Why we’re into Tech.

Long ago we learned that successful, effective marketing and compliance lived or died on data.  Not just the mere availability of data, but the ability to (1) connect with the data, and also the (2) ability to manipulate and distribute the data to business partners, employees, distributors and, most importantly, to customers.  We do that with two principal products: Middleware and SmartSheets.

Middleware

Middleware is software code, packaged as an application.  The app connects your legacy (or Core) computer system to anywhere or any one whom you have chosen to receive it.  A useful analogy is of a bridge which connects one place with another, permitting two way traffic through the bridge.

Examples of Middleware Applications

Exchange data between a core system and an online new account opening system.  Middleware connects the customer data in the application with third-party apps like FedNow, NACHA and core’s customer records.  Once connected you can automate new account approval and even “book” new accounts to your core system.

Distribute product technical specs online, 24/7, including product data, compability with competing produces, and PDFs of product catalogs. With Middleware, you can send all kinds of information to your key players: distributors, sales people and customers.  No in-person visits required.  No repetitive phone calls to your support group.  Just sheer data, tailored to each user in the way they want to ingest it.

Provide robust search results of all your products, including each products key information.  For example, a wholesaler of antique, hand-made rugs who needs to provide key interior designer clients with product photos, sizes, colors, country of origin as well as “product providence”.  Middleware publishes all the desire product specs, on demand, over the net.  It permits customized email responses to customer inquiries.  It has customized “roles” that govern “who” can see “what.  (Did we mention that the legacy system could even be a  QuickBooks system? )

SmartSheets

SmartSheets are secure Visual Basic Application (VBA) macros for Microsoft EXCEL spread sheets.  VBA macros consolidate multiple EXCEL operations into a one-click operation.

For example, for a financial institution, we combined 6 different legacy system reports into one spreadsheet with 62,000 rows and 52 columns (fields).  This monster spread sheet included data identifying the office responsible for the account and various details of each customer assigned to the office.  (The institution had 21 offices in four contigous states.)

The SuperSheet VBA macro turned all the above data into one single page PDF report showing the performance of each office over a user-specified range of dates.  With one click.  The PDF was automatically sent to all office supervisers and key management by secure email on the 5th of each report–which showed office performance on a rolling 6 month period.

For your information, the above reporting was previously done by hand by one corporate admin.  It took two and a half days to produce and email the information.  The SpreadSheet was produced and emailed in 30 minutes.  Here are the numbers. In this case, the SuperSheet was paid for in 8 months.

• 144 hours to produce manually
• $10,800 labor costs to produce annually, including salary, taxes and benefit costs.
• $6,500 cost to build, test, install and train the admin on the SuperSheeet.