Transcript Vineyardsoft Corporation Presents: KnowledgeSync 2000

How to Demonstrate Version 7
of KnowledgeSync
“Anyone who needs to know something now has no excuse not to know.”
Neil Montgomery, “Eyes Everywhere”
ComputerWorld Magazine
“A comprehensive product . . . ”
TMCLabs Review
Editor’s Choice Award Winner
Vineyardsoft Corporation
www.sageknowledgesync.com
Begin by providing a verbal description . . .
-- KnowledgeSync combines:
-- Data Mining (BI)
-- Alerting
-- Workflow
-- And explain that the concept behind KnowledgeSync is . . . “it’s
what you don’t know that can hurt your business”.
-- Then – you’re ready to go into the application.
Open the new “Navigator” module . . .
Vineyardsoft Corporation
www.sageknowledgesync.com
Begin by mentioning that KnowledgeSync is an enterprise-wide
application; it’s purpose is to monitor and respond to critical
business conditions across an organization.
(You might want to add that KnowledgeSync itself uses the
enterprise-class SQL Server database.)
As proof of its enterprise-wide applicability, expand the
“All Events” branch by clicking on the plus sign to the right of it . . .
Our suggestion is that you have between 5 and 12
“application branches” within your “All Events” branch.
This shows KnowledgeSync’s enterprise-wide appeal
without making the window too crowded.
Note that you may find it easiest to have multiple
KnowledgeSync databases which you can activate
or deactivate as needed. For example, you might
have one KS database for Sage applications, and
another KS database for Microsoft applications.
At this point, it is a good idea to maximize the
Navigator window before proceeding to show a list
of events for a given application.
Now you show a list of events.
Note how we have edited the event names to
be short and “business-pain” related (such as
“Invoices; Overdue”).
Event names like these are easier to read and
easier for a prospect to equate to real business
problems.
We suggest having no more than 18 events per
application; this number fills the screen nicely
and is easily digestible by your audience.
For your demo, you should choose an event
that has most – if not all – of its components
configured.
So, choose an event that has alert messages
defined for many or all delivery methods, has
an associated report, possibly an attached file,
multiple subscribers, and at least one
workflow “action”.
Since the “frequency” of an event is the first
information shown, mention how KnowledgeSync
can use both “scheduled queries” and SQL
Triggers to detect business conditions.
Add that most clients use scheduled queries as
they are easier to set up and require no
programming knowledge.
You can even mention a few different schedule
types – hourly, daily, every ‘x’ minutes, every
Monday at 9 AM, every Friday at 5 PM, the first
Monday of a month, and so on.
Adding that KnowledgeSync includes a holiday
calendar is also a nice touch.
At this point, it’s a good time to talk about how
KnowledgeSync can detect the business conditions
that are important to an organization.
Emphasize that users do not have to know how to
write SQL Triggers or “select statements”, and that
the only required knowledge is a good understanding
of an application’s database schema.
And then offer to show your audience just how easy
it is to create a KnowledgeSync query.
Right-click on the query associated with the event
you’re showing, and choose “Edit Query”.
The following steps can be varied (or skipped)
depending on the technical level of the audience
you are presenting to.
Briefly introduce the Query Designer and then click on
the “Tables” tab as you explain that KnowledgeSync
automatically presents you with a list of all the tables
for the underlying application.
Mention how all you need to do here is to
select the tables that the query is going to
retrieve data from.
You can point out these “selected tables”
at the bottom of this window and – if there
is more than one table selected – mention
how KnowledgeSync has a “Linking Wizard”
to help you link those tables together.
(We usually don’t bother showing the “Links”
tab and go right to the “Columns” tab . . . )
On the “Columns” tab, mention how KnowledgeSync presents you
with a list of fields from your application, and you simply choose
those fields that you would like to use within an event.
(We usually say that you choose those columns that contain the
data you’d like to put into your alert messages.)
Click in the “Column Type” field for any selected column and
then click on the “List” button that appears there.
This will show how easy it is to choose one of KnowledgeSync’s
“aggregate functions” to perform more sophisticated analysis.
If appropriate, you can also mention how KnowledgeSync has a
“calculation wizard” to perform even more sophisticated analysis
such as calculating the number of days until an invoice is due.
Click on a column that you have selected for this query and then
click on the List Button that appears to the right of it.
Mention how this window allows a user to leverage advanced
SQL functions without having to know SQL.
You might also wish to point out how the functions listed at
the top of this window are database-specific – and will vary
based on the kind of database (SQL, Oracle, etc.) being
monitored.
(Click on “Cancel” to go back to the previous window.)
We typically skip over the “Sorting” tab and go
right to the “Filters” tab.
When you get to the “Filters” tab, you may want to re-size the
width of some of the fields so that their contents are easier to
read.
For this query, we’ll resize the “Column Name” and “Compare
Value” fields so their contents are more visible . . .
Once re-sized, you can talk about how everything on the “Filters”
tab is designed to be in plain-English so that it’s easy for nontechnical people to use.
We usually suggest showing the list of “Operators” . . .
Another nice item to show and/or discuss is
the “If Column Values Have Changed” button
at the bottom-right of this window.
This gives you the opportunity to mention how
KnowledgeSync can detect whenever someone
changes the value of any field in the database.
(But note that not all queries will have fields to
show in this option, so check ahead so that
you don’t end up showing an empty window.)
Believe it or not, we like showing the “SQL” tab.
Why? Because . . .
“This gives you an idea of what you DON’T have to know
in order to create a query.”
And if there are technical folks around, mention that they can
always write their own SQL (or cut-and-paste it) using the
checkbox at the lower-left of this tab.
And at this point, you’ve covered enough of Query Designing to
click on “Cancel” and go back to the GUI Navigator window.
And now that you’ve covered an event’s query
you can move on to discuss the information –
or “deliverables” – that an event can send out.
Click on the plus sign next to the Deliverables
branch to display its contents.
Although an individual event may not show all possible
alert delivery methods, it’s worth mentioning them all:
Email (Exchange, SMTP, Lotus Notes), Fax, Text Message
(Pager/PDA/Cell Phone), Screen Pop, and Web Browser.
(KnowledgeSync is the only Alerting solution to dynamically
create web pages that are dynamically updated with alert
details.)
This “Order Confirmation” event sends out its message (and
accompanying invoice) via email and fax – and uses a
Crystal Report to create the invoice.
One of the initial questions that comes up with clients
is whether it’s easy to create and edit the alert
messages in KnowledgeSync.
And that’s why it’s good to start by double-clicking
on the “Email” branch to show just what is involved
in creating such an alert message . . .
We suggest that you start by pointing out the list of
fields at the top-left of this window. These are the
data fields that can be used in the alert message.
You also might wish to point out how KnowledgeSync
is dynamically populating the “email reply address”
with the name of the client’s salesrep. This way, if the
client hits “reply”, the message goes to their salesrep.
And then there’s the alert message itself. Be sure to
mention that although the sample message is in plain
text format, KnowledgeSync also supports HTML and
other formatting options.
Click on “Cancel” to go back to the Navigator window.
Back on the Navigator window, you can mention
that the Fax message (as well as all other
messages) are configured in the same manner.
But now is a good time to discuss KnowledgeSync’s
ability to dynamically create and deliver relevant
Forms, Documents, and Reports.
So double-click on the “Report” branch . . .
Let your audience know that KnowledgeSync embeds Crystal Reports (supports versions
8.5 thru 11) and this gives users two benefits:
1) Scheduled Report Distribution. KnowledgeSync can automatically generate and deliver
periodic reports (such as Sales Forecasts, Stock Status, A/R Aging, etc.).
2) Triggered Report Delivery. KnowledgeSync can detect that certain data conditions exist,
generate a corresponding form, document, or report, and deliver it to the right recipients.
This “Order Confirmation” event is an example of #2 – as KnowledgeSync detects
new orders, generates an invoice in PDF format, and delivers it to the appropriate customers.
Show how easy it is to select the output format for a form, document, or report . . .
. . . And then point out how in this event, KnowledgeSync
“tells” Crystal exactly which order numbers to generate
invoices for.
You can again return to the Navigator window,
expand the branch called “Subscribers”, and
now discuss how the alert recipients can be
chosen for an event.
Mention how an event can notify a group of people,
individual people, and (most importantly), people
who are associated with the triggered record.
(In this event, KnowledgeSync is sending the order
confirmation and invoice to both the client and to
the client’s salesperson.)
Make sure you mention that users (or groups of
users) that are already defined within other
business applications do NOT have to be re-entered
(or imported) into KnowledgeSync in order for them
to be used within an event.
And then continue by double-clicking on a standard
subscriber’s record to show how they can be chosen
for an event along with their desired alert delivery
methods . . .
Repeat KnowledgeSync’s alert delivery methods -email, fax, FTP, text message (cell phone/pager),
screen pop, and web browser and show how a
single subscriber can be alerted via multiple methods.
Returning once again to the Navigator window,
show how you can view the details of an alert
recipient’s configuration just by right-clicking
on their record and choosing “Edit” . . .
This is a great place to point out how every alert recipient
can have up to TWO addresses per delivery method – in
this example, one email address for use during work hours
and a different address for use before/after work hours and
on weekends.
This is an opportune moment to use the phrase: “With
KnowledgeSync, you can run, but you can’t hide . . . “
Return to the Navigator Window, shrink down the
“Subscribers” branch and finish discussing this
event by expanding the “Actions” branch.
Explain that the “Action” branch is where you can
configure an event to add or update information in
your business applications.
For this “Order Confirmation” event, KnowledgeSync
is updating the SalesLogix CRM application with
details of the order.
At the same time, KnowledgeSync is scheduling
a follow-up call in SalesLogix so that the salesrep
can ensure that the client is 100% satisfied with
their order.
And – as proof of the effectiveness of
KnowledgeSync, it’s always nice to end
up with a real-life example of output
from a triggered event.
In this case, we’d first show the
“Order Confirmation” email . . .
And then the attached invoice
in PDF format.
Another great example of a KnowledgeSync
event is one that identifies any new sales
opportunities that have not been contacted
within the last two days.
Note (on the following slides) how this event
has virtually all of its components filled-out
and even uses 2 queries because the event’s
conditions are a bit more complex.
Note how this event sends out alerts
via email, fax, text message, and web
browser.
At the same time, the event creates an
Opportunity Detail report and is delivering
a document on “Follow-Up Procedures”.
The event delivers this information to
the Finance Group, to the Sales Manager
(Tricia Cate), and to the salesperson who
is remiss in their follow-up.
And this event creates an activity in
the SalesLogix CRM application.
However – this event is also exporting
sales data to a file (such as a CSV), it is
running a custom program, and it is
updating the opportunity that has not
been followed-up on using the Visual
Basic (VB) Scripting module that is
embedded within KnowledgeSync.
At this point in your demonstration you might wish to mention
two last, important business benefits of KnowledgeSync . . .
The first of those benefits is KnowledgeSync’s ability to monitor and
process incoming email messages and/or web form submissions.
This is an ideal opportunity to show two capabilities using one
example – email monitoring and job streams.
To demonstrate these, we combine 3 events (and one report) into
a single job stream – and the purpose of that job stream is to
handle incoming leads as shown above.
This example not only shows how KnowledgeSync can benefit an
organization by monitoring and auto-processing incoming emails,
it also showcases the new “Job Stream” functionality in which a
user can link multiple KnowledgeSync events together into logical
job streams.
We find that although you can tell your audience that KnowledgeSync
can monitor and process incoming email, most people cannot visualize
exactly how they would use this functionality.
So . . . walking your audience through an example like this one is
very helpful:
“ . . . someone contacts your organization thru email or your website,
and KnowledgeSync checks to see if that person exists as a contact.
If not, KnowledgeSync creates the corresponding account and contact
records and then sends an acknowledgement back to the prospect –
perhaps along with some product data sheets or brochures.
. . . KnowledgeSync then notifies the appropriate salesrep about the
new lead and (lastly) sends a lead summary report to the sales
manager . . . “
And the second benefit is the unique
ability for KnowledgeSync to identify
conditions between multiple business
applications.
For example, the events in the
“Sage 360” EventPak (available from
Vineyardsoft) show how KnowledgeSync
can look for one condition in a CRM
application and a corresponding condition
in a Financial system.
Among our favorite examples . . .
An opportunity in a CRM application
for a client on Credit Hold within a
financial application . . .
An opportunity in a CRM application
that when added to a client’s open
balance in the financial application
would put the client over their credit
limit . . .
And an opportunity in a CRM application
for an item for which there isn’t enough
stock on-hand as indicated within the
financial application . . .
Lastly, there is Licensing and Pricing. Make sure that clients understand that the license
price in KnowledgeSync is a one-time price and gives the client a perpetual license code.
License Type
License (MSRP)
M & S (MSRP)
Professional Edition
FREE
$99 / $399
Enterprise Alerts Edition
$1,799.00
$399.00
$3,295.00
$650.00
$8,695.00
$1,700.00
$1,999.00
$399.00
(One Application / Connection)
Enterprise Full Edition
(One Application / Connection)
Enterprise Unlimited Edition
(Four Applications)
Each Additional
Application/Connection
Vineyardsoft Corporation
www.sageknowledgesync.com
KnowledgeSync
Customers & Industries
Healthcare
Blue Cross Blue Shield
Transoma Medical
Alpharma
Medtronic
Manufacturing
Lockheed
Heil Environmental
Sonic Manufacturing
Cambridge Silicon Radio
Utilities
Con Edison of NY
Qualcomm
Farmstead Telephone
Enventis Telecom
Financial Services
Grant Thornton
ING Aetna
Compaq Financial Svcs
Bank of the West
Ernst & Young
Media
BBC
Seattle Times
Hi-Tech
Palm, Inc.
Cyberonics
Sony Electronics
Advanced Wireless
Intuit, Inc.
Quikey Manufacturing Co., Inc.
First Look Media, Inc.
Hearst Business Communications, Inc.
Vineyardsoft Corporation
www.sageknowledgesync.com