FAQ

DFSFramework

1. We have several software packages we use in our company, and they work okay. But I can’t get them to work together with each other. Can you help?

Probably. This is what “integration” is all about. Direct Focus Software has tools to gather, join, merge and transform data that was formerly dispersed and unconnected. Honestly, no one can completely transform software packages designed to work alone to work directly with each other, but we can probably get your data together in a one virtual place where you can look at it, analyze it, and even update it, change it or correct it, in ways you simply can’t do today. And we can help you get a good look at the big picture.

2. We use lots of different software to run our business. I want better reporting, but I don’t want to replace all my applications. Can I use my existing applications but still get better access to my data – better reports on what’s going on?

Sure! That’s what Direct Focus Software Business Intelligence solutions are all about. If you have an application that is basically good at what it does, but can’t give you the analytical or reporting functionality you need, why should you have to throw out the whole thing? Our BI solutions are designed to enhance what’s good about your business, and make up whatever deficiencies are there..

We don’t try to make you replace all your software and do it our way (a’ la SAP). We provide technology that helps you implement your own strategies to work even better.

3. I set goals for my business. But my systems don’t have a way to compare my actual sales, expenses and profitability directly to my plan unless I (or my sales people) spend more time re-entering the actuals numbers into the sales tracking application. They’ve got better things to do (like sell!). And the data they put in has errors, isn’t always updated, etc. We waste all kinds of time bickering about tracking sales. We’ve already got the data! Can you help?

Yes. Monitoring business performance is probably the biggest reason you need a BI solution. Most systems do a decent job of spitting out the data they contain. Few do a good job of comparing numbers like actuals to targets, current periods to prior, forecasts to actuals, etc. Imagine having a simplified visualization, like a dashboard in a car, on how your business is doing against key performance indicators that you set up for your business.

Key performance indicators may be sales goals for a certain period, perhaps in terms of units sold, gross revenue or net profit, maybe in terms of percentage growth over a prior period, or by product or service, maybe by geography. Or maybe an operational goal such as inventory turns, shipments completed per week, or days without accident or injury.

And like a car dashboard, goal tracking usually involves a number of measurements in concert, not just one performance indicator, but an overall feel for direction (like a compass), speed (speedometer), engine performance (rpms on your tachometer), engine temperature (temp guage or warning light), how far you’ve gone (odometer or trip meter), etc, all to show how everything is working together. Other indicators may be more like alerts, like your “low oil” or “service engine now” light. In business, its critical things you need to know about right away like low cash-on-hand or overdue orders – whatever you want!

Your car doesn’t make you painstakingly extract the information – it provides it to you. So can your business intelligence system.

With a Direct Focus Software BI solution, you can integrate actuals to budget and forecast no matter what data sources each of the different types of data reside in.

4. I already use a spreadsheet for my management “overview”. Why do I need a “Business Intelligence” solution?

Spreadsheets are very flexible, pretty simple to learn and everybody’s got them. That’s why so many people find them useful. But for some functions, relying on them can get labor intensive, especially when dealing with lots of data and lots of complex data transformation.

A Direct Focus Software BI solution can help…

• If you already have data in a computer, but manually re-enter or “dump” it and “import” it every time you need an updated report.

• If you go through a time consuming process with your spreadsheet data (sorting, filtering, querying, doing sums, lookups, etc.) every time to get it the way it needs to be. The process is known, but not automated.

We create BI processes and reporting solutions that give you more information in less time than you’re spending now.

5. Used to be every time we needed a report, we created another spreadsheet. Now it’s hard to keep track. We’re constantly ‘dumping and importing’ data into this sheet or that. Each report is a little different. And we’re not always sure (or in agreement) which “version” of the truth we’re looking at.

Again, there are reasons why spreadsheets are so popular and ubiquitous. They are great for lots of things. Consequently, nearly everyone uses them. In some ways, that can be a good thing (just ask Bill Gate$). But for all their strengths, too many spreadsheets can also create problems. They’re not a “system”.

If your spreadsheets have proliferated to a point where they’re out of control, we can help you create a comprehensive reporting environment that lets you look into your data sources in a way that both fits your way of doing business AND fits together in a system. Use spreadsheets for all the things they’re good for. But when you’ve reached a point where you’re recognizing their weakness as an information “system”, call us.

6.Every Monday morning I spend hours dumping data out of my database(s) and into Excel, sorting it the same way, and running several macros just to get my weekly report the way I need it. I’d love to automate the process. Can you help?

There’s nothing like the right tool for the job. Excel may have been the perfect tool to help you figure out your data transformation process. Now that you know what that process is, you’d like to take another step - to automate it - and with Excel, it’s not so easy. New problem, so it’s time for another tool.

Direct Focus Software Business Intelligence solutions are especially good at setting up automated processes to access data, integrate it, transform it, format the resulting information into rich reports, and then properly route and automatically distribute them.

Your time is valuable. Should you spend it doing something manually every week just because your tools aren’t equipped to automate the process?

7. We need some electronic forms, but can’t I just get some templates off the web for that?

A common misconception is that any form that has “fields” will more or less automatically enter data, not just into the document on the screen, but also into a database for storing the fields. Actually, for most electronic “forms”, there’s nothing automatic about it - it takes custom programming to create a link into a database. Most forms were designed strictly to be saved as documents. This goes for documents ranging from common types such as Adobe pdf files to proprietary electronic forms offered by many e-forms companies. Linking their fields to a database usually requires hiring a programmer to set up the “back end” – the part that links fields to databases. In fact, it’s by selling these kinds of services that companies like Adobe make money. They give away document readers for free. Creating interactive pdf documents that link to databases costs money.

It’s certainly not that it can’t be done, but if you’re downloading a free template, or even buying an inexpensive one, understand that database connectivity is not already a built in feature, and programming the linkage costs.

Direct Focus Software designs fully featured electronic forms that work within a framework that allows easy linkage to a variety of databases. We create forms with lots of features, yet we still deliver quickly and affordably. See our E-forms page for more info.

8. We want to computerize our check-in process. Can’t we just create forms that look like what we’ve got in something like Word or Acrobat?

Consider whether what your replacing is just forms, or if you’re really wanting to change a process. You’re asking a PC to step in and replicate what a human brain does, and though the average brain makes it look easy, don’t underestimate how complicated a “simple” process can be.

Consider the check-in process to a hospital, (or doctor’s office, school, or seminar, or….). You’d like to computerize that process.

Today the receptionist provides a clipboard with a set of forms to fill in, along with the instructions, “Please fill these all out as completely as possible and then return it to the desk when you’re ready”.

Computerizing “check-in” won’t work at all if you just sit a person down at a computer with multiple Word documents stored in a directory. The applicant needs guidance to fill out the right documents (and only those) in some logical order, and then to submit the completed forms to someone or some place. So you’ll need some “workflow” component to the solution; perhaps even some help files when they have questions – to replicate the receptionist’s role doing this.

The receptionist could just glance at the completed forms to see if everything was filled in properly. It wouldn’t make sense (and it would take too much time) to have someone re-open all the files on the computer to do the same “validation”. You ‘ll need some automated “error checking” and “data validation”.

What happens next? Paper forms often go into a file folder. The folder needs to be replaced with some computer equivalent, maybe a new patient “record” where all subsequent information will be stored for this patient. Electronic records may need the system to assign a unique “patient ID” or account number.

The paper file folder used to get physically routed to wherever the patient was headed, like the ER or the X-Ray lab. Maybe that was as simple as having the patient carry it there with them! Obviously, they’re not going to carry the PC they checked in on with them into the next office. You need to route the electronic document to someone via email or maybe activate an “alert” on someone’s computer screen once the forms are completed.

The point is, depending on your process(es), you’ll probably need a number of functionalities that a set of stand-alone electronic forms by themselves simply will not fulfill. Without them, a process which seems pretty simple today can get pretty messed up when you “go electronic”. This is why the “learning curve” on a new computerized process can be long and painful, and productivity actually drops for awhile.

Once you’ve “gone electronic”, you’ll need to retrieve records, update them, etc. You’ll probably want reports. After all, all that data is now on the computer! It should be easy! But just having lots of forms, however much they look like your paper forms, won’t make that happen.

It’s far better to build your solution within an affordable, scalable, customizable solution framework that can grow into what you really need: better than investing time and money cobbling bits and pieces together, only to find out later you’ll have to scrap it all and get or create “a solution” after all.

8. This all sounds complicated. Are your solutions easy to use?

We design our solutions to fit your needs. Custom solutions range from simple to highly sophisticated. Every solution needs a well thought out user interface. Beyond that, ease of use generally involves a trade-off between simplicity (which equals easy - because you just can’t do too many things) and feature-richness, flexibility and customizability (which equals powerful, but complex and, at least initially, maybe not so easy to learn). Overly simple, one-sized-fits-all, off the shelf solutions are easy to outgrow and may never fully meet your needs. Complex, hard to learn tools often go unused – a waste of money and time.

We use our powerful tools to create custom solutions for you, that fit your needs, including ease of use. We build solutions that accommodate whatever level(s) of user you have with consideration towards the mix of power, flexibility, adaptability and ease of use that your reporting requirements dictate.

Typically, users begin with simple standardized reports and move towards more sophisticated, flexible reporting as they gain experience with your data. Standard reports and printing reports that are very simple to run and to view or print. The reports themselves may be as sophisticated as you need, but using them is quite simple – click on a button! Standard reports usually let you look at high level summaries and interactively drill down into the detail in a very straightforward manner. Likewise, printing reports are pretty straightforward ways to print lengthy reports to paper or output to documents like pdf’s or Word files.

Pivot tables are more sophisticated interactive reports, more powerful tools which allow you to view your data from a wide range of “angles”.

Ad hoc reporting is suited to the true “power user” who wants to get creative and peer into the data in ways nobody has really thought of yet. Especially at this level, the complexity of the data you use determines how complicated your data analysis can get.

Lastly, ease of use has a lot to do with “fit”. Think about it. If you’re trying to make a one-size-fits-all solution fit into your way of doing business, you usually spend a lot of time figuring out how to make the “one size” fit you. You spend a lot of time determiing what are the 10 or 12 options (out of the thousands they offer!) that you need. We already know our tools. So we find and build in the options you need.

Direct Focus Software works with you to determine what fits you. Then we create your solution. Like working with a tailor. Naturally, you get a better fit! The solution is designed to do what you need to do. So it’s easier to use.

9. We’re not a big company. I’d love to have the best reporting system in the world, but can we afford it?

Direct Focus Software has developed an application framework that brings the high cost of developing custom solutions down to a level that a small to medium sized company can afford.

For starters, we’ve simplified the pricing – like we don’t charge for the basic software licensing – just our service for building your solution. So they charge anywhere from $5K to $20K for the software.

Then they get started on your solution. They take 12 to 24 weeks. We usually take 3 to 6 weeks. Who do you think has a bigger bill at the end?

So don’t count yourself out. Give us a call. If you need information to run your business better, you need it. And if you can afford it, you should have it at your fingertips.

Focus. Directly. On your business.

• Direct Focus Software, DFSBI, DFSEForms and DFSTrans are trademarks of Direct Focus Software, LLC. All software and documentation related to DFSTrans are property of Direct Focus Software, LLC, all rights reserved, and may not be reproduced, distributed or sold in total or in part without prior written permission of Direct Focus Software, LLC. Direct Focus Software, LLC provides this documentation as is with no warranty of its accuracy or completeness. See software license for complete details. • Microsoft, Access, Excel, SQL, .Net and OleDb are all registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. • MySQL is a registered trademark of MySQL AB foundation. • Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation. • Sybase is a registered trademark of Sybase Corporation. • dBase is a registered trademark of dataBase Intelligence, Inc.