Server Application Solutions – Don’t Let Spreadsheets Hold Your Business Back

The problems and limitations of spreadsheet-based systems are well documented. That’s why we at Denizon have come up with ways to give you freedom from these UDAs (User Developed Applications). With the server application solutions we offer, your IT and financial system can be:

Free from spreadsheet risks;
Equipped with built-in controls that substantially reduce risks to data;
Less prone to fraud;
More suitable for regulatory compliance; and
Designed for an agile business environment;

Totally devoid of spreadsheet risks

By getting rid of spreadsheets, you also get rid of broken links, incomplete range selections, accidental deletion of cells, incorrect copy-pasting and other spreadsheet-related slip-ups.

In their place, we offer a faster but more robust and reliable centralised system. Errors are substantially minimised by built-in controls, while inconsistencies are avoided because changes made by one user are automatically reflected on the data delivered to others.

Built-in business-critical controls

Some solutions are designed to add control features on spreadsheets. We believe that such features can only be truly effective in today?s fast-paced and dynamic business environment if they are already inherent in the design of the IT solution; not something that’s merely added as an afterthought.

For one, while these band-aid solutions may succeed in adding controls, they don’t get rid of the slow, tedious, and time-consuming processes that accompany spreadsheet systems.

Less prone to fraud

Weak controls and the absence of reliable audit trails are two factors that encourage fraudsters to prey on spreadsheet systems.

With our server-based applications solutions, your data is protected by user-based access controls that allow users to see only the information that they’re supposed to see and modify data which they have been granted sufficient access rights to.

Our solutions also produce clear audit trails for painless tracking, viewing and searching of user-entered changes. This will enable you to pinpoint who changed what, as well as where and when the changes were made.

Ready for regulatory compliance and beyond

When better controls are enforced, financial reports become more reliable. That should give your company the edge it needs to easily comply with SOX as well as other regulations and, as a consequence, build stakeholder confidence.

And because our solutions can churn out accurate reports for regulation compliance at shorter turnaround times than spreadsheet systems, you end up saving more man-hours. That should give your team more time to innovate, analyse information and deliver goods or services to your customers faster.

Designed for agility

Let’s face it. Spreadsheets, which used to serve as nifty ad-hoc business tools, are no longer suitable for agile organisations. When faced with the demands of rapidly changing markets and dynamic environments, spreadsheets can instead slow a business down.

Multi-dimensional reports, dashboards, report filters, drill-downs, collaboration and automated reporting, budgeting and forecasting capabilities are needed for gaining insights and making fast critical decisions.

Sad to say, your trusty spreadsheet application is not designed to provide these features. Hence, it’s time to move on to the type of solutions that are.

Our solutions can transform your IT and financial systems and make them better-equipped to meet the demands of today?s rapidly changing economic environment. With features designed for agile businesses, our solutions can help you tackle change with ease.

Automatic consolidation eliminates errors and wasted time caused by tedious copy-pasting of data and linking of cells.

Better collaboration capabilities allows team members to bring their heads together for planning, budgeting and reporting even while on the go.

Mobility support enables users to input data or retrieve information through their wireless mobile devices.

Superior sharing features ensures that everyone is exactly on the same page and viewing real-time information.

Dashboards provide insightful information at-a-glance through KPIs, graphs and various metrics.

Drill-downs enable users to investigate unusual figures and gain a better understanding of the details that contribute to the big picture.

Easy to learn interfaces allow your organisation to cope with fast personnel turnaround or Mergers & Acquisitions.

More Spreadsheet Blogs

Spreadsheet Risks in Banks

Top 10 Disadvantages of Spreadsheets

Disadvantages of Spreadsheets – obstacles to compliance in the Healthcare Industry

How Internal Auditors can win the War against Spreadsheet Fraud

Spreadsheet Reporting – No Room in your company in an age of Business Intelligence

Still looking for a Way to Consolidate Excel Spreadsheets?

Disadvantages of Spreadsheets

Spreadsheet woes – ill equipped for an Agile Business Environment

Spreadsheet Fraud

Spreadsheet Woes – Limited features for easy adoption of a control framework

Spreadsheet woes – Burden in SOX Compliance and other Regulations

Spreadsheet Risk Issues

Server Application Solutions – Don’t let Spreadsheets hold your Business back

Why Spreadsheets can send the pillars of Solvency II crashing down

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4 Reasons Why You Might be Missing Out on Energy Savings…

?well your company actually, although for many small-to-medium businesses it boils down to the same thing. Governments usually lag behind in terms of innovation but are beating us hands-down when it comes to going green. I have heard that private sector energy savings average less than 1% per year and I for one would not be surprised if that were true. So what is causing this rot, when we started out so enthusiastically? Here are four possibilities for you to mull over.

Your Team is Unevenly Yoked ? A pair of mismatched horses cannot pull a wagon in a straight line any more successfully than a business team can achieve its goals, if there is no agreement on priorities. While your sales team may be all for scoring green points against your competition, your accountant has a budget to balance and your operations department just wants to get on with the job.

Energy?s not in Focus ? The above may in part be due to production goals you set your department heads. Energy is not nearly as greedy as raw materials and human capital. If you tell them to cut 5%, where do you think they are going to look first? You need to put energy savings up there, and agree specific targets as you do with other primary goals.

Your Equipment Could be Over-Spec ? It is a very human thing to put more food on our plates and buy faster cars than we need. Only a few generations ago our ancestors lived through feast and famine, and the shadow of this still influences our thinking. Next time you buy equipment sit around the table and agree the decision criteria together. Then stick to them and repel all attempts at up-selling.

You Are Delegating Too Much ? Delegation is part of company culture, or if you prefer the collective way of doing things. If you delegate something completely it is akin to saying I do not care much about this, make it happen. Energy saving is a financial and moral imperative. The fact the oil price is down does not mean there is no place for sustainability on your desk (and the price is likely to be up again soon).

Governments succeed in saving energy (whereas businesses often do not) because governments have a crowd of stakeholders beating down the door and demanding progress. As business owners we are more likely to do the same when the pressure is upon us, and that pressure surely has to come from us.

How Volvo Dublin achieved Zero Landfill Status

The sprawling New River Valley Volvo plant in Dublin, Virginia slashed its electricity bill by 25% in a single year when it set its mind to this in 2009. It went on to become the first carbon-neutral factory in 2012 after replacing fossil energy with renewable power. Further efforts rewarded it with zero-landfill status in 2013. ecoVaro decided to investigate how it achieved this latest success.

Volvo Dublin?s anti-landfill project began when it identified, measured and evaluated all liquid and solid waste sources within the plant (i.e. before these left the works). This quantified data provided its environmental project team with a base from which to explore options for reusing, recycling and composting the discards.

Several decisions followed immediately. Volvo instructed its component suppliers to stop using cardboard boxes and foam rubber / Styrofoam as packaging, in favour of reusable shipping containers. This represented a collaborative saving that benefited both parties although this was just a forerunner of what followed.

Next, Volvo?s New River Valley truck assembly plant turned its attention to the paint shop. It developed methods to trap, reconstitute and reuse solvents that flushed paint lines, and recycle paint sludge to fire a cement kiln. The plant cafeteria did not escape attention either. The environment team made sure that all utensils, cups, containers and food waste generated were compostable at a facility on site.

The results of these simple, and in hindsight obvious decisions were remarkable. Every year since then Volvo has generated energy savings equivalent to 9,348 oil barrels or if you prefer 14,509 megawatts of electricity. Just imagine the benefits if every manufacturing facility did something similar everywhere around the world.

By 2012, the New River Valley Volvo Plant became the first U.S. facility to receive ISO 50001 energy-management status under a government-administered process. Further technology enhancements followed. These included solar hot water boilers and infrared heating throughout the 1.6 million square foot (148,644 square meter) plant, building automation systems that kept energy costs down, and listening to employees who were brim-full with good ideas.

The Volvo experience is by no means unique although it may have been ahead of the curve. General Motors has more than 106 landfill-free installations and Ford plans to reduce waste per vehicle by 40% between 2010 and 2016. These projects all began by measuring energy footprints throughout the process. ecoVaro provides a facility for you to do this too.

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2015 ESOS Guidelines Chapter 1 ? Who Qualifies

The base criteria are any UK undertaking that employs more than 250 people and/or has a turnover in excess of ?50 million and/or has a balance sheet total greater than ?43 million. There is little point in attempting to separate off high polluting areas. If one corporate group qualifies for ESOS, then all the others are obligated to take part too. The sterling equivalents of ?38,937,777 and ?33,486,489 were set on 31 December 2014 and apply to the first compliance period.

Representatives of Overseas Entities

UK registered branches of foreign entities are treated as if fully UK owned. They also have to sign up if any overseas corporate element meets the threshold no matter where in the world. The deciding factor is common ownership throughout the ESOS system. ecoVaro appreciates this. We have seen European companies dumping pollution in under-regulated countries for far too long.

Generic Undertakings that Could Comply

The common factor is energy consumption and the organisation’s type of work is irrelevant. The Environmental Agency has provided the following generic checklist of undertakings that could qualify:

Limited Companies	Public Companies	Trusts
Partnerships	Private Equity Companies	Limited Liability Partnerships
Unincorporated Associations	Not-for-Profit Bodies	Universities (Per Funding)

Organisations Close to Thresholds

Organisations that come close to, but do not quite meet the qualification threshold should cast their minds back to previous accounting periods, because ESOS considers current and previous years. The exact wording in the regulations states:

?Where, in any accounting period, an undertaking is a large undertaking (or a small or medium undertaking, as the case may be), it retains that status until it falls within the definition of a small or medium undertaking (or a large undertaking, as the case may be) for two consecutive accounting periods.?

Considering the ?50,000 penalty for not completing an assessment or making a false or misleading statement, it makes good sense for close misses to comply.

Joint Ventures and Participative Undertakings

If one element of a UK group qualifies for ESOS, then the others must follow suit with the highest one carrying responsibility. Franchisees are independent undertakings although they may collectively agree to participate. If trusts receive energy from a third party that must do an ESOS, then so must they. Private equity firms and private finance initiatives receive the same treatment as other enterprises. De-aggregations must be in writing following which separated ESOS accountability applies.