News
>
Current Topics
>
Report on the abas customer forum “Trends 2009”

	Report on the abas customer forum “Trends 2009”
	Recipes for Everyday IT Operations

	Karlsruhe, October 8, 2008 – About 750 participants attended the abas customer forum “Trends 2009,” held on September 25 and 26 at the Congress Center in Karlsruhe, to obtain information on the latest developments in all aspects of the current 2008 version of abas business software. During the two-day event, workshops were offered on 25 different topics. The focus was on the practice-oriented interplay of functional areas, with a lot of useful information on new features and improvements in abas business software.

	A Lot of Highlights
	Once again, the workshops showcased a number of new features and further improvements:

	New abas pricing function for purchasing and sales

	In the opening presentation, “Focus on the Future,” abas board members explored software trends and developments. The pricing functions in purchasing and sales are what generate suggested prices and discounts in offers, assignments, and orders. Prices that are established as part of the master data can be overwritten if the user chooses, and new price and discount groups can be defined. Pricing can be carried out at the user’s option, either for individual purchase and sales items or overall, for a predetermined group of articles. It is also possible for users to set fixed prices. The date used as the basis for pricing is a condition date that refers to the assignment/order item and can be changed at will. Gross and net prices (exclusive of tax) can be determined, maintained, and shown separately. To calculate cost prices, the pre-calculation feature uses the same pricing process as purchasing does.

	Monthly closing

	Monthly closing by functional area: It is now possible to carry out the monthly closing process for a fiscal month separately for individual functional areas. The system differentiates between purchasing, sales, material valuation, and financial accounting for this feature. A new screen provides a clear view of the status of the closing procedures and enables closing and, where applicable, opening of fiscal months on a modular basis. This screen makes it possible for users to select and carry out multiple closing actions at once.

	abas Portal

	New features include IT dashboards, which serve for visual presentation of information on a screen, as well as task portlets and StartCenter portlets. The Portal server and Portal standard applications have also been expanded. In many parts of a business, it is essential to be able to look at various different items of information at a glance in order to be able to respond promptly and effectively to discrepancies and unusual occurrences. IT dashboards (including dashboards, key indicator cockpits, and similar layouts), which provide a visual overview of key information on a single screen, are a tremendous help in this process.

	And more...

	Cooperation partners presented a number of IT solutions that work together profitably with abas business software. A wide variety of solutions from abas partners and reports on customers’ experiences completed the two-day conference. The spectrum of topics covered included modern Java interfaces in abas ERP, effective sales control using a solution integrated into abas business software, complaint and service processing, and much more. At the exhibit that accompanied the event, users were able to further explore the content of the workshops and obtain information on additional cooperative solutions.

	Year after year, an outstanding platform for constructive dialogue

	Workshops and demo points provided information on the latest developmentsin abas business software. Another factor that is tremendously important to the further development of abas business software is constructive dialogue between users, developers, and employees. The customer forum offers an outstanding platform for this kind of dialogue, year after year. During the presentations, and at a total of 19 demo points located in the foyer of the conference center, large numbers of attendees took the opportunity to come together and talk. And so, for 2008 as well, we are able to report that the event went extremely well overall. ABAS views personal contact as an essential, valuable, and irreplaceable component of cross-enterprise communication.

	Participants’ voices

	Olaf Kiefer, IT Manager of Elma Trenew Electronic GmbH: “In 2008, I attended my tenth customer forum run by ABAS Software AG. These two days in Karlsruhe were very worthwhile for me once again. During the high-quality presentations that were given, I got to know a lot of useful new features in the current version of abas business software. What I found especially interesting was the new developments in the areas of eBusiness and the Portal. Meeting with other users and developers from ABAS Software AG is also hugely exciting for me every year. I would highly recommend this event for any abas user. Attending the customer forum is well worthwhile.”

	Philipp Wagner, MBA, Assistant to the Executive Management of GUMMI-TECHNIK GmbH: “What I like about the abas customer forum is the way the workshops offered focus on real-world practices. At the workshops, I was able to get a lot of tips and suggestions for my day-to-day work with abas business software. Another thing I thought was really good was the opportunity to exchange information on our experiences with other abas users and with abas eBusiness developers, in person.”

	Dr. Hans-Werner Dax, Head of Information Technology, IST METZ GmbH: “We have been working with abas business software since 1987. Over this time span, IT has advanced by leaps and bounds. For me, going to the abas customer forum and experiencing the new developments in abas business software for the various functional areas live is a highlight every time. Making contact with other abas users and the abas development department is also worthwhile. This time, I once again took a number of useful suggestions home with me from Karlsruhe.”

	And so, ABAS and abas software partners are already looking forward to next time, when we’ll all be pleased to hear “Welcome to the abas customer forum ‘Trends 2010’”!

	Further information on ABAS: presse@abas.de (Press and Public Relations) Phone: +49 (0) 721 96 72 30; Fax: +49 (0) 721 96 72 31 00