Customizing SYSPRO

"But SYSPRO doesn't do everything I want it to."

This is the truth: no system does. Even major players like SAP, PeopleSoft or J.D. Edwards need to be customized substantially before being able to meet the complete business requirements of their customers. And you will need a very expensive specialist programmer or business processes expert to make the thing work. With SYSPRO, you do have options available. Although SYSPRO, like all other systems in its class, caters for the most popular features a business needs, the creators have provided a number of ways to add features to it.

So if you need functions that are unique to your business model or industry, here's what you can do:

Give it a change of heart

COBOL is a business programming language that has been in use since 1959. Current versions of COBOL are produced by several companies including Micro Focus, Fujitsu, and IBM.

On the inside, SYSPRO is a set of COBOL programs. Syspro SA has provided ways to create your own COBOL programs that run inside SYSPRO. And for this, knowledge of COBOL is essential. Our resident COBOL expert is Sandor Oroszi. Although he is a gifted consultant with a thorough knowledge of all SYSPRO modules, he comes from a programming background. He has created many COBOL programs for SYSPRO users and continues to do so. His years of development experience mixed with a formidable knowledge of SYSPRO's inner workings means he's got the answers when others are still guessing.

Make it more sociable

You may need SYSPRO to play nicely with your other applications. Whether it’s getting the information out or putting information in, there are several ways to accomplish this. Our developers can build programs that let SYSPRO communicate with other programs. They can create user screens required to accomplish special tasks. Or perhaps you need special reports, views or extracts that will help you see your business from a different perspective. Want SYSPRO to talk to your warehouse management system or production line? All do-able! And anything in between.

Give it a face lift

Today, SYSPRO screens are fully customizable and programmable. You can hide information from users, or give them extra information they need to complete their work. Change the layout of screens as you see fit. On top of this, screens have their own programming language that makes it possible to do just about anything. Our programmers know how to make it work for you.

Set it on a different path

Although not a part of the current version, SYSPRO is looking forward to some exciting new features in the very near future. At the top of the list is a workflow manager. Workflow is the big buzzword at the moment and for very good reason.

Workflow simply means that you can decide how your SYSPRO system should carry out tasks and set it up to do so. So if you need sales orders over five million to be approved by the Financial Manager before being accepted, that's about to become possible. What about alerting the production manager when a big order is received so he can check his manpower at the job's start date? No problem. Workflow allows you to set up new ways of performing business tasks, and so adapt your business processes at will.

Again, please remember that this feature will only be available in a future version of SYSPRO. But this illustrates Syspro SA's commitment to making their system more responsive to your business needs.

And, of course, DracoTec will be on top of this feature as a means to help us reach our vision - to make your system reliable and so make your business easier to run.