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Successful business systems happen because pride and professionalism guide the implementers of any accounting software or business application. At NetPath, we take pride in our 30+ year history of successfully automating business processes. We utilize a project management procedure for "New System Deployment" that is simple, comprehensive of the management disciplines required... and economic in terms of cash investment and demands upon your time. Additionally, we provide ancillary services that complement your planning stages and add an ongoing safety net to support the continuing success of your automated business processes.
- Consulting
- Exclusive of any agenda for a system / application software sale, NetPath Business Systems will provide a team of one or more qualified professionals (MBAs, Certified Professional in the appropriate discipline, CPA, etc.) to analyze problem areas in your business and recommend IT related strategies for reducing or resolving issues that are challenging your company objectives. Engagement fees are negotiated on a client by client basis and are contingent upon the makeup of the consulting team.
- Survey and Assessment - New System Deployment
- The early stages of our "New System" client engagements focus on gaining an understanding of your problem areas, goals and objectives. This is a "listening" time. We document current processes, identify likely areas for improvement and discuss programs you would like to implement for moving your company to the "next level."
- Goals and Strategies
- Next, we work with you to develop formalized, measurable goals that address your problem areas and support your proactive programs. These objectives drive the development of one or more strategies, implementing standard or developed applications, to solve your problem areas and achieve your objectives.
- Implementation
- The next step is implementation, our 7 point process that builds a foundation for integrating the applications that will be part of your ongoing Best Business Practices. This Process includes:
- Stakeholder Orientation - we insure that all persons involved, from department head to data entry clerk, understand the goals, strategy, and the part they will play in successfully implementing the new system(s).
- Training - We insure that each individual understands the mechanics of the components they will be using, where it fits in the "big picture", and how it affects the overall success of the new system.
- Setup - every new system starts with "setup." This involves User permissions, loading master files with primary account data (Customers, Vendors, Items, GL Accounts, etc.), either manually or by one or more data migration techniques. This is where a variety of tables will be created to define standard practices - such as discount policy, payment procedures, tax authorities, shipping terms… and so on.
- Data Import - chances are you have a large amount of historical data you don't want to discard. The Data Import process identifies historical data to be imported into the new system and defines the mechanism(s) for doing so.
- Balancing - once all data has been loaded and imported, a series of checks and audits are performed to insure that current and historical data is balanced and agrees with physical counts and previous closings.
- Turnkey - depending upon your resources and how your business is run, it may not be practical or even advisable to activate all application areas at once. Whether your action plan calls for "all at once" or a phased implementation, we insure that resources are assigned to "look over the shoulder" of each stakeholder as they take control of the new system. This "mentoring" process creates confidence, builds enthusiasm and insures technical accuracy during the deployment phase.
- Period End Procedures - all accounting systems and most "business process" applications have a list of recurring activities that must be performed at regular intervals in order to guarantee the accuracy and success of the system. These are typically "single action" operations that are performed at the end of the month, end of a fiscal period (quarterly or fiscal year) or at the end of the calendar year. Depending upon your Agreement with NetPath Business Systems - you can have an account manager guide, supervise and/or execute the regular and accurate execution of these duties in conjunction with or separate from your operations staff.
Our 7 point process defines an orderly and logical track that will insure a smooth transition from your prior system and practices into a more advanced method of accounting and managing your business.
- Review
- At periodic intervals, an account executive will review the current state of your system and compare it with the goals established prior to implementation. Variations will be noted, and recommendations will be provided to insure that your accounting, business management and reporting systems are functioning smoothly, and that you are realizing the maximum possible return on your investment.
- Business Continuity
- Although it can be considered a part of "Period End Procedures" in the Implementation phase, practically speaking, backup is an operation that stands by itself. There are 2 types of backup you should be performing on a regular basis. Your Network Administrator, if you have one, should be backing up your entire network in a consistent and timely manner. That process is another discussion typically falling under Network Services and only has nominal impact on the integrity of your accounting data. In addition to Network backup, the data around which your accounting application builds its records and reports - must be consistently backed up to insure the survival of your business in the event of a disaster. Unless your transaction volumes are extremely low - backing up accounting records will typically occur several times per day - in addition to the "month end", "fiscal period end" and "calendar year end" backups that must occur.
Our practice is to train each primary system manager at a customer site (Billing manager, Payables manager, Inventory manager, etc.) on the importance - and mechanics - of backing up your accounting data. Additionally, depending upon your Agreement with NetPath Business Systems - we will assist in, or take responsibility for, "post closing" period end backups with "off site" storage.
Why is off site storage important?
- In the event of a fire, flood, catastrophic electrical strike, surge or spike, embedded virus or "cyber vandalism" - an off-site backup of your data represents a "last resort" recovery option for a locale that has been wiped clean or "wiped out." Few businesses are able to survive a complete loss of accounting records and Customer/ Vendor/Item/Account master files. NetPath Business Systems provides an option to minimize your exposure to this risk.
- Security
- If your business applications reside on a network that is connected to the Internet - or on a "disconnected" system for which "restrictive" Administrative permissions have not been established or enforced, NetPath Business Systems provides a "hardening" service that will insure your network is resistant to intrusion from outside predators. This involves installing security patches as they are released, installation and management of 2 - 3 security layers between the router and your internal gateway, regular "sweeping" of your system to detect and remove parasitic cookies and "applets", reporting and acting upon any suspicious activity that shows in your system logs.
- Maintenance
- Your accounting system and other business process software undergoes periodic upgrading and refinement if it is published by a "Tier 1" software publisher. These upgrades typically come in the form of bug fixes or "patches", and major system upgrades. There are two investment components to maintaining your application software. They are 1) the annual Maintenance Agreement from the software publisher - which includes a number of items spelled out on another page in this site, and 2) the support fees associated with acquiring, installing and any additional training needed for implementing the patches or a major system upgrade. NetPath Business Systems recognizes the importance of maintaining your system at "current code level" and makes resources available to insure that the system you are using will have a long and productive life cycle.
- Data Integrity
- In the event your information "stores" (the "database") become unsynchronized, out of balance or unreadable, NetPath Business Systems can provide on site auditing, troubleshooting and "data repair" to insure business continuity.
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