This week, Manufacturing Business Technology unveiled its July/August issue, a special issue featuring the 2009 MBT Innovation Insight Awards.  We are pleased to announce that Infor MyDay was recognized as one of MBT's award winners in this year's "highly competitive" selection process.  Infor MyDay was nominated as the "Most Innovative Product By A Vendor" category and proudly received third place in the category.  

To view the article, click the link below and turn to page 21.  The Innovation Insight Awards coverage begin on page 14.
http://redigitaleditions.com/Olive/ODE/MBT/

As you know, Infor recently introduced Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) and Business Object Documents (BODs) to help transport data to and from the VISUAL database. As a result, Infor is moving away from a COM interface as the mechanism for users to create and modify VISUAL data.  The future plan is to allow users to use BODs to maintain data in the VISUAL database. 

As you may be aware, the library of COM objects originally included with VISUAL Version 6.0 is now outdated, and in some cases does not correctly support current versions of VISUAL (6.5.x).  The primary purpose of these objects was to allow VISUAL to communicate with other VISUAL applications such as VISUAL Price Book. Users could also use them to create custom user interfaces using any generally available COM-compliant language.  While the COM objects have been used in the field by the Infor Professional Services team or authorized Infor service partners for customizations, these COM objects were not intended to be a toolset that was supported under a customer’s maintenance and support agreement.

Please note that the COM objects’ business rules have not been updated as new versions of VISUAL were released, and Infor does not intend to do so.  Infor will not be enhancing these objects or bringing them up to the current release of VISUAL.

In future releases of VISUAL, Infor plans to remove these objects from the VISUAL product media (download).  When an object is removed, it will be documented in the release notes so you can plan accordingly if you have customizations built around that object.  If you have a need for a customization of VISUAL, please contact your Channel Partner or Account Representative.

 

TORONTO, ON, February 02, 2009 -- Being aware of the state of the Canadian manufacturing sector, why not take an example from Infor and institute a positive change? To ensure that their leading manufacturing-centric enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution continues to grow, Infor has realigned their value-added reseller (VAR) partnership for their Infor ERP VISUAL (formerly Visual Enterprise) software product. Business Solutions Alliance Inc. (www.BSAinc.ca) has not only been awarded Certified Channel Partner status, but has also become the only partner marketing and supporting Infor ERP VISUAL across the Canadian market.

Business Solutions Alliance Inc. (BSA), a firm specializing in ERP implementation and business services, is no stranger to Infor ERP VISUAL. BSA Product Engineers have extensive experience with VISUAL, from its previous versions up to and including the latest release of Infor ERP VISUAL 6.5.3. Marc Harris, President of BSA had this to say about the recent developments, "This is a significant opportunity for BSA and its clients. With VISUAL's deep manufacturing functionality, this product has the capability to improve productivity, decrease lead times, and reduce inventory levels. BSA adds the vital in-depth industry knowledge, best practice knowledge and the customer commitment required to take the capabilities and turn them into reality. It really is a great partnership of resources."

In discussing the partnership with BSA and the expansion of the Infor team, Mike Gadow, Vice President, Channels for Infor expressed his opinion about partner selection, "Ideal partners will have deep industry knowledge coupled with expert implementation techniques, further enabling Infor to help businesses improve their operating processes and increase profitability." Combined with BSA's strong customer commitment and dedication to Infor ERP VISUAL, BSA clearly fits this ideal. Prior to granting Infor's Channel Partner certification, Infor interviewed numerous BSA/VISUAL customers and confirmed their outstanding customer focus. BSA's experience is invaluable to the development of VISUAL across the Canadian market, which is best illustrated through the positive referencing from their existing customers.

BSA continues to drive its efforts towards improving ROI for all VISUAL customers while educating new clients on the benefits of a well-implemented ERP. Taking a lead from its partner, a positive approach can only result in good things!