Realising successful Oil & Gas Digital transformation
With a complex mix of services to manage and challenges to meet, oil & gas decision makers cannot afford to take risks with business-critical software. Sector-specific expertise is a must…
Decision makers approach software procurement with certain outcomes in mind. Typically, these include a desire to improve operational efficiency, boost productivity and gain more effective control over project management. The end goals are improved margins and a more resilient business.
To reach those desired outcomes, a complex operating environment calls for careful choice of technology. This is particularly true for finance leaders in the oil & gas sector who are grappling with a volatile market, rising operating costs, a scattered portfolio of assets to manage and increased regulatory oversight, including pressure to reconfigure the entire business model in line with ESG frameworks.
Challenging conditions call for proven, sector-specific technological solutions. This is where IFS comes in: a global leader in enterprise software, with solutions that cover Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Field Service Management (FSM), Asset Management and more.
To date, IFS applications have been deployed successfully in more than 400 projects by oil & gas companies. Here’s a closer look at the reasons why IFS solutions are the ideal fit for the exacting needs of this particular sector.
Ensuring continuity while driving efficiency
The challenge
Finance leaders and operational managers in the oil & gas sector tend to have complex and often competing priorities to juggle. These include the following:
- Continuity of supply. While security of supply is not a new concern, the war in Ukraine has pushed it to the top of the political agenda. In the current climate, an unplanned major outage is as much a political issue as an operational one.
- Cost reduction. In areas such as asset maintenance, this includes optimising inventories of spares and equipment, along with reduction of procurement and shipping costs.
- Alongside any initiatives in play to improve the efficiency of offshore operations, the highest standards for safety and environmental management need to be maintained.
The solution
The IFS cloud-based ERP solution comes with precisely the capabilities planners and operational managers need to meet the challenges associated with the management of offshore assets.
For instance, in the context of maintenance, robust ‘spares & repairs’ inventory functionality makes it possible to plan with accuracy for long lead times in custom fabrication, as well as transport order management.
More accurate resource planning provides greater scope for optimising inventories, lower levels of redundancy, healthier cash flow – as well as the possibility of greater leeway for negotiating lower equipment costs.
On the operational side, it can also mean reduced unplanned downtime and fewer delays due to equipment unavailability.
Eliminating silos
The challenge
Effective planning requires sight of the whole picture. This, however, is often easier said than done: particularly for an enterprise that comprises multiple assets in dispersed locations, and with production flows that span numerous drilling contractors, vessel owners and a multitude of other supply chain partnerships.
The solution
IFS enables you to break down the data silos that can emerge across scattered operational sites. In their place, you can have one version of the truth, and one set of numbers for the entire organisation.
For finance leaders, the solution can help deliver total real time visibility of the global business, including finance, project and asset management, as well as insights on performance across the entire on and off-shore supply chain.
Assets that are ‘in the dark’
The challenge
Collating transactional information from across the enterprise can be a challenge for any finance department. This is especially true for the case of the oil & gas sector – particularly when it comes to the reliable transmission of key financial information from isolated offshore units to onshore locations.
The solution
With experience of meeting the needs of the energy sector since the software’s inception, IFS is well aware of the challenges surrounding the management of scattered assets. Customers get the benefit of IFS Instant Replication as standard. This uses satellite technology to ensure that offshore operations always have system support – even in areas where communication links are poor.
On the other side, IFS Instant Replication also means that your onshore finance hub can always have access to current information on the status of each offshore asset: everything from serviceability and maintenance inventory on hand, through to data on that asset’s performance and contribution to cost and revenue.
Cross-geography initiatives
The challenge
Collating transactional information from across the enterprise can be a challenge for any finance department. This is especially true for the case of the oil & gas sector – particularly when it comes to the reliable transmission of key financial information from isolated offshore units to onshore locations.
The solution
With experience of meeting the needs of the energy sector since the software’s inception, IFS is well aware of the challenges surrounding the management of scattered assets. Customers get the benefit of IFS Instant Replication as standard. This uses satellite technology to ensure that offshore operations always have system support – even in areas where communication links are poor.
On the other side, IFS Instant Replication also means that your onshore finance hub can always have access to current information on the status of each offshore asset: everything from serviceability and maintenance inventory on hand, through to data on that asset’s performance and contribution to cost and revenue.
Project management
The challenge
Especially when under intense pressure to lower overheads, agility is key when it comes to project management. When a viable new opportunity has been identified, rarely is it a case of being able to follow a cookie-cutter workflow. Success depends on the analysis of multiple unique dependencies, along with the ability to track cost, risk and timings in real-time.
Furthermore, problems can arise when organisations have discrete technologies in play for project management and asset management – particularly when it comes to questions over which projects to prioritise in the allocation of limited enterprise resources.
The solution
IFS offers organisations a truly integrated view of performance, with tools that include both project management and asset management via a single platform. This provides for greater visibility, more efficient risk management, and helps ensure resources are allocated and reallocated to deliver the greatest possible value.
Discover more
As a premier IFS Managed Service Provider, Millennium Consulting is ideally placed to support companies across the oil & gas sector as they seek to achieve maximum return on their tech investment.
Please get in touch to discover what’s possible through the IFS platform.
Unit4 Financials 2023 Q2 Release
June 2023
Unit4 Financials by Coda 2023 Q2 was made available on 13 June 2023.
The new release contains all the previous Unit4 Financials functionality and new features. Plus, many additional customer requested fixes, highlighting the importance of logging enhancements via Unit4’s Community 4U.
Highlights of the 2023 Q2 release include:
Administration
- Output Device Master
- Logon Event Housekeeping
- Scheduled Tasks
Technical
- New WildFly scripts
- Added HTTP security headers in WildFly
- ODBC Driver for SQL Server
Deprecated features
- 32-bit XL is deprecated. We recommend the use of 64-bit XL.
- The Message Board feature in Administration is deprecated. It will be removed in a future release.
General Fixes/Updates
An error is no longer shown when creating an Element Authorisation Rule Master that references Entity Masters which have disabled Element Statuses.
- Allowed user to save a message transport master when the password contains an asterisk.
- It is now possible to add a new field to a Flexi-Field Master without removing the associated Metadata Object Definition join from all affected Dataviews. The new vocabulary will have to be added to any required Dataviews manually.
- It is now possible to remove a generated matching line without getting an error when using a Tabular Input Template Master or when resolving the document before posting.
- ITK is not disabled by database connection problems during server start.
- All repository objects, including attachments, are now written to the disk, which allows for virus scanning before they are saved.
- The response returned by the ComSelectorMaster.List service now matches the schema.
- The response returned by the GenericBrowse.SelectForTransaction service now matches the schema.
- The response returned by the PresenterMaster.Get service now matches the schema.
- Element Long Name will also be updated when the Element Name is edited in Assisted Element. Reloading the Element will now reload the Long Name correctly if it exists.
- ‘Negative rate calculated’ errors in matching have been fixed.
- Account Summary now allows changes to be saved when it is accessed from a homepage/content provider.
- When running a scheduled task manually, the confirmation message has been enhanced.
- Degrading performance during matching and other applications has been addressed.
- When the Credit Limit required checkbox is ticked in Assisted Element, the user is no longer returned to the template code selection screen. Unticking the Credit Limit required checkbox will reset the Credit Limit to 0.
- ITK Data Editor now saves changes to monetary and other big numerical values correctly.
- Documents posted to intray with invalid data no longer introduce a checksum error.
- The ITK INPF process step will now handle UTF-8 with BOM encoded input files.
- When performing a quick print of a pay proposal, document lines are no longer duplicated when an External Reference URL field is populated and specified on the Selected Details presenter on the Pay/Collect master.
- When retrieving large amount of data using Generic Browse, the amount of memory used is reduced.
- The Tablelink transfer client (API) no longer causes the system to hang.
- An error is now given if you try to use assisted element with an umbrella element.
- Returning from viewing a log no longer writes an error stack trace to the container log.
- A serious error is no longer displayed in workflow when non-unicode characters are included in the document comments.
- Changing the document date in Billing will cause the currency exchange rates to be recalculated if the Company Master exchange rate date setting is ‘Document’.
- The diagram in the installation requirements has been updated to make it clearer that a clustered deployment requires a shared JMS environment
- Fixed Path Traversal Vulnerability in the Customiser. More information on the vulnerability on the OWASP website.
- Fixed XML External Entity Injection (XXE) vulnerability in XMLi. More information on the vulnerability is available on the OWASP website.
- The source transactions are preserved when capitalising assets with temporary numbers.
Further details on the new features, security updates and reported issues can be found in the release documentation on Unit4’s Community 4U.
Unit4 Financials by Coda 2023 Q1 was made available on 14 March 2023, find here.
Release dates for Cloud users
Unit4 Cloud customers are notified by Unit4 Cloud support when their pre-production and production systems will be updated. This information can also be found within the Cloud Services – Release Schedules area. View the 2023 Cloud Schedule here.
The Release Notes detailing the fixes and features within this release can be found in the Documentation area on Unit4’s Community 4U.
Upgrading Financials is not merely about accessing the new functionality that comes with a new software release. It is also about mitigating technology, operational, and business risk.
Managing the Renewables Transition
June 2023
Managing the Renewables Transition
How IFS Cloud helps deliver energy sector diversification
For the power generation industry, the switch to renewables carries implications that go far beyond routine operations. Entire business models will need to change, embracing new sources while also meeting the expectations of customers who demand greater control over how their energy is produced and supplied.
Developed from decades of working within the energy and utilities sectors, IFS Cloud delivers precisely the capabilities needed to manage diversification into renewables. Take a look at this white paper as we explore how cloud technology is helping companies within this sector deliver a successful transition.
World Password Day 2023
Started in 2013 by Intel, World Password Day is designed to raise awareness of the role strong passwords can play in securing our digital lives. Now more than ever, with the increasing frequency and sophistication of cyberattacks, it has become essential for individuals and organisations to keep up with best practices for password management. Although strong passwords are not a cure-all for making your organisation Cyber Resilient, they are still one of the best security measures. However, technology and cyber-criminals approaches are ever-changing, meaning advice can change over time.
Today we want to help raise awareness, not only on what is good advice for strong passwords in 2023 but also the reason why. So here are a couple of ways cyber-criminals get hold of passwords and how to defend against them.
In brute-force attacks, an attacker leverages high-speed computing power to try every character combination to break a password or password hash*.
Hive systems’ research gives an idea of the time frame to brute-force a password with that year’s technology. According to their 2023 table, the time to break a complex (numbers, upper and lowercase letters, and symbols) 8-character password in five minutes, and a 14-character complex password should take 1 million years to brute-force.
So, the longer a password, the longer it can take to be brute-forced; the same goes for the complexity of a password; the same 8-character long password, just using lower case could be brute-forced in less than a second, and a 14-character password in about a year.
Consider the growth of computer power and access to powerful cloud computing instances and think ahead; the same 8-character password now down to 5 minutes would have taken around 8 hours to crack six years earlier.
So, to defend against brute-force attacks, a password should be long and complex.
*Passwords do not usually get transferred across a network or the internet; typically, an application converts the password using a special one-way algorithm into a password hash, so the password-checking function only checks that the received password hash is the same as the stored password hash.
Phishing is where an attacker deceives people into revealing information or performing an action. A phishing attempt could be simple (designed to capture the one person in a thousand who doesn’t spot the danger) or complex and very carefully targeted (even security professionals fall for phishing!). One purpose of phishing is to lead people to fake login pages that harvest their passwords.
Keyloggers come in many forms and have legitimate uses. Still, in this context, an attacker might use malware to read and store all the keystrokes on a computer, capturing passwords and sensitive information.
Passwords gained from phishing, keyloggers, and breaches all tend to find their way into large password lists, used to either speed up brute-force attacks (dictionary attacks) or can be used to speed up the breaking of password hashes.
A compromised password is likely to be used in further attacks; if associated with an identity (an email, for example), any related accounts could be in danger if they use the same or similar passwords.
A good defence against compromised passwords is to use a new password for every account. It will not save the breached account but protect your other accounts.
Enforcing a password policy across every account a user needs to do their daily jobs is almost impossible. It is also difficult for users to remember multiple 14-character complex passwords. Users may use bad practices, like a breach of policy, reusing passwords, writing passwords down next to workstations, or saving them in documents.
- There are lots of ways to help users and defend against bad practices:
Help users by using single sign-on (SSO) services with an account that can use them and password managers for everything else. These will help users have different and complex passwords* - Consider scraping regular password updates; they encourage enumeration (adding a number to the previous password); this is almost as bad as reusing the same password, as many dictionary attacks will enumerate previously breached passwords. Save the password resets for when passwords are compromised or forgotten.
- When single sign-on and password managers are unavailable, one option is to advise users to use the three random words technique, which uses three random words to build a password, using symbols and numbers in a way that is easy to remember. This middle ground will generate long, complex, and easy-to-remember passwords, protecting against basic brute-force attacks but could speed up specialised dictionary attacks.
*There is a danger here that these systems if compromised, can result in multiple account compromises. Most single sign-on and password managers have extra layers of security built in because of this. Still, users should ensure they use a strong password for the master account when using single sign-n and password managers.
Takeaways
Individuals and organisations can enhance their cybersecurity by following these best practices for passwords and password policies:
- Use single sign-on first and foremost
- Create long, complex passwords (14 characters with symbols, numbers, and upper and lower case); store them in a password manager
- Use the three-word technique when no password manager is available, and you believe you may forget the password
- Always use a new password with every account
- Changing passwords should be reserved for compromised or forgotten passwords
In addition to the above, the following best practices can complement strong passwords:
- Enable multi-factor authentication where you can
- Regularly check the current password advice as it changes over time
- Regular security reviews or audits
- Education and awareness training, understanding why something is a good idea, means people are more likely to comply
- Tailor your policies to your organisation. The above is good general advice, but something more specific might suit your organisation better
Further up-to-date advice can be found at: https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/collection/passwords/updating-your-approach.
Each year on the first Thursday in May, World Password Day promotes better password habits and provides a timely reminder to evaluate our cybersecurity. If you need any advice, please get in touch. If you are a Millennium+ customer, hours can be used to access our Cybersecurity expertise.
How IFS software enables the energy sector to address its biggest operational challenges
BLOG
April 2023
How IFS software enables the energy sector to address its biggest operational challenges
It is never a case of ‘one-size-fits-all’ when it comes to enterprise resource planning (ERP), enterprise asset management (EAM) and other complex software initiatives. To maximise the chances of a successful project, factors such as sector-specific expertise, vendor reputation and the quality of support on offer must all be given special consideration during the solution selection/procurement process.
This is especially the case for businesses operating within the energy sector. From the revival of the switching economy, through to intense pressure to diversify and decarbonise, energy companies are facing a complex mix of sector-specific operational and market driven challenges at present.
With a track record of serving the needs of the energy sector since its inception, global cloud enterprise software company, IFS is acutely aware of the implications of these challenges.
Here’s how its offerings are equipping energy companies to tackle them head on…
1. Business-wide challenges demand an integrated approach
If a particular plant is hit with performance issues, or a sudden policy shift impacts a niche area of operations, what are the implications for the entire business? What does it mean both operationally – and for your bottom line?
Resource planning and performance management have never been easy for this sector. However, over recent years especially, it seems that the problems faced by energy – political instability, volatile pricing, and, of course, the pressure to hit net-zero, to name just a few – are of a different nature. For one thing, they are less localised: i.e. if an event hits, its implications are rarely confined to a particular business function boundary or geographical area. Another increasing descriptor of such challenges is non-linear: the idea that the full impact of an event or decision is difficult to trace and understand.
For energy enterprises to get a grip on performance and make the right decisions on asset management and allocation, they need clear visibility over all moving parts of the business. This includes linkages to possible early warning signs on performance-related issues. IFS appreciates this better than anyone. Its applications – including EAM, ERP, Enterprise and Asset Lifecycle Management – are made available through a fully composable, integrated platform. It enables planners to collect key information all in one place, get a joined-up picture of performance and make timely, better-informed business decisions.
2. Supporting enhanced customer service
As the price cap gradually becomes redundant, the coming months look set to see a return to competition across the energy sector.
The first stage will most likely take the form of a switching bonanza as customers cast their eyes across a newly competitive market and head for the most attractive tariffs. Beyond this however, savvy operators will be careful to focus not just on price, but on quality of service as a means of securing customer loyalty.
Energy companies need to look carefully at what type of experience customers expect, and whether they are equipped to deliver it. Factors such as speed of response, knowledgeable staff, and consistent, seamless messaging can all offer energy companies the opportunity to establish points of differentiation in the race for both consumers and commercial customers.
IFS applications directly support the development and optimisation of this type of standout customer experience. From human capital management through to customer fault logging, the entire process of service engagement management can be handled on a single platform. These are the building blocks for rapid, consistent service, happier customers and a stronger brand reputation.
3. Ensuring maximum return on technological investments
When market conditions are uncertain, businesses are more likely to think twice about major investments. Against this however, there is a desire on the part of energy companies to boost visibility across their organisations and to ensure they can respond with agility in the face of rapidly changing conditions. As such, despite – or perhaps more accurately, because of – a difficult economy, as many as 60% of businesses plan to increase investments in digital transformation this year.
Businesses are keen to upgrade their capabilities. But with budgets under strain, there is little room for expensive mistakes, and business leaders need to think very carefully about how and where to focus their investments.
Managers responsible for procurement and implementation on major software initiatives need to look very carefully not just at their choice of solutions, but also their choice of vendor. If it is a purely transactional relationship with the vendor attempting to shoehorn the business into a one-size-fits-all solution, the chances of failure are high. By contrast, IFS solutions have been devised and optimised with the needs of the energy sector squarely in mind. This sector-specific expertise helps ensure a genuine strategic partnership, complete with a carefully considered plan for prioritising projects, aligned to the organisation’s goals. This is precisely what companies require to maximise the prospects of success.
4. Helping create more agile businesses
The energy companies most likely to prosper over the coming years will be the ones who can respond with agility to shifting conditions and pre-empt customer demand and expectations. This includes the ability to spot trends in usage demand and behaviour, equipping suppliers with the intel to hone their service offerings accordingly.
IFS applications enable companies to manage and analyse all data relating to customers in a single location. Alongside tools to streamline service management, IFS also offers integrated customer experience management (CXM) software solutions to capture feedback data from customers. Utilising this intel, companies can get a better handle on what is and what isn’t working and focus on service improvements that are in line with customer needs.
Discover more
As a premier IFS Managed Service Provider, Millennium Consulting is ideally placed to support energy companies as they seek to transform their operating models to meet the challenges ahead.
To discover what’s possible through the IFS platform reach out to Philip Keet, IFS Customer Services Director via email or LinkedIn.
Unit4 Financials 2023 Q1 Release
March 2023
Unit4 Financials by Coda 2023 Q1 was made available on 14 March 2023.
The new release contains all the previous Unit4 Financials functionality and new features. Plus, many additional customer requested fixes, highlighting the importance of logging enhancements via Unit4’s Community 4U.
Highlights of the 2023 Q1 release include:
Administration
- User Master
Finance
- Element Authorisation
- Pay Format Files
- Deprecated features
General Fixes/Updates
- Information about the version of a Desktop Application has now been updated to refer to the About option on the application menu.
- The Browse Worklist link has been corrected in the workflow alert email, the link now opens Browse Worklist.
- Metadata Dataview – It is now possible to add new attributes when editing dataview joins.
- Resolved an intermittent logon issue in Workflow Designer and Print Formatter.
- Functional errors (with stack trace) generated in webservices are no longer output to the container log.
- Out of memory errors when exporting data have now been fixed as part of general improvements to state handling.
- The Installation Requirements have been updated to explain how to get Java 11 to print the same separators as Java 8 for certain locales (for example Swiss French).
- If a cost centre transfer fails to post (for example – when period access is closed), the asset is no longer kept locked.
- All rows in Billing Browse are selected when using the ‘Select All’ check box.
- Restricted tax lists set on finance document masters are now enforced in Intray Management and Browse Intray.
- Header only documents on the Intray can now be retrieved for modification and deletion in Intray Management and Browse Intray.
- An original user can now modify and post back to the intray (but not to the books) a document whose “Prevent posting to books by original user” flag is set.
- Column recnum on tables ‘oas_elmhistory’, ‘oas_inthist’, ‘oas_lethist’ and ‘oas_prlhist’ has been increased in size from smallint to int to minimise accidental rollover.
- XL will reauthenticate when the current session expires.
- Reduced the memory usage in the CSV Transformation and the Repository Output.
- Security of attachments has been improved
The Release Notes detailing the fixes and features within this release can be found in the Documentation area on Unit4’s Community 4U.
Release dates for Cloud users
Unit4 Cloud customers are notified by Unit4 Cloud support when their pre-production and production systems will be updated. This information can also be found within the Cloud Services – Release Schedules area. View the 2023 Cloud Schedule here.
The Release Notes detailing the fixes and features within this release can be found in the Documentation area on Unit4’s Community 4U.
Upgrading Financials is not merely about accessing the new functionality that comes with a new software release. It is also about mitigating technology, operational, and business risk.
Renewable energy to become the world’s top source of electricity by 2025
February 2023
Renewable energy will become the world’s top source of electricity within three years, new data reveals.
According to the International Energy Agency Electricity Market Report 2023, 90% of new demand between now and 2025 will be covered by clean energy sources like wind and solar, along with nuclear energy.
This growth in output means that renewables will become the world’s largest electricity source within three years – providing 35% of the world’s electricity and overtaking coal.
"The world’s growing demand for electricity is set to accelerate, adding more than double Japan’s current electricity consumption over the next three years. The good news is that renewables and nuclear power are growing quickly enough to meet almost all this additional appetite, suggesting we are close to a tipping point for power sector emissions."
— IEA Executive Director, Fatih Birol
IFS has Renewable Energy Market Solutions
IFS offers the best engineering services and industrial processes to clients involved in various industrial manufacturing sectors. IFS also provides efficient, environment-friendly renewable energy solutions for your renewable energy sector needs.
Unit4 Financials Continuous Release Schedule 2023
January 2023
Release dates for on premise users
The Unit4 Financials platform is maintained via a continuous release model. Thanks to this predictable cycle of quarterly updates, users get timely access to the type of customer-driven enhancements that helps to keep the finance department ahead of the game.
| 2023Q1 Release | Released 14 March 2023 |
| 2023Q2 Release | Released 13 June 2023 |
| 2023Q3 Release | Planned 12 September 2023 |
| 2023Q4 Release | Planned 5 December 2023 |
These dates can sometimes be subject to alteration.
Release dates for Cloud users
Unit4 Cloud customers are notified by Unit4 Cloud support when their pre-production and production systems will be updated. This information can also be found within the Cloud Services – Release Schedules area.
| 2023 | Preview & Acceptance | Production |
| Q1 | 28th March 2023 | 22nd/23rd April 2023
(Released Maintenance Window) |
| Q2 | 27th June 2023 | 22nd/23rd July 2023
(Planned Maintenance Window) |
| Q3 | 26th September 2023 | 21st/22nd October 2023
(Planned Maintenance Window) |
| Q4 | 19th December 2023 | 20th/21st January 2024
(Planned Maintenance Window) |
These dates can sometimes be subject to alteration.
Updating your legacy systems
Upgrading enables you to:
- Access the latest functionality
- Reduce operational risk and processing costs
- Continue to access Unit4’s “in support” software maintenance and support package
- Ensure you are up to date with Unit4’s latest software security package
As an Elite Unit4 Partner, Millennium Consulting specialises in delivering a seamless upgrade, while also ensuring your upgraded solution is fully aligned with organisational requirements.
How bespoke software can benefit your business
January 2023
Targeting your specific inefficiencies
From corporate accounts to data integration, all business software should have one aim: to make your business processes more efficient.
Every organisation is different in terms of its culture, preferred ways of working, priorities, and compliance requirements. Packaged (‘off-the-shelf’) software might help you solve a lot of these challenges. However, doing so can sometimes require you to make changes you didn’t want to make. For instance, a payment solution might make it easier for you to track invoices, but also requires you to alter your sales workflow. There may be other quirks that are either irrelevant to your business, or that even cause additional inefficiencies that your employees must work around.
The beauty of bespoke software is that you control precisely what’s included. You can target it to your specific inefficiencies, to give you everything you need – and nothing you don’t.
Optimising existing systems
Bespoke software doesn’t have to be a replacement for your existing systems and software solutions. In fact, the opposite is true: particularly when it comes to data integration, one of the most valuable uses for custom programs is in helping you achieve maximum ROI and longevity from existing systems.
Say for instance, your sales, fulfilment, and finance departments all have their own tools and data repositories in place. Bespoke software can be designed and deployed to connect these systems and processes, enabling the free flow of information across the business, and reducing the need for repetitive manual entry.
Support for new operating models
The last few years has seen many businesses transform how, when and where they work. Hybrid working practices are a big part of this, with employees splitting their time between multiple locations. Bespoke software can be configured to match your preferred working model, making applications responsive across all devices, but with access controls that reflect your security requirements. In this way, custom-developed software can help you adapt your existing architecture, ensuring that your entire team, tools, and data can remain connected – wherever they are based.
Creating unique selling points
A typical growth strategy involves maximising the lifetime value of existing customer relationships, while also attracting new customers. Bespoke software can support both aims, helping you create something unique.
For processes such as payment, fulfilment and customer service, off-the-shelf software can sometimes leave you confined to generic operating models. In other words, the user experience you can offer is pretty much the same as everyone else’s. But let’s say you have an idea for a unique subscription model, or a customer service interface: tailor-made software could be just what’s needed to help you stand out from your competitors.
Onboarding and new features
Off-the-shelf software can often involve a steep learning curve for ordinary business users; in some cases, even requires businesses to bring onboard additional expertise. Substantial reconfiguration may also be required to ensure it can support your organisation’s specific needs.
With bespoke software however, you have much greater control not just of the functionality, but also in shaping the wider user experience. At a development level, you can tailor the program’s workflows, navigation, and input fields so they are fully aligned with your own procedures. You can also consider the characteristics of your workforce (e.g., their level of technical ability) to design your user interface.
If your bought-in finance solution includes a reconciliation feature that’s perfect for your needs, you don’t necessarily want it to be tweaked, overhauled, or ditched altogether by the vendor! The beauty of bespoke is that you can determine what changes, improvements or additions are made – and when.
Security
When a vulnerability emerges in a software product that has hundreds of thousands of users, threat actors will try to exploit it before it’s patched. You could find yourself in that unlucky group of customers who are targeted.
Bespoke software does not make you immune to security threats. However, it’s generally a lot harder for hackers to find the weak points in an unfamiliar, one-off system. They prefer easier pickings, which makes a breach less likely. That said, it’s still vital to ensure bugs and source code vulnerabilities are addressed promptly, which is why it’s crucial to choose a reputable development partner to stay on top of this for you.
Scalability
Need to add extra users, or install your software on a brand-new batch of devices? Want to add a new feature to match some recent changes to your operating model?
Another big advantage of bespoke software is that you can do all of this, without having to haggle with the vendors over subscription extensions or functionality tiers. It becomes much easier to scale and evolve your solution over time, ensuring it is future-proofed in line with what your organisation wants to achieve.
Explore the possibilities of bespokesoftware for your business
For the past 10 years, Millennium’s highly skilled team of software consultants have designed, implemented, and delivered bespoke software for a diverse and global client base. This includes automating workflows, developing customised user interfaces, and enabling businesses to realise maximum value from existing systems.
An introduction to Digital Invoicing
Published January 2023
In December 2022, the EU Commission published its proposed new VAT framework, “VAT in the Digital Age”. If adopted by member states, all intra-EU cross-border b2b sales will be subject to mandatory e-invoicing and reporting, with phase-in possibly commencing as early as 2024.
This is part of a wider international trend: governments and tax authorities increasingly view digital invoicing (aka e-invoicing) as a way to close the tax gap caused by fraud and error, hence its steady but inevitable roll-out. Here’s a closer look at digital invoicing, and how businesses – especially companies involved in transactions in multiple territories – can become ‘e-invoicing ready’.
How does digital invoicing work?
True digital invoicing is a system whereby invoices are issued, transmitted, received, processed and stored automatically in a structured format.
As an illustration of how this works, let’s say Company A is selling a batch of supplies to Company B:
- When the transaction is agreed, Company A’s AR software automatically generates an e-invoice and transmits this to the tax authorities who then send the invoice to Company B.
- On receipt, the invoice is logged automatically by Company B’s AP system. The invoice is also cross-referenced automatically against the original purchase order or other procurement documents.
- Assuming there is no discrepancy between the purchase order and the invoice, payment can be processed automatically.
The right digital invoicing solution ensures that all relevant information is captured and transmitted to the tax authority when the e-invoice is generated.
Structured Data Transmission (SDT)
Digital invoicing depends on data being shared between different applications and systems. At different stages, the relevant information is read, captured, extracted and acted upon by those applications (notably, the buyer and seller’s accounts solutions), without the need for human input.
For this to happen, it is not sufficient to email a Word version or standard PDF of your invoice. This is where Structured Data Transmission (SDT) comes in: i.e. the transmission of data between systems in a standardised, machine-readable format.
XML (Extensible Markup Language) is the most versatile SDT format. Crucially, it allows programs to read and extract information from invoice fields. It’s efficient, secure and very widely used. This helps avoid any interoperability issues when you need to exchange details with other parties.
The advantages
In the UK, digital invoicing is already mandatory for certain public sector transactions. With the steady march of HMRC’s ‘Making Tax Digital’ initiative, it is probably only a matter of time until it becomes mandatory across a much wider range of contracts, including B2B. We are also witnessing a gradual expansion of digital invoicing mandates across other key markets, including Italy, France, Spain and Germany.
Building up your e-invoicing capabilities at this stage helps keep you one step ahead of these requirements. Beyond compliance, there are some very clear business advantages to digital invoicing adoption, including a significantly reduced administrative burden, lower processing costs, faster payments, better control of cash flow, and stronger partner relationships. Discover more about the business advantages of digital invoicing here.
The risks
We know that mandatory digital invoicing is on its way, but the precise timetables for roll-out are still very much up in the air. In Europe, for instance, The EU Commission seems keen to bring about a certain level of harmonisation between Member States, but many of the tax authorities within those states already have their own initiatives underway, and we could very likely see a mish-mash of different systems and reporting procedures in play over the coming years.
The biggest risk – especially for businesses involved in cross-border transactions – is of sleepwalking into non-compliance, possibly opening the door to investigations, sanctions and reputational damage. Finance teams need to keep a close eye on the jurisdictions where the business is active to ensure invoicing and reporting procedures are aligned with any upcoming changes.
Risk mitigation involves building up an e-invoicing strategy that takes into account the markets in which you operate. Alongside this, you need to consider the expectations and preferences of your commercial partners. Crucially, your system of choice should make it possible to send and receive invoices in various formats, share information using multiple distribution channels and systems and maintain full compliance with the latest regulations, as and when those regulations come into force.
Introducing Millennium Digital Invoicing (MDI)
Millennium Consulting has developed an e-invoicing framework designed to meet your digital invoicing needs, now and into the future.
Millennium Digital Invoicing (MDI) integrates seamlessly into your existing financial processes. It offers the flexibility you need to adapt to evolving e-invoicing requirements. It is also designed to enable you to tap into the full business benefits of streamlined, integrated digital invoicing, offering the potential of optimised business processes and stronger relationships with commercial partners.
To get your digital invoicing strategy on track, get in touch for an MDI demo.