OPENING NEW VISTAS
Having carved a niche for itself with its ERP solutions, Towell-take solutions is looking at strengthening its market position with its latest offering TIMICSnXg writes Mayank Singh

Jawad Sultan Technologies (JST) has just awarded Towell-take solutions (TTS) the contract to install an ERP (enterprise resource planning) solution for its company. Says G Gopalakrishnan, CEO, JST, “When it comes to ERP solutions TTS has the most cutting edge solutions in the market.” Goplalakrishnan is echoing a sentiment shared by companies and organisations like Al Maha Petroleum, Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRA), Muscat Securities Market, National Mineral Water, Al Nasser Tiles etc, which have tied up with TTS for using its ERP solutions package – TIMICS.

TIMICS is a state-of-the-art business software solution designed to help an organisation run efficiently. It helps in defining business parameters and accommodates changes in the work environment to compete in an ever-changing market. An Oracle based business software solution, it is an integrated management information and control system. A 22-year old evolutionary history in which various enhancements were added to the original package, TIMICS is today one of the most extensive and through business systems in the market. In addition as it is designed specially for the Middle East region, its supports its unique language and business characteristics. Apart from Oman TIMICS has been well accepted in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and India.

TTS has recently launched the new version of its ERP solution – TIMICSnXg. Built on the Oracle 10g platform, it boasts of a three-tier architecture, web based application and 55 new features like auditing, improved error handling, management dashboards and extensive drill down reports. Says Dr Anchan C K, Vice President, TTS, “For any company looking at a financial package we should be the first choice.” TIMICSnXg has been developed on the 4D approach – discover, design, deployment and delight.

On firm ground
The upgrade has a number of factors going for it. In a dynamic business environment companies are on the lookout for information and the challenge for any software solution is to offer this to customers. TIMICSnXg makes information available anywhere and that too at the shortest possible time. In TTS parlance this is known as CM2 an acronym for capture, manage and move. The software captures information, manages it and gives it to the customer so that he can move ahead in his business.

Being a locally developed product, it is tailor made for the requirements of the Sultanates market. In the ERP market, any business process change of a company usually leads to a change in the software partner. TIMICSnXg’s core module can be customised to suit the specialised needs of customers doing away with any disruption.

Finally, it offers an end-to-end solution for companies. For example the asset management and asset tracking features of TIMICSnXg can help a company like PepsiCo to keep an account of its various chillers and coolers in the market and this information shows up on the ERP system.

Feature heavy
TIMICSnXg is built on the best security platform using the adaptability of CMMI Level 5. It provides the flexibility to meet changing business needs of any organisation. It is a bilingual, sophisticated and powerful ERP-business system which enables an organisation to have multiple divisions and multi-organisational structure.

Let’s take a closer look at some of its features. The three-tier architecture means that there is an application server, a data base server and the client. The application server takes care of things such as general ledger, payables, receivables etc. The database server manages the entire application process and all this resides in a single server. Thus the client can log onto the browser and access the information from anywhere. “Irrespective of whether you are in Oman or in Jordan, a customer gets access to his sales figure, the day-to day developments and what is pending at the click of a button,” says Anchan. The three-tier architecture thus takes care of all the core features of any financial module.

TIMICSnXg uses insight a tool which breaks down information to the minutest details. For example total sales of a company can be segregated by region, product type, value, country, supplier etc. TTS borrowed this feature from Take Solutions, its partner, based in Chennai, India. Insight is used by blue chip Indian companies like ITC, Dabur, Parle. A drill down option allows variables like sales to be broken down to the lowest measurement unit like kilolitres, grams etc. Says Anchan, “This dynamic analytical tool gives companies the wherewithal to analyse their data.”

TIMICSnXg also comes with a number of user friendly options. For example a person does not have to change between multiple screens to shift between functions. If one is working on an HR page and wants to go to check out purchase details, he does not need to close the HR page and then open the next one. One can go to the next page by merely clicking on that user page icon or name (just like a yahoo or a Google home page).

TIMICSnXg, is a clear win in the ERP market with a third party application integration facility giving customers a one-stop solution. This ERP could be a backbone on which any other module can be integrated. The success of TIMICS was largely due to the fact that being an open structure it fit into multi-segment requirements of a client. TIMICSnXg boasts of seven core modules and the rest as business processes giving one an integrated environment. The objective is to have one process wherein any other add-ons can be plugged in. This latest generation of TIMICS stands head-to-head with international packages in quality and accuracy. Says Anchan, “Our aim is to meet business requirements of today keeping in mind the business needs of tomorrow along with investment protection and rapid ROI.”

Towell-take solutions a joint venture between Take Solutions and W J Towell Company brings together deep domain knowledge and a focus on providing vital solutions for successfully running an enterprise in today’s fast changing world. It blends its intimate knowledge of the vertical to offer TIMICSnXg ERP, supply chain management, business process management, data warehousing and business intelligence.

Take Solutions is a Level 5 SEI-CMMI Company which conducts businesses in nine countries with more than 150 Fortune 1000 Customers accompanied with a group strength of 1500 employees worldwide. The Middle East head quarters in Muscat comprises of 52 dedicated professionals and 120 total all over the Middle East Region. The company saw a 40 revenue growth and a customer growth of 62 per cent in 2007. TTS has recently been awarded the “Technology Trendsetter Award” by Information Technology Authority. And with TIMICSnXg the company is sure to pick up more such laurels in its trail.

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