Product News, Tech Tips and the Inside Scoop
August 2004 l www.dsdinc.com l 619-683-9900
Windows XP Service Pack 2 Not Supported for MAS 90 and MAS 200
The Windows XP Service Pack 2 has been released by Microsoft and it is important to warn all users of MAS 90 and MAS 200 not to install Service Pack 2 until it has been thoroughly tested by Sage Software for compatibility with MAS 90 and MAS 200.
Sage Software only tests compatibility with the current version of MAS 90 and MAS 200 (MAS 4.0) and one prior level (3.71). Any prior versions will not be tested, and therefore compatibility not known. If MAS users need to install Service Pack2 on their Windows XP workstations, they should upgrade to current MAS levels prior to installing the service pack.
Up Close and Personal
by Doug Deane, President of DSD
I was recently working at home on an Internet-related project, and my home PC started behaving oddly. I checked to see if the latest version of Norton Anti-Virus was installed (it was), and then I scanned my PC for viruses. It was clean, and yet my machine was still acting up. To make a long story short, my machine had contracted "Spyware", which is not detected by anti-virus software, and which may allow a remote computer to view your Internet usage and activity. I was forced to have my hard disk re-formatted, and I bought a copy of Ad-Aware, which prevents Spyware from being a problem in the future.
The Internet has become such a huge part of our business and personal lives, that it would be difficult to imagine life without it. At the same time, the Internet has become a portal into your home and your business for thousands of unwanted solicitations, and for hackers. Combined with our old friends "data loss" and "unregistered software", our information systems are becoming more and more difficult to manage. Seems like they own us, instead of...well, you know.
DSD recognizes that data security, network security and software licensing problems can be one of your greatest business risks, and we have done something about it. DSD has constructed an exciting new System Integrity Check service that will determine if your system has security vulnerabilities, data backup weaknesses, configuration problems that could impair performance, or problems with unlicensed copies of software on your workstations. If you do have problems in any of these areas, it can put you out of business temporarily, or permanently.
Our technician will scan your workstations and your servers with this new software, and will evaluate your data security and backup systems. The result is a 50+ page report, which acts as a roadmap to beefing up any areas of weakness. You can give this report to your network consultant for their follow-up, or you can engage us to assist you in fixing any problems that were uncovered. This service is available right now, and we are also making it the centerpiece of our new monthly IT Support Program.
We want to help you manage your data security risks, so that you can spend more time doing what you do best - getting new customers and keeping your existing ones happy. We hope that you'll give us a call if you'd like us to run the System Integrity Check on your network system.
That's all for now,
Doug Deane
President
Personal Profile: Mark Linder
Mark Linder has recently come back to DSD after living in the Pacific Northwest for six years. He received a BS in Accounting in 1992. Mark worked for Best (then State of the Art) before working as DSD's Programming Coordinator for nearly 5 years. In 1998 he moved to Seattle and was a principle in a MAS 90 consulting firm. Mark is back as DSD's MAS 90 and MAS 200 Product Specialist. Mark is happy to return to San Diego, "It is good to be back in San Diego - the webbing between my toes is starting to recede and the moss is starting to dry up and fall off."
Client Assessments
Keeping up to date with the latest software, adequately training staff and utilizing program enhancements to address specific business issues can have a tremendous impact on your bottom line.
We wanted to let you know that our Account Management team is initiating a program to contact all clients with current Software Maintenance Plans, (SMPs) to confirm the details of your account record and to schedule a free on-site Client Assessment. In this assessment, an associate from DSD Business Systems will work with you, using the available data utilities to help prepare your system for future upgrades . We’ll review your current processes and tasks for opportunities to increase efficiency and profitability with new solutions or capabilities. After we assess your system, we will provide you with a written system status report along with any recommendations for changes that will benefit your company.
We'll be in Touch
We'll be contacting you in waves, so please expect the call in the coming weeks and take the time to speak with your Account Manager. If you just can’t wait to get started, please get in touch to set up an appointment by contacting Stephanie Smith at stephanies@dsdinc.com to schedule an appropriate time for your assessment.
Act Now and Save 30% on Avatax
Purchase Avatax ST by September 30, 2004 and receive a 30% discount on the setup and first year!
AvaTax ST, by Avalara, is a web-hosted sales and use tax calculation service which works in the background of your accounting system via a secure SSL Internet connection. It is the fastest, easiest, most accurate, and most affordable solution available.
AvaTax ST has three significant capabilities:
- Address validation (for correct identification of tax jurisdiction);
- Accurate sales and use tax calculation which considers each invoice line item, product taxabilities, and customer exceptions, local taxes, maximum-taxes, minimum-taxes, tax-holidays and split-taxes
- Secure data storage of all your transactions with complete report generation for tax filing or audit. AvaTax ST is the easiest, most economical, most accurate sales and use tax calculation solution available. Transaction-based pricing allows AvaTax ST to scale to fit any business of any size.
To order please contact Stephanie Smith at 619-683-9900 or stephanies@dsdinc.com
FRx Express Road Show
You can register to attend the FRx Road Show which will be at:
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM - Customers, prospective customers and resellers
3:00PM - 5:00 PM - Resellers only (product and sales training)
Microsoft Regional Office
San Diego, CA
August 17, 2004
For specific information regarding this location please refer to http://www.microsoft.com/usa/offices/sandiego.asp
For questions regarding the FRx Express RoadShow, send an email to frxexp@frxsoft.com
Upcoming MAS 90 and MAS 200 Classes
| Library Master and Security | $425 | Sep 13, Oct 11, Nov 8 |
| General Ledger | $425 | Sep 14, Oct 12, Nov 9 |
| Accounts Payable | $425 | Sep 15, Oct 13, Nov 10 |
| Accounts Receivable | $425 | Sep 16, Oct 14, Nov 11 |
| Inventory Management | $425 | Sep 20, Oct 18, Nov 15 |
| Sales Order | $425 | Sep 21, Oct 19, Nov 16 |
| Purchase Order | $425 | Sep 22, Oct 20, Nov 17 |
| FRx Desktop | $425 | Sep 23 |
| Crystal Reports (2 days) | $800 | Oct 21-22 (2-day class) |
You must sign up a week in advance of the scheduled class to reserve your spot! Late registrations are subject to availability and an additional $50 processing fee.
All classes are held from 9am - 5pm, and cost $425 per person unless stated otherwise. Lunch is provided. They are held at the DSD Building in beautiful Mission Valley in San Diego.
To register, call Sandy McCauley at 619-683-9900 or e-mail SandyM@dsdinc.com
Training Manual Blow-out (MAS 90 v3.71)
With the rollout and subsequent migration to MAS 90 4.0, DSD is upgrading the Training Center's course materials. The following MAS 90 v3.71 training manuals are offered for the bargain price of only $75 each until our current stock is depleted: Accounts Payable, FRx, General Ledger, Inventory, Library Master, Purchase Order and Sales Order.
Please contact Sandy McCauley at 619-683-9900 x189 or SandyM@dsdinc.com for availability and ordering.
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MAS 90 and MAS 200 Promotions Managing Your Growth! In the Managing Your Growth customer online series, Sage Software product and solutions experts will spotlight the new features of MAS 90 and MAS 200 4.0, as well as some of the Sage Software add-on solutions currently available. By automating complex processes with new software solutions, companies can eliminate time-consuming steps and improve profitability. And for customers that are looking for more advanced capabilities, migration to MAS 500 could be just the solution needed to elevate your business to the next level. Dates:
Business Alerts for MAS 90 and MAS 200 Attend this online event and learn how you can use the MAS 90 and MAS 200 Business Alerts module to monitor your data and automatically alert you, your employees, your vendors or your customers – via e-mail – when key events in your system are triggered. Date:
MAS 90 and MAS 200 Extended Solutions: Customizing Your System Just Got Easier! Curious to learn what the new MAS 90 and MAS 200 Extended Solutions mean for your business? Attend this event and get an overview of the nearly 1500 new features and functions not previously found in the core MAS 90 and MAS 200 modules that are now available with Extended Solutions Date:
What’s New in MAS 90 and MAS 200 Version 4.0! MAS 90 and MAS 200 Version 4.0 represents the most significant release in Sage Software’s history! Attend this web event and be among the first to see this exciting new version in action. Date:
To Register for any of the above webinars, please go to: http://www.bestevents.com For more information, contact Stephanie Smith at 619-683-9900 or StephanieS@dsdinc.com.
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MAS 500
SQL SecurityHere are current links to Microsoft resources to understand and control SQL security.
- 10 Steps to Help Secure SQL 2000
- How Windows XP Service Pack 2 Affects SQL Server
- Slammer Worm Resources
- SQL 2000 Security Tools
- Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer
For more information on MAS 500, contact Josh Thigpen of DSD Professional Services at 619-683-9900 or
JoshT@dsdinc.com.
SalesLogix News
SalesLogix has released version 6.2 as of Monday August 9. DSD Customers with valid SalesLogix maintenance plans can order their free upgrades from DSD by contacting Stephanie Smith (stephanies@dsdinc.com). DSD Business Systems strongly recommends that a test SQL server be used to test your upgrade to v6.2. Because of all the back-end changes, there are some customizations that may need to be modified to make them compatible with version 6.2.
Those DSD customers that also have DynaLink that links SalesLogix to the MAS products should hold off on placing your upgrade order because DynaLink for version 6.2 has not been released yet.
The SalesLogix v6.2 upgrade includes many new features, such as "Tickets" in the sales client, a better mail merge engine with Microsoft Word, support for Microsoft Office 2003, a completely re-designed opportunity manager, and a new engine for opportunity sales processes. The look and feel of the program has been updated, and some additional technical updates will ensure a smooth and pleasant journey for years to come.
There are some items, however, that have been removed or no longer work as planned...
The Sales Order module in "Advanced Sales" has been removed. The plan is to use the new opportunity screens along with the opportunity product tab to produce proposals and quotes. Until DynaLink is released and further testing by DSD is performed, we recommend those using Sales Orders or DynaLink not upgrade at this time.
Those customers that use Scribe Migrate for SalesLogix for their imports and exports will be surprised to find that Scribe no longer works with version 6.2. Purchasing "Inaport Data Migration" software is highly recommended by DSD for anyone using version 6.2. However, Microsoft SQL's Data Transformation Service (DTS) is now compatible with the SalesLogix Provider. If you do not know VBScript then you will have problems with creating new records in SalesLogix. This is because you need to write the code that populates the data in the following fields:
TableID (example: ACCOUNTID, CONTACTID, ADDRESSID, OPPORTUNITYID, etc.)
CREATEDATE
CREATEUSER
MODIFYDATE
MODIFYUSER
No matter which program you use for importing data into SalesLogix, DO NOT import data into SalesLogix v6.2 without using the SalesLogix OLE-DB Provider as the conduit to add the records to the SalesLogix database. Failure to do so will cause any date/time fields to hold and display the wrong data, and your data will not be viewable via the SalesLogix Web or Remote Clients.
For more general information on version 6.2, please contact Stephanie Smith (stephanies@dsdinc.com). If you have question of a technical nature concerning version 6.2, please contact Mike Mahoney (mikem@dsdinc.com).
MRCA California Magnetic Media
MRCA California DE6 Quarterly Unemployment Magnetic Media allows the generation of magnetic media (diskettes) compliant with the California Quarterly DE6 Wage Information as required by the State of California Employment Development Department
"Beginning with tax year 1995, employers are required to make their report of contributions and wages (section 1088 (a) (1) of the California Unemployment Insurance Code (CUIC) by magnetic media if the employer is required to report W-2 data to the federal government by magnetic media. Currently, the federal government requires employers with 250 or more W-2s to file by magnetic media. The magnetic media filing threshold of 250 or more employees applies only to California employees. Multi-state filers who have less than 250 California employees will not be required to report on magnetic media, however, they are encouraged to do so."
For more information, contact Kim Clark at 619-683-9900 or KimC@dsdinc.com.
APIC California DE-542 Printing
APIC has been designed to allow the user to automatically scan for Vendors that meet the requirements of the State of California for DE-542 reporting. When Vendors are found that must be reported to the California Employment Development Department (EDD) department, records are created in the new DE-542 contractor file and they are flagged as needing to be reported. The user may elect to print the DE-542 form for those Contractors, or they may be written to a magnetic media file, and submitted on a diskette.
Penalties for Non-compliance: According to www.edd.ca.gov/taxrep/de542faq.pdf, "The EDD may assess a penalty of $24 for each failure to comply within the required time frames. Also, a penalty of $490 may be assessed for the failure to report independent contractor information if the failure is the result of conspiracy between the service-recipient and service-provider."
DSD Business Systems has worked with the State of California to ensure that users of this module will be in complete compliance with the new laws.
APIC does not modify standard MAS 90 or MAS 200 programs so it is likely to be compatible with other A/P enhancements. Check with us to confirm that. The only change to the existing MAS 90 or MAS 200 system is the addition of the new DE-542 menu selection in the Accounts Payable module.
APIC contains these new reports:
- Contractor Listing: This new report is available from the DE-542 Menu, or via the print button in Contractor Maintenance. It allows the user to list all Contractor records that have been created in conjunction with DE-542 printing. The report can be printed in Summary or Detail, it can be limited to just those Contractors who have pending DE-542’s, or a range of Contractors may be selected.
- DE-542 Selection Register: This new report is available from the DE-542 Menu, and lists all Vendors who have been flagged for DE-542 submittal. This report informs the user if there are any problems with the Contractor’s information that might cause submitted DE-542’s to be rejected by the State.
- DE-542 Form Printing: This new report prints contractor information in the format specified by the State. They may be mailed or faxed to the EDD. This report also allows the user to print a packet of test forms for submittal to the EDD, and it allows the user to adjust the position of the printout on the page.
- DE-542 Magnetic Media: This new program creates a submittal file, for those users who wish to send a diskette instead of faxing or mailing the forms. It also allows the user to create a test file for submittal to the EDD.
For more information, contact Kim Clark at 619-683-9900 or KimC@dsdinc.com.
All prices and offers are subject to change without notice. Copyright 2004 , DSD Business Systems, San Diego, CA. All rights reserved.