Agency Automation Services

Developing a technology plan is a difficult challenge, especially when one understands the number of factors affecting an industry. Changes within the business, the rapid pace of technology, the Internet, technology decisions by the management system vendor/carriers, and changes in an industry are just a few examples of the type of issues that need to be considered. In all, there are five major factors that need to be monitored that can directly affect any technology plan. We call these factors the five forces of automation planning.

The first force is the company itself. Strategies developed and decisions made by the management group will have a direct impact on the technology plan. The industry you operate in is also a force. Each state has its own governing body that makes and enforces laws the industry must abide by. The other three factors are automation-industry related. Hardware, software, and operating systems have, and will continue to have, dramatic impact on any technology plan. The diagram depicts what we feel the automation planning process entails.

Proper planning requires gathering and analyzing information from each of the forces and develop the technology plan accordingly. Finding an opportunity to adequately identify and document each force is challenging and time consuming. Most agency IT staffers always find this on the "B" list and seldom ever get to it. Partner with Sentz Consulting and simplify this process, while knowing we will keep your best interests in mind as we work through creating the perfect technology plan. Once the initial report is developed keeping it current and up-to-date is a far less daunting task.

Today, many organizations are very dependent on their technology platforms and the individuals responsible for building and maintaining this infrastructure. As a business owner, are you confident your IT Department is on the right path? Is there a plan in place that delineates where the business is going and how the technology will support it? Is there a plan in place that justifies all the current IT expenses? As an IT technician, are you having trouble communicating the companies technology needs to senior management and getting them to invest in updates and upgrades in a timely manner?

Sentz Consulting has developed a methodology for small to medium size businesses that provides for an assessment of where the business currently stands with the current technology (Automation Review) and a process for developing a plan for moving forward (Technology Plan).

Click below to view a Sample Report.

Sometimes, you spend so much time and work so hard searching for a solution to your technology issues that you happen to to miss the fact that what you are looking for might not be out there. Simply submit a form on the Contact Us page and let us know what you are looking to do. We will analyze your current system and see if there is a way to use your current software to produce the information you need. If it is not possible with the software you have, we could potentially build something for you. Our experienced staff has a vast knowledge of software and potential software products. Sentz Consulting has written many reports and programs to help eliminate EXCEL usage for many of our clients. We have also taken on larger jobs, like creating and maintaining a Tablet based application for one of our larger clients. We promise to work hard to help your business work for efficiently and effectively.

Data is the key to running your business. On a daily basis, you rely on reports to make strategic business decisions. In order for management to make these decisions, your reporting capabilities needs to be timely and efficient.

Many businesses still rely on tools like Microsoft Excel for all of their reporting needs. It’s a pattern we see over and over again. The need for a report usually follows the following process:

• A request is made to the IT staff for data
• Some query or job is run in the application software to get the data that is requested
• The data is extracted into Excel
• The data is then massaged into a pivot table or graph
• The Excel document is then sent by email to the requesting party for review
• If the report isn’t right, the process starts all over again

Processes like these are costly and inefficient for businesses and it doesn’t provide the information in a real time environment. If your business is spending a lot of time generating reports this way, then it’s time to look at custom reporting options.

At Sentz Consulting, we help our clients to implement a number of custom reporting solutions so that the right data is available to decision makes at the right time. We differentiate ourselves from our competition in our approach to developing reports. We work with you to understand your business and therefore understand the unique reporting requirements that are needed. As we grow with our customers and continue to better understand the issues that our customers face, we are able to suggest improvements in reporting that our clients might not have realized could be done.

Our team has worked with the following reporting solutions for our customers:

• Microsoft SQL Reporting Services (SSRS) – This tool, which is packaged with the Microsoft SQL Server software, provides a very easy to use reporting solution. A powerful web interface makes access to reports easy and intuitive. With a built in scheduling system, we can even automate reports to be delivered directly to your e-mail inbox on a routine basis.
• BIRT Reports – Bundled with IBM Maximo Asset Management software, clients have access to the BIRT reporting system. This system is integrated into the asset management system and provides reporting for end users right within the application.
• Crystal Reports – Crystal Reports is a reporting system that has been available for a number of years. Many have implemented Crystal Reports as a standalone reporting system or as an integrated reporting system into commercial software systems.
• Embedded HTML Generated Reports – Our team of developers can build any number of web and mobile applications to help your business data requirements. Within these systems, we have built any number of embedded reporting solutions to give you reporting capabilities in your software systems.

At Sentz Consulting, we feel it’s very important to your productivity that you, as well as your staff, are fully knowledgeable on the software you use daily. We offer a wide variety of training for you and your staff. We can do virtual training, on-site training, or simply train you and then work up a guide for you to train the rest of the business. Whatever your needs might be, we can assure you we can develop some functional and educational training. As well as training, we offer continuous support for the software we train on. If for some reason you need additional help, we are always just one phone call or e-mail away.

Many small to medium size agencies cannot afford to have a full time Chief Information Officer on staff. Sentz Consulting is proud to offer an affordable alternative. Our Virtual CIO Services provide high quality consulting, planning and organization support on a part time basis for your agency. Within our company we have over 25 years experience as a senior technology consultant with several premier agencies on the east coast. We have hands on experience with most of the major agency management systems, benefits management systems, claims processing systems and many of the ancillary products key to most agencies’ automation platform.

Many small to medium size agencies cannot afford to have a full time Chief Information Officer on staff. Sentz Consulting is proud to offer an affordable alternative. Our Virtual CIO Services provide high quality consulting, planning and organization support on a part time basis for your agency. Within our company we have over 25 years experience as a senior technology consultant with several premier agencies on the east coast. We have hands on experience with most of the major agency management systems, benefits management systems, claims processing systems and many of the ancillary products key to most agencies’ automation platform.

Sentz Consulting has been and remains the perfect partner for RCM&D. Their industry expertise; finely-honed technical knowledge; ability to grasp new technologies quickly; and supportive approach to our needs and problems makes them ideally suited to provide us with the right solutions, at the right time. I couldn’t imagine a stronger partner for those seeking to benefit from new applications or technologies – especially if your needs are immediate. I highly recommend them for all of your IT projects – they are without par, and a great investment.

Mr. Kenneth M. Runne, AIM, AIT, AAM (CIO), RCM&D, Towson, MD

Steve Sentz and his team are top notch. As our Virtual CIO, Steve was instrumental in helping our agency evaluate, plan and implement a conversion of our agency management system. He brought essential project management skills to our IT department and gave us a platform to continue to leverage technology in our 75 person insurance firm. Steve’s team helped in the development of several proprietary software solutions that we continue to use to manage our pipelines and differentiate ourselves in our marketplace.

Ms. Laura Bren, President, ASCD, Willards, MD