20th century customer service consisted of packed call centers, phones ringing off the hook, and large, convoluted databases of information to manage a never-ending stream of support requests. Cloud computing, and the introduction of powerful, business-specific software solutions, has changed that. There are hundreds of systems out there for handling contact management (CRM), project management, [...]
In New York, everyone “does Biz Dev.” It’s the magic thing that people do that turns little companies into giant empires. It’s what makes great CEOs and revolutionizes whole markets and companies. But what is it?I meet plenty of Biz Dev people who “don’t do marketing or sales because they’re focused on biz dev.” These [...]
VM Associates is a New York City cloud computing consulting firm. We help companies transition into newer, better, smarter software. Contact us to talk about your business, the cloud, and how we might help.
I speak with small business owners every day. Most of the time, we’re speaking because they have problems – workflow problems, software problems, scaling problems. Solutions aren’t obvious. If they were, we wouldn’t be in business. Thing is, it’s not just that solutions aren’t obvious – it’s that solutions may solve the same problems (inventory, [...]
I got a call a few weeks ago from a NYC-based foreign language school that was looking for a software makeover. They were using Google Spreadsheets to manage their student, class, and payment information, and for the previous year were happy as can be. After all, Google Spreadsheets offers some awesome collaborative capabilities: simultaneous spreadsheet [...]
We’ve long loved Solve360. It’s really good. That’s why we gave them an A+ review, why we partnered with them, and it’s why we’re now offering weekly Solve360 support and training. That’s right – weekly Solve360 training. Twice a week, every week, we’ll be teaching “Solve 101” and “Solve 102” webinars. We’re educators! Who it’s [...]
We’ve been hunting for quality cloud based accounting software for a long time. To date, the options just haven’t been appealing – Quickbooks Online feels dated, Netsuite is expensive, Freshbooks and Freeagent are limiting, and Wave, Saasu and others just aren’t there yet. What’s the cloud loving accountant to do? The hunt is over. We’re [...]
We’re always game for good analogies, especially when they help clarify jargon, and ESPECIALLY when they involve cereal… Props to @ed_lea for the image.
It’s a tough time to be a Value Added Reseller (VAR). For those who don’t know, VARs are a breed of IT consultant popularized in the 1990’s and still near-ubiquitous in certain channels. They’re hard to miss: Without going into too much detail, the VAR model is one of selling software licenses for the margin, [...]
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