Some Sage Master Builder Users are preparing to blast out of the slump!

In the past year, a number of Sage Master Builder users have "hunkered down" and sought to cut overhead costs during the economic downturn. During this time, we counseled our clients to look for ways to use this time to streamline operations and optimize their use of existing resources, such as their investment in Sage Master Builder.

Recently, we have seen an increase in calls from users of Sage Master Builder looking for help in improving how they use the program. Some of the calls have been for:

• Improving estimating techniques and the integration of estimating with other areas of the program
• Improving purchasing processes, through use of the subcontracts and purchase orders modules
• Improving post completion job reviews (or job autopsies) to fine tune estimating and production processes and improve profitability

These users are positioning themselves to be more productive, effective and profitable as the economy improves and their business volumes grow!

Terminal Services is a reasonable solution for heavy hardware requirements

As noted earlier, Sage Master Builder Version 14 expects much stronger computing power than prior versions. A company may be faced with a significant investment to upgrading RAM and Processors on all the machines on which SMB Version 14 is to be run.

One alternative is to switch to using Windows Terminal Services. I'm not a technical network whiz, but in a nutshell, with Terminal Services, a single powerful server runs SMB for all users in the company. The users access the server over the network using more modest computers, sending keyboard and mouse commands to the server and receiving back display images from the server. All actual processing is done on the server and very little is expected of the remote computer's processor and resources.

Setting up a Terminal Services server is a bit complicated and requires a competent network consultant, but the return on this investment can make it worthwhile. Terminal Services Servers can be configured to permit workers outside the office, working from home, a field office trailer or a branch office, to access the power and information of Sage Master Builder just like workers in the main office.

SMB Version 14 wants more robust hardware!

Users of Sage Master Builder Version 14 are advised to upgrade their hardware and operating systems to avoid significant processing slowdowns.

Servers should be running 32 or 64 bit versions of

• Windows Server 2003,
• Windows Small Business Server 2003 with SP1 or newer,
• Windows XP Professional with SP2 or newer,
• Windows Server 2008, or
• Windows Small Business Server 2008

Servers should have 4 GB or more of RAM, 3.5 GB of free disk space, and an Intel Dual Core/Quad Core processor running at 2 GHz+ or its equivalent.

Workstations should be running 32 or 64 bit versions of

• Windows XP Professional with SP2 or newer, or
• Vista Business Edition

Workstations should have 2 GB or more of RAM for Windows XP Professional or 4 GB or more of RAM for Vista Business Edition, 3 GB of free disk space, and an Intel Dual Core/Quad Core processor running at 2 GHz+ or its equivalent.

The most significant change is the increased amount of RAM required. It is likely that systems that previously ran with lesser amounts of RAM and older processors, will continue to operate, but performance speeds may be unsatisfactory.

SMB Version 14 and Custom Reports

While we are excited about the impending release of Sage Master Builder Version 14 (see the earlier posts), there is apparently a minor challenge with some custom reports that would run without problems in earlier versions. The migration to a more robust and modern programming language has caused a few custom reports to not run properly.

If you have a "mission critical" custom report (either only run from menu 13-4, or run from a normal report printing window, but numbered lower than 21) you may need to have it adjusted to run properly with Version 14.

If you have such a "mission critical" custom report, and would like us to test it to ensure that you will not have any problems with the report after Version 14 is installed, please give us a call at 480-471-5305 or 602-357-0150 and we will be happy to test it for you on our pre-release copy of Sage Master Builder Version 14.