Microsoft UK gold partner Ciber will be previewing the Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 ERP suite at Softworld HR & Payroll at Birmingham’s NEC on 18-19 October.
Previously known in the UK as Axapta and acquired by Microsoft as part of the Navision stable, the Dynamics AX 4.0 HR modules are Microsoft’s first offerings of this kind in Europe. The company has identified HR as a horizontal application, like customer relationship management, that will be tackled in its next generation ERP software release. Industry insiders predict that the design philosophy behind Axapta will play a strong part in the next release, so the Softworld preview represents a good opportunity to look into the future.
Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 includes modules for financial management, CRM, supply chain, project and HR management, project management. It makes extensive use of Microsoft web portals, business intelligence tools and management alerts.
“Microsoft have ensured that Microsoft Dynamics AX now has even more functionality than before,” said Kevin Binley, business manager for Microsoft Dynamics at CIBER, who added that the new suite would be a “very compelling proposition” for anybody looking for a new finance, supply chain, manufacturing or service industry solution.
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Safe links Flexible Benefits into Elite HR/Payroll suite
At Softworld, Safe Computing will be launching an integrated HR/Payroll and Flexible Benefits system. The Flexible Benefit application has been built for use over the web, so employees can access their “total reward” statements at any time or apply for benefits using a browser. For administrators, the system includes tools to manage the benefits set-up process, calculate flex funds and handle the enrolment processes, with built-in rules to ensure employees assigned the correct benefit options.
The flexible benefits options covered include cash payments, salary sacrifice, voluntary benefits as well as subsidiary benefits such as professional subscriptions, company training, and sickness plans. For more detail, see Safe Computing’s press release.
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Topaz expands EMS suite with graphical dashboards
HR managers are encouraged to cross into the Softworld Accounting & Finance section to find out about the latest enhancements to Topaz EMS, which now includes a management dashboard and new for establishment budgeting and manpower planning.
The new functionality is designed to let users design the ideal budgeting establishment structure in terms of manpower and costs, helping companies to drive recruitment for increased growth and profitability.
Year on year budgeting can also be created easily to provide comparisons with previous years and Topaz says the software can produce a wealth of analysis and reporting from detailed post histories. A new Dashboard Management module makes measures and reports available immediately though graphs and charts showing key areas such as headcount, attendance and diversity, with analysis by the business structure. Other improvements have been added to the Topaz EMS recruitment, absence/lateness and employee self-service modules.
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CedarOpenAccounts integrates human capital management
OpenAccounts 6, the latest release from the CedarOpenAccounts SmartBusinessSuite for service sector organisations includes a new integrated module for Human Capital Management.
When it amalgamated with OpenAccounts in 2004 and subsequently purchased HR software house Grampian, CedarOpenAccounts made it very clear that its objective was to target public sector and service organisations with a combined finance and HR suite. With OpenAccounts 6, the company says it has achieved the aim of delivering a complete solution for employee management, ranging from payroll, time & attendance and HR workflow modules through to management reporting and advanced analytics. Designed to be accessible for both finance and non-finance users, the suite inlcudes reporting tools that let employees extract information from multiple data sources to produce their own reports.
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Select HR win at Spurs
Helping Premier League football club Tottenham Hotspur to ensure its people perform effectively is all part of the game for Select Software, which recently won a contract to supply its Insight HR suite, with a self-service Clearvision module.
According to Tottenham’s HR manager Ann Vetere, the publicly owned club wanted to improve efficiency by automating time-consuming processes. Spurs were looking to streamline their internal processes as well as link to their existing Select Pay payroll system, so Select HR’s modular Insight suite was a logical choice.
Tottenham has implemented Insight to manage recruitment, training and health & safety. The club also put in the Clearvision self-service module, to give line managers instant access via web browsers to information about their staff and to handle electronic HR processes.
