Our business has the same problems that many consulting organizations have that support more than one ERP product. While prospects like choice and being recommended the appropriate product, consulting organizations go through frequent periods where consultants on product A are too busy while consultants on product B are not busy enough…then 6 months later…the opposite is often the case. Clients want consultants who know their products intimately. If the consultant has 8-10 years of experience with the product they are helping with—that’s ideal for client and consultant. I will say that Boyer & Associates was a more profitable organization when we had three consultants on staff that considered themselves ERP consultants rather than a … [Read more...] about Qualities of the Right ERP Consultant
Why is Microsoft’s Dynamics GP so unsettling to competition?
When you watch Netsuite videos poking fun at Dynamics GP-you realize how threatening GP is to its competition. They are making fun of Fargo and it is a little funny-but there’s a bigger purpose to the teasing. Microsoft’s competition is trying to make their point about cloud computing, and maybe have some fun too at Fargo’s expense (like the movie). The impression I was left with is that competitors want to appear to be harmlessly teasing; they are however poorly hiding their fear of the Microsoft competition. Below are the reasons I believe GP still unsettles competitors: 1. Dynamics GP has 42,000 active organizations using GP and paying maintenance on the product. This is an enormous number considering that hundreds of thousands of … [Read more...] about Why is Microsoft’s Dynamics GP so unsettling to competition?
Dynamics GP Integration Manager versus Dynamics SL Transaction Import for Importing Data
Importing data via web services is quickly becoming the best way to create new integrations due to the fact that integration is possible with systems in a different location, on a different operating system, or written in a different programming language-or even all three simultaneously. For those that don’t have the patience, staff or experience with XML-there are the trusty data import tools. Unlike web services, these tools only work one-way. You can import data into your accounting/ERP system with them. Here in Minnesota, we offer the two most mainstream Microsoft ERP products (in terms of number of US organizations using). So let’s look at the differences between these two products’ import tools-Dynamics GP (formerly Great … [Read more...] about Dynamics GP Integration Manager versus Dynamics SL Transaction Import for Importing Data
The ISV (Independent Software Vendor) Reseller
John Howell, the founder of Solomon Software International, and an author of an excellent article on cloud computing, once said to me “if you are a reseller, you should be a reseller-and be the best one you can be. Don’t try to be a software developer and a reseller because you will exhaust your resources and end up being great at neither the software development part nor the reselling/consulting part." For 17 years, we’ve resisted the temptation to turn one of the hundreds of useful programs we’ve created for our Minnesota-based Dynamics GP and Dynamics SL clients into a for-resale product. What are the differences between a consulting (reseller) organization and a product-creating reseller organization? 1. Quality of documentation. … [Read more...] about The ISV (Independent Software Vendor) Reseller
Excel-based Budgeting
Why is Excel-based budgeting still so incredibly popular? Earlier in December we held a year-end closing event for both our Dynamics GP and Dynamics SL clients. 70 people attended the event. Because there were too many people to have each person introduce themselves, I asked a series of questions to make people feel welcome and involved. One of my questions was “How many people use Excel to budget?” I was shocked. All but 3 of our largest clients raised their hands. Why was this so surprising to me? I hear a lot of complaining from accountants around budget-time. Most don’t like Excel for budgeting. Specifically, this is what I hear: 1.) There is no time to analyze numbers due to the fact it took us so long to get the numbers. 2.) … [Read more...] about Excel-based Budgeting
