Dear all,
The last few months and weeks have been a very challenging time for business and the world-at-large, and we now know that there are many more changes to come.
In this period of uncertainty, I am writing to set out exactly where ZAP stands and to talk through the first of a stream of helpful new initiatives this current situation has inspired.
First and foremost, I would like to assure you that it is business as usual at ZAP and we have taken all the measures to support our customer needs whilst ensuring that our employees are safe and healthy.
Our worldwide staff are all very used to working remotely and one very useful upshot of the current situation is that I’ve been able to spend a lot of time meeting (via Teams, Zoom and Skype) many of our customers and partners around the world, and introducing our senior management team no matter where they are based. And all face to face, albeit via webcam.
My diary is filling up with sessions like this and I hope to speak with you on one soon. I spent this last week with a range of customers who, although naturally concerned about external factors over which they have no control, were at the same time excited and relieved about the investments they have made in ZAP and the timely information it now provides them at a time of global calamity, information is now truly ‘king‘ in what we are encountering.
I would also like to talk you through some of the new initiatives that are now fully up and running:
As the vast majority of our customer base is working from home, we have launched a new ‘open office hours’ initiative to give you the most efficient way to ask technical questions about, and get answers for, your business. Our Professional Services team will be holding new online courses each week – free for all existing ZAP customers.
Perhaps our broadest initiative so far is Do Good with Data, which we launched initially to Sage’s X3 user base last week. We are providing the installation, configuration and use of Sage Data & Analytics (Sage’s X3-specific edition of ZAP Data Hub) free of charge for 60 days to allow businesses to very quickly track and analyse numerous supply chain and financial metrics, this also includes a two-day investment from our professional services team.
ZAP has been very visible at events and trade shows over the last year and, while all of those plans go on hold for the time being, we have very quickly ramped up a new and very extensive programme of webinars. At time of writing we have 24 webinars planned for April through June, I hope we see you on one or more. You’ll be able find details on the events page of our website. And all the recordings will go up on our Resources/Webinars section.
Although ZAP is very focused on what we develop and when, we can announce that later in the year we will release a new version of ZAP Data Hub with many more connectors, a range of new smart solutions, a revised and updated UI that many of you have been asking for as well as integration to automation solutions such as Zapier. This will be an exciting release and will have something in there for all businesses to take advantage of.
In closing, please let me reiterate that ZAP firmly believes this current situation will pass. It will be with us for a while, but we will continue to work very hard to make sure you, your data and analytics put you and your business in the very best possible shape to make decisions – both through this crisis and beyond.
Best regards,
Garth Laird, CEO, ZAP
