January 2012 Issue
Shared Data Gives Companies Competitive Advantage
 Do your remote employees have the information they need to respond to customers quickly? Is your operations team prepared to deliver when large orders close? Does your business management system give your managers the real-time insight to make adjustments to production?
Connecting the information across your organization is critical to your competitive advantage. The companies that are thriving in today's volatile business environment are able to react to changes quickly. Consolidated information – across departments and geographies – gives managers in those organizations the ability to make decisions that drive profits and cut costs.
At Western Computer, we help those successful companies connect their employees, customers, vendors and partners to the information they need. Let us help you.
Why CFO's are Moving ERP to the Cloud
 There is a lot of talk about how companies are moving their ERP and other business management systems to the cloud. According to a recent study*, small and medium-size businesses named their top five reasons for moving to the cloud, with the following results:
- 47% – improve bottom line, cost savings
- 43% – provide increased security
- 43% – reduce IT workload
- 41% – ensure we always have the latest updates or versions
- 36% – deploy new function/applications faster
The move to the cloud has just begun and will transform the way businesses deploy software in the coming years. If you would like to find out more about your cloud options, give us a call or visit our website.
*Cloud Computing as an Engine to Growth Study, 2010. Study sponsored by Microsoft.
Striking the Balance of Cost and Growth
 As executives strive to maximize business growth, they often struggle to strike a balance between lowering operational costs and meeting rising customer expectations. While keeping pace with customers' ever-increasing expectations is not easy, it's also not optional.
Improve frontline employee productivity
One way to meet both goals is to optimize overall business productivity. Too often, productivity is confused with simply demanding more from employees. With the right mix of processes and technology, decision-makers can increase total business productivity while making work easier for employees. Specific recommendations include:
- Customer-facing staff has complete data to more effectively respond to today's ultra-demanding customers.
- Marketers centrally manage their communications and interactions to build communities through social networks.
- Salespeople can be more prepared with deeper customer information when they enter into the sales cycle, which is often further into the process.
- Customer service reps need data at their fingertips to quickly resolve customer problems.
All of these recommendations are delivered through customer relationship management (CRM) business software, giving employees the tools to meet customer expectations without wasting time searching for information.
 Find out how you can balance cost and customer service with your complimentary copy of "Optimizing Business Productivity: Do More for Your Customers and Your Business," a white paper by the nationally recognized CRM experts Peppers & Rogers Group.
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