Last week I met with a new client, we began with our normal introductions, etc.  They were curious as to my expertise with the Dynamics product line.  After discussing the seven different certifications I personally have from Microsoft, the conversation quickly moved onto other topics.  However, this reminded me of the rigorous screening process Microsoft employs for its partner network.

Any partner wishing to sell Microsoft Dynamics GP must have employees certified in its core financial management system.  Further certifications are required in database management among others.  Recently all Microsoft Partners were asked to complete formal training & certification in Sure Step, the Microsoft Project Management System.  I am glad to say all WebSan staff that were tested passed with flying colours!

Congratulations Team WebSan!

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Did you know Directors of corporations can be held personally liable for un-remitted HST!?!

Be ready for the new HST!  Contact WebSan now to take advantage of our HST Cut-Over Tool-Kit.

Over our many years of experience with Microsoft Dynamics GP, we have developed a proven implementation methodology for companies both large & small.  Get the job done right the first time!  Let us help you with HST upgrades:

• Update company-wide sales & purchasing tax options
• Set tax settings for specific grouping of customers or vendors
• Ensure appropriate sales items are taxable or not

Adam MacIntosh is the Senior Implementation Lead with WebSan Solutions Inc., a professional services consulting firm specializing in helping companies get the most out of their ERP systems and Supply Chains. You can contact Adam at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or at 416-499-1235 ext. 213.

An often-used buzzword over the last few years in the IT sector has been virtualization - the process of turning one server that hosts a single operating system into a super-system that can potentially host 10 or more operating systems. By now most large corporations and agencies have some sort of virtualized infrastructure in place, and for good reason. The benefits to using this technology are numerous: hardware and operation costs are drastically reduced, virtualization provides enhanced flexibility with the allocation of resources, and production environment’s mission critical applications have been noticing improvements of up time. But how can a virtualized server improve your organizations testing and development cycles?

One of the major benefits of a virtualized test server is the ability to swiftly bring new resources online and create new development environments. Cloning a standard template that has been authored with the fundamental tools required by the development team can create these new environments. Procuring, configuring and installing hardware used to take weeks - but all of the sudden your development team’s new environment is up and running in less than the amount of time it takes to get a cup of coffee.

Another true benefit to a virtualized test server is that there is less risk of cross-contamination between environments. There is no longer an issue when development team A modifies core system files that could possibly interrupt development team B from using that code library. Why? Because both teams have completely separate environments using completely different virtual hard drives connected to completely different virtual networks.

So what about the cost? The common perception is that you need a really powerful and expensive server - but this is not the case. Taking into account the timesavings you will experience, you will also find that there is there is not much investment needed to get a virtualized test server online, especially now that VMWare’s ESXi Hypervisor is available as a free download. Perhaps that server sitting in the basement can be used to get your foot in the virtualization doorstep.

Mike Jantz is a Senior Technical Consultant with WebSan Solutions Inc., a professional services consulting firm specializing in helping companies get the most out of their ERP systems and Supply Chains. You can contact Mike at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or at 416-499-1235 ext. 210.

I've seen it numerous times...it happens in law firms, accounting firms, consulting firms, and any company where employees are the "product" upon which revenues are based.

The problem with the professional services industry is that a large key to success is cash flow management. That means that you must effectively manage the time between when your resources perform the work and when the customer pays. Let's take a look at the whole process.

Part 1 : Time and Expense reporting

To effectively get your personnel to report their time and expenses, it must be simple. Some of the ways to address this are :

- enable your team to enter their time and expenses through a simple to use web portal, or even a mobile device. That way it doesn't take a significant amount of time out of their day to "get their paperwork in".