The Paradigm Shift in Asset Management Has Arrived with Sunflower Assets 3.8
Application significantly improves asset management processes and internal controls across all departments and previously siloed systems.
San Romon, CA (PRWEB) June 7, 2005 -- Sunflower Systems™, the company that
has redefined lifecycle asset management as a strategic imperative, today
announced the immediate availability of Sunflower Assets™ 3.8, the latest
version of its Lifecycle Asset Management solution. Sunflower Assets 3.8 is the
only asset management solution on the market today that enables the single
version of the truth for tactical operations as well as an asset-centric view of
the entire enterprise for strategic purposes. By providing a holistic and
contextual view of every enterprise asset throughout its lifecycle, Sunflower
Assets 3.8 significantly improves asset management processes and internal
controls across all departments and previously siloed systems.
“We have
experienced tremendous demand from organizations – in the public and private
sector - who are adopting this asset management paradigm shift,” commented
Robert Kaehler, vice president and general manager, Sunflower Systems. “Asset
Management - and more specifically - Lifecycle Asset Management has emerged as a
strategic objective containing measurable impacts on financial performance
rather than being just a tactical inventory of what assets an enterprise
possesses.”
Kaehler continued, “But the unprecedented demand of this
paradigm shift – reports expect a 150% increase in revenue from 2004/2005
calendar year – is tempered with our consistent goal of placing our customer
needs above our own. We opted to put our customers’ requirements ahead of
originally planned release cycles so that we can provide them with the level of
service that Sunflower Systems is well-known to deliver.”
Increasingly,
enterprises are choosing Sunflower Assets - the company’s flagship product - to
improve asset management processes and tighten fiscal accountability with next
generation processes and technologies such as RFID, mobile computing, Web
services and a Service-Oriented architecture.
“Organizations are choosing
Sunflower Assets for more than just technology,” commented Maria Miller,
director of marketing, Sunflower Systems. “Sunflower Assets provides them with
the processes that are critical to the rising composite and mobile
enterprise.”
One such organization is the Transportation Security
Administration (TSA). With Sunflower Assets, TSA has achieved seamless composite
integration using real-time and open standards-based applications, a
service-oriented architecture, and mobile applications for field operations.
Sunflower Assets eliminates data redundancy that pervades multiple systems and
siloed processes. By automating formerly manual asset management processes and
financial reconciliations, TSA now benefits from an enterprise-wide solution
with total asset visibility and increased security.
Another is Stanford
University. The university implemented Sunflower Assets as part of a much larger
campus overhaul of its financial management systems. “Our office’s objective is
to offer the university a single repository of data that can be used for capital
and sponsor-owned, as well as IT assets,” commented Ivonne Bachar, director of
property management. Because we are effectively managing all of our assets with
Sunflower Assets, rather than several customized applications, we have turned
the once administrative burden into a core business process for the
university.”
Sunflower Assets 3.8 features /
functionality
Personalized Application View. Sunflower Assets 3.8 gives
organizations the power to change the labels and names individuals see in
Sunflower Assets, increasing context and understanding throughout the
enterprise. Team members can now see the nomenclature that makes sense for their
department, role and organization. Multiple application views can be developed
for the multiple organizations and roles within the enterprise without ever
changing or disturbing data structures or the code, and the view extends from
the user interface to the over-80 reports that ship standard with Sunflower
Assets. Sunflower Assets 3.8 Personalized Application View enables increased
productivity, eliminates underlying data structure and reconciliation confusion,
and creates the feel of a personalized application without the
cost.
"More and more, we are seeing the increased need for
personalization so that many different individuals can view and interact with
applications in the way that makes sense to them," commented Kaehler. "That is a
significant shift because previously, technology has always 'forced its
nomenclature' on users - rather than the other way around. We are enabling
enterprises to have what they've been demanding for quite a while... namely, the
ability to personalize the experience based on an individual's role and
department within an organization.”
Unique Identifier (UID) Support.
Sunflower Assets 3.8 provides support for this new standard. Unique identifier,
or UID for short, is a requirement for all items delivered to the Department of
Defense over a certain dollar threshold. Additionally, this requirement enables
complete item tracking in Department of Defense business systems. For more
information about this requirement, please visit, (http://www.acq.osd.mil/dpap/UID/). Sunflower Assets 3.8
supports these strategic initiatives as well as complete organizational
accountability by allowing the UID to be captured within the asset record and
used interchangeably with any other company-specific asset identifier, such as a
barcode tag or a RFID tag. Sunflower Assets 3.8 UID Support means that
organizations can comply with DoD mandates and ensure successful audits with
complete confidence.
Assets which have relationships and dependencies on
other assets. While Sunflower Assets has always supported the concept of
parent-child relationships between assets, the increasing importance of asset
utilization and re-use within the enterprise means that asset managers must be
able to easily navigate through the relationships and interdependencies between
multiple assets. For example, a building may have many individual assets that
make up that building: a roof, telecommunications, carpeting, landscaping, and
HVAC equipment - just to name a few. Correspondingly, a production line
comprises many different assets, such as machinery, routers and die casters,
each of which could be dependent on the others. Sunflower Assets 3.8 enables
easy navigation and immediate information between these various assets and among
the many intricate relationships, all from one common point within the
application.
Product architecture
Even though enterprises use best
business practices for effective asset management, each may have unique
requirements. Sunflower Assets supports unique requirements through its
three-layered architecture approach; the data layer, business logic and user
interface. The data layer is at the center of the architecture and contains the
tables and views that stores all application data. Additionally, the data layer
provides the capability to capture user-defined data. The business logic layer
completely surrounds the data layer and provides the only way that data can be
inserted, updated or deleted. This means that any user interface must obey the
same set of data integrity constraints and business rules. The user interface
layer provides the connection between the user and the business logic.
Enterprises configure this layer, including the Personalized Application View,
to meet business requirements without modifying the core
application.
Sunflower Assets 3.8 now supports Oracle Application Server
10g and Oracle Database 10g, and does not require separate source code for other
supported versions of databases and application servers. The clear benefit is
enhanced return on investment with all Sunflower Assets enterprise
implementations.
“We’re proud to use Oracle as our infrastructure,” said
Tim Frazier, founder and chief technology officer. “While we continue our
commitment to our original architecture, the Sunflower Assets product roadmap
proves our dedication to leveraging newly emerging standards – including the
move to a J2EE architecture. In leveraging Oracle’s unique capabilities, we’re
able to offer a solid and stable infrastructure that is well-poised to ensure
stability with current versions as well as the ability to take Sunflower into
the future.”
Additional Sunflower Assets 3.8 features
• Enhanced
search capabilities for user-defined fields located in reports
• Increased
“Single Sign-On” support
• Large value asset tracking capabilities up to one
Quadrillion dollars
• Refreshed user interface design and size
• Enhanced
Purchase order (PO) processing capabilities
• List of values on catalog
official names for data validation
“The amount of money that is invested
in assets, coupled with cost savings that can be gained by better
accountability, better utilization and better asset visibility, are driving this
paradigm shift,” Kaehler further commented. “It comes down to this: the better
an organization manages their asset base, the better they manage their fiscal
accountability and mitigate risk. The wide adoption of Sunflower Assets
underscores the commitment of enterprises in the public and private sector to
deliver more value at a lower cost to their company, shareholders, employees and
the nation.”
Sunflower Assets 3.8 is shipping now. For additional
information on Sunflower Systems or Sunflower Assets, please call 866-209-3516
or visit the company’s website at www.sunflowersystems.com
About Sunflower
Systems
Sunflower Systems significantly improves fiscal and operational
accountability by optimizing asset management processes across the enterprise.
The Sunflower Systems solution enables organizations to increase asset
utilization and re-use as well as tighten financial accountability by providing
a holistic view of every asset throughout its lifecycle. Enterprises benefit
because Sunflower Systems:
• Provides a system of record to substantiate
financial reporting
• Enables the single version of the truth for better
asset allocation and utilization
• Maximizes accountability to ensure proper
stewardship of every asset
Built on best practices for the composite
enterprise, Sunflower Systems provides a complete and actionable view of the
entire asset base, from the smallest mobile device to the most expensive
classified equipment. The company is headquartered in San Ramon, California,
with offices in Washington, D.C. and Portland, Oregon. For more information
please call 925-355-0700 or visit our website at www.sunflowersystems.com.
Trademarks
Sunflower
Systems and Sunflower Assets are registered trademarks of Annams Systems
Corporation. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.
#
# #
Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/6/prweb247376.htm