I often talk about the great employees we have at Red Wing Software and how long some have been with our company. Well, at the end of this month, after over thirty years, Mark Machtemes, our New Business Development Manager will be retiring. Since the middle 1980s, Mark has helped the company grow from just a few hard-working souls to a place where many dedicated people write and sell our software and support our customers. Mark has served many roles at Red Wing Software over the years, mostly in the sales department, working trade shows, helping acquire new customers, and most recently, searching for, and securing new reselling partners. He also works with other companies that want to integrate their software solutions with Red Wing Software’s accounting and payroll applications.

With Mark’s vast knowledge of our current products and services and our legacy software, he has been a valuable resource, especially when questions arise about legacy functionality and how tasks translate to our current products. He also serves on many teams to help determine which new features should be developed to enhance our customers’ experience with their software.

Starting the first of July, we’ll see Mark boating, fishing, golfing, and enjoying his family in various parts of the country. I’ve heard rumors about a list that his wife, Pam, has for him to accomplish, but she might have to track him down first. We wish them the best in their new-found freedom. We will certainly miss Mark around the office.

On a side note, we want to welcome a new employee to Red Wing Software. Jamie started with the company May 16th in the support department. She comes with great customer service skills, and you may soon be communicating with her about your software questions. We now have two specialists in the support department with similar names. Please bear with us while we try to figure out how to determine whether we should transfer your calls to Jayme or Jamie.

I hope everyone enjoyed the Memorial Day weekend while remembering those who served our country to keep us safe and free.

The online Virtual Classroom provides you with in-depth information and explanations that allow you to learn more about CenterPoint from any location where you can access the internet (high-speed internet connection recommended). The Virtual Classroom offers the following live training session (the live sessions will also be recorded and sent to you so you can refer to the information afterwards.)

ACH: Setup & Processing
Tuesday, June 12, 2018
9:30-10:30 am CDT
$39.00

Click here to register for this session.

The Virtual Classroom offers pre-recorded training sessions as well as live training sessions. This gives you the flexibility to access the training at any point after the original live session was offered. The pre-recorded sessions can be purchased with 30-day access and can be viewed as many times as you like during the 30 days.

You can view and purchase pre-recorded sessions from our web site at www.redwingsoftware.com.

If it works, don’t fix it. I’m sure everyone has heard that statement, but is this philosophy always good to live by? That depends on what it is that “works”. In some cases, you can get away with letting things fail, and then take the action to fix or replace them. In other cases, it’s a good idea to fix things at the first sign of trouble, and sometimes things should be “fixed” even before anything appears to be wrong. Let’s take a look at a few examples.

Let’s say the speakers on your computer are making a funny noise, and it’s not because you’re watching hilarious YouTube^™ videos. It might be okay to put up with the noise because if the speakers fail, it’s probably not critical to running your business. Or, your car is making a noise that you have identified and it is not compromising safety. In this case, you can turn the speakers up and not hear the noise anymore.

About two years ago one of the sensors in my wife’s car that tells when the tire pressure is low malfunctioned and was always on. The tire was fine, but the light was a little annoying, so we spent the money and got the sensor replaced. Recently, the light came on again. Of course, the first thought is a bad sensor, but after checking the air pressure, we determined it, in fact, needed some air. Problem solved, the light went out… for a couple of days. When the light came on again, we discovered there was a screw in the tire. It was a good thing we replaced the sensor and didn’t ignore the light in the first place, or she may have been stuck on the side of the road.

Finally, how is your computer running? I’ll bet it’s running just fine, so why would you need to back up your information? Computers rarely give you a sign that something is about to go haywire. That doesn’t mean you don’t need a backup. And, while we’re talking about technology, how old is the computer and/or software that your business is relying on? Eventually, the computer will fail, and the old software on it may not run on new equipment. Are you prepared to reenter all the information you need to run your business because your data will not move to newer software? Think about it.

Sometimes things need to be fixed, even if they still work.

The online Virtual Classroom provides you with in-depth information and explanations that allow you to learn more about CenterPoint from any location where you can access the internet (high-speed internet connection recommended). The training sessions in the Virtual Classroom are presented live by one of our CenterPoint experts. The sessions will also be recorded and sent to you so you can refer to the information afterwards.

Customizing CenterPoint Reports
Tuesday, May 8, 2018
9:30-11:30 am CDT
$59.00

CenterPoint Payroll Reports
Thursday, May 24, 2018
2:30-4:30pm CDT
$49.00

Click here to register for these sessions.

The Virtual Classroom offers pre-recorded training sessions as well as live training sessions. This gives you the flexibility to access the training at any point after the original live session was offered. The pre-recorded sessions can be purchased with 30-day access and can be viewed as many times as you like during the 30 days.

You can view and purchase pre-recorded sessions from our web site at www.redwingsoftware.com.

• If logged into the web site, go to the My Member Account page (from the Welcome menu, select My Account Home), select the Training tab, and then select the Recorded tab.
  Or

• Select Menu > Virtual Classroom Training (under ‘Services’ on the right-hand side of the menu), and then select the Recorded tab.
  Or

• Select the Training button on the Main web site page, select Virtual Classroom, and then select the Recorded tab.