Crescendo Software Designed for Flexibility and Permanence

EP Crescendo Software Design

The Crescendo enterprise software is uniquely engineered for permanence, flexibility and growth.

 

A System Designed Around Your Business

Many competing software products are rigid in their functionality, requiring the enterprise to conform to the software.  This results in countless wasted man-hours as routine business processes must be accomplished with off-line workarounds.  Crescendo conforms to your business like a glove to your hand and is designed to "breathe" as your business changes through time.

 

A System That Improves With Time

Many companies find themselves in a situation with a software system that was customized for their business but can no longer be upgraded or supported by the software vendor due to the customization.  Crescendo's flexible "overlay" technology allows for maximum system customization without jeopardizing the ability to embrace the latest software release.  Efficiency Partners respects the past effort involved in achieving useful system functionality.  Therefore Crescendo software upgrades are always "backward compatible", preserving your prior investments while opening new doors of opportunity.

 

A System You Won't Outgrow

The Crescendo software was designed around the needs of larger companies having several hundred employees.  It flexes to absorb large data volumes and complex divisional reporting structures.  At the same time, Crescendo is simple enough to be implemented effectively for the small business.  Whether your business stays small or grows dramatically, Crescendo is an investment that will never need to be scrapped.

 

A Few Specific Design Features That Make Crescendo Unique

Crescendo's rich development history has led to a large number of specific and innovative techniques that contribute to its upgradeable flexibility.  Below are just a few of these design features.

 

User Values for Specialized Data Fields

While maintaining a complete array of the data fields that every business uses, each Crescendo database also expands naturally like an accordion to accept specialized data fields that are unique to specific industries and companies.  Using Crescendo's overlay technology, these specialized data fields can be "snapped-in" at any point of the data capture process, fitting in naturally and seamlessly with every other aspect of the system.

 

Dimensions and Product Configurator for Complex Order Entry

As any custom job shop or value-added distributor knows, there can be much more to a line item ordered than merely an SKU, quantity and price.  Crescendo's "dimensions" feature captures every nuance of the customer's order (e.g. size, color, finish, etc.).  It then uses these variables to compute expected cost and appropriate selling price, and to furnish explicit instructions to the shop floor for accurate order fulfillment. 

 

Screen Changes to Tailor the System to Precise Business Requirements

Crescendo's enterprise database is comprised of many thousands of data fields.  Since every different business will use a different subset of these fields within each data entry screen, Crescendo provides the ability to custom-tailor any entry screen without a single change to the underlying program code using an "overlay" which may be applied enterprise-wide or for specific users or business units.  Unused fields may be suppressed.  Remaining fields may be rearranged, renamed, repurposed, restricted or revised according to exact workflow requirements.  And when it comes time to install the latest Crescendo upgrade, these overlays fall right into place on top of the new base programs without any fuss.

 

Snap-in Custom Business Logic

Most of Crescendo's many thousands of programs are created by our proprietary rapid application development tools.  These tools, among other things, allow for custom business logic to be "snapped-in" at any point within the data entry process.  Snap-in logic can control data field defaulting, furnish choices, perform calculations, and trigger customized notifications and updates.  Because these routines are part of Crescendo's overlay architecture, they continue functioning naturally following a software upgrade.

 

Filing Routines

The Crescendo business databases are tightly integrated, forming a single enterprise-wide information source.  Crescendo's filing routines maintain this tight integration by proliferating individual file updates automatically to all related databases.  These routines also automatically maintain a large number of cross-reference indexes which ensure instantaneous response to information requests even when data volumes are large.  Providing opportunities for pre- and post-filing routine snap-in's, Crescendo readily embraces specialized customer functions.  This filing routine structure facilitates the placement of database updates at the most logical location within a company's unique workflows, ensuring that Crescendo never dictates, but always facilitates, efficient workflows.  Filing routines also enable database updates from any source, whether from the Web, EDI or from outside systems.

 

Excel Data Share

Microsoft's Excel product has garnered near universal acceptance as a medium for ad-hoc analyses.  In many cases, frequently used labor-intensive Excel spreadsheets can be replaced by truly integrated Crescendo applications for optimum efficiency.  For more ad-hoc situations, Crescendo naturally pulls and pushes data to and from Excel to save hours of retyping and reformatting.

 

Document Conversion

The advent of email and the Web have enabled paper documents to be gradually replaced by electronic alternatives.  All of Crescendo's laser-printable business forms and reports may be published in PDF, Microsoft Word, or HTML format for storage or transmission via email or FTP.

 

Integrated Image Processing

Utilizing simple but effective barcoding techniques, Crescendo easily and automatically scans, catalogs and associates paper documents of every variety, linking them to their virtual counterparts within the Crescendo database for instanteous recall, printing and viewing.  Some of EP's customers maintain no filing cabinets, relying instead upon this efficient imaging technology

 

Web Publishing

The Web provides a simple and consistent interface for connecting to business partners, including customers, vendors and employees, who are not directly attached your company's local network.  Crescendo utilizes proprietary techniques to directly, reliably and speedily connect is databases to the Web for both input and output.