The Manatron Blog

Orange Kangaroo from Denmark

Rachel Bryant — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 18:15:00 GMT

I really enjoy teaching classes to assessors. My math teacher background comes in very handy when teaching classes involving statistics or analysis. One of my favorite “ice breakers” to begin a class is the following problem. I have all the

The Power of Community

Rachel Bryant — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 14:42:56 GMT

com•mu•ni•ty (\kə-ˈmyü-nə-tē\ ): noun
1: a unified body of individuals: as a: STATE, COMMONWEALTH b: the people with common interests living in a particular area; broadly : the area itself <the problems of a large community> c: an interacting population of various kinds of individuals (as species) in a common location d: a group of people with a common characteristic or interest living together within a larger society <a community of retired persons> e: a group linked by a common policy f: a body of persons or nations having a common history or common social, economic, and political interests <the international community> g: a body of persons of common and especially professional interests scattered through a larger society <the academic community> 2: society at large3 a: joint ownership or participation <community of goods> b: common character : LIKENESS <community of interests> c: social activity : FELLOWSHIP d: a social state or condition

Assessing In The Current Economy

Rachel Bryant — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 12:37:56 GMT

The challenges of the current downturn in the economy are as complex, if not more so, than the skyrocketing economy of the recent past. Because the assessment process is reactionary instead of proactive, a rapidly changing economy is the most difficult situation that the assessment professional can face.

Digital Expectations

Rachel Bryant — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 13:36:29 GMT

Digital technology is certainly nothing new in our society. However, the availability of new digital products and the retirement of some older technologies are poised to push us forward into a new digital age. Digital cameras, high-definition televisions and the next generation of video gaming consoles are great examples of products that will help drive this next digital age. The mainstream adoption of a variety of technologies is starting to raise expectations such that taxpayers’ are broadly accepting as well as expecting government agencies to provide a certain level of digital services.

A Super Lesson

Rachel Bryant — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 02:10:00 GMT

Wow! What a great game! Now, even if you’re not a sports fan and even if you have never turned on ESPN in your life, you have certainly heard about the Super Bowl upset on Sunday night. And I can say with a lot of confidence that there aren’t many out there reading this that weren’t a part of the 97.5 million viewers who tuned into the game.

Can we fix Property Tax?

Rachel Bryant — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 14:33:16 GMT

Every where we go around the country, you see news reports and read newspaper articles about property tax and how it is hurting people. Since Manatron is in the property tax business, should we be concerned about all this “negative”

Riding the Roller Coaster

Rachel Bryant — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 14:35:12 GMT

I picture a day in support as a day at the Theme Park. Each day follows a Theme such as, Merry go Round, Roller Coasters, Water Rides, and Scary Rides through dark tunnels. You never know what to expect the

2008 - It’s So Ovibuos

Rachel Bryant — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 17:22:05 GMT

Well, here we are in 2008 already, I can hardly believe it. How was 2007 for you? For me personally, 2007 was a year filled with a lot of joy, but some sorrow too joy because my wife and I

A Property Platform, Page 2

Rachel Bryant — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 15:53:52 GMT

In the first part of "A Property Platform" I introduced GRM iFramework and covered the services it provides. In this, the final part, I will discuss the technologies and building blocks that GRM iFramework provides and wrap it up.

GRMBlue

Rachel Bryant — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 15:47:35 GMT

GRMGreen

Rachel Bryant — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 15:47:01 GMT

As Good As Gold

Rachel Bryant — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 15:39:53 GMT

My dad is always the first person to point out when something is “as good as gold.” I always think of him saying that phrase this time of year. Some might suggest that it has something to do with the

Customer Service Excellence – Is it a perception?

Rachel Bryant — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 16:56:48 GMT

Last month I received a huge water bill. I was sure there was a mistake so I called customer service. I quickly informed the customer service representative that there was an error on my bill it was 8 times more

Takin it to the Streets

Rachel Bryant — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 18:36:25 GMT

The year was 1976 and one of my favorite bands – The Doobie Brothers had just released a new album titled “Takin it to the Streets”. I couldn’t wait to buy the 8 track tape so I could play it

GRM, Now Fortified With Twice the Bits

Rachel Bryant — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 13:06:01 GMT

You know sometimes you do something that you want to tell the whole world about. Well I just did that. I know I promised you the second installment of "A Property Platform". Don't worry it's still coming however I wanted

Data, Data Everywhere

Rachel Bryant — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 16:12:36 GMT

A few months ago I asked a general contractor for an estimate to do some remodeling work on my house. Like most of us, I made it quite clear that my primary concern for the remodel work was the potential

Herding My Cats

Rachel Bryant — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 14:16:18 GMT

As the VP of Product Management for the CAMA side of the Manatron Product, I have a very simple job herd my cats. The task of the product management team is to decide where and how the product should evolve.

A Property Platform

Rachel Bryant — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 16:01:18 GMT

Manatron GRM is built on top of a Manatron created platform called GRM iFramework. This framework was designed specifically to make creating Property Systems easier, more stable and predictable. For these reasons I like to call it a Property Platform.

Congratulations!

Rachel Bryant — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 19:06:13 GMT

Well, it’s been a very busy fall, so far, and there is no sign of that letting up. We have added two companies to the Manatron Family. Namely, Sigma Systems and the Land Records team of Hart InterCivic. Sigma is

Elegant Solutions

Rachel Bryant — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 14:38:32 GMT

As a college student, I studied mathematics and having a background in mathematics brings a special meaning to the word solution. Like so many fields of study, mathematics provides opportunities to solve problems and typically there are many ways in

Dispatches from the Ascend Implementation Trenches

administrator administrator — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 21:23:04 GMT

While the success of any software implementation effort can primarily be attributed to the quality of the staff assigned to the project, the probability of satisfying all of the stated goals of a project is greatly increased by effective communication

We Live For This

Rachel Bryant — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 13:02:02 GMT

Being a huge baseball fan, I like their marketing slogan of “We live for this”. The thing I like about baseball is there is no time limit. Most sports have a clock that signals the end of the game. That must be why I like golf as well. You are playing against the course and get to play all eighteen holes – regardless of how much (or little) time it takes.

The Secret of Success

Rachel Bryant — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 16:17:25 GMT

“The secret of success is doing the common things uncommonly well.” – John D. Rockefeller

It’s Different in California (Part One)

Rachel Bryant — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 16:08:06 GMT

One often hears that property assessment and property tax administration is “different” in every new state Manatron enters. Of course, most of us who have worked in this area in multiple states are accustomed to such claims. Customers everywhere believe

Jack of All Trades

Rachel Bryant — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 14:09:51 GMT

It seems that I’ve always been a Jack of All Trades (sometimes called a JOAT) and a master of few if any. Just ask my wife, she’ll tell you horror stories about some of the things I’ve “fixed” around the house. But, several years ago when I stumbled into GIS as a career (as everyone did back in the day), I had no idea how much of a demand the GIS industry would place on my JOAT skills.

You are all right

Rachel Bryant — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 19:39:01 GMT

In the valuation of property for mass appraisal, there are many different opinions on which process is the best. The desired approach is based on the preferences of the assessor or lead appraiser for the jurisdiction. Some will argue that the cost approach is most appropriate because it can be uniformly applied to the entire population. Others will argue that the sales comparison approach is best, because values are based on the interaction of buyers and sellers in the market place. In some circumstances, the income approach may be thought of as the best process.

We are all connected

Rachel Bryant — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 20:34:50 GMT

Hello, Lisa Hargiss here. I lead the Tax Product Management team for Manatron. Our team is responsible for making sure the correct functionality gets into our products and for creating design documents that are used by the engineering team. We also help with market messaging, sales support and making decisions about where we take our products next. It is quite exciting, as I get to meet a lot of different people from across the country. I was going to talk about some cool new technology we are interested in, or some new functionality we are building, but that will have to wait till next time, as I want to talk to you today about our user community.

Shift Happens

Rachel Bryant — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 20:56:16 GMT

It has been ten years since we at Manatron decided to shed a number of our products to focus solely on being the industry leader of property assessment and taxation software solutions. At the time, it seemed a no brainer.