In my current and relatively new position, I’ve had to get to grips with a number of new systems – not only the ‘ins and outs’ of SYSPRO and K3 SYSPRO products, such as DataSwitch, but also with the internal systems required to manage my day-to-day workload. In this blog I’ll share with you some of the tools, sources, and insights I have gained during my first six months within the SYSPRO community.
Tools
One of the decisions I grappled with when I first joined K3 SYSPRO, was how to organize everything that I was going to learn in my new role. Now I am normally a very organized and methodical person, as you might expect for an IT Professional, but I do have a habit of creating hand-written notes in multiple notepads. I knew I had to move away from this and embrace technology as I encourage all others to do, so the hunt was on for a tool that replicates this on the desktop.
Fortunately, my search wasn’t particularly long as I noticed other colleagues using Microsoft OneNote 2010. OneNote is available in all versions of Microsoft Office 2010. With a well-organized folder structure, I found that OneNote could be used for the simplest of notes, such as a shared network location, Command Prompt reminder, or how to apply a Port Update or a long-drawn out document (which is what I am using to write this blog post). Thrown in is also the OneNote printer, allowing you to print any format of document into a OneNote folder. So I now have copies of PDF documents, web pages, technical manuals and all sorts of miscellaneous documentation stored in one place.
In order to ensure access to my OneNote “notebook” from a number of locations, e.g. a customer site, I saved the notebook file to a Dropbox folder. I can now access this information from anywhere, utilizing any device with an Internet connection.
Sources
Coming off the back of my previous ERP experience, one of the things that struck me when getting to grips with the SYSPRO product, was the volume of information available to SYSPRO Professionals and end-users alike. The combination of the Support Zone, certification, LinkedIn Groups, product Help File and an online SharePoint Knowledge Base for SYSPRO Professionals, means that someone in my position is only limited by the time you have for learning, not by a shortage of available information!
Opinions & Insights
It seems like an appropriate time, at this stage of my SYSPRO education, to reflect on what I have learnt, what is left to learn, and how I have found this experience to date.
I have been very impressed with the abundance and quality of information available, and have thoroughly enjoyed my journey thus far into the SYSPRO community. The products I have come across have also impressed me, and I look forward to developing my knowledge of SYSPRO solutions further. As someone with an insatiable appetite for learning new things and absorbing information, I certainly feel at home in this new community.
In my next blog, I will provide guidance on what makes up good customer service, in my opinion. This is if I can squeeze in time in between training, and fundraising for my next big challenge: cycling a stage of the Tour de France for Macmillan Cancer.
