2011 price review

Multibase reviews its prices each financial year, and adjusts in line with CPI and industry costs. Any price change is applied from your first renewal after 1 July. We trust that our valued clients understand the need to adjust prices in accordance with our costs.

With the March to March CPI at 2.9%, prices for products such as hosting, ecommerce and hosted web applications have in some cases not changed, and in others increases have been held to less than CPI. Some domain name registration prices will increase by a few dollars. Some virtual dedicated server hosting packages have been reduced in price, and a few specialist hosting packages have changed to cover increased costs of support and upgrades. We have held the increase in rates for development, consulting and technical services to the CPI.

The blended rate In line with current industry practice, the hourly rate we quote for a development project will normally be a blended rate. We use a single rate which is blend of the typical balance of skills required for your project - meaning that we will use the most appropriate and economical resource for each project component, such as system architects, senior or junior developers under a team leader as required. This helps keep overall costs of a project lower and reduces management overheads while ensuring that the best resources are applied to a job.

Value for money

We regularly compare our prices and the features of our products and services against the marketplace to ensure we are offering value. An example is hosting, where many providers appear to offer lower prices but charge significant extra fees for features that Multibase considers basic such as firewall and security management, platform upgrades, monitoring and response, and backups. The only real comparison is to compare total value and total cost of ownership.

We have absorbed the costs of the improved features, performance and reliability of our hosting environments over recent years. Most servers have been virtualised, offering increased business continuity protection and data is now stored on our SAN (Storage Area Network). Our ecommerce prices have remained constant for a number of years while other providers' have increased.

Multibase technical services and development rates are mid-range in the industry, even though our projects typically involve a greater contribution from senior technical staff. Above all, we continue to provide a high level of personal attention to each project from our staff from customer service to senior management.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact your account manager, our Sales and Marketing Manager, or our customer service team on 02 9805 1911.

Can we help you?

Multibase has served customers for nearly 30 years. We often find that clients are surprised by the business problems for which we can provide solutions and the cost reductions, increased productivity or service improvements that we can help you create. Services you might not know about include: Intranet software and development - to drive improvements in everyday business processes, enhance your business culture, and improve communications. Online employee induction and Learning Management Systems - to improve compliance, record keeping, employee performance, and employee satisfaction. Web sites and online portals - to achieve better communications with potential customers and drive prospects to your business. Services available include content management system software, web development, ecommerce, and search engine optimisation. Mobile and online forms solutions - mobile and online forms solutions to improve business processes allowing you to collect information from any mobile device as well as PCs and update internal systems. Mobile web sites, and live customer engagement solutions. Great for engaging customers and staff on the move. Systems integration - we have deep experience in enabling new and legacy applications, web sites, intranets, reporting systems and remote data sources to "talk" with each other. These projects can achieve great efficiencies by reducing manual work and double-handling. Interested? Call Multibase on 02 9805 1911 or email info@mbase.com.au.

The compliance burden?

Most businesses today face an increasing compliance workload - from taxation to HR, employment to consumer law. Directors and officers of public and private companies and government and not-for-profit organisations must ensure that their organisations comply with an increasing range of legislation, regulation and even supplier requirements for services such as insurance. Central to this are efficient business processes, effective and accessible record storage, and readily available and comprehensive reporting.

Multibase can help with these, with a wide range of solutions including Intranets, document management, mobile and online forms, OHS auditing and inspections, plant and vehicle fleet management, and online employee induction and training. These solutions can be made available from anywhere someone has an Internet connection, from any kind of appropriate device including smartphones, laptops, desktops tablets, and even for some by SMS.

If this sounds like something that might make life easier for your business, please call Multibase on 02 9805 1911 or email info@mbase.com.au.

System 77 and printers

Does your business use System77? Believe it or not, System77 came into existence well before the wide acceptance of laser printers into everyday business usage, but until recently new features were not being added to System77 applications. With Multibase taking over support of customers' System77 applications, our developers have now prototyped printing of Accounts Receivable, invoices and statements, and Accounts Payable, purchase orders and plain stationery remittance advices. This might seem pretty ordinary, but for System77 users struggling to keep superseded dot matrix printers going, it's major step forward. Why throw out your accounting system just because the printer died? If you're a System 77 user and this sounds like something that might make life easier for you, call Multibase on 02 9805 1911 or email info@mbase.com.au.

Case study: New add-on application saves thousands of hours

Situation: The business wanted new functionality for their critical business operations system, with a user friendly and modern looking graphical user interface. They wanted minimal disruption to their business, and they wanted to avoid re-testing all their existing business processes and procedures. Point of pain: Administrative staff had to use inefficient manual business processes, which required double entry, were error prone, and didn't allow for real time reporting.

Solution: Build an add-on application that interacts with the existing application and doesn't replace the current business logic. The solution chosen was to build a java application that interacts with the existing CL application using web services. This saved thousands of hours of redevelopment and provides a GUI (graphic user interface) for the new functionality and easy integration with any modern software. The new application replaces the current manual system, and it has real time integration with the existing CL database.

Comment: "Integrating with an existing application can be advantageous because the majority of the operation can continue as normal through the testing and implementation process. There can be a more gradual approach because the current processes can run in parallel. This reduces project risk significantly when compared to switching to a completely new system which requires major cost and process change."

If you would like more information, email info@mbase.com.au or phone 02 9805 1911 for a whitepaper.

Looking for a new ERP system?

Multibase directors were the original authors behind the software that became the System77 wholesale and distribution system. System 77 is a comprehensive system and Multibase has committed to continuing support. However, System 77 is a child of the 1980s and since then, software and business practices have moved on. Embracing open source, Multibase now also offers OpenERP solutions to organisations ready to take advantage of the flexibility, modularity, configurability and extensibility of the modern OpenObject platform.

What is OpenERP? OpenERP is a comprehensive suite of business applications including Sales, CRM, Project management, Warehouse management, Manufacturing, Financial management, Human Resources just to name a few. More than 700 OpenERP modules are available. Multibase is a Silver Partner of OpenERP in Australia offering full implementation, support, maintenance, enhancement, development and training.

Modular and flexible. OpenERP's unique modular approach allows customers to start with one application and to add other modules later on. Customers keep the benefits of an integrated software system but avoid a "big bang" project. We can customize the user interface and customise your business processes in a highly productive way.

Deploy anywhere. The same version of OpenERP can be used either Onsite or Online. We can provide a hosted option in our data centre. We are committed to always allowing our customers to choose what is best for them.

Affordable: No license fees makes OpenERP very affordable. Every dollar you spend is dedicated to your implementation, any custom development, and a support agreement.

Our range of services, understanding of business needs, and ability to integrate seamlessly with existing systems, means that in Multibase, you have a long-term information technology partner.

You can check out screenshots of OpenERP at http://www.openerp.com/products/screenshots

We have understood problems and provided solutions in significant sized businesses for many years. Our in-house business and technical teams are experienced in all stages of software project delivery, including scoping, development, deployment, hosting and technical support, as well as integrating business applications with a wide range of other systems. Our customer service team and in-house help desk are resourced to support customer systems to stay reliable and available for daily business use for the long term, maximising the value of your software investment.

Interested? Call Multibase on 02 9805 1911 or email info@mbase.com.au

Be surprised Email Multibase at customerservice@mbase.com.au, check us on the web at www.mbase.com.au, or telephone 02 9805 1911. We're always willing to engage with your technology plans or answer any questions you have about your current products and services. You might be surprised by the breadth of our experience. Follow us Multibase staff members spend a lot of time online, and we're becoming active in social media. If you're interested in the kind of things that we are, you can follow us: Blog: www.mbasecms.com.au/blog/ Twitter: twitter.com/Multibase@Multibase

Multibase WebAustralis Pty Ltd
ACN 063 962 916
Level 1, 11 - 17 Khartoum Rd, Macquarie Park NSW 2113 Australia
Telephone +61 2 9805 1911 | Fax +61 2 9805 1931
customerservice@mbase.com.au | www.mbase.com.au

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