The Supplemental Kick

In this small article we would like to share our consulting experience, serving Houston business metro ERP/MRP/CRM market, in our case this is Microsoft Great Plains, Microsoft CRM, Microsoft Navision and Microsoft Axapta implementation, customization, integration & reporting. Let’s make introduction on the products.

Microsoft Business Solutions renamed its ERP products: Microsoft Great Plains into Microsoft Dynamics GP, Microsoft CRM into Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Microsoft Navision into Microsoft Dynamics NAV, Microsoft Axapta into Microsoft Dynamics AX and Microsoft Solomon into Microsoft Dynamics SL. Project Green should result in merging product interfaces and making modules cross-integration seamless somewhere in the second decade of XXI century.

To the specifics of Houston market and clientele:

• Oil & Gas: Oil Drilling companies and Oil Refineries are relatively large and it is new opportunity for Microsoft Great Plains. In our opinion, when Microsoft SQL Server became a rival to Oracle, DBII and other high-end DB platforms, large enterprises got a very good chance to decrease ERP application implementation & licensing cost and switch from functionally rich ERPs: SAP, Oracle Financials/E-Business Suite/Applications, PeopleSoft, JDEdwards to standard functionality ERPs: Great Plains eEnterprise/Microsoft Great Plains, Navision, etc. Microsoft Dexterity customizations allows you to tune Great Plains to the specific business logic versus paying high price for rich functionality modules

• Defense & Aerospace. These enterprises are spread across Texas: San Antonio, Dallas, Austin. These companies, being established and traditional have challenge of cross application integration. In some cases, due to the size of these corporations, Microsoft Dynamics GP serves as ERP for regional branch or subdivision and is subject for consolidation into Corporate ERP. Special consideration should be given to Microsoft CRM and Great Plains integration with Lotus Notes Domino.

• Venture Capital & Startups. Especially in Dallas area. Our experience dealing with such implementations indicates that business processes are so unique, that custom pieces are almost always the must. The business type is generally new services and Service Advantage Suite is usually customized with Microsoft Great Plains Modifier/VBA and Microsoft Dexterity. As Project Green advances, you should expect more .Net side customizations: XML Web Services, eConnect, etc. When we are talking about venture capital – we also include micro cap ventures.

• Chemicals. Across the Gulf of Mexico, up to New Orleans – we have experience implementing, customizing and upgrading Microsoft Dynamics GP for chemical tanks cleaning company.

Please do not hesitate to call us: 1-866-528-0577, help@albaspectrum.com

Andrew Karasev is Chief Technology Officer at Alba Spectrum Technology ( www.albaspectrum.com ) Houston are consulting company, serving clients in Houston, Katy, Richmond, Rosenberg, Pearland, Dickinson, Baytown, Kingwood, Spring, as well as in Dallas, San Antonio, New Orleans, Boca Raton, Miami, Chicago, and US nation-wide.

“Where did you glean today?” (Ruth 2:19).

WHERE have we gleaned? From what and whose fields have we gathered our sustenance? If the field is sparse and rotten, we can’t gather much that is good for us and, in turn, good for those who depend on us for their spiritual nourishment. Whose field is it, God’s or Satan’s? If we gather from Satan’s field of the world, we have nothing but thorns and thistles; if it is God’s field, we will gather lilies in a white field. “Even now [we] harvest the crop for eternal life” (John 4:36).

WHAT have we gleaned? Will it give our spirit strength and hope and commitment or will our gleanings produce discouragement? Originally we were not supposed to know both good and evil: “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil…” Genesis 2:16. What bitter and tainted fruit has come from what we view and hear!

HOW have we gleaned? Is it with prayer that we will be worthy of our calling and our wage? Is it with immense gratitude and recognition of who our Husbandman is, and that it is He who has given us strength to learn and to earn? “But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth” (Deuteronomy 8:18).

WHO have we gleaned from? “Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?” (1 Corinthians 1:20b). Jesus chose twelve unlearned men to start His revolution of love and not the learned of His day. It is Jesus we go to for true knowledge: “Seek first his kingdom…and all [else] will be given to you…” (Matthew 6:33).

WHY have we gleaned? Is it for God’s glory and honor? Is it to be of service to God’s people in the field of the world? Blessed are the meek, the gentle, the nurturers, for they will reap the earth!

How important is passion as a success factor?

Some people believe it’s the single most important factor, painting passion as the fuel that drives success.

I disagree.

Passion is simply an emotional state, and a temporary and unstable one at that. The reason passion gets so much credit is that it helps motivate action. And action is what generates results.

Look at it this way:
P = Passion
A = Action
R = Results

Given:
P causes A
A causes R

Conclusions:

P causes R
No problem there. That’s logically correct.

R requires P
Nope. You can’t infer this to be true from the givens.

But what if you also know this:
S causes A
S is not P

Now you can say that the statement “R requires P” is definitely false.

S = Self-Discipline

Are you dizzy yet? Here’s what I’m saying in English:
– Results come from actions (no action, no results)
– Passion can lead to action and therefore generate results
– Self-discipline can also lead to action and therefore generate results
– So passion is NOT required for results

Passion is nonessential for success.

Which is better though: passion or self-discipline? I’ll argue that self-discipline is the better fuel.

Like any emotional state, passion waxes and wanes. Sometimes you’re highly motivated. Sometimes you aren’t. Passion has its peaks and valleys, so if you base your actions on your level of passion, your results will depend on your emotions. Feeling passionate? Great actions, great results. Feeling dispassionate? Weak actions, mediocre results.

Using passion as your only fuel will no more assure you of success than being in love will ensure a successful long-term relationship.

Self-discipline is far more important than passion, especially in business. In fact, if you develop the quality of self-discipline to a high degree, it will put passion to shame.

Self-discipline allows you take action and therefore get results no matter what your emotional state. Where passion is erratic, self-discipline provides steadiness and stability. And because your emotions aren’t in the way, your decisions are more likely to succeed because they’ll be made from a state of disciplined intellect rather than from emotional peaks and valleys.

Which would you bet on if your life depended on it?

If you wereto undergo open heart surgery, would you want a disciplined, dispassionate surgeon or an undisciplined, passionate one?
If you were being tried for murder, would you want a disciplined, dispassionate defense team or a an undisciplined, passionate one?
If you were flying in the Space Shuttle, would you want the ground controllers to be disciplined and dispassionate or undisciplined and passionate?

Passion is great, but it’s icing. It needs self-discipline to back it up.

Self-discipline is quieter though. Passion gets more attention these days becuase it makes more noise.

Copyright © Steve Pavlina

Steve Pavlina
Personal Development for Smart People
http://www.stevepavlina.com
http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog (blog)
http://www.stevepavlina.com/articles (articles)

Steve is intensely growth-oriented. He trained in martial arts, ran the L.A. Marathon, and graduated from college in three semesters with two degrees. He can juggle, count cards at blackjack, and make damn good guacamole. Steve is also a polyphasic sleeper, sleeping just 2-3 hours per day and only 20 minutes at a time. So chances are good that he’s awake right now.