Advantage is pleased to announce our newest client: Test-Achats.  Test-Achats is also known by its Flemish name of Test Aankoop and was founded in Belgium in 1957 as a consumer organization.   It independently tests all manner of consumer products and then reports the results.  Through collaboration with other organizations-in Spain, Italy, Portugal and Brazil-it is a growing influence in Europe and beyond. 

In 1960, Test-Achats became one of the founding members of the European Consumers' Organization.  Over time the group has expanded into consumer rights and lobbying. 

Following a six-month migration project, Pacific Magazines is now live on Advantage at CDS Global. Pacific Magazines is managed from the Australian division of CDS Global, based in Sydney, Australia

CDS Global led the migration with a dedicated project team located both in the UK and Australia and were supported by ACS staff.

The CDS Global project team included staff with lead roles from across the business: Kim Reid, Agi Scott, Anne Sentence, Bhavya Nagaraja, Sharon Foxon, Dom Toasland, Maz Khan and Shelton Masuku, with many others providing support and guidance. 

The ACS support team included: Bryan Varblow, project director; Paul DesRosiers, who made customizations and provided engineering support; Sunil Chawla, who spent time onsite to assist with issues; Philippe Rowland, who assisted in payment processing implementation; Ryan Powers, who delivered key modifications and Al Grunas, who handled the rotation of code between areas.

AdvantageCS has joined the Scribe partner program and developed the Advantage Scribe Connector.  Scribe is an integration tool which allows you to define an integration workflow, including the mapping of data elements, between any two systems that Scribe supports.  You can now integrate Advantage with any other system that has a Scribe Connector available, such as Salesforce.com.  A list of available systems may be found on the Scribe website: http://www.scribesoft.com/connectivity. 

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There was a decision at the February 2013 user group meeting that we needed input from marketers on how Advantage's marketing features could be improved to address current and future requirements.  The Marketers Voice Program was the result.

Twelve marketers from 8 Advantage clients attended the forum held in Ann Arbor on October 1st and 2nd. (Thank you, MVPs-you guys are the best!)

Dianne Killebrew, senior support analyst, is retiring from ACS at the end of December.  She was hired by Support Center Manager Ev Acton in March of 2000, but the two of them had worked together previously at another company. Dianne has always truly enjoyed providing support, both because she likes helping people and also because you never know what the day is going to bring.  You have to juggle and prioritize, explains Dianne, and try to work out deadlines that are acceptable to everyone.

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As part of the change to the Microsoft .NET framework (at 2012r2), we've updated the configuration and deployment of software changes to be more in line with industry standards.  Source code to the base software is no longer stored onsite and software updates are now delivered via "deployment packages."  Source code for custom processes, reports, and views will continue to be stored and compiled at client sites.

You now have two options for base tracks software updates.  In addition to these base tracks, keeping in the tradition of the customizable nature of an Advantage installation, clients will have the option of maintaining a private track that will be customized to their needs.  The two base update tracks are:

• Maintenance Only:  This track will offer deployment packages that only include bug fixes and basic maintenance items.

• Maintenance and Features:  This track will offer deployment packages that include bug fixes, basic maintenance items, and small retrofitted features.  When these small retrofitted features are available, they will be incorporated into the track once monthly.

You probably have a list of reports that you review weekly or even daily. Did you know that you can easily have those reports sent to your email Inbox? Using the Advantage Report Distribution feature is a snap and can deliver your reports automatically without you having to remember to go and look for them!

1. The first thing to do is be sure you have an email address specified on your Advantage user code.

On a cool but clear and sunny day in mid-October, the ACS staff got together to officially dedicate the outdoor memorial to Kathie Porter.  The memorial area in front of the ACS building includes a picnic table (the people in the back are standing on it), a newly-planted tree (seen in the right of the picture) and a rock inscribed "In memory of Kathie Porter."  The rock is significant because, according to Kathie's sisters, she loved rocks and collected them for her yard from all over.

We miss you, Kathie.

Advantage is pleased to unveil our new logo - a more distinct, clean and contemporary visual representation of our global brand.  The symbol is based on the concept of sailing and denotes being propelled forward - mobility and agility.  It better represents the Advantage product and the culture of the company behind it: responsive, agile, innovative, and determined.  Harnessing the latest technology is one of the ways we participate in our clients' success.  Our recent migration to the .NET platform and the re-design of the user interface are great examples of this.

 "We're delighted with the new logo, but more importantly we're thrilled about the new platform and being better positioned to help our clients across the globe achieve their goals," says Dan Heffernan, Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Product Planning.  "Advantage is a global company and this new logo better represents our world-wide brand."

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