The October 2013 issue of Database Trends and Applications features an article written by Joyce Wells titled European Payroll Software Provider Expands with Revelation Software's OpenInsight for Web
With the myriad of constantly changing tax rules, dealing with payroll deductions and tax payments can be a time-consuming and costly endeavor. To get this onerous job done efficiently and cost-effectively, many businesses utilize payroll software specialists that provide tools to support their in-house staff. For Ardbrook, a Dublin, Ireland-based software provider of payroll software, Revelation Software’s OpenInsight provides the agility necessary to adjust its payroll product features to address emerging market requirements. The recent introduction of OpenInsight for Web has also enabled Ardbrook to provide its software as a service online.
Ardbrook has relied on Revelation Software to provide the backbone technology for its premium products and services for more than 20 years. While the company’s main business is payroll software, the company provides banking software as well, all targeted at the Irish market. “Our core product is payroll, but payroll - and paying employees into their bank accounts - led to us to produce a piece of banking software,” says Peter Furlong, Ardbrook’s managing director.
Using OpenInsight for its payroll solution Ardbrook developed EuroPay and it is used by organizations that require extreme flexibility in calculations, analysis and reporting. Again, using OpenInsight to develop its banking software Ardbrook developed PayCE and DEFT for debiting and crediting.
At this point, the payroll software is purchased by companies who install it on premises, but Ardbrook realizes that in the future a web presence will be required. The company is developing a software as a service payroll product using Revelation’s O4W (OpenInsight for Web), a web development toolkit that makes it possible for OpenInsight developers with limited or no HTML, XML or JavaScript experience to develop feature-rich web pages. The product was initially built by a non-professional developer and Ardbrook’s professionals are now adding enhancements to the module using O4W APIs to make a commercial-grade application.
There will always be customers that want their data secure and locked down on their own servers, says Furlong, but Revelation’s work on O4W is providing Ardbrook with the agility to address clients’ emerging requirements. Eventually, he sees the company evolving into a situation where it has one, streamlined payroll product on the web, in addition to the on-premises solutions. “If you are an organization with simple requirements, the screens you see will be targeted towards that simplicity, whereas an organization with more complex requirements will see something hugely different. My idea is that there will be one database with say 2,000 fields, but if you only need to use 200 fields that would be all that you will see, while the other 1,800 would be blank.”
With the new payroll product on the web, instead of customers buying the software and loading it on their computers via a CD, they will pay a service charge for web access, says Furlong. “That is what we are doing with the MyESS service at the moment.”
MyESS, which stands for My Employee Self Service, was also developed by Ardbrook in O4W. “Using MyESS, you can take advantage of a self service capability that lets you calculate your payroll using EuroPay, then click on a menu option and it will automatically upload the EuroPay database onto a web server and employees can then log in with their user name and password, and print their pay slip,” says Furlong. “In addition, the end of year return called a P60, which is the balancing statement of what you have earned and what you have paid in taxes during the year is also available on line. Also, if you change your bank account details or your mobile number, you can change that data online and a message gets sent to the payroll department asking it to update your information.”
Ardbrook has started to develop a new piece of software in O4W for timesheet information which allows employees to input their hours or expenses online, which then feeds into payroll software.
More than a desire to keep current, the move to the web is becoming urgent now, due to changing regulatory requirements, says Furlong. And, as a result, O4W is becoming increasingly important to Ardbrook development.
On February 1, 2014 there is a new mandate taking effect in Europe called SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area), which will affect the way Ardbrook’s banking software is used. “Our banking software allows people to make payments to or collect money from people’s bank accounts. At the moment, that is only for the Republic of Ireland and the UK, but with SEPA being implemented in February next year we are producing a new product that will enable credit payments into and debits from bank accounts in other countries such as Germany or France. As a result, what is a domestic system only at the moment is going to become a European-wide system,” Furlong explains.
To address the introduction of SEPA, DEFT (Direct Electronic Funds Transfer) is a new Ardbrook solution built on OpenInsight for customers that have additional requirements such as the need to maintain a history of payments through the system or to export information to spreadsheets and/or accounting systems.
Working with Revelation and its UK affiliate, Revelation Software Limited, has helped Ardbrook shape its solutions to meet changing requirements.
“Martyn Phillips of Revelation Software Limited has been terrific in conveying my needs to Revelation whenever I ask for help or advice. As a community of developers, everybody is very supportive. What I like about OpenInsight and Revelation technology overall is that I can literally pick up the phone and talk to Revelation Software CEO Mike Ruane and he will listen to me and say what I am asking for will be in the next release, or that they are not going to do it, and here is why. To me, that is a wonderful thing to be able to do,” says Furlong. “The fact that I can influence where OpenInsight goes is important to me because it allows me to more effectively address the needs of my own customers.”
March 2004 Volume 8 Issue 2
OpenInsight – the Flexible Solution
Revelation Software makes things easy
by Robin Woodland
With the release of OpenInsight 7.0, Revelation Software is showing once again why its application development tools continue to attract new users while retaining the base the company has built since launching its first product in back in 1982. For developers, OpenInsight 7.0 offers enhanced features that make application building faster and easier than ever before, and end-users will appreciate the improved networking, data manipulation, and error handling – all of which adds up to greater security and even lower maintenance.
What is it about OpenInsight and Revelation Software's complete suite of application tools that has attracted over 1.5 million users around the world? Why do big-time outfits such as Major League Baseball Players Association, Elvis Presley Enterprises, and 3M Health Information Systems choose Revelation? And why do countless independent software developers use OpenInsight to build their applications? There are lots of reasons, of course. But if you ask OpenInsight's true believers to put it in a word, that word is flexibility.
Beverly Tinnell – CEO of Clinical Data Management, a major provider of trauma registry databases used by hospitals and emergency centers in the U.S. and around the world – puts it this way: "With other systems, you inevitably hit a wall that says 'You can't do that.' We never hit walls with Revelation products – we can always do what we want to do."
Revelation Software's President, Mike Ruane, explains that "We use a technology called MultiValue for the core of our database engine. This allows developers and users to store both simple and complex data in the same files, without a lot of programming changes. We can actually store more data in fewer files – and that's a real advantage for both developers and users."
Consider the challenge faced by Revelation user Counterpoint Systems, Inc., the world's leading source of contract management and royalty accounting solutions used by 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, MTV, and many others. "Royalty calculations are extremely complex," Ruane said. "There are thousands of different combinations of royalties you can put in a contract. And royalty calculations are just one component. When you add all the other data you need in the world of licensing, it gets extremely complex. That's why a company like Counterpoint appreciates OpenInsight. With our MultiValue technology, their database can contain unlimited amounts of text extracted from their royalty contracts."
The capabilities of Revelation products really becomes apparent when it's time to generate a report. FIRM Software is a maker of specialized record management applications for fire departments, and their software is built around OpenInsight. Jim Eagan, FIRM's founder and President, uses Revelation's reporting tools to impress prospective clients. "I'll say to them, 'Ask me a question – something about your data or your operation that you'd like to know, but that you can't find right now.' And then they'll ask me for a list of fire calls with unusual circumstances or something like that, and bang! The power to handle complex data quickly and easily lets me knock out a report for them right on the spot. And that usually makes the sale."
Ruane says another aspect of OpenInsight's flexibility is how easy it is to make changes to a database. "Say you have a medical database that tracks patient information. The government comes around and says 'Ok, now you have to track these ten additional pieces of information about every patient.' In OpenInsight, that's no problem. You just add however many fields you need and you're good to go. And that can happen transparently, with the system up and running. In the SQL world, you have to get everybody out of the database and shut it down. Then, after you've worked your way through all the changes, you can turn the database back on. But in the real world of the 24/7 enterprise, shutting down your database is not a great option."
OpenInsight also offers the flexibility to grow from a single-user system to one with hundreds of users without any program changes. "It's not unusual to build a specialized database for just one user," Ruane explained. "But then someone says 'We love this! Let's put it on the company server, so can have five users.' With OpenInsight, everything you need in the multi-user application is already built in. All you need to do is buy a five-user license. And once you've moved your application up to the network, you can just as easily deploy it on the Web. You might make some new screens in HTML or JAVA or whatever web design tool you choose, but you don't have to make any changes to your OpenInsight database."
OpenInsight will continue to inspire innovations in database application design as users realize that text is only one form of data that can be stored. "We can store any sort of data you can imagine in our database," says Ruane. "Photos, video, audio – you name it. For example, if you're writing a medical application, you can scan x-rays or any kind of printed document, such as a blood test. And once they're stored, they're encrypted so no unauthorized person can see them. We like to call it typeless data, which simply means we can store just about anything that's out there."
With that kind of flexibility, Revelation Software is sure to continue it's 20-year run of success.
Robin Woodland is a writer and communications consultant in the San Francisco Bay Area. Contact him at
For more information on NJ Tech News visit njtc.org
Revelation Software is a division of Revelation Technologies, Inc.
OpenInsight is a trademark of Revelation Technologies, Inc.
All other brand and product names are trademarks or registered products of their respective holders.
Preventive Maintenance Application Helps Companies Extend Equipment Life and Reduce Costs with OpenInsight and The NLM
Sophisticated Multi-Module System Automates Manufacturing Maintenance Process - With a GUARANTEED Payback in Two Years
Manufacturing experts know the true cost of equipment goes far beyond the original purchase price. The hidden expense lies in proper upkeep of the equipment through scheduled preventive maintenance. Like the regular oil change that can prevent major automobile repair costs, equipment maintenance is essential to manufacturing operations that must ensure production lines are operating at peak efficiency with minimum downtime.
However, with hundreds or thousands of major pieces of equipment, some manufacturers face a heavy burden in ensuring that their machinery is properly maintained, on schedule, by qualified technicians. And all of that activity must be properly documented to ensure OSHA compliance and ISO 9000 certification as well.
To attack this opportunity, DFM Systems, Inc., a 25-person application software firm, created a comprehensive suite to help engineers and shop forepersons manage equipment maintenance. According to Brock Prusha, senior developer at DFM, the need for automation assistance for the maintenance process is crucial.
"The whole idea is to save money," he said. "If you’re spending more money on repairs and losing revenue because of downtimes, then skimping on maintenance costs will actually cost you far more in the long run. The fact is, proper maintenance will reduce repair costs, reduce or delay replacement-equipment expenses, and reduce critical downtime."
Customers push for OpenInsight solution
DFM’s solution is The Maintenance Planning and Control System (MAPCON), a leader in the specialty market for Computerized Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS). This comprehensive suite of software modules helps automate and manage the equipment maintenance process.
Initially, MAPCON was created through Advanced Revelation, the robust character-based software development environment from Revelation Software. When the time came to migrate its several hundred customers to a Windows environment, DFM evaluated the market very carefully.
"We considered using PowerBuilder and some other similar tools," Prusha said. "But we determined that it would be easier to develop what we need for our application in OpenInsight rather than in PowerBuilder. We had many conversations with our customers and they urged us to use Revelation’s OpenInsight so that they could maintain their file structures."
"When we first started working with Revelation, they were the very best product for the networked PC platform," said Prusha. "The multi-value fields with unlimited text entries were very big reasons as well. By moving to OpenInsight, we can retain all of those benefits. And the performance is constant as well. Even if you have many users, OpenInsight’s performance stays
consistent."
Streamlining the maintenance process
With MAPCON, companies can implement a managed process for maintaining their equipment and machinery. MAPCON is customizable for use in numerous industries and is currently used by manufacturers, food processing plants, state governments, school districts, hospitals, pharmaceutical firms, and others.
Using MAPCON, the manager of the maintenance department can generate the Preventive Maintenance Work Orders for the week – they’re automatically scheduled by MAPCON. Now, he knows when to do maintenance, on what machines, and he can determine the labor requirements. Typically, he will hand subsets to different department foremen who assign a work order to a lead mechanic. Once the lead mechanic gets the PM Work Order, he determines which parts and people he’ll need to complete the job -- such as two electricians and two mechanics. He enters that information into MAPCON. Then he goes to the stock room to retrieve necessary parts. The stock room manager checks out the parts out of inventory using MAPCON (If any parts were out of stock, MAPCON would put the maintenance job on hold. When the parts are received by purchasing, MAPCON notifies the lead mechanic that the work order can be completed). The team performs the maintenance, and then returns any unused parts to the stock room and scrap/salvage to a different stock room. Then the lead mechanic enters the hours for each crew member on an electronic timesheet -- including any hazardous duty pay -- and charges it to the maintenance work order. Once the work order is complete, MAPCON’s cost accounting reports help determine the fully loaded cost of equipment and maintenance.
"MAPCON is ideal for preventive maintenance, repair management, project management, scheduling, and vendor analysis," said Prusha. "Since it has a rich database of information, it can help our customers determine when the optimal time is for replacing in-service equipment. You can find out how much parts inventory you should keep on hand. You can even use the statistics to help with vendor negotiations -- for example if a machine keeps breaking even with scheduled maintenance."
According to Prusha, MAPCON has a built-in return on investment model. "Our software generally costs less than $20,000 to implement and comes with a money-back guarantee. If you don’t save the cost of the software within two years, we’ll refund your money. I should point out that we haven’t had one request for a refund, either."
Revelation Network Performance products give dramatic performance boost
In a recent upgrade, DFM integrated the Revelation NLM with MAPCON. Revelation Software created these Network Performance Products to enable Advanced Revelation applications to run better in networked environments. The products increase application performance 30-50 percent and virtually eliminate Group Formatting Errors. Best of all, it is a "drop-in" solution, requiring no changes to the Revelation application.
Prusha says customers are very impressed with the increased performance. "That’s got to be the best product Revelation has ever put out," he said. "In fact, we won’t sell a MAPCON system without it. It saves us support dollars by dramatically reducing our calls. It saves our clients money, too. In fact, the president of our user group tells us that the improved speed and data integrity that they’ve enjoyed paid for their Revelation NLM in about 30 days."
Revelation Software Helps LocalTel Take On the Big Guys
Telecom startup counts on ARev and OI for competitive edge
Back in 1985, Dimitri Mandelis and his partners set up shop in central Washington writing custom accounting software for local businesses. When they looked around for the ultimate application development tool, they decided there was really only one clear choice: Revelation Software.
Over the years, their business has evolved as dramatically as technology itself. They started a ComputerLand franchise and caught the first wave of the PC craze. Before long, the name changed to ComputerLand Network and Telephone, as they moved into sales and engineering of Novell and Microsoft networks along with business telephone systems. And they've continued to do a brisk business in custom accounting and inventory systems.
Through all these changes, one thing has remained the same: Revelation provided the tools they needed to succeed.
Out of the Frying Pan – and Into Telecom!
In 1999, they launched their most ambitious enterprise yet: LocalTel Communications. Going up against giants like Verizon and Quest, LocalTel is a full-service phone company offering a low cost alternative to consumers in three central Washington counties.
Now, as President of LocalTel, Mandelis says they're counting on enterprise solutions from Revelation Software to give them a competitive edge. "We have to offer service that's better, faster, and lower-priced than the big guys – and Revelation is a key component in our ability to do that."
Revelation's Cost/Flexibility Advantage
Mandelis explained that when they first established the infrastructure for LocalTel, they looked at the billing management systems available for the telecom industry. Prices for those systems started at $150,000 and quickly climbed to a few million dollars.
Once again, the choice was clear. They decided to write their own system for LocalTel using Revelation's OpenInsight. This not only saved a substantial amount of money, it also meant they could customize the application to their exact needs – and easily modify it as they go along.
"One of the great benefits of OI is that we can work on the fly," Mandelis said. "We can develop new fields, create new screens, write new reports, and add them to the system without having to get everybody out. It's a perfect environment to develop and add-in new features."
They also use Advanced Revelation (ARev) to build the operational applications that keep the phone lines humming. Mandelis said a great example is Caller ID. "Customers think Caller ID just happens magically, but it doesn't. We have to write the software that dumps files from our database to a third party location that puts all those Caller IDs and names together, allowing us to import and export data with other providers like Verizon and Quest. There's a ton of work to get those in the right format, with the right features, to the right people. And ARev let's us do it very quickly."
32-Bit OI – Fast Enough for Future Growth
Fortunately, OpenInsight's capabilities are growing as fast as LocalTel's. They created their phone billing system with 16-bit OI, and it worked great – taking complex records of thousands of calls and multiple features and presenting customers with an attractive, easy to understand bill.
But as LocalTel grew, they needed more speed and more capability. And that's just what they got with the new 32-bit OI upgrade.
Mandelis said the conversion to 32-bit was effortless, and they started seeing benefits immediately – such as a dramatic increase in speed. "Our 16-bit system was getting slower as our files kept getting bigger. For example, we have one customer who has a 150-page phone bill in one statement. It was taking about two and a half hours to actually produce our bills, and we run a cycle each week. We put the new OI32 in there, and the first time we ran that bill it took only a half hour!"
New OI Printer Interface Saves Money – and Trees
The 32-bit upgrade also enabled LocalTel to design a completely new system for archiving their bills. Originally, they'd do a print run of bills for mailing to customers – and then do a second run to generate a copy for archiving, producing a pile of paper three feet high. Next, they'd go through and file each customer's bill in a folder. That's a lot of paper, a lot of file storage, and a lot of labor. And if a customer ever wanted to review an old bill, the LocalTel customer service rep would have to get up and go over to the filing cabinet.
That's all fixed with 32-bit OI – because now they store each bill as a PDF, eliminating the paper files altogether. 32-bit OI comes with the new OpenInsight Printer Interface, which allows developers to create reports in PDF, RTF, or HTML formats. Eliminating paper files enables huge savings of money, time and resources. And now, the reps can bring up the PDF of an old bill and have it on their screen in a matter of seconds. Mandelis says they expect to see further savings as they convince customers to accept their LocalTel bill as a PDF via email.
Scalability – Revelation-style
When Mandelis and company began writing accounting software back in the '80s, they were using their application to sustain a self-contained business need. Now, thanks to Revelation's scalability, LocalTel can orchestrate communication across systems and technologies that didn't even exist then, moving data at volumes greater than ever imagined.
Scalability usually describes surviving order of magnitude changes in volume. However, Revelation targets high value-add applications notable for complex, volatile business rules – and we consider surviving order of magnitude changes in complexity as important as increases in volume. So do our customers.
Committed to OpenInsight
Looking ahead, Mandelis says they're sticking with Revelation. "With ARev and OI, we really have the best of both worlds. We've got a lot less money into this system, compared with buying a new one – and we can customize it around what we want to do. Over the next few years we'll move everything from ARev to OI, and then we'll go from there. So I'm real happy with the way we're going."
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