Medium sized publishers rarely look at SAP. They think that its too expensive and/or that it takes too long to implement.
That is not always true. The Nomos Publishing House implemented SAP IPM (Intellectual Property Management) and SAP CRM (Customer Relationship Management) in four months with the assistance if IDS Scheer.
"After the initial identification of the specialist requirements, a small team began work on the project in mid-September 2006. The finished fee settlement for the publisher for the year 2006 was hot off the press at the end of January 2007. This enabled Nomos to start making automatic postings for financial accounting and payment runs to the authors — in record time and the result of an excellent partnership."
Read the press release about this implementation of SAP IPM.
If your publishing company has growing sales of $50M USD and needs a customizable intellectual property management solution I would include SAP IPM among the solutions that I would evaluate.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Sunday, February 10, 2008
knk Publishing Software Comes to America
knk Business Software (http://www.knk.com/ ) is a European vendor of book publishing software modules certified for the Microsoft Dynamics NAV (Navision) product line.
Their first implementations in the United States are due to start soon and both sites are expected to go live by the end of the year. One publisher is in the Midwest and this solution is being implement by Solution Dynamics (http://www.solutiondynamics.net ) - a Microsoft Dynamics NAV VAR) and the other is on the East coast. We will let you know who they are as soon as knk Business Software AG releases a press release.
What sets knk Publishing apart from competitive book publishing solutions is that their book publishing software modules are 100% integrated into the Microsoft Dynamics NAV ERP product.
Users work from one user interface - the Dynamics NAV user interface. This means that users don't have to switch between programs and the IT staff doesn't have to export information from one system and import into another.
Their first implementations in the United States are due to start soon and both sites are expected to go live by the end of the year. One publisher is in the Midwest and this solution is being implement by Solution Dynamics (http://www.solutiondynamics.net ) - a Microsoft Dynamics NAV VAR) and the other is on the East coast. We will let you know who they are as soon as knk Business Software AG releases a press release.
What sets knk Publishing apart from competitive book publishing solutions is that their book publishing software modules are 100% integrated into the Microsoft Dynamics NAV ERP product.
Users work from one user interface - the Dynamics NAV user interface. This means that users don't have to switch between programs and the IT staff doesn't have to export information from one system and import into another.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Seminar Software
Some non-fiction publishers earn revenue by hosting conferences and seminars.
A number of years ago a publisher I know started a conference program. The first conference was hosted at the New School; a college, in New York City and broke even. Over the following years conferences grew to account for about half a million in net income a year for this publisher.
Conferences provide immediate revenue from prepaid registrations and qualified names for a publisher's direct marketing campaigns.
A conference needs;
Registration fees
A number of years ago a publisher I know started a conference program. The first conference was hosted at the New School; a college, in New York City and broke even. Over the following years conferences grew to account for about half a million in net income a year for this publisher.
Conferences provide immediate revenue from prepaid registrations and qualified names for a publisher's direct marketing campaigns.
A conference needs;
- Speakers - for whom the host is expected to pay airfare, hotel, meals and transportation and
- Attendees - which are usually gained via a direct mail and internet advertising campaign and
- A location - which can be a hotel conference room or a university lecture hall
- Handouts for the attendees
Registration fees
- Sponsorship Fees
- Exhibit Income
- Book sales
- Tape sales
If you are planning to begin a semianr program the appropiate software can make your life a lot easier. Conference software will track participants, generate conference badges, take credit card payments, provide a financial summary of conference revenue, and send automatic conference registration and reminder emails.
The following three vendors market seminar management software;
These include;
The Media Services Group
Media Services solution is part of a hosted solution that can also handle royalties, book sales, inventory management subscriptions and production management. A total ERP solution for book and periodical publishers.
SolutionDymanics.net - the Midwest USA VAR for Knk's Microsoft Navision's Publishing Software
KnkPublishing Event's management module is tightly integrated with Microsoft's Dynamics Navision ERP software. For more information on the Knk offering visit http://www.knk.com/
Regonline.com
Regonline is a online hosted solution, that charges a fee based on the number of seminar attendees. For small events the price is $4.75 per attendee.
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Pearson to Install IBS Bookmaster in Europe
A recent press release from IBS, excerpted below, on the decision by Pearson to install IBS Bookmaster at sites in Benelux, Spain and Poland, Korea, Taiwan and Japan highlights what we see as one of the key competitive advantages of the IBS Bookmaster solution;
IBS Advantage: IBS with offices in 22 countries supports, installs & maintains their software with local staff.
"IBS has signed an agreement with Pearson, a leading international media company, for the installation of Bookmaster, IBS’ publishing and book distribution solution, in four European countries. The planned installation includes software, services and hardware with a total value of EUR 4.5 m.
Pearson, one of the world’s leading media organisations, first installed IBS Bookmaster, a software solution designed specifically for publishers and book distributors, in Australia in 1991. Today, the software is used in Pearson’s publishing and book distribution operations in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, India and South Africa, with Korea and Taiwan scheduled to go live in 2008 and Japan in 2009.
Based on Pearson’s positive experiences from their relationship with IBS in Asia, Australasia and Africa, Pearson has decided to expand the installation of the software to include four additional locations in Europe including Benelux, Spain and Poland. In total, 260 concurrent users will use IBS Bookmaster, which covers everything from editorial and book production, to distribution, warehouse management, e-commerce, business intelligence and royalties."
IBS Advantage: IBS with offices in 22 countries supports, installs & maintains their software with local staff.
"IBS has signed an agreement with Pearson, a leading international media company, for the installation of Bookmaster, IBS’ publishing and book distribution solution, in four European countries. The planned installation includes software, services and hardware with a total value of EUR 4.5 m.
Pearson, one of the world’s leading media organisations, first installed IBS Bookmaster, a software solution designed specifically for publishers and book distributors, in Australia in 1991. Today, the software is used in Pearson’s publishing and book distribution operations in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, India and South Africa, with Korea and Taiwan scheduled to go live in 2008 and Japan in 2009.
Based on Pearson’s positive experiences from their relationship with IBS in Asia, Australasia and Africa, Pearson has decided to expand the installation of the software to include four additional locations in Europe including Benelux, Spain and Poland. In total, 260 concurrent users will use IBS Bookmaster, which covers everything from editorial and book production, to distribution, warehouse management, e-commerce, business intelligence and royalties."
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Production Scheduling for Book Publishers
When I walk into a publisher, the most frequent question is what production management tools are available for publishers.
The book publishing specific tools - such as those offered by Klopotek for publishers with sales over $30M USD, Vista or Quality Solutions are often too expensive or hard to customize.
The one tool that small and mid-sized publishers use most often is FileMaker. FileMaker is an affordable database program designed for ease of use and the software that we recommend to small and mid-sized publishers looking for a solution that they can customize to meet their needs.
At http://www.filemaker.com/solutions/customers/industry/printing_publishing.html you can find stories about publishers that use FileMaker.
These include; Harvard University Press (a scholarly and trade publisher), Rebus (a medical publisher), and Holt, Rinehart and Winston (a text book publisher) .
The book publishing specific tools - such as those offered by Klopotek for publishers with sales over $30M USD, Vista or Quality Solutions are often too expensive or hard to customize.
The one tool that small and mid-sized publishers use most often is FileMaker. FileMaker is an affordable database program designed for ease of use and the software that we recommend to small and mid-sized publishers looking for a solution that they can customize to meet their needs.
At http://www.filemaker.com/solutions/customers/industry/printing_publishing.html you can find stories about publishers that use FileMaker.
These include; Harvard University Press (a scholarly and trade publisher), Rebus (a medical publisher), and Holt, Rinehart and Winston (a text book publisher) .
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
IT Security - External Threats #2
One of the biggest threats to security occurs when managers access their corporate systems from remote PCs, which may or may not be secure.
Currently, we are recommeding that employees of our larger clients use an IRONKEY usb flashdrive with hardware security and 128 digit encryption to initiate all remote accesses.
Why?
"It starts with the onboard IronKey Password Manager. As you visit your online sites, the Password Manager will ask you if you want it to remember your usernames and passwords. These are then stored with hardware encryption on the IronKey drive.
When you wish to log back into one of your accounts, the Password Manager compares the website that you are visiting with the website where you originally entered your password. If they match, the Password Manager enters your password for you without you having to type it in. If they do not match, then you may be on a phishing site, and the Password Manager will not enter the password for you.
This gives you simple but effective protection against phishing attacks and spyware that tracks your keystrokes."
Currently, we are recommeding that employees of our larger clients use an IRONKEY usb flashdrive with hardware security and 128 digit encryption to initiate all remote accesses.
Why?
"It starts with the onboard IronKey Password Manager. As you visit your online sites, the Password Manager will ask you if you want it to remember your usernames and passwords. These are then stored with hardware encryption on the IronKey drive.
When you wish to log back into one of your accounts, the Password Manager compares the website that you are visiting with the website where you originally entered your password. If they match, the Password Manager enters your password for you without you having to type it in. If they do not match, then you may be on a phishing site, and the Password Manager will not enter the password for you.
This gives you simple but effective protection against phishing attacks and spyware that tracks your keystrokes."
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
IT Security - External Threats #1
Recently we reviewed the IT security systems for a publisher, who shall remain nameless, that had just undergone an audit by a CPA firm. The CPA firm overlooked a major hole in the publisher's management information system (MIS) security.
In our experience, 95% of security threats are internal (employees of the company) and 5% are external (hackers, viruses and worms).
ERP solutions, that store data in encrypted files are relatively secure against external threats provided that the external threat (i.e. hacker) can't gain access to a user id and password that allows access to the system and the user id that allows access to the ERP software.
At this publisher, we found that although the internal systems were secure managers who accessed the system's web site interface remotely were often doing so via systems that had expired internet security and firewall software or in two cases had turned off the security software on their laptop (as they said that it slowed their internet access).
With the security software on the external laptop turned off or expired, it would have been relatively easy for a hacker - perhaps using keyboard logging software - to obtain a copy of the user's userid and password as he entered it.
IT managers need to review and secure external internet access with an integrated set of policies, procedures, software and hardware designed to protect the company's property and customers.
In our experience, 95% of security threats are internal (employees of the company) and 5% are external (hackers, viruses and worms).
ERP solutions, that store data in encrypted files are relatively secure against external threats provided that the external threat (i.e. hacker) can't gain access to a user id and password that allows access to the system and the user id that allows access to the ERP software.
At this publisher, we found that although the internal systems were secure managers who accessed the system's web site interface remotely were often doing so via systems that had expired internet security and firewall software or in two cases had turned off the security software on their laptop (as they said that it slowed their internet access).
With the security software on the external laptop turned off or expired, it would have been relatively easy for a hacker - perhaps using keyboard logging software - to obtain a copy of the user's userid and password as he entered it.
IT managers need to review and secure external internet access with an integrated set of policies, procedures, software and hardware designed to protect the company's property and customers.
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