Technology in Practice

Baked by Melissa is a female-founded company that makes life sweeter — for the lucky New Yorkers who live or work near one of the company’s 14 retail locations and for mini cupcake enthusiasts across the country who order through the company’s web store. It’s the success of this web store that propelled the Baked by Melissa brand, helping catapult it to a $30 million enterprise in just 12 years. A growing brand, Baked by Melissa was experiencing rapid expansion and strong growth, but its technology was slowing it down threating its ability to scale. “Net at Work helped us unleash the power of Sage X3, extending its functionality to all our departments and locations, from the bakery to the warehouse and distribution facilities.” It selected Net at Work to optimize and extend use of its ERP, rethink eCommerce, streamline corporate gift order processing, and take over cloud hosting of its applications. In short order, the optimization of Sage X3 ERP and related business-dependent technologies has resulted in the successful processing of tens of thousands of orders while volume increased 2-3 times, and an extended roll out of Sage X3 Food ERP to all departments and locations from the bakery to the warehouse and distribution facilities. Net at Work is the technology partner Baked By Melissa relies on to ensure its front and back office operations are ready to satisfy the appetites of an ever-growing fan base. The full Baked by Melissa story can be read below. To learn more about how Net at Work, Sage X3 and Food & Beverage Manufacturing & distribution ERP can accelerate your transformation and unleash the power of your business, visit here.

The pandemic proved customer behaviors can turn on a dime. Companies that weren’t able to keep up quickly found there was a line of competitors waiting to take up the slack. If you’re like most businesses, that reality means your digital transformation journey has gone from a steady stroll to a dead sprint in the last 18 months. But making such a huge structural shift takes the cooperation of many moving pieces and parts, any one of which can set back your progress. Most businesses can’t make the swift, thorough changes needed to digitizing every aspect of their operation without a little help. That’s where “Software as a Service” (SaaS) comes in. SaaS explained This software delivery method effectively leases programs to users. Applications for everything from email marketing and messaging platforms to photo and ridesharing are hosted by a third-party vendor, but can be accessed via the customer’s network. The majority of SaaS providers operate on a subscription model that’s based off a customer’s usage. Most plans renew monthly or annually and can be paid for incrementally instead of being purchased outright. “Although it is a departure from the conventional method of purchasing software, SaaS can provide extremely notable advantages in the business environment. As the integration of cloud computing increases, many software providers are adding SaaS capabilities that could lead to huge gains,” says Technology Advice. Nowhere are those gains more apparent than the digital transformation space. It’s an adapt or perish landscape, and SaaS solutions offer companies the best chance to actively increase their agility and meet fluctuating customer demands. The interdependence of digital transformation + SaaS Whether the goal is to restructure operations or redesign data management, digital enablement can enhance your entire enterprise. The most effective and always-on organizations also understand that there’s a cascade of changes set in motion by these digital transformation efforts. To help minimize disruption and react to changes in real time, they’re looking to SaaS solutions to optimize their internal processes. SaaS is the clear frontrunner as businesses shift en masse from on-premise solutions to an increasing reliance on the cloud. It’s a move 61% of businesses made in 2020 alone, many migrating their entire workloads to the cloud. Those who fall on the other side of the digital divide run the risk of operating an outdated, unsustainable business model. How can SaaS give them a better digital advantage? Business benefits of SaaS solutions Our mobile-first, cloud-connected world has helped manifest what was once impossible. SaaS solutions are the backbone of some of the biggest technological advancements of our time. Here’s part of what businesses can expect when they aren’t restrained by legacy, on-premise systems: More collaboration: Interconnected teams can communicate in real-time and instantly access large files without waiting for them to be downloaded. Better mobility: SaaS makes software installation and VPN access a thing of the past. With nothing more than an internet connection, employees can work and create from anywhere. Increased innovation: Sometimes known as go-live agility, with SaaS there’s no waiting on updates or hardware systems fixes to design and implement creative solutions using the latest tech. Decreased costs: Dollar for dollar, the total cost of ownership for traditional software deployments far outweighs SaaS subscriptions since there are no infrastructure costs. Data democratization: With SaaS, enterprise-level storage solutions are available on a small business budget. Organizations can continue scaling without worrying their data management needs will bankrupt them. Faster change: COVID-19 highlighted how critical it is for businesses to stay nimble. Whether the shifts are internal or customer-driven, SaaS can help fill in the gaps with out-of-the-box capabilities. Scalable solutions: Whether you hit a huge growth spurt or need to quickly cut costs during a slow season, SaaS makes it easy to scale as your situation changes. For every digital transformation barrier your business faces, there’s a SaaS solution to help you overcome it. The sooner you start, the sooner you’ll cross the digital divide and emerge future-proofed.

Ranked #6 overall in Ski Magazine’s Top 10 2021 Resorts in the East, Holiday Valley Resort is a place of year-round family fun and adventure.  During its busy winter season, Holiday Valley employs 900 staff with an additional 450 volunteers. The organization holds itself to the highest standards throughout its operation and is committed to continual improvement. So, when the time came to replace its legacy time-tracking and human resource management system (HRMS), Holiday Valley enlisted the Employer Solutions team at Net at Work to identify and implement the best replacement human capital management (HCM) solution. “I feel like Net at Work is part of our team. Together with Net at Work, we’ve deployed technology that solves our unique workplace challenges. We’re faster, more accurate, and more responsive as a result” Net at Work implemented cloud-based Criterion HCM, a comprehensive solution that significantly reduced Holiday Valley’s IT costs, sped up the onboarding process, & provides flexible time capture including a mobile app with geofencing that allows employees to clock in and out, check vacation hours, review their timesheets, and initiate leave requests quickly, easily, and securely. The full Holiday Valley Resort story can be read below. To learn more about how Net at Work can accelerate your HR digital enablement and unleash the power of your organization, visit here.

A withholding tax, also known as a retention tax, is a required tax paid directly to a tax authority by the buyer of goods or services. Withholding tax is typically calculated as a percentage of the amount of the sale. Configuration In Sage X3, a withholding tax is defined by creating a negative tax. The first step is to configure the Tax Rate. The Tax Rate creates the logic and the given percentage (%) for the Retention: You will also need to create a new Tax Accounting Code for this tax. Because it is a retention, it will be a liability: The next step is to create the Tax Determination. The Tax Determination will tie the logic of the tax calculation to its usage (will link the Tax to a BP Tax Rule and a Product Tax Level). The next step is to create a Product Tax Level. This will be necessary for adding the Retention (Tax Withholding) to the products that will be subject to the retention. With this configuration, you can use a product that is subject to the withholding (freights, for example) and a regular product (not subject to the retention) in the same invoice. The BP Tax Rule does not need to be changed; we have already linked the Tax Determination to the BP Tax Rule. As discussed on the previous step, the BP Tax Rule does not need to be modified. What is important is to note that any supplier for which we need to perform Retentions will have to be configured with the BP Tax Rule used in the Tax Determination: Here is the key change…the Product subject to the withholding will have to include the Retention Tax Level as ‘Tax Level 2’, so both tax codes will be used in the invoice for this product / supplier: Below you can see what Sage X3 automatically adds when you create a new Purchase Order. Both Tax Codes are present and working together. Please note the negative amount calculated by the Retention 4% tax code: After the posting, you will see the correct amounts for the correct accounts reflected when you view the Journal Entry: For more information on managing withholding tax in Sage X3, or for any other Sage X3 questions, please contact us.

When it comes to protecting your corporate data, passwords are the weakest link. Stolen login credentials were responsible for 67% of data breaches in 2020. That’s why multi-factor authentication (MFA) is the gold standard for preventing unauthorized access. Just how big is the stolen credential problem and how can MFA help keep your vital business data secure? Stolen credentials are a big, big problem Passwords remain the most common way to authenticate online identity, but alone, they provide very little protection. Once a password is stolen, hackers can use the credentials to log in to websites, applications, and networks, bypass other access controls and wreak serious havoc. In June of this year, researchers discovered a massive database of sensitive data containing 26 million login credentials, 1.1 million unique email addresses, more than 2 billion browser cookies, and 6.6 million files. In some cases, victims stored passwords in text files created with the Notepad application. The number of stolen usernames and passwords in circulation has increased by 300% since 2018. There are now more than 15 billion of these stolen credentials, from 100,000 data breaches, available for sale to cybercrime actors on the dark web. To put that into perspective, that’s the equivalent of two sets of account logins for every man, woman, and child on the planet. How the theft happens While data breaches are one way cybercriminals gain login credentials, they are not the only way. Phishing emails are a common way that credentials get into the wrong hands. You’ve likely received these emails where the sender poses as your bank or merchant and asks you to verify or update your login credentials. Furthermore, anyone can buy a brute-force password cracker app on the dark web for under $10. Resourceful criminals use other techniques as well. Password Spraying, for example, is a technique that attempts to use a list of commonly used passwords against a user account name. They may not have to try all that hard, as “password” and “123456” have been the two most common passwords for the past decade. MFA for every application and every user Most of us understand that passwords do not provide adequate protection for programs housing sensitive data — they are simply too easy to bypass. Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) is a security enhancement that requires users to present two pieces of evidence – credentials – when logging in to an account. The credentials fall into these three categories: something the user knows (like a password or PIN), something the user has (like a smart card or one-time code sent to a mobile phone), or something the user has (like a fingerprint). The credentials must come from two different categories – so entering two different passwords is not considered MFA. Increasingly, software vendors include MFA as an option. Where this is available, we strongly recommend you use it. And for those legacy applications that don’t offer MFA, you can purchase purpose-built MFA applications that can protect any application on any device. Single sign on keeps it simpler Requiring users to enter multiple security factors for every individual application used within the organization is not efficient nor scalable. Whenever you add a layer of complexity to process as simple as logging in, you create work for someone. In this case, that someone is your IT team who fields calls, emails, and texts from users locked out of critical applications. This is where Single-sign-on (SSO) comes into play. Single-sign-on is an authentication scheme that allows a user to log in with a single ID and password to any of several related, yet independent, software systems. Microsoft’s SSO is a familiar option, although there are many others. Combining SSO with MFA creates a single, central login credential that streamlines the effort required to implement and enforce multi-factor authentication. Simple, effective, and essential Multi-factor authentication is a simple, effective, and essential tool to help combat cybersecurity threats — especially when used in combination with other security tools such as endpoint protection. A successful MFA initiative involves educating your teams about the importance of strong passwords and MFA — and then backing up that education with technology tools that enforce it. An experienced Managed Services Provider (MSP) is a great resource to help you design, implement, maintain, and enforce MFA throughout your organization. Learn more about how to protect your organization by connecting with one of the security specialists on Net at Work’s Managed Services team.

Ultraflex Systems creates flexible, durable, and show-stopping soft signage, building wraps, banners, floor and wall coverings, and graphics used by retailers and brands around the world. Sold through a network of resellers, they generate demand for their unique creations and route the leads to its dealers. To keep resellers empowered and customers buying, Ultraflex needed a CRM system that was simple, intuitive to use, yet powerful enough to provide automated marketing workflows and customer support functionality. Impressed with the skills & business acumen of Net at Work, their ERP consultant, Ultraflex turned to their team to strategize about CRM selection, with the confidence they would make the right choice for their unique business requirements. Partnering with Net at Work, Ultraflex deployed Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM, including add-on solutions for marketing automation and integration with Sage 100 ERP. “Net at Work helped us create a marketing machine — unleashing power by automating manual processes and providing visibility and insight we use to convert more leads into sales.” With the implementation of Microsoft CRM integrated with Sage ERP, Net at Work helped streamline numerous workflows, eliminate manual steps, and duplicate data entry – – saving 500 staff hours every year. And, that’s just the beginning of the ROI. The full Ultraflex case study can be read below. To learn more about how Net at Work and Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM can accelerate your transformation and unleash the power of your business, visit here.

In celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, I would like to highlight one of the most inspiring and inventive contemporary visual artists I’ve come across.  Mika Rottenberg was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1976, and completed her art education in Israel.  She is now a New Yorker exclusively represented by the gallery powerhouse, Hauser & Wirth. Rottenberg creates immersive installations featuring a staggering variety of mediums and kinetic sculptures.  But she stands out most in my mind for creating absurdist looping films which take the viewer on often paradoxical journeys.  At her 2019 show “Easypieces,” I found myself passing through Tencel curtains, cautiously venturing into dark tunnels into filming rooms, and gazing straight up as a ceiling mounted TV displayed a hammer continually shattering colorful broken glass.  I was mesmerized by a strikingly realistic finger extending from the wall and slowly and continually rotating.  Rottenberg knows how to grab your attention, and she has fun doing it. Combining the mundane with the exotic, she achieves surprisingly poignant and visually stunning results.  Recurring themes include the subjugation of women, human trafficking, immigration, and references to mindless dehumanizing systems we can find ourselves in.  Oddly, she handles these heavy subjects with disarming comedic ease, gently guiding our emotions into uncharted territory.  These films juxtapose seemingly disconnected visual and auditory experiences in a surrealistic, and often jarring dreamlike setting.  For example, “Spaghetti Blockchain” incorporates Tuvan throat singers in Siberia, the CERN antimatter factory in Switzerland, a potato farm in Maine, and an imaginary manufacturer of A.S.M.R. products.  She has a childlike fascination with color, form, and sound, and finds ways to elevate whimsy and rambunctious fun to high art. After watching her films a few times, I realized that the majority of people she features are women, and most often from far-flung cultures and settings.  The most unsettling theme that stays with me is the high cost of cheap labor. Thanks to Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art, Rottenberg’s films from “Easypieces” are available for viewing at the links below with different video formats for accessibility.  I cannot recommend them enough – I found them endlessly fascinating, visually dazzling, and morally compelling. Spaghetti Blockchain Cosmic Generator (Tunnel Variant) NoNoseKnows (Artist Variant)

There’s been no single more significant shift in the workforce than that caused by the Coronavirus pandemic in 2020. Almost overnight, millions of workers left the office to continue their workplace efforts from their dining room tables. While technologies made this massive shift possible, those same technologies revealed security lapses in companies’ IT infrastructures, exposing them to ransomware attacks, data loss, and business continuity risks. What lessons have we learned about cyber security and the remote workforce? Here are four that resonate with our expert team. 1. Do your homework on at-home work Does your company have a network and remote work security plan and policies? If you didn’t have one in place prior to your workforce leaving the office, it’s still not too late to create one and act on it. Network security policies provide a roadmap for how you plan to secure and protect your organization’s IT infrastructure. The first step in creating a network security plan is to perform a risk analysis. We recommend you engage a Managed Security Services Provider (MSSP), like Net at Work, experienced in the task to help complete the analysis. An MSSP has access to vulnerability testing tools that most companies do not. The actual network security policy is a written document that defines your security guidelines and practices. Make this a living document that is updated frequently. 2. Start at the end Advanced endpoint protection (AEP) platforms are the first step in the cybersecurity battle and are critical for companies with a remote or mobile workforce. As the name implies, these applications are designed to protect endpoints, which are any devices (servers, desktops, laptops, tablets, phones, and smart watches), that have access to your network resources. A remote workforce may have doubled or even tripled the number of endpoints accessing your network — increasing the risk exponentially. Think of advanced endpoint protection as antivirus software all grown up and ready for the 21st century. Where antivirus software protects an individual device, endpoint protection platforms protect the entire technology infrastructure from attacks directed to an endpoint. Where antivirus is only as good as its last update, advance endpoint protection continually monitors network traffic. By relying on machine learning and artificial intelligence, advance endpoint protection platforms get better and faster at identifying threats over time. 3. Beware of the shadows You’ve likely heard the term “shadow IT” to refer to employees accessing services and applications outside of corporate IT. This practice is sure to be more prevalent as employees work from home and may even be using their own computers to access the corporate network. The danger with shadow IT is that the applications may contain vulnerabilities that are exploitable by cybercriminals. Managing shadow IT involves educating your workforce about the dangers, as most aren’t bad actors, they are simply defaulting to routine, at-home behaviors. Uncover what apps employees are using and make recommendations for approved apps with similar functionality. You should also consider full-time network monitoring and auditing services provided by an MSSP to find the current assets, spot anomalies, and respond to threats quickly and effectively. In addition, vulnerability scanning tools can find unauthorized usage and related threats that may seem innocuous or that are undetectable with traditional network monitoring solutions. 4. Take a comprehensive approach For remote workforces to function efficiently, they need technology that gives them easy access to necessary resources. Making this possible, safely and securely, requires a comprehensive, concerted effort that combines people, processes, and technology. Security features, such as multi-factor authentication (MFA) and proactive endpoint management and maintenance, gain new importance as companies determine how to protect their companies and employees while they are working remotely. Network monitoring applications also have a place in your security plan, as do firewalls, email security solutions, data loss prevention tools, and a robust backup and disaster recovery plan that is fully documented and tested frequently. Combine these tools with employee security awareness training and a strategic, proactive approach to managing your technology for the most comprehensive approach. It’s impossible to create a network that is 100% secure 100% of the time. But with some expert guidance, a robust toolset, and continuing employee education, you can create a remote work environment that will stay out in front of threats and keep the dangers at bay. Learn more about how to protect your organization by connecting with one of the information and cyber security specialists on Net at Work’s Managed Services team.

Wormser Corporation, one of the world’s leading beauty packaging companies is an essential player in the beauty products supply chain helping brands and celebrity influencers launch cosmetic and skin care lines. When the wholesale distributor needed to accelerate its digital transformation, they selected to partner with Net at Work and their NetSuite team to get there. Wormser had been running a legacy on-premise ERP system which failed to provide the data access and insight necessary for strategic decision making, and the older technology lacked configuration tools and integration options with other mission-critical applications. After evaluating several leading ERP applications, Wormser chose NetSuite to begin their digital transformation journey, “The closer we looked, the clearer our decision became. NetSuite was the right answer for us,” says David Wormser, Chief Operating Officer. “The next step was choosing a partner.” Wormser says the company deliberately chose to work with a NetSuite partner rather than purchasing directly from the publisher. “We knew we wanted a partner who would learn our business, make strategic recommendations, and help us get the most from the software. When we met with Net at Work, we were impressed. Ultimately they helped us with every aspect of the transition and continue to be our primary technology partner.” The implementation was both rapid and successful, allowing Wormser Corporation to quickly begin realizing the benefits and ROI of NetSuite. The company now runs on a single platform incorporating CRM, ERP, and finance, leveraging the power of the cloud and setting the foundation for its digital transformation. The full project spotlight can be read below. To learn more about how Net at Work & NetSuite can accelerate your digital transformation visit NetSuite SuiteSuccess for Distributors or contact us here.