I have been spending a great deal more time ‘on the road’ in recent months due to the change in my position in July at K3 Syspro. As well as crossing England’s infamous North/South divide on a weekly basis, I have also come into contact with some very high-level customizations both within and outside of the SYSPRO system - some good, some bad.  This has lead me to ponder how best to connect all of these technologies to work in the most effective way.  The technologies I’ve come into contact with on my travels can be summarized as follows:

Ever noticed how quickly things come around again? No sooner than you've accomplished something, there it is again warranting your attention. 

Twelve months ago this month I completed my first charity Etape du Tour after months of preparation and planning. And now, I find myself having done my second, successfully summiting the infamous cycling climbs of the Col du Tourmalet and Hautacam on 20th July -however, this time around it was a very different story indeed! 

Born within 2 miles of the K3 Syspro offices in Salford, Manchester, I am also proud to be a staunch Manchester United (soccer) fan (who also play 3.5miles from our offices). In the last 60 years, Man U has been extremely lucky not only to have had just a handful of managers in this time, but to have had a notable two clocking up 52 years’ service between them; with almost identical reigns of around 26 years apiece. This is unprecedented in the world of English football as it is in any other sport you can think of in the world. However, in 2012 our most recent managerial stalwart hung up his boots, so to speak, and we now have a new man in charge.

As I begin an 8-month project to setup, test and implement a new internal system for our helpdesk, I have started thinking about the bigger picture of what we do on support at SYSPRO’s European office, and what exactly determines the quality of service that we provide on a daily basis. It's all too easy to get 'bogged down' with day-to-day office life, without giving thought to how entire teams, departments and systems interlink to perform valuable functions. In terms of the Helpdesk team, we rely heavily on a number of systems that enable us to provide what is widely regarded as a highly competent and helpful application support function. So exactly what determines good customer service?

As a cycling fan, I am excited by the start of each new season particularly spring time as the "Spring Classics" get underway and everyone starts to look towards the summer blockbuster, the Tour de France. This is also the season in which I start to seriously ramp up my training as I look forward to the Tour de France stage (Annecy to Annecy-Semnoz) I will be riding on 7th July. With this in mind, I will share what I consider similarities in learning the necessary skills to power tailor and customize SYSPRO, and training for such a gruelling endurance event.

In my current and relatively new position, I've had to get to grips with a number of new systems – not only the 'ins and outs' of SYSPRO and K3 SYSPRO products, such as DataSwitch, but also with the internal systems required to manage my day-to-day workload. In this blog I'll share with you some of the tools, sources, and insights I have gained during my first six months within the SYSPRO community.

Three syllables which currently polarize opinion wherever you look and whoever you talk to: Windows 8.

I won’t bore you with yet another opinion on whether Windows 8 is going to make or break Microsoft, whether the versions on sale are going to confuse consumers or whether Apple is going to become the all-conquering tech giant off the back of this. What I will share with you is what I’m looking forward to seeing and using in the new Operating System (OS), and how this will affect my personal and professional life for the better.