Tag Archive - cloud computing

CeltrinMo is Growing Moustaches for Movember

 

Today Celtrino welcomes a guest blog created by one of its moustache developers (aka e-Business Data and Application Specialist) David Nelson.

It became apparent recently that we needed more scalable moustaches, that look (if so desired) like clouds or whatever else takes our fancy.

That was the simple directive Celtrino followed from Movember.

CeltrnMo Crew

Cutting Edge Mo-Team Members. (From left: Jimmy McGuinness, Stephen Driscoll, Juby John, Pablo Chicot, David Nelson, John Behan).

At the time, one’s initial instinct was to recoil from the challenge, but one could see by optimising and fine tuning “our moustaches” we were really firing on all cylinders now (well almost).  So thank you very much Hercule Poirot and other influences, I love his vision although I may not be able to match the reality by month end.

Moustache growing is like a snowball, (well it is nothing like it really… but bear with me), that had been pushed down a hill (during the thaw in my case), still small at this stage but growing in size and hairiness or remaining exactly the same on Nov 1 as Nov 30.

As a participant in Movember, the allure of having the ability to scale, trim and prune our moustache architectures without having to consider the logistics of space, or power units, or hardware contingency planning (sorry I was thinking of the cloud)… let me restart…

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Posted on November 1, 2012 in Charitable Causes, Movember by
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Celtrino’s Cloud has a Silver Lining

 

“Celtrino is growing, we need to be more scalable, we need to be in the cloud.”

That was the simple directive I received from our CEO over two years ago. At the time, my initial instinct was to advise him that we were already in the cloud, in “our cloud”, and after 10 years of optimising and fine tuning “our cloud” and our resources and processes we were really firing on all cylinders now, so thank you very much Windows Azure, but maybe we’ll pass for now. But I didn’t, mainly because despite the success of our own private cloud platform, I agreed with his vision.  Cloud computing was like a snowball that had been pushed down a hill, still small at that stage but growing in size and velocity and it was on a crash course for IT services. As Head of IT, the allure of having the ability to scale our IT platform without having to consider the logistics of rack space, or power units, or hardware contingency planning and having on-demand access to IT system resources via state of the art, internationally accredited data centres was simply irresistible.

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Posted on July 11, 2012 in Celtrino Express, Celtrino Platform, Cloud Computing, eBilling, Windows Azure by
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Celtrino Achieves a Microsoft Silver Independent Software Vendor (ISV) Competency

 

Celtrino earns distinction through demonstrated technology success and customer commitment.

DUBLIN, Ireland — June, 19th, 2012 Celtrino today announced it has achieved a Silver ISV competency, demonstrating its ability to meet Microsoft Corp. customers’ evolving needs in today’s dynamic business environment. To earn a Microsoft silver competency, partners must successfully demonstrate expertise through rigorous exams, culminating in Microsoft certifications. And to ensure the highest quality of services, Microsoft requires customer references for successful implementation and customer satisfaction.

Microsoft Partner Silver Competency

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Posted on June 19, 2012 in Announcements, Celtrino Express, Cloud Computing, Windows Azure by
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Irish Government Confirms Commitment to Cloud Computing Development with €1.2 Million Research Fund

 

Irish Government Confirms Commitment to Cloud Computing Development with €1.2 Million Research Fund

The Irish Government has announced details of a €1.2 Million research programme designed to encourage investment into cloud computing. Headed up by Dublin City University, the Cloud Computing Technology Research Centre hopes to increase Ireland’s profile as a home for cutting edge developments in the field of outsourced computing. The fund is part of the wider ‘Action Plan for Jobs’ being implemented as part of Ireland’s economic recovery plan.

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Posted on May 4, 2012 in B2B Platform in the Cloud, Cloud Computing, G-Cloud, Government Cloud, Innovations, Research by
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e-Invoicing Up 20% Globally According to New Report

 

A new study commissioned by e-Invoicing provider Basware in conjunction with consultancy Billentis has found that the use of electronic invoices for B2B transactions rose by 20% during 2011. The report found that although many businesses elected to implement e-Invoicing for their own benefit, legislative changes in several countries also had a large part to play in the increased rates of adoption.

e-Invoicing Up 20% Globally

Mexico led the way with legislative changes, mandating that any business trading over a certain threshold must exchange electronic invoices – an approach set to be adopted by Greece, Spain, Norway and Kazakhstan during 2012. The Scandinavian countries, the Benelux union and German also introduced legislation designed to encourage the uptake of e-Invoicing, although most adoption throughout these states was as a result of businesses identifying their own economic benefits for doing so. Finland went one step further by insisting businesses submit invoices to state bodies electronically.

The study also found that the legal status of electronic invoices still varies between countries. In Japan and China, although electronic invoices can be exchanged, they are regarded legally as a copy requiring a paper invoice to be raised for regulatory purposes. Singapore, South Korea and Malaysia however grant electronic invoices the same legal status as a paper version.

Commenting on the results of the report, Karri Lehtonen, Vice President of Basware said, ‘Legislation regarding financial records varies between regions. Paper based invoicing requires a business to understand these legal variants to trade globally. e-Invoicing technology removes this headache as it automates compliance with countries’ different legal requirements.’

Further to Lehtonen’s observations, the use of an outsourced global platform for electronic invoicing has the potential to transcend diverse national legislation allowing businesses to focus on their customer’s requirements, without constructing complex EDI systems to cross borders. As more countries make e-Invoicing mandatory, the process will become more complex for businesses operating in multiple markets; a cloud-based platform such as Celtrino’s Smart Admin reduces the technical and regulatory burden on a business whilst allowing them to trade anywhere and everywhere.


Posted on February 24, 2012 in Cloud Computing, e-Invoicing, EDI, Report, Smart Admin by
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Two Supply Chain Management Predictions for 2012

 

As seems to have been the case every year for the past half decade, 2012 is predicted to be the year that cloud computing finally takes off.  Analysts believe that Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) has finally reached the requisite level of maturity to ensure that manufacturers will finally be able to outsource many of their ERP functions.

Supply Chain Management Predictions for 2012

SaaS providers have managed to extend the functionality of their systems to mimic and replace those available in onsite equivalent ERP platforms immediately negating many of the concerns of business decision makers. Attention to improving platform and data security has also led to increased customer confidence further helping to boost uptake.

Ray Wang, principal analyst for the Constellation Research Group reckons SaaS for manufacturers will also need to demonstrate a high degree of interoperability to facilitate integration with existing on-premise systems. By hooking directly into the existing computer systems, manufacturers can extend and expand their systems without the usual costs associated with an in-house deployment or upgrade. As a result Wang believes that SaaS will reach a natural tipping point this year leading to an explosion in uptake.

James Leibel of technical consultants Cap Gemini is also expecting to see an explosion in embedded wireless tracking throughout the supply chain. These tracking devices, such as RFID and Near Field Communications (NFC) smart tags will help manufacturers keep an accurate inventory at every point of contact with minimal manual intervention, thereby reducing the potential for human error creating stock level issues. NFC and RFID tracking does however require additional investment in hardware for tracking the tags but Ray Wang reckons “Manufacturers will be applying sensor data to anything from predictive maintenance to improved demand forecasting.”

Finally all of the analysts appear to agree that manufacturers will make “healthy” investments in technology to underpin their operations and provide future-proof capacity. Analysts have been wrong in the past, but this year their claims seem highly credible.


Posted on February 17, 2012 in Cloud Computing, ERP, SaaS, Supply Chain Management by
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e-Invoicing for SMEs and Lack of Awareness As Key Barrier According to ACCA

 

With over 147,000 members and 424,000 students in 170 countries, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, or ACCA as it is more commonly known, has recently published a report titled ‘A digital agenda for European SMEs.’

This a comprehensive report based on an extensive member survey and presents key findings on the European Commission’s digital agenda for Europe and in particular, in four key areas: cloud computing, e-Invoicing, social lending and e-commerce.

The survey respondents replied to a number of questions that ascertained the barriers or impediments to the uptake of cloud computing, e-Invoicing, social lending and e-commerce. The answers were grouped in the following categories:

  • Too expensiveACCA logo
  • Lack of awareness
  • Lack of support from banks
  • Lack of access to appropriate specialists
  • No need, customers don’t require this
  • Lack of government initiatives
  • Perceived security risk
  • Too complex
  • Lack of government action
  • Lack of access to fast internet
  • Lack of universal platforms

The most notable statistic is that ‘lack of awareness’ is noted as by far the most important barrier to each of the four key areas that the report surveys on.

To quote directly from the report, “The report finds some important gaps in awareness and confidence levels among the SME sector, and calls on the European Commission, member state governments and the IT industry to actively engage with the advisory community if a critical mass of SMEs is going to be reached.”

The findings of the ACCA correlate very closely to Celtrino’s long held views that the lack of awareness needs to be addressed at both a European and governmental level. The European Union, to be fair, has been actively promoting e-Invoicing for some years and there are several projects on the go to help realise a pan-European e-Invoicing landscape.

But nothing raises awareness more than a legal requirement to act in a certain way. To this end, the Fins are leading by example and there is a new requirement for state agencies and institutions to receive only e-Invoices from their suppliers. Considering that close on 50% of the entire European SME base trades with its respective public sectors, the issue of awareness will not be a problem for long in Finland.

This report is a positive addition to the digital business agenda discussion for Europe and adds credence to the Celtrino’s recent white paper ‘Ireland is About to Become a Whole Lot Smarter.’

You can download a copy of the ACCA report here.


Posted on December 29, 2011 in B2G e-invoicing, Cloud Computing, e-Invoicing by
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Electronic Purchase Order: Eradicate Manual Process and Increase Profit

 

Hear how you can reduce the manual process in your supply chain and increase profit margins by using Electronic Purchase Order solution.

Electronic purchase orders – Eradicate manual process and increase profit

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Posted on December 15, 2011 in Celtrino Platform, Cloud Computing, Electronic Purchase Order, Purchase Order Capture Automation, Supply Chain, Supply Chain Management, Supply Chain Performance by
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ERP and SME

 

ERP and the SME

Once regarded as the preserve of enterprise-level organisation, the advent of cloud-based computing and the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) business model has made powerful, and previously expensive, enterprise resource planning platforms available and accessible to smaller businesses. Known by some as “democratisation”, outsourced ERP has made enterprise functionality available to companies as small as sole traders.

Great idea, but why bother?

Your business is unique, and so too are the processes underpinning it; no one knows your business like you do. That said, an ERP outsourcer knows enterprise resource planning better than most, allowing their customers to rely on their expertise. Using an outsourced ERP provider also removes the need for employing an in-house ERP expert. The SaaS provider assumes responsibility for hosting the ERP application, maintaining and managing it, and providing support to the end user.
Outsourced ERP allows smaller businesses to enjoy all the benefits of an enterprise class system without having to pay traditional enterprise-level license costs or for the staff traditionally required to maintain and support such a system. Outsourced ERP allows SMEs to focus on running their business, without worrying about the underlying software.

But wait, there’s more!ERP and SME

Traditional Enterprise Resource Planning systems certainly create cost-savings and efficiencies but often only over a significant period of time. By outsourcing ERP SMEs can significantly reduce the time usually associated with such a deployment; the outsourcer assumes responsibility for the implementation, leaving the buyer with a fully functional ERP system from day one.
SMEs using outsourced ERP systems also stand to gain from fringe benefits such as free-of-charge software upgrades, and bundled support services all of which would potentially be very expensive. These additional benefits contribute to reducing the on-going running costs which can be incurred when running ERP software in-house.
Outsourcing has therefore made ERP not only available to the small or medium business, but also affordable. As a result, businesses failing to take advantage of ERP functionality and its associated efficiencies stand to lose out to their competitors in the long run.


Posted on December 12, 2011 in Cloud Computing, ERP, SaaS by
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Electronic Ledger Alignment and Cash Flow Management – via Cloud Computing

 

The below describes an original, cost effective way to improve your organisation’s cash flow by implementing electronic general ledger accounting software in the cloud.

As always, if you have any questions, feel free to drop us an comment, tweet or e-mail and we’ll be sure to get back to you.

 

Electronic Ledger Alignment and Cash Flow Management – via Cloud Computing

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Posted on December 8, 2011 in Cash Flow Management, Celtrino Platform, Cloud Computing, Electronic Ledger Alignment, Supply Chain Management by
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