Technology Solutions & IT News Blog | FMT Consultants

In a world where data consolidation and analysis are becoming ever more vital to business, it can be difficult to know how to best set up your organization’s data strategy to meet future demands. Furthermore, in the business of manufacturing, where there are so many proverbial moving parts and areas to focus on, it can be challenging to note the advantages and cost savings associated with a coherent data strategy when compared to other areas of the organization (i.e. sales, operations, research and development, procurement, quality assurance, etc.). However, having access to well-defined and accurate data can lead to insights and cost savings that propel a manufacturer to the next level of their business as well as outperform competitors, for several simple and powerful reasons cited by Kevin Snook, author of Make It Right: 5 Steps to Align Your Manufacturing Business from the Frontline to the Bottom Line. If you […]

We are pleased to announce that FMT has again been recognized as one of Bob Scott’s 2020 VAR Stars! The annual list of leading resellers is comprised of organizations specializing in the sale and implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and accounting software. “We’re proud to make Bob Scott’s Top 100 VARs for our work in 2020,” states FMT CEO Eric Casazza. “Like other resellers, we supported many clients with an invigorated interest in streamlining and securing critical business processes.” Bob Scott adds, “Each year, 100 VAR Stars are picked from the best organizations that market financial software. It is always an honor to recognize those who contribute to the development of our business.” FMT remains dedicated to our existing clients and looks forward to enabling new customers to compete with confidence. Our team is highly skilled at listening and understanding business processes to craft the right technology solution from […]

We've seen many assume their Salesforce orgs are secure enough: why should they care about FMT's recommended key Salesforce security best practice? Consider that phishing attacks are increasing and 2020 stood out. 88% of organizations around the world experienced spear phishing attempts. Remote workers are being targeted more than before. And in a successful attack, nearly 60% of organizations lose data, nearly 50% are infected with ransomware, and nearly 35% of organizations experienced financial losses. Those are scary statistics. How can we keep our Salesforce data secure? Let's say you implemented Salesforce a while ago and everything is working well. It's flexible enough so that you can easily change a picklist value or add a little automation. But you probably haven't thought about security since you implemented Salesforce. In my experience, most implementations configure data access (which users can see or edit which records and which fields). But very little […]

NetSuite 2020.1 brought with it various new features and enhancements to existing features for users. One such improvement is NetSuite’s updated bank reconciliation process! This feature works out of the box with most major U.S. and Canadian banks, but a plug-in is needed for banks in other countries. Here’s a quick overview of how to take advantage of the NetSuite feature. First, users should enable the updated bank reconciliation process in NetSuite. Navigate to Setup -> Accounting -> Chart of Accounts, and click on the bank account you would like to enable for the new bank reconciliation process. Mark the Use match bank data and reconcile account statement pages, and then save. Do note that when you enable the Use match bank data and reconcile account statement pages, the bank account will not show up on the Reconcile Bank Statement Page (like in the old method). Next, users will transform […]

What is cycle counting? Let’s be honest, setting up and processing inventory counts on a regular basis is one of the least exciting parts of running a distribution business. In reality, there is no one who enjoys undertaking this tedious activity. In fact, rather than addressing this need, many choose to ignore it, especially if they have a lack of resources and time. However, performing cycle counts on a frequent basis and aligning them correctly within your warehouse(s) is critical in achieving better metrics for inventory accuracy, turnover ratio, lead times and delivery dates. In this blog, we’ll explain how all of this can be accomplished using Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central (BC) with its ease of processing a count. Warehouse cycle counting is a perpetual counting system where a small subset of inventory, in a specified location, is counted on a specified day. By performing cycle counts, you are […]

With the recent “Edit in Excel” and enhancements to Configuration Packages, importing data into a new Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central (BC) Company is more streamlined than ever before. But I recently encountered issues with the Business Central Contact List during the data migration phase of a project. The issue: thousands of Contact records that were not intended to be there. What made matters worse? At first attempt, it seemed near impossible to delete the records. One more tick in my daily grind where I scream to the BC gods, “Bring back my Object Designer!” Normally, a little bit of research on the Microsoft Partner Portal, forums or Microsoft documentation will give some good tips and tricks for handling this massive amount of records. There is some great intro training on Marketing and Business Central Contacts in the MS documentation here. Sadly, there is nothing on my current dilemma. But, […]

Are you ready for an Artificial Intelligence Chatbot? In 2018 Gartner predicted that Chatbots will power 85% of all customer service interactions by 2020. It’s 2020 now and they were probably overstating the rapidity of AI Chatbot adoption.  But they weren’t that far off the mark. Chatbot technology has made rapid advances and our understanding of what makes a good Chatbot has also grown. Now that our know-how and the technology are ripe – should your company start implementing AI Chatbots? We’ll look at Salesforce Einstein Chatbots to see if we can answer that question. What is a Chatbot? A Chatbot is an application that simulates human conversation via text message. It allows your customer to talk to a computer that then directs the customer to the resources that they request. Chatbots allow you to add an additional channel of communication to your sales and support strategies.  You may have […]

Today, we must be able to collaborate with coworkers, partners, and customers no matter where we are — and the data we access through various services and devices should be properly protected. Sensitivity labels are one way to do so: they protect and classify information as private, public, or sensitive to keep your data secure. A sensitivity label in its simplest form is a level of security applied to your content and containers such as: SharePoint sites Microsoft 365 groups Microsoft Teams sites Note: Sensitivity labels for containers can be enabled through PowerShell. PowerShell will need to be run as an administrator and have a global admin account. Check out How to enable sensitivity labels for containers and synchronize labels in Microsoft documentation for further information. To create a sensitivity label, visit your tenant’s Office 365 Security & Compliance Center from the Microsoft 365 admin center. Locate the Sensitivity Label […]

NetSuite has announced they will begin providing customers with access to Release 2020.2. Like usual, upgrades to Release 2020.2 will take place over the next three months, from mid-August through mid-October. But something has changed! As of this week (July 27, 2020), you can request a NetSuite Release Preview Account – at no additional cost – to prepare for Release 2020.2. We suggest you take advantage of this! You can start to familiarize yourself with new features ahead of time and also verify that your business workflows will continue to perform properly in the new version. How do you request one? Have your NetSuite Admin go to Setup > Company > Release Preview. From there, click Request Release Preview. Your Admin will receive an email when your Release Preview Account is ready to use, typically within 3 – 5 days. Check your dashboard. The following 2020.2 Release information will be […]

What is it? Azure AD Connect is a Microsoft identity tool used by organizations with on-premise Active Directory infrastructure and Microsoft 365 environments. It makes sure that identity data such as passwords and user accounts are in sync – which generally improves your productivity all around! Your organization may be using this in a situation commonly referred to as a ‘hybrid model.' If you are in a hybrid model and have Azure AD Connect installed as an in-between, this software is critical to keep both on-premise and Microsoft 365 linked together . . . oftentimes going unnoticed until something goes wrong and suddenly your password for Outlook is no longer accepted by your laptop to sign-in or you keep having to remember two separate passwords for what is supposed to be one unified ecosystem. What a pain . . . has this happened to you? What do you have to […]

Are you familiar with the amazing functionality for Contract Billing that is hidden inside Microsoft Dynamics GP and within the Field Service module? This functionality allows you to easily manage contracts with your customers with the ability to enter multiple lines of detail with item numbers whether it’s inventoried or a service type. One of the many benefits of this module is its capability to quickly generate multiple invoices from multiple contracts as well as perform revenue recognition to move dollars out of Deferred accrual account and into actual Revenue account. As actual transactions are processed, the billing schedules and revenue recognition schedules are updated to show the current status of your contracts. The image below shows the screen in which general contract information is entered. The key fields are the contract start date, number of periods, the billing frequency, and the day of the month to bill. You can also […]

For as long as I can remember, "username and password” were a fundamental combo to everything in your digital life. You had a username for work, school, even your bank account. Simple passwords became complex passwords as security grew – but that only led to password reuse across platforms typically stored in plain text in your ‘passwords.xls’ file or worse, a ‘sticky’ on your monitor.  Over the last twenty years we’ve watched news headlines report security breaches at the places we expected to have the highest levels of security; however, they had cracks in their armor. The breaches became so abundant sites like www.haveibeenpwned.com were built to give you the ability to check if you’ve been compromised. To improve upon complex passwords, two-factor authentication (2FA) and multi-factor authentication (MFA) came about with promise of higher levels of security. But is that enough? A brief history: Two-factor and Multi-factor authentication have […]