How to Find the Right Zoho Partner for Outsourcing Administrative Work
Should you be outsourcing your Zoho administrator duties? The pros and cons of outsourcing have been discussed for years, some of the benefits being you don’t have to hire, onboard, or train; you get the advantages of a larger pool of knowledge; and you can potentially save in terms of labor costs paying only for the time you’re truly using. We would also add that in the case of highly specialized tasks, your organization benefits by being able to keep its focus on the things it does best – without having to ensure that internal resources have proper training, sufficient time, and the desire to take on new and different responsibilities.
The cons of outsourcing can include losing some control, or that needs may get lost in translation. Although, more often than not, the benefits of outsourcing the tasks involved with Zoho administration far outweigh them. Let’s talk about it a little more so you can see if it’s the right move for your business.
What is outsourcing in Zoho administration?
[caption id="attachment_5260" align="alignright" width="400"]ZBrains has helped clients like you build a strategy for digital transformation and growth with Zoho since 2012.[/caption]
In this case, outsourcing is the practice in which designated company tasks or functions are given to service providers outside of your company. This support is provided to your company by an external resource instead of an internal one. Some tasks handled by a Zoho administrator can include:
Assisting with best practices and implementations for user credentials and permissions.
Ensuring that application updates are timely, and testing them to ensure that all integrations work as required prior to roll out.
Responding to incidents as reported, and helping you with remediation.
Helping to identify and notify you of opportunities to improve, enhance, or get more out of your system.
And of course, many other tasks as they arise. Just ask!
We know as well as anyone that Zoho is definitely simple to pick up and use. But customizing it to your needs, and correctly integrating and maintaining systems can be confusing for the uninitiated!
The Benefits of Combining Zoho and Administrative Outsourcing
We scratched the surface of this just a bit in the intro, but diving a little deeper, you have a lot of opportunities to benefit from outsourcing Zoho system admin work. Here are the three areas we think are most notable.
1. You Get a Better Return on Your Zoho Investment
For starters, we know that no business tools, especially systems for your CRM, Accounting, or other specialized applications were easy to implement. We see it very often – businesses have a lot of excitement up front about their new systems, but lose momentum due to lack of expertise. They begin missing out on the many additional features of Zoho that could help them optimize their businesses!
If you’re like most of our clients, the investment in time, resource training, and ongoing maintenance of your systems is not insignificant. However, are the resources in your organization who handle system administration the most qualified? And are you losing any time or efficiency each week simply by having the wrong person in the seat?
Outsourcing your Zoho administrator duties can help enhance the return on your Zoho investment, and can even help lower your labor costs. Consider the economies of scale you could impact once you have assigned those tasks to the resource who’s best equipped to make your Zoho system thrive.
2. Expert Insight Can Lead to Innovation
It goes without saying that you are the expert in your business. From the products or services you provide, to the processes you use to deliver those to happy clients, you have spent the time learning and understanding what sets you apart. These are the factors making you successful!
Now consider what benefit could be derived from being able to tap into another knowledge base, particularly, a knowledge base with expertise in the Zoho systems you rely on day-to-day. Without having to add to your org’s headcount, you can bring in top-level talent and expertise to help you streamline automations, increase process efficiencies with workflows, templates, and even deeper software integrations. Letting an expert help you admin your Zoho systems means you benefit from another set of adept eyes.
3. You Have One Less Thing to Manage
[caption id="attachment_5258" align="alignright" width="400"]With help from a designated Zoho admin you can focus on your core competencies, and avoid the distractions and unanticipated “emergencies” of system maintenance.[/caption]
Hiring a trusted partner to keep an eye on the often out of sight, yet routine, necessities that allow your systems to operate seamlessly, means a ton of management time is freed up! Now you can focus on your core competencies, and avoid the distractions and unanticipated “emergencies” of system maintenance that an outsourced Zoho administrator can ensure is always on track.
For example, how many times have you missed software notices about integration updates that set your business behind by a few hours, or even a day or more just because a simple function needs attention? You’ll always be on top of it – mitigating those risks of lost time and productivity – when these tasks are a priority for your administrative partner in Zoho.
Speaking of agreements, you can also increase the speed and quality of work for outsourced activities. This flexibility is another, sometimes overlooked aspect of a service agreement for administrative oversight. This relates back to having a partner with experience that may be lacking in-house. The right partner will ensure that planning is up to date. They will help you focus your strategy. And can ensure you get the services or help you need, as you need it.
How to Find the Right Zoho Partner for Outsourcing Administrative Work
Establish Your Goals & Needs
The very first step in finding the right Zoho admin partner is to detail the needs you have to be outsourced. This includes documenting Zoho processes, product ownership, and maintenance services you require, and how frequently you believe these items require attention. Evaluate with your internal teams and establish agreements before beginning discussions or negotiations with any potential providers.
Evaluate Potential Zoho Partner Credentials
When you do begin discussions with Zoho Consultants or partners, be sure to find answers to the following:
[caption id="attachment_5259" align="alignright" width="400"]Start your search for a Zoho Admin by detailing all of the needs you have to be outsourced.[/caption]
Do they cover the applications you use,
Do they have working knowledge of any integrations currently in place,
What sort of plans do they offer (hourly or monthly service options),
Where are they located, and where are the people performing the work located,
And what experience do they have helping others like you in your industry?
These questions will naturally open conversations to more detail. This will allow you to gauge whether or not a partner will be able to assist with the needs and goals you outlined.
Selecting the Right Zoho Admin Plan
Consider again the goals and needs you established up front. This will help you select the right Zoho administrator plan. Depending on the size of your business, and the internal depth of expertise in Zoho, you may require weekly, monthly, or quarterly assistance. You absolutely have the option to bake that sort of maintenance into your Zoho system administrator requirements agreement or scope of work with the right partner. And if you’re looking for something a little more flexible, some organizations may allow for an hourly flex plan, and/or monthly retainer.
Finding a Zoho Admin Partner at ZBrains
[caption id="attachment_5261" align="alignright" width="400"]Achieve more with help administrating your Zoho system from a Zoho Certified partner like ZBrains.[/caption]
If you’re here, you may be considering ZBrains as a partner for your Zoho system administrator needs. You’ll find answers to most questions here on our site. However, we believe it’s important to connect in person with every client from the start. This ensures we get the most information from you, and have a greater understanding of your needs and goals. So feel free to contact us any time.
ZBrains can help you with Zoho administration – whether your team is 5 or 500 users. If you’re just getting started with Zoho, or you recognize it’s time to take its capabilities to the next level. We have helped clients like you build a strategy for digital transformation and growth with Zoho.
We have proprietary integrations for Quickbooks and even built a field services and manufacturing ERP called FieldTech.
Our teams offer both hourly flex support and a monthly retainer for support services, so you can get the coverage you need.
All of our talent is US-based, and we’re a Zoho Certified Partner who have been working in this space since 2012.
ZBrains works with many types of businesses, but we focus primarily on industries such as manufacturing/distribution, construction and field services, and those working in technology or SaaS organizations.
Ready to discuss Zoho Admin Support with ZBrains? Get in touch today!
Welcome to Q3, and your Zoho Updates for July 2021! With the first half of the year at a close, we are sharing just a few notable updates this past month from Zoho including on-premise Zoho Creator options, Microsoft-BI Integration, and multi-org sign in for CRM.
Get all the details for What’s New, Zoho Updates July 2021.
Good news for multi-org Zoho CRM users! “Zoho CRM allows users to access multiple organizational (CRM) accounts using the same email address. This is especially useful for organizations who maintain different CRM accounts to manage their business, such as a franchisee or a subsidiary.”
A CRM improvement now searches for similar records using unique fields, plus system-defined fields in the Leads module when converting Leads to Contacts and Accounts. Then, based on whether a value is available or not available for these fields the system will either ask to create a new record or merge with existing record.
You can now copy Campaign Member status from from CRM account to another while copying customizations.
Introducing Zia Reasoning in Assignment Rules! Zia now determines a pattern from your existing data to automatically assign the most appropriate owner for a record. Of course, admins can disable or enable the contributing fields to enhance Zia’s owner suggestion skills, too.
Zoho Creator
Creator Reports embedded in the Pages component have been enhanced. They will not appear as a larger window in Pages, and helps standardize the appearance of the detail view when embedded. Additionally, the user interface is improved, and several minor bug fixes were rolled out with this set.
Notable announcement from the Creator team says that “Zoho Creator On-Premise was launched recently to help businesses host their apps on their own servers.” If you’re interested in this solution, please don’t hesitate to let us know, we’d be glad to help you determine with On-Premise is a fit for your organization.
Microsoft Power BI desktop app connection is now available in Creator. It “brings together multiple software services, apps, and connectors to convert data from different sources into a collective, meaningful combination of information to obtain visually insightful data.”
Good news for app creators! After several months in the works, Creator’s V2 upgrade is now in place, and brings Improvements including improved security, better error handling, improved performance compared to V1, and more.
With this new enhancement, you can import data from a live app and update existing records while importing. This includes the addition of “Smart Suggestions” to provide intuitive recommendations while importing data.
Issues Notices from Zoho
Zoho Creator
Creator bug fixes addressed this month include those that address: downloading page as PDF, visibility permission in subform field, editor popup in notes field, and localization in rich text field.
Creator Android app Version 6.4.8 subform fix addresses issues with dropdown field and OCR field in subform.
Have a question we didn’t answer here? If you have questions or would like to connect with one of our consultants, schedule below. We’re also available by phone, just call our offices at (888) 207-4111.
As one of the largest SaaS companies in the world, we like to think that Zoho knows a thing or two about making software systems for this segment. If you’re in the market for a new system, or starting your research here, this article will help you understand the capabilities of Zoho for SaaS and tech companies. And we’ll share details about what it’s like to work with ZBrains on your Zoho implementation.
This is your bread and butter, so you know that the details – KPI’s, clean data, and seamless integration – are paramount for most businesses, but are especially important for Tech & SaaS.
[caption id="attachment_5119" align="alignright" width="450"]Zoho is one of the world’s largest SaaS companies, and serves over 60 million users worldwide with their solutions.[/caption]
Before we get into it, ask yourself: What would your business look like if you could integrate your solutions for managing subscriptions, keeping an active CRM, giving internal and external customers an easy to use service ticket system, and being able to keep your accounting accurate and streamlined in order to maximize customer retention?
You need to keep a pulse 24/7 on all the numbers to ensure profitability and customer satisfaction. This is where the power of Zoho implementation and its integrations become very apparent.
Are you already using several applications to keep your operations in line? If you’re considering a new implembentation, or improving what you’ve got with greater integration, having the right system and partners in place can make a world of difference. Here’s our advice and insight on the process needed to make it happen.
Begin by Evaluating Your Inputs
A single source of truth is invaluable, so maybe it’s time to stop using siloed data, and multiple systems that don’t quite ‘talk to each other.’ Believe it or not, you can get a true picture of profitability, costs, and almost any other meaningful KPI with the help of a well-appointed Zoho implementation.
You know what data is needed, so let ZBrains assist in getting you up and running in a system that brings everything together. The ZBrains process is key to ensuring your success, and we’ve spent every year since 2012 steadily improving our business as Zoho Certified Consultants. This process is the heart of what keeps us – and you after implementation – running smoothly. Let’s take a closer look at the ‘what,’ ‘why,’ and ‘how’ of the importance of integrated software, including subscription billing, CRM, service tickets, and the other applications from Zoho to keep your Tech or SaaS business running effortlessly.
Why should you consider a Zoho Implementation?
In a SaaS or tech company, like almost any other business, an software is meant to help maintain operations, make them run smoothly, and provide visibility to your most important metrics. When you have organizational efficiency and combine it with the ability to keep your fingers on the pulse of your most important KPI’s is where the true power of an integrated software is recognized.
We like to ask clients this question: “How would your business change if you were able to keep subscriptions, product data, and financial data in the same system? What about the ability to centralize your operations including everything from insight into customers, quotes, sales orders and invoices, to product inventory, work orders and process automation?”
Your business, and oftentimes your clients, will require you to have easy access to this information. Without it, your customer service suffers, user experience can be a miss, and inevitably your subscriptions dwindle and profits suffer. Are you sure that all of your KPI’s are accounted for and are you able to measure them and benefit from the results of knowing what’s working and what’s not? Software is the key to organizing processes, people, and data you need to make sure you can.
Business Process Management On a New Level
Take a moment and imagine having a system in place that can offer you:
“a disciplined approach to identify, design, execute, document, measure, monitor, and control both automated and non-automated business processes to achieve consistent, targeted results” that are aligned with your strategic goals.
When you are finally able to align consistency with your business goals, every little step in that direction adds up, and gets you one step closer to success. Does this idea intrigue and energize you? If so, keep reading.
Can good business processes really solve problems?
How do the aspects of the definition above apply to common activities you do in your business like: quoting, time tracking, equipment tracking, job costing, inventory management, scheduling, invoice and expense tracking, customer service, and subscriptions management? Do you currently have a way to achieve each of these points?
Is the process simple to see data and share between teams and/or departments? Or is the data siloed?
Does it take more than one hand to count how many software systems you’re using?
Are your associates able to seamlessly handoff projects from one department or process to another?
Does information get lost in the shuffle or is never considered at a global level?
Can you see which associates are working, where they are, and how effective they are in a given project?
Is your subscription management process automated, including dunning management?
You’ve come to the right place if implementing solutions for any of these problems feels like a good next step for your business. You can achieve streamlined operations and processes with Zoho, but first let’s discuss some benefits of standardized processes.
6 Ways Standardized Processes Help Tech or SaaS Organizations
Which of these points could benefit your business the most?
1) Increase Your Productivity
Imagine a solution that could give you access to your service team status and location immediately, or that would allow you to create a quote faster. Or what if resources spent less time with double-data entry? And document handling was all digital? What if you could automate some of your routines? How could this affect your productivity factor?
2) Quality Control & Customer Experience
[caption id="attachment_5120" align="alignleft" width="450"]Zoho’s subscription lifecycle management tools include features that can improve customer experience, helping you retain more subscribers than ever.[/caption]
When reviewing your NPS or customer feedback, does it say that some customer experiences are perfect while others fall short? Standardization makes your business, project planning, and deliverables executions more straightforward. This data also means you can streamline the training/onboarding process. Subscription lifecycle management features an also improve customer experience including:
Recurring payments and accounting features that ensure payments come on time and can facilitate payments through multiple methods.
Subscription metrics & reports help you stay up to date on your subscription business metrics and provide comprehensive reports
Even subscription automation that allows you to automate billing and subscription related tasks with the help of workflow rules and webhooks.
3) Bring Teams & Customers Together with Easier Collaboration
A well-provisioned system allows for more meaningful collaboration across teams because it helps to remove siloed information. Transparency in your organization helps your teams identify best practices, remove redundancies, and share expertise across departments more easily. Additionally, a good solution for your organization could include a customer portal where they can view invoices, make payments, or connect with an agent via a ticketing system to solve technical issues or request work.
4) Reduce Operational Costs
This can take many forms from being able to accurately quote and job cost, to giving clients self-serve options and giving your employees the tools needed to easily track time and materials in order to avoid overages or oversights. We’re just scratching the surface of how effective software helps reduce costs. Now imagine a system that can offer recurring billing and invoicing, and even dunning management to deal with payment failures and declines. The system can automatically initiate a recovery process which will save time in your financial department and reduce churn rate!
5) Give Yourself More Time for Innovation & Beat the Competition
Combining your entrepreneurial business instinct with the data an integrated system like Zoho One can capture is almost like a superpower. Put experience to work, plan and implement your innovations, and then use metrics you’ve captured to measure the results. With the power of data behind you, you are able to make accurate and incremental changes often and quickly. When you continually add automation to the mix, you’ll be giving yourself more time for innovation. Using the time you’ve saved to innovate, you’ll be well on the way to being able to beat your competition.
How much time do you spend wrangling data? Checking multiple sources, and rechecking? What time is lost chasing invoices, customer data, and subscription information? When you are spending less time searching for data, managing individuals, and chasing processes, you can spend more time working in your business. With this gain in time you can focus on the innovations that move your business ahead of your competition!
6) A Single Source of Truth to Rule Them All
After points one through five, you can easily recognize how standardized processes can improve business operations beyond the basics. Zoho can help you bring your data to one ecosystem, and provide you with a single source of truth. Imagine a single sign-on that lets you access Zoho apps to operate every department, and gives peace of mind with security protocols that more than 60 million users rely on every day at work.
Have the scenarios we’ve shared about how Zoho can help your Tech or SaaS business been resonating with you? If so, you’re likely a serious candidate for implementing Zoho. And maybe you’re also convinced that ZBrains is the certified Zoho Partner to assist in your implementation. Let’s keep the conversation going!
What’s the ZBrains Business Process Analysis? And how does it impact my Zoho implementation?
Every new engagement with ZBrains begins with a Business Process Analysis or BPA. Using what we know about all of the reasoning we shared above, we’ve developed a process that applies the same principles to our assessments. This is what is looks like:
Starting a BPA with ZBrains
The business process analysis is integral to all ZBrains consulting projects and Zoho implementations. As with any planning effort, it ensures a successful project plan is in place that fits with your business processes. We always start by getting to know you and your business.The best way we can solve your business problems is to first completely understand your current state.
Here’s what we do:
First we analyze expectations and identify any existing performance gaps in your business processes.
Next, we examine your business from a wider industry perspective. What makes you the same and differentiates your business from others?
Then, ZBrains Certified Zoho consultants evaluate opportunities for improvement.
Lastly, we decide which methods need to be introduced to positively impact the business.
We start by meeting with your team to thoroughly discuss and review your processes. This means taking time with sales, marketing, accounting, customer service, finance, and your operations teams to ensure every requirement is captured, and that we fully understand your existing systems. We’ll identify the best way to consolidate your operations into a centralized platform with Zoho as the hub.
After the BPA is finished, you receive expert recommendations on changes, augmentations or implementations from our team that are needed to meet your goals. We share a project timeline, deliverables, and an outline of targets so that you’ll always know project status. The strategy you receive can be executed with precision to createa successful business plan for the upcoming quarters and beyond.
How we work with Technology and SaaS Businesses
Zoho and ZBrains are both in this industry, and because of it we believe we’re uniquely positioned to offer our expertise here. And ZBrains specializes in small to medium businesses, just like yours. Here’s what a Business Process Analysis with ZBrains looks like for you:
Most often, we work with a champion from your company, normally a President, VP, or another C-level representative. We’ll talk about your executive dashboards, and business analysis tools, areas for improvement, and overall company goals with a new Zoho system.
Also, we ask to include members from teams across your organization in the intake sessions. This means representatives from all teams who will be using the software. We like to include SME’s from your Sales, Estimating, Marketing teams, Customer Service teams, and other Service or Resource Management representatives, and of course, Finance. This ensures that we get a global perspective of the business in our intake, and we find that it encourages greater user adoption later on!
What information does ZBrains gather during a BPA?
During our sessions with each of your various team representatives, ZBrains will collect detailed information about their daily/weekly/monthly processes. We’ll see what’s working for them, what isn’t, and what improvements are needed. Discussions with your teams will often include the following:
[caption id="attachment_5121" align="alignright" width="450"]ZBrains collects detailed information about all your business processes. We’ll see what’s working, what isn’t, and what improvements are needed.[/caption]
Sales and Estimating
We’ll review and discuss all points of your sales process. Then, we look at if and how your quotes or estimates are created and shared with clients. What other documents are required and will they be managed digitally? We’ll dive into how new leads are addressed, and how is existing business managed? How do you measure success – what are your critical Sales KPI’s?
Finance & Subscription Management
We’ll drill down to completely understand what information is required from your front office to back office. We include review of documents for customers, all the way through to which data is required in order to generate executive reports. We’ll also dive into how you’re managing subscriptions, reporting on churn, and ensuring that payments are received. What information are you capturing from usage stats in order to segment and serve (or market to) your clients?
Customer Service & Support Teams
Keeping any hard-earned client happy is almost always less expensive than onboarding a new lead. For this reason, we’ll look at all of your CRM data and service ticket processes for service requests, including options like live chat for support. Do your current systems integrate? Do you want them to? We’ll also discuss document requirements.
Project Management Teams
What are your current project management tools? Who is using them? Are you taking advantage of features such as: task automation, team collaboration, issue& time tracking, and mobile project management options?
Production & Installation
Are you a SaaS or Tech business that also sells product, like an IaaS or IOT as a Service org? If so, how do you procure goods? Are you purchasing parts or equipment? Do you have composite items and a need for CPQ? What is your current process for handling bill of materials, work orders, and routing? How are you handling time tracking? We also get into your potential needs for planning capacity, and on-site maintenance, to name a few.
Additionally, how are your installation teams scheduled and dispatched? Are factors like crew size, availability, proximity, or skill set taken into consideration? How is time tracking addressed? Are your production or field/on-site service teams tracking their own inventory, and assets? What about work orders, scheduling, and routing?
Inventory Management
If you are stocking products, we go into detail about your inventory management processes including current and desired states. Do you have multiple warehouses, mobile warehouses? How are you handling order fulfillment? What about installation or service components? Are you ordering the same components from multiple vendors depending on lead time, price, and other factors? Do you need to track reorder levels for items you keep in stock?
Other Zoho Integrations
Finally, we’ll look at your current integrations to determine compatibility with Zoho. We can also help identify any new integrations that might benefit your business processes. Some of the Zoho integrations commonly used by Tech and SaaS organizations include:
ShipStation,
TaxJar,
Avalara,
QuickBooks (Online and Desktop),
Xero,
Ecommerce solutions like Shopify or Magento,
SMS solutions like Twilio,
And many, many, others.
Considerations for Budgeting and Timeline for Zoho Implementation
As we mentioned earlier, Zoho is uniquely positioned for the SMB. For example, Zoho One includes more than 40 integrated applications in a single ecosystem. You’ll be hard pressed to find a solution that isn’t included, and when you can’t or you have a preferred tool, you can almost always integrate.
A major software implementation for a large business can be as high as six-figures to implement, plus another five figures for the service costs. These incredibly robust enterprise tools are really powerful, but for a small or medium business like yours, they’re oftentimes out of reach. You shouldn’t dismiss the functionality just because the big names are cost prohibitive. Upon inspecting more closely, we think you’ll see that these big-name-solutions themselves are more often than not complete overkill. This is another reason how a BPA can help any small or medium sized business identify the actual tools they will need and utilize.
Incase you need more talking points: Why Zoho is a Solid Choice
You deserve a solution that is also robust in functionality and nuanced for your business!
More often than not, Zoho is less expensive to implement and has a lower total cost of ownership than competing solutions.
Zoho applications are built to suit your business, and customization is possible using rapid development platforms like Zoho Creator.
Zoho is accessible. Built and designed with the SMB in mind, and you don’t need a dev at every turn. Simply add custom fields or new reports. Customize dashboards. Drag and drop functions make it easy to do this work in house, without sacrificing enterprise functionality.
As a fellow in our industry, you probably already know how common it is for technology implementations to end in low user adoption. They can be too complicated and cumbersome for users and they become bogged down. Sometimes the new apps are placed, but don’t fit into the workflow. However, when you take the time to address the business needs, then build your system to solve for nuances of your business – and you get insight users in every department – you get better user adoption and a higher chance of success. As you can imagine, with so many variables, the budget and timeline for your Zoho implementation will not be exactly like any other. (However, you can get a price range using our instant quote tool.)
Thanks for reading through, and learning about the ZBrains process. We hope it’s been useful. If you’re interested in the next steps or have any questions, our Zoho Certified Consultants are ready to help you get started with your implementation or new integration – just get in touch!
Are you researching FieldTech, Salesforce Field Service, Service Titan, or Oracle as an option for field services software? Whether you’re just beginning research about scheduling software, or looking for a change, this article’s for you.
It’s no secret that in large part the success of your contracting business is based on accuracy, from bidding and job costing, to capacity planning and reporting.
For both for Field Services and Construction, it’s essential to have a handle on all the numbers to ensure profitability and customer satisfaction. If you don’t already use an ERP software to keep your operations in line, or it’s a slice of business you’re looking to improve, having the right applications in place can make a world of difference. What function does a Construction ERP software or Field Services ERP serve?
[caption id="attachment_5038" align="alignleft" width="400"]It might be time to let technology help you scale your contracting business for the 21st century. ERP solutions from Zoho might be the answer.[/caption]
Start with the Right Steps
Stop doing back-of-the-napkin estimates that sometimes happen in your business, and start getting a look at the true data you need. Put losses in productivity and profit behind you.
Zoho ERP solutions can be the keystone to simply and successfully capturing the details of your contracting for field services business. And we’ll show you the best ways to utilize data once the Zoho implementation for your teams are in place. We’re going to give you all the details about what it means to work with ZBrains, including our process – the heart of what keeps us and you – running smoothly. Let’s take a closer look at the ‘what,’ ‘why,’ and ‘how’ of the importance of ERP software, including field service scheduling software.
Ready to Revolutionize Construction? How Does ERP Help?
Fundamentally, an ERP like a field services software is meant to help you ensure operations are running smoothly, but that’s just one aspect. This organizational efficiency coupled with the ability to keep your fingers on the pulse of your most important KPI’s is where the true power of ERP software is recognized.
Take a moment for this quick exercise, and ask yourself: “How would my business change if I could sync inventory, order management and financial data? What about the ability to centralize my operations including everything from insight into customers, quotes, sales orders and invoices, to product inventory, work orders and process automation?”
Construction, field services, and contracting in general require precision. Without it, your service quality suffers, workmanship can fail, and inevitably your customers and profits suffer. Do you have all of your KPI’s accounted for and are you able to measure them and benefit from the results? ERP software is the key to organizing process, people, and data you need to make sure you can.
Why does Business Process Management matter?
Before you read further, take another moment and imagine having:
“a disciplined approach to identify, design, execute, document, measure, monitor, and control both automated and non-automated business processes to achieve consistent, targeted results” that are aligned with your strategic goals.
[caption id="attachment_5037" align="alignright" width="400"]ERP software helps your business integrate functions such as quoting, time tracking, equipment tracking, job costing, inventory management, and more.[/caption]
This consistency, when aligned with business goals, is how some of the most successful businesses you already know are getting great results. Does this idea intrigue and energize you? If so, keep reading.
Does good business processes actually solve problems?
Consider how the aspects of the definition above applies to common activities you do in your business like: quoting, time tracking, equipment tracking, job costing, inventory management, scheduling, invoice and expense tracking, commission tracking, and returns management. Do you currently have a way to achieve each of these points?
Can you easily access data and share between teams and/or departments? Or is it siloed?
Does it take more than one hand to count how many software systems you’re using?
Is the handoff from one department or process to another seamless?
Does information get lost in the shuffle or is never considered at a global level?
Is is easy to see who’s working, where they are, and how effective they are in a given project?
You’re on the right path if implementing solutions for any of these problems is making sense for you. There are a lot of ways to achieve streamlined operations and processes, but let’s talk about some of the benefits first.
7 Benefits Of Standardized Processes for Field Services or Construction
Which of these 7 benefits could help you improve your business the most?
1) Increase Productivity
Imagine a solution that could give you access to your service team status and location immediately, or that would allow you to create a quote faster. Or what if resources spent less time with double-data entry? How could this affect your productivity factor?
2) Quality Control
Does your customer feedback say that some of your projects are perfect while others fall short? Standardization makes your business and project planning more straightforward. This includes scheduling, and ensuring you have the correct resources and materials for the job. Additionally, with this data you can streamline the training/onboarding process.
3) Easier Collaboration
A well-provisioned ERP allows for more meaningful collaboration across teams because it helps to remove siloed information. Transparency in your organization helps your teams identify best practices, remove redundancies, and share expertise across departments more easily.
4) Reduce Costs
Accurate job costing that’s visible from a centralized dashboard will help you identify areas of material and labor waste that might have previously gone unseen for ages. Employees can easily track time and materials on a a job, giving you direct insight into job and company profitability. This is just one facet of how an ERP helps reduce costs, now imagine data for equipment tracking, scheduling, inventory, and more all in one place.
5) Innovation & Adaptation
You don’t have to operate your business on gut feeling, but instead rely on instinct PLUS data together! Use your experience to plan your changes, implement them, and then use metrics you’ve captured to measure the results. When you have the data in hand, create incremental changes toward improvement! All of this is possible with the right contracting ERP or field services software.
6) Beat the Competition
When you are spending less time searching for data, managing individuals, and chasing processes, and more time working in your business, you actually gain productive time. With more productive time, you can focus on the innovations that move your business ahead of your competition!
7) Single Source of Truth
Speaking to many of the points above, standardized processes help in business operations beyond the basics. In order to scale comfortably, Zoho can help you tie everything together with a single source of truth. Solutions from Zoho take pride in security protocols for their softwares, but this translates to your business overall.
Now, if you’ve made it this far, you’re likely a serious candidate for Zoho’s field services ERP software. And maybe you’re also convinced that ZBrains is the certified Zoho Partner to assist in your implementation. Let’s keep the conversation going!
How does the ZBrains Business Process Analysis work for ERP and field service scheduling software solutions from Zoho?
Let’s talk about how an engagement with ZBrains begins – with a Business Process Analysis. We take all the reasoning and research described above, and apply the same principles to our own assessments. Here’s what it looks like:
This is a BPA with ZBrains
The BPA, or business process analysis, is integral to all ZBrains consulting projects. Just like any other planning effort, it ensures a successful implementation that fits with your business processes. It’s always our goal to begin solving your business problems by first fully understanding your current state.
Here’s what we do:
We start by analyzing expectations and performance gaps in your business processes.
Then, we examine your business from a wider industry perspective.
Next, our consultants evaluate the opportunities for improvement.
Finally, we decide which methods need to be introduced to positively impact the business.
This happens when we meet with your team and thoroughly review processes. It includes sitting with your sales, marketing, operations, and accounting representatives to make sure we understand all requirements and current systems. The goal here is to consolidate your business operations into a centralized platform with Zoho as the hub.
When the BPA is complete, you receive our expert recommendations on changes, augmentations or implementations needed to meet your goals. You get to see a timeline, the goals, and and outline of targets. You receive a strategy that can be executed with precision to create a successful business plan for the upcoming quarters and beyond.
This is how we work with Field Services, Construction, and other Contractors
A lot of our clients are in these industries, so much so that we built a software called FieldTech just for you and businesses like you! Our work specializes in small to medium businesses, just like yours. Here’s what a Business Process Analysis with ZBrains looks like for you:
We often work with a single champion, normally a President, VP, or another C-level representative of the company. We include members from teams across your organization in the intake sessions. Anyone who will be using the ERP software. We include your Sales, Estimating, and Marketing teams, Field Services or Construction Teams, Inventory Management representatives, and Finance. It’s important to include input from the people who will be using the system. The reason is to ensure that we get a global perspective of the business, and we find that this also encourages user adoption later on!
What information does ZBrains gather during a BPA?
During our sessions with each department or team representative, we collect a lot of detailed information about their processes. Discussions with your teams will often include the following:
Sales and Estimating
We ask about your sales process. Then, we look at how your quotes or estimates are created and shared. How are you handling new leads, and how is existing business addressed? How do you measure success? And finally, what are the important KPI’s here?
Field Teams
How are teams scheduled and dispatched? Do you consider factors like crew size, availability, proximity ,or skill set? How is time tracking addressed? Are field teams tracking their own inventory, and assets? What about work orders, scheduling, and routing?
Production
How do you procure goods? Are you purchasing or manufacturing parts? Do you have composite items and a need for CPQ? What is your current process for handling bill of materials, work orders, and routing? How are you handling time tracking? We also get into your potential needs for planning capacity, batch/lot tracking, and on-site maintenance, to name a few.
Inventory Management
We go into detail about your inventory management processes including current and desired states. Do you have multiple warehouses, mobile warehouses? How are you handling order fulfillment? What about installation or service components? Do you order the same components from multiple vendors depending on lead time, price, and other factors? Do you need to track reorder levels for items you keep in stock?
Finance
We’ll drill down to completely understand what information is required from your front office to back office. We include review of documents for customers, all the way through to which data is required in order to generate executive reports.
Other Integrations
During consultation, we’ll also ask about your current integrations to determine compatibility and to see if any new integrations could benefit your business processes. Some of the Zoho integrations commonly used by manufacturing and distribution organizations include:
ShipStation,
TaxJar,
Avalara,
QuickBooks (Online and Desktop),
and Xero for example.
Budgeting and Timeline for Field Services and Construction ERP Software Implementation
[caption id="attachment_5039" align="alignright" width="400"]Major software implementation doesn’t have to be a six-figure proposition. Zoho is is less expensive to implement and has a lower total cost of ownership than many other solutions.[/caption]
Major software implementation for a large contractor’s business can be as high as a six-figure implementation cost, in addition to another five figures for the service costs. These incredibly robust enterprise tools are really powerful, but for a small or medium business like yours, they’re oftentimes out of reach. Projects like this can be extremely cost prohibitive. The solutions themselves are more often than not complete overkill in terms of what a small or medium sized business will need and utilize.
Why Zoho is a Solid Choice
You deserve a solution that is also robust in functionality and nuanced for your business, because you do! For SMB’s like you, Zoho is a great solution.
This solution is less expensive to implement and has a lower total cost of ownership.
Customization using rapid development platforms like Zoho Creator means the applications are built to suit your business.
Zoho is accessible. It is built and designed with the SMB in mind. Custom fields and new reports couldn’t be simpler. Drag and drop functions make it easy to use and customize for yourself, all with enterprise functionality.
In our industry, it’s common to hear that many technology implementations end in low user adoption. Overly complicated and cumbersome software solutions cause users to become bogged down. They don’t fit into the workflow. However, when you build your system to address the nuances of your business – and you consider users from every department in the build – you get better user adoption and a higher chance of success. For this reason, and many of the points discussed above, your budget and timeline will depend on the complexity of your requirements and depth of need.
This is the long way to say, this is why we utilize the Business Process Analysis. We hope that an in depth look at business process management and field services software or ERP solutions for contractors like you has been useful. If you’re interested in the next steps or have any questions, our Zoho Certified Consultants are ready to help – just get in touch!
Welcome back to your Zoho Updates June 2021. Lots of action the past month across Zoho applications. In this digest you’ll find information on Zoho’s pricing updates, the application that’s changed its name, and some great new enhancements to CRM and Zoho finance applications.
Keep reading for the What’s New, Zoho Updates June 2021.
About the Zoho changes to MarketingHub: “Effective May 21, 2021, we are renaming Zoho MarketingHub to Zoho Marketing Automation. This change will not affect any features or functionality of the product. You can continue to use the product as you usually do.” Learn more
New Features from Zoho
Zoho CRM
Zoho announced the release of SalesIQ 2.0! If you haven’t already seen it, the release features a new user interface, and features for: Codeless bot, Resources, Answer bot, B2B Relationship, Profanity library, and several others. Take a look here.
Zoho Books & Inventory
Zoho finance including Books and Inventory teams shared a handful of updates this month, most notable is that now you can record payments while creating an invoice.
For example, if you received a payment before issuing their invoice, you don’t have to create a draft invoice and record a payment for it later. Simply mark the “I have received the payment” option while creating the invoice, it automatically creates a payment. Invoices are created as a “Paid” status, and the payment for it is created with the “Invoice Date.” This option is available if your user role allows “Customer Payments”, and if Sales Approval is disabled.
To enable: Go to Invoices > Create an invoice and select the customer > Scroll down and mark the “I have received the payment” option.
They have also added a new template called “Retail-Premium” found in the Retail category in templates. This template accommodates almost all the information that can be included on other templates, and fits it in a compact design between 3 and 4 inches wide.
Application Updates from Zoho
Zoho CRM
Zoho CRM updates and improvements this month include the following:
You can now use a scheduled action to automatically create a record through a workflow rule. (This was previously an instance action only.)
You’ll now find a common holiday list that is applied to all users in an organization. This is called “Business Holidays.”
Zoho Creator
This month Zoho Creator team shared, “We have rolled out a set of default character length for form fields. This will help in effectively using the available space. For instance, you might have fields with large values that contain too many characters. These can be substituted with values of fewer characters. This in turn facilitates the form to include more fields. Users will be able to modify the default length for Single Line, Email, Dropdown, and Radio button fields.”
Blueprints are now available in Creator. This allows you to replicate your business processes online and enjoy the benefits of streamlining process management. Why is that important? Zoho says it best, “The blueprint enables you to customize every detail of every process you design in your Creator application.”
Zoho Books
Advanced Search in Zoho Books introduces filtering options, and now also includes Zia Search so you can search for “any information across different Zoho apps from within Zoho Books.” See all new updates from Books.
Issues Notices from Zoho
Zoho Creator
Creator bug fixes recently implemented include: timezone in audit export and admin username in account setup.
Need more answers or have a question we didn’t answer here? If you have questions or would like to connect with one of our consultants, schedule below. We’re also available by phone, just call our offices at (888) 207-4111.
Does your organization use manufacturing ERP software like Oracle, Sage100, or Netsuite? If not, or it’s time for a change, this article is for you.
You already know that manufacturing requires precision in almost every single case. Without your attention to precision, parts from the manufacturing floor will lack quality. Then, your supply chain will be disrupted, and eventually your end customers downstream and profits will suffer.
For this very reason, it’s quite likely that your manufacturing operation uses and benefits from some type of process management – maybe you’re even using a manufacturing ERP software to keep operations in line.
But if your process is currently a little soft or ambiguous, consider the losses in productivity and margin that are mounting with every passing day.
Is it time to reign in operations and get control of your business?
We’re here to help you understand how Zoho ERP solutions can be the keystone to smoothly and successfully capturing the details of your manufacturing and/or distribution business. Furthermore, we want to show you how to take advantage of the data you’ll have with a Zoho implementation fit for manufacturing and distribution organizations.
In this article we’ll break down the process of working with ZBrains to implement a software solution that can give organizational visibility, and foster success. Let’s take a closer look at the ‘what,’ ‘why,’ and ‘how’ of the importance of Manufacturing ERP software.
What function does Manufacturing ERP software serve?
Keeping operations running smoothly is just one aspect of an ERP, but from the top down, you could say it’s a foremost consideration. This organizational efficiency coupled with the ability to keep your fingers on the pulse of your most important KPI’s is where the true power of ERP software is recognized.
“Manufacturing ERP refers to Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software and systems used to plan, manage and deliver specific functionalities that support manufacturers and manufacturing business operations.” – qad.com
[caption id="attachment_4950" align="alignright" width="450"]Manufacturing requires precision. Without it, product quality suffers, supply chain is disrupted, and customers downstream and profits suffer. [/caption]
What is Business Process Management?
To start – and this is probably already a known for you if you’re in the manufacturing industry – we’re sharing a high-level definition of business process management:
“The Association of Business Process Management Professionals defines BPM as:
Business process management (BPM) is a disciplined approach to identify, design, execute, document, measure, monitor, and control both automated and non-automated business processes to achieve consistent, targeted results aligned with an organization’s strategic goals.” – wikipedia
What types of problems can good business processes solve?
It’s clear even in this short definition how an accurate, and smartly implemented business process is important. However, now you consider the phases – identify, design, execute, document, measure, monitor, and control – apply them to the departments responsible for each facet in your own organization, and ask:
Are you sharing data between departments? Or is it siloed?
How many software systems are you using currently?
Is the handoff from one department or process to another seamless?
Is some of your information getting lost or not considered at a global level?
Can your software solution help you make the most of your available resources?
If you’re considering the progress you could make by implementing solutions for any of the above questions, you’re right on track.
What are the Benefits Of Standardized Processes? Here are 8 of them.
1) Increased productivity is a given.
Imagine a solution that could speed up order times, allowing you to fulfill faster. Or what if resources spent less time with double-data entry. What would this do to your org’s productivity factor?
2) Standardization equals quality control.
Standardization makes your business planning more straightforward. Furthermore, the extrapolated benefits include a more streamlined training/onboarding process.
[caption id="attachment_4949" align="alignleft" width="450"]Transparency in your organization help your teams identify best-in-class best practices, remove redundancies, and share expertise across departments more easily.[/caption]
3) Make internal collaboration simpler.
When an ERP helps to eliminate siloed information, your teams can begin to collaborate on a deeper level. Transparency in your organization helps your teams identify best-in-class best practices, remove redundancies, and share expertise across departments more easily.
4) You can reduce costs.
Insight into your manufacturing and distribution data can help you identify and eliminate redundancy, and find areas of material and labor waste.
5) Did you realize you can also gain insight into your customer through analyzing your business processes?
Find the places where processes might require modifications to better support your customers. As a result, they are more satisfied and you have created return business. And for most businesses, it’s less expensive to keep the customer you have than it is to find a new one.
6) It can help you adapt to changing times.
You don’t have to operate your business on gut feeling, but instead rely on instinct and data together! Plan your changes, implement them, and use metrics you’ve captured to measure the results. Then with the data in mind, create incremental changes toward improvement! All of this is possible with the right manufacturing ERP.
7) Stay ahead of your competition.
When you are spending less time chasing processes, and more time working, you actually gain productive time. With more productive time, you can focus on the innovations that move your business ahead of your competition.
8) Utilize a single source of truth for compliance, security, and safety.
Speaking to many of the points above, standardized processes help in business operations beyond the manufacturing process, and Zoho can help tie everything together with a single source of truth. Solutions from Zoho take pride in security protocols for their softwares, but this translates to your business overall.
Now, if you’ve made it this far, you’re likely a serious candidate for Zoho’s manufacturing ERP solution. And maybe you’re also convinced that ZBrains is the certified Zoho Partner to assist in your implementation. Let’s keep the conversation going!
What is a ZBrains Business Process Analysis for Manufacturing and Distribution ERP solutions from Zoho?
Let’s talk about how an engagement with ZBrains begins – with a Business Process Analysis. We take all the reasoning and research described above, and have applied those same principles to our own assessments. Here’s what that looks like:
This is a BPA with ZBrains
The BPA, or business process analysis, is integral to all ZBrains consulting projects. Just like any other planning effort, it ensures a successful implementation that fits with your business processes.
You also know that the best way to solve a problem is to first fully understand the way a business runs. We start this by analyzing expectations and performance gaps in your business process. Next, we examine your business from the perspective of the world at large. Then, our experts determine what is working, what is not. Finally, we decide which methods need to be introduced to change the fabric of your company.
We sit with your team to thoroughly review your sales, marketing, operations, and accounting processes to make sure we understand all requirements and current systems. The goal here is to consolidate your business operations into a centralized platform with Zoho as the hub.
After the BPA, you receive expert recommendations on changes, augmentations or implementations required to meet your goals. We share a timeline, goals, and outline targets. You receive a strategy that can be executed with precision to create a successful business plan for the upcoming quarters and beyond.
This is how we work with Manufacturers and Distributors
Many of our clients are in manufacturing and distribution industries, and our speciality is small to medium businesses, just like yours. Here’s what a Business Process Analysis with ZBrains looks like for you:
We often work with a single champion, normally a President, Vice President, or other C-level representative of the company. And when we begin our intake sessions of a BPA, it’s of the utmost importance to bring in – and hear from – everyone in the organization who will be using the new manufacturing ERP software from Zoho. That includes: Sales and Estimating teams, Production, Inventory Management representatives, and Finance.
The reason is to ensure that we get a global perspective of the business, and we find that this also encourages user adoption later on!
What information do we gather during a BPA?
During these sessions with each department or team representative, we collect a lot of detailed information about their processes. Discussions with your teams will often include the following:
[caption id="attachment_4951" align="alignright" width="450"]Business process analysis is integral to all ZBrains consulting projects, and ensures a successful implementation that fits with your business processes.[/caption]
Sales and Estimating
We ask about your sales process. Then, we look at how your quotes or estimates are created and shared. How are you handling new leads, and how is existing business addressed? How do you measure success? And finally, what are the important KPI’s here?
Production
How do you procure goods? Are you purchasing or manufacturing parts? Do you have composite items and a need for CPQ? What does is your current process for handling bill of materials, work orders, and routing? How are you handling time tracking? We also get into your potential needs for planning capacity, batch/lot tracking, and on site maintenance, to name a few.
Inventory Management
We go into detail about your inventory management processes including current and desired states. Do you have multiple warehouses, mobile warehouses? How are you handling order fulfillment? What about installation or service components?
Finance
We’ll drill down to completely understand what information is required from your front office to back office. We include review of documents for customers, all the way through to which data is required in order to generate executive reports.
Other Integrations
During consultation, we’ll also ask about your current integrations to determine compatibility and to see if any new integrations could benefit your business processes. Some of the Zoho integrations commonly used by manufacturing and distribution organizations include: ShipStation, TaxJar, Avalara, QuickBooks (Online and Desktop), and Xero for example.
Establishing Budget and Timeline for Manufacturing and Distribution ERP Software Implementation
[caption id="attachment_4952" align="alignleft" width="450"]Zoho is built and designed for SMB (Small and Medium-Sized Businesses). Lower total cost of ownership and an accessible startup cost make it a clear choice.[/caption]
A large business who is taking on system implementation for major softwares, can often anticipate a six-figure implementation cost, along with another five figures for service costs. And that’s because these softwares are incredibly robust, and very powerful enterprise tools. We understand that for a small or medium business like yours, this is simply out of the question. These projects can be extremely cost prohibitive, and the solutions themselves are more often than not complete overkill in terms of your needs.
Not to say you don’t deserve a solution that is also robust in functionality and nuanced for your business, because you do! For SMB’s like you, Zoho is a great solution.
It’s less expensive to implement and has a lower total cost of ownership.
Zoho applications are built to suit your business through customization using rapid development platforms like Zoho Creator.
Zoho is accessible. They built and designed it with the SMB in mind. Need a custom field? A new report? Drag and drop functions make it easy to use and customize for yourself, all with enterprise functionality.
In our industry, it’s known that a large portion of technology projects have a low user adoption. Users become bogged down because the projects are overly complicated. When you can build your system to address nuances of your business – and consider user feedback in the build – you get better user adoption and a higher chance of success. For this reason, and many of the points discussed above, your budget and timeline will depend on the complexity of your requirements and depth of need.
This is why we utilize the Business Process Analysis. Hopefully, this in depth look at business process management and manufacturing ERP softwares has been useful. If you’re interested in the next steps or have any questions, our Zoho Certified Consultants are ready to help – just get in touch!
It’s been another busy month at ZBrains, and a number of Zoho updates May 2021 along with new features were shared with us from Zoho Corp. We’ve done our best to condense it all to the need-to-know basics.
“Automatic transitions in blueprint: Use automatic transition to prevent delays and discontinuity of a process. The automatic transition will ensure that records move to the destination state after a specified Wait time has elapsed.”
“Blueprints now supports widgets: Perform custom actions, such as locating an address on a map, blocking a date on a calendar and more via Blueprint using Widgets. Widgets can be used in the During Transition settings.”
“Multi-user and multi-select lookup fields supported in blueprints: During Transition you can use multi-select lookup fields as well as multi-user fields. These fields can be mandated but cannot be validated.”
Zoho Books
This month, we’ve seen two notable improvements in Zoho Books that now allow you to do the following:
Beyond invoices, now you can execute an advanced search for all transactions.
In the Banking modules, you are now able to add comments and view transaction history.
Zoho Inventory
The Zoho Inventory team shared some great news for online sellers and drop shippers with the new third party billing feature for UPS users. It’s available for all editions and all subscription plans. The Zoho team says, “This feature is targeted at drop-shippers who work with other vendors to supply goods to end customers.”
If you’ve noticed system issues, and require support, please contact us. You can schedule any time that works for you here Connect with a Consultant
What is OAuth2.0?This industry-standard protocol specification that enables third-party applications (clients) to gain delegated access to protected resources in Zoho via an API.
OAuth 2.0 is a benefit for these reasons and more:
Increased security and easier user/credentials management,
Improvement to industry standard protocol for easier communications between Zoho apps,
Access tokens expire, limiting data exposure in the instance of a security breach.
Zoho Creator has published messages about a few improvements and fixes this month, including to the iOS app.
“The record owner property that was previously available in the user’s field properties section is now moved to form properties. You can find it in Form Properties under Role Hierarchy section. Added user will be the default setting for record owner. The dropdown list will display the list of user fields for you to select from.” – source
The iOS v 2.5.2 of customer portal quick filter in maps is repaired, in addition there have been some overall performance improvements and minor fixes for version 5.26.13 of Creator iOS app.
Finding what you need in these updates? Or are you looking for something additional? Drop a line in the comments to let us know what info helps you most!
If you have questions or would like to connect with one of our consultants, schedule below. We’re also available by phone, just call our offices at (888) 207-4111.
When you decide to invest in Zoho support, whether that’s an ongoing, monthly support contract or hourly support agreement, your business gets timely, professional service for software updates, break/fixes, bug fixes, new feature development, and a lot more. From right-the-first-time answers for ‘quick questions’ to assistance with long-term Zoho ecosystem planning and support to meet your business goals, we’re talking today about all the things you should know about software support plans from ZBrains.
What is software support?
Zoho support plans typically take one of two forms; long term support and incident-based help. We like this simple definition as a starting point:
“Software support services are generally technical support or break/fix services that are delivered for specific software products. These services include revenue derived from long-term technical-support contracts or pay-as-you-go, incident-based support. Software support services typically include remote troubleshooting capabilities, installation (implementation) assistance and basic usability assistance.”
It’s easy to see the scenarios in your business where a support plan for Zoho CRM, Zoho One, or your custom Zoho solution could come in handy; however, have you considered all the possible ways that investing in Zoho Support can benefit your organization?
What do Zoho support services at ZBrains include?
[caption id="attachment_4906" align="alignleft" width="400"]If you are already using Zoho, ask yourself if now is the time to start using your support plan to further your business initiatives.[/caption]
1) New product implementation services
If you are already using Zoho, ask yourself if any of these scenarios sound familiar:
Is now the time for phase 2 or phase 3 of diminishing siloed data in your organization? You can implement those solutions through your support plan.
Or perhaps you need to cut down on double data entry from your e-commerce solution? We offer a full range of 3rd party integrations, and can even build a custom integration to suit your needs! We integrate Zoho and Shopify as one example.
2) Zoho product updates
Maybe you have an associate or in-house resource who’s in charge of keeping IT solutions operating seamlessly, but Zoho or your customized Zoho application like FieldTech is just a little outside their wheelhouse. Stay on top of update installations and just email or call the ZBrains Support Team whenever you need help in this area. We’ll help you keep running smoothly through every, numerous, Zoho update!
3) Proactive, not just reactive services
We believe proactive planning is one of the greatest functions of any ongoing support plan. We like to plan quarterly sessions with our clients. This ensures that we know your current business goals. Then your Zoho ecosystem is charged and ready to take on success! Your business won’t miss a beat.
Because we’re a Certified Zoho Partner, we have great insight to what’s coming up from Zoho that you could potentially use, too. This takes the guesswork out of what you ‘could do’ and helps maximize the value of your Zoho purchase.
And don’t forget, you’re getting a personalized level of support in any situation.
4) Support for custom applications
Maybe you’re using a custom application that doesn’t work well with Zoho, or you’ve already optimized for your custom needs with a Zoho Solution. Support services can help you keep them always running optimally.
Whether we built it, or are inheriting a solution built by others, our support team can solve complex problems in applications that might not be working optimally for you now.
5) Product or feature implementation
Current ZBrains clients know this because they’ve been through the Business Process Analysis with us. And because we use this process with each client, we understand your business, we know your business, and we can advise on best practices of how a Zoho feature can be applied to what you do and how.
Software support contract pricing with ZBrains
[caption id="attachment_4904" align="alignleft" width="400"]Why would you want hourly support and a monthly support plan from ZBrains? Having control over your costs is just the start![/caption]
We make it really easy with two options, an hourly support contract, or a monthly one. We offer these options to give you the best solution for your business.
Many clients opt for both and here’s why:
Their monthly plan gives them access for break-and-fix when they don’t have a dedicated in-house resource, and then they use the ad hoc hourly service to optimize, take advantage of new features, or plan future initiatives.
Let’s talk about the benefits to each, and you’ll see how they can fold together for the best coverage and control of expenses.
Hourly Zoho Support Plans
At ZBrains, our hourly support contracts include the availability of consulting services for your projects that require additional Zoho customization, integrations with other software systems, even our proprietary integrations for software like QuickBooks!
We recommend this service for experienced Zoho users. Also, for businesses that already have a dedicated resource for Zoho needs, but might need occasional assistance with highly technical aspects of Zoho. Additionally, we recommend this for very small businesses with simplified systems that are not heavily customized. You can use hourly support as needed. Support hours are sold in blocks of 8 hours, and expire one year from purchase. With your Zoho Support Hours from ZBrains, you can:
Dedicate some of your hours to education/training to stay on top of the ever-changing and improving Zoho experience.
Use your hours for quarterly planning and support your business growth plan.
Earmark some of your hours to new implementations and take them bit by bit for better user adoption.
Plan to use some hours to break fixes. Now, your teams aren’t left hanging when something isn’t working quite right.
You can be proactive with hourly support! It gives dedicated time toward understanding and implementing best practices, and lets your optimizations become incremental instead of large projects that need more time. Take time now, and complete more, smaller work items over time, and next thing you know, you’re more agile.
Monthly Zoho Support Plans
We recommend this plan for clients with no in-house resources, highly customized solutions, and/or who have a lot of Zoho-to-Zoho integrations.
The greatest benefit to investing in monthly support is stability: you control and anticipate the expense of break-and-fix service, and ensure your Zoho system is always primed for peak performance with no surprises.
Both of these options help with reaching your business goals in a measured manner. They keepyou aligned with a budget, and keep you on top of the game in terms of your Zoho ecosystem and business operations. Still unsure what the best approach is? Our team is always here to talk through it with you – just let us know!
ZBrains makes Zoho support straightforward and accessible
Zoho Support, Zoho CRM Support, and more are all just an email away. At ZBrains, our Zoho Certified Consultants and Developers are US-based, and with a simple email to our Support team, your ticket (via Zoho Desk, of course!) gets routed directly to the person or people who can help.
We hope this article has been helpful in understanding what Zoho Support with ZBrains can do for your organization. If you’re already on a plan and have questions – let us know. Or if you’re new to Zoho Support from ZBrains – get in touch today!
The past month marked 25 years of Zoho! Did you realize they’ve been around this long? Founder, Sridhar Vembu posted a great retrospective sharing “25 Years of Zoho,” the story of how Zoho grew these past many years. Don’t miss the video at the end featuring some of Zoho’s longest employees, and maybe some familiar faces. Congratulations, Zoho Corp, on 25 years!
On to what’s new – in the past month, Zoho Creator team has shared a number of updates, bug fixes, and improvements including Zoho Creator On Premise solution. We also saw a Zoho CRM release for V2.
Keep reading for the What’s New, Zoho Updates April 2021.
New Features from Zoho
Zoho Creator
Zoho Creator On-premise has been released. It shares many similarities with the cloud version, allowing you to manage data, create reports, track events, collaborate, and more. It also boasts security in terms of data privacy compliance.
In response to the release of Microsoft Power BI Desktop version 2, Zoho Creator will be upgrading the connector to this version.
Application Updates from Zoho
Zoho CRM
Seven new APIs have been released in Zoho CRM version 2.1. This includes: pipeline, assignment rules, send mail, download fields’ attachments in a module, records’ count in a module, wizards, and templates for email and inventory.
Additionally, there are updates to existing APIs for records, blueprints, tags and more.
Are these updates helpful for you? Want to see something more or different? Let us know in the comments!
If you have any questions or would like to schedule assistance around any of these updates please contact our consultants or call our offices at (888) 207-4111.
When you’re in the process of researching partners for your next Zoho project, CRM implementation, or Zoho integration, it’s important to understand how your selected partner works. You’ll want to understand how much involvement is required from you and your team, and what to expect at each stage. ZBrains believes in transparency and partnership throughout our project process, working with you and your team from the start to ensure good outcomes. We want to be sure that your business can meet its goals again and again with the help of systems from Zoho, and this method has proven successful.
Let’s dive into the process, and don’t miss the infographic outline at the end of this article!
The ZBrains Business Process Analysis and Project Approach
First, we start with our Business Process Analysis [BPA]. We will sit with your team, and over several hours we review your business process together. This includes your wants and needs, and current systems. This gives us the best view of how you are currently working and what opportunities exist to do better.
With this information the ZBrains team spends a few more hours on our own analyzing what we’ve learned to determine the best Zoho solutions and an implementation approach that suits your business.
When you’ve reviewed and accepted the project proposal, we’ll start the work. Here’s how a ZBrains Zoho project comes to life!
• Zoho Project Specification
“Measure twice, cut once” applies here because before anything is built, we make a spec doc based on all your input and our findings during the BPA. It houses all the details that our developers will use going forward.
• ZBrains Implementation Blueprint
Next, we build a draft, or a sort of blueprint of your Zoho implementation. This includes all of the inputs, or places to house the data you need your system to capture in order to effectively operate your business.
Once the inputs are in place, ZBrains begins to build all of the outputs you need. This includes reports, documents, pages, and the rest of the things you require to communicate the work that your Zoho system does.
• Project Integration
Then it’s time to put all of the pieces together! We create all of the wiring needed to integrate your solution, including workflow automation and business logic.
The integration part of your solution is where you gain efficiencies and can potentially simplify or automate rote work.
• Zoho Project Implementation
When your build is complete, next up is implementation:
We work through user acceptance testing (UAT) to ensure that your requirements are met.
Your team gets involved with training, so they’re ready to use the new system.
Your experience will uncover needs and inform change management, so we can get everything just right.
When that is set, ZBrains migrates your up-to-date data to the new system.
We plan a launch, and your Zoho system goes live!
The good news is that after implementation, you’re not left on your own. ZBrains stays connected for support and post-care so that your Zoho implementation is successful for the long haul!
ZBrains has helped clients like you build a strategy for digital transformation and growth with Zoho since 2012.[/caption]
With help from a designated Zoho admin you can focus on your core competencies, and avoid the distractions and unanticipated “emergencies” of system maintenance.[/caption]
Start your search for a Zoho Admin by detailing all of the needs you have to be outsourced.[/caption]
Achieve more with help administrating your Zoho system from a Zoho Certified partner like ZBrains.[/caption]
New Features & Improvements from Zoho
Issues Notices from Zoho
Application Updates from Zoho
First, we start with our 
