| Where We've
Been… (The Past)
OneSource Software Solutions (ONESOURCE) was first conceived by Steve
Childs, the current President & CEO of ONESOURCE in the mid 1990's.
At the time, Steve was the President & CEO of a small office paper
recycling & shredding business in Anaheim, California called Recycle
California! (RCI).
Initially, RCI struggled with several software issues. After performing
considerable research, it became apparent that the software problems RCI
faced were, in fact, common to most businesses,
including the realities that:
(1) Storing redundant data in 2, 3, 4 or more
software applications is very time consuming and inefficient.
(2) Virtually all of the best selling software applications simply required
too much manual entry and were poor, at best, at truly automating
many of the time consuming tasks businesses must perform (especially
inventory and service based businesses).
(3) In a perfect world, software would be customizable to a particular
businesses need-rather than having to conform business processes and
procedures around how software works (or doesn't work).…and it
wouldn't cost a small business owner his or her first born child
either!
Having determined that RCI could increase it's
volume, with the same personnel
(thus reducing personnel and overhead costs), provide
significantly better customer service and grow
faster with the solution to these problems, Steve hired a Microsoft
Access/Visual Basic programmer to write a custom application to combine
and automate the sales, invoicing, contact management, dispatching and
customer/government reporting tasks. Long story short, RCI quickly became
a trendsetter in the industry and grew over 30% per year for 7 years straight.
Having experienced the dramatic difference and the competitive edge that
the custom application provided to RCI, Steve began to become interested
in the idea of helping other small business owners grow and manage their
businesses with greater ease. Consequently, Steve sold RCI and started
ONESOURCE in December, 1998.
Initially, ONESOURCE focused primarily on the original idea-that of designing
and developing custom software applications for individual businesses.
While the idea had considerable merit, ONESOURCE began to realize that
the "off-the-shelf" software model had merits of it's own. (Less
expensive, immediately available, relatively bug free, etc…) Thus,
it became apparent that what the market really needed was a combination
of several features & benefits:
(1) Software that was inexpensive.
(2) Software that was shrink-wrapped and ready to use out of the box.
(3) Software that actually automated tasks-rather than requiring
so much manual input and/or calculations.
(4) Software that integrated virtually all business processes into
ONE application.
(5) Software that can be customized to include the unique data
fields and automation requirements of virtually any business.
(6) Software that would allow the creation of custom reports and that
would provide greater control to manipulate data.
(7) Software that provided cutting edge, top quality, personalized,
customer service and support.
With the new direction in mind, ONESOURCE released OneSource version
1 in the spring of 2001, which integrated Contact Management, Activity
Tracking, Job Tracking, Order Entry, Invoicing, Purchasing, Inventory
Management, Automated Mail Merging, WinFax Integration, Sales/Marketing,
Reports, etc., all in ONE application and provided the ability to CUSTOMIZE
OneSource, using Microsoft Access, 100% to the needs and preferences of
the user.
In the spring of 2002, ONESOURCE released OneSource version
2. Version 2 was a considerable improvement, as modules
were added and/or replaced with proven, 10-year old modules
(which are now in use in over 7000 businesses) to integrate
Banking/Checking, a General Ledger, Financial Reports, a more
powerful Inventory Management module, improved Sales system,
over 100 new reports and an improved report management system,
etc…
In the spring of 2003, ONESOURCE released OneSource version 3 (the
current version). Version 3 provides improved stability and numerous
refinements, including:
- More Automated purchasing: OneSource can immediately calculate,
display and create PO's utilizing all of the variables necessary to accurately
order/replenish inventory levels based on optimum MIN/MAX levels or "projected"
inventory needs -based on past sales in a similar period. PO's can also
be auto created based on one or more "special order" items on
one or more Sales Orders. Utilize an optional EDI module to send purchase
orders electronically, etc.
- Automated Inventory Counting / Updating: Input inventory counts,
press one button to auto calculate and update the difference for every
item in the system.
- Multiple Inventory Management improvements, including ability to auto
create and edit assemblies of items, track/store items in multiple locations,
etc…
- More customizable / automated pricing: You determine one time
the criteria used to determine each customers price for each product
(or group of products) and OneSource does the rest-from then on. (Pricing
can be auto calculated based on any combination of criteria such as:
a given discount, mark-up, multiplier, price code, price based on the
quantity purchased, a specific price, etc).
- QuickCheck form to immediately display a particular customers
price on a particular item, critical inventory info, a summary of past
sales history, including date purchased, price, etc.
- QuickViews: Based on your preference, while creating a Quote/Sales
Order/Invoice, immediately view-on the same screen-several details regarding
Inventory, Credit, Sales Commissions, etc…
- Enhanced Searching capabilities: Find virtually any type of
data or record with 2-3 clicks. Use case sensitive, pop-up menu's to
immediately sort, filter or find data, etc…
- One-Click Messaging via Computer Screen Pop-up, Pager, Email,
Printer, etc...
- Automated Web Updates. One click to auto compare, download
and update your version of OneSource-complete with auto importing of
customizations to your version.
- RapidAssist: We can now provide immediate assistance to any
of your users-directly on their PC screen.
- Plus many more…
Where Are We Now? (The Present)
With a growing team of developers, customer service reps
and sales reps, various automated tools to provide training,
on-line support & product updates, and an expanding client
base--ONESOURCE,
the company, is now poised to handle rapid expansion to our
current client base.
This accelerated growth will assist in the research and development of
OneSource, thus helping OneSource customers stay on the cutting edge of
technology and continue to provide better products and services to their
customers.
Where We're Headed? (The Future)
Version 4 of OneSource will include the following new features:
- SQL Server support. (Which will allow 100's or even 1'000s
of simultaneous users-rather than 10's of users).
- Several direct web access modules to enable a customer or employee
to login to OneSource over the web to view contact info, activities/correspondence,
job info, sales info, order info/status, real-time inventory levels
& pricing, etc…
- Integration of Crystal Reports to enable better multi-column
financial reports and drill down functionality.
- Pocket PC integration for remote contact management, order
entry, inventory look-up, etc..
- Improved integration with MS Outlook for better calendaring
functionality.
- More automated features.
- Etc…
If you are a current or prospective OneSource
customer, and would like to learn more details about where we've
been, where we are now, and where we're going…, please
feel free to contact Steve Childs, the President/CEO of OneSource Software
Solutions, toll free at (866) 204-4997.
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