MITS World Newsletter:
May through August 2007

MITS World newsletters keep you current on the latest MITS-related news. Use the form on the right to subscribe to MITS World and start receiving your newsletters today.
August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 Issue Date: August 2007 Exciting Feature Additions Slated for Q4 MITS Discover Release MITS is please to report that our MITS Discover product has entered an exciting new development cycle. We have been listening to your feedback, and some of the most-requested features are on their way into our flagship product. In the recent release of MITS Report version 1.1 a feature that generated a lot of excitement was the ability to re-order columns within a report by simply dragging and dropping them into place while viewing the report in the flashscreen. As we demonstrated this feature to our existing customers, many would ask when it would be available in MITS Discover as well. We have good news for you! The ability to drag and drop columns in MITS Discover is through the development process and is now in QA. This exciting new feature will be in the next release of MITS Discover, scheduled for quarter four of this year. Tech Tip - Using MQL to Limit Identifier Values MQL (Mits Query Language) is the set of commands that MITS Discover uses ‘behind the scenes’ to create flashscreens. If you are set up with permission to edit the MQL statement you can do so to take advantage of some time saving tricks. Here is an example: Problem You have 1000 products and you want to create a flashscreen that displays all except two of them. Solution Your first thought may be to drill down using ‘expand by specific values’ and add the 998 products that you do want to the selected values box. Of course, this is very tedious and time consuming and many companies have product lines that number in the tens of thousands. The better solution is to create a flash screen using ‘expand by specific values’, adding the two products that you do not want to the selected values box. Choose okay to return to your flashscreen. Now, go to the Save menu at the bottom of the screen. You may have to click on the ‘+’ to display it. You don’t need to understand all of what you see. You should recognize the product numbers that you chose. A portion of the statement will look similar to ‘P = "123" "456"’. Simply change the ‘=’ to ‘#’ and click on ‘Execute MQL’. Now, instead of seeing the two products you do not want to see, you see all the products that you do want. This tech tip is not limited to the product identifier. It can be used with any identifier that is the next level down in your current drill down path. MITS Employee Spotlight - Shannon Garner In this month’s Employee Spotlight we are featuring the newest member of the MITS team, Shannon Garner. Shannon joined MITS three months ago to fill an Administrative Assistant position and has already proven to be a valuable resource across the board. . In her role as MITS’ Administrative Assistant, Shannon assists the team with any and all administrative needs, takes an active roll in the organization of quarterly MITS training, assists with planning company events and functions and is often the first line of contact with many of our customers and vendors. No stranger to the software industry, before coming to MITS, Shannon was the Office Manger for another Seattle area software company. Additionally, she recently worked with her husband to start a dyno tuning and performance shop, taking on the responsibility of overseeing the construction of a 4,000 square foot facility. Shannon’s accommodating personality and thirst for knowledge made her a great fit at MITS, noting "From the first interview at MITS, I realized the job would not be your ordinary front desk position." Further expressing, "I like having the opportunity to learn new things and I enjoy helping people, this is why I knew I’d enjoy working at MITS". Whether she’s booking travel, calling customers to remind them about upcoming Webinars, or planning internal and external events, Shannon goes above and beyond the call of duty on a regular basis. We know the rest of the MITS community will enjoy her as much as we do! Is there a MITS employee you’d like to see featured in the Employee Spotlight? Let us know at info@mits.com Issue Date: July 2007 Toll Free Number for Support If you currently receive support directly from MITS, it is now even easier to access our support staff. In addition to email and the mits.com website, we are now offering support access via our toll free number. Support representatives can be reached at 1-888-700-MITS (6487), option 1, between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Pacific Time, Monday through Friday. Encore Presentation of MITS Report 1.1 Webinar Due to the popularity of June's MITS Report 1.1 presentation, we will be offering an encore presentation of the Webinar: MITS Offers an In-Depth Look at MITS Report Version 1.1, presented by MITS VP of Engineering and Product Development, Gary Owen. For more information regarding this presentation visit our events page MITS Employee Spotlight - Brandon Wright This month's Employee Spotlight features Support and Technical Writing Manager, Brandon Wright. During the past five years, if you are a MITS customer or reseller, it is very likely you have interacted with Brandon at one point or another. This month's Employee Spotlight features Support and Technical Writing Manager, Brandon Wright. During the past five years, if you are a MITS customer or reseller, it is very likely you have interacted with Brandon at one point or another. One of the most valuable aspects of any MITS product is the level of support accompanying it. Brandon has been an integral part of building and maintaining a support department that genuinely cares about customers and is willing to go above and beyond the norm in terms of responsiveness. While he admits that he sort of "fell backwards" into working with computers, he realized that he had a knack for helping others understand them. Brandon compliments his knowledge of technology and MITS products with a wealth of customer support experience, including the past five years at MITS and another five years working at the IT Help Desk of a wireless phone service provider. While testing the waters for a career path Brandon experimented with jobs in retail sales, copier repairs, and circuit board manufacturing, but he knows that he found a perfect match for his talents and abilities at MITS. When asked to name his favorite thing about working at MITS, he enthusiastically says, "Our products are top-notch, the people I work with are great, and our customers and resellers are the best in the world… how could I possibly pick only one thing as my favorite!?" As many of his coworkers and customers can attest, Brandon’s willingness to take on any challenge has been (and will continue to be) an important part of what makes MITS a great organization to work with and to work for. IBM U2 University MITS is pleased to inform Universe and UniData users of this year's IBM U2 University conferences. IBM U2 University 2007 is the premier U2 technical event bringing you speakers from across the IBM U2 team including leading developers, architects and specialists dedicated to providing technical training, information and resources to help maximize your U2 investment. You won't want to miss these two and a half days of information-packed technical training with three focused tracks: U2 Data Servers, Application Development, and Emerging Technologies. Talk with product experts and network with your peers. For schedule and registration details visit the IBM U2 website today! Issue Date: June 2007 MITS Report 1.1 Webinar Title: MITS Offers an In-Depth Look at MITS Report Version 1.1 Date: Wednesday, June 27, 2007 at 11:00 a.m. PST Presenter: Gary Owen, VP of Engineering and Product Development Since its initial release in September, 2006, MITS Report has already provided users improved access to their organizational data. This month, thanks to valuable feedback from our customers and partners, MITS Report 1.1 is currently available and packed with many exciting new features. Join MITS VP of Engineering and Product Development, Gary Owen, for a detailed look at MITS Report 1.1. During this presentation Owen will provide an overview of basic MITS Report functionality and demonstrate enhanced features, like: email functionality, row and column level security, and the ability to drag-and-drop columns. For more information about MITS Report visit www.mits.com or call your MITS Account Executive at 1-888-700-MITS. MITS July Training MITS training will be held in Seattle July 16 – 20 and there are still a few spots left. Whether you are new to MITS or want to dig deeper into the functionality of your existing software, training sessions are an excellent opportunity to learn from MITS experts, interact with fellow MITS users, and enjoy the Seattle area during our month of summer. Training is offered in three sections to accommodate different skill sets and backgrounds. MITS 101 - MITS Discover Clients and Functionality: The MITS 101 training class teaches the basics of MITS Discover with a mix of lecture, hands-on guided tutorial, and challenging exercises. (Duration - 1 day) MITS 201 - MITS Discover Hypercube Design: The MITS 201 Hypercube design training class is hands-on with a mix of lecture, guided tutorial, and a Hypercube Design Workshop. Students will build several Hypercubes in class. (Duration - 2 days) MITS 301 - MITS Discover Advanced Development: The MITS Discover Advanced Development class helps integrate the MITS Discover environment more closely with the underlying applications. The class is hands-on with a mix of lecture and guided tutorial. (Duration - 2 days) For more information about MITS Training Courses, visit www.mits.com/training or email training@mits.com MITS Employee Spotlight - William Eng This month we are pleased to feature William Eng in our Employee Spotlight. As our Quality Assurance Manager, Will is the man behind the curtain that ensures MITS products exceed expectations before they are passed on to customers. During a recent "bug bash" for MITS Report 1.1, the MITS staff learned quickly that we were no match for Will in terms of finding "undocumented features" in MITS software. When he came to MITS, Will brought with him four years of experience in testing software applications running in n-tiered architected systems and a long standing passion for understanding what makes things tick. Will admits that he has "been breaking stuff ever since [he] was a kid in order to find out what makes things work, starting off, as a child, with toys that made noises and escalating to radios, watches, computers which eventually led to software." Further stating, "At least with software, its not physical breakage and therefore more repairable after I get done. Why not turn this interest into something beneficial." It goes without saying, MITS substantially benefits from Will’s drive for digging into and learning the in and outs of the emerging technologies incorporated into the MITS family of products. When we asked Will what he enjoyed most about working for MITS, his enthusiasm for the people and product showed immediately, responding that he enjoyed "Working with the many talented and fun individuals here at MITS applying the latest and coolest technology to MultiValue ". It would be difficult to download a new version of MITS software without recognizing Will’s ability to take on challenges presented by new technologies, devotion to quality, and passion for ensuring MITS customers receive most advanced Business Intelligence and reporting features available. Is there a MITS employee you'd like to see featured in the MITS employee spotlight? Let us know at info@mits.com Issue Date: May 2007 MITS Report 1.1 to be Released this June MITS is excited to announce the upcoming release of MITS Report version 1.1. Since the initial 1.0 release of MITS Report in September 2006, MITS has been devoted to gathering feedback from customers and partners and has incorporated that feedback into this robust new release. In addition to the existing features and functionality of this innovative reporting environment’s initial release, here is a taste of some of the new features included MITS Report version 1.1: Email reports to users immediately or on a schedule Row and column level security When creating new reports or modifying existing reports, columns can be arranged using drag-and-drop Dynamic Change Update, allowing for more efficient report source updating since only new or changed records will be updated Enhanced report filtering functionality Supports both Telnet and UniObjects to connect to U2 databases Individual reports can now be exported and imported without their associated report sources allowing a reseller to easily distribute new reports to their existing customer base For more information about MITS Report visit www.mits.com or call your MITS Account Executive at 1-888-700-MITS. April 2007 Training Recap For the first time since MITS instituted training, we were able to conduct our classes "in house." The Columbia Center's 40th floor conference center was an effective venue, and with our offices downstairs, the entire company was able to interact with training attendees with both sides benefiting. Long-time MITS Customers were able to put faces to names and voices, and new customers were able to spend time with the specialists working on their installations. Several MITS employees were able to attend specific training segments to extend their knowledge and contribute to the exchange of ideas that are an important part of MITS training. MITS will be hosting their next training at the Columbia Tower in Seattle, Washington July 16-20, 2007. For more information on training or to register for courses, visit http://www.mits.com/training.htm. MITS Employee Spotlight – Sithan Keo MITS is incorporating a new item to our monthly newsletter, the MITS “Team Member Spotlight”. This month MITS would like to introduce MITS Product Support Specialist, Sithan Keo. Some of you may recognize the name and many more are sure to know his voice as the primary Support Specialist for MITS. Sithan is responsible for accepting and handling phone and email support requests from MITS customers and resellers. He brings three years of technical support experience to the team and previously supported accounting software before joining MITS in June of 2006. While it would be difficult to choose our favorite thing about Sithan, when we asked him about his favorite part of MITS, he had no problem letting us know. “There is not one thing, rather 24 of them, the MITS people. From that first day I came in to interview with Fred, George, and Brandon in the old Ballard office I knew the environment was perfect in terms of the network of personal support that I would get while working at MITS. That is how I want the clients that I correspond with to feel. I want them to know that it isn’t just me that’s supporting them but a network of dedicated MITS people.” Is there a MITS team member you’d like to see featured in the MITS Employee Spotlight? Let us know at info@mits.com.

Top of Page