I am a new manager of a security integrator attempting to implement an
information system.  Currently, the company has no computerized
information system (everything is either verbal, in print or e-mail)
and organization is resultingly poor.

I seek recommendations for an information system that would integrate
sales, operations and financial activities. Recommendations must
include specific software recomendations. The company has significant
networking/PC experience and a few million dollar yearly revenue.

From a business perspective, what we are looking to do:

Sales obtains a contract to install a certain amount of equipment. As
part of the sale, we have a list of equipment, pricing, and specific
objectives. I would like this information to inputted into an
information system that the operations team can access.

Then the operations team can order equipment, track supplies, progress
of the project and so forth.

Finally, finance can track costs and revenue to specific projects.

Finally, this may take multiple software packages, etc.  My main
concern is getting pointed in the right direction.  If you can
reference how similiar companies accomplish this, I would appreciate.

Thank you.

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Clarification of Question by jr1734-ga on 11 Jan 2003 11:51 PST

Hi THV,

Thanks for the comment.  Please go ahead and answer the question with
regards to Lotus Notes ability to meet my requirements.

Specifically, please address:

1. How we can input sales information to this system (right now sales
only uses Goldmine with no integration with the rest of the company)? 
What Lotus application do we use?
2. How does the operations team track progress? Does this involve
Lotus workflow?
3. How do we tie this into finances? Calculating costs of projects -
labor, equipment, overhead, etc?

Thanks,

 John
3. How can we tie this into finance

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Clarification of Question by jr1734-ga on 11 Jan 2003 11:52 PST

Hi THV,

Thanks for the comment.  Please go ahead and answer the question with
regards to Lotus Notes ability to meet my requirements.

Specifically, please address:

1. How we can input sales information to this system (right now sales
only uses Goldmine with no integration with the rest of the company)? 
What Lotus application do we use?
2. How does the operations team track progress? Does this involve
Lotus workflow?
3. How do we tie this into finances? Calculating costs of projects -
labor, equipment, overhead, etc?

Finally, if you have examples that relate to an integrator that would
be very helpful. Many of the case studies I have read relate to
companies with uncomparable business processes.

Thanks,

 John
3. How can we tie this into finance

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Request for Question Clarification by tar_heel_v-ga on 11 Jan 2003 12:02 PST

hi, jr1734..

Prior to going into specific applications, a couple of things:

With Lotus Notes, you can create specific databases.  These databases
are comparable to applications, such as sales force automation,
accounting, etc, that you would run under Windows.  Can you give me a
punchlist of exactly what you would like.  For example, you say you
are using Goldmine right now, so a sales force automation or CRM
application would obviously be needed.  You can assign permission and
permission groups within the data stored in the application so that
management and upper level execs can track.  Yes, this would
inherently use the workflow aspects of Notes/Domino.  There are
applications available specifically for inventory, warehousing,
purchasing, etc, while they may not tie 100% together.  Would you
prefer (and if I am reading you right, it does) a single application
for all of your operations.  If so, I can try and locate a Notes CRM
application that can do as much as possible.  Tieing into finance may
be something altogether different, but I will see what I can find.

-THV

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Clarification of Question by jr1734-ga on 11 Jan 2003 13:55 PST

I would prefer a single application for all of my operations.

Please try your best to find information about integrating finance.

Also, if you can recommend any IT integrators that could implement
this project for me, I would appreciate it. The company is located in
Hawaii.

Finally, I have increased the list price from $10 to $20 to compensate
for any additional research needed to answer the question.

Thanks.

For all you are looking for, take a look at Lotus Notes.  Depending on
how many people within your organization as well as your existing
hardware infrastructure, what you are looking to accomplish can be
done with Notes (Domino) and various Domino applications that are
available. If you would like to take a look at some Notes info and let
me know if this is something you would like to investigate further, I
can get into a bit more detail in your answer.  The reason I am
posting this here is that folks not familiar with Notes sometimes tend
to be biased against it (I once was) and I want to leave your question
open.

-THV

Jr --

We accomplished a similar task using Onyx Software, which may be out
of the price range for what you're doing but you should check.

What we were seeking to do was perhaps a step beyond where you're at. 
We'd implemented a number of independent software programs to track
direct sales contracts; direct mail marketing; promotional programs;
and service & support.  But we were suffering from having 5-7
independent systems, so you couldn't tell what was happening with a
major contract or customer (unless you poked through the different
systems meticulously).

Ensure that your systems are integrated and interactive if you're
using different suppliers.

Best regards,

Omnivorous-GA