Justifying Your Investment in Dynamics GP (Great Plains) – Cost vs. Return On Investment (ROI)

Bill Reckard, Meritide — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 01:17:41 +0000

There are many reasons that you are looking for a new system to run your business. Whether your company has grown or the business processes have changed, or the system you currently use is old and no longer a fit, you want to make sure the right system is chosen. My next blog will discuss ways to insure that you get what you need, but for now let’s discuss the ever important cost versus return.

As with all capital purchases, you are going to hear a lot on the features and functionality of the system and how it will help meet and exceed your needs. The sales team will indicate that their system will invariably be the right one to lead you into the future. All this information will be given and you will be wondering the age old question of “How much is this going to cost?” When you are finally given a number, it will be broken into many pieces: Software, Hardware, Implementation, Training, Customizations, Maintenance, Managed Services and so on. Ideally the ground work will have been laid properly and no one suffers the dreaded sticker shock.

At this point in the process, you don’t want to be deciding if you can afford the system based on price. Trying to fit a system into a budget will cause more problems. I don’t mean to suggest you shouldn’t negotiate, you should, but not at the expense of features or services. It will cost you a lot more in the long run if you do not do the implementation properly from the start. As with any large purchase, taking the time up front to do some research will provide you the luxury to base your decision on business value rather than price. The research up front should be around the return on investment of the project. There are plenty of ROI tools available on the internet, my favorite is an Alinean tool. When looking at ROI, do some digging outside of the standard areas of personnel, time saving and hardware costs. Your business partner can help you identify some additional areas of ROI that you may have overlooked.
When done properly, the ROI on a project can help you make the go/no-go decision properly and leave you feeling better about your choice.

By Meritide, Minnesota Microsoft Dynamics GP Partner

Justifying Your Investment in Dynamics GP (Great Plains) – Cost vs. Return On Investment (ROI) is a post from: ERP Software Blog

What To Expect When You Are Expecting (To Get New Accounting/ERP Software)

Bill Reckard, Meritide — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 01:51:21 +0000

This is the first blog I’m writing for the ERP Software Blog site as a Microsoft Dynamics GP Partner from St. Paul, MN. Through these blogs, I’ll be exploring many different aspects of Microsoft Dynamics GP from different perspectives. As an ERP consultant with over 20 years of working on an extensive array of ERP systems, I’ll be offering up viewpoints on the aspects of Dynamics GP I like as well as other aspects which are less compelling. I’ll also be exploring what a new GP client can expect from the software experience from implementation through day to day usage.

As a company changes, whether it is due to growth, maturation or a change in business direction, there comes a time when a new accounting software system to run the business is needed. Quite often, it is determined that a full-fledged ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system is what is required. As with most business decisions, the choice of an ERP should not come lightly or quickly, but rather through a thorough and complete ERP software selection process. Too often choices are made for the wrong or improper reason and the implementation of the ERP fails. We’ll more than likely get into reasons for failures in later blogs, but for now keep in mind that the two biggest reasons are the wrong fit and an underestimation of the task ahead. When the ERP is chosen properly and expectations are set appropriately, a successful implementation does happen.

Microsoft Dynamics GP is not necessarily software for every company (although with the assorted ISV’s more options for fit are available than your average ERP) and your buying decision should be made based on your needs. Every vendor wants to achieve sales, but the vendor that focuses on fit first allow for success. In future blogs, I’ll be covering areas of frustration with sales, implementations, daily use and upgrades that companies may experience and hopefully relay how these frustrations were alleviated.

by Meritude, Minnesota Microsoft Dynamics GP Partner

What To Expect When You Are Expecting (To Get New Accounting/ERP Software) is a post from: ERP Software Blog

ERP Software Blog » Bill Reckard, Meritide

Justifying Your Investment in Dynamics GP (Great Plains) – Cost vs. Return On Investment (ROI)

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