I want to thank everyone who participated in E&A's User Group series held from January to May, 2010. The meetings in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, Illinois and Ohio attracted hundreds of E&A customers and invited guests who sought greater insight into how they might use information technology (IT) to support their business objectives.

E&A believes it has a responsibility to work with our customers to stay abreast of the latest and greatest technologies and services. That's why the user groups are so important!  It's also why your participation and feedback is key to helping us deliver the content that is best suited to you and your company's needs.

If you attended, won't you please take a moment to share your thoughts? You can use the Add Comment feature below to communicate your ideas. If you did not attend, tell us what E&A can do make next year's user group a 'must' for you and your company.

Thanks in advance for sharing!  

Isn’t it remarkable how advances in technology have touched nearly every aspect of our lives?  For example, those who have gone through the process of building a new home know that a lot of time is spent reviewing options and making myriad choices about wiring, floor coverings, window treatments, etc.  Comparing my personal experiences going through this process when I built my first home many years ago and then again just six years ago to build my current home, I was impressed with how much homebuilding technologies had improved and changed over the years.

Now, my son and his wife are building their new home and technology marches on. One innovation that I found particularly interesting was in the area of home security. When a visitor rings your door bell, a camera streams an image to a monitor inside the home so that the occupants can see who the visitor might be. While this kind of technology has been around in various forms for a number of years, the new twist is that the picture can also be streamed to an Internet-connected mobile device. This means that if you’re away from home you can not only see who’s there; but if, say, your child had forgotten the key, you can unlock the door remotely. Amazing!

Of course, we continue to see how changes in “IT” can help us control our costs and, more importantly, grow a more profitable business. With the current rapid pace of innovation, failure to take advantage of this progress can put our companies at a big disadvantage.

However, in the mist of all these changes, there is one thing that has not and will not change: the value of relationships.  What do I mean?  As human beings, we cannot build relationships from afar. If we want to succeed with our families, friends, and business associates, we need to spend time with them. We need to understand their needs and how we can help make their lives better. This is what relationships are all about.

For E&A to provide the best value to your company, we need to engage in a mutually supportive relationship. That’s why the PSA (Professional Services Agreement) was developed. E&A needs to understand the goals and challenges you face so that we can make sound recommendations  about how technology can help you. With the PSA, you can budget the time necessary for E&A to work with you and help implement the improvements to your operation that will keep you ahead of the competition.

Like all relationships, significant time and effort has to be invested to get the best results. E&A values its customer relationships and is pledging to invest the time. It is my hope that you will be willing to do the same with E&A.  Together, we can find uses for some of the amazing technologies that are available today to help you grow a more profitable business.

In keeping with our goal of providing easy, accessible education for all our customers, E&A is in the process of developing E&A University's Executive School.

The format will be similar to the E&A University classes for the Infor ERP applications you've become accustomed. However, the Executive School will address high-level topics of interest to business owners and managers such as courses on strategic planning, lean distribution, and current economics. The content will be presented by a team of consultants and professionals who are affiliated both within and without E&A.

I anticipate the curriculum will be available in the second quarter of 2010. While we are in process of developing topics for the Executive School, I encourage you to become part of the process. Write to us and let us know how we can design a program that offers the greatest benefit to your company, including the specific subject areas you'd like to explore with us.

I am very excited about E&A's new service and look forward to presenting a rich learning experience to you!