WorkBook scores 8.8/10

2/17/2012 3:35 PM

In a recent review done by WebAppRater.com, WorkBook scored 8.8/10 which is a rare and high score for a web based ERP system.
"I'm thrilled to see that WorkBook is scoring that high in the highly competitive market of CRM, Project and Resource management systems on the internet. This proves that WorkBook has in-depth functionality that the competition cannot reach. The team is excited to receive such high honours and it strives us even more to deliver high-end quality products," says René Præstholm, Partner Director of WorkBook Software.



Read the entire review here.

Resource planning: a new beginning or just a nightmare?

2/2/2012 2:34 PM

Every Project manager is struggling over this subject. Why? - Because when dealing with people, things change rapidly. Clients will change plans, employees get ill or assigned to other tasks and in this ever changing world of changes, the Project Manager will need to update time plans to reflect these changes. That requires a lot of effort and time and sometimes it’s a slaughterhouse to get the right resources.

In order to accommodate this, I have made a small checklist to consider before starting using resource planning. Here we go:
 

1. Will everything be scheduled?  Is it both billable and non-billable tasks?
Recommendation: everything will need to be scheduled.
 

2. When is a task significant to schedule (i.e. an hour, 4 hours, a day etc.)
Recommendation: That’s a matter of the culture and how large tasks are in normal. WorkBook can be setup so the employee has extra time for every working day, and that allows the employee to pick up the phone as well as do ad-hoc work during the day.
 

3. Who will perform scheduling?  Is it Project Managers only?  Or will there be a central planner(s) that will manage and regularly review the allocation of tasks?
Recommendation: We see the best results in companies that have a central planner functioning. However, not all companies can afford having just one person undertaking this. Sometimes the position can be combined with a management role i.e. Department Manager. If your company can only afford Project Managers, then we suggest that they allocate the necessary employees on a weekly or bi-weekly basis and then meet up to fine tune and adjust the time plans once a week.
 

4. If there are changes or a conflict that has arisen, who should have the ability to move tasks between resources, add additional resources etc. (i.e. who should act as a traffic manager?)
Recommendation: We think that the Project Manager is overall in charge of updates to the time plan, but if you a centralized planner, changes must be done according to the overall plan.
 

5. Are all people available to allocate? Do you wish to plan to individual resources or Group Resources?
Recommendation: It’s pretty hard to allocate a Project Managers time. They often rush from project to project so to allocate specific time to a Project Manager can best be done (in our point of view) as an even distribution of hours over time, in order to at least see the capacity usage overall. We think that Project Workers will need to be the ones to focus on. A great way of solving the issue about having (or not having) a Traffic Manager is to have Group Resources. A Group Resource is an option in WorkBook to assign work on a grouping level i.e. by position. In WorkBook, you can see how much capacity has been booked to the group resources and it will warn you (as it will for all resources) if you book above the free capacity. Once all Project Managers have allocated their tasks to the Group Resources, they (or the Traffic Manager) will need to assign the tasks to real employees. In that way you don’t allow Project Managers to assign to real people directly.
 

We find that scheduling is most successful when it is used by everyone.  If not, all resources are planned then the overall view does not give you information on how busy people are.  Also, if some Project Manager’s plan and some don’t it is very hard to see who you can use to perform work.  It is a matter of discipline and it relies on keeping the schedule up to date.

Calendars
It can be very hard to do resource planning if you don’t have a 100% overview of available time for all people. You can integrate WorkBook currently with Outlook (Microsoft Exchange) so a user’s calendar appointments will be transferred to WorkBook and appear as bookings. You also have the option to do this in reverse and let bookings end up in the user’s calendar. In that way, you get the total overview of all free capacity. To my knowledge, WorkBook is the only system that has this feature.
 

We have invested a lot (I mean a lot!) of development time into building the calendar synchronizer plug-in-thingy. We asked our users what calendar we should do the plug-in for, and most of them replied Outlook (Microsoft Exchange), but integration to other calendar systems are on the way (Google, Kerio, iCal to name a few).
 

We have a lot of experience from both small and larger organizations so contact us if you need advice on how to approach resource planning in your company.

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New exciting partners joined our partner program

2/2/2012 2:20 PM

We welcome our new partners:

Runtime from Germany
Apora from The Netherlands
DP Technology from Singapore
 
All partners are very excited to help clients implement WorkBook in their respective countries.

Runtime is a leading company for cloud computing in Germany and is implementing WorkBook themselves to get a real in-depth knowledge and understanding of the capabilities.

Apora is also a leading cloud focused company that apart from WorkBook also has offerings within the Google Apps space.

DP Technology is covering most of South Asia from Singapore and has extensive knowledge for solution implementations. As well as Runtime they also implement WorkBook themselves (after have done a lot of research in other PSO solutions that didn’t work).

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Customer signed!!

7/12/2011 2:48 PM

PR firm Veritas Communications, 360 Visibility and WorkBook A/S reach new heights of innovation with the world’s first Professional Services Automation solution powered by Microsoft Azure in the cloud
 
Veritas’s selection of WorkBook v8.0 on Azure a revolutionary step in the cloud-based application world
 
Toronto, July 11, 2011— After an exhaustive selection process that included the consideration of cloud and on-premise solutions, public relations firm Veritas Communications Inc. has signed on with 360 Visibility Inc. and the professional services automation solution, WorkBook v8.0.
 
The implementation of WorkBook v8.0 on Microsoft Azure is a world first, and the adoption of this ground-breaking PSA solution makes Veritas, whose client roster includes Expedia.ca and Church & Dwight, a pioneer in North America.
 
WorkBook v8.0 is an all-in-one cloud-based executive management tool targeted specifically at professional services organizations for tracking time and expenses against projects. While the tool already hosts thousands of on-premise implementations, today’s announcement marks the first to be implemented on the Microsoft Azure platform.
 
“WorkBook v8.0 is a fully integrated solution for Professional Service Firms and provides a full 360-degree view of an organization’s operating results,” says Marco D’Ercole, executive vice-president of 360 Visibility Inc. “It is a world-class cloud product accessible anytime, anywhere, with minimal upfront costs and implementation effort.”
 
Because of its history servicing such professional services organizations as Res Publica, NATIONAL PR, and kenna:, 360 Visibility has a long and healthy working relationship with WorkBook A/S, and represents the product in Canada, U.S.A. and the Caribbean Islands.
 
 “We are very proud that Veritas selected WorkBook and our partner 360 Visibility Inc.,” says René Præstholm, chief operating officer of WorkBook Software A/S. “Veritas is a very strong brand, and we are excited they have signed on to the cloud-based version of our PSA solution, which has an 11-year history in the industry.”  
 
For Veritas, a member of the MDC Partners network, the move means more efficient time and expense tracking – and will be a key step in the firm’s commitment to continuously improving client service. “This is an exciting development for our company,” says Raymond Siu, Veritas’s chief financial officer. “We are very much looking forward to the gains in efficiency and the rapid implementation of a cloud-based, industry-specific solution.”
 
About Veritas
Veritas, a subsidiary of business transformation organization MDC Partners (Nasdaq: MDCA; TSX: MDZ.A), is a full-service public relations and public affairs organization that aims to fill the marketplace gap between traditional and new media approaches to the business. The company’s 60 PR professionals are led by a team of senior managers who hail from high-level communications roles in government, media and the private and not-for-profit sectors.
 
About 360 Visibility
360 Visibility is a business solutions company dedicated to facilitating enterprise participants’ ability to make swift, well-informed, coordinated and profitable business decisions through the provision of enterprise software, unified communication, and technology infrastructure. Concentrating on professional services firms such as Marketing Communications, Architects and Engineers, and Management Consulting, 360 Visibility sets organizations up with the technology foundation that allows them to effectively manage their business, capitalize on opportunities and avoid pitfalls.
 
For more information:
Rene Wong, public relations
Phone: (905) 907-3600
info@360visibility.com

WorkBook enter Belgium

6/21/2011 1:20 PM

WORKBOOK SOFTWARE A/S AND SOFTADVICE ANNOUNCE THEIR PARTNERSHIP FOR THE SALES OF THE WORKBOOK SUITE OF PRODUCTS TO PROFESSIONAL SERVICES ORGANISATIONS IN BELGIUM.

SoftAdvice has been granted the exclusive rights to distribute and sell WorkBook software within Belgium, the Netherlands & France. SoftAdvice is a strategic partner for WorkBook Software A/S because of their long history of servicing professional services firms.

WorkBook Software targets the following market segments: Advertising & Design, Communications & Public Relations, Digital & Web, Architects, Engineers, Tax & Audit and Consulting organisations.

WorkBook is a complete solution delivered on a per user per month usage contract, based on the technology of Microsoft Silverlight® and Microsoft SQL Server®. WorkBook also has a tight integration to Microsoft Dynamics® products for those customers that wish to leverage their existing investment in Microsoft Dynamics.

WorkBook - SoftAdvice PDF

http://www.work-book.be

SIS GLOBAL and WORKBOOK announce partnership

3/18/2011 5:23 PM

Danish software will conquer America through cloud

3/9/2011 10:02 AM

http://borsen.dk/nyheder/it/artikel/1/202916/dansk_software_vil_erobre_amerika_via_cloud.html

With Microsoft's cloud system, a Danish software system can distribute their solution to the world. The Cloud solution provides maintenance issues both easier and cheaper. Simultaneously, collaboration with a Canadian partner supply the platform to conquer the whole of North America.
We are talking about the Danish software company, WorkBook Software A/S, which has now entered the North American market through a distribution agreement with the company 360 Visibility.

The solution is delivered as SaaS (Software as a Service) to, among others, Advertising agencies. At the same time, WorkBook operation of the solution has been sent to the cloud via Microsoft's Windows Azure technology. WorkBook is a business system aimed at companies with many on-going projects and need for time recording. The company has grown out of the advertising industry and today has a market share of 72 percent in Denmark in IT systems for marketing and communications (MARCOM). Besides time recording, the system includes a complete end-to-end workflow of project management along with a finance system.
The new partner, 360 Visibility, are located in Toronto, Canada. The company will market WorkBook as a solution for the professional services segment - for example, engineers, lawyers and consultants. “We see a trend in the American market where people no longer buy software in the traditional way. Instead you go online and search for solutions that meet your requirements. This business model we are now ready to exploit”, says René Præstholm from WorkBook Software A/S. He expects that SaaS as a business model becomes a major challenge for many of the companies that sell financial systems (ERP, Enterprise Resource Planning) today:
“They have typically survived by selling a solution that included a mass amount of consultant hours for implementation at the customer. I think that we in the ERP industry no longer expect to live from implementation. Instead, we have an advisory role, helping to simplify workflow and optimise projects. The transition to the cloud would enhance development further”, he says.
 
Sky gives global access
WorkBook Software today has partners in eight countries. The solution has been sold as SaaS for several years, where each partner provides the system to their customers. The goal is to get out into all European countries. And it must have transition to Azure made easier.
René Præstholm explains that the existing business model has allowed some challenges: “We've been forced to find a hosting partner in each country where our system can be sold. But with Azure we get a global partner, so the system is automatically available throughout the world”, he says.
 
Windows Azure is Microsoft's offer on PaaS (Platform as a Service). It is a cloud system where you can develop and run applications.
The move to Azure will, among other advantages, make customer support easier: When developers at WorkBook Software must correct something in the system with a partner, they must now keep track of systems for remote connectivity, user names and passwords. With Azure, there will be only one system to maintain.
Of course, WorkBook Software will not terminate agreements with local hosting partners. But the goal is that in five to ten years, all clients run on the Azure platform.
 
René Præstholm believes that WorkBook must be one of the first major software solutions that move completely onto the Azure platform. It has since also provided some challenges. “There are some things that need adjustment. I reckon that the solution will run optimally in about four months. But our biggest challenge has been finding the right competencies. Until now, Azure has mostly been used for smaller applications and testing. Now when we come with a complete business solution, make it some other requirements for example, scaling.”
 

New partner covering USA and Canada

1/25/2011 7:58 PM

WorkBook Software A/S (Denmark) and 360 Visibility announce strategy partnership and founding of 360 WorkBook North America

Copenhagen (January) 2011 – WorkBook Software A/S and 360 Visibility Inc. today announced their partnership covering distribution and sales of WorkBook Project Management for professional services to the North American market. 

As of January, 360 Visibility Inc. has been granted the exclusive rights to distribute and sell WorkBook software in the United States and Canada. 360 Visibility is a strategic partner for WorkBook Software A/S because of their long history of servicing professional services firms.
WorkBook is an all-in-one financial management, pipeline management, project management, resourcing planning, time/expense solution with executive dashboards that is tailored made for professional services firms.  WorkBook Software targets the following market segments; Marketing /Communication, Tax & Audit, Architects, Engineering and Consulting. WorkBook is extremely scalable and will enable companies from a few users to many hundred users to invest in a solution that will support their growth.
WorkBook delivers a complete and rapid implementation template, which in detail, documents and describes all business flows and business areas within a market segment - through an intuitive web interface built in Microsoft Silverlight and based on Microsoft SQL Server.  WorkBook also has a tight integration to Microsoft Dynamics products for those customers that wish to use their existing investment in Microsoft Dynamics.

“Getting the exclusive rights to distribute WorkBook in North America is a great opportunity for us. We have been searching for a solution that fit the lower end of the market and scales up to a couple of hundred users. WorkBook is built with Microsoft Silverlight as the user interface and based on Microsoft SQL Database that compliments our Microsoft product line up” says Executive VP Marco D’Ercole.

“As an industry leader it is extremely important to me, that we are able to present products and solutions that are cutting edge technology with the strongest feature set possible. We will be building a partner channel shortly, and we will make sure that WorkBook is conveniently available to any professional services firm out there” says Lynn Cooke, President.

“We are very excited about extending our global reach to both Canada and USA. This is one of the biggest steps in our company history. We are very confident that 360 Visibility Inc. will achieve solid footsteps in the same market segments that we have had success in within Europe. Our markets are different from one another, however they represent huge opportunities for 360, Microsoft and WorkBook Software A/S. With a strong partner like 360 Visibility that knows the industry, we will be able to build a solid partner channel in North America”, says René Præstholm, Sales Manager, WorkBook Software A/S.

WorkBook - 360 Partnership PDF

http://www.360visibility.com

Video news - September

9/9/2010 10:46 AM

Take a look at our latest news during the month of September including our business venture into Poland!

Hortus signs up!

8/19/2010 2:02 PM

We are proud to announce that we have recently signed a partnership with Hortus Digital. You can view more by clicking here PDF

You can view their website here Hortus Digital