2. letter from the chairman
Thank you for considering Tra c as your Studio Management Solution.
Sohnar has been in business for almost 10 years during which time we
have grown from 3 people working at home to an international business “We are market leaders in
with over 500 clients trading in 21 countries and the proud recipient of the our eld but don’t seek to
Queens Award for Enterprise – Innovation. rest on our laurels”
We are market leaders in our eld but don’t seek to rest on our laurels. Every day we seek to learn, and it is
fair to say that over the years we have learned a lot. We learn from our customers, our people and also by
making mistakes!
Two years ago we embarked on an adventure to completely rede ne what a Studio Management
System looked like. We embraced the latest technology and many of the ideas and requests people have made
of us, over the years. We acknowledged though that we did not know all of the answers, and engaged some of
the leading agencies in their eld to assist with the products design, evolution and testing.
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3. The result is Tra c. Same name (why change a winning formula) but 100% new and indeed improved.
We believe there is no other studio management system that gives you the ease of use or scheduling
power we have embodied in Tra c. Of course only you can decide!
Tra c has been built using enterprise level technology from the likes of Adobe and IBM. This gives you as cus-
tomers the reassurance of a robust and scalable platform able to support your business 24/7 anywhere on the
planet.
Sohnar continues to innovate and invest. We spend 45% of turnover on
“Sohnar continues to
research and development, hire the best people in their eld, and recognise that
our clients gain re-assurance from dealing with a company that is both pro table
innovate and invest”
and unborrowed.
To learn more please give us a call or come and meet me and the whole team at our o ces.
Yours Truly,
Jeremy Rudge
Chairman
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4. some history
The honest truth is that probably 80% of agencies still manage
using Excel, Post-its and invoice using Word!
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5. some history
Studio Management systems have been
around for about 10 years and in the
mainstream, for probably 5 years or less.
We say mainstream, but the honest truth is that probably 80% of agencies still
manage using Excel, Post-Its and invoice using Word!
The providers of Studio Management solutions have typically been smaller
companies relying on packaged software platforms such as Filemaker or 4D
to produce their closed proprietary products. This has proved a successful
route for many, but the world has moved on.
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6. some history
Our clients (you!) now expect a level of sophistication that is in line with their expectations of a
modern enterprise application. Drag and Drop, visualisation of complex data, simplicity in use,
total exibility in scheduling and the empowerment of the user to manage their own day – within
some rules of course!
Our clients now expect Software as a Service, accessible anywhere on the
planet with an internet connection without the hassle of running and
maintaining their own servers.
Our clients now expect open standards where they can access their data and build applications
on top of the suppliers o erings.
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8. my people want simplicity
Tra c solves this problem by bringing everything together
on a single page in a familiar calendar type view.
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9. my people want simplicity
Lets be honest, creative’s are not usually
great on process and they are not usually
the greatest at recording time.
Tra c solves this problem by bringing everything together on a single page
in a familiar calendar type view.
Recording time is as simple as a Double Click on the item they are scheduled
to work on. The time entry is complete. It really is that simple.
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10. my people want simplicity
Sometimes people are in the mood to do certain types of work . Tra c
solves that problem by, letting your people move round their own work
as long as they don’t breach dependencies or deadlines. If this is too
much you can of course turn this feature o !
They can even give real time feedback using our “Happy Rating” feature
that lets the project owner know there is a problem. Lets face it the only
person who knows that your 10 hours to design a new logo by next
Friday is not going to happen is the person you asked to do the work!
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11. Toggle calendar contents
with just a click
Recording time is a simple as a
Double Click on the item they are
scheduled to work on. The time
entry is complete
Studio resource cannot move work beyond
a task’s deadline, however a scheduler has
this exibility if its needed
Your people can move round their
own work as long as they don’t
breach dependencies or deadlines
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12. A single click will begin recording time,
simply click again to stop recording. Tra c
will then create a time entry
Using the Happy Rating feature,
Studio Resource can instantly
Studio resource can manage their
feedback to Producers and PMs
own calendars. Users with access
to the Sta Scheduler view can
book time in each user’s calendar
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13. My Timesheets enable viewers to know at a glance
time logged vs expectation, billable or non-billable
and if the time entries are signed o
Studio resource can review
timesheets in list form
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14. clients expect everyone to
know what is going on
Tra c gives the team access to this information and an
assurance that important information is not hidden on
the shared drive or hiding in an email account.
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15. clients expect everyone to know what is going on
Clients pay the bills and have expectations
that are not necessarily that accommodating of
changing team members, holidays and so on.
Tra c gives your people a single view of the client. How much are they worth?
What have we got on? How many o ces do they have – and what does each one
do and more.
Going to the next level your people need to be able to see the entire client history
and notes on job progress.
Tra c gives them access to this information and an assurance that important
information is not hidden on the shared drive or hiding in an email account.
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16. Build up your data on your
client and store in one place
Quickly access branches
by double clicking
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17. View each of your Client and
Suppliers organisational
structures in hierarchical format
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18. You want control and consistency
Tra c lets you view the entire quote history of a client, and
lets your people construct quotes simply by dragging and
dropping a template.
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19. you want control and consistency
Most agencies estimate jobs and bill
to the estimate.
The simple fact is that if the estimate is wrong you are leaving money on
the table. You need the assurance that estimates are correct and take into
account everything that is involved in delivering the job.
Tra c lets you view the entire quote history of a client, and lets your people
to construct quotes simply by dragging and dropping a template.
Every estimate shows the estimated pro tability so you and the team can
see at a glance if something is wrong.
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20. you want control and consistency
Finally an estimate is worth nothing unless it turns into business. Every estimate
is tracked through a sales stage along with a probability of success. At the click
of a mouse you can see all quotes and rapidly lter out those with the greatest
chance of success.
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21. Visually see actuals against
estimates in real time
Use templates to save
time for quotes and jobs
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22. you want to know
how it is all going...
Tra c understands this problem. You can have public
and private job deadlines, and allocate people more or
less time to do a job than has been sold to the client.
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23. you want to know how it is all going...
Creative businesses are dynamic
places. Work changes all the time
and sometimes you need to make
sure you have a bit in hand.
Tra c understands this problem. You can have public and private
job deadlines, and allocate people more or less time to do a job
than has been sold to the client.
All jobs are tracked using user de nable elds, so that the account
manager knows that the proof is with the client and that the job is
now on hold until you hear back.
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24. you want to know how it is all going...
Feedback from the team is integral to Tra c. This makes sure that if the person
asked to do something believes there is a problem the account manager gets
to hear about it sooner rather than 10 minutes before the work is due.
You can see at a glance how the job is progressing, and perhaps most
importantly of all, the nancial costs of over-servicing live on the screen.
Over-servicing clients is where most agencies simply haemorrhage pro tability.
And for those with a numbers head you can clearly see how much money you
are supposed to be making.
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25. At a glance see how
a job is progressing
Instantly see any over-servicing costs
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26. Optimise the use of
your people …
Tra c will suggest the most available person who can do
the job, making accurate scheduling a breeze.
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27. you want control and consistency
People will undoubtedly be your biggest
investment, this investment needs to be
optimised day after day. Once time has
passed there is no getting it back. A cliché
but its true.
Tra c helps you schedule every job. It knows who each of your people are, the
capabilities that they have and their availability, every single hour of the day.
Tra c will suggest the most available person who can do the job,
making accurate scheduling a breeze.
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28. you want to know how it is all going...
All schedules take into account weekends, start and nish times and
even lunch time.
You can schedule as many people to a task as required to get the job
done, even with di erent hours starting on di erent days, if you want.
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29. Tra c displays the most
suitable resource for each
task, sorted by availability
Dependencies can be set by
you and are clearly displayed
Schedule multiple people to any
task. Tra c will tell you if a task is
Just select Auto Schedule and under or over scheduled
Tra c will automatically cascade
all of the selected job’s tasks
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30. you want to be in control
Tra c gives you unrivalled views of your work ow and
lets you move things around to suit what is happening
on the day.
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31. you want to be in control
Job scheduling is all well and good, but
priorities change, clients sign things o
late and you need to respond on a dime.
With Tra c you are in complete control, you can schedule people to do 2
hours on Monday, an hour on Wednesday and 3 hours on Friday. You can
split tasks into smaller pieces and ask someone to work a lunch hour. Not
sure what to do? You can park the issue and come back to it later. Missing a
deadline or breaching a dependency – Tra c will of course warn you.
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32. you want to be in control
Someone o sick – you can allocate their work to several di erent people,
without interrupting their work ow when they come back.
A big client tells you they are probably going to need an urgent brochure
re-write in 2 weeks time? You can pencil in the resource and con rm the
booking when the job arrives.
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33. Swap and trade time easily without
impacting existing schedules
Choose as many calendars as you
wish to view at any time
Tra c accounts for lunch and non-working
time automatically; of course you can
override this feature
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34. i want to see the future
With Tra c you can, by removing the element of surprise,
showing you your future job pipeline and how busy your
studio will be.
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35. i want to see the future
Answering client questions like... can you
deliver a new website in 4 weeks, is simple.
Look at the schedule in real time and if you
want reserve the resource in moments.
Whilst you’re planning future schedules you can ensure the release of work to
the studio is tightly controlled making sure client clashes are handled
e ciently and professionally.
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36. i want information
Tra c gives you unrivalled views of your work ow and
lets you move things around to suit what is happening
on the day.
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37. i want information
At the end of the day you want to be able to
ask questions and get simple and
understandable answers.
Tra c takes reporting to a whole new level. Information presented in a column
of gures is great if you are an accountant, but most of the time you are simply
trying to get answers.
How much time am I spending on each client? Who costs me the most in over
servicing? How are my jobs broken down?
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38. i want information
With Tra c just drag and drop the information you require and it will
immediately be shown to you visually. Line charts, bar charts, pie charts
– you choose.
If that is not enough – you have immediate access to the underlying
data and can export this to Excel for further manipulation.
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39. Select your criteria from a wide
range of data types
Drag your criteria to create your
custom report
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40. i want to buy it!
We o er a complimentary trial with an unlimited number of users.
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41. i want to buy it
Please contact Sohnar, the creators of Tra c and we will be glad to arrange a
personalised presentation either on-line, at your o ces, or ours, if you would
like to meet the team.
We o er a complimentary trial with an unlimited number of users. Our pricing
is simple and you need not make a long term commitment – if you do we say
thank you with a discount!
We have a team of experts that can assist you with support, training,
consultancy and beyond.
We hope to hear from you
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42. i want to buy it
United Kingdom Australia USA
Sohnar Ltd Sohnar Pty Ltd Sohnar Inc
1 Glenthorne Mews Suite 10, Level 5 5 Penn Plaza
Hammersmith 35 Buckingham Street 23rd Floor
London W6 0LJ Surry Hills New York, NY 10001
Sydney NSW 2010
Tel: 0800 880 3008 Tel: 1300 858 181 Tel: 1800 730 2620
hello@sohnar.com hello@sohnar.com hello@sohnar.com
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44. some technical bits
Tra c is a Software as a Service Application. This means all
hosting and pretty much anything technical is handled by us.
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45. some technical bits
Tra c is built on a SQL database. The service
layer is built in Java and the front end (the
bit the user sees) is Adobe Flex.
Tra c needs Air 2.0 installed on the client computer. Air 2.0 will run on
Windows XP and above, Intel Mac’s and Linux. Windows 2000 and Motorola
Power PC Macs (discontinued in 2005) are not supported. Air is a standard
part of the Adobe Creative Suite and is probably on your computers. If not, it
is a free download from Adobe.
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46. some technical bits
Tra c caches information on the client computer which dramatically
reduces server calls. Tra c is tolerant of slow internet connections. Users will
never have to wait as they navigate the application or load a new screen.
Tra c is hosted in a secure data centre in London, UK. Power is provided by
the mains, a generator and an uninterruptable power supplies. Internet
connectivity is provided by two providers, each routed physically
independently so that a single road digger cannot interrupt service.
Our infrastructure has no single point of failure and comprises multiple
application and database servers with automated fail over and load
balancing. As you would expect - all communication is encrypted.
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