Sparrows Group Engages Progressive TSL to Transition Asset Management to the Infor Cloud

Infor recently announced that Sparrows Group, engineering and maintenance services specialist for the global energy and industrial sectors, has decided to move its existing on-premises Infor EAM (enterprise asset management) system to the Infor cloud as part of its digital transformation program. Having a long-standing partnership with project manager and Infor Gold Channel Partner Progressive TSL, Sparrows Group has benefitted from the rich functionality of Infor EAM for many years. Per the press release, Infor EAM already helps to drive the group’s end-to-end procurement and supply chain management processing. The Infor cloud solution will help support 400 Sparrows asset management and procurement users, and Sparrows’ remaining on-premises systems will be integrated with the new cloud EAM. Further, the move to the multi-tenant Infor cloud offers Sparrows Group significant cost savings and business benefits, including reduced total coast of ownership, seamless access to the latest updates and innovations, enhanced performance, reliability and availability, and greater scalability.

 

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The Impact of Using a CRM on Business Activities

One of the greatest tools to have in your business is a customer relationship management (CRM) system. This tool can be used for data management, customer engagement, and marketing campaigns to name a few features. Business2Community contributor Matthew Popham shares an article highlighting the impact of using a CRM for your everyday business activities. Popham states that a CRM provides you with a full view of your sales, marketing, and support for every customer and prospect. It also helps solve problems by organizing all the information about customers in one place so that it’s easy to access any time from anywhere. Below are areas in your business that Popham points out where CRM really shines.

Sales. “A CRM system is a great tool for tracking and following up. It’s helpful when it reminds you of past calls/contacts, helps identify troubled relationships with customers, and tracking new deals that need follow-up attention.”

Marketing. “By analyzing your CRM data, you can extract insightful information that helps with marketing efforts. You can generate promotions and qualified leads by targeting specific demographics of customers to grow sales at a low cost-per-lead rate.”

Support and Service. “A smooth customer service support process is crucial for a successful business. The more information you have, such as customer demographics or product history, is only going to help in identifying problems faster and finding resolutions quicker with fewer complaints from customers along the way.”

The Customer. “When customers shop online and add products to their cart, CRM systems could determine if a customer is having issues completing an order. A quick response to technical issues reduces the rate of abandoned shopping carts significantly.”

 

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Landmark 11 – Update Java

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If you perform a Java update on your Landmark server, and your JAVA_HOME location is moving, you will need to update the java location in several places in Landmark.

InforIONGrid

For the Grid, first open an administrator command window and navigate to GRID_HOME/grids/<grid name> and run the “ChangeJDK.cmd” command with the NEW location of Java:

Next, open the Grid Management Pages. Go to Configuration > Grid Configuration > Grid Properties. Select Property “Java Executable (Path)”. Set the Java path to the new location under your grid host.

Landmark

For Landmark, set the JAVA_HOME and LAW_JAVA_HOME environment variables to the new location. It is also a good idea to update LAW_JAVA_HOME in the LASYSDIR/install.cfg file for future patches.

Finally, open an administrator command window and set the Landmark environment variables. Navigate to the NEW java location. Run the command java -jar %LAENVDIR%/java/jar/bcinstall.jar. Verify that this command adds the bouncycastle provider to the java.security file located at JAVA_HOME/jre/lib/security. Also, verify that the command copies the “bcprov” jar to JAVA_HOME/jdk/jre/lib/ext. If either of these tasks is not completed, you can handle them manually.

Run a stoplaw/startlaw and restart the grid. Or, better yet, reboot the server.

To verify that the new java location is being used by all the application systems, open task manager, and add the “Command line” header under the details screen. Verify that all “java.exe” processes are running from the correct location. You are now safe to uninstall your old java instance.

 

St. Vincent Health Moves its Operations to the Cloud with Infor

Lake County, Colorado’s St. Vincent Health has selected Infor CloudSuiteTM Healthcare to manage costs and enable better collaboration across the health system. The move to Infor CloudSuite Healthcare and Amazon Web Services® (AWS) will help St. Vincent Health better manage their people, supplies, clinical data, financial assets, and more of their most vital resources. Per the press release, by implementing this CloudSuite it will help the organization  to reduce customizations, eliminate the need to hire additional in-house staff for system administration and maintenance, and provide visibility into their supply chain to know what was spent where and when on supplies. St. Vincent Health will be able to rely on Infor’s integrated finance and supply management software in the cloud helping to create a clinically integrated supply chain that will help the organization lower costs and improve outcomes. Further, these upgrade applications will help cut down on administrative work, leaving staff to focus on more critical tasks and ultimately enhance the quality of patient care.

 

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How Technology is Revolutionizing Different Industry Sectors

Technology has shaped our lives more than ever. From the early days of the first mobile phone to a tablet that can do the work of a phone and computer at the palm of your hands, these developments have revolutionized our way of living. Not only that, in the world of business technology has changed the way we go about our daily operations. It’s no secret that technology has improved business processes and enhanced customer experiences.  Analytics Insight® shares an interesting article on how technology has impacted almost every industry. Below are some notable sectors that have greatly been impacted with the latest tech innovations:

Medicine and healthcare industry – “Medical devices and equipment are constantly being worked on and improved. They’re getting better and better when it comes to improving the health and recovery time of patients. Novelties in genetic testing and medical imaging have significantly improved detection, diagnosis, and treatments. On top of that, we have seen considerable advances in lab tech gadgets.”

Fashion – “Various apps have redefined the way people buy clothes, shoes, and accessories. For instance, there’s an app that allows users to upload photos of clothing items they love and it then shows them where to buy visually similar items in a matter of moments. Moreover, companies have even managed to create virtual fitting rooms. These allow people to better visualize how items might fit them and provide the stores with information on buyers’ preferences to help with personalization.”

Finances and Banking Industry – “The finances and banking industry is becoming more streamlined and efficient thanks to tech innovations and new software tools. Online banking is more present than ever and some even call it the new normal. Paying with a few taps on your mobile screen is now something considered a common routine.”

Education Industry – “Education technology (EdTech) involves the advancement and application of tools to facilitate learning. Educational facilities are seeing a huge transformation where it is no longer required for people to sit in a classroom to learn. There are numerous open online courses featured on platforms such as Udemy or Google Digital Garage. Basically, people can learn just about anything anywhere.”

We need to continue to find ways for technology to help improve our businesses processes. Innovation should be embraced and not turned away in order to be successful in the ever-evolving digital world.

 

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Flushing the WebSphere Application Server Cache

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If your WebSphere deployment manager, node agent, or application server will not start, it can be a good idea to flush the WAS temporary directories and cached files.

First, stop all your IBM processes.

Then, back up the existing configurations for all profiles:

  • On a administrator command window, navigate to WAS_HOME/profiles/<profile>/bin
  • Run command backupConfig <backupfilepath>

Next, rename the following directories (or remove them, but it’s safer to rename):

  • WAS_HOME/profiles/<profile>/wstemp
  • WAS_HOME/profiles/<profile>/temp
  • WAS_HOME/profiles/<profile>/config/temp
  • Again, you should do this for ALL your profiles

Now, delete the javasharedresources directory located at C:\Windows\System32\config\systemprofile\AppData\Local\

Now, run the commands to clear the cache:

  • Navigate to WAS_HOME/profiles/<profile>/bin
  • Run command osgiCfgInit
  • Run command clearClassCache

Once again, perform ALL of these steps for ALL your WebSphere profiles.

Infor Launches New Interoperability Solution for Healthcare Industry

Infor recently launched its FHIR Server, the company’s vision for helping healthcare organizations better leverage and analyze their data. Having been built on the latest web technologies, Infor FHIR Server is one of the most advanced, modern, and sclable FHIR servers commercially available. Per the press release, this new application allows organizations to extend their electronic health records (EHR) and clinical systems’ Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resource (FHIR) and application programming interface (API) capabilities beyond their current limited support, streamline care coordination by providing needed information to providers and patients, and expedite their organization’s digital transformation while utilizing existing clinical systems connected to an innovative FHIR-based ecosystem. Infor’s FHIR Server is built on the HL7 FHIR standard, making data available using the modern API to store and exchange data. This solves the problem of healthcare data that is siloed in legacy systems that lack connectivity to innovative healthcare solutions. Further, Infor’s new solution allows healthcare organizations to take advantage of today’s digital innovations and engagement by enabling users to use FHIR the way they choose. They differentiate themselves by continuing to build out a suite of products focused on the new FHIR standard, with FHIR Server being the latest addition.

 

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Lawson Add-ins Query Wizard Error – “There might be a mismatch with the server and product line you chose”

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Have you come across the Lawson Add-ins Query Wizard Error – “There might be a mismatch with the server and product line you chose”?

This error occurs when you’ve logged into Lawson query wizard and opened up your dme script and the product line in the dme file is incorrect.

To resolve this error, locate your .dme file, right-click it >> Open with >> Notepad (or your own text editor)

In the file on the first line, you should see the product line, in our example it is TEST10 and needs to be changed to PROD10

Simply change the TEST10 to PROD10, select File >> Save

Open the dme file again in excel and the mismatch error should be resolved.

Rebel Hospitality Chooses Infor Hospitality to Deliver Great Guest Experiences

Rapidly-growing hospitality management company Rebel Hospitality has selected Infor Hospitality to provide hospitality management solutions for its growing property base. Infor HMS is a specialized, multi-departmental property management platform for the hospitality industry that integrates front-office and on-property technology to better manage room availability, dynamic pricing, and guest profiles to boost profitability and maintain a competitive edge. With this collaboration, Rebel Hospitality will have access to agile cloud-based tools that will help better serve guests and achieve competitive positioning in an evolving industry. Specializing in independent and lifestyle hotel properties, Rebel Hospitality will have easy access to valuable incoming data that can quickly be turned into action, thanks to Infor HMS. By being able to operate on one system for all guest and hotel data, Rebel teams can stay on top of all the little details that enable a great guest experience.

 

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Overview of best practices when applying patches in a Lawson Production Environment

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When applying patches in a Lawson Production Environment, here are some best practices to keep in mind:

  1. IPA Scheduled Tasks Overview (assuming your organization uses IPA)
    • Acquire or create an outline of all IPA scheduled processes between the patching window and update any documentation to refer to these.
  2. Establish a Patching Window
    • If patching in TEST takes longer than the established window due to applying multiple patches, space out the patches on different days for PROD.
    • Some organizations run 24/7 globally so it’s best to notify managers of the established window so users will not open an abundance of tickets.
  3. Pre-Patching Process
    • Stop IPA Grid from running scheduled flows
      • This ensures no users can run any jobs that could attempt to trigger IPA flows.
      • Open a command window and navigate to the landmark install directory
      • Enter.cmd
      • Command “adminlaw” — this will stop everything and not allow it to restart (stopping the service will sometimes restart on its own
    • Restart PROD LSF server
    • Stop websphere after reboot (or disable automatic services pre-reboot)
    • Turn Security OFF
  4. Post-Patching process
    • Turn on Security
    • Turn on Websphere
    • Start IPA Grid
      • Command “startlaw”
    • Manually run and verify any missed IPA processes during downtime window.

This is a general overview and not meant to be applied to all organizations that may have several custom interfaces.

Good luck!