Youth Culture Abounds On Agile’s Technical Staff
The ultimate compliment for Agile Network’s team of project managers and technical support is for you to say nothing to them. With everything working at peak performance, there should be little reason for contact to be made with them, and vice versa. After the intimate and extensive time spent together at the beginning of your Agile relationship building and configuring your solution, the Agile technical staff often fades to the background to more of a maintenance role. So who are those people that you haven’t talked to in a long time? They are much more chic than geek.
A report this week by CNN shines a new light on the growing trend of programmers to ditch the image of pocket protectors and glasses whose thrill is discovering a misplaced comma in a series of code. Comparable to the likes of Facebook and Google, Agile Network’s technical staff is younger and more hip than ever.
The term coined by CNN is “brogrammer”, which to no surprise is puts the “bro” in programmer. This bro aspect of it allows for your technology solutions to be more creative than ever before. “Bros” know the nitty-gritty of their subjects but offer a more well rounded approach rather than an extreme specialty in one area. The world of technology has evolved so much so that ingenuity plays a bigger role than details, with the advancements in code writing sometimes taking care of the minute details. Being able to add verve, color, and energy to your Agile system is just one of the ways we know we differentiate ourselves from the rest. Agile Network’s technical staff knows their code, and knows how to have fun delivering it to you.
Even though Agile works behind the scenes, your project manager and technical support staff are always here to answer your questions. If you would like to find out how we can further tailor your Agile solution to better serve your needs, please give us a call at any time.
Paperless International Shipping with AES
<a href=”http://www.agilemidatlantic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/AES.jpg”><img src=”http://www.agilemidatlantic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/AES-300×250.jpg” alt=”" title=”AES” width=”300″ height=”250″ /></a>For years we have been hearing about paperless international shipping, which is great for shippers in many ways. Most of our customers are telling us the largest percentage of growth in the outbound shipping is to International Destinations.
Last month in Forbes Magazine there was a great article about the rise in Exports, “over the past two years, exports have compounded at just over 12% a year” The full article can be read <a href=”http://www.forbes.com/sites/greggfisher/2012/04/18/the-rise-of-us-exports/”>here</a>.
Shipping without paper, while making it easier for the shippers in the warehouse, adds some set up complexity for the system administrators. Shippers need to make certain that all the required fields are captured in the transaction, if only because there is no “hand writing” on an electronic SED. We at Agile have made that easy for our customers with our AES certified <a href=”http://agile-network.com/products-export.htm”>AgileExport Module</a>.
For those who really want to dive deep into the benefits of going paperless, <a href=”http://krex.k-state.edu/dspace/bitstream/2097/2169/1/RebeccaBradwell2009.pdf”>here</a> is a great study by Rebecca S. Bradwell from Kansas State University.
For the non Agile users, or for the Agile users looking to improve the flow and process of their international orders, the <a href=”http://www.aesdirect.gov”>AES website</a> is a great place to learn more. Note that it is a free government website, as there are many look alike sites that sell their information, which is a 100% rip off.
The inquiring mind would want to look here http://www.aesdirect.gov/support/reference.html, a page within the AES website that has many more links on it to all the “codes” you’ll need to know, and there are a few that you might not expect, like “vehicle code”.
Hopefully as you see more and more international outbound shipments, this can be used as a handy guide for compliance and efficiency. If you have any questions please reach out to AES or Agile directly, we are always happy to explain the latest goings on in transportation.
Phishing Emails Exposed
We are all used to being bombarded by phishing emails asking for you to help a Nigerian Prince or telling you about the new iProduct you’ve won. Naturally, we have become desensitized and ignorant to these emails, and they fall on deaf ears. But what happens when the spam bots get smart and start drafting messages that we actually might want to open?
The latest trend in fraudulent emails could be one that you would be tempted to fall for. Emails are more frequently coming from third party (phishing) sources posing as UPS, including the illegal and illegitimate use of trade dress, brand image and other activities meant to fool the receiver. For a full and extensive list of UPS phishing emails, please see the running list of <a href=”http://www.ups.com/media/en/fraud_email_examples.pdf”>examples on the UPS website</a>.
The most prevalent emails appear to be from UPS mentioning “Your UPS Invoice is Ready” and “UPS Tracking Number H2216223049”. If either of these emails come to your inbox, please be advised that there is a very good chance that it is spam and could be harmful to your computer. These emails will often ask you to provide sensitive information, ranging anywhere from account numbers, IDs, passwords, or copies of invoices. UPS and any legitimate business would never solicit you to provide this information over unsecured measures like email. It seems like common knowledge, but we can never be too alert to these issues.
With <a href=”http://www.agile-network.com”>Agile</a>, know that your personal information is safe behind a secure firewall intended to defend your privacy. Any notice you get from your <a href=”http://agile-network.com/products-elite.htm”>Agile Software</a> is protected from phishing and spamming. Further, all inquiry to tracking numbers and invoices are all housed within your Agile Software, and there is no need to access email to find this information.
If you ever concerned that an email is phishing, delete it immediately. Always be safe rather than sorry. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact <a href=”http://www.ups.com/content/us/en/about/news/service_updates/20110330_fraud.html”>UPS</a> directly. Agile Network is dedicated to protecting your company’s sensitive information. If you would like to discuss ways to increase safety measures, please reach out to us at anytime.
