ADVANTAGE BLOG

Ask Bob about his new clock. Bob Thornton celebrated his twentieth anniversary at ACS early this year, and so received a lovely Howard Miller clock of his choice, engraved with his years of service. Bob came to ACS in February 1989 as a combination support analyst and account manager. In his two decades here, he has done almost everything, with the exception of programming. Bob worked on a number of implementation projects for Advantage clients large and small, and has done training, consulting and even some sales work. Yes, for one Advantage client, Bob not only did the original software demonstrations for them, but also handled the follow-up sales process tasks. Bob likes the fact that he can build long-term relationships with clients. For instance, he worked on …

by Tim Zapawa, Vice President of Client Services There are a multitude of options, tools, and programs available for analyzing and reporting on your Advantage data. Deciding on and then implementing an optimal solution can be challenging for many organizations. And as companies and datasets get larger, the importance and impact of these decisions on data analysis increase as well. I'm often asked questions about how the data is accessed and what type of reporting tools should be used. In this article, I will briefly describe and compare some of the software programs available for data analysis and reporting. In the next article, I'll discuss some of the options for how data can be accessed. Most of our clients use some combination …

This month, Customer Portrait presents The Pacific Press Publishing Association in Nampa, Idaho.  Pacific Press joined the Advantage community in 1997. The Pacific Press® Publishing Association, established in 1874, is owned and operated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and publishes books and periodicals with Christian themes, for both children and adults. Specialties include books for Christian women and books and magazines in foreign languages, including Spanish, French, Afrikaans, and even Samoan. Their monthly magazine called Signs of the Times, has been in continuous circulation since the Press began in 1874. Pacific Press publishes other periodicals as well, and also produces many of the …

by Greg Stout, Vice President of Client Services "An educated consumer is our best customer." That was the long-time advertising slogan of a local retailer in the area where I live. It also correlates to one of ACS's key philosophies - that our most knowledgeable Advantage clients are the most satisfied ones. Advantage is a comprehensive, feature-rich marketing and fulfillment package designed to help you operate most effectively. In addition, Advantage is updated three times per year to add more and better features that you can use when you upgrade to the latest revision. So, how can you keep up with all the new features and know that you are taking full advantage of all the functionality? Advantage training is one of …

WAUKESHA, Wis. ? How about some good news from the magazine-publishing industry? Kalmbach Publishing Co. of Waukesha, Wisconsin, is celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2009 and still going strong. This independent, niche publisher produces the world's best-selling magazines for model railroading (Model Railroader), scale modeling (FineScale Modeler and Scale Auto), beaded jewelry making (BeadStyle and Bead&Button), astronomy (Astronomy), and railroading (Trains). Kalmbach publishes 15 magazines and a host of special-interest publications. Its book department produces 35 books annually. Kalmbach maintains nearly 30 Web sites, and it produces the world's largest jewelry making show, the annual Bead&Button Show in Milwaukee. Collectively, more …

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It is a cliché that software developers who become managers never fully let go of their need to program. Like a cough in a concert hall, there is no way to suppress the tickle that says it's time to design something, code it, test it, demo it, tinker and re-design. This is why I appreciate my current opportunity to delve into the design and development of ACS's nascent Business Intelligence module. At the recent AUG meeting, we discussed the current status. The project holds enough technical challenges to keep me occupied for many months. The literature on data warehousing and business intelligence is extensive, reflecting the software industry's decades long struggle to coax 'actionable intelligence' from databases that stubbornly conceal …

In these hard economic times, it's easy to think of reasons not to begin a new project. However, there are some very compelling reasons why right now is an excellent time to conduct an upgrade project. Upgrading to the latest revision of Advantage could not only increase operational efficiencies and reduce costs, but also improve customer service. In addition, implementing new features may well help you to generate additional sales. And when the economy improves, being ready to handle new business could be key to your success. We at ACS can help you to determine if an upgrade makes good business sense for your company. An Advantage upgrade project focuses on the delivery of a new software revision to your site. This delivery brings you: …