 |
AdvantageCS Attains Microsoft Gold Level Partner Status in Cloud Platform Competency
by Cindy Twiss
AdvantageCS is proud to announce that we have achieved Microsoft Gold Level Partner Status in the Cloud Platform Competency. The requirements for such a status are stringent, and only the top Microsoft partners achieve Gold.
The Microsoft Gold competency process requires that a number of partner employees successfully complete technical exams to become Microsoft Certified Professionals on Azure technologies, and the company must meet certain performance levels. In addition, the partner must provide comprehensive customer references from successful cloud projects.
Becoming a Gold Level Partner reinforces to our clients that AdvantageCS is committed to a high standard of excellence and professionalism.
READ FULL STORY
|
|
Advantage fullService
by Philippe van Mastrigt
For nearly 40 years, AdvantageCS has offered the most powerful subscription management solution on the market, ideal for medium to large publishers and membership organizations. From print and digital subscriptions to book sales, from products to services, plus training, conferences, events, membership and donations, Advantage manages everything a company might offer. Plus, it's constantly evolving to meet the latest needs of the rapidly changing business environment.
Now you can harness the power of Advantage without the need to manage it yourself, with Advantage fullService.
Hosted in the cloud on MS Azure, Advantage fullService is implemented and managed by our staff. System administration, cycle-ends, invoicing, reminders, setup, selects---we handle it all.
|
Congratulations to Phil Montgomery: Soon-To-Be Retiree
Fortunately for AdvantageCS,
Phil Montgomery didn't like teaching high school. After graduating from the University of Michigan with a degree in math, Phil took a teaching job where he not only taught math, but economics and sociology as well. However, after a few years, he concluded that teaching was not for him and returned to the university to get his MBA.
Phil then worked at a CPA firm for a year and a half. He found that the software aspect of the business was more to his liking than straight accounting, and when the company needed someone who could speak the language of finance and was also comfortable dealing face-to-face with clients, Phil fit the bill.
Feeling that his future success might well be in software, Phil then moved to T & B Computing (forerunner of AdvantageCS). And for the past 38 years, he has realized that success in abundance.
|
Congratulations to Dan Sneed: Soon-to-Be Retiree
by Cindy Twiss
F
or much of his 29 ½ years at
AdvantageCS
, Dan Sneed has been the go-to guy when it comes to data conversions. When he began working on them in the early '90s, each conversion was custom to the particular client. Dan remembers that it was Phil Montgomery (another soon-to-be retiree) that came up with the idea of CVT transfer tables and Dan was part of the team that developed them. A lot of the design and processes are still used today.
Dan can't even hazard a guess at how many conversions he has done over the years, but it's got to be a pretty big number. He has enjoyed the variety---he says that every client is a new challenge and he has found it rewarding to complete each successful conversion.
In addition to data conversions, Dan has worked on such varied areas as payroll and tax programs, accounts receivable, credit card processing, direct debit and report updates.
|
|
Hope to see you at one of these shows!
Plan now to attend MediaGrowth Summit in Chicago May 29-31, 20109 and look for Mona Hidayet.
Come to booth #317A at SSP in San Diego May 29-31, 2019 and chat with Dan Heffernan and John Sheehy.
London is the site of Society Street on June 12, 2019. Look for Mona Hidayet there.
|
Let's Talk About Payments
by John Sheehy
Recently, I participated in a lively discussion with a prospective client around customer payment options. I listed dozens of Advantage features (more on this later) and I was struck by the client's uncertainty about which features they wanted to support. The discussion changed from what-can-Advantage-do? to what-should-our-business-be-doing? The marketing director wanted to test all options, the customer experience manager wanted frictionless payments, the finance director wanted to reduce fees and cash liability and the operations manager wanted simplified processing. The client realized they had not fully appreciated the complexity and impact of payment options.
In the past five years, there has been an explosion of studies on consumer payments and technological preferences. The reason for this is straightforward; markets are rapidly changing and technology companies are introducing new options at a dizzying pace.
|
Oui, Cider Now Speaks French
by Cindy Twiss
Congratulations to
Martin Media, whose five web
ecommerce
boutiques recently went live on Cider, our eComm
erce platform, all entirely in French:
As our first non-English Cider implementation, the project involved some unique challenges. These included adjustments for rate-includes-tax, handling accent marks and currency display, plus translating Cider itself. The Cider implementation was closely linked with an upgrade of the core Advantage application.
The Martin Media project team included
Julien Krier,
Philippe Canus,
Jérémie Boisselier
and
Stéphane Sorin, and involved the entire organization for testing the new release.
|
Addressing Expanding Regulations
for Auto-Renewal Consent
by Adam Martin
Automatic renewal arrangements are popular and beneficial for both companies and consumers. Customers are saved the trouble of having to continually take actions to keep their subscription active, while companies improve their rete
ntion rates and forecasting abilities.
However, in the last few years, the legal environment has become more restrictive on automatic renewal arrangements. There's been a push at national and state levels (Vermont being the most recent state) to better inform and protect customers from accidentally entering into long-term subscription service agreements, as well as enabling them to cancel out. It's important for companies to be aware of, and plan for, complying with these regulations.
Fortunately, we have experience handling auto-renewal features, having implemented changes for digital wallet-type payments (PayPal) and more recently Visa's new cardholder consent requirements.
|
Check out our blog for the most up-to-date news and information about Advantage. New posts weekly!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Editor: Cindy Mikol Twiss
3850 Ranchero Drive
Ann Arbor, MI 48108 USA
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
