Deduction managementDesigned with companies with large distribution channels or that sell direct to large retailers in mind, Vengroff, Williams & Associates' new DMS deduction management system connects vendors, distributors and retailers on a Web-based application to streamline the management of high-volume deductions. It combines data from different systems, vendors, customers and distributors in a centralized platform, and offers data mining and analysis opportunities, as well as audit trails.
Price: Contact vendor.
Vengroff, Williams & Associates
www.vwainc.com
(866) 393-4892
SOX never ends
It's true - it wasn't enough to struggle and strive to get into compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Now companies have to stay in compliance - and try to find ways to build an efficient, less-costly culture of compliance. The FierceSarbox Web site and newsletters may prove to be something of a roadmap to this brave new world of SOX: Every week, they offer news, tips and hands-on commentary on everything from control frameworks, integrating compliance into application development, and planning for SOX expenses.
Price: Free.
FierceMarkets
www.fiercesarbox.com
Li'l Brother is watching
No one likes surveillance cameras, or the kind of boss who's always "wandering by" your cubicle to make sure that you're working - and yet the fact remains that most of us are completely unreliable, and need to be watched like hawks. SureTime 1.0, a new timekeeping application, is a nice compromise between the Orwellian nightmare of constant surveillance and the paradise of unmonitored goofing off.
SureTime keeps track of the applications and documents used on a computer, as well as the general level of activity in them (though it never records passwords or text typed in), and also prompts users to record time spent off their computer when they return.
Price: Standard - $149; Professional - $299.
First Guarantee Inc.
www.suretime.com
(877) 892-4040
Personal postage
We have always wanted to buy an island and make it an independent nation, so we could have our own money, stamps and national anthem. With the introduction of PictureItPostage, we're that much closer to our goal. PictureItPostage lets you put your logo, marketing message or photo on completely legal stamps that the Post Office has to honor, whether they like it or not. They don't have a choice!
Please note that in our new country, there will be no old Elvis - only young Elvis.
Price: Starts at $14.95 for one order of 39-cent stamps. Volume discounts available.
Endicia
www.pictureitpostage.com
Network in a box
Not everything in life or IT has to be hard. Take Chili Systems' ChiliBox, a network server appliance for small businesses that makes setting up a network for a small office or even a home simple and painless. The ChiliBox server links from two to 20 computers, and acts as your router, e-mail server, firewall, back-up server and more. It even allows for secure remote access over the Web, and now comes in a wireless version.
Price: Base model - $649; wireless model - $699.
Chili Systems Inc.
www.chilisystems.com
(866) 532-4454
New and improved
Sage Software has released the Sage Compliance Utility for MAS 90 ERP and MAS 200 ERP, to let users extract payroll information for outsourcing to Sage Compliance Services. ... Accoona Corp. has added a new "SuperTarget" search to its Accoona search engine (www.accoona.com) that lets users search in specific news and business categories.
