www.planmill.com PlanMill Ltd develops real-time, web-based CRM, Project,
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SMART WEB-BASED SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS FOR SERVICE BUSINESS – POWERED BY FINNISH INNOVATION 8