Recently
one afternoon at 15:01 the CEO of one of our VIPCare clients was
price updating a stock item in a list of 6000, he pressed the Global
Recalculate button and despite a warning, overwrote ALL 6000
prices. Restoring from backups would have meant losing all sales,
purchasing and banking for the day so he put out a VIPCare SOS. We
wrote a small program, accessed their server through a VPN
(RemoteCare),
accessed their stock file from the previous day and ran the program
which backdated all items to the correct price. Completion 15:16
- time taken 15 minutes, client’s comments, thank goodness for
backups and most of all thank goodness for VIPCare.
Astarla
VIPCare is a Partnering concept based on mutual gain using ongoing
development of software and support to ensure optimum usability and
productivity.
This helps
to avoid the trap of purchasing software which ultimately runs down
and becomes inefficient over the longer term with huge costs
associated with upgrading to meet the ever evolving computer
environment, growing business needs and legislative changes.
Rather than
being charged for support and upgrades on an ad hoc basis we smooth
out the ride so that productivity continues to improve, support is
always available, problem solving happens before the event, wish
lists are implemented along the way, special reports can be written,
data checking takes place regularly, ongoing hints for computer
health are sent out on a regular basis and many more automated
services that help keep the business wheels ‘oiled’.
This
effectively makes the old style licence purchase of programs
obsolete. In the past a program was purchased and it was hoped that
the upgrade path chosen by the developer gave some benefit, but sadly
this was often not the case and the expense of changing to a new
program coupled with the massive retraining programs needed often
placed companies behind in the race to expand. The VIPCare Partnering
Plan ensures direct development of software in cooperation with
members as growth and technology dictate.
If you have
ever had to wait for a long period on the telephone listing to a
remote voice telling you that you are in a queue and that you are
‘important to us’ (but obviously not important enough to attend
to you) you will love VIPCare.
VIPCare
clients have an account manager allocated to them permanently, with a
backup support manager if necessary. This account manager will only
be allocated enough clients to support comfortably and will stay in
touch on a regular basis.
No
Robotic telephone reception!
VIPCare
Partners are a ‘family’ or a community of growth orientated
businesses who commit to regular payments to ensure ongoing viability
and benefits to their group through the development and servicing of
top class management software.
Services
That We Offer (Subject To Plan Level)
Installation
Initial
installation and any necessary re-installation that may be
necessary because of updates, wish lists or disasters 1
Training
As well as
initial training we offer refresher courses on new or updated
existing features within AstarlaWorks Premier in local areas.
Disaster
Recovery
In the event
of a disaster or backups that are only useful for some days back,
we can often help recover major portions of business data.2
Telephone
Support
General
telephone support is available 9am to 5pm weekdays for
AstarlaWorks Premier under normal plans 3,
with 24x7 emergency support available under Platinum plans.
Ongoing
Updates
We provide
easy to install automated updates that contain wish list items,
extra reports that may be required, any patches required for
security, patches that may be required for new Windows
environments 4 and
any changes required for legislative issues.
RemoteCare
(Silver Level
Plans And Above)
By using a
VPN (Virtual Private Network) hosted by your server we keep a
constant check on your program and data integrity. This helps to
prevent expensive long term problems creeping in because we have
the tools to check regularly. We will also make small changes to
reports as required without interrupting work flow.
We even
update your system outside office hours so that downtime is kept
to a minimum.
In the event
of an emergency data can be worked on remotely cutting response
time from a day or more to an hour or two.
Data
Checking And Validation
Three
monthly data checks are offered by us to make sure the system is
in balance and has no corruptions because of ‘crashes’ We
guarantee that we will not retain your data any longer than
necessary.
Wish List
Implementation
We have
regular dialog with our clients and implement their wishes for
extra features into the program where possible. These features
help everybody and form the basis for huge benefits over time. 5
Report
Generation
(Gold and
above)
Special
reports can be written for our higher plan clients in reasonable
numbers. These also go to benefit all VIPCare Partner clients. 5
Productivity
Enhancements
One of the
real benefits that should come from using good management software
is an increase in administration productivity. We will continually
work with our clients to try to achieve optimum levels of
productivity over time.
Taking
The Mysticism Out Of Software
Trade
software developers are not big on plain English when used in a
business management sense, computers are only fast calculators and
data storage devices. We demystify software and it’s processes
and help our clients become more at ‘ease’ with their systems.
Trust
Our existing
clients trust us to look after their interests with regards to
business software. We have built this trust over 10 years with the
same clients helping them through changes from MS-DOS, Windows
3.1xx, Windows 95, Windows 98, NT, Millennium, 2000 and XP. We
have been through the year 2000 issue without hiccups, the advent
of GST and many others.
Tricks,
Tips And Techniques
We regularly
email tips and ideas to our VIPCare Partner clients to keep them
up to date with latest trends and draw on our vast knowledge of
job and inventory control gained from working with all types of
trades over the years.
Custom
Programs
Although the
actual work involved in building custom applications is
chargeable, the AstarlaWorks concept is to ‘blend’ those
applications into the overall package so they appear as part of
the system and don’t confuse operators. Any program files,
report files etc are retained on our server in a personal folder
together with notes on their operation. In case of system loss or
personnel changes.
Important
Notes
1
Subject to level, RemoteCare options and geographical locations.
2
We can’t guarantee that disaster recovery is always successful, but
in most cases we can make a considerable difference.
3
Subject to level. Lower level telephone support is dealt with on a
reasonable basis, but it is not offered in lieu of training nor is it
offered on any other basis than direct AstarlaWorks program support.
Accounting support or advice is not part of the AstarlaWorks program
and should be referred to a qualified accountant. Similarly any sort
of financial advice is specifically excluded. For Silver plans and
lower; telephone support is also not offered in lieu of checking any
FAQ’s (frequently asked questions, white papers or email snippets
that we may publish from time to time)
The scope of
telephone support increases with plan level.
Telephone
support is given to approved client staff only who will be trained in
how to get the very best out of support.
4
Because the way the industry has become structured you can never buy
a new computer that will take older Windows operating systems, they
are always sold with a newer version of Windows which will often
require program changes to ‘keep up’. When a computer dies a
company is often faced with upgrading to a new operating system. This
inevitably brings substantial costs with it. The VIP Partnering
program helps insure against these costs in regard to AstarlaWorks
software. RemoteCare clients will have updates installed for them.
5
Special features and reports etc are only available to VIPCare
Partner clients. Non subscription clients get the basic package only
and have to pay for support and upgrades on a per incident and as
required basis.
The best solution for job control, workshops and parts distribution coupled with real world business accounting. AstarlaWorks Premier and our VIPCare concept of client support ensure the ongoing smooth running of your business.
