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Copyright (c) 2008 Jackson Kern

It is commonly accepted that the project of sustainable development is conceptually composed of three constituent parts. These parts are (1) environmental sustainability, (2) economic sustainability, and (3) social-political sustainability. The United Nations 2005 World Summit refers to the “interdependent and mutually reinforcing pillars” of sustainable development as environmental protection, economic development and social development. The interdependency of the first two is evident; it is perhaps the greatest challenge of our time to satisfy the needs and wants of burgeoning populations within the binding constraints imposed by our physical environment. But what is this great hoopla about social development and sustainability of politics, and what exactly is its place?

If environmental protection is concerned with the preservation of our natural environment and resources, and economic sustainability is concerned with seeking durable growth solutions therein, then the social-political sphere can be thought of as representative of the more purely human element in the equation. Social development and social-political sustainability are intimately related concepts but they are not in fact entirely interchangeable. It is important that we understand their symbiotic relationship and its implications for the broader sustainability project.

Social development is a concept that is familiar to most of us in its many and varying forms. Within any given society there are opportunities to improve and enrich each of its composite parts in many ways. Of sometimes greater importance is the need to harmonize relations amongst these various and sometimes opposing elements. Those actively engaged in the process of social development include agents acting within its institutions to effect change via established channels. Of more notice, however, are often those who act from the outside, those who reject the society’s institutions as inadequate, and who advocate wholesale social and political change as the only true path to social enrichment and development.

It is in this transformational role that we begin to touch on the realm of social-political sustainability. Within any given social context, social development can be pursued with the simple granting of budgets. Financial and human resources are utilized to strengthen and enrich societies by improving educational opportunities, by embracing the marginalized and the forgotten, by making improvements to healthcare and hygienic conditions and by endearing knowledge of financial and entrepreneurial activities to name just a few. Here, the distinguishing feature of social development is that it is executed within the institutional mechanisms and constraints prevailing in that given entity.

Social-political sustainability too is very much concerned with physical and material standing of peoples, but further than this it is concerned with the state of their civil society. Social-political sustainability is differentiated from pure social development in that its sphere is expanded beyond the employment of simply monetary means. Social-political development entails not only the engagement of institutional mechanisms, but also their modification and advancement. Social-political sustainability thus seeks pathways to durable social enrichment and development via the vibrancy and health of a society’s political processes. At its core, there ultimately is little more than an absolute faith in the functioning of liberal democracy. Despite the frequent changing of the guard and the potential for policy discontinuity this entails, it is believed that representative republican government bolstered by mass public awareness and participation provides the best model of a sustainable body politic.

In addition to social policy, environmental and economic policies are clearly dictated in the political realm as well. It is in the creed of the sustainability project to hold that healthy political bodies which are truly representative of the collective will can show us the path forward. Recognition of the strain to our natural environment that unrestrained industrialization and consumption have brought depends upon it.

The French political thinker and historian Alexis de Tocqueville long ago warned Americans that their political structure (and indeed that of all democracies) could fall hostage to a “tyranny of the majority”. To illustrate the weight of these words, consider a scenario in which a pluralistic political majority were unwilling to adopt legislation which combatively addresses climate change issues, while the autocratic but highly environmentalist ruler of another nation prosecuted an aggressive climate change agenda with gusto. In the face of peril, such a situation would revive human moral and ethical dilemmas of the highest order.

Faith in democracy and the ideologies it espouses transcends the purely political arena. In a free and wealthy society, those in the pursuit of scientific truth battle only scientific obstacles. If the danger is real, the truth will be brought to bear. But even in the face of incontrovertible truth, can the titanic inertia of human complacency and comfort be overcome and conquered?

Many scientific and economic authorities now believe that emissions caps are insufficient in the battle against climate change. They call for a massive mobilization of public funds for investment in research with the goal of discovering new low-carbon-emissions technologies, and this on the scale of the Manhattan Project that delivered the first atomic bombs.

We will be watching. This, folks, is nothing less than a test of social-political sustainability in action.

 

Windows Vista:

Microsoft Windows Vista - the new version of the flagship Windows product from Microsoft, delivers great value to businesses by addressing key needs - improving security and compliance, optimizing the desktop infrastructure, enabling their mobile workforce, and finding and using information more efficiently. Dive deep into these resources to get an insight into these value enhancing features.

Top Benefits

Protect your PCs and data; Built-in security features automatically help protect your PCs so you worry less about spy ware and other threats.

Never lose your work; Retrieve older versions of documents you accidentally delete or overwrite and schedule automatic backups of your files and hard disk.

Enjoy seamless computing; Windows Vista Business is compatible with thousands of software applications, hardware devices, and services.

Work virtually anywhere; Access your office PC remotely from a home computer or your laptop while on the road.

Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003

Microsoft Windows Small Business Server (SBS) 2003 R2 is the latest release of the award-winning server solution designed to meet the networking needs of smaller organizations and those stepping up to their first server. Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2 is a robust, flexible platform that can be customized to your needs.

Small businesses need to access, update, share and store ever-increasing amounts of information. Windows Small Business Server (SBS) 2003 R2 those capabilities and more. SBS 2003 R2 comes with a collection of features that can help you create a secure small business network and meet your storage, printing, collaboration, e-mail, Internet connectivity, and faxing requirements. It also supports workers who need to access your network using mobile devices. You can connect up to 75 workstations to an SBS 2003 R2 network.

Microsoft Exchange Server 2007

Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 is the newest and most powerful version of the industry’s leading server for e-mail, calendars, and unified messaging. Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 has been designed specifically to meet the challenges of e-mail security threats and address the needs of the different groups who have a stake in the messaging system.

Microsoft SQL Server 2005

Microsoft SQL Server 2005 is comprehensive, integrated data management and analysis software that enables organizations to reliably manage mission-critical information and confidently run today’s increasingly complex business applications. SQL Server 2005 allows companies to gain greater insight from their business information and achieve faster results for a competitive advantage.

Microsoft SQL Server 2005 is a powerful tool for turning your enterprise data into a competitive advantage. Industry-leading support for enterprise data management, developer productivity, and business intelligence includes all the functionality customers expect from an enterprise-class database management system. Learn more about the hundreds of features added or updated in SQL Server 2005.

Microsoft Windows Server 2008

Microsoft Windows Server 2008 is the most advanced Windows Server operating system yet, designed to power the next-generation of networks, applications, and Web services. With Windows Server 2008 you can develop, deliver, and manage rich user experiences and applications, provide a highly secure network infrastructure, and increase technological efficiency and value within your organization.In addition to new functionality, Microsoft Windows Server 2008 provides powerful improvements to the base operating system over Windows Server 2003. Notable improvements include those to networking, advanced security features, remote application access, centralized server role management, performance and reliability monitoring tools, failover clustering, deployment, and the file system. These improvements and many others help organizations maximize the flexibility, availability, and control of their servers.

Microsoft is one of the wealthiest and most successful companies in the world. Even more important, from a human resource perspective, is the fact that Microsoft is an employee-driven organization. While other organizations base their success on better manufacturing techniques, or better technology, Microsoft’s success is based on the effectiveness of their employees. Essentially, Microsoft value their staff and realize the importance of their staff. This focus on employees may, in the future, expand to all organizations. Microsoft then, is worth studying as an example of best practice in human resource management.

This study will focus on Microsoft’s employee management methods including how they recruit and how they retain their staff. By looking at how Microsoft operate, there is opportunity for other organizations to consider how they manage their employees and to consider whether their staff are also valued.

Firstly, the study will present information on the human resource practices at Microsoft. Secondly, the study will analyse these practices with a view to showing why they are effective.

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AT MICROSOFT

Recruitment and Selection - In the Beginning

Bill Gates is the driving force for Microsoft and from the beginning of the company he believed in recruiting extremely intelligent staff, favoring intelligence over experience, “his preference for hiring extremely intelligent, not necessarily experienced, new college graduates dated from Microsoft’s start-up days, when he and cofounder Paul Allen recruited the brightest people they knew from school - their ‘smart friends’” (Bartlett 1).

From the beginning Gates realized that his employees were his greatest assets, shown by his quotes including “it’s the effectiveness of our developers that determines our success” and “take our 20 best people away, and I will tell you that Microsoft will become an unimportant company” (Bartlett 2).

Microsoft’s recruitment strategies reflect their philosophy. They sought the smartest and the most driven people and did so aggressively, as Steve Ballmer says “whenever you meet a kick-ass guy, get him” (Bartlett 2).

The recruitment strategies in the beginning included sourcing people from the elite educational facilities such as Harvard, Yale, MIT, Carnegie-Melon and Stanford. Microsoft recruiters would visit these universities “in search of the most brilliant, driven students” (Bartlett 2). Experience was not required and it was in fact, preferred that new employees had no experience.

Once selected, these students had to undergo a thorough selection process. The first stage was an interview “by at least 3, and sometimes up to 10, Microsoft employees” (Bartlett 2).

These interviews were designed not to test knowledge, but to test “thought processes, problem-solving abilities, and work habits” (Bartlett 2). Technical interviews are described as being focused mainly on problem-solving, with interviewers posing problem scenarios. To test the composure of the candidate and also their creative problem-solving skills, unexpected questions were also included. Two examples of these questions given are “how many times does the person use the word ‘the’ in a day” and “describe the perfect TV remote control” (Bartlett 2).

After the interview, interviewers would e-mail their decision on the interviewee with the words ‘Hire’ or ‘No Hire’ and comments on the problem area, the future interviewers would then use these comments to further investigate whatever issues there were with the interviewee (Bartlett 3). This interviewing process was essentially a ‘make or break’ one, where interviewees were pushed to their limits, if they thrived and survived this meant they would also thrive and survive in the Microsoft working environment.

After this series of interviews, if the majority of interviewers were favorable the interviewee would finally meet with their manager and this manager would make a final hire/no hire decision. The very last step is an interview by someone outside the hiring group, this person is independent and so unbiased in their opinion. This person is meant as a final check that the person is a good Microsoft person and also to prevent managers from hiring the wrong people because they have a need to fill a certain position (Bartlett 3).

The importance of hiring the right people is also shown in Microsoft’s ‘n minus 1’ strategy which means less people are employed than are required. This policy reinforces that hiring the right people is more important than hiring just to fill a position.

Recruitment and Selection - Later Stages

Microsoft retained the same basic principles as they expanded but had to change their methods when the number of new employees required could no longer be sourced only from universities.

The recruiting practices continued to be active rather than passive, with Microsoft ‘head hunting’ the best staff. These staff were found, monitored and recruited from other companies by over 300 recruiting experts, “once someone had been identified as ‘hard core’ - Microsoft’s euphemism for the kind of highly talented and driven people they sought - the pursuit was relentless, if subtle. Regular telephone calls at discreet intervals, conversations at industry conventions, invitations to formal dinners - recruiting team members employed every means possible to keep the lines of communication open” (Bartlett 9).

Microsoft also took advantage of breaking opportunities such as company layoffs, one example is with the AOL down size, “when we heard AOL was downsizing Netscape’s operations in the valley, we assembled a team to identify the best talent and go knocking on doors” (Bartlett 10).

Employee Satisfaction and Loyalty

Microsoft attempted to cater to the needs of its employees from the beginning. Recognizing that the majority of employees were just out of college, the Microsoft company operated like a campus. The former director of human resources describes this saying, “how do you make young kids who had never been away from home - or only as far as college - comfortable? We wanted to keep the atmosphere at work one they were somewhat familiar with, and also make sure it gave them a sense of social belonging” (Bartlett 4). This environment also included every employee having their own office they were free to decorate as they please and the provision of subsidized food and drink (Bartlett 4).

Employee satisfaction was also afforded by the opportunity for growth, “development also occurred by encouraging horizontal transfers, and employees were encouraged to develop themselves by switching jobs” (Bartlett 6).

It is noted that few employees leave the organization by dismissal, with the majority leaving voluntarily (Bartlett 10). Concern over high attrition rates in the 1990s led to surveys to find the cause of the problem and for changes to be implemented. One of the major changes was the requirement for top management to coach lower levels, assisting in their development by doing so. This became known as ‘turning over the keys’ (Bartlett 11). This is important because it allows people an opportunity to develop further. Also critical to the changes was a new focus on empowering people and of defining clear goals. These changes were all designed to increase employee satisfaction and commitment to the organization, while maintaining the same spirit the small company began with.

Employee Rewards

In the early days Gates was a firm believer that employee ownership was critical in raising motivation and employee retention, in lieu of high salaries he offered employees equity (Bartlett 7). Once listed on the stock exchange, this continued, with the company offering stock options to employees based on performance.

Critical to this is the link between individual performance and reward, with semi-annual performance reviews linked to pay increases, bonus awards and stock options (Bartlett 7). Performance goals employees were measured against were specific measurable ones, these performance objectives shortened to SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Results-based, and Time-bound (Bartlett 2). This formal review system also included more common evaluations by managers to ensure no unexpected deviations. The system also included the process of employees evaluating themselves, these self-evaluations then being sent to the manager who does their own evaluation. The employee and manager then meet to discuss the review (Bartlett 8).

Stock options awards are based on whether the employee is considered a long-term asset of the company and awarded on this basis. This is an important symbol of Microsoft’s commitment to retaining good employees.

ANALYSIS OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AT MICROSOFT

Recruitment and Selection

It is reported that companies must be aware of where they are going in the future and how the current configuration of human resources relates to this (Noe et al., Ch.5).

As we have seen, Microsoft employ different recruitment practices than many organizations based on their need for the very best people. Microsoft actively recruit suitable employs and focus on the right type of person rather than the right type of skill level. In ‘Human Resource Management: An Experiential Approach’ (Bernadin & Russell) human resources are described as an important source of competitive advantage. Microsoft use human resources for competitive advantage, basing their success on having the very best people in the industry and inspiring them to be the best. It is this that leads to Microsoft’s unique recruitment practices. Based on the importance placed on having the best people in the industry, their aggressive ‘head hunting’ techniques are justified.

What is most crucial here is that Microsoft’s recruitment practices meet their human resource needs. It is an important sign of the focused approach of Microsoft, with their actions always leading towards their ultimate goals.

Some important factors to be considered in recruiting staff include that the recruiter should be from the same functional area and that candidates should not be deceived about the negative elements of a job (Noe et al., Ch.5). The interview process at Microsoft reflects this with the new employee being interviewed by the manager. The recruitment process also goes further than just informing the employee about the negative aspects, instead the recruitment process actually tests the employee on the negative aspects, putting them under the same type of pressure they would be put under on the job. This is an effective method, as it can be ascertained, that if the employee is successful in the selection process, they will be successful within the organization.

Employee Motivation

McNamara says that “the key to supporting the motivation of your employee is understanding what motivates each of them.” The important thing about Microsoft is that they employ people who specifically will be motivated by the environment they provide. They do not employ skilled people and expect them to be motivated, they employ intelligent and driven individuals and give them the environment and the opportunity to develop beyond their current level. The fit between employee and organization is important to motivation and this is what Microsoft ensures.

A recent study reported in the Journal of Applied Psychology reports that employees working on projects are more efficient when their goals relate to the overall team goals rather than individual goals (Kristof-Brown). Microsoft ensures that the goals of the organization are understood via its strong culture and by employees being clearly aware of what is required of them.

Motivation can be described as providing a work environment in which individual needs become satisfied through efforts that also serve organizational objectives (Schermerhorn 395). Microsoft achieves this by incorporating their goals into their human resource management programs. The people recruited and the systems within the organization all serve to motivate the type of people that Microsoft values.

Employee motivation can also be related to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory. This theory has the top level of the needs theory as self-actualization needs, which is a persons need to be self-fulfilled. It is described that the way to achieve this is to “provide people with opportunities to grow, be creative, and acquire training for challenging assignments and advancement” (Daft 530). This is exactly what Microsoft provides for its staff and also exactly what it expects, for them to be the very best they can be. One employee of Microsoft describes this saying “the only way to achieve here is to push the envelope of what you can do. Every day try to do better. Work smarter. Work harder. Innovate more. People are focused 100% on performing their job as successfully as possible (Bartlett 5). The link can also be seen here between the type of people that are employed and what is expected. Microsoft hires the very best people, for these people to achieve self-actualization they need to be pushed harder than most and given greater opportunity to achieve than most.

Employee Loyalty and Satisfaction

We have seen that empowering employees is one of the new approaches being utilized by Microsoft. It is noted that empowering employees requires a culture that reflects this (Billsberry 292). In the Microsoft case we see that a change of culture is actually the reasoning behind the introduction of empowerment, suggesting that the change is considered and will be successful.

Employee loyalty and satisfaction is also assisted by Microsoft’s consideration of its employees. We saw that in the early days, the company largely consisted of young graduates and the company built a culture around the needs of this group of young graduates. This process has continued, with Microsoft always attempting to cater for the needs of its employees.

The latest attempt is by providing greater opportunity for younger employees, by having older employees coach them.

Three aspects of tasks that affect job satisfaction are job complexity, degree of physical strain and perceived value of the task (Noe et al., Ch.10). Microsoft manages this by providing the high complexity high achievers require and by ensuring the perceived value of the task is high. This high value is communicated via the high-achieving culture the company maintains.

This issue can also be looked at in terms of an employee’s role. There are three factors associated with roles: role ambiguity, role conflict and role overload (Noe et al., Ch.10). Role ambiguity is kept low by Microsoft because of the consistency in the culture and in what is required, role conflict is also kept low. Role overload is kept high, with employees pushed to their limits. In most organizations this would be a concern, but Microsoft’s awareness of this means that they specifically seek employees who will react well with role overload.

Employee Rewards

In ‘Ideas That Will Shape the Future of Management Practice’ (Bohl, Luthans, Hodgetts & Slocum) human resources is described as being the way of the future with it being argued that we will see a more mature articulation of the importance of people as a firm’s only sustainable competitive advantage. The change is described as giving high reward for high performance with the focus on a partnership.

As we have seen, Gates recognized the importance of his people from the beginning and this is reflected in the reward systems, that not only rewards for current achievement but rewards stocks to those that are seen as valuable future assets of the company. This can be seen as a prime example of the focus on a partnership, those that are seen as being valuable to the company, are rewarded with shares that will increase in value even as that person assists in moving the company forward.

Important to the reward system is also the fact that there are two reward paths available, one for those following the technical path and one for those following the management path. The skills of employees can be divided into three areas: conceptual skills, human skills and technical skills. Typically, conceptual skills become more required and technical skills less required as one moves up the corporate ladder (Daft 15). Microsoft is a company valuing technical skills, due to the nature of its product. In most organizations, employees with conceptual skills would be rewarded by moving up the corporate ladder, while those with technical skills would not advance. Microsoft, however, offers two advancement path, allowing those with technical skills to advance as technical experts, just as those with conceptual skills advance as managers.

Reward systems are an important part of organizational culture, they communicate to employees what is valued by the organization (Robbins, Bergman & Stagg 84). By having these two reward systems, Microsoft effectively communicates that both sets of skills are valued. This is also an important sign of Microsoft’s consistency. They recruit people for technical ability and so not rewarding for it would be dissatisfying to employees.

Microsoft Access is often times overlooked by businesses as an effective all around business solution. Many times businesses’ will opt for expensive vendor software that is very expensive and often times does not provide the flexibility of enhancements without the need for paying the software vendor a huge amount of money for any type of upgrade.

Microsoft office is the most popular office suite in the world and offers a wealth of business resources. I have been a professional Microsoft  Access developer for a number of years and have developed hundreds of cost effective Microsoft Access solutions custom solutions for businesses. My Access development usually involved integrating other aspects of the office suite with Microsoft Access. This is an approach that just makes good business sense. When you think about it Word processing is performed in MS Word, E-Mail is through MS Outlook, spreadsheets are created with MS Excel etc. This makes Microsoft Access development the natural tool for combining all these programs together.

Microsoft Access is a relational database system that can be used as a type of central hub to carry out business operations. Your business already has the data available whether it’s contained in a SQL or Oracle database, or ERP system. An experienced Access developer can design a database solution that will coordinate all your business data with the programs in the Microsoft Office Suite. TheAccess development work required to perform these solutions is generally very cost effective and can save your company a lot of money and time in the long run.

An experienced Microsoft  Access developer can write custom SQL queries  and  VBA programming that will perform automated functions that will provide your company with both efficiency and cost savings.

The possibilities are relatively endless for business solutions through Microsoft  Access development. If you’re company often sends e-mails to customers to announce promotions, their sales history etc. This process can be performed with the push of a button with some custom VBA programming performed by experienced  Access developers. The hours that it may have taken your business in the past to create mailing lists and customer reports could be reduced to minutes through complete automation.

Another common business solution is Microsoft Word mail merges. Why not use the data that your business already has instead of manually typing out letters? Custom  Access development can provide your staff with the flexibility of creating the exact form letters they need with the push of a button and then having an automated process that sends the attachments to customers through Outlook e-mail.

Perhaps the most common use of Microsoft Access  with other aspects of the Office suite has been with Microsoft Excel. As an Access developer I have often times been tasked with extracting data from large ERP systems and having the data exported to Microsoft Excel to be displayed in pivot tables, charts, graphs, year over year comparisons etc. These reports would take staff hours to produce but through Access development with custom VBA programming  these reports take only a few minutes to run.

The possibilities of utilizing Microsoft Access with the office suite are limitless. Chances are that your business is using the Microsoft Access suite. This means that your company is already paying the licensing fee for the software, so why not put it to work for you through  Access development to drastically increase your company’s efficiency? Not only does Microsoft Access integrate perfectly with the office suite but it is also a very cost effective solution because you’re utilizing software that you’re company already owns. If you’re company is looking to reduce costs and improve efficiency then perhaps having an experienced Microsoft  Access developers  design a custom business solution for you is the answer. In addition to the ability of  Microsoft Access as a relational database it is a very powerful business tool that integrates perfectly with all the other programs in the Microsoft office suite.

Microsoft has been the industry leader in software technologies for many years. This gives individuals who have taken specialized Microsoft training courses a much-needed advantage in their careers. In many cases employers will only hire those who carry Microsoft certified titles over college graduates who do not possess these special skill sets and degrees. In today’s marketplace there is a need for highly trained individuals who can take advantage of the full functionality of Microsoft applications.

There are a variety of training courses that help you learn Microsoft software functions. These courses include many of the applications you are probably familiar with such as Access, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Project, Server, Windows XP, and much more. With just the few applications mentioned you could develop office workflow strategies that will increase performance and cut costs in your business. Not just that, but knowledge in these applications will also prove valuable when designing and implementing customized databases for inventory and other valuable information. Unleashing the true power of these useful programs can be made possible if you seek training from a qualified professional.

The possibilities are quite literally endless when you become a Microsoft certified professional by completing an instructor-led Microsoft training course. You will become more confident in achieving performance goals while impressing your managers with detailed pertinent information gathered in a professional manner. If you are a business owner you will be able to increase your own company’s performance and help secure yourself in a world of competition.

It’s a very good choice for IT professionals to take training courses just to stay in touch with the newer versions of operating systems and programs that their clients use. From windows XP to Microsoft server platforms, you can stay equipped to handle the latest technology changes that are happening more frequently. Seasoned professionals understand that increasing knowledge is the best way to improve your career choices today. Technology has become the thread that industries use to weave their multiple locations together by virtual private networks and other Internet assisted business applications.

Become a leader in your field by attending a Microsoft training course. Many companies will reimburse you for the cost of these courses and you may even increase your salary potential at the same time. Taking the initiative to increase your career skills will prove that you are aggressive enough to handle the responsibility of upward movement in any organization.

The potential is limitless as you start attaining your Microsoft professional status. Many people have made life changing career moves after completing specialized Microsoft training courses. You can literally advance your career by increasing your knowledge of the Microsoft applications that your company uses.

Denver, CO – August 26, 2008 – Inspire Smart Solutions announced today they are offering a new adaptable business management solution for their clients with  Microsoft Dynamics NAV, an enterprise resource planning tool (ERP).

As a Microsoft partner, Inspire Smart Solutions offers Microsoft Dynamics NAV, one of the top five ERP systems in the world for small to mid-sized businesses.

Inspire Smart Solutions’ rationale for offering Microsoft Dynamics NAV to their clients was simple: It is a powerful solution designed to help growing organizations streamline their processes, reduce operational costs, manage compliance and drive informed decision-making.

Subodh Gupta, President of Inspire Smart Solutions says, “We saw many of our clients going through internal struggles as they grew and we wanted to help them solve their growing pains. We believe Microsoft Dynamics NAV is that answer – it’s the best solution for the growth-related challenges small to mid-sized businesses face.”

Specifically, Inspire Smart Solutions offers Microsoft Dynamics NAV because it provides:



Improved effectiveness in all branches of business

Customized processes to meet any industry needs

Expanded capabilities as companies grow

Reduced operational costs within an organization

Efficiently managed inventory and overhead



“We saw immense value in offering Microsoft Dynamics NAV as an integrated business service to help our clients successfully take their businesses to the next level,” says Gupta, President of Inspire Smart Solutions.

As a certified Microsoft partner, Inspire Smart Solutions utilizes Microsoft Dynamics NAV to help their clients accelerate growth through customized processes such as manufacturing, distribution, financial management, sales and marketing, human resources, warehouse management, customer relationship and much more. 

As a leading business solutions provider, Microsoft Dynamics NAV is the most recent technology-based service Inspire Smart Solutions has made available for their clients.

For more information please visit www.inspiresmart.com

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About Inspire Smart Solutions

InspireSmart Solutions is a premiere business solutions provider offering cutting-edge, customized and affordable web-based services and IT solutions for small to mid-sized businesses in all industries around the globe.

About Microsoft Dynamics

Microsoft Dynamics is a line of financial, customer relationship and supply chain management solutions that helps businesses work more effectively. Delivered through a network of channel partners providing specialized services, these integrated, adaptable business management solutions work like and with familiar Microsoft software to streamline processes across an entire business.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 was released in June 2008. Below I have listed 7 key benefits of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 that you can expect in this new version.

1– Increased flexibility. Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 will give business the ability to make changes to core procedures plus perform other adjustments on the fly, helping business to be more agile and opportunistic in the fast moving economic climate.

2– Integration with existing IT investments. Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 built on Microsoft windows architecture enhances interoperability with Microsoft products, including Microsoft Office and Project Server 2007.

3– Major new components of Dynamics AX 2009 include a centralized “compliance centre” that Microsoft has characterized as a “one-stop shop” for compliance-related information, and “self-service” BI (business intelligence), which enables users to access KPIs (key performance indicators) directly from the client.

4– Simplified IT management. Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 gives IT staff easy-to-administer system, thus reducing management overheads.

5– Enhanced forward planning. Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009’s budgeting and financial forecasting tools will automate tasks your staffs have had to perform manually, improving your staff’s ability to plan for the future based on robust, sound data analysis.

6– Improved order processing. Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 will enable your sales staff to put through orders in a more timely fashion from out in the field, accelerating order fulfillment and improving customer satisfaction.

7– Streamlined processes through integrated technology. Integrated e-commerce capabilities within Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 will eliminate the manual and duplicative data entry if it existed.