QuickArrow, Inc., the leader in SaaS Services Automation, today announced the availability of the Spring Release of its Professional Services Automation (PSA) solution. This release is highlighted by several innovative additions, including a next-generation integration with Microsoft Outlook® and the debut of its new user interface, featuring the Ext JS® framework.
Next-Gen Integration with Microsoft Outlook®
QuickArrow’s new Outlook integration enables the seamless transfer of detailed schedules between the PSA Industry’s leading Resource Management solution and the world’s leading email and calendaring software. QuickArrow’s new Add-In transfers detailed project and task-level information to appointments, rather than simply blocking out time in Outlook. Users can easily configure the Outlook Add-In to synchronize automatically.
“Outlook is the de facto calendaring tool in most corporate environments, and so if appointments aren’t scheduled there, the result is often lost productivity or missed assignments,” said Malcolm Hawker, QuickArrow’s vice president of product management. “Our new Outlook plug-in addresses that, and helps our clients ensure they can get the right person in the right place at the right time.”
Adoption of Ext JS® extends UI advantages
The Spring release also introduces QuickArrow’s new user interface which leverages the Ext framework, a JavaScript library for building rich internet applications that incorporates high performance, customizable UI widgets, and other features to enhance the user experience. QuickArrow, already recognized in the PSA space for its ease-of-use, has rolled out Ext JS® to improve the overall design and usability of its project setup functionality, making it even easier to create and staff projects. Moving forward, the company plans to incorporate the Ext framework throughout their entire application.
“While there are certainly other Javascript frameworks available for developing web apps, none compare to Ext when it comes to producing a slick, intuitive user experience. It’s skinnable, customizable, cross-browser compatible – and that’s why we also use it here at Thomson Reuters,” commented Micheal Eicher, vice president of professional services at Paisley, a Thomson Reuters Company. He continued, “We have been a QuickArrow client for several years, and the launch of this new UI is yet another confirmation of their commitment to helping us better manage our people and projects.”
Reporting Performance Improvements
For several consecutive quarters, the company has also focused on enhancing its reporting capabilities and performance to provide clients with real-time, up-to-the-minute visibility into their operations – a process that can otherwise take weeks or even months, which often means that critical business decisions are based on outdated or even inaccurate data.
“During our annual audit process, we literally run hundreds of reports through QuickArrow,” said David Erikson, technology specialist with ISH, Inc. “We recently completed our ’08 audit, and the speed of report generation was really stellar, making the entire process much less cumbersome.”
With this release, the company has achieved performance improvements of up to 4X on several key reports over the last year. Some of the reports impacted include but are not limited to:
• Expense Reports
• Schedule Items
• Project Metrics Reports
• Revenue Recognition Reports
• Opportunity Admin Reports
• Employee Metrics Reports
• Time Reports
• Employee Admin Reports
QuickArrow’s Spring Release also features enhanced time card controls, a key component of their ongoing initiative to help clients fully automate their quote-to-cash processes.
