Dashboard Spotlight: Trinity Technologies eliminates Manual Reporting with Corda

Coordinating and managing the integration of content management systems with other business applications across multiple clients posed a major challenge for integrator Trinity Technologies.

Each week, Trinity’s financial administrator was tasked with manually capturing data from QuickBooks, spreadsheets, an SQL database and other sources and creating a report. This task took, on average, three to four hours to complete each week and the information in the report could be up to a week old. In addition, the report didn’t clearly highlight areas demanding immediate attention because of its inadequate data visualisation. For example, companies over 90 days delinquent on payments needed to be flagged for immediate attention and action.

Projects that had used more than 80% of their budgets also needed to be flagged for attention by project leaders. Trinity determined it needed the power of an application that could capture data from multiple sources and represent theinformation visually, in real time, to promote better understanding.

After exploring other dashboard solutions on the market, Trinity implemented a Corda CenterView performance dashboard. CenterView was easy and fast to implement and the dashboard began immediately delivering ROI. Manual report development time was eliminated and now, the executive and project teams have anytime access to real-time information presented in a visual format that draws attention to actionable issues.

“Trinity gained a new level of control and corporate maturityby implementing CenterView,” said Joseph Morray, Trinity President. “While we see the potential for even greater internal returns, we also see a distinct market advantage for our own customers, who can, in turn, achieve significant reporting and tracking efficiencies on an enterprise level.”



Zavanti is the primary distributor for Corda Technologies in Australia and New Zealand. If you would like further information please contact Doug Harrison on 02 8080 4800 or visit www.corda.com

Zavanti to host Property and Construction Software Showcase

Zavanti are pleased to announce their upcoming Property and Construction software showcase which will be held at two convenient locations for clients and potential customers. These events will take place at the Zenith Business Centre Gosford on the 27th and the Rydges Parramatta on the 28th October.

At the event, Zavanti will introduce its new web-based Sales, CRM and Communication, Collaboration and Intranet solutions for the industry.

Director of Zavanti, Ian Plater will host the event and will present upcoming developments for Zavanti's Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) application that will assist your business through every facet of the project lifecycle.

Professionals from MasterKey and Weblogics will also be on hand to demonstrate how these new software solutions are revolutionising the nature of business.

Registration is free but spots are limited! To secure your place at the event contact Angelique on (02) 8080 4825 or email marketing@zavanti.com

For more information about MasterKey see http://www.gomasterkey.com/

For more information about Weblogics see http://www.weblogics.com.au/

Latest version of Zavanti’s Project Software offers unparalleled reporting functionality

Launched in August, the lastest version of Zavanti's leading Project Accounting and Management Software for property developers and building contractors, Zavanti ERP 8.7 delivers a greater level of reporting to our clients.

On just one screen users can see an overview of their projects, including original budget, what has been invoiced, and the expected profit (click on the screenshots below to view a larger image).




Users can further “drill down” on each aspect of the job, from viewing specific cost centre details through to individual invoices received from suppliers or sent to clients.






For more information on the new changes in Version 8.7 please refer to the Release Notes

Alternatively please feel free to contact us directly on +61 2 8080 4800 or email sales@zavanti.com

Zavanti and Masterkey join forces to provide a complete Real Estate Development and Management Solution

Under a new partnership agreement, Zavanti, a leader in the development of comprehensive project accounting and management solutions for property and construction, and Masterkey, the UAE’s primary real estate software provider, will join forces to provide a complete Real Estate Development and Management solution. With unparalleled functionality, this new offering will ensure that developers have total control over their projects, budgets, and finances, as well as sales, clients and ongoing property management.

Masterkey is a pioneering Software as a Service (SaaS) provider, specialising in the development of complete web-based real estate solutions. Incorporating the three fundamental areas of any property business - Sales, Leasing and Property Management, Masterkey allows users to better manage and streamline day-to-day activities and work processes, while administering transactions in real-time.

By integrating the key features of Zavanti’s Property Developer solution set; Development Feasibility, Financial Management, Tendering, and Construction Management, with Masterkey’s Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Sales Automation, Leasing and Property Management capabilities, both companies will be able to provide current and prospective clients with a revolutionary solution that will create efficiencies and improve the quality and timeliness of reporting at every stage of the property development lifecycle.

“I believe that the addition of Masterkey’s functionality to the Zavanti suite does more than just add features to our current solution set”, said Nick Virr, Zavanti UK Business Development Director. “Masterkey represents the very latest, and by far the most superior online offering for property developers, in servicing their clients and managing their revenue and product streams. By combining the robustness and power of the Zavanti Property Developer suite with Masterkey, we can undoubtedly boast the most comprehensive and integrated solution for developers available on the market today.”

ABOUT MASTERKEY
Masterkey is the UAE's leading provider of dedicated solutions for the real estate sector. The company's web-based software provides Brokers, Developers and Property Managers with a uniquely tailored array of tools and features aimed to advance, improve, and enhance real estate businesses. Masterkey is committed to providing the most comprehensive, on demand service to the global real estate industry. For more information on Masterkey visit www.gomasterkey.com

ABOUT ZAVANTI
Zavanti’s industry leading project solutions provide seamless integration between the key processes associated with project planning, forecasting and accounting. From initial site and concept feasibility and project estimating through to full financial and subcontractor management, and sales, Zavanti helps property developers and construction contractors maintain control over their project finances, information flows and business operations.

For more information contact: Jamie Fitzsimons on +61 2 8080 4816 or jfitzsimons@zavanti.com

Zavanti Property and Construction Software to feature at the Nottinghamshire Construction Symposium

Zavanti have announced their participation at the Nottinghamshire Construction Symposium, which takes place on October 7 at New College Nottingham (NCN). Aimed at a broad range of construction professionals, the Symposium intends to act as a catalyst for improvement in the construction industry.

Click here to read the full press release

The ‘Problem’ with Project Management

In his latest blog post, Jed Simms argues that it is not so much that ‘project management’ is the problem, its just that it is not the solution!

He explains that too often in people’s minds ‘project management’ is seen as the same as ‘project delivery’ — but it is not. ‘Project Management’ is the set of processes that organises, structures and controls project activities and is the equivalent of any other ‘management’ activity.

Simms uses a production line as an example, in that the operators create the goods (the value) and management organises the work, plans the production, pre-empts or deals with problems and so on. Management organises, structures and controls the value generating activities but does not directly generate or deliver the value.

In his view, this is why ‘project management’ has had so much difficulty trying to quantify its value. Project management is not, therefore, part of the value delivery stream (in our six stream model). Project management has to justify its contribution. Few would argue that large, complex programs of work can be effectively delivered without effective project or program organising, structuring and controlling. However, these processes contribute to, rather than directly deliver, value.

Simms advises that before applying project management techniques to projects you need to establish that the time and effort involved in project management will be offset by the value to the project (as opposed to the business).

This value can be in terms of:
Reduced project duration — benefits faster
Reduced wasted effort — less cost
More motivated, focused staff — increased productivity
Increased clarity of what is should be happening — increased (progress, financial, direction) control
Less risk — more certainty
Fewer issues — less unnecessary effort
Increased stakeholder support/comfort — greater business support

To read more or to leave a comment please see the full article at: http://www.valuedeliverymanagement.com/blog/2009/07/the-problem-with-project-management/

Yeah, but what does the software do?

by Jed Simms, July 21, 2009

Two things happened recently on the same day in the same organisation.

The first was I received a copy of a post implementation review report that basically said “We don’t know if we got the benefits from this project as the KPIs and other benefit measures were largely vague, unmeasurable or irrelevant.” Overall, the conclusion was that the project had ‘failed’ to deliver the results and benefits expected.

Not altogether surprising when you have ‘vague, unmeasurable and irrelevant’ goals. As the Cheshire Cat said to Alice in Wonderland, “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there!”

As frequent readers of my blog will know if there is one thing I hammer as vital to project success is the need to spend the time clearly and thoroughly define your desired business outcomes in clear, measurable terms; and then focus your whole project on their realisation.

But many people don’t get it.

The second was a workshop with some quite senior management. We’re developing a business case for this client and defining their value proposition in clear, measurable terms. Their reaction was …

“Too many benefits” I wonder how many times they’ve said that of a project!
“Too ambitious” We might actually deal with the root problems if we take this approach. Can’t we just deal with the easy symptoms and look like we’re doing something?
“Yeah, but what does the software do?” Thinking is hard, can’t we just adopt the software?

I was pleased to see that even the software expert said, “If there is anything I’ve learned from installing systems over the past 10 years it is that unless the business knows exactly what it is trying to achieve the software installation will be a failure.”

What this experience makes clear is that software and demos are being used as a replacement for thinking. And this is the nub of the problem — that people need help to think and that so many of the problems we have are as a result of a reluctance or inability to think.

How do you address this problem? Post your comments below.

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Benefits focussed projects
Scary Requirements
The Dangers of Automation

Read the original blog post here - - http://www.valuedeliverymanagement.com/blog/2009/07/yeah-but-what-does-the-software-do/